December 15, 1997
He was seated in the tenth row, behind a large guy around his age. The guy was with two of his buddies, and a girl with curly hair. She was wearing a black turtle neck, and she seemed preoccupied. The guy was laughing, and hooting with his buddies, and the girl just stared off into the distance. She was very bored, and Jim can tell.

Wow, Jim thought, way to not take notice in the girl…

On Jim’s opposite side, his brother Pete was laughing and joking around with his girlfriend. Jim was once again the third wheel, and he did not know what he was doing here. He liked all sports, but he never took much interest in hockey. He tried to take interest in the game, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins vs. The Portland Pirates. The score was 3-2 Penguins, and it had been a close game. Out of the corner of his eye, Jim noticed that the girl seated in front of him was yawning, and checking her watch.

“Dude, three minutes left! We’re gonna cream ‘em!” exclaimed the guy seated next to the girl. Jim saw her give the guy a vague smile, and nodding. For some reason, Jim took pity on this girl. She seemed like a quiet, nice person, and the guy she was sitting next to was obviously a jock. Plus, Jim could tell that she was having absolutely no fun at all.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom,” Jim heard the girl saying in front of him as they were leaving the ice rink.

“Okay,” said the guy she was with. He was obviously preoccupied with his buddies, and didn’t hear her. “Dude, we need to get wasted!”

Jim chuckled to himself, as he waited for Pete and his girlfriend to catch up with him. A few seconds later, Pete hastily walked up to Jim.

“Hey, bro, I’m going to take Susan home first. Is it cool if you just wait here?” Pete asked.

“Dude, come on, I’ve gotta get up early tomorrow…why’d you even make me come here?” Jim said, throwing his hands up in frustration.

“I was under the impression that Susan was going to bring a friend, man. My bad,” said Pete. “Listen, just wait here for about an hour, and we’ll go home. I’ll give you ten bucks; you can go to the arcade or something…”

“Fine,” sighed Jim. He knew Pete really liked Susan, so he understood.

“Thanks, bro,” Pete said, handing Jim a ten dollar bill. “I’ll be back.”

“Yeah, good luck,” Jim said, watching Pete walking away.

Jim stepped outside, watching people laughing as they walked to their cars.

Since when was hockey a romantic sport? He wondered.

As Jim sighed, and leaned against the wall, he noticed the curly haired girl sitting on a bench about ten yards in front of him. She was crying. Jim looked away, and tried not to pay attention to her. Maybe she broke up with that jock guy. Jim stepped away from the wall, and decided to go back inside to get a coffee. Jim stood in line, and two men in front of Jim were laughing.

“No, Snot, that’s what she said! Do you really not get it?” asked the taller, balding man to the shorter man.

“I don’t get it…” said the shorter man, with a look of genuine confusion on his face.

Jim walked up to the cashier, and ordered a coffee. While he was waiting on his coffee, he looked out the window. The girl was still there, and she was crying harder than before. People were still heading to their cars, but none of them were taking notice to her.

“Thanks,” Jim said, taking his coffee, and walking back outside. Just talk to her, man, Jim thought to himself; see if she needs help or something.

“Hi, um…is this seat taken?” Jim asked when he walked up to the girl.

The girl didn’t look up at him, but she replied back softly, “No.”

Jim sat down next her, and sipped his coffee. He was sitting there for what felt like hours, and he could see the two men at the concession stand heading towards their car.

“Pack-Man, seriously, who’s ‘she’, and why did she say it?” the shorter man asked.

“Shut up, you gay nerd…” said the taller one, getting into his car.

Jim heard a sniffle, and turned back to the girl.

“Um…are you okay?” Jim finally asked.

The girl looked up at Jim, wiping her eyes, and nodded. Once again, they sat in silence. A few minutes later, Jim looked back over to the girl. She was shivering.

“Here,” he said, getting up, and taking his jacket off. He held it in front of him, offering it to the girl.

“Uh, no thanks,” she said, gently pushing the jacket back to Jim.

“Seriously, it’s cold out here, and you need this more than I do. I have coffee to keep me warm,” Jim said to her, smiling. She looked back up at Jim, and gave him a small smile. She nodded, and Jim put his jacket around her shoulders.

“Thanks,” she said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

“No problem, but here’s the thing. I did you a favor, so now you need to do me one,” Jim said kindly. The girl stared at Jim for a couple of seconds, and then giggled.

“Okay…”

“All right, so two things: Why are you crying, and why are you just sitting out here in the cold?” Jim asked.

“That’s not really a favor…”

“Well, I saw you sitting here crying about ten minutes ago, and it’s been bugging me for a whole ten minutes. Do you know what that’s like for me? It really hurts…” Jim chuckled. The girl giggled again.

“Okay…I came here on a date, and I went to the bathroom, and my date left me,” she said shrugging. “And I don’t know how I’m going to get home now, because I live about two hours away from here, and I don’t know anyone.”

“Oh, wow…that’s pretty crappy,” Jim said, “I’m sorry…”

“Meh, hopefully, he’ll notice that I’m not in the car, and he’ll turn back soon,” she said.

“Yeah, well, you’re in luck,” Jim said, “my ride isn’t going to be back for probably an hour, so I’ll wait with you for awhile. That is…if you’re okay with it.”

“No…I mean, yeah, it’s fine,” she replied back, giving another small smile.

“And worst case scenario, if your date doesn’t come back, you can probably crash at my brother’s girlfriend’s house…but let’s not think about that,” Jim said, returning her smile.

“I hope that doesn’t happen…I mean, no offense, but yeah…”

“None taken, I understand. Uh, my name’s Jim,” Jim said, holding out his hand.

“I’m Pam,” Pam said, taking his hand and shaking it.

“Nice to meet you. So does this sorta thing happen to you often?” Jim joked.

“What, getting ditched at a hockey rink? No…this was actually our first date. If you can even call it that,” replied Pam.

“Wow, this guy is really romantic,” Jim said, giving Pam a goofy smile. Pam smiled back.

“Oh, you know it…and I just wanted to go see Titanic, but he really pulled out the big guns,” Pam laughed.

“Titanic? Wow, you are so cliche!” Jim teased. Pam laughed harder.


Just then, a white pick up truck drove in front of them. The big jock from earlier came out of the passenger side.

“Holy shit, Pam, I am so sorry!” he cried, rushing to give Pam a hug. “We were just psyched about the game, and we forgot about you! I’m sorry!”

“Whatever, Roy…I just want to go home…” Pam sighed, handing Jim his jacket back. “Thank you,” she added to Jim.

“No problem,” Jim said, taking his jacket back. “It was nice talking to you…”

“You too,” Pam said, getting into the truck. “Bye.”

“Bye, Pam…” Jim said, but the truck door was already closed, and they were on their way out of the parking lot. Jim watched the truck going down the street until it was gone from view. He sighed to himself once more.

Well, she was cute...Jim thought, putting his jacket back on.

March, 1975

“Michael, honey, do you mind going to the park for awhile?” Michael’s mother asked.

Michael looked up from the television, and saw that Jeff had come over. He hated Jeff. Michael stood up, and nodded. He was ten years old and wearing a white button up shirt with a bow tie and a pair of black slacks. Michael walked towards the front door as his mother bent down and combed his hair to the side.

“Thank you, sweetie, be back in an hour okay?” his mother said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Michael nodded once more, and he left, making sure to give Jeff a dirty look as he walked past him. He walked down the street, the sun reflecting off the windows of cars parked on the side of his street.

Stupid Jeff, Michael thought, he never lets me have any fun.

Michael kicked a rock down the street, and headed towards the playground just a block away from his house. When he arrived, there were some kids that Michael knew from school playing on the jungle gym. One of the boys looked up, tapped his friend on the shoulder, and pointed towards Michael. They began laughing as Michael walked up to them smiling.

“Hey buddies!” Michael said, waving to them.

“Hey, Scott,” said a tall boy, “we saw you on Fundle Bundle yesterday. You’re famous!”

“Am I?”

“Yeah, you were on TV!” the boy said, climbing down from the top of the jungle gym. “That’s so cool!”

“Thanks…so what are you guys playing?” Michael asked, blushing.

“We’re about to play Cops and Robbers.”

“Can I play?”

“No. I’m sorry, but we’re not your kids, so we can say no to being your friend,” they boy said. The other boys began to laugh.

“Yeah, why don’t you look for someone to get married to? You guys can have a hundred babies together!” another boy called.

“You’re such a loser, Scott. No wonder you don’t have any friends,” said the first kid, stepping up closer to Michael.

Michael felt tears burning in his eyes, but fought hard to keep them in. The other boys were all laughing harder now.

“Look! He’s going to cry!”

“Shut up!” Michael screamed, but this made the boys laugh harder.

“Shut up!” they all mocked back to him.

Michael now felt the tears streaming down his face. The first boy began to shove him back.

“Leave him alone!” cried a voice.

The boy who was shoving Michael turned around, and Michael looked over the boy’s shoulder. The voice belonged to a short, blonde girl, who appeared to be slightly younger than the rest of the boys.

“What are you? Scott’s girlfriend?” asked the boy who was shoving Michael.

“Just leave him alone, you guys,” said the girl.

“And why should we?” the boy retorted.

