Ryan had been working at Corporate for six weeks, and the adjustment had not been quite what he had imagined. He had known that working for Dunder-Mifflin, at the corporate office or elsewhere, was not his long-term plan. But he had at least expected to feel more content here.
This had not been the case. God help him, but he actually missed Scranton sometimes. He had never been one that needed a lot of people in his life to be happy, but he had the feeling that if something terrible happened to him that no one would notice for weeks. Everything was just a little too cold and impersonal here, with people just going about their jobs. And with no real connections in the city, it was a bit of a lonely existence.
In Scranton, Kelly and Michael would have been racing each other to call the police if he had been missing for an hour. He had hoped for some sort of happy medium between these two extremes, but so far it was not working out that way.
Today Ryan was heading back to Scranton for the second time, and there had been a surprising turn of events: Ryan was actually kind of looking forward to it.
Things had been going much better in his relationship with Michael since the "mediation" that Jim ran. Ryan had to give the guy credit-he was incredibly adept at reading people. Jim knew Michael just wanted some validation, and that Ryan just wanted Michael to quit pouting. And Jim had managed to succeed , all the while having some fun with it. Not to mention making it appear entirely effortless.
Now Ryan was having to just call and get reports from Michael every week, and generally without incident. Every third call, Ryan had to get the reports from Jim because Pam told him that Michael said to tell him he was busy.
When he had called the day before, it was one of those times. Ryan had sighed and told her to put Jim on.
"Jim, can you give me the weekly report again this week? Apparently Michael is busy once again."
"Are you impressed by his unavailability?"
"Yes, managers always like it when their subordinates are unavailable to them. So what's he really doing?"
Ryan could almost visualize the look on Jim's face as he delivered the answer. Ryan was pretty sure Jim was also leisurely leaning back in his chair, enjoying the moment.
"Well, it's hard to tell. His blinds are down, but I occasionally see him peek at me quickly as though I won't notice. "
"Can you please pass along that I want to come in and visit with everyone in the office tomorrow?"
"Did you inform the party planning committee? I think Angela might be pretty pissed about the short notice. Especially now that you so cruelly left them short-staffed."
"It's not a party. It's a serious meeting to introduce myself in my position, and try and instill a more inclusive atmosphere message from corporate."
"So what color streamers should be there be for that?"
Sadly, Ryan knew there probably would be a party. And he had a feeling who would suggest it to Michael.
Jim continued on, "I think some sort of apple theme seems appropriate, for the Big Apple and all. And by the way, I told Andy that's what you like to be called now."
Ryan was actually strangely enjoying this conversation. He actually could picture all of this happening, and he felt a certain nostalgia. At least in Scranton life wasn't about selling paper to the extent it was at Corporate.
"Anyhow, can you also pass along to everyone to come prepared with suggestions about how Corporate can be more effective in their interactions with the branch offices?"
"I think you should start by telling Michael that Corporate is sending a second HR person. But that this one will be an attractive female that by corporate mandate must sit in the back with Toby."
"I'll take it under advisement."
There was a bit of awkward silence, and Ryan knew he should probably get in touch with the Albany branch to plan that meeting. But he was also a bit reluctant to hang up for some reason.
"So, uh, how is the Big Apple, Big Apple?"
"Way too bright lights, big city for you Halpert."
There was again an awkward pause, and Ryan wasn't sure why he suddenly had gotten a bit hostile. This was the closest thing to a conversation not about sales and figures and paper that he'd had in a month.
"It probably is too much for my simple ways. I wasn't really interested anyhow, just kissing the boss's ass."
Ryan rolled his eyes. He let go the unspoken question of how kissing Ryan's ass would get Jim anywhere he actually wanted to go.
Ryan really didn't know what was wrong with him, but he couldn't seem to end this conversation. He finally blurted, "Hey, man, would you maybe want to go grab a beer after the meeting tomorrow?"
Jim took a second before answering. "Us, alone? What about Michael? Dwight? What will I tell Kevin?"
"Look, never mind. I don't know why I asked."
Ryan knew then that Jim's damned intuition was probably kicking in, and Jim would do the nice thing like he always did for Michael.
"No, let's go grab a beer and catch up. You can catch me up on how exciting the bright lights of the big city are."
"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow at the meeting."
"I'll pass along your message to the rest. I make no guarantees of productive suggestions."
"I wouldn't expect any. Talk to you tomorrow."
Ryan hung up, and did feel a little bit of anticipation for the next day.
_______________
Now Ryan was again standing outside Dunder-Mifflin Scranton, ready to return again. This time he felt a great deal of ambivalence, which was a much different feeling than the dread he had felt every single time he had entered this building before.
Maybe absence did make the heart grow fonder.
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.
