It was Friday. As long a Pam made it through today, she will have survived her first week working at Dunder-Mifflin. There were no words to describe what it was like working in this office, so when friends and family asked her how her new job was, she would simply reply, “Interesting.”
The bright spot of her new job was her new friend, Jim. They seemed to instantly click and he spent a fair amount of his day hanging out at reception, stealing jelly beans. Yesterday, at his request, she brought in all the nickels she had in her change jar and Jim revealed his latest prank idea. Every morning, Jim would add a nickel or two to Dwight’s phone receiver allowing him to slowly get used to the increasing weight and then when the time was right, he was going to remove them. They were crossing their fingers that he’d knock himself in the head.
Starting on her first day, they ate lunch together, too. Sometimes sharing a bag of chips and telling funny stories. After their first lunch together, Pam had decided that having to deal with Michael was worth it to have a friend she had clicked so easily with. For that reason, she never did resume her job search.
Pam was staring off, lost in thought when Jim entered the office to begin another day of paper sales.
“Good morning, Beesly,” Jim said brightly, “You survived your first week at Dunder-Mifflin!”
Pam smiled, she loved the way he said her last name. “Not quite yet, I didn’t,” she replied, “I still have to get through today without jumping out a window.”
This elicited a small chuckle from Jim. “Well, I have complete confidence that you won’t do that. Besides, you can’t jump out of the windows in this office, they don’t open.”
All Pam could do was laugh. Jim had started to make his way to his desk when he turned suddenly and returned to reception.
“Hey, umm, how about I take you to lunch? You know, to celebrate you surviving a week here,” he asked, his nerves getting the better of him, “There’s this great little Italian place down the road, Cuginos. And, I happen to know that Michael and Dwight have a sales call scheduled for lunch so if we’re a little late coming back it’s no big deal.”
Pam smiled, “That sounds great, thanks.”
“Okay, then,” Jim said with a blush, “I better get to my desk and get to work. I need to sell a serious amount of paper to pay for this lunch. I’ve seen how much you eat, Beesly.”
“I hate you,” Pam retorted back with a sly smile.
*************************************************
Jim was flying high. They were going out to lunch outside the office, away from the prying eyes of their coworkers. Was it a date? It felt like one to him. He hadn’t planned this. If he had, their first date would not have been a lunch break during business hours. It would have included flowers and dancing and maybe a movie and a late night kiss on her doorstep.
The morning dragged on for Jim. Despite what he said to Pam, he could not concentrate on selling paper. He made more jelly bean trips than normal and when he was at his desk, he found himself daydreaming. His thoughts would often roam to her. What it would be like to hold her hand, kiss her, hold her in his arms, make love to her. They had only known each other for five days, but he was falling hard and fast. He was hoping lunch today would give him a chance to learn more about her.
It was then that it hit him. She had made no mention of her relationship status. Sure they’ve spent the better part of their past four workdays together, but their conversations were kept light, as they often were when you are just getting to know each other. Surely if she had a boyfriend, she would have mentioned something, right? It would have come up somehow, even if it was just in passing.
At exactly noon, Jim made his way to reception. “Ready to go?” he asked, surprising Pam, who was deep in concentration, working on a sketch.
“Oh, yup,” she replied gathering her purse from its drawer, “I’ll drive. You offered to take me out to lunch, the least I can do is provide the transportation.”
“I don’t think so. That would be very un-gentlemanly of me,” Jim stated, “Besides, I don’t think I would even fit in that matchbox you call a car.”
The fifteen minute drive to Cuginos was fun. They joked and Pam had a fun time perusing the selection on Jim’s iPod, which was extensive. When they arrived at the restaurant, Jim opened Pam’s car door for her and held the door to the restaurant when she entered.
After the waitress took their orders, Jim decided it was time to get to know Pam a little better.
“So, Beesly,” he asked, “I know you mentioned the other day that you aren’t from Scranton, but you never did say where you grew up.”