“Because he wasn’t doing anything to you,” replied the girl, stepping closer to them. The other boys began to laugh.

“Fine, you’re lucky you’re a girl, or we’d all beat you up,” said the boy. He turned back to Michael, “Get out of here, Scott. Go play with your new girlfriend.”

Michael didn’t say anything. He just turned around, wiping tears from his face, and walked away as fast as he could. He didn’t know where to go now. As he got to the edge of the park, he could hear the other boys wooting and whistling. Michael turned around to see what the commotion was, and he saw the blonde girl running towards him. He turned again, and began to quicken his pace. Michael didn’t want to give the other boys more ammo to tease him at school.

“Are you okay?” Michael heard the girl asking, slightly breathless from running.

“Leave me alone! I hate you!” Michael cried, as he began to run away.

“Wait! What’s wrong? I was just trying to help!”

“You made things worse!” Michael screamed, still running.

“They’re leaving you alone now, aren’t they? Come on, stop running!” the girl cried, running faster to catch up with Michael.

Michael stopped, and turned around. He was breathing hard. The girl caught up with him, and she was breathing hard as well.

“I’m sorry for running,” Michael said with his head down.

“It’s okay,” said the girl softly. “I’m Holly.”

“Okay,” Michael said, walking away once more.

“Wait! Where are you going?”

“I don’t know…”

“Come on, let’s play on the swings,” Holly said, grabbing Michael’s wrist.

“Okay…”

The two of them walked over to a swing set that was far away from the jungle gym. Michael could still see the boys over there, laughing and pointing at him. He looked away, and he saw Holly sitting on a swing next to him.

“So what’s your name?” she asked him, pushing off the ground.

“Michael,” he replied, not swinging.

Holly smiled over at Michael, and began humming the theme to Happy Days. Michael hummed along, and then Holly started to giggle.

“What’s so funny?” Michael asked feeling slightly offended.

“You watch Happy Days too?”

“Duh…doesn’t everyone?”

“Well, in my neighborhood, everyone watches The Brady Bunch, so the kids at my school make fun of me for watching Happy Days,” Holly replied, shrugging.

“Your neighborhood sounds stupid,” Michael said, kicking the sand at his feet.

“Yeah, the people there are mean…”

“Same here,” said Michael, still kicking at the sand.

“I hope not…my family might move here,” Holly said, stopping her swing.

“Why?”

“My daddy might get a job over there,” Holly said, pointing to a pharmacy across the street. “He sells people medicine. What does your dad do?”

“I think he’s a hunter…” Michael replied. “Every time I see him, he takes me hunting with him.”

“Oh…That’s cool,” said Holly, scrunching up her eyebrows. “Are your parents divorced too?”

“Yeah, how did you know?”

“You said ‘every time I see him.’ So I figured your dad doesn’t live with you,” Holly said, looking over at Michael.

“Oh…yeah, I live with my mom,” said Michael.

“I live with my daddy…”

“Cool.”

They sat in silence again. A few minutes later, Holly broke the silence.

“Can I ask you a question?” she asked.

“Okay,” replied Michael.

“How come those guys were making fun of you about having a hundred kids?”

Michael sat in silence again, feeling humiliated.

“I was on Fundle Bundle, and—“

“What’s Fundle Bundle?” Holly interrupted.

“It’s a TV show…”

“Oh, okay, and?”

“Edward R. Meow asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I said that I wanted to get married and have a hundred kids so that no one can say no to being my friend,” Michael said, feeling tears burning in his eyes.

“Me too!” Holly exclaimed, “That would be so cool!”

Michael smiled, “Yeah, it would be fun. We can have sleepovers, and eat candy, and tell jokes…”

“And watch Happy Days!”

“Yeah!”

Just then, a man walked out of the pharmacy.

“Holly!”

“Yeah, daddy!” Holly yelled, waving to her dad. The man jogged across the street towards the two children.

“Let’s go home, sweetie,” he said, taking Holly’s hand.

“Are we moving here, daddy?” Holly asked, jumping of her swing. Michael followed.

“No, it looks like we’re not,” her father replied, looking over at Michael, “Say bye to your friend, Holly. We have to beat traffic.”

“Bye, Michael,” Holly said sadly.

“Bye, Holly,” Michael said. Holly and her father were walking towards their car. For some reason, Michael started to cry again.

June, 2002

Jim was staring at the door right in front of him. Dunder Mifflin, the sign read. Jim took a deep breath, and stepped into the office. The first thing he noticed as he walked in was the receptionist. She had reddish brown hair, big green eyes, and she was wearing a smile as Jim walked towards her.

“How can I help you?” she asked.

“Hi, I’m Jim. I’m new here,” Jim said, shaking her hand.

“Hi, my name’s Pam. Let me get Mr. Scott for you…”

“Ah! Jim Halpert!” Michael exclaimed, walking out of his office. “Come into my office, young man, and let me seduce you into the ways of our company.”

Jim gave Pam a confused smile, and followed Michael to his office. Michael went on about how his branch is the fun branch, and how Jim will be able to have a great career selling paper and having fun.

“Well, hopefully, this won’t be my career…” Jim started.

“What? Are you too good for this company?” Michael asked, offended.

“Oh, no, sir…I just meant that…”

“All of this sounded too good to be true?

“Yes…that is exactly what I was thinking,” Jim said.

“All right, good man!” Michael said, “Pam! Come give Jim a tour of our wonderful office! I just have so much work to do!”

Pam sighed, and got up from her desk. Jim walked out of Michael’s office, and towards Pam.

“So that was our oh so charismatic boss,” Pam said, smiling. “Okay, let me show you around.”

“All right,” Jim said, following Pam.

Pam showed Jim where the break room, the kitchen, and the bathrooms were.

“This seems like a very exciting place,” Jim said sarcastically. Pam let out a giggle.

“You have no idea…” Pam said, “let me show you to your desk.”

“All right, sounds great.” They started walking towards the main office from the kitchen.

“Enjoy this moment,” said Pam softly, “because you're never going to go back to this time before you met your desk mate Dwight.”

Jim laughed nervously as he pulled out his chair, “Thanks, Pam.”

“No problem, Jim,” Pam said heading back over to her desk.

Jim turned to his new desk mate, “Hello, I’m Jim Halpert,” Jim said, holding out his hand. Dwight stared at Jim for a few seconds, and Jim pulled his hand back, “Okay…”

“So you’re the new guy, huh?” Dwight asked.

“Yes, that would be me…”

“Question: do you know where you are sitting?”

“At my desk?” Jim said nervously, chuckling.

“Wrong, you are sitting in an office that contains two of the greatest salesmen this company has ever seen,” Dwight said, returning his gaze to his computer.

“That’s quite an honor…” Jim mumbled to himself. He heard some giggling from the reception area. He turned to his right, and saw that Pam was grinning at him, shrugging her shoulders in a “what did I tell you?” kind of way. Jim chuckled, and that’s when he knew.

*****

“Hey, Pam,” Jim said walking up to her desk. Jim couldn’t believe that he was already working here for two days, and he was surprised to find that he and Pam were quickly becoming friends.

“Hello, Jim,” Pam said, smiling up at him. Jim grabbed a few jelly beans.

“So I woke up late this morning, and it seems that I forgot to pack my lunch,” Jim said, smiling back at her, “and I was wondering if you would like to go out to Cugino’s for lunch today. My treat.”

“Sure, that sounds great,” Pam said, smiling wider.

“All right, great…” Jim said shyly, walking back to his desk.

It was already 1:00, and Jim and Pam were going down to the lobby on the elevator. They both nodded to the security guard, Hank, and headed outside to the parking lot.

“So who’s driving?” Pam asked, smiling.

“I guess I’ll have to drive. I have to warn you that my car is kind of a big deal. I mean, I’ve seen plenty of people crying because I wasn’t able to give them a ride in my awesome car, so you should feel honored,” Jim said sarcastically.

“Oh, I do feel very honored…so which one is your car?” Pam giggled. Jim pointed to a maroon Toyota Corolla, and Pam burst out in laughter. Jim started to laugh as well, as he opened the door for Pam.

“So what kind of music are you into?” Jim asked, reversing out of the parking spot.

“I like everything,” Pam said.

“Wow, that’s pretty broad, Ms. Beasly,” Jim handed her his CD booklet, “Choose a CD then.”

Pam shuffled through the pages, and she picked out a CD.

“What are we going to listen to?” Jim asked.

“You’ll see,” Pam said, putting the CD into Jim’s stereo.

“Oh, I see you’re a Radiohead fan, bold choice,” Jim said, listening to the opening lines of ‘Paranoid Android.’ “Kind of a depressing song, don’t you think?”

“Well, I still like it,” Pam said, smiling. Jim couldn’t help but smile back. She was adorable…


“We should do this again sometime,” Jim said after they got back from lunch.

“Yeah, it was fun…” Pam said, brushing her hair back with her left hand.

Yeah, it was, Jim thought to himself, smiling. Their lunch had been great. Jim told Pam that he had to drop out of school, because his parents were struggling with money. So Jim decided to move back to Scranton to help them out for awhile, and his plans were to go back to college in a couple of years. Pam told Jim that she always wanted to be an artist, but she ended up working as a receptionist.

