Karen knocked on Jim’s apartment door. She chewed her lip. She was kind of casually dating Jim, not seriously. Not because she didn’t like him, because she did. But she had this feeling that someone was on his mind when he randomly transferred to Stamford from Scranton.
The door opened and Jim looked really stressed out, hair messy like he’d ran his hands through his hair a lot.
“Karen…Hi…” He smiled wearily.
“Hi Jim. How’s your head?” She tried to smile.
“It’s…better…” He trailed off while moving to the side to let her in. “well this is the ole apartment… Not much to see…” She looked around and saw some stuff hadn’t really moved from the boxes when he moved in. She smiled.
“So are you excited about going back home? I’m not sure if I’m going…I mean my family is here but my friends live in New York City so maybe moving closer would be nice to hop on the train on the weekends, and Connecticut isn’t that far away for holidays and stuff. Might be nice to start over…” She trailed off hopefully.
“Karen…I know I haven’t talked a lot about my life before Connecticut but I was in love and I thought she rejected me and I got an email from her today…She couldn’t contact me because I changed my number so she probably thought that I didn’t want to talk to her. So I got an email from her and I think I want to try and see if we could be together when I get back to Scranton…I know we haven’t really been like super serious but I just wanted to be honest with you…” Karen felt herself drooping since he started his little speech. She knew they weren’t going to last, but she cant say she wasn’t disappointed, he’s a nice guy.
“Jim, I get it. No hard feelings. I still want to be friends. I’d love to meet this super amazing girl that you cant get out of your head. And I’m not being vindictive. I mean it.” She said earnestly. “Seeing as you are almost all packed, do you think you could help me pack? Just as friends, we can get pizza and some beers and put on ESPN or Friends or whatever…” He beamed. “And you can tell me all about this girl.” He nodded and grabbed his jacket.
“That would be great, Karen. I think you’re super nice and I can definitely recommend guys in PA that aren’t totally hung up on other girls.” She laughed.
“That would be nice…Thanks, Jim. So let me tell you what happened after you left earlier. Andy was freaking out…”
—
Karen unlocked the door to her apartment, with Jim and Karen both carrying boxes she got from a UHAUL and boxing tape and bubble wrap. She pulled out a couple beers and put them on the counter and grabbed a menu out of a drawer in her kitchen.
“I can’t believe its coming up so fast. They want us to wrap up all of our stuff by the weekend. Its crazy. Such a worldwind. I still need to find an apartment in Scranton. I guess I can put my stuff in storage until I find a place.” She flipped through the menu trying to see what she would like to snack on tonight.
“Yeah I might have to do the same until I find a place. I gave up my old apartment when I moved here.” He looked down while opening his beer.
“Are the apartments easy to find there?”
“Oh yeah, they’re fine. I could afford it on my salary so it’s definitely doable.”
“That’s a relief. Is there stuff to do?”
“Not really but we’re close to Philly and NYC like you said.”
“Cool. What type of pizza do you want? I was thinking my half could be Hawaiian…”
“Ugh, gross Filippelli, fruit on pizza. I’ll take meat lovers.”
“Its got ham! Pineapple and cherries go with ham!” She exclaims defending her choice.
“Yeah okay Filippelli…” She laughed as she called in the pizza.
“Twenty minutes. I need to get started on my bedroom and maybe you being all muscle could get started on my dishes?”
“Sure! Thanks for being so cool about me being a total douche…” She laughed.
“Jim its not like we were engaged or anything and you wanted to leave me for someone else…Its not a big deal.” He laughed nervously. “You weren’t going to propose to me, were you?” Her mind started racing. “Because I like you and everything Jim but I don’t want to get married right now and I want to get higher in my career before I think about that…” She laughed nervously.
“Oh! No… Sorry! It’s just this other girl, Pam…She was engaged to another guy…and was supposed to get married and right before she did I sprang it on her that I was in love with her and she said I cant and I ran away like a coward basically…” He looked down.
“Halpert! You can’t just spring a love confession on a committed woman and then just turn tail and run away! Have you talked to her since?”
“No…”
“Halpert! You better make it up to her when you see her again. You need to be super romantic. She isn’t still with that guy is she?”
“No…I got an email from her today saying she loved me and I just have been trying to process it all…”
“Well you can think about it while I shamelessly abuse my friend’s muscles.” Karen laughed as she trounced off to the bedroom to pack her clothes and she heard some glass items being put into bubble wrap.
Some time later, the doorbell rang and Jim answered the door and paid the pizza guy. Karen came out and thanked him.
“You didn’t have to do that…My treat… Man, I know I’m a girl but I have way too much clothes…” She laughed. He smiled and opened the pizza box to take a slice. “So tell me about Pam.”
He took a sigh and began tell his most recent ex girlfriend about his girl he never did anything more than kiss with.
—
Karen watched him talk about Pam and knew that he was definitely head over heels for her. And as much as it should have made her sad, it just made her happy. She knew they weren’t anything serious but she hasn’t seen a couple around her age in love like she hoped Jim and Pam were. She better be everything he wanted…
—
Sooner than she would have expected, she was driving a UHAUL to a storage unit in Scranton PA. She spoke to her parents about the move and they weren’t happy with her decision to move, they understood. They asked about Jim and she told them that it was just not working out and they were better off as friends.
