August, 2007

It was another busy day in the office. Not from selling paper or doing anything that seemed remotely related to the jobs they were hired to do. No, Pam and Jim had spent most of the day babysitting Michael, taking turns keeping him from actuating the absurd in his attempts to impress Ryan, the former temp, who was now the big boss.

It was a surprise to all that Ryan had been given the position. Everyone had thought it would be Jim.

Including Pam.

More than two months ago, in her talking head, she tried to hide her feelings as she talked about how Jim deserved it, how smart and well-liked he was and how they would always be friends.

She was right, they would always be friends. And that’s what made them so strong as a couple, their friendship. A lot of things changed after he came back from New York that day. The laughter and playfulness between them didn’t. It was as much a part of their relationship as the deep conversations and the physical intimacy they shared.

The talking head she gave today was not about Jim, not directly at least.

“Ryan went from the temp to an inept salesperson to the boss and because Michael is still infatuated with him, he has made it his goal to exceed his every expectation when it comes to the initiatives he’s set forth for the company. And that means each week he plans something more outrageous than the last and Jim and I have to keep it from getting out of hand.”

She smiled a little brighter at her own mention of his name before quickly realizing her mistake in mentioning both of them together in the same sentence and quickly tried to recover from her gaffe.

“Sometimes, like when Michael has me out buying glue by the gallons, I wish Jim had gotten the job.”

Of course, she didn’t mean it. She only said things like that from time to time to throw the crew off from discovering their secret. She was becoming more comfortable with the idea of letting everyone know about them but truth was that the keeping it a secret was still kind of hot and she was enjoying the secret looks they gave each other, the suggestive IM’s they would send, and the stolen kisses they shared in the breakroom.

Today, the IM’s were not about what they did on the beach after the sun when down that past weekend. Today they were discussions on what to do to keep Michael from bringing the beach to Dunder Mifflin.

It still amazed Pam and Jim both, that the twerp who couldn’t land a single one in all the time he’d been in Scranton had been entrusted by David and the board to save the company from declining sales and obsolescence in the marketplace. But he was now in charge and was making it known with his constant memos on how to make paper young and sexy and the new projects and programs he instituted.

Ever since Ryan took over Jan’s old job, the agenda he pushed was creating a bigger social presence. He seemed to think that what the paper industry and Dunder Mifflin in particular needed was a bigger buzz around it. Finding new ways to get customers engaged, he liked to say, would surely bring swarms of new sales.

And what Ryan wanted, Michael aimed to deliver so when Ryan suggested summer Friday client appreciation days, it put quite the bee in Michael’s bonnet.

Jim had to admit Ryan’s idea wasn’t terrible. Summer was a slow time and treating clients to social events, mini-seminars and casual business mixers at the offices on summer Friday afternoons, could help get them in front of decision-making executives and differentiate Dunder Mifflin from their big box competitors.

But Ryan was more of a talker than a doer so instead of fleshing out the program and events, he let Michael run with it and that was his first big mistake. Of course, Michael, knowing Ryan wanted to make Dunder Mifflin seem youthful, took the directive to come up with over-the-top activities that were outlandish and bizarre, more geared towards college coeds than mature businessmen.

But perhaps, Ryan wasn’t so foolish here. Lazy maybe, but not misguided. Maybe he was just savvy enough to know the person who had bowed out of the job he now held, the one who left the position open for him to appropriate, would be micro-managing Michael from his number two position. And he’d been in his seat long enough to know that Pam spent hours of her day keeping Michael from getting into trouble.

And that was how Pam and Jim spent most of the day.

“Hello Pamkini,” Michael hummed as he approached her desk when he arrived Tuesday morning. “Are you ready for more beach fun?”

Pam rolled her eyes and looked across the room to Jim, beseeching his help without saying a word. She knew this was going to be another one of his harebrained ideas for the Friday client events. Last week he suggested a paper mâché party which wouldn’t have been such a terrible idea had he not wanted to create a giant statue of a transformer and charge each client back for all the paper that it would require to make it.

