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“Jim.”   Pam tugged at his tie urgently.  “C’mon.  We have to do it.”

Standing in the kitchen, stirring his coffee, he gazed over her head to see if anyone was around.  “You are ridiculous.”   He laughed back at her.  “Not to mention it’s such a cliché.”  He gave her a disapproving look. “Frankly, I expect more from you.”

She inched closer and pressed herself against his side.  “Cliché or not - it’s like…calling our name.  Can’t you hear it?”  She whispered against his neck before easing away.

He pressed a hand to her forehead.   “Seriously.  Are you feeling OK? Because honestly?  I can’t think of a place less romantic than that.”

“You have no sense of adventure.”  She pouted, crossing her arms in front of her chest and leaning back on the counter.

He gave her a knowing look, and raised his eyebrows.  “Are you kidding me?”

Since they had gotten together he’d learned a lot about Pam.  He delighted in everything he had come to know in the last six months.  He now knew she liked to eat ice cream out of the carton, liked salsa and ketchup but didn’t eat tomatoes in her salad, she vacuumed when she was worried, and it seemed she had a sense of spontaneity that he hadn’t fully anticipated.

He’d been intrigued and increasingly grateful to find that Pam apparently had a little to do list.   It had all started with rooms in their apartment.  She was determined to…for lack of a better word…christen each one. 

And in the privacy of their own home Jim was more than happy to oblige.

Once they’d accomplished that task things had escalated to the point that Pam was eager to tackle other locations.  Some were more successful than others.  They’d attempted the beach at midnight – which resulted only in having their every nook and cranny becoming covered in sand.  Their foray at the lake at dawn was much more successful and they realized quickly it was much less uncomfortable when you were under water rather than next to it.  A particularly risky encounter in her parent’s attic almost resulted in Jim falling through the insulation and had them both practically crashing through the ceiling, much to Pam’s amusement.  

He had thought she’d gotten it out of her system, especially when they’d moved on to experiment with various degrees and consistencies of…chocolate.  But if the conversation he was having right now is any indication it seemed he was mistaken.   

When he realized she wasn’t going to budge he stared down at her.  “How is it that I did not know this about you?  Do you have some sort of a post-it fetish?  Is that why you took this job?”

Suddenly the image of Jim, in the supply closet, covered head to toe with only yellow sticky notes amused her to no end.  “You’re so on to me.”  She replied with a grin.

“Pam, seriously.  I get that you have this little checklist and normally?  I’m an advocate.  I mean, truly.  Not even a question – I’m a charter member of the fan-club.  But I can’t think of anyone I’d like to have a chance to walk in on me in that…situation…less than Michael.”

She looked at him in disbelief.   “You’re only worried about Michael?”

“Unless it's Dwight.”  He amended his answer.  “C’mon.  Let’s think of something else.”  His face lit up as he had an epiphany.  “Hey – how about a movie theater?”

“Too risky.  Too many people around.  I’m not looking to get arrested.”  She replied with disgust.

He plodded on.  “OK.  How about this.  Want to join the Mile High Club?  I can see if they’ll let me reuse my ticket to Australia…”

“You would prefer a cramped and filthy airplane bathroom to the luxury of the supply closet?”  She looked at him incredulously.

“Luxury?  Have you ever been in there Beesly?”  He shook his head at her and chuckled.  “I mean, there’s absolutely no ambiance.”

“I beg to differ.  Do you understand what you’re turning down?  I’m telling you under no uncertain terms that if you follow me in there you’ll get lucky.”  Pam ran a finger down his shirtfront, lifting the end of his tie and tugging gently.   She sighed heavily as she let it go and pushed away from him.  “You continue to surprise me Jim.  I just thought maybe you’d be interested…” She slowly walked toward the door.   “My mistake.”

He realized it was crazy.  The woman he adored was practically throwing herself at him and he was actually putting up a fight.  But his problem was it was bad enough sitting across from her day in and day out.  His real reticence came from honestly not being sure he could handle mixing his work and home life in such an intimate way.   He thought it was safer – certainly better for his sanity to refrain.

That was all well and good but he knew something else.  He also knew Pam wasn’t at all a quitter.

“You are not going to give up on this are you?”  Jim called after her.

She turned and shrugged and kept on walking.  He couldn’t see her face, but if he had he’d have seen her smiling widely.

If there was anything she knew for sure it was that Jim could not resist her.

She’d get her way in the end.  She was certain of it.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

He kept staring at her the rest of the day, not that that was unusual.  She seemed to be ignoring him.

At ten to five he caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye.  She yawned and stretched as her hands reached back to remove the barrette from her hair.  She shook her curls out over her shoulders, running her fingers through them to tame them a bit.

Michael had left the office a good half hour before.  He fought to keep himself distracted as heard her saying goodbye to Phyllis and Toby, then Stanley and Meredith. She waved goodbye to Ryan and Kelly, and then Oscar and Kevin.  Angela gave her a slightly impolite nod as she made her way out the door.  Dwight was putting on his coat when he heard the faint squeak of the wheels on her chair.    As she sauntered past he had to bite his lip to suppress a smile.

It wasn’t until she was past the conference room door that he saw what lay in her wake.  She was discreetly dropping a trail of colored paper clips behind her.

As soon as he heard the door close behind Dwight he stood up and followed.  Even without the clues he knew exactly where he would find her.

He opened the door and shut it with a resounding click.  He carefully kicked a large box of three-hole punch paper near the door as a safety measure.

“Oh hi Jim.”  Pam said brightly as she turned around.  “Did you need something?”

“I thought I'd find you here."  He replied as he placed a handful of paperclips on the box next to him.  "Yeah.  Funny thing.”  He stood before her, hands on his hips.  “I’m out of file folders.”  He grinned.

