Pt 11.

Alice: Things are finally starting to feel normal around here. With Jim and Pam gone it got weird around here, and Dwight got power hungry. He’s tried everything I can think of to get Jim demoted back to salesman. I’ve tried to talk him out of it, but he’s not easily swayed.

Dwight: Oh, I have a plan

Dwight shows the cameras the mallard and the pen, both bugged with microphones to record things inside Jim’s office. The cameras pan to catch Dwight talking with Jim and placing the bugs. Dwight looks back, grinning at the cameras.

“What are you up to?” I challenge, watching Dwight sit back at his desk.

“Oh, me? Nothing…” Dwight lies, still grinning.

While on my break, I hear yelling from the kitchen:

“I could give a f–– about your happiness, stop dating my mother!” I peer in, worried for Pam, and who looks to be Michael.

“Oh, my god…”

The cameras follow me into the kitchen, and I pretend to not hear anything, fixing myself coffee and looking for a snack. Pam storms out and Michael looks like a hurt puppy. I try to ignore his mumbling before he starts to head back to his office.

Almost immediately, I leave the kitchen and head to Pam’s desk.

“Hey,” I whisper.

The cameras catch Dwight listening in.

“I heard something between you and Michael, are you okay?”

Pam scoffs, “absolutely not.”

She gets up and leaves the office, and Jim quickly follows after her. Dwight looks between me and the cameras and I go back to my desk. In between transferring calls and doodling on post-it notes, I catch the drama going down between Jim, Pam, and Michael.

“What’s going on?” Dwight asks me, leaning over my desk.

“I’m surprised you don’t know– you’re Michael’s wingman.”

“I haven’t gotten anything from the bug…” Dwight mumbles, but I catch it.

“What bug?”

“There’s no bug, Al. It’s a figure of speech.” He laughs nervously before walking away.

I find something in Jim’s office that has a recording device attached, and decide to help him out.

“Hey, Kelly! I saw this cool duck and thought it would look adorable on your desk!”

“Oh, my god, Alice! I love it! Super cute! Thank you so much! You know Ryan loves ducks? He’ll say he prefers flightless birds, but he loves ducks!”

At 5 o’clock, I head down to the parking lot to find Dwight washing Jim’s car.

“Dwight, what’s going on? I want to go home!”

He turns around, ashamed, spraying the car with a hose.

“I bugged Jim’s office, so he’s making me wash his car…”

“I know, I just want you to feel bad about it.” I tease him, watching him rinse the suds off of their windows.

“How–”

“You’re a terrible liar, Dwight. I’ll be in the car.”

. . .

“I’m ashamed of my small nose.” Dwight admits, looking around the room clearly embarrassed.

I grab his hand and kiss his face quickly.

“I like your nose,” I whisper.

Angela scoffs and rolls her eyes. Michael writes ‘nose too small’ on the white board.

The rest of the day goes by slightly hostile with everyone making fun of each other and Michael in particular. It drags on without having Pam around but I understand that she needs to raise her sales.

Alice: Pam is like my best friend here at the office, of course I want her to succeed! It just gets super boring around here. Plus, I feel bad that she has to spend the day with Andy…

Pam and Jim come in the next morning looking happier than I’ve seen them since they came back from their honeymoon.

Pam: Today is my mom’s birthday, and Michael is coming to lunch with us! I’m pretty nervous…

Jim: But I’ve been doing my best to keep her calm. I made her breakfast in bed this morning–

Pam: It was great, I’m just hoping this all goes smoothly. Michael can be a bit much

“Good luck!” I say as the the two pairs walk out the door.

Dwight walks up to my desk and leans over the top nearly knocking over the candy dish.

“Remember when you said you wished the office had… a place?” He whispers.

The cameras are on us, catching everything.

“Uh… Yes?” I say, trying to brush it off.

I don’t need the cameras knowing this much about us, or catching anything I don’t want them to.

I glance towards the coat rack, avoiding Dwight’s eye.

“Well, I know a place. Meet me in the warehouse in five minutes.” He pecks my lips and walks back to his desk, giving the cameras a smug look.

Alice: Look, I may have mentioned it one night a while back… I don’t actually want to do anything at the office… Do you guys know where this place is? Are you going to, like, film stuff? That has to be illegal… Wait, how does Dwight know about this place?

I meet Dwight where he instructed strictly to ask him about it. He greets me with a grin and pulls me in a supply room in the warehouse. He starts kissing my face and neck, holding me close by my hips.

“Dwight?”

“Yes?”

“How do you know about this?”

He freezes.

“Dwight?” I repeat.

He stays silent, obviously not wanting to tell me. I can tell he wants to lie, but he knows I can tell when he’s lying.

“I’ve been here before,” he explains vaguely and curtly before reattaching his lips to my neck.

I refuse to let this go, and he notices my lack of affection.

“C’mon, Al, don’t you ever get bored and want to… find something entertaining?”

I cross my arms to create space between us, and he sighs.

“I… Used to come down here…”

“Oh, my god, with Angela?”

He nods, not looking at me.

“That’s disgusting Dwight. I’m not just some office shag. If that’s what you thought this was…” I can’t help the tears brimming in my eyes.

I love Dwight. I’ve never told him, but that’s how I feel. And if he feels significantly less for me, then this isn’t what I thought it was.

“No, no, no, Al…” Dwight holds me by my shoulders, then moves his hands up to wipe my tears. “I just thought… I don’t know. I’m sorry you took it that way, that’s not at all what I intended.”

“We’re so much more than that to me, Dwight.”

“I know,” he whispers, pulling me to his chest  and kissing the top of my head.