“Can you gather all the warehouse guys together, Jim, Dwight and Kevin too. We’re going to make this Friday’s event an indoor beach party. We need to head to the beach to stockpile sand and shells so we can start creating a beachy atmosphere in the conference room.”

Pam looked at Michael with a worn-out expression, ready to point out the many flaws in his plan. Again, the concept was not completely terrible, but his planned execution was not only outrageous but also unfeasible.

“I know what you are thinking my little bikini bottom,” Michael said responding to the annoyance that she couldn’t hide from her eyes.

“That we’ll never be able to gather enough sand to cover the whole conference room, but we won’t need to because you girls will be lying out on beach towels in your bikinis. Too bad Karen’s not still here. We could use another beach babe.”

Jim had already made his way over to Pam’s desk when he heard the words indoor and beach together, just in time to catch the look on Pam’s face when Michael brought up Karen. Karen’s name, whenever it came up still made Pam uncomfortable, just as much because she was Jim’s ex as it was because Pam knew that she probably hated Pam even more now and Pam was devastated to think of anyone hating her. 

“So you know this can’t happen Michael”, Jim started and so began a morning of talking Michael out of the event he was planning for Friday and coming up with a more reasonable replacement. Once talked out of it, Jim had to start calling up clients to explain how they need not arrive Friday afternoon in their swim gear and Pam had to run to the Toys ‘R Us to return the wading pools she’d already purchased last week unaware of what he had planned for them.

