Jim hated airports. He hated the white harshness of the lighting and the glare of the sun through the glass ceiling. It gave him a headache and today was no different. He swallowed three Advils with a mouthful of water and as he scanned the departures board he let out a long sigh. The board told him that his flight to London was delayed. It had been telling him the same thing for the past two hours and still there was no announcement from the airline as to when the flight was going to leave.
He found one of the few remaining spare seats and re-read the sports section of the newspaper. He winced as a toddler next to him drove a plastic truck into his shin and tried not to show how much it hurt when the boy’s mother apologised. Jim scanned the board again and shook his head when the ‘Delayed’ sign flashed next to his flight number.
He hadn’t wanted to come. He was snowed under at work and could ill afford what would end up being an entire week away from the office. But when David Wallace had called on him a few weeks ago and told him that he needed him to take on a new account, what could he do? Wallace had been good to him and besides he was the boss. After hearing that the Stamford branch was to be closed, Jim had approached Jan and explained that he would rather not return to Scranton. This information was passed to David Wallace and he had personally called Jim and invited him to try out for a position at the corporate offices. Jim got the job and hadn’t looked back since.
Three years later, he had an office of his own, a sweet company car, an apartment and a salary that he sometimes thought he didn’t deserve. So, when Wallace asked him to take something on, Jim didn’t hesitate.
There was a lot riding on getting this new account signed off. Dunder Mifflin, much to the surprise of its employees and some of the bigger paper companies had enjoyed something bordering on a stellar growth spurt in the past couple of years. By downsizing and shutting down some of its less profitable branches and streamlining the corporate offices, the mid-sized paper company concentrated on what it did best – selling reasonably priced paper products and following up its sales with first class customer service. Once they secured a client, Dunder Mifflin didn’t let them go and by using their loyal customer base as a springboard, the company had started to look beyond American shores and seek out new opportunities abroad. The Brussels and Frankfurt offices opened six months ago and the opening of the London branch was scheduled for a month’s time.
Jim was to meet with the managing director of Germane Paper Supplies on Monday to try and convince her that she should entrust Dunder Mifflin with their business. The deal was slightly more complicated than was normal – ‘Germane’ supplied paper to, among its private clients, all the civil service offices in the Capital. They were looking to sub-contract the civil service work out to another supplier and David Wallace had managed to get Dunder Mifflin’s name on the tender short list.
For the past two weeks, Jim had absorbed every fact about the size of the operation and his head was so full of information that he worried that when it came to it he wouldn’t remember what was important when making his pitch on Monday morning. A random fact whizzed through his brain: almost 17% of the half a million British civil servants work in London and these workers are spread out over a vast number of offices. Great, but what was his opening statement again? Hell, hadn’t he just gone through this with Wallace the day before? Now he could only remember parts of the script.
His head continued to throb and he wondered how much worse his day could get.
Apparently, it could get much worse. He spied Dwight leaning up against one of the check-in desks and took in the bewildered expression on the check-in guy’s face. It was an expression he knew only too well. What the hell was Dwight doing at the airport? Jim actually rubbed his eyes a couple of times, as if doing so would erase what was right in front of him. Michael entered the frame and he sighed again. He had spotted Michael about a half hour before and even though he expected to see his old boss at some point over the next few days, he considered how twisted fate could be. With all the flights going to London, they were booked on the exact same one. But now Dwight was here also and Jim felt a familiar sinking feeling in his gut.
Jim turned his back on them in the hope that they wouldn’t see him. He wasn’t up to making conversation.
Finally, a bored female voice announced that flight BA597 had just landed and that once the aircraft had been cleaned and re-fuelled, it would take off again for London. The estimated time of departure was now 3pm – a little over four hours late.
Jim yawned and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands. The pain was now primarily located at the front of his head, so that he struggled to keep his eyes open. A wave of nausea caused his stomach to lurch and he gripped his slides and quelled a groan. The kid was back; a tall blond girl in tow – he assumed this must be his older sister. She squeezed into the seat next to him and flipped open her cell phone. After trying, unsuccessfully, to block out the sound of her voice, which seemed to grow shriller each time she took a breath, he relinquished his seat and wandered around the airport lounge again. All the while he kept a wary eye out for his old colleagues from Scranton.
Later
Three hours later he was sat in his seat attempting to prise open his meal without allowing steam to leak out and burn his hand when Michael threw himself into the chair next to him.
“Jimmy boy, Jimble, Jimboobs…how’s it going, my friend?”
“Er good, Michael, thanks and you?”
