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Ok, I'm responding to my own challenge.
This is my first time writing Holly. Or Michael. So...

Disclaimer: The characters of "The Office", do not belong to me. I'm just playing with them for a while.

I think about him sometimes. Okay, all the time. Two months have gone by, and I still can't listen to a Bruce Springsteen song (or a Huey Lewis song... or "Fast Car") without feeling my throat get all tight. "Life is a Highway" played on the radio one day on the way in to work, and I had to pull over because I couldn't see the road through my tears... I was pretty much a mess in work that day.
Also, I can't hear the vaguest sexual innuendo without almost bursting out with "That's what she said."

It's really weird, though; we were only together together for two weeks before I had to leave, and yet here I am, two months later, not having moved on yet. But I didn't just lose a boyfriend. I lost a best friend.

The new guy at work asked me out once, and I declined, not because he wasn't attractive or smart or interesting, but because I knew I'd be comparing him to Michael all the time. I didn't tell him that, of course. I just told him I'd just gotten out of a relationship and wasn't ready to date, which is pretty much true. No one could measure up to Michael now, now that I know what it's like to find someone who just totally gets me. I didn't have to hide my quirks. I could talk in stupid voices all I wanted, and he would join in. He wouldn't look at me like the other guys have in the past, like 'Ha ha, that's kind of cute right now, but I hope you're not this weird all the time.' I mean, there was that one time where we were in bed, all tangled up and snuggled into each other- Michael is literally the most affectionate man I've ever been with. He just wants to give his love and receive love in return, and I really don't understand how the other women he's been with didn't appreciate that as much as they should have- but anyway, we were in bed having one of our goofy after-sex conversations, trying to list all of the famous Hollys we could think of. He said Holly Berry, and I said that, no that's the name of a candle and that her name is actually Halle. And then he said "The Muppet Show" and I said, "no I think you mean 'Under the Umbrella Tree'." And then we laughed at each other for knowing an obscure kids' show from the early 90s. And then we started singing the "Muppet Show" theme at the same time, including the different voices (I liked his Gonzo the best), and he got half the words wrong, but they were better than the original ones anyway.

It's Christmas Eve, now, and I wonder what he's doing. I'm hoping he has someone to spend it with, because I could just imagine him being alone, and the thought breaks my heart. Maybe he'll see his mom, but I know he hates Jeff, so...

It's really sad that we've ended up here, because I loved him. I really did. I do. But everything was so new, we were both afraid to truly commit to anything as huge as one of us finding a new job in order to stay together. It seems so idiotic now that we let that break us up when we both felt the way we did.

I pick up the phone on impulse, dial his number, and wait through his ring-back tone- he'd changed it to "Sexy Back"- and I sit anxiously on the edge of my couch. The song is abruptly interrupted by his voice, sounding weary and a little sad.

"Hey. Michael."

I hear him do that thing he does when he's shocked by something; where his mouth smacks open and he inhales- almost snorts. "Holly?"

"Um, yeah. Hi."

"Hi. Hey. Wow, um." His voice is soft. "Merry Christmas."

"Yeah, you too."

"No, Happy HOLLY-days."

I could hear the prideful smile in his voice. I laugh. The first real laugh in two months. "Good one."

"Thanks. I try." He pauses. "So,"

"So... How are things?"

"Okay... Well, the Christmas party sucked. Meredith lit her hair on fire, which was kind of cool for a minute. But then I tried to take her to rehab and she wouldn't go."

"Amy Winehouse," we both say at the same time.

"You have plans tomorrow?" I ask. 

"Nope. Christmas in the condooo. I was thinking of maybe having some Chinese delivered, some 'Twilight Zone' marathon action..."

"No Michael, That's... that's not Christmas."

"Yeah well, my mom's spending it with Jeff. Euchh, I hate that guy. I wouldn't go near their Christmas gathering with... a ten foot pole. And nobody in the office invited me over..."

"Why don't you come here?"

"Whh... Really??"

"Yeah. Yes."

"You don't have other plans?"

"No, I spent time with my family tonight. Tomorrow's totally free. I know it's a really long drive for you, though. So I totally understand if you--"

"No! I'll leave right now."

"You can wait until tomorrow! It's pretty late now."

"No, it's not. I just had a bunch of coffee, so it's all good."

"No, that's not safe. Get a couple hours of sleep and leave in the morning."

I hear him sigh a gust of air through his nose. "Oh all right. I'll see you tomorrow, then. Early, though. I'll leave here at 2 AM, I think."

I laugh. I've always loved his enthusiasm. "I'm looking forward to it."

"Holly?"

"Yes?"

"I really... I've missed you." His voice is quiet, and earnest. "I couldn't even go back into the annex anymore after you left. Stupid Toby was back for a week before I even knew it. He took your place, and I hate that. It really sucks. I tried to get rid of him by framing him for drugs and it didn't work."

"I've missed you too, Michael," I say almost in a whisper, my throat getting tight from holding back the tears.

He sighs and then clears his throat. "Okay, then. I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Michael."

"Goodnight." He doesn't hang up yet, though.

I shake my head and smile. I feel like a smitten sixteen year old... "You hang up first."

"No, you hang up first."

"Michael..."

"Okay." He snort-laughs. "I'm hanging up now."

"Goodnight, Michael."

"'Night."

I close my phone, sit back against the couch with my legs folded underneath me, and smile at my phone until my face hurts.



PuffingNoise is the author of 41 other stories.



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