As Pam pulled her hand out of her hair, Jim saw something shiny from her finger. It took a few seconds, before he realized that she was wearing an engagement ring. How could he not have noticed before? Just then, a tall figure walked up to Pam, and gave her a quick kiss.

“Hey, babe, Daryl and I are going to Poor Richard’s after work today,” the guy said. Jim felt his ribs tightening in his chest.

“How am I going to get home?” Pam asked.

Roy looked around, and saw Jim. “The new guy can give you a ride home, right?”

“Uh, sure…if that’s okay with Pam.”

“Yeah, it’s fine…I’m going back to work,” Pam said, giving Roy a quick kiss, and going back into the building.

“Hey, I’m Roy,” Roy said, turning to face Jim.

“Jim,” Jim said, shaking Roy’s hand, trying with all his might not squeeze the hell out of it.

*****

Jim’s first week was almost over. It was Friday, and he was about to go on his first sales call with Dwight. Jim leaned down to peer into the refrigerator for his lunch. He noticed a container of mixed berry yogurt, and it was expired. Just then, Dwight walked in.

“Halpert, let’s move!” Dwight said. Jim lifted his head out of the refrigerator, and nodded. Pam followed Dwight in, holding a camera.

“Before you guys go, Michael wanted me to take a picture before Jim’s first sales call,” Pam said, holding up the camera.

“All right. Make it quick, Pam,” Dwight said, moving over to stand next to Jim.

“Smile!” Pam cried happily.

“No!” Dwight said. Jim laughed, and Pam snapped the picture.

“Come on, Halpert, we’ve got some paper to sell!” Dwight ordered, walking out of the kitchen.

Pam smiled at Jim, and she headed to the refrigerator.

“Good luck, Jim,” she said opening the door.

“Thanks, Pam,” Jim said. “Oh, and that mixed berry yogurt that you’re about to eat has expired.”

Jim walked out of the kitchen, and Pam smiled to herself. And that’s when she knew…

Late May, 2008

“Michael?” Holly asked, gently knocking on the door of Michael’s office.

“Yes, Holly?” said Michael, hastily clicking the computer mouse. Holly smiled. She could have sworn she just heard “Wannabe” by Spice Girls. “How was your weekend, Holly-gram?”

“It was fine, I finally found an apartment,” Holly said, sitting down on a chair across from Michael.

“That’s great! Where is it?”

“It’s on Haven Blvd.,” Holly replied. “Yeah, I’m still getting settled in…”

“I see…so what can I do for you?” Michael asked, fidgeting with his ‘World’s Greatest Boss’ mug.

“Michael, were you listening to the Spice Girls?” Holly asked chuckling. She saw Michael blush.

“No, I mean yeah, but I was just…I was just trying to find some new music, and that song just came up…” Michael stammered.

“I’m not making fun,” Holly said smiling. “So you’re looking for some new music?”

“Yes, do you have any suggestions?”

“Well, you should check out ‘Colorblind’ by Counting Crows…it’s my favorite song,” Holly said.

“Okay, I will check that out…but anyway, what can I do for you, Holly?” Michael asked, twirling his thumbs.

“I know it’s rude of me to ask, but I have a lot of heavy boxes sitting in a storage box, and I was just…I was just wondering if you can help me out?” Holly said shyly, looking at her feet.

“Of course I can!” Michael exclaimed.

Holly looked up at Michael and smiled. Michael stood up, and walked out of his office. Slightly confused, Holly followed.

“Okay everybody, our new HR rep, Holly, needs someone to help her move in to her new apartment…so…any takers?” Michael called. Holly blushed.

“No, really—“

“No, I will find someone to help you…any takers?” Michael asked the office again. Everyone hastily went back to work. Holly felt her face burning now.

“You know what? I’ll help, Holly,” Jim said, getting up. Holly looked up at him. He looked very tired.

“Thank you, Jim, but…”

“No really…I’ll help out,” Jim said smiling.

“Okay, thank you, Jim,” Holly said as Michael went back into his office.

*****



Jim and Holly took separate cars to U-Haul, and rented a small truck. They both drove back to Holly’s storage unit, and silently put boxes into the truck.

“Listen, Jim, I really appreciate this,” Holly said to Jim.

“No problem. It’s just nice to get out…Pam and I haven’t really been talking this weekend,” Jim said, wiping sweat off his forehead.

“I’m sorry to hear that…can I ask why?”

“Oh…it’s…kind of a long story,” Jim said uncomfortably. Holly understood.

They got back to Holly’s new apartment, and they brought up all the boxes. When they finished, they drove back to U-Haul to return the keys to the truck. Just before Jim reached his car, Holly called out to him.

“I know this is going to sound weird, but…can I buy you a drink?” Holly asked. Jim wore a confused expression on his face, so Holly laughed, “Don’t worry, I’m not hitting on you…I’ve just been bored all weekend, and I thought…I thought it would be nice to talk to someone.”

“Sure, that sounds good,” Jim said, but he didn’t sound very enthusiastic.

Holly followed Jim’s car over to Poor Richard’s. When they arrived, Jim ordered a beer, and Holly ordered a glass of red wine. She wasn’t a heavy drinker, but she just needed someone to talk to. She felt so alone ever since she moved to Scranton, and couldn’t help but feel sorry for herself that the highlight of the last five days had been fixing a broken chair with Michael. She also felt embarrassed whenever she thought about him. There was no way that he could like her.

“So how are you liking Scranton so far?” Jim asked, interrupting Holly’s thoughts about Michael.

“I like it okay, I guess,” Holly said, “maybe it’s too soon to tell…I don’t know.”

“It’s not much, but it’s an okay place to live,” Jim said, downing his beer, and holding the empty bottle up to the bartender, who took it and gave Jim another beer.

“Yeah, it seems okay…” sighed Holly. They sat together in silence for awhile, and Holly began to feel guilty for asking Jim to go out for a drink. She had really wanted to talk to him about Michael. After all, Michael had said that they were best friends. “So are you sure everything is okay with you? You seem a little…”

Jim looked up, “Yeah, I mean…not really. Can I tell you something, Holly?”

“Of course. I am your HR rep, aren’t I?”

“Yeah, but keep it off the record?”

“We’re not in the office, go ahead, Jim. What’s wrong?” Holly asked, as Jim took another sip of his beer.

“The reason why Pam and I aren’t talking is because for the last month, I’ve been teasing her about proposing to her. I was going to do it Friday at Toby’s party, but—“

“Andy and Angela…yeah,” Holly said, nodding.

“Exactly! I mean, I gave Phyllis money for the fireworks, and I planned out everything I was going to say to Pam, and then…Andy…you know…” Jim said, staring at his beer bottle. “I tried proposing to her over the weekend, but…I couldn’t. I don’t know why, but I just couldn’t, and I feel like I let her down. She barely said a word to me since Friday night…and I am at a loss as to what I should do now…should I just propose to her tonight?”

“Well…here’s what I think should do,” Holly said, taking another sip of her wine, “I think you should win her back.”

Jim looked stunned, and Holly took notice.

“I’m not saying she doesn’t love you, just show her that you really love her. She’s probably having second thoughts…”

“What kind of second thoughts?” Jim asked, putting his beer down, and chuckling.

“Well…Andy proposed right when you were about to propose to Pam. I’m pretty sure she was expecting you to propose that night, so she’s probably disappointed. Not in you, in herself…if that makes any sense,” Holly said. Jim sat in silence for a little bit, deep in thought. “So just show her that you really love her, Jim…you know, make her feel special.”

“Yeah,” Jim said smiling.

“Get her some flowers tonight, take her out to dinner or something. I’m sure you’ll know what to do,” Holly said, smiling at Jim.

“I think I’ll do that…” Jim said smiling back. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it, I did nothing but watch romantic comedy movies all day,” Holly said laughing.

“So…” Jim said awkwardly. He felt that it would be rude to leave, even though he wanted to rush out to buy Pam some daisies. “Is everything good with you?”

“Do you want the truth?” Holly asked, feeling tipsy. She was on her third glass of wine.

“Of course, you helped me out, maybe I can help you out,” Jim replied, giving Holly a crooked smile.

Holly sighed. “Things are okay, it’s just that…I asked Michael out Friday night, and he declined…and I don’t know. He seems like a great guy, and I think I like him.”

Out of kindness, Jim tried his best not to look surprised at what Holly had just said.

“He declined?” Jim asked. “That’s weird, because he…nevermind.”

“He what?” Holly asked quickly, looking anxious.

“Well,” Jim said, “I’m usually not the gossiping type but…”

“But…?”

“Friday afternoon, Michael pulled me into his office to ask about songs he should download…for you,” Jim replied. He was starting to feel a little like Kelly, and at that moment, he hated himself a little. I’ll just blame it on the beers, he thought.

Holly smiled, and started to laugh. “He told me that he was going to make me a CD…” Holly said, more to herself than Jim.

*****



It was Tuesday. Holly was getting ready to go home from a long day at the office. Michael had barely come to talk to her, and she was beginning to think that Jim was just pulling her leg about Michael. Holly thought back on the conversation she and Jim had. She told Jim that she found Michael sweet, funny, and caring.

