"So," Jim said with a leading tone as he leaned on Pam's desk and fished his fingers through the jelly bean dispenser. She snapped her head up to look at him, already intrigued. "Guess what I just overhead."

"Uhhh," Pam replied, her mind already whirring with possibilities. "The recipe for Phyllis's chicken soup? Where Creed keeps the bodies?" she giggled. "Oh, oh. No, I know. What Angela and her cat are dressing up as for Halloween this year." 

"Even better," he said, popping a jellybean into his mouth. "What's the date on Thursday?"

Pam looked down and picked up her small desk calendar. Her eyes flicked over the numbered grid in concentration. "The second of February," she said with a shrug, looking back up to Jim.

"Which is?" Jim said, his head bobbing around with a smile on his face. 

"I don't know," Pam replied, mimicking Jim's movements and smile.

"It's Groundhog Day," he said with an even bigger smile.

"And?" 

"And I heard Michael making a reservation at the Cherry Street Inn," he said, raising an eyebrow. 

"Ok?" she said slowly. 

"Beesly, come on," he said, his head cocked to the side, leaning further over Pam's desk. "Groundhog Day." 

"I know, you just said that," she replied with a shake of her head and scrunched up eyebrows. 

"The movie, Pam. That's where Phil Connors stays in the movie," Jim deadpanned. Pam's eyes grew wide. "He made a reservation at the same bed and breakfast!" he exclaimed. 

"It's a real place?" 

"Apparently so!" He stood back and grinned. "This is it, he's going for his ‘private celebration'," Jim said with air quotes.  

"Wow!" she giggled, putting her hands over her mouth. "Oh my god, this is amazing!" 

"We have to go!" Jim laughed, joining in with Pam's hysterics.

"What?" she said, sitting up a little straighter, her face suddenly serious. 

"Let's go to Punxsutawney, follow Michael, and find out how he celebrates Groundhog Day!" he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

"We can't! I mean, how would that even work? Isn't it like a 4 hour drive from here? And how do we even know when he's going and getting there? And what about work?" Pam was talking so fast Jim could barely keep up.

"Let's plan it at lunch ok?" he said, nonchalantly slipping his fingers back into the jellybeans and grabbing one more. 

"Ok," she agreed quietly as she watched Jim smile and head back to his desk.

-- 

They met in the breakroom for an early lunch and when Pam pushed open the door, Jim was already sitting at the table eating his ham and cheese sandwich. He raised his eyebrows with a small smile and motioned for her to come and sit next to him. 

"Ok, so what are you thinking?" Pam asked as she sat down and began to unwrap her sandwich.

"We know he always takes the day off before Groundhog Day as well as the main day, right?" he said, and Pam nodded. "So we just make sure we get to his condo early and then follow him to Punxsutawney."  

"Ok," Pam said slowly as she picked at her crust.

"And we know where he's staying, so we can try book some rooms and stay there too. We might need some disguises though," he added, causing Pam to giggle. "What?" he laughed looking at her.

"I'm just imagining you in sunglasses and a fake moustache, maybe an inspector's hat and mac too," she managed to get out between belly laughing. 

"We don't want to get caught," he said with a roll of his eyes. There was silence for a moment as he watched her calm herself down and wipe the tears away from her eyes. He couldn't stop staring, she looked so beautiful laughing. "So, uh," he eventually said, "we'll need to take some time off. I was thinking, why don't you take some vacation days and I'll take sick leave, then no one will know," he suggested. He watched her ponder his idea and could see the cogs in her head whirring. "Do you, um, would Roy be ok with you going away for a few days?"

"My mom's up in Pittsburgh, I can say I'm going to visit her and my dad," she shrugged. "He wouldn't ever find out either way and I can always tell my mom what we're really doing."

"You'd tell her?" he asked, a little surprised.

"Oh yeah," she giggled. "I tell my mom about all of your pranks. It's the only interesting thing that goes on in my life." 

Jim tried to hide his smile with a bite of his sandwich. "So we're doing this?" he asked as he swallowed.

"We're doing this," she smiled back. "I guess we need to book a hotel or something?" 

"I'll call a couple of places and see if they've got any rooms. And I'll try and get some of Michael's plans out of him." 

"How are you gonna do that? she asked 

"Beesly, have some faith in me, come on," he grinned, before taking another bite. 

-- 

Jim walked into the kitchen later that afternoon grinning like a madman. Pam eyed him suspiciously as she stirred her tea. "Why do you look so smug?"

"Not only did I book us two rooms at the Cherry Street Inn, I also know exactly when Michael is leaving tomorrow," he said with a raised eyebrow. 

"How?" she exclaimed, a smile tugging on her lips. 

"I called the bed and breakfast and by some miracle the lady literally just had two rooms cancelled. She said that never happens as the rooms get booked up months before for Groundhog Day. Apparently she hung up their call and then answered mine," he explained as he reached for a mug. 

"Nice work," Pam grinned.

"And I just casually asked Michael if he wanted me to collect his mail while he was away," Jim continued. Pam screwed up her eyebrows in confusion. "I told him I knew it was coming up to Groundhog Day, that he'd probably be away for a while, and did he want me to go check on his place while he was away. Water his plants, collect his mail. That kind of thing," he explained as he made his coffee.

"You're a genius!"

"I know," he chuckled. "He told me he's only taking half a personal day tomorrow, something about not enough days for magic camp too? So he'll give me the keys before he leaves the office. Buuuut, I'm going to start getting sick around ten-ten thirty and he'll have to give his keys to Dwight instead." 

"Nice," she grinned. 

"I'll swing by my parents and pick up my dad's car, so Michael doesn't recognise it, and then come back to the office to pick you up and then we can follow him. So make sure you put in for half a vacation day tomorrow and leave a little before Michael does."

"Wow, you really do have this all figured out don't you?" Pam smiled, her tongue poking through her teeth.

Her beaming face made Jim blush slightly and he swallowed hard to try and suppress it. "Something like that," he crooked, before taking a sip of his coffee.