Chapter 4

Pam knew she had to apologize to Angela.  When she saw the accountant go to the break room, she followed.  She cast a nervous eye behind her and was happy that the cameraman didn’t follow.  She wasn’t aware that another member of the film crew was hidden out of site, ready to capture everything.

Angela sighed when she saw the receptionist.  “I don’t have anything…”

“I want to say that I’m sorry,” Pam cut in.  She stopped about three feet in front of Angela, knowing how she valued her personal space.  Seeing Angela’s almost imperceptible nod, she continued, speaking very softly.  “I shouldn’t have said anything in front of everyone this morning.  I know you’re a very private person and I apologize if I embarrassed you.”

“Oh,” Angela said, caught off-guard.  “Well, I…  Thank you.”

“I was surprised when I saw you with Roy this morning, but whatever he does is none of my business anymore.  If you were to get involved with him, that would be fine with me,” she finished with what she hoped was a sincere smile.

Angela moved slightly closer to Pam.  She looked around and seeing nobody in the break room, she said very softly, “I never really understood why you weren’t happy with Roy.  He seemed so strong and capable…”  She caught herself and got back to what she wanted to say.  “But I’ve been helping him with some…issues…and it made me see things a different way.  I may have been a little…judgmental towards you.”

Pam barely managed to conceal a grin at that statement.  “It’s okay.  Looking back, there’s a lot I should have done differently.  But that’s in the past and all I want for Roy is for him to be happy… And that’s all I want for you, too.”  She slowly reached out and took the accountant’s arm.

Angela gave in to a cautious smile.  “He really has changed.  He…”  Angela saw the cameraman and froze.  Pam turned and frowned, dropping her hands back to her side.

“We should be getting back,” Pam said.

“Yes.  It was good talking to you,” Angela said.

-----

As Pam reached her desk, Michael called out from his office.  “Pam, come in here please.”

She grabbed her pad and pen and walked into Michael’s office.  “What can I…”

“Pam,” Michael asked as he stood up behind his desk.  He had taken off his suit coat and was smoothing out his shirt with his left hand while looking at himself in a mirror he held in his right.  “I need to know.  Without the chest hair, do I look thinner?”

“I don’t…”

“I think I look thinner,” Michael continued.  “Maybe younger, too?”  He looked at the receptionist expectantly.

“You look kind of the same to me,” Pam admitted.

Michael sighed.  “Have you finished with the music thing yet?”

“I’ll have it done by the end of the day so you can surprise everyone with it tomorrow,” Pam promised.

“Oh.  Yeah, that would be better.  Thanks.”

-----

Pam interviewed for the camera:  “Sometimes you have to be happy with the small victories.  At least I managed to put him off for a day.  That’s got to count for something, right?”

-----

Jim and Dwight returned to the office.  Jim was smiling. 

“I don’t care what Rowling says,” Dwight snapped, “Dumbledore is not gay.”

Oscar, who was chatting with Pam at the reception desk, looked over at Dwight.

Seeing the accountant, Dwight paused for a rare explanation.  “I am the author of twenty-seven fanfiction stories about Harry Potter.  It is part of my carefully constructed canon that Dumbledore had a youthful affair with Harry’s great grandmother.  If Dumbledore is made ‘suddenly gay’ by JK Rowling, then I would have to change everything.  I never change my stories.  I don’t even have a Beta.”

“You don’t have a tropical fish?” Jim asked, puzzled.

“It’s not a fish, Jim…it’s…Never mind.”  Dwight stomped off to the bathroom.

Jim’s smile dimmed as he approached Pam.  “Hey, I need to talk to you for a minute,” he said.

“Break room?” Pam asked.

“What?  No,” Jim said.  “We can do this here.”

Pam’s eyes grew wide.  Surely Jim didn't want to talk about this morning in front of the cameras/

“Dwight has a new client and we’d like for you to help him develop a web page.”

“What?” Pam asked.  This wasn’t what she thought he was going to say, so it took her a minute to catch up.  “You want me to do a web page?”

“Well, yeah.  I saw the mockups you did for Ryan, and the stuff you’ve done for your computer animation class.  I think you could develop a website that would look good.”  Jim couldn’t resist a smile as he teased, “And if you need any IT help, I’m sure that…”

“Jim…” Pam said warningly, although she was smiling as well.

“I’m just saying that he came here awfully fast last time you called.  And he already knows you like to buy sex tapes online.  That’s got to be a plus…”

“We promised not to mention the tape again.”  Pam thought about the opportunity Jim had just given her.  It would look great on a resume and would be much more enjoyable than answering phones or making play lists for Michael.  “You really think I can do it?”

“Pam, I wouldn’t have mentioned it to the guy if I didn’t.  Here’s his information.  I told him you’d call him in the next day or so to go over ideas.  If this works out, we can offer the service to our other clients.  It could be a difference maker for some of them.”

“Wow,” Pam said.  “This is…So, we’re good, right?”

Jim looked at the cameraman.  “Uh, yeah.  Sure.  I have a few things to get done before we leave.”  His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Pam knew this was as much as he’d say with the cameras around.  “Good.  Well, thanks for this.”

“Anytime.  Make us proud,” Jim said as he tapped the top of her desk and turned to get back to his paperwork.

-----

At 4:55, Michael was at Pam’s desk.  “Is it ready?”

Pam handed him a piece of paper.  “Here’s a list of what you should play and when,” she said.  She saw Jim staring at them.  “Here’s the boom box.  Just turn it on and go to the Office play list.  If you visit each of us in the order I have on the page, you can just fast forward to the next song on the list.”

“Cool,” Michael said as he looked at the list.  “Wow, you have a Jan list, too?”

“I thought you might want to try it out at home, first.”  Pam thought, “With any luck, Jan will spare us having to listen to anything tomorrow.”