“Hmm.  That’s a shame.”  She said with a sigh as she leaned against a row of shelving.  “I mean – more than a shame.  It’s a travesty.  I bet there’s just an unruly mass of paper everywhere – like - all over your desk.”

“It’s true.  All these orders and invoices – they are just intermingling.  It must be stopped, before it’s too late.”  He smiled wider as he took a few steps forward.

“I agree.”  She casually slipped off her shoes and it was then he realized her feet were bare.  He knew full well that Pam usually wore stockings to work.   His mind began to spin.  If she had taken them off he wondered what else he might discover missing under her skirt.  “You know though.  There are other options where organization is concerned.”

“Oh really?”  He averted his eyes from hers as he inched closer.

“Paper clips for example.”  She reached for his tie again and tugged until his face was a breath away from hers.   His eyes were transfixed to her hands as her fingers toyed with the top button of her blouse.  It was then when he realized it wasn’t buttoned at all but held together by a pink paper clip.

He stilled her hand and slipped the clip from the fabric himself.  As it fell away he was offered a tantalizing view of what she wore underneath. 

“Ahh yes.  Paper clips.”  He laughed as his lips sought hers.  He kissed her thoroughly, her mouth moving achingly slowly under his.   His hands slid up and closed over the pale blue satin covering her breasts, his fingers teasing her through the lace.   Her strangled gasp filled his mouth.  He pulled back and brushed her hair away from her neck, exposing her skin as his lips trailed lower.  He found another clip clinging to her bra strap and smiled.  “These are a huge seller.  They're a real multipurpose item.”

“Mmm hmm.”  She murmured in reply, gasping again as his hands circled her waist and lifted her up, bringing her to rest on a stack of boxes.  Her knees parted, allowing him to, for convenience's sake, stand directly between them.  Her next words came out in the midst of a series of soft, sweet, languid kisses. 

“I think it’s important – you know – as part of your job – to familiarize yourself with all the products we offer.”  Her hands slid between them and she grinned against his shoulder.  As she nimbly removed his belt and made quick work of his zipper she giggled, knowing now for sure that he’d become an...attentive participant in her mission. 

“I didn’t think you’d actually follow me…” She threaded her hands in his hair as she whispered against his lips.

“Oh yeah.  Right.”  He replied, his voice hoarse as his hands slipped underneath her skirt.   As he suspected, when his fingers trailed up her thighs and then…higher all he found was her, hot and slick against his hand.  

He swallowed audibly as he moved to take her mouth again.  “Wow.  You are full of surprises today…”

Rational thought became a mere memory.  She panted as his fingers teased her to the brink of madness before he reluctantly pulled back.  One hand fisted his shirt, the other dug into his shoulder.  Even though she grasped him through cotton, her nails left little half moon indentations in his skin.  As she moaned and writhed against him he couldn’t help but smile.  His lips traveled back up to kiss just behind ear.  His teeth nipped at her earlobe, causing her to suck in a breath.

He didn’t know what had possessed him to protest before.  This was a spectacular idea.

As his fingers resumed their journey she tried to respond but it was futile. “I’m…um…very…” 

“Detail oriented?”  He managed to supply the words just as her hand reached down to close around him.   And suddenly he was sure he’d lost the capacity to speak.

“You could say that.”  She laughed back as her legs tightened around his waist.  She shifted once more and sighed at the thrill of knowing it was not much longer before she would feel him fill her completely.  She leaned close and ran her fingers gently along the length of him, finding him certainly able and more than ready and willing as she whispered in his ear.  “I was going for efficient.”

His last coherent thought was that he’d always admired that about her.

If you asked either of them later what happened next, they’d be unable to describe it with any accuracy.  In the end they found themselves entwined together on the floor of the closet, the only clues to what had occurred came in the form of a flurry of colored paper, a shower of post-it notes, and a few dozen rolls of scotch tape scattered around them. 

As the small room came back into focus Jim’s heart thundered beneath her ear.  Pam turned her head and grinned like a Cheshire cat as she took a steadying breath. 

She smiled widely as she snuggled against him.  Miraculously, they’d both managed to both stay nearly fully dressed throughout their tryst.  She decided then and there that they might have to reenact this little scenario more often.  There was something unbelievably sexy about having her way with him while he still had a tie on.

“See?  There was nothing to worry about.”  She laughed as she rested her chin on his chest and met his eyes.  “No one would bother us.  I told you so.”’

“You’re right Pam.  I’ve seen the light.  Who knew paper clips were such a turn on?”  He replied. 

She sighed as she reluctantly untangled herself from him.  She stood on shaky legs and smoothed her skirt down over her hips.  Jim chuckled as he followed suit, pausing to straighten his clothes and tuck his shirt back in.  As he bent to retrieve his belt Pam buttoned her blouse, slipped her shoes back on and tossed her hair back.   A faint flush filled her cheeks and Jim found it difficult to keep his eyes, not to mention his hands, off of her.

They silently moved to set the room to rights again.  It took longer than really necessary, since it was nearly impossible for either of them to accomplish the task without brushing against each other in some way.

Once they were done Pam stood before him and sighed.  “I’m so glad we got that over with."  She picked up a pen and a steno pad from the shelf and flipped to a clean page exaggeratedly scribbling a check mark.  “One room down.”  She winked as she tucked the pen behind her ear and moved towards the door.

Jim’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he stared after her.  It looked like he’d underestimated her. 

Again.

It took him a second to compose himself enough to reply.  “You are not serious…”

She turned to him and smiled.  “C’mon, Jim.  I’ll let you choose.  Conference Room or Michael’s office?”