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Story Notes:
I couldn't help but think about poor Jim and how horribly it must suck for him right now. So here's a look at our poor Mr. Halpert during "The Michael Scott Paper Company."
Author's Chapter Notes:
The title is from the song by Joshua Radin. I'm kind of mildly obsessed with Joshua Radin right now.
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.



It's hard. Her being downstairs and him being upstairs, and neither of them being happy.


She's called four times already that morning, to complain mostly about Ryan, and about how cold it is in their glorified closet, and about how they can hear when someone above them uses the bathroom, but mostly about Ryan.


Ryan is making her life a living hell, and Jim has to admit that while Ryan might fail at a lot of things, he's pretty awesome at making people's lives hell. He's got a nice little list going. Kelly. Jim. Pam. Pretty much the entire staff at corporate, and Jim would venture to guess the whole staff at the bowling alley. And maybe the country of Thailand, if Ryan actually did go to Thailand.


Jim wants to be supportive, because he knows that the harsh lights of Dunder Mifflin were slowly killing her. He knows that the copier was the nail in the coffin, and he wants her to be happy.


It's just that it would be a whole lot easier to be supportive if she was happy. And not stuck in a closet with Michael and Ryan with one lousy laptop and no heat.


He has to remind himself that just a few weeks ago they were pretty damn content. He got to work ten feet away from her, and he knew that he was a favorite of both Michael's and David Wallace's, and he didn't have to try hard to get praise, and he didn't have to feel like he was constantly screwing up. He wasn't worried about his job, and he got to stare at Pam, and how in the world did those days become the good old days?


Now she's in a closet, and he's in hot water with the new boss, and the worst part is there's a new girl in Pam's chair, and Pam keeps calling and crying a little on the phone and he can't fix any of it.


Jim is about as frustrated as he can get, and he's about to walk into Charles' office and put his two weeks in, because he's sure Michael will hire him, and maybe he and Pam will lose their house, but at least he can be a buffer between her and Ryan, and at least they'll get to spend time together before it all goes to hell, and at least he won't have to feel so helpless and incompetent all the time, when the phone rings.


It's Pam, and her voice is so bright and happy and she keeps stumbling over her words, as they fall out of her mouth, tripping over one another in order to get out fast enough.


"I made a sale!" She keeps repeating, and he can feel her grin through the phone and through the floor boards. "Oh my God, Jim! I made a sale!"


"I'm so excited for you!" Jim says, and he hangs up after she gushes a few minutes longer about her sale and how Michael just hung up their first dollar on the wall and how this might work out after all. They laugh about her being a co-founder of the Michael Scott Paper Company and what to do with all her money once the company goes public and she fills his head with ideas of retiring early and spending their time painting and traveling.


Charles nods at him when he slips out of the door at five, and the new girl, the new Pam, smiles at him when he slips on his coat and this job is sucking on a whole new level, but it's nothing he can't handle. Because Pam is happy, and really that's all that counts.


He's out before her, waiting by their car and he waves a little at Ryan's mom, and he lights up when he sees the Dream Team of Michael Scott Paper Company head out the door. Pam's smile threatens to break her face in half and she's in his arms in a few seconds and he's okay.


They wave to Michael as Jim opens the door for her, and on the way home, she bounces in her seat.


"We should go out and celebrate!" Pam exclaims, her fingers dance along his arm. "It's not every day that I make my first sale. This is big, Jim!"


"I know, Bees," Jim sneaks a kiss as they wait for a red light. "Where should we go?"


"That new Thai place? Or maybe we should just order in and celebrate the two of us?" Pam's eyes sparkle and he sees a glint of mischief and she can't stop smiling and he can't stop smiling and who knew that Michael was capable of putting together an actual company and that working with Michael would make Pam this happy?


"I really like option number two," Jim replies. "Especially after the day I had." Pam nods, reaching for his hand. She knows that his day went basically like the beginning of hers had. Knows about the rundown and about how Jim feels like an idiot ninty percent of the time now at work, and he can see her torn between being happy about the good ending to her day and being sympathetic.


"Jim," she starts.


"Hey," he smiles at her. "We're celebrating your night. We're not going to talk about that." Tomorrow, he decides, tomorrow he can worry about Charles and about losing his job and about how hard it is to not see her eight hours out of the day.


Tonight is about small victories.


bashert is the author of 37 other stories.
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