Fun For No One

"When do I go do it?" Karen asked.

Jim leaned over her desk, pretending like he was going over a sales spreadsheet.  When Stanley glanced up at them, Jim said out loud, "So, the Hansen Medical account usually goes with Hammermill bright white in the 80 weight and eggshell in the card stock..."  When Stanley looked back down again, he started whispering to her:  "Okay, so wait until he's gone into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, then go for it."

Karen looked up at him with a genuine smile.  She seemed really pleased to be "in" on the joke.  Jim felt really guilty about that for some reason.  He glanced over at Pam's desk, and noticed her quickly ducking her head down.  He wondered if she was watching them.  Jim frowned, standing up straight.

He cleared his throat.  "So, anyway, you know, let me know how that goes with the, uh - Hansen account."

Karen smiled at him again.  "You got it, boss."  

She watched him as he walked back to his desk, and noticed that he glanced at Pam's desk as he went by.  Sometimes Karen wondered about Pam.  She had noticed that Pam sat next to him in the conference room on their first day in Scranton.  Karen noticed that Pam would sometimes make little comments.  She didn't think there was anything going on between them, but it was weird - like there was something about Pam that Jim wasn't telling her.  Did they used to be good friends?  Had they fallen out?  Did they used to date?  Karen remembered hearing something about Pam being engaged - it didn't have anything to do with Jim, did it?

No... Karen was pretty sure she'd heard that Pam had been with one of the guys in the warehouse.  Besides, Jim would have told her if he used to be engaged - wouldn't he? 

Yeah, that definitely wasn't it.

There was something, though.  Something between them that Jim hadn't told her about.  She just knew it.

Oh, crap.  She looked up, realizing that Andy had walked into the kitchen.  Looking around, she got up quickly, and headed towards the kitchen.  She turned around just before walking in, and saw Jim giving her a thumbs-up.  Smiling to herself, she went through the door.

"Andy," she said.

"Sweet Karen," Andy said, pouring a cup of coffee. 

She had to stop herself from cringing.  Karen hated when he called her that.  Remember the mission.  You can do this.  "Hey, so," she said, reaching into the fridge to pull out a bottle of San Pellegrino, "Jim tells me that you're hunting for fresh blood around here."

"You are correct," Andy said, turning to her as he stirred his coffee. 

She watched as he set the dirty plastic spoon onto the countertop.  Yuck.

"Well, yeah, I was talking to him about some of the women in the office and I thought I might give you a little piece of advice - woman-to-woman."  Karen thought about what Jim said:  I feel like I already sicced him on Pam; we'll give her a break.   "I know you've been thinking about Pam, but..."

"Karen," Andy said, putting his hand on her shoulder.  "Don't worry about it.  I have got this in the bag.  I know just the thing that will sweep our cute little receptionist off her feet."

"But ..."

"She won't be able to resist me.  Trust me."  Andy grinned at her with those huge teeth of his.  That smile always made him look more like a cartoon than a man. 

"It's just that..."

"This thing -- called love -- I just can't get enough..."  Andy started singing as he headed back out into the office.  Karen rolled her eyes as she watched him go. 

Well, that didn't exactly go as planned. 

She frowned, taking a long slug from the bottle.  The carbonated water burned as it went down her throat.  When she looked out into the office again, Andy was leaning over Pam's desk.

Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing.  Maybe Pam would actually like Andy, by some strange abomination.  There was someone for everyone.  Who knew?

It just seemed so wrong, though.