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Chapter One: The New Girl

The first time she walked through that door into the bland office with it’s buzzing fluorescent lights, his heart immediately went out to her. He was surprised by his strong instinctual reaction to her, this instinct to protect. She didn’t really look like his type at all. Curly dirty blonde hair that bordered on frizzy and was pulled back by a conservative barrette. The harsh lights washed out her face, which was at most just pretty, and her clothes at their best were frumpy. Jim didn’t necessarily consider himself the most handsome devil on the block, but his sense of humor was positively magnetic and he had dated his share of beautiful girls. But there was something about this girl’s eyes that drew him in, the sense of nervousness they held at the time, and the potential of laughter that peeked out ever so slightly. She looked so lost that he was just about to get out of his seat to help her when Michael came barging out of his office. Jim flinched in sympathy for the quiet girl, knowing the kind of greeting that she would receive.

“You must be Pam!” Michael said with a ringmaster’s gusto, shocking the girl with an overly intimate hug.

“Um, yes, hi-” The girl began but she was quickly interrupted by the overly outgoing Michael.

“Pam Pam bo bam, banana fama mo mam…” He chanted, accompanying his bizarre little chant with some kind of “Night at the Roxbury” head-bobbing action. The girl, looked like she was torn between running for her life, or bursting into laughter. Jim felt himself smiling at that twitch in the corner of her mouth that she was trying to hard to resist. She scanned the office quickly and somewhat shyly, as if looking for an ally. Jim humored her by catching her gaze and rolling his eyes skyward. What had been only a hint of a smile soon turned into a full-on grin in seeing that she wasn’t alone in her disbelief.

Jim was shocked by the almost complete transformation in the girl’s demeanor as soon as she smiled. Jim’s first thought was that it was like the sun coming out from behind the clouds, but he had to laugh at himself for thinking something so cliché. Still, it was hard to see the brilliance of her smile and compare it to anything less bright than the sun. Her eyes just lit up, and Jim felt another strange tightening in his chest. What the hell is up with me today? he wondered. Eager to entertain her further, Jim made a face as Michael continued his ridiculous tangent, and the new girl had to fight not to giggle.

“Well my pretty, I am your overseer Michael Scott, and this is our office, where are the magic of Dunder-Mifflin paper supply happens!” He grinned in what he thought to be a cheerful manner, not realizing that it bordered on creepy. “Let me give you the grand tour Madame.” he announced, offering the new girl his arm, as if escorting her to a ball. Her smile quickly dropped and she shot Jim a wild, desperate look that said Oh dear God, I just needed a decent job for a little, just some extra cash, please God do not make me have prolonged contact with this man… But apparently God wasn’t listening at that moment, because Michael pretended not to notice the girl’s hesitation and he awkwardly linked arms with her anyway.

“So, this is the ol’ bullpen right here, with sales here and accounting over there, uh, Human Resources is back there but you really don’t need to know where that is, conference room is there, and THIS is my office!” The girl looked confused by this whirlwind tour, and looked even more desperate as Michael led her into his office and shut the door behind them. Jim’s felt his stomach churn in pity for this girl, and after a quick minute he got up from his desk and rapped on the door of Michael’s office. He knew that despite Michael’s…off-color behavior, his boss actually meant well, but the new girl didn’t know that and she was probably sufficiently freaked out.

“Whaaat is the secret password?” Michael’s voice floated though the door in a disturbing, high pitched witch’s cackle. Jim sighed, recognizing Michael has having gone into full “Impressing a Girl” mode.

“Open sesame?” He guessed, half-jokingly, and was surprised when Michael answered “Oh…actually, that is it. Come in!”

Jim opened the door and saw the new girl seated in the chair across from Michael’s desk, that was scattered with colorful and childish knickknacks. Michael could have just done the appropriate boss thing and sat in his own chair, but of course instead he had chosen to stand right in front of the girl, leaning against his desk, towering over her. Jim felt that twinge of protectiveness again, right in his gut. As soon as the new girl saw him open the door, Jim was pleased to see her expression change quickly from poorly-concealed nervousness to absolute relief. Well she’d probably be happy to see anybody who isn't Michael right about now Jim thought.

“Hey Michael, I just wanted to let you know that I finalized that deal with Henderson & Sons today.” Jim said, quickly formulating an excuse to hide his real reason for visiting Michael’s office.

“Cool, cool, cool, man! That is sweet!” Michael replied in his strained attempt at “street” lingo. He coughed and circled his desk to sit in his proper chair, and Jim couldn’t help but notice how a little tension slipped from the new girls body. “Well as long as you’re here, we might as well start introductions. Jim, this is our new receptionist Miss Paaamela Beesly!” Michael announced her name as if she was a contestant on “The Price is Right”, and only two years practice of dealing with Michael kept Jim from laughing at the tackiness that was Michael Scott. “Pam, this is one of our top salesmen, Jimmy Halpert, he‘s a good personal buddy of mine!”

“It’s just Jim.” Jim smiled genuinely as he extended his hand, not even bothering to correct Michael’s “good personal buddy” comment.

“Hi Jim. I‘m Pam.” Pam smiled, inserting her hand into his. Her hand was warm and if it was slightly damp from first-day nerves, Jim certainly didn’t notice. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, thrilled by this first contact and her smile. He was just captivated by that smile. The handshake definitely lingered a little bit longer than was customary. Jim decided right then and there that her hair was definitely more curly than frizzy, brown with blonde highlights rather than dirty blond, and no one looks good in fluorescent lighting anyway.