A Tale of Two Guys

I don’t own these Characters, or make any money off of them. I wish I did. Anyway, I merely toy with them for my own amusement. Enjoy.

Jim

He hadn’t meant to kiss her. When Jim looked up from the bar where he was waiting for his gin and tonic, and saw Pam slip up the stairs to the main office, his only thought was to go after her and somehow try to repair the damage he had done to their friendship. He would tell her not to worry, that he would be transferring out of Scranton before the week was up, and she wouldn’t have to give a second thought to messing up her wedding, or anything like that. It all sounded very noble and self-sacrificing as he walked up the stairs.

Jim was surprised to hear Pam’s voice as he opened the door to the main office, and walked into the darkened room. The place looked very eerie at night, lit only by the computer monitors with their glowing blue Dunder Mifflin Screensavers. Over at the workspace he shared with Dwight, he saw Pam leaning against his desk, apparently talking on the telephone. His phone. Could she have called Roy? Would she have called Roy? Her huddled demeanor told him no. If she were reporting him to Roy, she would be angry, not upset, like she obviously was. It was probably her Mom. Pam and her Mother were very close, despite some differences of opinion about wedding plans. He didn’t want to lurk and eavesdrop, though he would have given anything to have heard that conversation, so he walked towards her purposefully, as she said, "Yes, I think I am."

She looked up and saw him, "I’ve got to go now," she whispered into the phone, "….I will." She hung up the phone and stood up. Jim walked up to her, wanting to see her face in the semi-darkness. She stood her ground, not backing away until his face was within inches of hers. Jim saw that she was trembling. He felt a surge of hope, knowing that his words must have reached her.

Nobility and self-sacrifice really didn’t stand a chance, this close to her. "Listen, Jim.." she said, but Jim didn’t want to hear any more speeches about friendship right now.

Gently, so as not to frighten her, he reached out and drew her to him and kissed her. Her lips were so soft, just as he had imagined they would be all these long months. Incredibly, Pam didn’t pull away but moved in closer, her hands reaching up to caress his hair, kissing him back. Thank goodness there weren’t any cameras up here.

After a long moment, Jim felt Pam pull away. It was only fitting, since she was the one in conflict. Jim had never had any doubts where Pam was concerned. He had known that she was the one, almost from the first moment he had laid eyes on her, on her very first day at Dunder Mifflin. But Pam had been engaged to Roy even then, and now it was only weeks before her wedding. Where did they go from here?

"I’m sorry…" they both started simultaneously. They stared at each other, at a loss for what to say. Under ordinary circumstances, this would be a Jinx, one of the elaborate games they played to relieve the boredom of working at Dunder Mifflin. The buying of Cokes would be involved and the rules were very specific. But these were hardly ordinary circumstances.

Pam looked down and Jim saw that she was trying to hide a smile. Relief coursed through him, and he smiled back. Some of the tension in the room dissipated, briefly, but it returned as Pam’s expression became grave again.

"What are we going to do, Jim?" she whispered.

"That’s not my decision to make, Pam. I’ve told you how I feel and what I want. The rest is up to you."

After a moment of silence Pam said, "You remember Kevin’s weird band? Scrantonicity?"

Jim looked confused at the non-sequiter, "Yeah?"

"Well, apparently Roy booked them. For the wedding."

Oh. "Really."

"Kevin just told me downstairs, all excited."

Jim sighed, "No comment, Pam. I’m not going to make this decision for you. You’re a big girl. Decide what you want and go for it, is all I can say. If it’s me, great. If not, well…I was offered the regional sales manager job in Stamford, so at least I won’t be hanging around here telling you that you made a mistake."

Pam looked stunned at this news, "So that’s why you went to New York last week."

"Yep. I had a meeting with Jan. Well, look; we’d better get downstairs. Do you need a ride home?"

"No. Angela said she would take me, " She paused, " Are you going to take the job?"

He nodded, hardly believing it himself, "I just told Jan, a couple of minutes ago, on her way out the door. They’re really kind of desperate so, as a matter of fact, I start there on Monday. That’s what I came up here to tell you. Listen, Pam…I’m not trying to put pressure on you. I hope you understand, I just couldn’t stay here if you married Roy."

She nodded, "And you couldn’t be at my wedding either. So…Australia."

Jim chuckled ruefully, "Yeah. Australia. Maybe just a little overkill, in the escape department." Jim started towards the door leading back down to the warehouse.

Pam quickly caught up with him and grabbed his arm, "Wait." She shook her head in bewilderment "Jim, tell me…am I really, really stupid?"

Jim stopped and looked Pam in the eyes, "Stupid? No. Not at all. Why would you even say that?"

"Because…because I missed all of this, and it’s so obvious to me now. Even your ratting me out to Toby makes perfect sense now. Why didn’t I see it before?"

Jim shrugged. "You didn’t want to. It’s not your fault. You had everything all set. Your whole life. I would have been…am…just a disruption. So you ignored it, and when you looked at me, you saw what you wanted to see. A friend. It’s just that from my desk I had a different view."

Pam shook her head. "I’ve got to think about all of this, Jim. It’s all too much for me right now."

"I know." Unexpectedly, his face lit up with a big grin, "Hey, I’m surprised I got this far, believe me. Now, c’mon, Beasly, let’s get out of here. You can’t keep Angela waiting. You know what she’s like. You go down now. I’ll follow in a few minutes." He ushered her out the door, "See ya tomorrow."

Angela was indeed looking impatiently for Pam when she appeared downstairs. "What were you doing upstairs?" she asked suspiciously.

"I had to make a phone call, where it was quiet. Where did we put our coats? Do you remember?" She asked, pulling Angela towards the coat check so that she wouldn’t notice Jim coming downstairs and heading for the exit.

He was whistling.