While Pam was out Jim took a quick break from his calls to clients to make a call to Christopher’s for a reservation, this time making sure to request a seat in Beth’s section. He knew she’d get a kick out of hearing the reason for this dinner.  She’d enjoyed hearing about Michael and the Dundies when they told her about them the last time they were there, laughing at the stories about their crazy office. This new tale would be sure not to disappoint.

~~~

“If it isn’t my favorite couple,” Beth spoke as she arrived at their table after the sexy hostess who had a bad habit of batting her eyes at Jim, led them back to a spot by the window.

Pam was relieved when the minx, who always stood a little too close to Jim, returned to her post at the front and Pam’s favorite server took her place tableside.  

“I bet you say that to all your customers,” Pam quipped with a large smile, happy to see Beth as their waitress again.

“You got me,” Beth grinned as she filled their water glasses. “Any special reason you’re dining with us tonight. Aside from a craving for grilled cheese?”

Jim answered for them, holding up his water glass in triumph.

“We successfully circumvented another Michael Scott debacle. And that, if you can remember what we told you last time about our wacky boss, is something to celebrate.”

Pam rolled her eyes as Jim went on to tell her all about his plans for the beach party right down to his carting in the sand and having the females of the office pretend to be sunbathing on the floor as corporate managers stepped over them and tossed around a beach ball.

“He’s trying to score points with his new boss, which incidentally used to be our old office temp,” Pam injected into the conversation, making a slight bit of an excuse for Michael where she knew Jim wouldn’t.

Beth looked around her section to see if she was needed before she responded. Pam followed her gaze to see what it was she was looking at. Two other nearby tables had diners seated at them. 

The first, a young family was very much preoccupied with the meals in front of them, the mom was up out of her seat standing over a child cutting the meat into bite-size portions, while a second child was using his hands to put pasta in his mouth but also in his hair and his sister’s lap. The dad, seemed not to notice anything but the meal he was devouring and the near empty beer in front of him. The mom’s plate, Pam noticed was yet untouched.

At the second table an elderly couple sat deep in conversation, drinking coffee and sharing the tasty-looking desserts they’d been brought by Beth before she made her way to Jim and Pam. Pam noticed how sweetly the older man scooped up a bite of the decadent cake and held it out on the fork to feed his wife. She couldn’t help but think how absolutely adorable this couple was and wondered if they were regular diners of Beth's as well.

Beth noticed how Pam seemed entranced by them.

“They are sweet, aren’t they? Been coming here for as long as I’ve been working here,” Beth shared. “He still holds her chair out for her when they sit down and they always order two desserts but only take a bite or two of each. I’ve tried to suggest they order one and share it but they always insist on ordering their own.”

Pam turned and took another glance in their direction before turning back to Beth who continued on about the older lovebirds.

“This is what they told me, it’s so beautiful…they’ve been married for 52 years and all those years together they’ve learned to make compromises. There’d many been things they had to give up or reluctantly take on, not just for each other but for their children and even their grandchildren. They say they’ve never once regretted these choices, never saw them as sacrifices. Their life has been rich with good fortune and love because they learned how to bend and flow for the sake of their marriage and family. But now in their golden years, they feel like it’s time they can have exactly what they want, but still get to feel the joy in sharing. And that’s why they each always order their own dessert.”

Pam and Jim both couldn’t help but be touched by the sweet story Beth shared. An expression passed between them as their waitress spoke, unspoken but mutually implicit that they aspired to have a life as filled with love as their fellow diners.

“Excuse me guys, but while I don’t know the family at the other table, it does look like he’s about to need a refill on his beer. While I’m at the bar, Mixed Berry Smash for you?” she pointed inquisitorially at Pam.

“Of course,” Pam giggled.

Beth turned to Jim.

“Gin and Tonic?”

“Sure, why not,” he accepted as if the idea of having a drink wouldn’t had crossed his mind had Beth not suggested it. But Pam knew he’d been looking forward to that drink ever since Michael starting bouncing around the beach ball that morning.

“Okay, I’ll be right back. I want to hear more about this office beach party.”

After attending to her other guests, she came back to the table with their drinks. Without missing a beat, she asked Jim to elaborate on the story he began earlier.

“Well Michael does sound a little bit off the wall, but your office sounds like a hoot. It must be a lot of fun to work there. We all need a little fun to get us through our work days, right?”

Jim nodded in agreement with a raised eyebrow and half smile tossed to Pam. There was no way to explain just how much fun Michael created for them on a regular basis. And how much extra work that fun sometimes created for them.

“I’ll let you two in on a little secret. We play a little game here to keep things fun and interesting,” Beth continued. “We call it the Dating Pool. It’s why I was so interested in you two the first time you were here. I thought you,” she looked to Jim with a subtle smirk, “might have been planning to propose that night by sticking a ring in the grilled cheese you ordered. Little did I know it was your first date.”

Pam smiled warmly up at Beth but noticed that Jim’s face did not also display the happy countenance that came over her with the memory of that night. But she also knew Jim too well to know why.

“Way to go, Beth – you just ruined tonight’s plan.” Jim glowered at Beth.

In response Beth’s eyes widened and the stain of guilt washed over her face. That is until she noticed the corners of Jim’s mouth turned upward into the faintest of smiles which she soon mirrored back still not completely sure if he was just messing with her or maybe she had in fact ruined the plan he had set for tonight.

