The cold air nipped at her, even through her parka. She was tired. Her shoulders ached from carrying the weight of the day on them and now, sitting in her car, she could finally let them fall and release the disappointment she felt by way of quiet, hot tears trailing down her face.
He’s seeing someone.
When he had told her, she tried to pretend it didn’t bother her. Once again her words forced friendship upon them when her soul knew she wanted more. They would always be friends—that’s what she had told him—but her words were laced with doubt, the bad taste of his first day back still lingering in her mouth. Could they be friends? Could she settle for that, the way Jim had for so many years before he just couldn’t anymore? Her heart sank, fully feeling the magnitude of what she had put him through for years. Even if she didn’t want to admit it, she probably knew how he had felt.
She wiped her face with her hands, took a deep breath, and headed home. Well, she headed to her apartment. She wasn’t sure where “home” was anymore. It had been nearly six months since she moved out of the apartment she shared with Roy, but she felt like she hadn’t quite settled into her new place yet. The walls were still bare and there were unpacked boxes in various corners. She didn’t want to keep the couch that had a permanent Roy-shaped cushion on it, so her living room only had a cheap futon she got for $50 on Craigslist until she could find (or afford) something better.
She unlocked the door and walked into her apartment, dropping her purse and coat on the floor instead of hanging them up; she’d pick them up tomorrow. She walked by the futon, past the bathroom where she had worked so hard on her hair this morning, and went into her bedroom, where she shed her clothes and slipped into a pair of old plaid pajama pants and a paint-stained t-shirt she’s had since high school. Armed with some Rocky Road and a spoon the size of her head, she plopped down on the futon, curled up in a fuzzy blanket, and turned on 10 Things I Hate About You.
—————
She jolted awake. She had fallen asleep halfway through the movie and now the building’s fire alarm was blazing in her ears. As jarring as it was to wake up to the ear-splitting beeping, once she came to her senses she calmed down. They had false fire alarms at least once a week in this lousy old building and when one went off, they all went off. It took next to nothing to send them blaring. She threw the blanket around her shoulders and opened her front door to check to see if there was any real danger, though she suspected there wasn’t.
What she saw definitely made her jaw drop but it wasn’t smoke or flames.
“Jim?”
He looked at her from down the hall and did a double take.
“Pam?! Wait, do you live here?”
She instinctively wrapped herself tighter in the blanket, suddenly very conscious of her lack of bra and her decade-old pajamas.
“Uh, yeah...what are you doing here? Is this your new place?!”
“Yeah, it is…my aunt owns the building and offered to set me up here.” He gestured to the alarm that had since stopped beeping. “So, the alarm? Should I be worried?”
“Oh, no. It’s a pretty regular occurrence. My guess is Mr. Bisoni upstairs. He gets...experimental in the kitchen late at night.”
It was then that she noticed Jim was still in his work clothes, shoes and all. She glanced at her watch and realized it was 12:30 but it looked like he had just gotten home. So much for “getting settled” like he had told her in the break room that afternoon.
They heard three knocks coming from above followed by a loud, “Sorry!!” bellowing down the stairwell from Mr. Bisoni.
“Told ya,” she assured him. She pointed to his attire. “Odd choice of PJ’s, Halpert.”
“What? Oh, yeah,” he laughed. “Saves time in the morning.” He fidgeted. ”No, I uh, actually just got in. Kind of a last minute thing with the Stamford group. You know how Michael is. They needed a little...unwinding, I guess.”
“No, totally, yeah. Sounds fun.”
“Yeah…”
The silence was deafening as they both searched for something to say. Jim finally broke it.
“Well, I better get to bed. Full day of Michael ahead and I’m a little out of practice. But now it looks like we will be seeing a lot of each other now, neighbor.”
His smile nearly made her knees buckle.
“Yes, we will. Goodnight, Jim.”
“Goodnight, Pam.”
She walked back inside and put her back against the door.
Well, this could get interesting.
Story Notes:
This takes place immediately after "The Merger". Besides a couple nods to moments in season 3, the story is mostly canon-divergent.
I own nothing, unfortunately.
I own nothing, unfortunately.
Author's Chapter Notes:
This chapter is immediately following "The Merger". For the sake of the story, Pam has no idea that Jim and Karen are an item, just that Jim is "kind of seeing someone". This is a shorter chapter that is mostly an introduction. Happy reading!
