The next month passed by quickly and quietly. There were no more pranks. No laughs over a shared can of coke. Nothing that hinted to any remnant of what used to be. They came to work, did their jobs and went home. Him with Karen and her…by herself. Karen was nice enough. She was beautiful and sophisticated. The kind of woman more suited for a high corporate position than as a salesperson in a paper company. She could make Jim laugh and could probably show him more about the world than Pam ever could. Pam would kick herself when she would catch herself staring at the back of Jim’s neck. They didn’t talk except when they had too. Sometimes he would throw a smile her way when Michael had done something particularly annoying. At first Pam would look forward to those glances…the flash in his eyes…his smile. But as time passed he shared more of those knowing looks with Karen and less with Pam. Pam was tired. She was tired of trying to pretend that her heart didn’t ache every time she would see Karen lean in close to him. She was tired of pretending to be okay with the fact that Karen would often ask Pam for ideas of romantic restaurants in the area. She needed a break. Time away from Dunder Mifflin, from Scranton and most of all…from Jim.
*Ring** Ring**
“Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam.” her tone flat and expressionless.
“Oh good! Just the person I was trying to reach!” the voice on the other end exclaimed. “It’s Jan. Is this a good time to talk?”
Pam looked around the office. Michael was locked in his office with his head on his desk and like usual no one else was even looking her way.
“Yes.”
“Great. Well here’s the thing. I know the last time we talked you told me that you weren’t going to be able to take the art internship that the company offers, but I just wanted to call and let you know that another internship has opened up.”
Pam’s heart caught in her throat.
“It starts in January.” Jan continued. “I just wanted to call and see if you would be at all interested.”
Pam was stunned. Here she was sitting and thinking about how she could possibly leave Scranton and no less then ten minutes later a reason fell into her lap.
“Well what does it entail?” she asked.
“Well this one is a little different than the one before.” Jan said. “It’s a paid graphic arts internship and you’d actually get to do a lot of work with some big companies here in the city. The only thing is that you’d actually have to come and live in New York for the duration of the internship. The company has an apartment available so housing wouldn’t be a problem.”
“How long is the internship?”
“6 months.” Jan said. “Don’t worry though. Your job will be available to you when you are done or perhaps there will be a higher position that you can interview for.”
6 months? Wow. Pam didn’t know what to say. She looked up from her computer to see Jim at Karen’s desk bent down close to her ear laughing about something. It was at that moment that something inside of her snapped. She straightened herself up and gripping the phone tightly said, “You know what Jan? I am very interested in the internship. I’ll take it.”
“Great! I am so glad to hear it!” Jan said. “I’m going to need you to come to New York
as soon as possible to work out some details and sign some things.”
“Well…I’m going to have to tell Michael…” Pam began.
“No…don’t worry about Michael. I have to send paperwork about it to him anyways, so I will take care of that.”
Pam took a deep breath. “Oh…okay well…I guess I can be in New York tomorrow.”
“Really? That’s great! We’ll just have you sign some things and then you can be back home in time for Christmas. Well, Pam…I am so excited that you‘ve decided to do this. I think it will be a really good experience for you.”
“I think so too. Thanks.” said Pam.
“I will see you sometime tomorrow.” Jan said and with a click the line went dead.
Pam slowly hung up the phone. She was in shock. Did she really just agree to a six month internship in New York? Doubt almost instantly clouded her thoughts, but she pushed them away. She needed to do this. Needed to make a change.
The rest of the day was a blur. Pam sat quietly through Angela’s Nutcracker Christmas party. She watched numbly as Jim and Karen hugged over their gifts to each other. Only when Jim said goodbye at the end of the day did she snap out her trance long enough to mutter, “goodbye”.
Then it hit her. This was it. She was leaving. She wasn’t going to see Jim anymore. She was finally fulfilling her dream of working in art and yet when she had pictured it before Jim was always a part of it. She waited until everyone had left for the night before she took her few personal items from her desk and put them in a small box. Her hand lingered on the gold medal made from a yogurt lid and paper clips that hung from her lamp. Slowly she picked it up and fingered it gently. It was amazing how something so small could mean so much to her and yet it was why she was leaving. She carefully placed the medal inside the box and with one last look around the office she pushed open the door and was gone.