“He’s a good guy,” Holly remembered Jim saying, “A couple of years ago, he organized this inspirational seminar thing on a booze cruise. Back then, Pam was engaged to some other guy…I told Michael about my feelings for her, and yeah…I guess in a weird way, he inspired me.”

Holly couldn’t help but smile at that thought. She didn’t know why, but thinking about Michael made her feel like a teenaged girl, giddy over the fact that a cute boy smiled at her.

But today, she had barely seen Michael. He had been in his office all day, and she couldn’t gather the courage to go talk to him. She sighed, as she picked up her purse, and shut down her computer, and headed out of the annex. Through the kitchen windows, she saw Jim and Pam leaving together, smiling and holding hands. She smiled to herself as she made her way out of the kitchen into the main office. Before she reached to door, she heard Michael bustling out of his office.

“Holly…um…I made you this,” Michael said shyly, handing her a CD. Holly smiled at him, and it took all of her willpower to not kiss Michael.

“Thank you,” she said, taking the CD. ‘Welcome to Scranton, Holly!’ the CD read.

“No problem, just making sure you feel…welcome here,” Michael said, giving Holly a quick smile. “Well, I have to finish up some paper work…Have a good night.”

“You too,” Holly said, still smiling.

When she got into her car, she popped the CD in. The first song was “Wannabe” by Spice Girls, and Holly laughed to herself. She decided to just scan through the songs on the CD. U2, Phil Collins, Run DMC, Bonnie Tyler, and a bunch of other corny music were on the CD. Holly couldn’t help but smile to herself. Michael even liked the same kind of music that she did. When Holly got to the last track on the CD, she felt a lump in her throat. It was “Colorblind” by The Counting Crows. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt tears brimming in her eyes.

“He’s perfect,” Holly said out loud to herself, as she took the CD out of her car stereo, and got up to her apartment.

May, 2008

“I don’t want her to get away…” Michael said softly to Jim.

“I know. Here, Michael, you can court her as you get to know her, you know? I mean, the office is a great place for that. Pam and I, we got to know each other right out there. I mean, the first time we joked around was at my desk. And the first meal we ever had was, in the break room, actually. We were at two separate tables and, I remember that. The first time we kissed even, was right outside, and...” Jim said.

November, 2003

Jim was staying late tonight. It was already 7:00, and nearly everyone was gone. Pam was still sitting at her desk, organizing memos, and files. Jim knew Pam liked to organize things on Friday night, so she can come back to a clean desk on Monday.

“Pam,” Angela said, walking up to reception, “I was wondering if you would like to attend my cat party on Sunday.”

Jim looked up from his computer, and saw Pam trying to quickly think up of an excuse to say no. He smiled to himself, and turned back to his computer. He wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. He couldn’t get any work done today…thoughts ran through his head all day. Pam was engaged, and has been for a year, he should have been done helping out his parents, he should be back at school, he should be writing papers instead of tax forms, Pam was engaged…

“Actually, Angela,” Jim heard Pam saying, “Roy and I are going to visit my parents over the weekend. I don’t think I can make your party.”

Jim felt a twinge of jealousy.

“Fine,” Angela huffed, and she hurriedly left the office. Jim heard Pam giggling.

“Big plans this weekend, Beesly?” Jim asked, looking over at Pam and grinning.

“Actually, yeah. Roy is going to his sister’s in New Hampshire, and I have the house to myself,” Pam replied smiling.

“Wow, you just lied to Angela…you should feel terrible.”

Pam giggled, “I’m more of a dog person…but I’ve been meaning to ask you…why are you still here?”

“I just needed to get some work done. My mind has been fuzzy all day,” Jim said, scratching his head. Pam looked concerned.

“What’s wrong?” Pam asked, getting up from her desk, and sitting at Dwight’s desk.

“Well,” Jim started, “Truthfully, I didn’t think I would be here for this long.”

“It’s only been a year, Jim. I’ve been here for three years already,” said Pam, tipping one of Dwight’s bobble heads.

“Yeah, but…I thought I would be back in school by now, you know? My parents want me to move out, because they think it’s humiliating for a twenty-three year old guy to still be living with his parents, but I just want to help them out. They’re still struggling, and I don’t know how I’d feel about going back to school knowing they’re struggling,” Jim said. It felt nice to let it out, but he still hadn’t let it all out.

“I understand, and I think it’s really sweet. You’re not stuck here, Jim. Things will get better,” Pam said, smiling at Jim. Jim gazed into her warm eyes, and he felt his lips forming a smile. She was so contagious.

“Thanks…” Jim said, getting back to work.

“No problem. So are you almost done?”

“No, I just gotta…” Jim said, putting on a concerned face, “All right, I’m done.”

Pam smiled. “Any plans tonight?”

“Well, I originally planned to hang out with my buddy Mark to look for a place, but it’s a little too late for that,” Jim said, shrugging. “There’s always tomorrow.”

“Oh,” said Pam. Was that a look of relief in her eyes? “Are you hungry?”

“Yeah, you?”

“Yeah…do you want to order a pizza? I kind of like being alone in the office. Michael and Dwight aren’t here…” Pam giggled.

“Yeah, sounds great,” Jim said smiling.

“Great!” Pam cried happily, getting up to order a pizza.

Jim and Pam were both laughing as they ate their pizza. They had been playing “marry, do, kill” for the last twenty minutes.

“Okay, Michael, Stanley, Dwight,” Jim said grinning at Pam. Pam looked disgusted.

“Come on, Halpert! A girl’s trying to eat here!”

“Play by the rules, Beesly, play by the rules.”

“Fine. Kill Dwight, do Michael, and marry Stanley.”

Jim threw his head back as he laughed.

“What?” Pam cried, “those were terrible options!”

“I know, Beesly, that’s the point of the game,” Jim said, still laughing.

“Okay, fine. Marry, do, kill: Angela, Kelly, Meredith.”

“Oooh, Beesly, you’re turning up the heat!”

“Quit stalling,” Pam said, grinning as Jim was wearing a look of concentration on his face.

“Um…I’d kill Angela because she called you a hussy—“

“Thank you,” Pam said, giggling.

“I’d do Kelly, and I’d marry Meredith,” Jim said, and at this, Pam burst into a fit of giggles. “What?”

“You’d marry Meredith?”

“Yeah, she seems nice enough,” Jim said shrugging. “It’s just a game…”

“Yeah, I know…” Pam said getting up, holding out her hand, “Come here.”

“Okay,” Jim said, getting up, following Pam to Meredith’s desk.

Pam opened one of the drawers, and Jim was surprised to see three empty bottles of tequila.

“Wow,” Jim said, surprised.

“Yeah,” Pam said, giggling. “You sure you don’t want to change your mind?”

“No, Pam, because I, unlike you, play by the rules,” Jim said, chuckling. They walked back to Jim’s desk, and Pam sat on the edge.

“So my turn…ummm…Kevin, Devon, Creed.” Jim said.

“This game’s getting old, don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” Jim agreed, “but you still have to answer. This will be the last one.”

“Kill Creed, he creeps me out, do Devon, and marry Kevin,” Pam said.

“All right, well, that’s done…” Jim said, smiling.

“So what were you studying?” Pam asked, absent mindedly twirling her ring.

“In school?” Pam nodded, “Well, I was an English major. I either wanted to be a teacher or a sports writer.”

“I always pictured you as an engineer or something…”

“Do I really look that nerdy?” Jim asked smiling.

“No,” said Pam, smiling, “that’s just how I saw you is all…”

“Yeah. What about you? What did you want to do?”

Pam blushed.

“I always wanted to be a teacher too…an art teacher, or an artist, or a graphic designer…”

“What kept you from doing that?” Jim asked.

“Oh, you know…little things. Roy and I moved in when I was eighteen, and we moved here to Scranton, and I got a job here. I don’t really have time for art classes, you know? Plus, Roy said it was a waste of time…” Pam said shyly.

“Roy said that?” Jim asked, immediately feeling sorry that he said it.

Pam didn’t say anything, she just kept twirling her ring. Jim could feel his face getting hot.

“Sorry,” Jim whispered.

“It’s cool. I mean, I’ve dated Roy since I was sixteen, and he just kind of stuck, you know? He’s nice, sometimes he can be obnoxious, but he’s gotta good heart,” Pam explained.

“Yeah, I can see that…” Jim lied. Pam looked at Jim. Jim couldn’t read her gaze. Did she want him to say something?

“What was your worst date?” Pam asked Jim, changing the subject. Jim smiled.

“Um…” Jim started. He thought about his date with Pam. It was great, but finding out she was engaged kind of ruined it all. It wasn’t her fault, but still…

“Come on, Halpert,” Pam said, shoving Jim’s shoulder playfully.

“All right, my freshman year at college, I was set up on a blind date, and I was pretty excited. But it turns out, she’s like five years older than me, and she gets WASTED!” Jim laughs.

“Really?” Pam cried laughing.

“Yeah, and then she starts to cry about her ex. And I was eighteen, I had no idea how to handle a situation like that, and I was scared, Beesly, I was scared…” Jim said. Pam started to laugh.

“I’m sorry, Jim, but my worst date totally trumps yours…”

“Oh really? How so?”

