Pam emitted another yawn as she dragged herself into WYDM at 5:00 am. The sun had just barely started to rise, staining the tops of trees and buildings with sunlight. The station was starting to wake up as computers hummed and phones rang faintly in the distance. She waved to Creed as she passed his booth, hearing just a snippet of him wrapping up his late night show.

"Well kids, it was fun while it lasted. I'd like to thank my guest, Chairman Mao for joining me via telephone this evening. Always a pleasure, sir. Until tomorrow night, this is The Creetan signing off. Konishewa."

Pam stopped by the break room to refill her already empty coffee cup, running into Phyllis, another board operator, on the way.

"Hey Pam, you're here early."

"Yeah, Andy's got me with the new guy today. I think he's punishing me."

Phyllis smiled sweetly. "I hear he's not so bad. Supposed to the big-"

"Guns from Philly. So I hear," Pam rolled her eyes with a laugh. "How's Oscar doing?"

"Oh, fine. Just got back from the Galapagos so he's got some new material for the show. Not sure he'll give it a very good report though," Phyllis frowned and leaned in to Pam. "Big lizards," she whispered.

"Oh...right," Pam nodded, though she was thoroughly confused as to what exactly that meant.

"Good luck on the show," Phyllis said, heading towards her booth with a wave.

"Thanks," Pam replied, breathing a heavy sigh. She made a stop by the supply closet to pick up a fresh legal pad and pen, carefully balancing them in one hand and her coffee in the other, her purse resting on the crook of her elbow. She saw her booth's door already open, buttons flashing and machines whirring as the small station came to life.

"Andy, come on, you know I hate it when you-" she stopped short at the sight of a tall man fiddling with the board, his back to her.

"You're not Andy."

He whipped around, looking slightly guilty at first but his face quickly softened into pleasant surprise.

"Uhh, no I'm not. Thank God."

Pam normally would have registered that as a joke and made the appropriate laugh. But she was too taken aback with not only the stranger's presence in her booth, but with just how much she didn't mind him being there.

"I'm Jim. Halpert. The new guy. Sorry, I didn't mean to be messing around in your space I just wanted to get a feel for it."

Pam was still gawking when she realized that the silence was growing awkward and quickly tried to save herself. "Oh, no, really that's okay. I'm Pam," she said, trying to offer a hand but realizing both were extremely full.

"Whoa, let me help you with that," Jim said, quickly taking the items from her hands and placing them gingerly on her desk.

"Thanks. So do you always get here this early for your show?"

"Well, yeah. Usually. Got to be prepared. Why? Didn't the other DJs do the same?"

Pam scoffed, slinking her coat off of her and draping it over her chair. "Not quite. Usually about fifteen minutes before hand. Usually hungover."

Jim's jaw dropped with a laugh. He ran his hand through his hair that Pam noticed was long enough to curl around his ears in a handsomely boyish way.

"And here I thought I'd have big shoes to fill. Guess the pressure's off me," he grinned and Pam could think of no intelligent response other than to grin right back.

"Listen, I've got some stuff to do before the show. But I'll be seeing you in there?" he jerked his thumb toward the booth.

Pam nodded, watching him walk off down the hall. She sighed and sank into her seat, feeling a kick of energy coarse through her that she suspected had nothing to do with coffee.

xxx

"Well, I don't care if you're not ready, you have to keep it," Angela lectured.

"But-but we didn't plan on having one for a long time. At least until we lived together!"

"Things change. Life rarely lets you ‘plan'. And by ‘life' I mean ‘God.' Meredith, don't you DARE touch that delay button! This is my show and I can preach if I want to!"

Meredith's hand froze in mid-air, trembling with fear at the thought of what would happen if she ignored her. She pulled her hand away and grabbed her Big Gulp, chewing on the straw nervously.

"Now then," Angela began calmly. "Like it or not, you got yourself into this and now you have to deal. That cat has feelings and can't be kicked to the curb like your boyfriend's pornography collection."

"Hey!"

"Thanks for calling, Jenny! You're listening to ‘I'm Not One to Judge, But' and we'll be right back with more of your calls," Angela crooned sweetly before getting the signal from Meredith that she was off, and made a sound of disgust.

"Good morning, Angela," Dwight said in a low voice, suddenly appearing at her doorway.

"Good morning, Dwight. I trust you're ready for your broadcast?"

"Oh yes, very. In fact you could say I'm...prepared." He hit the last word with such intensity that it suddenly spawned a new definition, one that Angela seemed to eagerly agree with.

"Prepared? How so?"

"Research, lists, reports, statistics," he said, moving closer and closer to her chair that was still faced away from him. Angela toyed with the chain of her necklace, losing the battle of trying to appear calm.

"I see," she squeaked out.

"I've even got..." Dwight looked around him to make sure the coast was clear before whispering: "Excel spreadsheets."

She let out a tiny gasp.

"Ten seconds, Angela," Meredith said into the mic.

"Give me a MOMENT," Angela snapped back, swiveling her chair around sharply to face Dwight.

"Supply closet in ten minutes?"

"Make it five," she hissed.

Dwight gave a tight but insinuating smile before dashing out of the booth and down the hall.

Angela threw her headphones back on in the nick of time.

"And we're back."

xxx

"And that's what's happening on the Indie scene; mark your calendars for those concert dates, you won't want to miss them. I know I'll be there but that's hey, that's a perk of being a DJ: a bunch of free stuff just for rambling on the radio. It's okay to be jealous, folks, don't let that stop you from calling in. Seriously, don't make me look bad on my first day, my mom is listening. Now here's Toby with the morning traffic; go easy on him, it's not his fault the 307 is a mess."

Jim waited for Pam to patch Toby through, but noticed her hand circling over her yellow legal pad, only stopping to tuck stray curls behind her ears.

"Pam?" he asked gently, her name finally grabbing her attention. She winced and quickly punched the correct buttons, putting Toby through.

Jim opened the door to her booth and poked his head in.

"You okay?"

"I am so so sorry, I didn't mean to-I honestly don't know why I can't concentrate," she buried her face in her hands, shaking her head. "It won't happen again, I promise."

Jim didn't say anything, merely walked over to her desk and pointed at the piece of paper.

"What are you drawing?"

"Oh, umm..." Pam blushed, conceding the drawing. "I made Andy into a comic book villain. His cape is caught in the shredder."

"That is classic. Do you always take out your anger this way?"

Pam shrugged. "It's something to pass the time. I did some more serious stuff in college but..." she waved her hand, dismissing her train of thought.

"Well, you're good," Jim said sincerely, his smile making Pam immediately reply with one of her own.

"Oh, five seconds," she said suddenly, grabbing her headphones as Jim dashed back into his booth.

"Okay, Toby, thanks for that. Now it's time for my personal favorite part of the show: ‘Jim's Joke Stop.' Remember, I am not condoning the use of these pranks in any way, shape, or form. I am merely sharing my wealth of knowledge with you listeners. What you do with it is up to you. That being said, the joke of the day is ‘Nickel and Dimed' as I so affectionately refer to it. All you need for this one is a handheld phone and all that spare change you find under the couch..."

Pam watched him from her booth, delighting in how alive he became when placed in front of a microphone. He was different than the others; he seemed to find a way to form an immediate and unrequited friendship with an audience he couldn't even see. She smiled to herself, thinking that this might just be what the station needed to get Scranton to start listening.