--1--

She comes in with her hair pulled back into a bun, held by one of those fabric scrunchy things.  Mid-morning, she sends him an email saying that their hot water heater had conked out and she had decided that no shower was better than an ice-cold one, and if he really was a gentleman he would stop staring and just deal with the grossness.

He saunters over to her desk to raid the jelly beans and to do his best to prove that he’s not totally repulsed.  As he leans over to comment on her solitaire game, his eyes keep straying to the exposed curve of her neck.  Once he starts thinking about how she’d react if he kissed her just below the ear, he can’t get the image out of his head.

--2--

Her reaction is this: a breathless little gasp, a tilt of her head to give better access, and a throaty chuckle that makes the hairs on the backs of his arms stand up.  Then she shrieks and pushes Roy away, laughing.  Jim thinks there might have been teeth involved at that point, but he’s stopped watching.

--3--

She and Roy have been arguing again.  She ignores him the first few times he comes into the office, but eventually lets him lead her out into the hallway.  When she’s not back after twenty minutes, Jim grabs a box of tissues and goes looking.

She’s sitting in the stairwell, arms wrapped around her knees, tears on her face but no longer crying.  She tenses up and looks away when he sits down next to her.  After a while, she takes a tissue, wipes her face, and leans against his side.

They stay there for several long moments, listening to each other breathe.  She stands.  “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”  She goes back inside.

He rubs his hands over his face.  “Yeah,” he sighs heavily, “I know.”

--4--

She’s not speaking to him except in unavoidable work-related situations.  He’d had no idea how she would react when he came back into her life, but “coldly polite” wasn’t an option he’d considered.  Once the shock wore off, he got angry back.  What right did she have to be pissed at him?  He was the one who’d gotten his heart ripped out and stepped on.  Twice.

It’s been just over a month since the Scranton and Stamford offices merged.  Everyone’s on edge.  For Jim, it’s a whole new circle of hell.  After nine months of moving forward, moving on, he’s back exactly where he started.

He decides he’s had enough and tries to corner her in the break room.  The awkward dance they do as she realizes his intent and tries to deflect him would be funny if it weren’t so infuriating.  Finally she relents, crossing her arms over her chest and hunching her shoulders.  The look on her face is one of mixed fury, exasperation, and resignation.  He’s seen it before, but never directed at him.

He used to rescue her from people who made her look like that.  He wonders when he became that guy.

--5--

When he gets back to his desk after a marathon negotiating session in Michael’s office, there is a small white box and a card-sized envelope perched on his keyboard.  He glances over at her but she’s not looking at him.  Pointedly, studiously not looking at him.

He sinks into his chair and opens the card.  The front is an unremarkable landscape; he vaguely recognizes it from a pack she got when she donated to some charity.  On the inside is a note in her loopy schoolgirl’s handwriting.  “Dear Jim, It turns out Hallmark doesn’t make a card that says ‘I’m sorry I was totally blind and tormented you for so long, and I’m looking forward to spending the rest of my life making it up to you.’  Trust me, I looked everywhere.  But I think I found something that might help the process along.  Love, Pam”

He catches her eye, raising one brow.  She smiles back archly.  He notes the beginning of a blush spreading across her face.  He’s intrigued.

In the box is a set of handcuffs.