“Okay, it was at a minor league hockey game, I was bored out of my mind,” Pam started, but it hit Jim. He already knew what she was going to say before she said it. “And when the game was over, I went to the bathroom, and he just left me there. He forgot all about me.”

Jim didn’t say anything, but Pam didn’t notice; she was actually laughing. Jim remembered when he was sixteen. God, it felt so long ago. He remembered the crying girl. He remembered giving her his jacket. He remembered joking around with her even then. But did she remember?

“I think,” Pam continued, wiping a tear from her eye from laughing so hard, “The only good thing that came out of that night was, some guy loaned me his jacket…I can’t remember his name though.”

“Hm,” was all Jim could say. He wanted to say “His name was Jim” but he couldn’t. He couldn’t help but feel a little hurt, but in her defense, he forgot all about that night until now.

They sat in silence for awhile. Jim stared blankly at his computer screen which was turned off. Pam stared straight ahead into Michael’s office. Thoughts were running through both of their heads. Jim was hoping that Pam would remember who the boy was, and Pam was trying her best to try to remember the boy. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t remember. She couldn’t even put a face to him. She wondered where that boy was now…probably with a nice girl. He was probably treating her very well. Pam didn’t know that the boy who had comforted her, and made her laugh when she was sad, was sitting right next to her. And then, they stared at each other. A warm feeling rushed into both of their chests, their hearts were beating.

What’s going on? Why am I feeling like this?

Without thinking, they both stood up in unison, not breaking their gaze into each other. Pam leaned closer to Jim, and Jim felt his arms wrapping around Pam’s waist. He had no control of them, but he didn’t care. It was automatic. Pam’s face was closer to Jim’s face. She can count the stubble on his face if she chose to. Her eyes were closed, and Jim leaned in. He felt her warm lips, and her hands on the side of his face. He felt her soft hair in his fingers. He felt his heart beating rapidly…

“Oh my god,” Pam said quickly, “I’m sorry.” But she wasn’t.

“No, I am,” Jim said, but he wasn’t.

“I should go…” She didn’t want to.

“Yeah, no, I mean, it’s getting late.” No it wasn’t.

“See you on Monday, Jim,” Pam said, quickly walking towards the door.

“Bye, Pam,” Jim said, but he wasn’t sure she could hear him.

Pam walked outside, towards Roy’s truck, brought her fingers to her lips, and smiled. But the smile quickly faded, as she realized that on Sunday night, it won’t be Jim coming home to her. It would be Roy.

Jim still stood at his desk. He was dazed, his knees trembling, his heart pounding. He didn’t know whether or not to be elated or upset. He was both. They kissed. The girl that he fell for since he was sixteen kissed him. He couldn’t believe that Pam was that girl from the hockey rink. The cute, yet sad girl, wearing a black turtle neck, sitting alone on a bench, cold…Jim finally came to his senses, and he couldn’t help but smile.

Maybe it didn’t mean anything to her, but it means the world to me, Jim thought, as he picked up his messenger bag, and left the office.

May, 2008

Jim shook his head, and realized that he was still in Michael’s office.

“Look,” Jim started, “all I'm saying is that you can get to know someone really really well, like I did, right here at work.”

Jim walked out of Michael’s office. He was grinning from ear to ear. He had a plan.

“I was thinking... fireworks for the party,” Jim told Phyllis who looked exhausted, “What do you think?”

October, 2008

So much happened today. So much pain. So much jealousy…Holly couldn’t take it anymore. She was giving up. There was no point in chasing after something that can’t be caught. Maybe she’ll call the yoga instructor…she just couldn’t stand being alone. No. She can’t. She wouldn’t be able to stand the rejection.

“I’m fine, weirdo.”

“She smells like old tomatoes…and dirt.”

She was expecting Michael to be mean to her. She was prepared for it. She just wasn’t prepared for seeing Michael getting hurt repeatedly by the same woman. He must have gone through it for years. He deserves better. She always saw something in Michael that no one else was able to see. Holly saw Michael as a sweet, caring person.

“Well, you have to tolerate a lot when you are part of a family,” Holly remembered. Michael genuinely cared for his employees, and at the time, Holly couldn’t realize why Michael had made such a big deal. Now she understands.

Holly got up to the filing cabinet, ready to resign from Dunder Mifflin. In the five months she’s been here, she has never felt so alone. Michael felt so close yet so far away. She couldn’t stand seeing him everyday and not being able to get closer to him. Before she found what she was looking for, she heard the annex door opening. Michael looked heartbroken.

“You still gonna be mean to me?” Holly asked sarcastically. Michael didn’t answer. He didn’t even look at her face. Am I that hideous?

All of a sudden, Holly felt Michael’s arms wrapping around her waste. She was breathless, stunned, confused…but she didn’t care. Holly put her arms around Michael’s back, her eyes burning from tears. The feeling of confusion left her, and was replaced with a feeling of elation. She felt her mouth curving into a smile, and she was no longer to hold her tears back. The camera was staring rudely at them, and she didn’t care. She was too happy to care. After what felt like hours, Michael let her go.

“You wanna go out?”

Holly wiped a tear from her eye, and cleared her throat.

“Yes.”


Holly was in her apartment, looking for something nice to wear. She was excited, nervous, excited…Holly couldn’t remember the last time she felt like this. After trying on at least ten different outfits, Holly settled for a white blouse, black jacket, and a pair of blue jeans. Just as she was finished checking herself in the mirror, the doorbell rang. Holly rushed to the door, unable to contain her smile, and saw Michael smiling at her.

“Hello, m’lady,” Michael said with a fake British accent, as Holly stepped out.

“Why, hello, sir. Beautiful night, yes?” Holly giggled. “So where are we going?”

“I forgot that I have improv tonight…so would you like to come with me to my improv class?” Michael asked, stepping aside so that Holly can get out.

“Oooh, I’ve never been to one,” Holly said, excited, “That sounds like fun, Michael.”

“Yeesh…it should be fun,” Michael said, opening the car door for Holly, “and after, I was thinking we can go back to my condo, order some Zah, and watch ‘The Ring.’”

Holly smiled, and nodded. “That sounds wonderful, Michael. I didn’t know that you were a fan of scary movies.”

“What?”

“The Ring…that movie is really scary.”

“The Ring is not a horror movie. It has Johnny Knoxville, and he tries to join the Special Olympics,” Michael said, tapping his steering wheel. WHAM! was playing in the background.

“Michael, that’s ‘The Ringer.’” Holly said, giggling. “So which is it? ‘The Ring’ or ‘The Ringer?’”

Michael stared straight ahead wearing a confused expression.

“I…uh…” Michael stammered, “I do not know.”

Holly laughed, and so did Michael.

“Looks like we’re going to have to find out,” Holly said, and Michael nodded.

When they got to Michael’s improv class, Michael introduced Holly to his instructor, and asked if it was okay for Holly to participate tonight. The instructor nodded, and Holly took a seat next to Michael. Holly laughed as Michael interrupted everyone’s scenes by yelling, “Agent Michael Scoon, FBI!”

“Michael, no Michael Scarn tonight, please!”

“I’m not Michael Scarn, I’m Michael Scoon!” Michael argued.

Later, Holly and Michael performed a rap together, that no one but them seemed to enjoy. Holly didn’t care. This was actually the most fun she had had on a first date. She loved laughing with Michael. The glares from the others didn’t even bother her. Next, they did a scene in which they were prisoners.

“Yo, Prisoner H!” Michael said, wearing a scowl.

“Prison Mike, long time no see, dawg,” Holly said, doing her best to act tough.

When the class was over, Holly and Michael were laughing as they walked back to Michael’s car. Holly had her arm wrapped around Michael’s, and when they got to Michael’s car, she gave him a swift kiss on his cheek.

“That was a lot of fun, Michael,” Holly said, blushing.

Michael just smiled, he didn’t know what to say, but he felt his cheeks burning. Michael opened Holly’s door for her. On the drive to Michael’s condo, they were singing along to WHAM!

“Wake me up, before you go-go!” they sang together, giggling.

“Well, this is it…this Casa de Scott,” Michael said, getting out of his car.

“Oh, this is such a nice neighborhood,” Holly said, getting out of the car and following Michael to his condo.

“Very gay friendly,” he said, opening the door, “After you, my lady.”

Holly giggled, and walked into Michael’s condo. There was a strong, sweet, burning smell, and Holly scrunched up her nose, letting out a cough.

“Oh, Jan…she used to make candles in here, and the smell never got out,” Michael said. “You’ll get used to it, Holly Berry. Get it? Halle Berry, Holly Berry?”

Holly laughed, “That was good.”

Holly looked around Michael’s condo, and added, “This is a nice place, Michael.”

“Thank you…” Michael said, taking Holly’s jacket. “So let me show you around…”

Michael led Holly around his home, showing her where the bathroom was, and the extra rooms. One of the rooms was filled with boxes filled with pictures of Jan with other men. Holly raised and eyebrow, and looked at Michael.

“Oh,” Michael said, “Jan still hasn’t picked up all of her things.”

“I see,” Holly said, staring at a gigantic collage of Jan.

“She was full of herself…” Michael said, sadly. “She totally sabotaged my condo.”

