Pam stared angrily at Jim as they drove into work, “I can’t believe you did that to me.”

Jim looked suitably embarrassed.  “You didn’t believe me, so I had to let you experience it for yourself.”

“That’s five…no, six minutes of my life I’ll never get back.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Jim apologized.

“That was absolutely the worst song I’ve ever heard.  What was the name of the group, again?”

“Tortoise and Bonnie Prince Charlie.”

“I will never be able to listen to the Springsteen version of Thunder Road again.  You have ruined that song for me.”  She turned her face to the window and watched a jogger trotting along the sidewalk. 

Pam didn’t tell Jim that Thunder Road was one of Roy’s favorite songs.  It had been one of the tunes he had asked Scrantonicity to learn for their wedding.  For so long, so much of her life had been colored by Roy.  Before Jim, when she heard the song “Thunder Road, she thought of Roy singing in the shower, never quite understanding that she hadn’t found it funny when he sang to her, “you ain’t a beauty but hey you’re alright.”  A morning kiss was Roy’s stubble as he kissed her neck.  How a boyfriend acted around other guys was Roy’s his jealous reaction when he saw Pam and Jim laughing about a prank they pulled on Dwight.

Slowly those impressions were being erased, quietly overridden by memories Jim created with her.  She couldn’t think about her art without remembering Jim’s loving encouragement.  Boyfriend’s were low-key, but assertive when guys flirted with her, because that’s how Jim was when Ryan asked her out and when the guy at the bar asked her if she’d even been on a motorcycle.  Roy’s song favorite song would always remind her of this moment, riding with Jim on a cool autumn morning.  And ride to work would mean sitting comfortably in Jim’s car, not bouncing around in Roy’s truck…  The same truck that was just turning into the Dunder Milfin Parking lot.

Instinctively, Pam reached out and grabbed Jim’s hand.  She turned to see the concerned look on Jim’s face.  He pulled just past the gate to the parking lot.  They saw the passenger door of the truck open and a familiar figure emerge.

“Oh my god!” Pam said.  “It’s Angela!”

Jim turned to Pam and was surprised how concerned, or was it angry, she looked.  “What is she doing getting out of Roy’s truck?” Jim was unable to stop himself from asking.

“That can’t be what it looks like,” Pam said, shaking her head.  “I never thought they were friends.”

“Well, do you remember what Roy said when we played Who Would You Do?”

“Yeah, that he’d do the ‘tight ass Christian chick,’” Pam replied with a frown.  The truck was backing up.  “Quick, circle the block.  Don’t let him see us.”

Jim cocked his head to one side, but did as his girlfriend asked.  They pulled into the parking lot after four right turns and Pam hurried inside, leaving Jim behind.

In a rush, Pam pushed the elevator button angrily, but it the device refused to cooperate.  By the time it reached the ground floor, Jim was beside her.

“So, what are you doing?” Jim asked.

Pam turned to her boyfriend and “I want to know what Angela is doing with….”  She saw the hurt expression on Jim’s face.   She suddenly felt nauseous.  “It’s not that…”  She couldn’t figure out what to say to make this better.  “I’m not jealous…”

Jim raised an eyebrow at the statement.

“It’s just…unexpected,” Pam finally managed.

“Yeah,” Jim said, quietly.  “Well, we’d better get into the office.”  He held the elevator door open for her and pushed the button.

Pam knew that she needed to say something to Jim as they rode in the elevator and walked into the office, but nothing came out.

Dwight was already at his desk.  Pam wanted to confront Angela, but doing it in front of Dwight, who had been so depressed lately, seemed cruel. 

Jim helped Pam take off her coat and hung it up for her.  “Thanks,” Pam said, smiling at him.

“No problem,” Jim said, retreating quickly to his desk.

Michael Scott walked into the office, carrying a large boom box.  Normally, having a new toy made Michael happy.  Today he seemed unusually sedate.

Oscar, who had been helping Michael with his finances, looked at the boom box.  “Michael, why did you ….”

“Jan bought it for me,” Michael said, looking distinctly uncomfortable.

“Why did she do that?” Jim asked, knowing there had to be some kind of a story involved.

“Well, I did something for her, and she gave me this as a thank you.”

Kevin heard this and snickered.  “I bet you did something for her.”

“So what did you do M-dog?” Andy asked, smirking.  “Were you a good boy?”