Michael pressed the play button and Tom Jones began to sing She’s a Lady.  Pam saw Jim smile, which made the whole thing worthwhile. 

Andy, who had been getting ready to leave, started to sing a strange, counterpoint harmony.  He took the paper from Michael.  “Oh cool, It’s Getting’ Hot in Here is next.”

Michael stared at Andy for a second, then shrugged and joined in as they left the office. 

Jim walked up to Pam’s desk and asked, “What was that all about?”

“Michael wanted me to make a sound track that he could use around the office.”

Jim’s wide eyes gave an easy indication of his panic.  “You mean he’s going to be playing that boom box in the office.  And you helped him?”

“Would you rather I let him pick out songs for each of us?”  Pam asked.

“No.  Definitely.  You did the right thing,” Jim said as he shook his head. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.  Want to see the list?” she offered.

“Why not?”  He looked over the tunes she had selected. 

“I picked the first one as our office theme song,” Pam said.

“Handbags and Glad rags.”  I think it’s been done,” Jim teased.  “Oh my God!  You didn’t?” he asked, amazed as he continued reading.

“I had to,” Pam said, defensively.

“You picked out Who Put the Bomp to play when he talks to you?”

“He already calls me ‘Pama-lama-ding-dong.’” Pam replied.  “I had to give myself the worst song so nobody else could complain.”  They started to the elevator.  Pam grabbed the keys from Jim.  “I’ll drive,” she said.

Jim nodded.  “Sunday Morning for Angela?”

“That’s your fault.  You’re the one who played the Velvet Underground for me.  It’s a nice, quiet song.  They won’t even hear the words.  Angela will think it’s about going to church.”

“Kelly is definitely a Hollaback girl,” Jim said.  “But you know Michael would have picked out the worst Bollywood music available for her.”

“Which is why I had to do this.” Pam said with a smug smile as they reached the ground floor.

“I Like the Way You Move is perfect for Phyllis,” Jim said with obvious pride.

“She’s a good dancer,” Pam agreed.

“You picked Sexyback for Ryan?  As Michael's song for him?  That is deeply weird.”

“And your point is?”

“Fair enough,” Jim conceded.  “Love Fool for Andy.  Dangerous but necessary.  “Iron Man for Dwight, very nice.  Okay, Sweet Baby James?  You know I’ll never live that one down.”

“I’m the girlfriend,” Pam countered as they got into the car.  “It’s expected that I make fun of you.”

Jim paused, knowing that there was no argument for that point.  “Okay, now where’s the other list?”

“What other list?”  Pam asked, innocently.

“The list you made up that has what you really think of all of us,” Jim replied.

“Why do you think I’d do something like that?” Pam asked.

“I’m the boyfriend,” Jim said simply.  Pam reached into her purse and handed over the list.

“I got some ideas from your iPod,” Pam said.

“You took my iPod?” Jim asked, a little concerned.

“I had to,” Pam answered.  “Finding songs for all of you was tough.  I think you’ll approve of my selections.”

Jim laughed as he read the first title, “Office theme, I Wanna Be Sedated!  Perfect!  This is definitely a Ramones’ Office.”  He scanned the list and picked out a few songs he liked:  “Crazy, by Gnarls Barkley.  That fits Andy, definitely.  White and Nerdy for Dwight!  Yes!  Jockey Full of Bourbon from Tom Waits for Meredith, very nice.  Barbie Girl for Kelly.  American Idiot for Michael?  True but a little harsh.”

“Jim, he asked me if his waxed chest made him look thinner and younger.”

“Did he take off his shirt?”

“Thankfully, no.” 

Jim finished reading, then turned over the page.  “I think you left a couple of people off the list,” he noted.

“You mean you and me?”  She asked with a smile.

“Yeah.”

“You’ll just have to wait for those, I guess.”

Jim knew Pam had something on her mind.  He hoped she hadn’t seen the Pam play list on his iPod and freaked out.

Pam had driven to his apartment.  Once they were inside, Pam turned on his stereo and docked his iPod.  After she selected a song, she turned to Jim and asked softly, “Dance with me.”

Jim came to her and they danced slowly to one of the songs Pam added, Alison Krause’s version of When You Say Nothing at all.  Just before the song ended, Pam murmured softly into Jim’s chest.  “You know that I love you, right?”  She felt Jim’s shudder.

“You’ve never said it before,” Jim said.

“I should have.”  She reached up and kissed him softly as the song ended.  She pulled back and said, “Oh, I guess you figured out that I added a couple of songs.  Hope you don’t mind.”

“Sure, anytime,” Jim started.  Just then the next song started.  It was Alanis Morissette’s Head over Feet.  When the song reached its chorus, Pam softly sang along, “You’ve already won me over.  In spite of me.”  That was as far as she got before Jim captured her lips with his and gently led her to the couch.  By the time Al Green’s Sha-la-la (make me happy) started playing, Jim already was.  And the less said about what happened during the Barry White and R Kelly songs, the better.

The next morning, Jim and Pam were sharing not-so-secret smiles when Michael arrived, his fancy new boom box broken into several fragments.

“I don’t know,” Michael admitted.  “The songs you picked out for her were playing and I was in the kitchen making dinner.  The third song was playing and suddenly Jan hit the boom box with a tennis racket and locked herself in the bedroom.”  He looked at the broken machinery.  “Can you see if this is covered under the warranty?”

“Sure, Michael,” Pam promised.

“Thanks.”  Michael, closed the door to his office.

Jim asked, “Just out of curiosity, what was the third song?”

“Kings of Convenience,” Pam replied.

“Not…” Jim started.

Pam smiled, “Yep.  I’d Rather Dance with You than Talk to You.”

They shared an air high five.