“I’m sorry, Michael,” Holly said, patting Michael’s arm. Michael felt himself tensing up.

“Not your fault, Holly-gram,” Michael sighed, “So are you hungry? What do you like on your pizza?”

“Oh, pepperoni is fine,” Holly said, following Michael back out to the living room. “Do you have any pictures of you in here?”

“They’re out in the garage,” Michael said, “Jan took them all down, and I never got around to hanging them back up. Do you want to see them?”

“Of course!”

“Well, I’ll just order some pizza, and I’ll meet you there in a jiffy!”

Holly went out to the garage, and saw that it was filled with boxes. All of the boxes were labeled Michael Scott. She felt a surge of pity, when she came to the conclusion that Jan must have told Michael to bring his things out here. Holly walked around, staring at the piles of boxes, and found the one that she was looking for. ‘Pictures.’

Holly pulled it out, and saw many framed pictures of Michael standing with people from the office.

“Oh,” Michael said, Holly turned, and saw he was standing at the door. “I like to take pictures with people from the office before they go on a sales call.”

Holly saw a picture of Dwight and Jim in a frame that said ‘Best Friends,’ and a picture of Michael and Ryan in a frame that was shaped like a heart. She held it up, so that Michael could see it.

“Oh,” Michael said, taking the picture from Holly, “Inside joke…I meant to give it to Ryan on his birthday…”

Holly laughed, and looked through more pictures. She took out a scrap book titled ‘Christmas ‘05” as Michael explained that he loves to scrap book. She looked through all the pictures, Pam with a man that she had never seen before, Jim and Oscar sitting together on the couch, Michael with Meredith, Michael with Daryl, Michael with a lampshade on his head…Holly laughed as Michael explained what was going on. Just then, the doorbell rang. Michael paid for the pizza, as Holly grabbed some sodas from the fridge.

“So let’s see what we’re going to watch,” Michael said, setting the pizza down. “And it looks like we are going to be watching… ‘The Ring.’ Is that the one with Johnny Knoxville?”

“No, that’s the scary one, Michael,” Holly said, giggling.

“Damn it…” Michael grumbled, putting the DVD in the player.

Michael and Holly sat on the couch, eating pizza, and watching the movie. Holly curled her legs up to her chest. She couldn’t stand horror movies, but she didn’t care. She was with Michael. Michael was staring up at the TV with a horrified expression on his face, occasionally gasping when something scary popped up. Holly scooted closer to Michael, and Michael wrapped an arm around her. She leaned into Michael, and all of a sudden, she wasn’t scared. Neither was Michael. The weight of Holly calmed his nerves, and he rested his cheek on the top of Holly’s head, breathing in the sweet scent of her hair. Holly smiled to herself as Michael would occasionally flinch. All of a sudden, Holly had an urge. She got off of Michael, and gave him a hard stare. Michael stared back at her, as her face was getting closer to his. He started to lean in to kiss her…

DING-DONG!

Holly and Michael screamed, and then laughed.

“Who could that be?” Michael wondered out loud. “Don’t move a muscle, I’ll be right back.” Holly nodded, and felt herself blushing. She couldn’t help but to feel annoyed by the doorbell.

“Jan!” Holly heard, Michael crying out. She felt her stomach tremble. “What are you doing here?”

“I need you to watch Astrid,” Holly heard Jan saying.

“I’m kinda busy right now, Jan…”

“What are you doing?”

“I have a…” Holly heard Michael saying. “I have my date over…” Holly smiled. She was dreading hearing the word ‘friend.’

“Who are you on a date with?” Jan demanded. Holly heard footsteps getting closer to her.

“Jan, wait…” Michael started, but he was too late. Jan had seen Holly. Holly didn’t know what to do, so she just gave Jan an awkward smile.

“Oh…” Jan said, turning to Michael. “Can I talk to you, Michael?”

“Jan, I said I was busy…” Michael said, but Jan grabbed Michael’s hand, and led him out of the living room.

“I told you not to date Holly, Michael. Why don’t you ever listen?” Holly heard down the hall. She didn’t mean to intrude, but it was kind of hard not to.

“Jan…you can’t tell me what to do,” Michael sighed.

“What did you say?”

“You can’t tell me what to do, Jan.”

“Just tell me why you’re dating her.”

“Because…she treats me like a person, and I can be myself around her, and she respects me…just…please get out of my house, Jan…”

“Fine, Michael!” Holly heard rapid footsteps going down the hall, and the front door slamming. Holly quickly got up, and walked to the kitchen, trying to appear as if she hadn’t heard anything. She smiled to herself, as she heard soft footsteps coming up behind her.

“Holly,” Michael started.

Holly turned around, and saw Michael wearing the same sad expression that he had before he hugged her earlier. Holly stepped up to Michael, and gave him a warm smile.

"I'm sorry I said that you smelled like old tomatoes and dirt. I think you smell like flowers..." Michael said, and Holly chuckled.

“It’s okay, Michael…” she said, hugging him, and whispering, “I adore everything about you…”

Michael pulled his head back, and looked into Holly’s eyes. Holly leaned her face closer to Michael’s, and he bent his head slightly, and leaned into hers. Their lips met, and Michael wrapped his arms tighter around Holly’s body, still embracing her. When they finally pulled apart, they both laughed nervously.

“So…” Michael said, “do you want to watch ‘Best of the Muppet Show?’”

Holly nodded, and followed Michael back into the living room. They cuddled against each other, and neither of them could erase the smiles that they both wore on their faces. Hours had passed, and neither of them spoke until they were finished with the first disc. It was getting late, and they were both tired.

“So…do you wanna play mini-golf tomorrow?” Holly asked.

September, 2006

Jim sat alone in his apartment, cracking open a fresh beer. He flicked his TV on. It was set to ESPN, the only channel that didn’t remind him of Pam. He hated Stamford. It just wasn’t far enough. Sure, he loved his view from his new office, but seeing the ocean just reminded him of Pam. He couldn’t help but imagine walking the shoreline hand in hand with Pam.

He looked up, and saw highlights of the Red Sox versus Yankees game. Damn, A-Rod. Jim pointed his remote to the television, and began switching through the channels. He stopped when he saw Kate Winslett with green hair. “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” was on. He used to love this movie. He watched as Jim Carrey and Kate Winslett lay together on a frozen lake, and began to think to himself. What if I could just erase Pam from my memories?


“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” was on when Pam turned on the TV after coming home from work. There were still a lot of things to unpack, but she was exhausted from work. Who knew that planning a bird funeral would be so exhausting?

Pam remembered two years back when Jim had recommended this movie to her. He tried to explain what it was about, but she didn’t get it. She remembered renting the movie, and watching it with Roy. Roy hated it, and he left Pam to watch the movie by herself, as he went to a bar. Pam remembered feeling heartbroken watching Joel struggling to keep the memories of Clementine in his head. She loved this movie, but now, she found herself wishing that she could forget about Jim.


Jim was staring at his television, but he wasn’t paying attention. What if he could forget about Pam, he wondered watching Kate Winslett and Jim Carrey arguing on the television. That would really make life a lot easier. He could look out his office window freely without thinking of Pam. He could imagine that he was walking along the shorelines with someone else. But who? Who was as great as Pam? Who else could make him laugh with so little effort? Who else would look as cute as she did while eating mixed berry yogurt? Who would he imagine playing pranks on Dwight with?

This was stupid. Pam was hundreds of miles away. She was three months away. He put it all on the line for her. Twice. And she rejected him…twice. Jim cracked open another beer, wanting to change the channel, but he couldn’t.


Why did she ever say those three words?

“Jim…I can’t…”

Sure she could. She always wanted to. She had always imagined leaving Roy for Jim…but why couldn’t she? The nine years she spent with Roy, putting her dreams on hold for him, rarely laughing with him, and rarely feeling happy with him were a blur. The only clarity in Pam’s mind was Jim. There wasn’t a day that went by where she didn’t see Jim, sitting at his old desk, with his chin resting on his hand, smiling up at her, and saying hi.

“Is there any risk of brain damage?” Jim Carrey asked.

“Well, technically speaking, this operation *is* brain damage. But it’s on par with a night of heavy drinking, nothing you will miss…”

Pam stared at the television, blinking. Thinking back to the night at the Dundies, stealing Jim’s drink…stealing Terri’s drink…kissing Jim…and she realizes that she misses that night. She misses those days. She misses the pranks, and she misses having lunch with Jim. She misses laughing with Jim. She misses him terribly, and she just wants to forget.


“Our files are confidential Mr. Barish so we can't show you any evidence. Suffice it to say, Miss Kruczynski was not happy and she wanted to move on. We provide that possibility.” Jim heard the doctor in the movie saying.

If only there was a possibility. Jim wanted out. Pam kept burning in his mind’s eye. He remembered Michael and Dwight’s fight. How he convinced Pam to get them to fight each other…how he promised her a bag of French Onion Sunchips. He remembered lifting her off of her feet, and the sound of her laughter…and then…the laughter stopped.

“PUT ME DOWN!”

He took it too far then, and he took it too far four months ago. Kissing her? God, he was an idiot. What was he thinking? Did he really think she was going to leave Roy for him? What a damn waste of time…

“God, I wish this procedure was for real…” Jim said out loud.


