Jim was pissed. He was frustrated and he was disappointed. Leave it to Dwight to put a damper on what was probably going to be one of the biggest moments in his life. He stomped out of the hospital and slammed the door of his car so hard that he was surprised it didn’t shatter the window. This was it. Pam was ready. They were going to have that talk and then everything had to stop. He realized that this situation was typical to their entire relationship. Everything would build and build until they were almost to that moment and then something would happen to end it. He thought seriously about turning around and going back to the hospital. What were they going to do if he didn’t come? Fire him? Good…let them fire him. Jim sighed. He knew why he was going. It was the same reason why he was always there for Pam when Roy had said something stupid despite how much it killed him to help her in her relationship with another guy. It was the reason why he would get out of bed at 2 in the morning to go pick up his buddies from a party when they were too drunk to drive. It was the same reason why he stayed up with Karen until all hours of the night trying to make their relationship into something it wasn’t…something it couldn’t be. He was Jim….good, nice, reliable Jim. He didn’t mind being that guy. In fact he liked being that guy…except for right now. At this movement he wished he was a jerk that could just say no and let people deal with their own problems. But he wasn’t and so he drove onward towards Dunder Mifflin.

He pulled into the parking lot and parked in Michael’s spot. His anger had subsided a little bit, but he still was in no mood to be here. He saw that Jan’s car was already there. “This better not take too long.” he thought as he took the elevator up to the office. When he walked in he could see Jan, Toby and Dwight inside Michael’s office. The door was closed.

“Well if it isn’t Big Tuna.” he heard Andy call. “Hey” he muttered as he hurried into Michael’s office.

“Jim…thanks for coming. How is Pam?” Jan asked.

“She’s okay. I really need to get back. Why exactly do you need me here?” Jim said sitting down in a chair.

“Well Michael is out sick and as ranking number two in this office we need you here to sign some paperwork.” Jan said taking some papers off of Michael’s desk.

Jim rolled his eyes. Leave it to Michael to actually take a sick day when he was sick. He had come into work when he had the flu, which both he and Pam had caught. He had come in with pink eye and the day he thought he was having menstrual cramps. He also had made Dwight go pick him up when he had cooked his foot on his George Foreman grill. Jim wondered what had made him so sick that he couldn’t possibly come in to work and of course it was today…of all days.

Jim looked over at Dwight who was sitting hunched over with his head in his hands moaning softly. “So…what happened?” Jim asked.

“Well apparently Dwight thought that it would be a good idea to check the structural stability of all the restroom stalls today and he walked in on Phyllis and Kelly.” Toby said. “Phyllis called Jan and so we had to write up a report.”

“You wouldn’t be writing up a report if I had found something wrong with the toilet stall and had saved Phyllis from crashing through the floor from sitting on a an unstable toilet.” Dwight said defensively through his hands.

“That’s not the point Dwight.” Jan said exasperatedly. “The point is that you shouldn’t really be doing safety inspections, but if you do…you need to make a public announcement to the entire office so that people are expecting it. You can’t just go wherever you want whenever you want to do it.”

Dwight continued to protest, but Jim wasn’t listening. This was ridiculous. It’s just Dwight. He looked out the window that separated Michael’s office from the rest of the office. Ryan was sitting at reception focused intently on his computer and he could see Andy watching them intently from his desk. It looked just like any other day at Dunder Mifflin. Creed was munching on the weird, smelly beans that he kept in his desk. Kevin, Oscar and Angela were all typing away at their computers. Phyllis and Stanley were on the phone and Karen….he was surprised to catch Karen’s eye as she stood at the copier. She gave him a small smile and then quickly looked back down at the papers in her hand.

“Dwight…just sign it. You’re not getting fired and your not getting demoted and no this will not effect you having chance of becoming Regional Manager when Michael retires.” Toby said tiredly rubbing his eyes with his hand.

Jim turned his attention back to the situation at hand. “Dwight!” he said loudly standing up. “Just sign the stupid paper! We really don’t have time for this.”

"Uh, Jim, I will not listen to you even if Michael is sick. You are not my boss and as Assistant Regional Manager…” Dwight yelled back his eyes wide open.

“Dwight!” Jan interrupted. “You are not the Assistant Regional Manager. We’ve been over this. Jim is the Assistant Regional Manager. That is why we called him in here.”

Dwight looked like a wounded bird as he hastily signed the paper and tossed it back at Jan.

“Alright…glad we got this little matter taken care of.” Jan said packing the papers into her briefcase. “Thank you for coming in Jim. Tell Pam we are all hoping for her to have a speedy recovery.”

“I will…thanks.” Jim opened the door to Michael’s office. He watched as Dwight stormed back to his desk muttering something about how the office was going to the dogs without the careful leadership of Michael.

“Come on Dwight,” Jim said approaching his desk. “Just think…this will help you in your tae kwon do. Get some of your aggression out.”

“Just because you are supposedly number two in this office does not put you above the law Jim. You don’t have to come in for a week, but I try to do something necessary and beneficial to our employees and I get….reprimanded.” For a minute Jim thought that Dwight was going to cry and he began to feel sort of bad for him.

“Whatever, “ Dwight said as he picked up his phone and began punching in numbers.

Jim picked up his phone and punched in his voice mail code to check his messages. As he was hanging up the phone he heard Jan call his name again.

“Can you come back in here for a minute?” she called from inside Michael’s office.

“Sorry. I know your trying to leave, but I need to ask a huge favor of you.” Jan asked as Jim walked in and closed the door..

“Yeah?” he asked.

“Ok…here’s the thing Jim. Michael is not really sick. I coordinated a "management seminar" for him under the guise that it was a magic camp for DM managers and he's there right now.” Jan said hurriedly.

“Wow…” Jim said under his breath. He thought about how much Pam would appreciate this and felt a quick burst of excitement that he could share these things with her again.

“Ok. That would be great.” Jan said standing up and picking up her briefcase.

“Yeah. Have a safe trip back to New York.” Jim gave a small wave as Jan walked out of the office.

“Well Dwight….this has been great.” Jim said has he came back out of Michael’s office.

“Maybe for you….” Dwight muttered angrily from his desk.

“ Because I had to sign a document that I did not agree with and apparently today you are my superior…” Dwight said, still starting at his computer screen.

“Not just today.” Jim said making sure he had his keys and cell phone.

“Uh, Jim, you may be my superior in name but not in my heart. I am the embodiment of the perfect Assistant Regional Manager.” Dwight said rising from his desk.

“Wow Dwight….that should go on your resume.”

“Already there.” Dwight turned and stomped towards the break room.

“Of course it is.” Jim smiled as he waved to Kevin and Phyllis and headed out of the office.