It’s a marriage of convenience.
They’ve been friends for what seems like forever. Not best friends, not by any means, but they’ve sent Christmas cards and birthday cards and he knows her favorite color is cerulean blue. He tells her stories about Sasha that make her grin, and on a couple of occasions, after Michael’s done something particularly stupid and they’ve both had to deal with the fall-out, he’s invited her back to his apartment for a drink.
They talk a lot. About work, about the future. He’s got simple dreams, he thinks. Costa Rica and surfing and other things that will probably never happen or won’t work out the way he thinks because that’s the indication life has given him so far.
When they hook up it isn’t personal. It’s loneliness and pain and a desperate need for another warm body. She’s so tired and he’s so weak and they’re just clinging to each other in the dark.
There is no elaborate proposal, just two words, and she doesn’t blush or giggle or even say yes. She just nods and takes his hand and they agree.
They don’t get married because they’re in love…at least not in love with each other. They get married because she wants kids and he misses Sasha and he never got past casual flirting and blushing when it came to Pam (and it’s not like he ever stood a chance anyway). They get married because they’re on a beach and he’s had too much to drink and she says yes. They get married because everyone else does.
It’s warm and humid and she’s wearing a thin white dress she bought on the boardwalk. He’s got his khakis rolled up halfway to his knees and his shirt is wrinkled and baggy. His cheeks are burned, right under his eyes, but the skin on his arms is pale. Despite the sand and the sunset this isn’t romantic, it’s desperate.
Back in Scranton his ring looks worn and old. He’s still tired and he still misses Sasha and if he thought Michael hated him before he didn’t know what hate was. He calls her at the end of every day and he knows things aren’t any better for her. Corporate is on her for falling sales at Dunder-Mifflin Northeast and she still has to deal with Michael on an almost daily basis.
When she gets pregnant they finally buy a house and they each commute an hour every morning. He feels like he’s stepped into a word problem from the worksheet Sasha left on the kitchen table: if 2 cars head in opposite directions on the same stretch of highway will they ever reach the same destination?
He can’t find the right answer.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Disclaimer I own a Dunder Mifflin mug, season 2 on DVD, a calendar, the complete UK series and a picture of myself with John Krasinski, but beyond that? Nothing.
So Unfold has been bugging me to finish this thing, and I think there's just going to be one more chapter after this one (the one you guys all seem to be so eager to read...there's a reason I held off on it until the end). I'd thought about doing Kevin and Stacey and Phyllis and Bob Vance (Vance Refrigeration), but ended up deciding against it. I may add them someday. I'm also oddly tempted to write a Karen/Andy chapter, though I couldn't tell you why.
This chapter's not quite as upbeat as the others, 'cause, well, Jan and Toby aren't the most upbeat people and I honestly have trouble seeing either of them truly happy.
And, obviously, I've been working on this series since well before recent events in the "Office"-verse and chapter 2 pretty much made this thing AU. Oh well.
So Unfold has been bugging me to finish this thing, and I think there's just going to be one more chapter after this one (the one you guys all seem to be so eager to read...there's a reason I held off on it until the end). I'd thought about doing Kevin and Stacey and Phyllis and Bob Vance (Vance Refrigeration), but ended up deciding against it. I may add them someday. I'm also oddly tempted to write a Karen/Andy chapter, though I couldn't tell you why.
This chapter's not quite as upbeat as the others, 'cause, well, Jan and Toby aren't the most upbeat people and I honestly have trouble seeing either of them truly happy.
And, obviously, I've been working on this series since well before recent events in the "Office"-verse and chapter 2 pretty much made this thing AU. Oh well.
