The duck was distracting her.
Karen knew she should pay attention to Toby explaining their dental plan - after all she was the one who had come down to the annex with questions and it was hard enough to hear Toby sometimes, because he tended to mumble and slur just a little bit - but the duck in all its bright yellow glory would not be ignored.
“Why do you have a duck on your desk?” she interrupted.
He blinked and then looked at the duck too, puzzled, as if he weren't sure what it was doing there either. “I’m trying to get rid of it.”
“Why?”
He sat back in his chair, tapped his fingers against his desk. “Because it’s a... loser duck.”
Okay then.
Loser duck?
Maybe that was a Scranton thing.
“I---” Toby said, “won it for someone who didn’t want it.” He shook his head, looking bewildered by his own actions. “I spent so much money on that stupid claw machine.” He shook his head again. “I used all my laundry quarters.”
The way he said it was almost heartbreaking. It made her want to empty her purse looking for spare quarters for him.
“That sucks,” she said. And then, “Whoever it was, she’s not worth it.”
What did she know though? Suddenly she was the expert on relationships?
“I never stood a chance,” he said. “She’s…interested in someone else.”
He wouldn’t meet her eyes and she suddenly knew.
Pam.
What was it about Pam? Why was every man here in love with her?
“Tell me something,” she said, trying to keep bitterness out of her voice. “What is it about her?”
She would ask Toby this, because she was not able to ask Jim.
He finally met her eyes. “She’s nice to me.”
She was surprised by the simplicity of his answer. “That’s it?”
“It’s enough.”
“But there are plenty of women who’d be nice to you, Toby.”
He smiled, one of those weird sad smiles of his, and said, “You’d be surprised, Karen.”
She could almost cry at that.
How resigned he was.
And that was something she did not understand. She admittedly did not know Toby all that well, but she could tell he was intelligent.
Very nice, if a little on the reserved side.
Which was fine.
And he had a sort of rumpled appeal about him.
The sadness thing could work for him too; some women would see it as a challenge, wanting to cheer him up.
Wondering what it would take to make him happy.
To get that look of hopelessness out of his eyes.
“Don’t give up,” she said. “Don’t ever lose hope.”
She didn’t know why his well-being was suddenly so important to her.
She barely knew him.
Yet she had the sudden desire to hug him, to wrap her arms tightly around him and tell him everything would be okay.
He looked like he really needed to be hugged.
That would be weird though.
And she could probably be written up for something like that, right?
She decided against the hug.
She still wanted to do something though.
So she placed her hand on his, startling him. He watched her, looking almost suspicious before relaxing a little, and she suddenly had a very unsettling thought.
I would think it was sweet if a guy won me a duck.
And then she had an even stranger thought.
If I had met you before I met Jim, I think I'd want to be the one to make you happy.
And that thought was a little too strange to process so she removed her hand from his and stood up quickly, banging her leg against the chair in the process.
Smooth.
“Thank you, Karen,” he said softly.
“You’re welcome,” she said, wincing a little. “Remember what I said. Don’t lose hope. Don't give up.”
He nodded. “I’ll try.”
“And get that damn duck off your desk.”
As she slowly hobbled away, she smiled when she heard Toby offer the duck to Kelly.
--
It was good advice, she thought later to herself.
Don’t lose hope. Don’t give up.
She actually believed that.
Which was why she wouldn’t meet Jim’s eyes when she told him that she thought Pam and Toby would make a cute couple.
She knew she wouldn’t want to see his reaction.
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© 2006-2023 More Than That | Skin created by Kali
© 2006-2023 More Than That | Skin created by Kali