January 4, 2006
Jim was laying on his couch, thinking, and dreading going back to work tomorrow. Angela had called him twice today to complain about not having his lesson plans for the next month. Jim actually didn’t really know what he was going to do yet on the first day back. All he really knew is that when he was in high school, he hated teachers that on the first day back from vacation jumped right back in and made kids do tons of work. He decided he forgave them if they had a department head like Angela- it was difficult to fight what she wanted. Jim figured he would just try to engage the class in a discussion about what they did on Christmas break. Jim cared about his students and wanted to know about their lives, so he figured he could relate their break to English somehow.
As he so often did these days, Jim began to reminisce about his life. The last two months had been exhausting, but he had also enjoyed them tremendously. Kevin had asked him to help him coach the basketball team this year, though it wasn’t something Jim really liked; no, he absolutely loved it. He forgot about what it was like to be part of a team like that. He had played intramurals and pick-up games at Penn State, but had forgotten what it was like to put in work together and truly be a team that was fighting towards the same goal. And West Scranton was having its best basketball season since he had been in school. The football team had won its region, but fell in a close game in the second round of the playoffs. Which disappointed Jim for two reasons. First, he was upset that his school lost. He was disappointed more, however, that it meant an end to his Friday nights with Pam. It meant that he would have to be satisfied seeing her only during the work day, which was not nearly enough for him. He was starting to fall for her. Hard. Every day, he found some other endearing quality about her, and it was becoming more and more difficult to remember that she was getting married in a few months. Like the time he came in and saw her sketching at her desk.
“Hey, Pam.”
Pam jumped up in her seat. “Jeez, you scared me.”
“Sorry. Whatcha working on?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I just draw sometimes when I get bored.”
“Can I see it?”
“Um…I don’t…yeah, I guess, if you want. It’s not that good or anything…”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Jim said as he took the paper away from her. Jim looked at the drawing and saw what Pam had been working on. It was a drawing of Dwight’s coffee mug encased in Jello. Jim smiled at the memory. The drawing was perfect. “Wow. Pam, this is amazing.” Jim remembered that Pam had said she studied art at Marywood for a year until she quit school, but he had no idea she was so talented.
“Um,thanks.”
“Seriously, Pam, this is awesome. How’d you get to be so good at this?”
“Um, I dunno, “ Pam answered, starting to blush. “ I’ve always liked to draw, and I took all the classes they had in high school, and then in college, but…since then I haven’t really had time to, you know, work on my art as much.”
“Well, have you ever thought about maybe going to night school or something like that?”
“Not really. I just…it’s not really practical right now, ya know? I mean, Roy and I are going to get married soon, and we’ve been saving money for a while now and…night school is kind of expensive, and…well, it’s just a hobby, really.”
“Pam, this drawing is great. I really think you could make this more than a hobby. I mean…you’re too talented to be… stuck here behind this desk.” Jim paused for a second and then finished, “ You’ve gotta take a chance on something, ya know?”
“That’s nice of you to say, but I’m really fine with where I am, Jim. I’m happy here with Roy. Things are…fine. So there’s really no need to spend money on something that won’t lead to anything.”
Jim decided it was time to drop it. “Alright, sorry. Just trying to be helpful, I guess. You really are good at it.”
“Thanks. I know you didn’t mean anything by it. But, it’s just a hobby. I like it here. I mean, where else can I watch forty year old men make idiots of themselves?”
“True.”
Jim smiled at this memory, getting to see her artwork. She just really had no idea how amazing she really was, and it did bother him to see her sitting behind that desk when he knew she could be more, but was it really his place to tell her that? That should really be Roy’s job, Jim thought, before trying to push Roy out of his mind. That was not the person Jim wanted to be thinking about on the last day of his vacation. Pam’s art was amazing, though. Yet another reason to love her. He spent a pretty good chunk of his Christmas break thinking about her, what she was doing, and how much better his break would be if he got to share it with her. When Pam sent him a text message Christmas Day, he felt like he could walk on air, even though it only said ‘Merry Christmas!’ It was just so rare that he got to spend quality time with her. Which made times like the time in late November that much more precious to him.
It was the Wednesday after Thanksgiving. Jim had a good Thanksgiving, staying in town to spend the holiday with his family, including his older brother who drove in from Philadelphia with his daughter, Samantha, Jim’s five year old niece whom Jim loved playing with. That afternoon, Jim walked into the office to say good bye to Pam before he left. When she saw him, she started bouncing in her chair- it was obvious she was excited to see him. “What are you so happy about?” Jim asked, smiling at how cute she was.
“You will never believe what I found today.”
“What?”
“Okay, so you know how Michael went to meet with the school board today?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Well, he called me to go into his desk and read some jokes to him so that he could, and I quote, ‘blow their socks off and put their panties in a wad.’”
“Wait…that doesn’t make sense.”
“Did you forget this was Michael?”
“Ah.”
“So anyway, I got out his favorite joke book…”
“He has more than one joke book in his desk?”
“Again, you forget this is Michael we’re talking about.”
“Right.”
“So I read one of the jokes to him, and when I was putting the book back, I found this.” Pam put a small leather bound book on the counter that said ‘Diary’ on the front.
“Wait…is this…”
“Michael’s diary.”
“Oh, good work, Pam. Did you read it?”
“At first I felt kind of weird about it, but then I remembered that he’s forty-four years old and has a diary. I just couldn’t help myself.”
