Jim ran his hand along his jaw as he watched Pam studying the fax. He could feel a headache coming on. “Is that all you wanted to show me?” He asked, “because I really should get back to my desk.”

“You really should get back to your desk?” Pam's tone was incredulous. “Now there's a first.”

Jim shrugged as he stood up. “Yeah. I have some calls to make.”

Pam looked at him silently for a moment, a slight frown appearing. “So you have no opinion on this offer?”

Jim seemed to look everywhere but at her. “It's your decision,” he replied. He turned and walked out of the room before Pam could say anything more.

Pam sat quietly in the break room, lost in thought, until some shouting out in the main office area caught her attention. She went to see what was happening, and found the following tableau: Michael standing in front of the conference room, glaring at Toby, while Jan stood leaning in the doorway of Michael's office, arms crossed.

“You had no right,” Michael spit at Toby.

“I'm the liaison with Samantha Weber. Jan needed to know about the offer.”

“Well, she doesn't want to do it. So you can just forget about leering at her naked body. Pervert.”

Pam glanced over to Jim, who rolled his eyes at the confrontation. For a moment their conflict was forgotten, as they shared the humor of the current situation. Jan pushed off the door frame and came up behind Michael.

“I will be doing the layout, Toby.” She said pointedly.

“Jan!” Michael spun around. “You can't. I completely forbid it.”

“Don't be ridiculous, Michael. Of course I can.”

Michael opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. He glanced between Jan's coolly assured smile and Toby's uncomfortable fidgeting. “Toby, you're - you're fired,” he grumbled, walking past Jan and into his office, shutting the door loudly behind him.

“He can't fire me,” Toby said to no one in particular.

“Don't worry about him,” Jan replied, guiding him back toward the annex. “Let's get Ms. Weber on the phone so she can send over new paperwork. I'm willing to bet Michael's already had it destroyed.”

Pam was back at her desk for only a few moments when Michael rang her desk, asking her to come into his office. “What do you need, Michael?” She sighed.

“I just need you in here,” was his muffled reply.

Pam knew it was going to be a session of holding Michael's hand, and she automatically looked over at Jim as she stood up. She mouthed the words Save Me to him as she walked past, but he smiled and put his hands up helplessly. She successfully punched him in the arm just before opening Michael's door, the surprised “Hey!” from Jim giving her the first real smile of the afternoon. It disappeared, however, as soon as she saw Michael face down at his desk.

“What's the matter?” She asked, sitting down in the chair across from him. She knew what the matter was, but had long ago learned it was easier to play dumb. He was going to tell the whole story whether she admitted she already knew it or not.

“How could she do this to me?” He moaned, his voice slightly garbled as his head was still resting on his folded arms across the top of his desk.

“Do what, Michael?”

“Everything,” he wailed, finally lifting his head to look at Pam. “She's ruining my life.”

Pam bit back a sigh. She'd never met anyone so melodramatic in all her life, and had she not already been dealing with the tangible stress she was feeling from Jim, she might have been able to sit back and enjoy the show. As it was she just want to smack Michael, much like you do to stop a case of hysterics in its tracks.

“Okay,” she said, pulling her chair closer to the desk. She then grabbing the cube of post-it notes and a pen. “Give me all the ways she's ruining your life.”

Michael sniffed and sat up straighter, clearly pleased to be getting the attention he wanted. “Well, for starters she's been living with me for months now, and I can't find any of my stuff!”

“A fair complaint,” she encouraged, writing something down. “Lost stuff.”

“And the whole condo either smells like lavender or gingersnaps anymore.”

“And you don't like those smells?”

“No, actually they're pretty nice,” he replied.

“Then how is that ruining your life?”

“Well, maybe not everything she does is ruining it,” he snapped, “but it's certainly been changed.”

Pam put the pen down. “That's what happens when people start living together, Michael. It takes some time to get used to all the change.”

Michael stared down at his hands. “Yeah, maybe,” he mumbled. “But it's like she doesn't even listen to me.”

“About what? About living together?”

“No, about this damn Playboy thing. I really don't want her to pose nude for Playboy.”

Pam nodded. “And when she got the offer, you told her you didn't want her to do it?”

“Of course I did. I would have given her the contract if I'd wanted her to do it.”

“Wait,” Pam paused. “So did she know about it before you told her you didn't want her to do it?”

“Well, she certainly found out when big-mouthed Toby came walking in here and spilled it to her!”

“Michael,” Pam shook her head slightly. “You can't make that decision for her.”

“Yeah, that's clear enough.” He leaned back in his chair and swiveled side to side petulantly.

Pam sat quietly, unable to ignore the parallels she was seeing between this and her suspicions about Jim. “Why don't you want her to do it?” She finally asked.