As a veteran watcher of Michael, Pam knew that he didn’t want to say more, but he was constitutionally unable to stop himself in the middle of a story.

“She made me…wxmychst,” Michael said, mumbling the last part of the sentence.

“What?” Dwight asked.

“Wax my chest,” Michael said.

Jim wanted desperately to suddenly hear his alarm clock go off.  Maybe this day was simply an awful nightmare that time and proper medication might be able to erase.

“See, Jan has very sensitive skin and…”

“Michael, stop!”  Pam snapped.

“Dwight asked,” Michael said, defending himself.  “Hey, when you and Jim do it…”

“Okay,” Jim silently said to God, “just give me an ice pick.  One quick strike, in through the eyelid, and I can give myself a lobotomy.”  That would have to be preferable to hearing one more word.

“Michael, no one wants to hear about Jim and Pam’s sex life,” Angela said.

“Well…” Kevin started.

“Yes, that’s true,” Pam agreed, turning to the small accountant.  “Why don’t we talk about yours, especially the guy who gave you a ride into work today.”  When she realized what she said, she thought, “Oh crap.”  She put her hand over her mouth as she looked over at the shocked faces of Jim and Dwight then turned back to see Angela’s normally pale features flushed as she stalked to the ladies room.

“Pam, come into my office,” Michael said, oblivious to the chaos around them.  “I need to find something to do with this,” he said, holding up the boom box.

Pam looked towards Jim, trying to silently apologize.  He was ignoring her, staring into his computer screen.  She grabbed a pad and went into Michael’s office.

Jim turned to Dwight, who was sadly looking at Angela’s empty desk.  “Hey Dwight,” Jim said.  “I’m going to run down to Wilkes-Barre to visit our clients at the new office park.  I could use your help to make sure they stay with us.” 

Phrased that way, Dwight could only accept.  He couldn’t let Jim’s slacker attitude alienate a client.

Jim waved off the camera crew.  He left Pam a note saying where he was going and looked at his boss’s office.  He could see his girlfriend’s back.  With a sigh, he put on his coat.

When Angela returned from the rest room, the camera crew asked her for an interview.  Reluctantly, she agreed.  “My car is in the shop and I was driven to work this morning by Roy, Pam’s former fiancé.”  She fidgeted, trying to settle on what she should say.  “He’s had a hard time since Pam broke his heart.  There was a traffic… an incident one evening…  He was participating in a counseling session at my church and my minister asked if I’d speak to him.  He’s been a perfect gentleman.  I have nothing more to say.”  She got up and left the conference room.

Michael was showing Pam his new boom box.  “See you can hook up an iPod here and carry your music with you everywhere you go.  But the cool thing is that everyone can hear what you’re listening to.”

Pam held back a shudder at the thought of what Michael might subject them to in the coming days.  Maybe she could just “accidentally” knock it off the shelf.

“You know what would be really great?” Michael asked, suddenly inspired.

“What?” Pam asked, full of dread.

“If I could make a soundtrack and carry it with me.  I can have theme music, a laugh track, sound effects…”

Pam had to control this.  The sanity of the office depended on it.  “Sounds like a lot of work,” she noted.

“Yeah, Ryan’s been such a jerk recently.  He wants me to account for each hour of my day.  What kind of boss does that?”

Pam decided that it would be best not to tell Michael that Jan had asked her to keep track of Michael’s time last year.  “Maybe I could put something together for you?”

Michael looked like someone had just given him puppies.  “That would be great!”  He handed the boom box and iPod to her.  “Get started.  And none of Jim’s Indie crap, I want it hot and happening.”

Pam took the boom box and left Michael’s office.  The camera crew grabbed her for a quick interview.  Rather than talk about Angela, she discussed her new project.  “This is something that Jim and I can do together.  It’ll help smooth things over after…”  She stopped.  “Not that there’s anything wrong…There’s nothing wrong… I hope.”  The camera followed her as she walked to her desk.  She saw the too brief note and couldn’t help sighing as she looked over at Jim’s empty chair.  At least he had signed the note, “I love you, Jim.”

Angela was walking past the reception desk.

“Hey,” Pam called out, wanting to apologize.

Angela scowled at the receptionist and walked over to Oscar.

“Are you done yet?” Michael called from his office.

It was going to be a long day for Pam.