As she finished, Roy walked in to see Jim leaning over on the counter and talking with Pam. “What’s going on?” Roy asked with a voice that suggested he wasn’t thrilled with what was going on. Jim leaned back off of Pam’s counter.
“Nothing,” Pam answered.
“You two sure look chummy,” Roy said, looking at Jim, then at Pam.
“Just talking about work stuff,” Pam answered.
“Well, it’s time to go, babe.”
“Um, I kind of need to work late tonight. Just paperwork and stuff since Michael’s gone today.”
“Pam, c’mon, I’m going to play poker with Darryl tonight. I really need to get going.”
“Well, why don’t you leave the car with me and get a ride with Darryl?”
Roy looked between Jim and Pam again and narrowed his eyes a little when he looked at Jim. “Sure,” he finally said, handing Pam the keys.
“Great. See you at home,” Pam said as Roy walked out the door. As soon as Roy was gone, Pam rolled her eyes.
“What was that?” Jim asked.
“Nothing. I just hate it when Roy gets jealous. He doesn’t really like it when I talk with other guys, even if we’re just friends.”
“Yeah…”
“Jim?”
“Yes?”
“We’re friends, right?” Pam asked shyly.
“Of course we are,” Jim answered, shocked that she would even ask.
“Good,” Pam smiled. “So, do you want to read this diary with me?”
“Well, we don’t have basketball practice today, so absolutely, I do.”
“Good.”
The two of them spent 2 hours reading and laughing at the inner workings of Michael’s mind. Some of it, mainly the chapter about Ryan Howard, the senior class president was pretty disturbing. “’September 20,’” Jim read, “’I’m so glad our school has a leader like Ryan to work beside me. It’s just not right for a guy to be that good-looking. His wavy brown hair and deep blue eyes…sometimes I could just get lost in them. He’s such a good friend.’ Wow. That is…creepy,” Jim finished.
“Yeah,” Pam said. “You wouldn’t believe how many times Michael has taken him out of class to come into his office. Ryan always looks terrified when he goes in, and he usually stays for at least 45 minutes.”
“Doesn’t Michael know he has to go to class?”
“Jim, it’s Michael. He believes that he is helping prepare Ryan for life. One time, Ryan came out of Michael’s office saying that he had a test next period, and Michael said, ‘Pssh. None of these tests even matter, Ryan. What is most important is that you be ready for life. And who better to advise a good-looking guy like you than a handsome guy like me? Now get back in here, hot stuff.’” Pam looked Jim right in the eye so he knew she was serious, “ I am not exaggerating.”
“Wow,” Jim said, “how does Michael get away with that kind of thing?”
“Well, if you were Ryan, would you want people to know about this? I mean, Michael doesn’t do anything really bad; he just doesn’t have a filter over what he says. He really is a nice guy.”
“Yeah.” Just then, Jim heard Pam’s stomach growl. “Whoa, Beesly! What’s going on in there?”
“Shut up,” Pam laughed. “Guess I’ve gotten a little hungry.”
“Well, you want something to eat?”
“Yeah, I probably should get going…”
“Nope. If you leave, you’ll miss me making my specialty.”
“Your specialty?”
“Yup.”
“Well, I guess I can’t turn that down.”
“See, I’ve got you curious.”
“Yeah, you do,” Pam smiled up at him. Jim tried to push down the thought that there was more behind her curiosity included more than just his ‘specialty.’
“Alright, Beesly, off to the cafeteria.”
The two walked to the cafeteria, where Jim snuck in and made two grilled cheese sandwiches and set them down on a table. “My famous grilled cheese sandwiches,” Jim said with a flourish.
“Ah. Should have expected your specialty would be something that anyone over the age of 9 can make.”
“Pam, first of all, the sarcasm is not appreciated. Second of all, no one, and I mean no one, makes grilled cheese like this. Don’t be so quick to judge, Pam.”
“Okay, sorry,” Pam said with another smile. Another shot to Jim’s heart. “Here goes nothing.” Pam took a bite, tilted her head back and forth as if contemplating the merits of the sandwich, and said, “Pretty good, Halpert. My compliments to the chef.”
“I try.”
“I can’t remember the last time someone made me dinner,” Pam said.
Jim just smiled, and stifled a laugh when the image of Roy in a chef’s hat popped into his head.
Soon the two were saying good-bye in the parking lot. “I guess I’ll see you in,” Jim checked his watch, “12 hours.”
“What are you going to do with your time off?” Pam asked.
“Travel. I’m going to find myself, Pam.”
“Right.”
Jim began to put an ear bud in his ear. He had downloaded some new songs to his Ipod during his planning period today.
“You have new music?”
“Yeah.”
Pam stuck her hand out.
“Sure,” Jim said, handing her his other ear bud.
A couple of minutes later, Jim said, “I better get going. See you tomorrow.”
“Yup. Hey, Jim?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for the dance.”
“Any time, Beesly,” Jim answered with a smile.
As the memory faded, Jim wasn’t sure he was ready to go back to school tomorrow. He had been back many times throughout the break for basketball games and practices, but she hadn’t been there. That was one thing he didn’t know if he could handle anymore. Seeing her again would be the best thing of the day, but when it was over, it would be the worst thing of the day, because then he would remember that she wasn’t his and would never be his. Jim’s last thought before he rolled over for a nap was, When did my life get so complicated?
Author's Chapter Notes:
This is the day before school begins after winter break. Jim thinks about the last couple of months. Bits of this chapter obviously come from the series.
Chapter End Notes:
Next chapter: Basketball homecoming.