“Oh, I don't know, Pam. Why would I want hundreds, maybe thousands of other guys looking at her all naked and stuff?”

“She's not going to be completely naked, Michael.”

Michael waved his hand dismissively at her. “What they will make her wear will leave next to nothing to the imagination, I'm sure,” he replied. “So what's the difference?”

“Do you think she's not attractive enough to be in the magazine?” Again Pam felt like she was directing these questions to the wrong person, but maybe it was good practice.

“Oh, she's more than beautiful enough,” he immediately said. “Have you seen some of the women they feature? I mean, especially now - I have no doubts Jan could certainly hold her own. And they probably would want her to,” he added, amused at his own joke.

Pam cringed inwardly at his comment, but she was working toward her point. “So you've got nothing to be ashamed of to have Jan as your girlfriend, looking really good in those pictures? I mean, isn't it kind of a reflection on you?”

Michael's brow furrowed, as if he were considering what she said. Then suddenly his fact lit up in a bright smile. “You know, Pam,” he said, leaning across the desk toward her, “You are absolutely right. This lets everyone know what a hot girlfriend I've got.”

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+

Meredith was gently smudging eye liner under her left eye when Angela walked into the bathroom.

“What are you doing?” Angela asked, a note of disdain evident.

Meredith was used to Angela's demeanor and chose to ignore it. “I picked up some new eye shadows at lunch today. I figure if we are going to be professionally photographed I should at least make an effort to find some colors that suit me.”

Angela stood next to the sink and watched Meredith. “So I take it you've already made up your mind about that.”

“Of course - aren't you going to do it?”

Angela clicked her tongue against her teeth in a sound of disapproval. “Of course I'm not. The whole idea is repulsive and unprofessional.”

Meredith couldn't help but smile. “The whole idea puts ten thousand extra dollars in my pocket, and I don't find that offensive in the slightest.”

“Well, no, I didn't expect you would turn the offer down.”

Meredith turned from the mirror to face Angela. “And what does that mean?” Sometimes that petite blonde really did get on her nerves.

Angela stood a little straighter, aware that this conversation was quickly turning into a confrontation. “It means that nobody is going to be surprised to see you naked.”

Meredith let out a loud laugh, a reaction Angela was certainly not expecting. “No, maybe they wouldn't be,” Meredith agreed. “But you do know that we aren't going to be naked, right? And we have final say so on how provocatively dressed we are willing to be. So I'm totally going for provocative, not naked. It says that in the contract if you'd bothered to read it.”

“Still,” Angela huffed, a bit taken aback with this news. Of course she hadn't read the contract. She'd made quite an effort to announce to everyone that she didn't want anything to do with the whole idea. She didn't want to think about why she hadn't just thrown it all away right after the meeting, like she knew she should have. The fact that the paperwork was still hidden in the bottom drawer of her desk gnawed at her a little. Maybe she should read the contract.

“Besides, I suspect your, um, personality is well known by the people who watch our show,” Meredith continued, her voice drawing Angela out of her momentary reverie. “They would not expect you to do it. That's why it would be such a hoot if you did.”

“There is no way I'd do such a thing,” Angela replied, aware that her tone didn't have quite the bark it usually did.

“I'm just saying you should consider it. They'd probably be so thrilled to have you take part that you could be as prim and proper as you'd like. Maybe they'd even let you be photographed with your cats.”

Meredith zipped up the make-up bag in front of her and headed toward the door. “Just think about it, Angela,” she called over her shoulder.

Angela turned on the faucet and started scrubbing her hands. Meredith was crazy, of course. There was no amount of money worth degrading oneself like that. But she had to admit she didn't hear the part about nudity not being a requirement. Not that it made it much better, she told herself as she grabbed a paper towel to dry her hands. Those pictures would still be published in a magazine she could have no part of. She was still lost in thought when she walked out of the bathroom and nearly ran right into Dwight standing in the kitchen.

“Are you okay, Monkey?” He whispered, even though they were the only two in the kitchen.

“Of course I'm fine,” she snapped. “And I've told you not to call me that at work.”

“Sorry, Mon-” Dwight stopped. “I mean, Angela.”

Angela nodded her acceptance of the apology and headed toward the door. Suddenly she stopped and looked back at Dwight. “Do you think they really would photograph me with my cats?” She asked.

“What?” Dwight was completely confused.

Angela just shook her head sharply. “Oh, never mind,” she said, and headed back to her desk.

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+

Kevin shifted in his chair, his eyes already dancing with merriment.

“What do I think of Playboy spread?” He barely got the last word out before he broke down in giggles. “Man, do you really have to ask?”

