It had been a gut wrenching week.  She was miserable and she knew that it was showing.  Michael kept telling her the worst jokes in the world, trying to make her laugh.  Kelly offered to take her out and get her drunk.  Even Dwight was being nice to her, which meant not talking to her or getting in her face.  By Friday morning, she was a basket case.  She had cried herself to sleep every night this week.  Her mom tried everything, but she kept coming back to Jim and the Casino Night.  The morning she woke up clutching a picture of her and Jim from Chili’s during the Dundies one year, she knew she had to do something.

She slammed Michael’s door.  “I’m not feeling well.”

He looked up at her.  The last thing she wanted was inane questions or stupid jokes.  He looked her up and down and nodded.  “Yeah, I was going to tell you to go home.  You don’t look so good.”

A slight smile broke out on her face.  “Yeah.  I think I might still be feeling bad on Monday.”

“Well, we wouldn’t want you getting the rest of the office sick.  I’m sure you’ve got a ton of sick time built up.  Use as much as you need.”  And for the first time in a week, a true smile broke out on her face. 

“Thanks Michael.”  She opened the door.  “Pam?”

She looked over her shoulder.  “Yeah?”

Michael nodded slightly.  “Good luck.”  She just returned his nod and closed his door.  She grabbed her purse off her desk and slipped out the door.  Michael watched her go and buzzed Toby.  “Yeah, Toby, I need you to fill out some sick leave forms for Pam – we’ll fill in the days later.”

+++

He was glad the new job was keeping him busy.  He was so tired by the time he came home at night that he immediately fell into a restless sleep.  He felt like he had been kicked in the gut when Michael said that Pam had called in on Monday.  All he had wanted from Monday was one moment, one chance in which he hoped she would ask him to stay, tell him what he wanted to hear, but he knew that wasn’t going to happen, that she was avoiding him.  Ryan had left him a ton of voice mails, but he hadn’t had time to return any of his calls.  He thought about doing it this weekend, maybe driving down there to visit… he just shook his head and returned to his paperwork.

The office was starting to empty out on Friday afternoon, but he had a lot to catch up on, so he thought about working late, then getting take out and a case of beer. 

“Hey Jim.”  He looked up and smiled slightly.  Janine was Stamford’s Toby, but much better looking.  She had been the first person to introduce herself to him on Tuesday and had talked to him everyday.  She was beautiful; he had to admit that to himself.  She was tall, thin, and blonde with green eyes.  She was very stylish and always looked like she had stepped right out of a magazine.

“Hey Janine.  What’s up?”

She leaned against the door jam and crossed her arms, smiling at him.  “Oh, not much.  Just waiting to leave.  Got big weekend plans?”

“Paperwork, beer and unpacking.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound like any fun at all.  You should let me buy you dinner tonight, show you around our humble little town.”

He looked down at his desk and then back up at her.  “God, that’s nice, but things have fallen so far behind here and I really need to get things organized and…”

She just shrugged her shoulders.  “Some other time perhaps.”  He just nodded and she turned and went back to her desk.  He could see her from the window in his office.  He watched her move around gracefully, putting things away and checking her watch.  He watched as she pulled her purse out of her desk and turned off her desk lamp. 

‘What the hell are you doing, Halpert?’ he thought to himself.  ‘Move the hell on.’  “Hey Janine?” he said, walking out into the main office.  She had the door open and was half out in the hallway.  She turned. 

“Yeah, Jim?”

“What about tomorrow night?”

“Tomorrow night?”

“Dinner and a tour of the town?”

She smiled brightly at him.  “Yeah, I can do tomorrow night.  You want to meet on the square at about 6 or so?”

“Yeah, that sounds great.”  She nodded and left.  He stood there in the quiet office, trying to ignore the slight pain in his chest that was coming from the fact that this date was with a blonde and not a brunette.

TBC…