Late afternoon, Friday, November 3, 2006

He met Matthew at a faraway Starbucks immediately after work. He knew he didn’t need to worry about the cameraman following him there since the cameraman was who he was meeting.

Even so they both decided it was better not to meet near the office where anyone else from Dunder Mifflin might show up. On a late Friday afternoon, they were more likely to be caught at a bar that served IPAs and not Mocha Grandes but they didn’t want to risk it so the Starbucks they chose was a bit out of the way.

Matthew was at a back table when Jim came through the doors of the unfamiliar coffee bar. Stopping first to pick up a few coffees for them, it was the least he could do to pay back the favor he was asking, he was thankful there was not a long line. He was more than anxious to see if Matt had learned anything more. Plus, the sooner he met with Matt, the sooner he could call back Pam. 

Wasting no time to line the steaming hot beverages with hand-saving corrugated sleeves, he grabbed the coffees and head back to where he’d spied Matt earlier, sitting with his laptop open and his headphones on.

Lost in his own thoughts, Matt didn’t hear as Jim slipped in next to him setting down two blistering hot paper cups, nearly spilling them in the process. It was only when Jim clapped his seared hands together in attempts to dissipate the heat that Matt was broken from his concentration. Greeting Jim with a nod while he pulled off his headphones, he switched over to the laptop speakers and cued up the audio again.

“Thanks for the coffee but I think you might need something stronger when you hear this.”

He pressed play and though the audio was mixed with the staccato tick of the office clock it was clearly Josh’s voice that he heard. Who he could be talking to was anyone’s guess, but even the single side of the recorded conversation was enough to fill in the blanks.

“There’s one guy I’d consider bringing over once I settle in...Yeah, the new one since he’s got the connection back to the Pennsylvania accounts. He’s got a good head on his shoulders even if he is a bit of a sad sack but it’s really about the accounts he could bring over…. And my plan seems to be working, they’ve just about ready to close the Scranton location so the regional accounts there will without a local branch and ripe for the picking.”

The voice seemed to get louder and softer on a loop. Jim assumed Josh was pacing. The guy was constantly in motion, whether biking to work, hitting the gym or just taking laps around the office, something Jim noticed he often did while behind the closed door of his office. Jim imagined his kinesis was his way of alleviating his conscience as if guilt from his unethical practices could be excreted through constant motion and sweat.

“I think if I don’t ask too much they’ll match it, but I got to ask for a big enough bump to make it convincing…if they don’t, well I go over right away…even if they close this branch I’ve been slowly chipping away at our top clients… and I’ll make it worth it for Jim to jump over. He’d be a fool not to. This place is a sinking ship. Listen, bud I probably shouldn’t be talking here…no the office… I had to stop off to check a few things since I was gone all day… Nah, no one is here, are you kidding, it’s a ghost town here after 7:00… …there was a ton of traffic from Massachusetts..., no, I’m on the mobile but just in case.... No, but I’ll call you from home.”

Matt stopped the recording on the laptop and directed his glance to Jim’s gaped mouth and wide eyes staring back at him in disbelief. The look on Jim’s face clearly a manifestation of the misconception that he’d been working for a decent guy, a manager with integrity and his team’s best interests in mind.

“See I told you, I can spot an asshole when I see one, even when well-disguised. But it looks like you don’t have to worry about yourself, he’s got plans for you, too. You know anyone in Massachusetts?”

Jim did in fact, and it would be nice to live near his brother and work for a company with stability, but he barely gave it a second thought. There was so much wrong with what he’d heard, part of which Matt voiced in his next comment.

 “Although I’m not sure if some of the shit he’s pulling isn’t illegal in some way. You probably wouldn’t want to be tied up in that. Plus, who knows if that dick would follow through and bring you over.”

Jim had no desire to be connected to Josh’s diabolical plan, no desire to work for Staples and no desire to see the Scranton branch close. What he really wanted was to find a way to save Scranton, get transferred back to his job there, and find a way to convince Pam they were meant to be together.

Based on what he just listened to the situation was worse than he imagined.  Josh was putting everything at risk, planning to take out both offices with one dick move. And even if Stamford survived his evil strategy, she was still going to lose her job, which distressed him even more now that they were back in touch and there was even the slightest chance that she was romantically interested in him. And even if she weren’t, even if she still was only interested in being his friend, he knew he would never stop worrying about her, never stop wanting to protect her even at the cost of his own job security.

“Yeah, I have no intention of going to Staples. But I do think I’ll go to Jan. Tell her what I heard this morning. I promise not to mention any of this,” he waved his still singed hand around Matt’s laptop.  

“Hopefully, it will be enough to change the plans. They’d send you back?” Jim questioned. “If Stamford closed, you’d get to go home, right?”

“Absolutely, I’m contracted. That’s why I had to come here. But what about you, you sure they’d let you go back?”

“We’ll have to see. Listen man, thanks a lot. I know I can’t use what I heard but it helps me feel better about going behind his back now that I know what a douche Josh is. Hey do you mind if I take off. There’s something else I’ve got to do tonight.”

“Sure, I’m good. Thanks for the coffee. Good luck with talking with Jan Monday… Oh, and tell Pam I say hi.”

There was a quick wink from Matt before he took a sip of his coffee and slipped the earphones back on his head. Of course, he knew Jim would be calling Pam. It was his job to know everything and Jim for once, was thankful he did.

Jim left the Starbucks, in one hand his untouched coffee, finally cooled down enough to hold, in the other his cell phone. With his stomach in knots, coffee was the last thing he needed, especially Starbucks which always seemed to burn a hole in his duodenum. Without taking even a sip, he added his cup to the trash, a heap of white and green cardboard slowly becoming sullied by brown as the liquid poured from his receptacle and stained the once pristine pile of used cups.

He took a few laps in the parking lot, Josh’s practice seeming to make sense to him now, although he was purging his distress and nerves and not unprincipled actions.

On the fourth lap he leaned against his car and flipped open his phone scrolling past the A’s to where her number was stored under Beesly. He took one more deep breath before he hit send and surrendered to the anticipation of hearing her cheerful voice.

But the voice that answered was anything but cheerful and the call he trusted would put all his other difficulties temporarily out of his mind, instead further contaminated the mountain of problems the last few weeks brought on. Not only was she inconsolable and not making sense in her drunk state, by the time he hung up he knew she was not thinking of a romance with him, not when Danny Cordray was interested in her.

He felt foolish and suddenly drained of all his energy. All day he’d been pouring all his hope into the idea of a second chance, a vessel for happiness while the rest of his life fell apart around him.  Now he knew he’d been filling up a glass with a hole at the bottom and he felt as empty as the used coffee cup that lay sideway on the pavement next to his car.

He finally hung up, his eyes now one shade redder than they had been when it was just poor sleep causing their discoloration. He got into his car and pulled it from the spot ready to head home and crawl into bed with plans to stay there all weekend but mid-way through the parking lot he threw the car back into park and pulled his phone back out.

“Hey, where you at Filippelli?”