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Author's Chapter Notes:
We're starting with Ryan's view, next we'll switch to Jim.  Let me know if I have something here-I'm a newbie!

It wasn't until after he had blurted out his break-up with Kelly that it all sunk in: everything was changing.  It had been quite the turn of events, and he couldn't quite wrap his mind around the rapid ascent he had made up the corporate ladder. 

 Hell, he seemed to have skipped the ladder altogether and somehow managed to find an elevator.

 Kelly had long since gone running into the women's room, likely to cry.  Everything was so dramatic with her that he couldn't be sure that deep down she wasn't just a little bit happy to be experiencing a dramatic break up. 

Now he would be her boss. Amazingly, as he looked around the office, he realized all of these people would be his underlings.  Except Toby.  For some reason, the thought of Toby was suddenly drawing a little ire he had not expected, but he decided not to question it.

Ryan took a deep breath and shook his head in disbelief.  He had been hoping to use this experience to move up in the world, but he had somehow always thought that would also entail moving on.  This largely had to do with the fact that he knew once he had moved from being The Temp to salesman that he sucked at his job.  Like, really sucked. 

This was one of the more embarrassing aspects of his time in Scranton, even worse than doggedly running errands for Michael or being talked down to as The Temp by Dwight.  He would rather go to Carbondale for pudding cups every day than endure another crack about his lack of sales.  He thinks he would rub butter on Michael's feet or help him from the bathroom to make just one sale. 

It was all very mind blowing.  Even a freak like Dwight was able to make sales, and do it well.  How the hell did Dwight do it?   Dwight had no social skills, and even less education.  But somehow he managed to be an excellent salesman, as was Michael.  The only reasoning that Ryan could find behind this success was dogged determination and a love of the company and the job that Ryan could not fathom.

 Ryan had tried to make up for this through knowledge and education, and hoped that the salesmanship would somehow come to him. But no matter how hard he studied to excel at business school, he never could become a salesman. 

For some reason, the person that irked him the most on this front was Jim.  Jim, who could manage to plot out an elaborate Office Olympics and bring the whole office together, including Stanley, and still manage to make more sales in that day than Ryan had in his entire time at Dunder-Mifflin.  It just somehow wasn't right to slack that much and take nothing seriously, yet have it all be so freaking easy.  Charm can definitely make up for a lot, which is something Jim had in spades. And Ryan knew he didn't, so he decided to go for a general air of superiority instead.

Jim really probably could sell an Eskimo an air-conditioner, especially if said Eskimo were a female.  Ryan had a feeling he couldn't sell an Eskimo a husky. 

Ryan was glad to see that Jim had apparently not gotten the corporate job.  Jim had seemed to have buckled down since his return from Stamford, but six months of hard work should not lead to the career fast track.  Ryan had done Michael's doing without (direct) complaint for over two years, while Jim had simply smirked at the cameras or Pam.  Ryan was not pleased when he saw Jim was in line to move up and out of Scranton.  Ryan had been sure that Jim was going to get it.  But those three magic letters, MBA had won out in the end, so all was right in the world.

Ryan decided it was probably time to head home, and worked his way toward the exit.  He hung back a bit when he spotted Jim and Pam huddled together and staring at the closed blinds of Michael's office.

"Should one of us go in?" Pam asked. 

"Would you like for us to be able to have dinner before midnight?"  Jim asked, and grinned a bit too widely.

"You have a point. I imagine he'll get over it.  Wait until he finds out you chose to come back to him."

"This will be a nice change from when he thought I was the one who had betrayed him by transferring," Jim said, then pondered for a second. "Actually, this could be much worse than when he was betrayed.  He might want us to be BFF again, and we can relate over not 'wanting' to leave Scranton for New York."

"Oooh, maybe he'll try and kiss you like he did me over our shared knowledge of broken engagements."

"What?"

Ryan thought that this was as good of a time as any to make his presence known.  There was really no chance that this wouldn't be awkward, especially now that Ryan knew that Jim had turned down the job at corporate.  He should have figured Jim would never really fully relinquish his ham and cheese existence.  Stamford and Karen were an aberration, as the real Jim really didn't like change.  After all, Ryan's postcard from Australia had somehow gotten lost in the mail.

"So, uh, how's he taking it?"  Ryan asked.

At that moment, Michael opened his office door.  His eyes were bloodshot, and he moved forward as soon as he spotted Ryan. 

He pointed his finger at Ryan and screamed, "YOU!" and then ran back into his office.

Jim made a face for the cameras that had already gone home for the day, and Ryan glanced down.

"I guess that answers that question."

"Did you think he would take it personally or something?" Jim smirked.

"Hey, man, just looking out for number one.  I'm heading out.  I suppose I'll see you guys around when I come out on corporate visits."

A loud wail came from Michael's office. Jim gave Ryan a pat on the back and said, "Good luck, buddy.  You get to be Michael Scott's boss.  I wouldn't trade places with you for the world."

With that, Jim smirked a bit and wrapped his arm around Pam's shoulder. 

"See you around, Ryan, " Pam said, not unkindly.

Ryan gave them an exasperated wave and left the office for the last time as an employee of Dunder-Mifflin Scranton. 

 

 

Chapter End Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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