“Too many guys think I'm a concept, or I complete them, or I'm gonna make them alive. But I'm just a fucked-up girl who's lookin' for my own peace of mind; don't assign me yours,” Kate Winslett said.

Jim always made her complete. He never expected her to fix him, or help him. He was always there…helping her. Making her laugh when she was sad, giving her his jacket whenever she was cold…

“The jacket…” Pam said, getting off her couch.

She rushed over to her purse, and pulled out her wallet. It couldn’t be Jim…no…it just couldn’t be. Pam remembered her first date with Roy…getting left at a hockey game. She remembered the boy who lent her his jacket. She remembered his goofy smile, his messy hair, and his eyes. She remembered him making her laugh, and making her feel better. Could it be Jim?

And then she found what she was looking for…Jim’s high school photo.

“Holy shit…”



“Hi, I'm Clementine, can I have a piece of chicken?” Jim heard Kate Winslett asking.
“Then you just took it. It was so intimate. It was like we were already lovers.” Jim Carrey said.

Jim remembered how a week after he first started Dunder Mifflin, Pam reached across the lunch table and took a Doritos chip from him. She didn’t ask…she just took it. He remembered how she gave him a smile and wink as she popped the chip in her mouth, and how she thanked him. Jim smiled to himself.



Pam looked at the picture again. She couldn’t believe that it was a teenaged Jim that night giving her his jacket outside the hockey rink. She couldn’t believe that even when they were teenagers Jim was able to make her feel better…with such ease. She wasn’t very courageous, but Jim always brought it out of her. The way she stood up to Roy when she called off the wedding, telling Roy that he’s been holding her back for the last nine or so years. She told Roy that he never supported her art, and she walked away…with Roy unable to give her an explanation. She didn’t need one. She was thinking of Jim the whole time. But Jim had gone, and she was too late.

“Yeah, you said "so go." With such disdain, you know?”
“I’m sorry…”
“It’s Okay.”
“Joely? What if you stayed this time?”

What if Jim had stayed? Pam wondered, holding Jim’s high school picture. What if Jim had never left Scranton? Would things be so different for her?

If Jim had stayed, Pam never would have realized. She hated herself for not being able to realize sooner. Now Jim was gone…far away from her, and he wasn’t returning her phone calls.



“I walked out the door…there’s no memory left.”
“Come back and make up a goodbye at least…pretend we had one.”

He should have said goodbye to Pam. He should have explained to her…but just like Jim Carrey in “Eternal Sunshine,” Jim was too much of a coward. Jim brought his hands up to his face, and was surprised to see that he had been crying. Tears were falling down his face, and he never even realized.

He wondered what Pam was doing now. He had heard her countless voice mails telling him that she broke the wedding off with Roy, but he had never heard what he wanted to hear.


“It would be different, if we could just…give it another go around.”
“Remember me. Try your best; maybe we can.”

Jim looked up at his screen to see the two protagonists kissing. He realized that he couldn't just erase Pam from his life. He needed her, and if he couldn't be there with her, then he needed memories of her. Even the ones that broke his heart.


Pam sat on the floor crying, still holding Jim's high school photo in her hand. She no longer knew what to do. She wishes that she could just tell Jim how sorry she was. She picked up her phone, and dialed Jim's number.

"We're sorry, but the number you have dialed is no longer in service."

"Damn it!" she screamed, as she began to sob harder, throwing her phone in frustration.

Just then, her phone rang. Pam wiped her eyes, and hurried over to her phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey...it's Jim."

"Oh my god, Jim!"

"You're not going to guess what movie I just watched, Beesly," Jim said. "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind!"

"No way! I just saw that movie too!" Pam exclaimed.

Jim chuckled. "Yeah...it's a great movie...but...I just wanted to call you to let you know...that...I miss you."

December, 2008.

“Meredith,” Michael said, driving into Dunder Mifflin’s parking lot, “I’m sorry…I just wanted to help you.”

“Whatever,” Meredith said, unbuckling her seatbelt. Michael grabbed her arm.

“Wait,” Michael started.

“Michael, please just let me go…I’ve dealt with too much of your bullshit today,” Meredith said, sounding exhausted.

“I know you and I aren’t that close…but I know you have a kid. I have wanted to have a kid ever since I could remember,” Michael said, “The closest I’ve ever come to having my own kid was with Jan, and the baby wasn’t even mine.”

“Okay,” Meredith said, “so…what do you want me to do about it?”

“I’m just saying, Meredith. I know I come off as a jackass, and I know that I have no right to tell you this, but just think about your kid,” Michael said. “Help yourself for your kid…”

Meredith pushed Michael’s hand off her shoulder, and stormed out of his car. Michael sighed, put the car in drive, and drove away.

“What a day…” Michael said aloud to himself.

Michael drove back to his condo, humming along to Christmas carols over the radio, and was secretly glad that he wasn’t thinking about Holly. But when he realized that he wasn’t thinking about Holly, he was suddenly thinking about Holly. He began to wonder what she was doing for the holidays…the Holly-days…Michael hasn’t talked to Holly since he got back from Canada. He remembered landing in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, and purchasing plane tickets to Nashua. He had missed Holly so much, and Concierge Marie had made him feel, for lack of a better term, poopy.

He remembered renting a car, and driving to Holly’s house at 10:00 PM. Michael had knocked on her door, and Holly answered in pajamas.

“Michael? What are you doing here?” Holly asked, surprised.

“I miss you, Holly…”

*****





Holly was driving home from work. The Nashua branch didn’t even have a Christmas party. She just worked all day, listening to people complaining about god knows what. Her holidays were always spent alone. She smiled to herself as she realized what Michael would say if he were here:

“Happy Holly-days, Holly!”

Why did she miss him so much? Why did she push him away…What’s wrong with her? Why did she even leave Scranton? She was obviously not thinking straight when she left. She thought the long distance thing would work…sure when you say seven hours out loud, it doesn’t seem that long, but when you’re actually driving for what feels like seven hours, it actually ends up being only three hours.

*****

“I miss you too,” Holly said, hugging and kissing Michael. “But what are you doing here? And whose car is that?”

“I just got back from Can-ah-duh,” Michael said, smiling. “Wallace needed me to go, and yeah…I decided to come visit you after the trip!”

“I appreciate that…come in,” Holly had said, stepping aside to let Michael in.

******

Michael went inside his house, and went straight for the bedroom. Sitting on his nightstand was a picture he and Holly took together when they went out to play mini-golf. Michael smiled to himself, and picked up the picture. It felt as if staring at that picture would bring Holly back to him. But he knew that wasn’t going to happen…

“Fucking Wallace…” Michael sighed, shutting his lamp off.

*****

Michael was laying on Holly’s bed with her arms over him. She was resting her head on Michael’s chest, and Michael was absentmindedly stroking her hair with his hand. This was what was missing with Jan, Carol, and Concierge Marie, the cuddling. The part after having sex with someone, where you just hold onto them. That was the best feeling for Michael, and he would never tell anyone this, but Holly was the only woman who was affectionate towards him. She would never tell Michael to sleep at the end of the bed like some dog, unlike Jan, who always made him sleep on that uncomfortable stool. She would still hold onto him, occasionally ran her fingers up and down his chest, and she would still kiss him.

*****


Holly was sitting alone in the dining room with an open bottle of wine. She was having her holiday ritual: red wine, Lonesome Dove, and no one else. For the last five years, she had always spent the holidays by herself. Normally, she never minded it, but this year…this year was different. Ever since the middle of October, she imagined her spending the holidays with Michael. Maybe visit his mother, who she remembered talking to after their fifth date. They could be together right now, watching Christmas movies…Four Christmases looked like it could have been fun.

Holly stared at the pages, but the words weren’t coming to her. The book no longer made sense…she had read the book three times, for god’s sake. She realized why the words weren’t coming to her…she told Michael she had read the book three times. She remembered how Michael bought her a new copy of the book when he saw that her old copy was bent and torn.

*****

“Michael, you should go back to Scranton now,” Holly had said the next morning.

“Why?” Michael asked, confused.

“This is just too hard…only seeing glimpses of you. We have to end this…you know, for good,” Holly said tearfully.

“I don’t,” Michael said, his eyes starting to burn, “I don’t want it to be over…”

“Please. Just go, Michael,” Holly said, wiping her eye.

“But…” Michael said, tears now running down his face. “I can’t. I won’t. Holly, I’ll stay. I’ll find another job here, and I’ll stay. I’ll do that for you.”

“Michael…”

“I know when we were together, it was only for two weeks,” Michael said, stepping up to Holly and trying to hold her, “but…I love you…”

*****

Michael couldn’t fall asleep. He lay awake for hours. The digital clock was flashing 3:21 AM, the red light illuminating the picture of Holly and him. Michael groaned, kicked the sheets off of him, and went downstairs. He opened the freezer, and took out a bottle of vodka and orange juice.

“Orange juvodka,” Michael said to himself, chuckling as he took a sip.

Holly had made him orange juvodka once. In fact, that’s where he got the recipe, from Holly. Damn it, he was thinking about her again; wondering what she was doing. He wished that he could just call her…

*****

“Stop,” Holly said, stepping away from Michael. “We really can’t do this.”

