Today was going to be a perfect day. This morning, Kelly’s Cosmo horoscope advised her to indulge in some guilt-free shopping. The sky was her favorite shade of blue, and pretty crocuses were blooming in the garden outside her apartment building. She was wearing her cutest pink cashmere sweater, the one with the matching feather trim at the cuffs, and it always always brought her luck.
***
The first time she wore it to work, Kelly got to show Ryan that she was always there if he needed her and that she drove a manual. (Boys seemed to like girls who knew their way around a stick shift; Kelly made it a point to learn.) That day, Kelly and Ryan were the last people to leave the office because Michael gave Ryan the job of sharpening every pencil in the supply closet, and Kelly kept accidentally forgetting about some last-minute phone calls she needed to return. She said goodbye to him in the parking lot, but took her time getting settled in her car because she was curious to see if they took the same way home.
Five minutes later, when Ryan still hadn’t left the parking lot, she was beginning to get impatient. She started the engine and rolled down the window so that she could wave goodbye, and that’s when she heard the clunky sounds coming from Ryan’s car. Ryan was sweet and tried to tell her that everything was okay, but obviously it was not okay, and who knew how long it was going to take his roommates to come jump-start his car? It wasn’t like serial killers popped up every day in Scranton, but if the worst-case scenario happened, then Kelly would never forgive herself. Ryan looked touched and maybe even a little scared, because he did this thing with his hands over his face that was a little weird, and for a second Kelly felt badly for worrying him. Only for a second, though, because he agreed to let her drive him home, and it was so worth it. (Later, she found out that his transmission had died, right there, in the parking lot. It was, like, fate.)
His hand “accidentally” bumped into hers as they walked to her car, and his wristwatch snagged itself in her feathered cuff. It was so cute to see him embarrassed and trying to untangle himself, but she wished that if he was going to try and hold her hand, he’d be more careful of her sweater.
***
The second time she wore her pink cashmere sweater to the office, she got to show Ryan her tender, caring side. She wanted to show him her loving, caring side, but decided at the last second that “loving” might be too forward. So Kelly was concerned and helpful after Kevin tripped and spilled his coffee on Ryan in the break room. Still, she let him wrap the gauze around his hand mostly without help.
Angela was incredibly uncooperative the entire time, saying something about how it should really be the Safety Officer supervising the first-aid. In the end she must have seen that her help wasn’t appreciated, because she went back to her creepy cat desk.
One of the feathers from Kelly’s cuffs broke free and settled in Ryan’s hair and he was so cute that she just had to tell him how much he looked like Peter Pan, only without the hat, and with a pink feather instead of a red one. Ryan blushed and grabbed wildly at his hair with his bad hand, and Kelly had to help him re-wrap the gauze.
***
The last time she wore her favorite sweater was on a real date with Ryan. They met at a restaurant bar on a Saturday night and she was excited because Ryan kept hinting about going home and he was clearly trying to figure out if Kelly would come with him. It was hard for her to decide what to do on the spot like that because if she said “yes” too quickly she was a little slutty, and if she hesitated too long, then he'd think she wasn’t interested. And she was so incredibly interested. Just not in that slutty way.
He looked at her funny and she looked back, unnerved because she couldn’t place the expression. It was only for a second, and then he was back to looking like Ryan again, and he said to her, “You look nice in pink.” That’s when she knew she wanted to go home with him, wanted to go home with him and never leave and have his babies and dress them in pink, always. His cell phone rang then, and as he answered it he twirled a little pink feather with his fingers, and she imagined him twirling her across the dance floor on her wedding night, and it was like time just kind of stopped for one magic moment.
Until he dropped his phone onto the bar with an expression of total horror and started talking so fast that she could barely follow his frantic story about his roommate setting the house on fire, and she watched in open-mouthed astonishment as he ran out of the bar. Kelly paid the bill for both of them, knowing that Ryan totally liked her and that if his house wasn’t burning down right now she would have absolutely said “yes” when he asked her back to his place.
***
Today was the fourth time Kelly wore her lucky sweater, and all signs pointed to it being a great day. She timed her entrance to the office to be five minutes later than Ryan normally arrived so that he would be at his desk when she walked in wearing the color he liked so much on her. Unfortunately, he was staring at his computer screen as she passed by, and he didn’t even glance up when she accidentally dropped her purse on the ground by Phyllis’ desk.
Five minutes later, Kelly noticed that the copies she made yesterday were on regular paper and not three-hole punch paper, and she stopped at Ryan’s desk on the way to the photocopier. “Hey, Ryan,” she said lightly, coming up from behind and nudging his shoulder. “What level are you at?”
“Three.” He was still staring at his monitor like a zombie, and she watched him play Snood for a few seconds before tapping his shoulder again. “Yeah?”
This time he actually looked over his shoulder at her, and that’s when he started acting strange. First, he did a double-take, like he wasn’t sure he’d really seen her standing there, but how could he miss someone wearing a pink cashmere sweater with feathers? Then he swiveled in his chair to face her with a look that reminded her of the time he found out his house was on fire, and she squeaked and turned around, totally expecting to see Dwight standing behind her and waving an axe. But nothing was there, and Ryan was still looking strange, and he quickly turned back to his desk.
“Uh… Is everything okay, Ryan?” She put a hand on his shoulder and the feathers on her cuff must have tickled his ear, because he flinched and rubbed at the spot with the back of his hand, and it was silly but it reminded her of how boys acted in second grade when they were afraid of girl cooties.
“Yeah, no, uh, you just scared me for a second, I – I thought that you were someone else. Pam. I thought you were Pam and then you were you and I was just surprised, that’s all.” He was talking all fast and weird and shutting down his computer at the same time and even before it had turned off he was practically jogging away and muttering something about suddenly feeling sick. He stopped long enough at the reception desk to scribble a note for Pam to give to Michael, and then he was gone, out the door.
“Who the hell is he running from?” Creed looked at Kelly with an accusing stare, like she had done something wrong, when all she tried to do was say good morning.
“Obviously he’s sick,” she said pointedly. Ryan would never run from her. That was just stupid. If he was running then he must have been really sick, because she knew that she’d never want to be really sick in the office bathroom with everyone just a few feet away. Poor Ryan. She hoped he was okay to drive home and for a second she thought about running outside to make sure he made it to his car, but Creed was still staring at her. Like she was some kind of stalker. Which she so wasn’t. She turned away and went to go make her copies, feeling like her perfect day was ruined only twelve minutes into the morning. Her lucky cashmere sweater had totally failed her.
On the way back from the photocopier, she noticed something on the seat of Ryan’s chair. His wallet. It had fallen out of his pocket, and he was in such a hurry to get home that he hadn’t even noticed it was missing. A million worst-case scenarios came to mind. What if he was pulled over? What if he got in an accident? What if he needed to buy medicine, and he didn’t have any money?
She held his wallet in her hands, promising herself that she would not look inside it unless it accidentally opened up, and envisioned herself dropping it off at his house at the end of the day and finding Ryan miserably sick and alone, abandoned by his roommates, desperately in need of soup and Nyquil and companionship. She would tend to him and soothe him to sleep and make sure he had plenty of liquids and he would see that she was full of maternal instinct. The thought made her smile as she walked back to her desk and tucked the wallet in her purse for later. Ryan was so lucky that she had worn her pink cashmere sweater today.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Many thanks to Julie and Jenn for the beta read.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
