She doesn't know what to do with herself. It's been two days, and he hasn't so much as looked her way. She wonders if he'll ever come around. She begins to think she wouldn't care if he did.
She's listening to the tiny radio she's somehow convinced Michael to let her keep at her desk, as long as it's volume is low and the morning show "not as funny as me." Random snippets of songs are being played on the morning show, and callers are having to guess the names and artists for prizes, each getting only three words of the song to go on. She doodles each set of words in her sketch pad, making little block-letter cities and cars and people.
And then he's there. "I just...I just stepped away from my desk and I sort of forgot I was waiting on a call. Anything?"
"No." She says without looking up. "Oh, wait, yeah. I'm sorry. Um. Mr. Wallace? He wants beige instead of cream."
"Oh." She glances up long enough to see him appear confused and deep in thought. "Where are the jelly beans?"
"I stopped buying them. No one was eating them. Waste of money I don't have. At least Kev eats the M&Ms, you know?"
"Yeah," he thinks before finishing this sentence: "But he has a bag in his desk."
He shouldn't have said that. "So? He'll eat these, too. It's not like he's the only one. I happen to like M&Ms." She pauses, then whispers: "At least he talks to me."
"I talk to you, Pam." He's starting to sound irriated, at least he's trying to. All she hears is pathetic.
She scoffs, and continues her scribbling. "That's ironic," she laughs, holding up the pad for him to see: "Intrusive and arrogant." She smiles mischeviously. "Taking Back Sunday, Liar."
"Excuse me?" He raises his voice.
"It's a song, Jim. Liar's the name of the song. I don't know you well enough to call you a liar." She raises an eyebrow at him, questioning him.
It works. He seems unsure of his next move, so he nods, purses his lips, and knocks her desk twice. "Okay." He turns and walks away.
It's what she wanted.
She reminds herself again. It's what she wanted him to do.
Yeah. She believes that.
About an hour later, she's on her way out the door. Kevin (reluctantly), Oscar, Phyllis, and somehow Stanley are taking her to lunch to celebrate her newfound freedom (she turned Kelly down with a simple 'no' and stuck to it, when asked about a blind date!). Phyllis invites Jim, but leaves out that Pam's going (or that they're all splitting her tab for her). He seems a bit shocked and hesitant when he sees Pam climb into Oscar's car. She throws her head back and laughs, though, and he blinks twice and folds himself into his car, following Oscar out of the lot.
Cugino's is a lot nicer than he remembered. Or maybe it's the new paint job. Either way, the whole place seems more welcoming. She orders the same thing as their first non-date.
He orders a glass of water.
She laughs, talks, and pretends to cry when the waiters come by to celebrate her "birthday." He doesn't participate in the conversation. She won't look at him.
It's enough she can feel his eyes on her. It's too much.
"It's been great, guys, but I think I'll take the rest of the day off," she announces back at the office.