“Oh, well, I grew up in Williamsport,” she replied, “Born and raised there.”
“And then one day you just up and moved to Scranton?” he asked.
“Oh, no, umm,” Pam said, becoming flustered, “After I finished college, we moved to Hazelton. I lived there before coming to Scranton.”
“We?” he asked. He was beginning to think she was becoming uncomfortable with his questions. “You and your parents?”
“Uh, no. They are still in Williamsport,” she replied, becoming flustered, “When I said we I meant me and my fiancé, Roy. I mean ex-fiancé, Roy. We moved their shortly after our engagement when he got a job in the packing department for a company that sells novelties over the internet. I eventually got a job there, too, in customer service.”
Jim’s heart sank. Clearly, this wasn’t a date. She had a fiancé, or an ex-fiancé. Clearly, it was still fresh if she had forgotten to add the “ex,” at the first mention. He didn’t know what to say. He wanted to know more about this ex, but didn’t want to push it any further.
After a few minutes of silence, the waitress brought their lunches. It was Pam who broke the tension first.
“Hey, are you okay, Halpert?” she asked, “You’re pretty quiet over there.”
“What?” Jim asked, looking up from his chicken parm, “Oh, yeah, I’m fine.”
“Listen, I’m sorry if me having an ex-fiancé came out of nowhere,” Pam said sincerely, “It just didn’t come up in any of our previous conversations.”
“No, it’s fine. You don’t have to be sorry,” he replied, “But can I ask what happened?”
“Of course you can,” she smiled warmly, “It’s simple, really. We started dating in high school. We were sophomores. We were together a while and I guess getting engaged just seemed like the next step. After he proposed, we set a date and then Roy postponed it. He said he didn’t think we had enough money to have the wedding I deserved and we should keep saving. We would keep setting dates and then a few weeks later, he would postpone it. It was after he postponed it the last time that I realized I didn’t even care that it seemed like we were never going to get married. So, I ended things. I took my half of the wedding savings and moved somewhere far away enough that he wouldn’t be able to suck me back into that life. It was hard, I’m not going to lie, but I’m happy I did it.”
Jim thought for a minute, drumming his long fingers on the table and finally he asked the question he needed to know the answer to, “Do you think you two will get back together?”
“I guess I should say ‘never say never,’ but I doubt it,” she replied, “Believe me, he has tried. He still calls me every few days begging for me to come back. But, truth is, I’m enjoying being single right now. I don’t know how to be an adult without a relationship, so I am really enjoying being on my own. I think it will be a long time before I’m in a relationship, with Roy or anyone else.”
That was all the confirmation Jim needed. This was not a date. He felt like a fool for letting himself get so excited earlier. She clearly just saw him as a friend. Disappointed in this turn of events, he lost his appetite and was simply pushing the food around on his plate to distract himself.
They finished their lunches in mostly silence. Pam attempted to lighten the mood with a few jokes about Dwight or Michael. Jim did his part to engage her, hoping to not make it obvious where his train of thought was.
Leaving the restaurant, Jim was still a gentleman. He didn’t know how not to be. As they walked out, he opened the door for her and was about to open her car door when she stopped and turned sharply.
“I’m sorry for unloading all that on you back there,” she said, looking him directly in his eyes, “I’ve never been able to talk to anyone about it except for my mom and it felt really good to get it all out. Thanks for that. You’re a great friend.”
Those last four words were nails in his coffin. “You’re a great friend.” Not exactly the words you want to hear from the girl you’re falling for.
“No problem, Pam,” he said, shutting her door and making his way to the driver’s side.
There was more silence to fill their drive back to Dunder-Mifflin and the afternoon continued much in the same way. Jim only made two trips to reception for jelly beans and when he left for the evening, he offered only a “Goodnight, Pam, have a nice weekend.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
Remember that deleted scene from "The Client?" Yeah, I'm going there...
Same disclaimers apply.
Same disclaimers apply.
Chapter End Notes:
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