Jim drove to Wilkes-Barre with Dwight safely tucked in the back seat.  He was quiet, knowing that the beet farmer would eventually ask about the situation with Angela that Pam had mentioned.  He waited for 27.3 miles.

“Question,” Dwight began.  “Who dropped Angela off this morning?”

“It was Roy,” Jim said, trying to keep a neutral tone.  He looked back in the rear view and saw a stricken look on Dwight’s face.

“Maybe she was having her oil changed?” Dwight offered.  “Angela is hopeless about car maintenance…At least that’s what I’ve heard.” 

“Yeah, that’s probably it,” Jim agreed.

“It could be that Roy is stalking Pam and used Angela as a means to determine if she was in the office,” Dwight continued.  “Jim, are you armed?”

“Uh, no.” Jim said.

“You’re such a girl,” Dwight said, impatient in dealing with someone so unprepared for his own self defense.  He looked out the window for a moment.  “I’ve already proven that I’m more than a match for Roy,” he whispered.

Jim knew that he wasn’t supposed to hear that, so he checked his side mirror and continued driving.

------

Pam looked at Michael’s iPod and allowed herself to giggle.  She held the device to the cameraman and flipped past Mambo Number 5, I’m Too Sexy, Who Let the Dogs Out, Baby Got Back, Hold Me Closer Tiny Dancer, Lose Yourself, It’s Gettin’ Hot in Here, I’m Like a Bird, and Three Times a Lady.  Sure, there were some songs she liked, but there was so much that could be mocked.

Seeing Michael’s song library gave her hope that, no matter how bad her selections were it would still be better than letting Michael choose.  She looked over at Oscar and wondered if Michael would have chosen La Bamba or YMCA for him.  She couldn’t in good conscience allow that to happen.

She saw a tune she didn’t recognize, the Beach Boys, In My Room.  She put on the ear buds and listened to Brian Wilson’s youthful plea for solace, understanding how Michael might be drawn to it.  She frowned briefly as she pondered her boss, interrupted as Toby approached her desk.  She took out the ear buds and turned towards him.

“Hey,” Toby said.  “Is everything okay?”

“Sure Toby,” Pam replied.  “Why did you think something was wrong?”

The gloomy HR guy blushed, “I just saw Jim leave a note at your desk and…”

“No, he was just going off on a sales call with Dwight and didn’t want me to wonder if he’d be back for lunch.”

“So, are you free?”  Toby asked quickly.

It struck Pam as a little odd.  Toby had been kind of hovering recently, especially when Jim wasn’t around.  “I think I may be having lunch at my desk.  Michael gave me an assignment.”

“Oh…Okay.”  Toby sighed.  “If you change your mind…”

“I’ll let you know,” Pam replied, turning her eyes back to her computer monitor.

------

Jim and Dwight had almost reached Wilkes-Barre before the beet farmer spoke again.  “When Pam was with Roy, did you ever wonder if your feelings for her were a mistake?”

Jim took a deep breath before replying.  “Well, there were times it was pretty hard.  I’d see her and Roy together and sometimes they seemed so happy, I just felt guilty about caring for her.  Then there were times when they were fighting and it was all I could do to stop myself from telling her exactly how I felt.  And when I finally told her, she shot…  Well, I spent a lot of my time in Stamford feeling like I’d done something terrible to her.”

“But if you wouldn’t have said anything, she would have married Roy.  She said so at the beach.”

“Yeah, but at the time all I thought was that I had trashed the best friendship I’d ever had.”  Jim didn’t know why he was saying all this, to Dwight of all people, but it was like he couldn’t stop.  “She told me I’d misinterpreted things.  So mostly it was like I couldn’t trust my feelings.”

“You thought that she was the one person you were meant to be with?”  Dwight asked.

“I guess so.  I mean, before Pam, I’d never thought about settling down with one person for the rest of my life.  Of course Pam must have already decided that she felt that way about Roy, otherwise she would have never accepted the ring.”

“So you care about her more than she cares about you?  Is that a woman thing?”  Dwight asked.

Jim laughed, in spite of how serious the talk was.  “No, I’ve been on the other side with some of the girls I dated,” Jim was careful not to name anyone, “I knew they wanted to be with me more than I wanted to be with them.  Not that I think I care about Pam more than she cares about me.”  Jim hoped he wasn’t sounding too lame with that disclaimer.

“Interesting.” Dwight said, as if he were balancing an equation.  “And did you prefer being pursued?”

“Both situations are tough.  It’s hard being with someone if you’re constantly under pressure in the relationship.  Sometimes you just kid yourself that the feelings will grow over time, but for me they never really did.  And if you care more, there’s no security in the relationship.  Not that it’s like that with me and Pam.”

------

Pam had grabbed Jim’s iPod from his desk and was scrolling through his songs.  She smiled, as so many of the songs made her remember small minutes with her boyfriend.  He always had music playing in the apartment.

She flipped though his play lists and found, to her surprise, one that was labeled “Pam.”  She looked up, saw the cameraman pointing his lens at her, and immediately grew self-conscious. 

Pam walked into Michael’s office. 

“So, are you done yet?” Michael asked.

“Not yet,” Pam said.  “I need to have some quiet time if I’m going to finish this today…”

“Well, have Kelly answer the phone,” Michael said, impatiently.  “This is your top priority.”

“Will do,” Pam replied, happy that Michael has responded just as she thought he would.  She went back to the annex and spoke with Kelly.

“Michael wants me to do an errand for him, so I have to leave the office for an hour or two,” Pam said.

“Is it something he wants for Ryan?” Kelly asked, her eyes flashing.

“Maybe,” Pam replied.  “I’m not sure.”

“Well, that’s just great.  Do you know if the guys in the warehouse are busy?”

“We have a shipment going out this morning, so things should be pretty calm after lunch.

“Great,” Kelly said, reaching for her phone.

As Pam went back to her desk she heard Kelly say, “Darryl, when you get this message, call me.”