DISCLAIMER: I don't own The Office, or any of the characters. For entertainment only.
Do you ever get lonely, baby?
Don't you ever get tired of living that way?
Don't you ever wonder whether there's a better life out there?
-“Lonely”, Shannon Noll
“So Pam, a bunch of us are going to carpool tomorrow. Do you want to come, or are you and Roy just going to find your own way?” Pam briefly looked up from the game of solitaire she had open on her computer to see Phyllis standing at her desk.
“Why are you leaving tomorrow? The wedding's not until Saturday.”
“Bob Vance thought it might be fun to go early since we haven't seen Jim in so long. Then I asked Stanley if he wanted to come too, and Kelly overheard. You know how she is.” Pam nodded, thinking about this. Ever since they had all received invitations to Jim's wedding last month it had been a constant topic of discussion in the office. He'd left three years ago for Stamford and apparently met some girl there. Her name was Carrie or Karen or something like that. Pam had found it a little awkward that he had invited all of the people from Scranton, seeing has the only people he kept in contact with were Kevin, for fantasy football, and Michael, who he had seen at a few business conferences which Pam had heard all about. She honestly wasn't looking forward to going, but it's not as if she were jealous. Her third anniversary with Roy had just passed, and while things could be better between them, it certainly wasn't horrible. And she almost never thought about Jim anymore.
“Pam? What do you think?” Pam snapped out of her little trance quickly.
“Um, I don't know.” She lowered her voice considerably and leaned closer to Phyllis. “Is Michael going?”
Phyllis laughed a little at this. “He doesn't know about the carpool. Don't worry, Dwight doesn't either so hopefully they'll just get the hint when we all take tomorrow off, and go on their own.”
“OK,” Pam responded. “I'll ask Roy at lunch and then get back to you.”
“That sounds good.” Pam turned back to her computer screen, but Phyllis didn't leave. “I hope things aren't weird with you and Jim, you know because you guys had that thing before he left.” Phyllis raised her eyebrows and Pam felt her face turn red.
“Uh, no. I'm sure it will be...fine.” As if on cue, Roy walked in just then and Pam leapt out of her seat to meet her husband. “Roy, I need to talk to you,” She told him, and pulled him close for a quick kiss before dragging him into the hallway.
“Geez, if you wanted a quickie all you had to do was say so. We can run home if you want,” Roy smirked, but Pam just rolled her eyes.
“No, I just wanted to know when you wanted to leave for Jim's wedding. I guess some people are carpooling tomorrow.”
“Oh God,” Roy said, throwing his head back. “Do we really have to go to that? I mean come on Pammy, you haven't seen Halpert in what, two years?”
“Three years,” Pam corrected quietly.
“He probably won't even notice if no one from Scranton shows up. The guy was a douche.”
“He was my friend.” Pam shot back, getting defensive. “You don't have to go, I'll just ride with Phyllis and Bob.” By saying this, she was hoping that he would feel guilty and apologize before agreeing to go.
“Thank God. And I guess if no one's coming in tomorrow, I'll take a day off too. You can lie for me, right Pammy? Tell them I'm sick?” Pam rolled her eyes again, but nodded.
“I'll just tell everyone you caught one of those 24 hour viruses or something.” She replied, almost sarcastically.
“Great, that's perfect Pam.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek, but Pam turned away this time. “What's wrong? Are you mad at me over this?”
“I'm not mad.” Pam told him.
“Good. Then I'll see you at home, OK?” Pam nodded again as he squeezed her arm and walked away. She didn't blame him, really. Jim and Roy had never gotten along, and Roy didn't even know about the one kiss Jim and Pam had shared, right before he transferred to Stamford. She closed her eyes for a second and suddenly he was there with her, putting his hands on her waist, pulling her close, his lips on hers and she'd just given in, wanting it just as much as he had. When she opened her eyes again, it was all gone and she was just standing in the hallway alone. That was how it was supposed to be. She shouldn't be thinking about kisses she'd had with other men when she was happily married. At least, that's what she told herself as she walked back to her desk.
- - - - - - - - - -
“So I really can't see the dress?”
“No!” Karen said for what was probably the hundredth time. “It's bad luck Halpert, how many times do I have to tell you that?” She was smiling though, as she scolded the man who in two days she would be marrying.
“See, I always thought the bad luck was seeing the bride in the dress. Not just seeing the dress.”
“Why do you want to see it so bad anyway?”
“Because what if it's hideous? What if it's so ugly that everyone is making fun of you all day? I'm just trying to save you some embarrassment, that's all.” Karen's mouth dropped open and she playfully slapped her fiancée.
“So have you talked to any of your old friends from Scranton? They're all coming right?” Karen asked, changing the subject. Jim got quiet here, then cleared his throat.
“Yeah. Yeah, they all RSVP'd, so I think so.”
“Good. I can't wait to meet these people from the famous Scranton branch. Anyone who I should be prepared for? I mean, besides Dwight and Michael, obviously.”
“That's it,” Jim replied, as Dwight's face popped into his mind. He really couldn't imagine how much he had changed- or not changed- in three years. Then the faces of his former coworkers kept scrolling through his head, one by one. Oscar, Stanley, Angela, and even Ryan, who had since been promoted to the big time job in New York.
“What about the girls? Do I need to be jealous?” Karen asked this as a joke, but she really didn't know the half of it. Jim tried not to think about Pam anymore, but there were still points when he wished that he could talk to her, just because no one got his humor quite like she did. There was actually a guy at Stamford who she would have loved to prank with him. This guy named Andy who had a strange love for singing in a sometimes high falsetto voice, the exact kind that she couldn't stand.
“No, I don't think so,” Jim laughed off her comment and then kissed her, wrapping his arms around her trying to shake the image of Pam from his mind. He hesitated sending her an invitation because of the way things had ended between them, but he couldn't send one to everyone from Scranton except her and Roy could he?
“Relax Halpert,” Karen pulled away, laughing. “Save it for the honeymoon.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
So this is my first Office fic. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated. Basically, it's what might have happened if the Stamford branch had never closed, and if Pam went through with her wedding to Roy. It starts off kind slow, I know, but hopefully it will get better in time.
