She’d filled her mom in on all the details and then stayed awake for hours, reliving every moment of the night with Jim until she’d eventually drifted off to sleep. Upon the morning, she’d called herself a giddy moron as she got ready for work, reminding herself that she was going to work and not on a date.
She’d pulled in to work to see Jim and Karen standing in the entranceway to the building with Jim’s back to her. She parked her car in time to see Karen throw what appeared to be a set of car keys at his chest then stomp inside. She stayed in her car, unseen, and watched as he drew a deep breath then reached down to pick them up. He hadn’t seen her.
Pam waited until he went inside and then slowly gotten out of the car. She put her head on the hood for a moment, her earlier euphoria melting away as the reality of the situation reasserted itself abruptly.
Oh God. Karen.
What had she said, she wondered? Did she want him back? She still didn’t know what had happened between them in New York. Jim had said that it was her actions on Beach Day and the note that had brought him away from Karen and back to Scranton, but had something happened between them to make him rebound to her? She felt so insecure and unsure, despite the wonder of last night in her memory.
When she entered the office it was to find most of the workers already there. Karen and Jim sat at their respective desks; Karen tight-lipped and looking exhausted, Jim staring at his work with uncharacteristic concentration. He didn’t even raise his head as passed behind him to go to her desk. She put her stuff down and tried to ignore the tension to which the rest of the office was apparently oblivious. Michael arrived shortly behind her and after that, the day entered into its normal mood of manic tediousness.
She was listening to a voicemail from a tearful Kelley saying she wasn’t coming in, when a new call came. “Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam.” She answered and then glanced quickly over towards Karen. “Yes. I’ll transfer you.”
She watched Karen pick up her phone. Did she get the job? She felt a knot of dread when she watched Karen’s anxious face go wooden at whatever David was telling her.
Karen’s lips pressed tight in emotion, and then she said in a bright tone, “Alright. Thanks for letting me know, David. Goodbye,” and hung up.
Karen stared at the phone and fiddled with her pencil for a few minutes before rising from her desk to go and stand before Jim. He looked up.
“I want to talk to you.” She said in a tight controlled voice.
Jim nodded understandingly and rose to follow her into the kitchen. Pam quickly lowered her eyes back to her keyboard and diligently tried to ignore Karen’s raised voice, muffled, but still managing to pierce the glass and door.
This was going to drive her crazy, Pam thought worriedly. She was doing what everyone else in the office was doing which was trying to appear to work while being helplessly fascinated by the drama occurring in the back room. She sneaked a glance up; Karen was speaking animatedly, her agitation clear. Jim just stood there, alternating between looking at the floor and the ceiling as he occasionally nodded. With one last flap of her hands and a poke to his chest, Karen marched out of the kitchen and into the women’s restroom.
Pam’s eye’s trailed back to the kitchen. Jim was still standing in the same position: head down with his chin nearly resting on his chest, hands in pockets, and rocking back and forth as he obviously recovered from the verbal barrage. Pam eyes poured over his features in fearful search of anything like remorse for the break-up.
The ring of her phone dragged her back. “Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam,” she answered automatically. “Alright, I’ll connect you.” Michael had been in his office all morning with the door closed, thereby missing the excitement. Pam watched him pick up the phone to David Wallace, but her eyes were drawn back as Jim came out of the kitchen.
His face was still somber but his eyes were on her the whole short trip back to his desk. She couldn’t read his expression. Are you okay, she mouthed? He gave a short nod and started to sit back at his desk.
“Ouch, Big Tuna.” Andy shook his head and made sympathetic noises. “You must have…,” He stopped when Jim just looked at him closed lipped and held up a warning hand. “Sorry,” he said contritely and made the key-locking motion by his now-closed mouth.
Dwight cocked his head in superiority as Jim sat. “We Schrutte men never have trouble with our women,” he said in grating tones. He leaned forward and made a pouty face. “Did wittle Jimmy not get the job, huh? Did Jimmy upset his little girlfriend?” He waggled his big head as he continued to make annoying little sounds.
Jim was just staring, untouched, at Dwight while tapping his pencil on the desk. Pam could feel herself bracing for what she was sure to come, but Jim just replied, “Wow, Dwight, two-for-two today,” as though impressed and went back to work.
Pam just stared in shock. This scared her. Her email bleeped.
It was from Jim. “Do you still have that list of Dwight’s passwords from the CIA file?” he had written.
She sighed in relief as she got out the file. He was okay.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Everyone arrive to work. Pam, along with everyone else, witnesses Jim and Karen's scene in the kitchen.
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Chapter End Notes:
Next: Jim and Pam whisper in the breakroom.
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