He took a deep breath and wiped his eyes. “Okay, seriously,” he said, though his face looked anything but. “I think it's more than a little weird that the day before we found out about this I received an email offering to renew my Playboy subscription for two more years at only nineteen ninety-five per year. That's a savings of seventy-eight percent off the cover price. That is a lot of money to save. A lot. So now they can publish the pictures at any time over the next two years and five months and I will have a copy coming right to my mailbox.” He smiled broadly. “And that is sweet.”

“I don't see why they wouldn't do it. I hear the money is pretty good for just standing there getting your photo taken.” Kevin paused. “I take that back. I'm pretty sure Angela won't do it. I mean, I really hope Angela won't do it. That's an image that would haunt me for the rest of my life.”

“I think it's safe to say that I'm most looking forward to seeing Pam naked. I mean, I was a little bummed out to hear that Karen wasn't going to be posing, because she's totally hot, but I think Pam will do the best job, if you know what I mean.” Kevin giggled again, but pressed his hand against his mouth and took another deep breath. “I figure Jim will be able to tell us which parts were airbrushed and which parts were real.” The giggles returned, this time unstoppable.

"That is going to be SO awesome."

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+

The last hours of the work day passed slowly for Pam, and she was very aware of the reason why. Ever since she showed Jim the compensation fax, he'd been studiously ignoring her. They hadn't been this silent to each other in months, and it brought back all the unpleasant memories of how life was before they finally started being honest with each other. That's what was happening now, she knew. They were falling back into their old bad habits of building walls instead of trusting each other. Jim had been distant and distracted ever since they got the Playboy offer, and it didn't take a genius to know why. What she didn't understand was why he wouldn't tell her if this was bothering him.

With less than an hour left of the work day, and Michael having left with Jan sometime after three, Pam finally gave in and opened a chat screen.

pbeesly: You've been silent today.

jhalpert: Well, sometimes I really do work around here.

pbeesly: Really? What's that like?

jhalpert: Unbelievable. You should try it.

pbeesly: :-P

jhalpert: :-)

Pam sighed. They were both entirely too skilled at acting like nothing was wrong. She decided to take a more direct approach.

pbeesly: Did you notice that I managed to talk Michael into actually liking the Playboy idea?

jhalpert: How could I have missed it? When he told Phyllis that she should 'shake her maracas' in front of the camera I thought I was going to have a seizure.

pbeesly: LOL - it looked like she was feeling the same way.

jhalpert: So why did you do it, Beesly?

pbeesly: Do what, Halpert?

jhalpert: Turn Michael to the Dark Side.

pbeesly: The Dark Side? You've been hanging around Dwight too much.

jhalpert: Seriously. What could you have possibly said to change his mind?

pbeesly: I just asked him if he was embarrassed of Jan or if he thought she was pretty enough to be in the magazine.

jhalpert: Ah.

pbeesly: Yeah, he said he hadn't thought of it like that, and that he wasn't ashamed of her.

Pam glanced up as she hit enter, and she watched Jim's eyes scan her comment, then meet her gaze. She could tell he was well aware of what she was trying to do.

jhalpert: I don't think it's an issue of being ashamed of someone doing that.

pbeesly: No? Then what is it?

jhalpert: Some people are just more private than others. I got the impression that Michael just didn't want anyone in his 'bidness'.

pbeesly: His 'bidness', huh?

jhalpert: Yep.

pbeesly: And you agree with him?

He didn't immediate reply, and when Pam looked over, he was staring at her in an odd way.

jhalpert: I can see his point. It's not something everyone would be comfortable with.

Pam took a deep breath and typed with shaking fingers what she really wanted to say.

pbeesly: And what about you?

jhalpert: I've already told you more than once.

pbeesly: So why do I get the feeling you aren't happy for me? If I want to do it, I mean.

jhalpert: Who says I'm not?

pbeesly: You've looked happier. Trust me on that one.

jhalpert: I'm fine. I don't think it really concerns me.

pbeesly: Oh, it doesn't?

jhalpert: I've told you before that it's your decision.

pbeesly: I know. That's about all you seem willing to say lately.

jhalpert: Can we please talk about this later? In private?

pbeesly: Fine.

jhalpert: We can talk about it tonight.

pbeesly: I don't know.

jhalpert: I thought you said you were going to come over tonight.

pbeesly: Actually I think I have a bit of laundry I need to do.

jhalpert: I could come over to your place then. I have excellent laundry skills.

pbeesly: I don't know. Maybe tomorrow.

Jim frowned at his monitor, but didn't have the courage to look up over at Pam. She was angry, and maybe it was just better to stay out of her way for a while.

jhalpert: Okay, fine.

Pam felt her eyes starting to sting. He wasn't even going to try any harder to see her tonight?

pbeesly: Yeah, well great. Well I'm going to leave early. Goodbye.

Jim watched as Pam wasted no time in standing up, grabbing her purse and her jacket, and heading out the door. She didn't stop to look at him even once.