“Yeah, I’m really glad he said that. I mean, I don’t think he’s into me, or anything, but…I’m kind of into him. So there you go!”
Karen couldn’t stop grinning. She’d always mocked people who wore their emotions on their sleeves, but since she’d met Jim, those types of people didn’t seem so ridiculous. He was taking the job in Scranton. And he wanted her to take a job there. Where he would be. She repeated the conversation over and over again in her head as she waved goodbye to the camera crew and took the elevator down to the building’s lobby.
She’d never really had a serious boyfriend since college. There’d been a lot of casual relationships that had only lasted a few weeks, but Jim seemed like the kind of guy who would be into commitment, and that she would be willing to commit to. He was really personable and friendly and talented, and better at messing around with Andy than she had ever been. Not to mention so fucking good-looking with that wide, mega-watt grin that made her, hell, would make any girl, go weak at the knees…
As Karen exited the elevator, she pulled her car keys out of her purse and walked across the lobby, enjoying the sound her heels made as they hit the polished floors, a little bit more lighthearted than they usually were. Karen pushed open the glass doors and then stopped dead in her tracks.
“Jim.” He was standing there, staring at his shoes. When she said his name in surprise, he looked up and smiled nervously. It was a look she hadn’t seen on his face before. He looked hopeful, determined, even a little bit nervous. Yet there was something in his eyes that gave him a decidedly resigned look.
“Hey…Karen,” Jim replied slowly.
“I thought you’d have left already,” Karen said, unsure of what to say.
“Yeah, well, I started to, then I wanted to wait until you came down.” Her heart almost stopped.
“Oh-kay.” Don’t get your hopes up, Fillipelli. He probably just wanted to ask you some kind of question about Scranton.
“Yeah, well, you know, if you take the job in Scranton, and I take the job in Scranton, then we’d both be going to Scranton…”
Karen didn’t say anything, so after pausing for a moment Jim continued to ramble. “And I’m not really sure about going back there, but I was thinking that it might be easier if I went back with – ” He broke off again. “I wanted to know if you would go with me. If we could go together. And if that doesn’t make things clear enough, maybe we could even get dinner together tonight and work out the details. If you wanted to.” Jim looked down at her expectantly.
Karen couldn’t really think of anything to say, so she settled for taking three quick strides towards him, flinging her arms around his neck in a painfully clichéd way with her keys still clenched in her fist and kissing him squarely on the mouth, letting an ecstatic YES! flow out of every nerve in her body.
“So it’s settled,” Jim said with a small laugh, breaking apart.
“Definitely.” The look in his eyes had turned desperate.
“I really need you,” he told her. Karen broke into a grin a mile wide.
“I really want you, too,” she said, taking him by the hand and leading him to her car.
****************
Karen’s hand shakes as she pours herself some “Mexican” lemonade from a bottle that had somehow ended up in the break room. It was the only place she could think to go; no one would be in there because of the party, and she had to find a place to think. She takes a sip of the all-too-plastic-tasting beverage and closes her eyes.
It all makes sense now, she thinks. Everything makes sense. Jim’s unwillingness to include her in his prank on Pam, the awkward questions he asked her during the Christmas party competition, bits of conversation about his family and the Scranton branch, but never any mention of his love-life…it all made sense. Looking back, “I really need you” is a direct precursor to “I’m really glad you’re here.”
“He was so hung up on Pam. I didn’t think he’d ever get over her.” She keeps re-playing Phyllis’ words over and over again in her head. Because Karen now knows that Jim isn’t over Pam, and that there’s a hell of a lot more to Jim than she previously thought. Is this really all our relationship is? She thinks, bitterly, He’s just trying to get over someone? I’m a tool? She had never been a tool before. Karen Fillipelli had always been the girl that guys followed on their hands and knees. They had always looked at her the way that, as much as she hates to realize it, Jim looks at Pam. Guys had always used girls like Pam to get over her, not the other way around. She can’t just accept defeat like this, because Jim is everything any reasonable girl looked for in a guy, plus that little something extra that made him impossibly sexy. He’s the only guy she’s ever found herself really, desperately wanting to be with. She gulps down the last bit of lemonade in her cup, takes a deep breath and starts heading towards her desk.
I can change his mind, she thinks stubbornly. I will change his mind. But then, there’s a sadistic voice in the back of her head that just wants to know what the hell was going on inside Jim’s mind. Both voices command her to do the same thing. She unlocks her computer, opened Outlook, and begins typing an e-mail to Jim.
I left early. Come over to my apartment after work. I just want to talk.
Story Notes:
So, this is an idea I've had for a while and then had written for a while but never got around to posting it until now. But I wrote it because I always liked Karen, I just felt bad for her for being in the most WRONG place at the most WRONG time. Millions of thanks to my oh-so-patient and encouraging beta, IThinkWeBrokeHisBrain!
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the right to fantasize about Jim, the most fanciable fictional character on television.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the right to fantasize about Jim, the most fanciable fictional character on television.
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