Jim settled onto the hard floor of the elevator and rubbed his hands on his bare legs, hoping that would warm them up. At least the office had been warm. There was no heat in the elevator and he was certainly feeling it. He was fairly certain that he now had a ninety-nine percent chance of getting sick, so he was pretty sure he and Pam were going to spend the weekend on the couch, sniffling and coughing and watching bad afternoon television. Except for the sick part, it didn't sound so bad really.

"Here." Angela's voice was soft and low but not warm. It was the sort of tone one used when addressing a puppy that had tangled itself in its leash, annoyed but tolerant of its naive stupidity.

She took off her coat and draped it over Jim's bare legs. She sat down to the right of Jim and crossed her arms.

"Thanks," Jim said. He spread the coat out so that it was covering most of his legs. "You didn't have to -"

"Your wardrobe is completely inappropriate for the weather."

Jim nodded. "Right. Yeah. Pam and I were playing in the snow, so..."

Jim didn't think he'd ever seen anyone be so disinterested in anything he had to say. He focused his attention forward. He wanted to say something, just because it seemed a little ridiculous to be stuck in an elevator with someone and not say anything, but he wasn't sure that he had enough anecdotes about cats or babies dressed as adults to keep Angela interested.

He took his cell phone from the pocket of his zip-up and dialed the office number.

After two rings Pam picked up. "Hello?"

"Hey. What's the word on the power?"

"Well, we're not allowed to leave the office right now. Dwight is guarding the door. To keep the vampires out."

"You're lying," Jim said. His brow furrowed as he tried to figure out the punchline before Pam could deliver it.

"No, I wish. Michael came out of his office and said this is what the vampires have been waiting for. If I wasn't so sure that Dwight would mace me if I tried to get past him, I would have tried by now. I guess you're gonna be stuck in the elevator for a little while, sorry."

"Any tips on that, by the way? I don't know what to..." Jim let his sentence hang in the air. He cast a sideways glance at Angela. "I'm lost here."

"Just wait for her to talk to you. She's not going to find anything you say funny, so I wouldn't even bother. Having a conversation with Angela is... an art form."

"Well, you are an artist."

Jim could hear the smile in her voice when she replied, "Yeah. I wish I could give you something to talk to her about, but... well, I guess if she decides to talk to you you'll find out for yourself. Just remember that she probably disapproves of almost everything you've done in your life and you should be fine."

"That is really inspiring. Thank you."

"I'm just being real with y -"

"Did you just say 'being real'? Have you been watching vintage rap videos on YouTube again, dawg?" he asked and smirked to himself.

"'Kay, I'm hanging up now, jerk."

"All right, I'll talk to you later, home slice."

"I hate you."

"Oh, hey, before you hang up on me, do you think you could transfer me to DJ Jazzy Jeff?"

He smiled when he heard the dial tone. He closed his phone and put it back in his pocket.

Ten minutes passed silently. Jim was sure that Angela wasn't going to speak to him at all the entire time, but she surprised him.

"Did Pam say anything about the power?" she asked quietly.

Jim turned to look at her, unable to hide his shocked expression. "Uh, yeah. She said that Michael's not letting them leave the office, so they can't get to the fuse box. He's got Dwight guarding the door and everything, so... yeah."

Angela's frown deepened when she heard that all too familiar name. She had been doing a lot of frowning and sighing lately and she was frankly tired of it. If she wasn't thinking about Dwight and trying to decide if she hated him or loved him, she was being generally annoyed by Andy. She heard what everyone in the office said about her. They spoke in low tones, but she heard things like "more difficult than usual" and, as Kelly put it, "bitchy." But she didn't care. Kelly was whorish, anyway.

She looked over at Jim. He was all limbs. Her coat barely covered his legs. He leaned his head against the elevator wall and she looked away. She knew that Jim and Dwight shared a unique kinship - "frienemies" she once heard Pam joke.

Angela just wanted to talk to someone.

Kelly had set up her collection of various scented candles around the office to offer more light. The various scents mingled in the air and Pam felt nauseous. Kelly was chattering away to her, but the only thing Pam could concentrate on was trying to avoid a headache and not be sick.

"...so then, I'm like, Oh no! Do I wear the Raspberry Sunset lip gloss or the Banana Sunrise lip gloss? Because that is a major decision that could affect, like, my whole life, you know? It's serious business. You can't play around with lip gloss in situations like that."

Kelly paused to look Pam over. She routinely did this in an effort to help her friend Pam. Pam used to spend every day as a fashion don't, but Kelly was slowly starting to approve of Pam's wardrobe, which was shocking and a little scary she had to admit.

"The messy ponytail is so 2004," Kelly said, "but you make it work. I think it's the curls. My hair is straight and shiny so it doesn't really work for me, but with the curls you can't tell if your hair is just really gross and messy."

"Right," Pam offered. Conversations with Kelly were sort of like what Pam imagined talking to an excited squirrel that liked make-up would be like.

Kelly absentmindedly scratched at the label of a scented candle with her perfectly manicured fingernail. "So, Pam, how are things with Jim? Totally perfect, right?"

"Right," Pam said. This response held more conviction than her last. "I'm really happy.

"Great," Kelly said. "Because you totally deserve it. Roy was a jerk. Sorry, but he was. He had that macho thing, but he was a jerk. It sucks when you fall in love with a jerk and he kind of ruins your life."

Pam frowned. When Kelly let her peppy veneer fall away at moments like this and she let you see that other part of her - the part that didn't care if her lip gloss was a sunrise or a sunset - it made Pam want to give her a hug, because that other part of Kelly never seemed to be happy at all.

"Well, in my experience," Pam said, "you have to go through a jerk to get to the right one. Jerks are like... they're like that Friday you go into the mall and there aren't any sales and those right guys, the special ones, are the Sunday mornings when you go into the mall and everything is fifty percent off."

Kelly smiled. Finally, Pam spoke her language. "Yeah. I just need a sale. I'm sick of full-price douchebags."

"Exactly," Pam said and smiled. "In the end, it all ends up being worth it."

"Really?"

"Really."

Kelly nodded. She smoothed the corner of the label that she had been scratching at. "Hey, there's actually a sale at Boscov's this weekend. If we, like, don't completely die here today, you wanna go and get some absolutely adorable sweaters?"

Pam smiled softly. "Sure."

"Great. I'll talk to you later," Kelly said. She walked off to the break room.

Pam picked up the phone and dialed Jim's cell phone.

"So, how's everything?"

"Um, okay, I guess. No new developments."

"Well, I think Kelly and I are best friends now," Pam told him. "We're going shopping this weekend. I don't really know how it happened."

"What a fun time for you. I'm insanely jealous, though. Getting to spend an entire afternoon with her? You'll have to tell me all about it after. I want to know what shade of pink you two decide is best. I bet it won't be desert rose. I'm pulling for - what was that color you put in that oil pastel scene you did last week?"

"Persian pink."

"Yeah. I hope that one wins."

Pam smiled into the receiver. "I'll keep you updated. Constant calls, I promise."

"You forgot to call me a jerk that time."

"Mm, you're not a jerk," she replied quietly.