—
Karen walked in at 8:50 am sharp and knew that Jim had plans to come in around his usual time at 9:00. She walked in and saw a pretty girl with curly hair and green eyes, roving her eyes around the screen, not seeing her walk in. Karen walked up to the desk.
“Hi, I’m new here, from the Stamford branch. I’m not really sure where I’m supposed to go…”
“Oh! Hi! I’m Pam Beesly…Receptionist…” She laughed nervously. Karen looked at her hand and she saw no ring line so she must not have been wearing it for a long time. She internally smiled.
“Oh I’ve heard a lot about you from my friend that transferred to my old branch, Jim. He’s a great friend…” Pam looked a little overwhelmed from the fact that Karen wasn’t dating Jim, her eyes watered a little bit and she looked a little flustered. Karen leaned in secretly. “Do you know anywhere to meet guys? I haven’t dated in a while and let me tell you Connecticut guys are not the best. I went to school in New York so I figured this would be closer to see my friends and maybe meet someone new. Do you know anyone?” The question shocked Pam into answering.
“Well, Oscar is good one to get guy recommendations from.” Pam leaned in. “He’s gay but he’s not like super open about it. I got a date from his friend but he never called me back. But I still have Danny’s number, if you want it. He owns a bar I think, it’s been a while. Forewarning, Dwight’s insane, Michael will try but never allow it, and Oscar for the aforementioned reasons - otherwise everyone’s fair game. Oh and Stanley is a constant cheater so don’t allow him either.”
“Wow thanks Pam. That helps a lot.” The door opened and in walked an older man with black hair and green eyes.
“Pamelalalalaladingdong, who is this?”
“Oh hi Michael. This is Karen Filippelli from Stamford.” Pam answered, Karen looked at her, she never said her name. Pam leaned in secretly. “Sorry, I’m not a creep, I swear.” She looked back at Michael. “She’s one of the new Sales people from Stamford. Be nice.”
“Pamelala, I’m always nice…” The door opened and Jim walked in. He froze when he saw Pam. Michael turned around. “Well, well, well…If it isn’t the mutineer…How ironic is it that you made it back…” Michael fake scowled. Jim looked very uncomfortable.
“Um, Michael…” Jim tried sheepishly.
“Oh, I’m joking!” He laughed out loud. “Welcome back Jimothy! It’s like a family reunion!”
“Michael, I’m the only family you need. Fact: Jim abandoned us. Fact: I didn’t miss him. Fact: Pam did.” Dwight interjected, not looking up from his computer.
“Thanks, Dwight.” Pam said dejectedly. Karen felt a little bad.
“And you made her cry.” Dwight stated.
“Dwight!” Pam cried. “Stop trying to help!”
“Oh fine.” Dwight muttered. Jim blinked for all this info.
“I was just talking to Pam about the place to meet hot guys…” Karen stated. Jim blinked again.
“So Pam do you have something to say to Jim here?” Michael asked. Pam inhaled deeply and exhaled, shoving back, pushing her chair out. She walked over to Jim and threw her arms around his neck, he wrapped his arms around her back. Karen smiled. Pam pulled back, looking at him with a shy smile.
“Welcome back, Jim.” She said as she pulled away physically, realizing that it probably wasn’t appropriate to embrace him like that.
“Thank you Pam.” He dimpled a smile that Karen has never seen and she realized that was the Pam smile. Karen looked at Michael and he was beaming. Then she remembered that Jim confided in Michael about his feelings for Pam.
—
Over the day, once she got a desk, Karen realized a few things.
- Pam was absolutely correct about Michael.
- Karen wishes she never said hello to Dwight.
- Pam was absolutely in love with Jim as well.
She didn’t go out of her way to make it glaringly obvious that she kept her attention on him all day. But she looked up from her monitor to look at his hands every few minutes. At one point during the day, she brought out a box from under her desk and walked over to his desk.
“Um, so this is super awkward but I took the stuff from your desk so Dwight wouldn’t get it.” Jim looked touched.
“Oh my god, Pam. Thank you so much! I didn’t have time to clean it out.” Pam wilted.
“Yeah, I know. Anyways, it was my penance anyways so it was no problem.” Karen felt sad with her and Jim frowned. “So my duty is done so I’ll see you later.” Pam turned to return to her desk.
Jim frowned, wanted to open his mouth and say something. Karen sent him an email.
Cool it Halpert. You want to sweep her off her feet. Wait for the right moment.
Jim looked at the camera.
“Karen is a great wingman. Er, wingwoman.” He slammed his fist into his other palm and stretched his fingers over his fist. “Wingperson…”
“How was Stamford, Jim?” One of the camera persons asked.
“Oh Stamford was different… I don’t know if it was the best idea to transfer… But I’m back so I guess it doesn’t really matter.”
“Was there anything you missed?” Jim looked down, contemplative.
“I think there was a few things I really missed. My apartment, the parks, the people…You gotta admit they’re unique…” He chuckled.
“I think that’s all we need for now. Thanks, Jim.” He nodded and got up out of the conference room.
—
“So Pam are you happy Jim is back?” The camera man asked Pam.
“Oh…I mean yes. He was my best friend before he left Scranton. I mean, not that he isn’t now…I just meant that we haven’t talked in a while.” Pam smiled carefully.