“Relax, Beth,” Pam jumped in to save Beth from the compunction that was written all over their waitress’s face. “Remember we’ve only been dating a few months. We haven’t even told anybody we are together, Jim’s not out buying a ring just yet.”

Beth could have sworn she noticed Jim’s Adam’s apple bobble as he swallowed hard and averted his eyes from his date and from her. He clearly had or had been thinking about it and Beth not wanting to spoil anything for real, quickly diverted the conversation before Pam, too noticed the secret written all over this face.

“So, let me tell you two about why I was hoping it was a proposal that night.”

Pam shuffled her chair closer so she could lean up her elbows while Jim slouched back, the lump in his throat no longer doing a jig up and down his neck, but both turned their attention to Beth as she explained how the dating pool worked.

“There’s an elaborate point system but we play on the honor system. We get awarded points for a variety of situations. To begin couples always get us 2 points but we get 5 more points for couples on a first date with 5 bonus points if it’s a blind first date.”

“Ooh, so you got 7 points that night for us,” Pam squealed as she heard. “Is that a lot?”

Beth took another step closer to the table, dropping her head down a bit closer to the couple who tonight had only given them two points so far.

“Well, normally it would be but I also lost points because of you two that night. I lost points each time you cried,” she directed her eyes towards Pam.  “A point each time. But luckily you didn’t fight because that’s a 5-point deficit and we lose 10 points if a couple at our table breaks up over dinner, and though this is rare, we lose 25 points when someone throws a drink in their date’s face.”

At that moment Jim picked up his drink, looking as if his was contemplating it. He began the simulate a toss but instead shifting the course of the glass to his mouth instead and took a sip.

“I wouldn’t dare,” he began before adding, “Her drink has a lot more left in it than mine, and I wouldn’t want to get a berry in the eye.”

“Ignore him,” Pam instructed turning her attention to Jim with her own glass raised in warning while playfully sticking her tongue out at him.

“Okay, okay, settle down you two. You want to get me more points here, not less. We wouldn’t want any accidental drink tossing. Now, you’ll have plenty of chances to get me more points. We get 10 points for double dates and for dating anniversaries – years only, months don’t count although I’ve argued the first month should.”

She looked around briefly for Pete who was the one who first vetoed the one-month anniversary award.

“But feel free to come by with friends once you out yourselves since you still seem to be keeping your love a secret. I’ve gotta believe though that you’re not fooling anyone. There is love written all over both your sweet faces.”

“We are very, very good at subterfuge,” Jim boasted.

“Yes, our years of practice playing pranks on Jim’s deskmate and the constant cameras on us trained us well for this. We have very good poker faces.”

Neither mentioned the years they had to pretend and hide their true feelings about each other to everyone including themselves. They realized they had never before mentioned the documentary being filmed at their office to Beth. Of course, the mention of cameras shifted the course of the conversation.

“What cameras?”

Pam wanted to hear more about the game. The documentary was something they liked to forget when they were on their own and camera-free for however brief their breaks were. Still, she knew how interesting it always was for people when they first heard about the show and the cameras and she also knew it would not be something they could get away from sharing.

“So, our office is the subject of a documentary being filmed. For three years so far, we’ve had camera crews following us around and interviewing us on a regular basis.”

Jim added, “It’s become so part of our daily lives we forget that anyone outside our office circle doesn’t know about it.”

“But we like to forget about it when they’re not around.”

“You can’t drop that kind of information on me and not give me the details,” Beth protested. “I know you don’t know me all that well, but you must know this is the stuff I get giddy for.”

Pam really didn’t want to get into the details at that moment, it was off-camera time for them. She looked across to Jim who without speaking was somehow channeling Ross from friends, mouthing Pivaaat at her when Beth wasn’t looking.

Pam started to giggle the same way she had Sunday night when they caught the episode he was acting out. He did an even better Ross when he could do the voice, but even now her memory of it had her practically in tears making it a little bit difficult for her to pivaaat as directed.  Jim had to jump in to shift the conversation.

“Okay, we promise to tell you all about it another time but first you need to finish telling us about this game. This is the kind of thing Pam gets giddy about. What else gets you points?”

Beth made them promise to tell her about the documentary another time before she returned to the details of the game.

“We get 15 points for wedding anniversaries, 20 for silver and 25 for golden, and 15 also for birthdays, this the only instance where we get points for non-couples.”

“Um, isn’t it like cheating if you tell us about the game?”

Beth paused to think about it, “Hmm, never thought of that. Okay, nevermind.”

She started to walk away making a point of each step away from the table but then with a huge grin stepped back around to share one last bit, the coveted prize that she had been hoping for when she spotted this adorable couple months ago.

In a hushed tone she whispered,” Proposals are an instant win. I thought I had that when you guys came in that first night. No hurry, though. It’s really sweet to see your relationship develop. Plus, you should never rush into things. I did and I wound up divorced. Take it from me, better to take it slow and be sure. Now let me go get you some bread while you decide what you want.”

Jim knew Beth was talking about the meal. That he would take another look at the menu to decide on. About making the woman across from him his wife, there wasn’t a doubt in his mind.