“I'm great, my old compardre. All is fine and dandy with the ‘Scrantonites’. How goes it in the big city?”
“Good. So, I thought I saw Dwight earlier…is he on this flight? Is he coming to London, Michael?” His voice had taken on a slightly desperate tone.
“Ughhh. He wanted to come along to support me and although I tried to dissuade him, his persistence wore me down. He’s here in an unofficial capacity; let’s just leave it at that.”
“What does that mean, Michael?”
“It means that he'll play no part in our meeting and that he paid for his own flight and accommodation and is using up his vacation time on this trip.” Michael said wearily.
“Wow. You just don’t see that level of dedication every day.” Jim said only half joking.
“Hmm? What was that?” Michael said, his attention caught by two blonde flight attendants wheeling a drinks trolley in their direction.
“What are you having, Jimbo?” He said excitedly.
“May I have a coke please?” Jim asked one of the women.
“A coke…a coke? Ha! Put a little vodka in that could you…erm, Laura?” Michael said as he strained to read her name badge.
“Nope. Just a coke please and whatever he’s having.” Jim’s stomach plummeted into his sneakers as he caught the look in Michael’s eye.
“Why thank you, kind sir. I’ll have a flaming orgasm young lady stewardess.”
“We don’t offer cocktails sir.”
“I was kidding…did you see the look on this guy’s face, Laura?”
Jim said nothing as Michael changed his order twice more before settling on a rum and coke.
“So, what’s the plan, Jim? How we gonna play this thing? Good cop, bad cop?” Michael bounced around in the seat like a hyperactive child.
“You mean the business meeting?”
“Obviously, now what’s the dealio? You wanna meet up tomorrow night so we can compare notes and strategise before the meeting?”
“Look, I know this might be a little weird, Michael but I’m going to be leading the meeting okay. You're here for support and input; I’m going to need you to take your cue from me and so yes, I think a pre-meeting might be a good idea. I was going to suggest that we meet up after dinner tomorrow night at the hotel – say around 9 p.m. “
“Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t we all have dinner together and we can talk over ideas etcetera?”
“I have a prior appointment, Michael.”
“For corporate?”
“Um, yeah.”
“Man, they really got you busting your balls huh? What’s the point of a trip to London if all you’re gonna do is work?”
“Well, it is a business trip – that’s kind of the idea.”
“BFD, what Corporate doesn’t know, won’t hurt them…you follow?”
Jim didn’t answer. His headache, which had starting to ease off, was now back with a vengeance and so in the end he told Michael that he needed to get some sleep. He fended off numerous questions about why he should need to sleep – was it because he was out partying till all hours in the big smoke? Was it because he was worn out from spending the night with a hot woman, or two? And so it went on.
He was surprised to discover that he had actually fallen asleep; something he had never managed to do on a flight before. There was still a dull thumping sensation at the back on his head, but the intense pain had subsided, as had the nausea. He checked his watch; there was a little over an hour to go before they would touch down at Heathrow.
When at last they made their descent his stomach lurched again, but this time for an entirely different reason. He watched out of the small window as the ground came into view and he tried to take in the fact that she was down there somewhere. She was going about her day somewhere down there. It was hard to believe. But it had been three years and everything was different now.
*********************************************************
"Landing In London" – Three Doors Down
I woke up today in London
As the plane was touching down
And all I could think about was Monday
And maybe I’ll be back around
If this keeps me away much longer
I don’t know what I will do
You’ve got to understand its a hard life
That I’m going through
And when the night falls in around me
I don’t think I’ll make it through
I’ll use your light to guide the way
Cause all I think about is you
Well L.A is getting kinda crazy
And New York is getting kinda cold
I keep my head from getting lazy
I just cant wait to get back home
And all these days I spend away
I’ll make up for this I swear
I need your love to hold me up
When its all too much to bear
And when the night falls in around me
I don’t think I’ll make it through
I’ll use your light to guide the way
Cause all I think about is you
And all these days I spend away
I’ll make up for this I swear
I need your love to hold me up
When its all too much to bear
When the night falls in around me
I don’t think ill make it through
I’ll use your light to guide the way
Cause all I think about is you
Story Notes:
I wanted to take Jim and Pam out of the US and bring them home with me. I think they're going to like London Town…but I’ll let you be the judge of that. Each chapter is named after a song inspired by or about London and I have added the song lyrics at the end, in case you're interested.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter End Notes:
Hope you liked it.
Next chapter: Camden Town Rain...coming soon.
BA
xxx
Next chapter: Camden Town Rain...coming soon.
BA
xxx
