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Author's Chapter Notes:
This chapter is actually a part of a larger story I'm working on, but that is indefinitely stalled, so I thought I would put it in with this.
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.



Unfortunate Coincidence

By the time you swear you're his,
Shivering and sighing,
And he vows his passion is
Infinite, undying -
Lady, make a note of this:
One of you is lying.

-- Dorothy Parker


They had shared "I love you's" over cold Chinese food.

She expertly fished pieces of shrimp from the carton with chopsticks while watching him sloppily stab at noodles with a fork. She loved him most in these unguarded moments, the times when that dark storm cloud wasn't in his eye. What scared her most was that she loved him at all. Loved. She had moved for him, had been intent on starting a new life because of him (hopefully with him). Things had been great in Stamford. They never had a fight and he had always been fun to be around. There was none of this brooding that he seemed to excel in. If she hadn't been so sure about this love thing, she would have walked. She would have broken up with him before it got out of control, before it put her career in jeopardy, but now she was way past that. She was already thinking about introducing him to her parents, which was terrifying. That was Serious-with-a-capital-S. The last guy that met her parents was her date for the senior prom, so this was kind of a shock.

The basketball game went to commercial and he leaned back on the couch, the food carton balancing precariously on his knee.

"Jim," she said quietly. She set the food carton on the coffee table and turned to face him. "I love you."

His eyes widened and his body jerked almost imperceptibly. The carton of Chinese food spilled on the floor. He looked at it and grinned sheepishly. As he stared down at the mess, he replied quietly, "Me too."

It hadn't been the passionate display she had been hoping for, but she was willing to work with it. Maybe it was too early for him to say it back. She could forgive that for now. She knew something was bothering him lately, something he couldn't share with her just yet. She hid her frown by kissing his cheek.

"I'll get paper towel," she said. "You planning to spill anything else or are you good?"

He smirked. "I should be fine for a while. But you have that white carpet in the bedroom that I've been dying to spill red wine on, so... fingers crossed."

She smiled, kissed him again and went into the kitchen.

Jim let out a breath of air and ran his hand through his hair. He was pretty sure he had just told Karen he loved her. He couldn't really be sure. He knew it probably wasn't the sort of reaction she had been hoping for. Normally emotional revelations didn't involve lo mein on the living room rug. Actually, he didn't think they involved lo mein at all. He would have to ask his father about that. The last person he had said "I love you" to (and had them say it back to him) was Susan Waters in college. And she had dumped him the day before graduation because she couldn't see things working after college. They were "going in different directions" she had said. That "different direction" had been four blocks away from Dunder-Mifflin - the hospital where she worked as a nurse.

So now Karen was officially the last person he had (sort of) said "I love you" to. But that didn't make her the last person he actually loved.

He helped her clean the food off the rug and tried not to think any more about love. It was bad enough he thought about it any time he answered a damn telephone.

"Sorry about this," he said as he scooped noodles back into the container.

"Hey, forget it," she replied. "I'll live."

He wondered if he was the only one who had been talking about the botched "I love you" attempt. He watched her carry the mess into the kitchen and tried, honestly tried, to understand why he couldn't just love her back. It would be so much easier if he could just give himself over to her. He didn't want to feel this way anymore. He didn't want to lay awake at night with Karen sleeping beside him and wonder if she was awake in another part of the city. It wasn't right and it wasn't fair, but it was better than alone. Maybe that's what Karen thought, too. Maybe she was just better at throwing herself into the lie.

Karen came back into the room with a glass of white wine and settled back on the couch. She took a small sip and set the glass on the table.

"I thought about red, but you know, you can't be trusted," she said, grinning.

He smiled back but couldn't think of anything to say, so he turned back to the television.

Tonight would have been okay, maybe even one of their overall best in Scranton, if she hadn't said those three little words.

They both knew it, but only one of them was willing to admit it right now.


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