“Why?” Michael cried. “I love you, Holly, and don’t say you don’t feel anything, because I know you do!”

Holly began to sob.

“How are we going to do this, Michael? Yeah, you’ll find a job, you’ll move in, and things will be good for a couple of months, but after that, what? You’ll get tired of me…you’ll start to learn more things about me, and you probably won’t like them. We don’t know ANYTHING about each other!”

“Holly…”

“Michael, just go…and please don’t come back,” Holly sobbed, “It’s too hard…we’re too far away now.”

*****

Thank god she doesn’t have work tomorrow. Holly had just finished a whole bottle of red wine, and her head was down on her table. She was crying. She couldn’t stand not being with Michael, and she felt like such an idiot. What was she afraid of? Holly knew Michael would never intentionally hurt her, and god, he put up with Jan for all those years. Dealing with Holly would be a piece of cake compared to that.

“Holly Flax,” Holly sighed to herself as tears burned in her eyes. “You are an idiot.”

The next morning Holly woke up, finding that she had been sleeping on the dining room table. She quickly got up to take a shower. She knew what she had to do.

*****

“Holly, there will never be a thing that I don’t like about you,” Michael had said.

“Seriously, Michael, just…just leave…please, just go…” Holly sobbed, and she walked to her bedroom, and slammed the door.

She sat on her bed crying, not really knowing why she wanted Michael to leave. About fifteen minutes later, she heard her front door slam, and saw Michael walking toward his rental car. He stopped, and looked up at Holly’s window, and Holly ducked. She looked back up in time to see the car driving down the street. Holly fought the urge to run after the car, and went downstairs for a cup of water. When she finished, she just wanted to go back upstairs to take a nap. There was no way she was going into work today. Before she reached the stairs, she saw a folded piece of paper in front of her front door. She walked over, and picked it up. “To My Beautiful Holly,” it read.

“Holly,

You said that we don’t know each other well enough for this to work, but I beg to differ. I know you. I know you better than you think. I know that you have read Lonesome Dove three times. I know that whenever we go out for a burger, to order your bun with no sesame seeds. I know that you enjoy jogging the first thing in the morning. I know that you sometimes talk in your sleep. I know that when you drink coffee at the office, you prefer to use three packets of sugar and non dairy creamer. I know that you giggle uncontrollably after three glasses of wine. I know that you like to listen to ‘Accidentally in Love’ on repeat when you take a shower. I know that on weekends, you like to wake up to a cup of green tea. I know you, Holly, and there isn’t one thing about you that I don’t like. I’m sorry about Jan. I’m sorry about tearing your Counting Crows tickets. I’m sorry about throwing out your lunch. I’m sorry that I’m difficult. If you really want to end things, like really end them, then fine. But I just want you to know that I don’t think I’ll ever find another person that comes close to perfect as you are.

Michael”

*****

Michael awoke to his cell phone ringing. He quickly wiped his eyes, and picked up his phone.

“Hello?” he answered sleepily.

“Hey, you gay nerd,” said an obnoxious voice on the other line.

“Packer!” Michael cried happily. “How have you been, you douche bag?”

“I’m in Hot-lanta, and you will not believe the kinda girls that are running around here!”

“That sounds fun…” Michael said, realizing just how much his head was hurting. Michael looked at the vodka that he had been drinking earlier. There was only a third left.

“Well, you gay nerd, I was just calling to say Merry Christmas,” Packer said.

“Thanks, Pack-Man…I appreciate it.”

Michael hung up the phone, and was surprised that Todd Packer would call. Sure they were friends, but Packer was never one to call. Michael rubbed his eyes again, and looked at the clock on the microwave. 2:06 PM. He was surprised that he had slept in this late. Whatever, it was a Saturday. He had no plans anyway. Michael went upstairs to brush his teeth and to take a shower. Maybe he’ll go watch Four Christmases by himself tonight.

Michael got out of the shower, walked over to his room, and changed into some jeans and an old t-shirt. He realized that he was hungry, so he went downstairs and made himself some bacon and eggs. After he ate, he watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown. When they were over, it was about 5:30. Michael walked over to his computer to check movie times, and before he sat down, the doorbell rang. Michael yawned as he walked to the door.

“Probably carolers,” Michael grumbled to himself.

Michael opened the door, and felt his mouth drop. Holly was standing at his doorstep, grinning, and she quickly rushed in, and kissed Michael.

“We’ll find a way to make this work,” Holly whispered in Michael’s ear. “Because I love you…”

September, 2017

Dear Philly Jim,

I’m a 21 year old guy who’s in deep for a girl at my school. The problem is, she’s with another guy. Sometimes I want to go give up, because it’s like she’s giving me signs that she wants to be with me. But at the same time, it doesn’t look like she’s going to be leaving the guy any time soon. In fact, they just recently got engaged. The thing is, he isn’t right for her. I’m not just saying that because I want her, I’m saying it because it seems that he’s holding her back. So what should I do? Do I just give up, and go on with my life?

Brian
Scranton, Penn.

Brian,

First, I just have to say, I have been in your shoes, man. About thirteen years ago, I met a girl who was engaged, and we quickly became friends. I eventually fell in love with her, but I didn’t know what to do. I mean, she was engaged, you know? I eventually just settled on being just friends with her, but that would tear me apart. One night, they finally set a date. That also happened to be the night that I almost broke down and told her how I felt about her, and all this happened right in front of me. Needless to say, I was devastated…but then I received advice from the least likely person to give good advice. He told me to never give up. Never ever give up.

So I’m going to give you the same advice. Don’t give up. If you truly feel something for this girl, never give up. If you’re willing to get your butt kicked, and if you’re willing to bend over backwards for this girl, then I think you truly deserve her.

As for me, I married this girl about four years after that night. And since then, we both encouraged each other to go for our goals. I’ve always wanted to be a writer, and she helped me achieve that dream. And Brian, if you know that this girl is right for you, then don’t give up, man.

Philly Jim

Jim leaned back on his chair, stretching, and cracking his knuckles. He re-read his letter, and then hit the send button to his editor. He smiled to himself, and walked out of his home office into the living room where he saw Pam sitting outside in the terrace that he had constructed for her. She was tending to her flower bed, and Jim smiled to himself as he watched Pam smelling the flowers.

“Daddy!”

“Hey, Emily!” Jim said, scooping his daughter up. She was a splitting image of Pam.

“Daddy, can you buy me some ice cream?” Emily asked.

“What’s the magic word?” Jim said, smiling.

“Please? Pretty please?” Emily begged.

“Now, how could I say no to that?” Jim chuckled, giving his 3 year old daughter a kiss. “Go see if Mommy wants to come with, okay? I’ll go grab your jacket.”

Jim smiled, as he put Emily down, and watched her running towards Pam, screaming in excitement.


July, 2009

“You know how you always encouraged me to be an artist?” Pam had asked Jim, curling up next to him in bed.

“Yeah,” Jim replied.

“I just wanted to say thank you,” Pam said, giving Jim a kiss.

“You’re welcome, Mrs. Halpert,” Jim said, chuckling.

“Wow…we’re actually married…” Pam sighed. “I give it about two years before you start getting fat, and lose your hair.”

Jim laughed, and tickled Pam. After they had settled down, Pam rested against Jim again.

“Jim?”

“Pam?” Jim replied back in a high voice, trying to imitate Pam.

“I think you should try becoming a writer again,” Pam said. “I mean, we still have a lot of money saved up, and we can get by for awhile. You can take night classes, or online courses.”

Jim smiled, and said, “Come on, Pam…It’s been like a hundred years since I’ve been in school.”

“Seriously, Jim, you should. I mean, what do you have to lose?” Pam asked, getting up on her elbow. “I already looked at some schools that you can apply to, and I’m pretty sure you can get your degree in less than a year. You only have eight more credits for your degree, right?”

“Yeah,” Jim said, holding Pam tighter, “You really think I should go back to school?”

“Of course, Mr. Halpert,” Pam giggled, kissing Jim.

“Then I will, Mrs. Beesley,” Jim said laughing.

*****

Jim was able to receive all of the credits that he had needed by February, 2010. After years of not being challenged at Dunder-Mifflin, he was happy to have some challenge back in his life. He had worked part time at Dunder-Mifflin, and went to night classes at Marywood University.

The documentary finally aired in January, and Jim, Pam, Michael, and Dwight were quite the celebrities. “The Office” was a hit. So Jim wasn’t surprised when he had been receiving job offers from various websites and newspapers. All of the jobs had to do with giving people advice, which Jim didn’t really plan, but he took a job offer from Variety anyway. It was good money. After being reluctant to give people advice at first, Jim found that it came very easy to him.

Although Jim was making plenty of money writing advice blogs, he decided to stay at Dunder-Mifflin. After years of resenting the place, Jim realized that he never resented it. How could he go on for the rest of his life without pulling pranks on Dwight? Besides, Michael left the company to move in with Holly in Nashua, so Jim was now officially Dwight’s boss. Who knew that Dwight following your every word would be so fun?

Pam decided to leave Dunder-Mifflin, and go back to school to get a degree for Art Education. She was happy, because this wasn’t like Pratt. She was actually at the top of her class, and received her degree in two years. After a few months of job searching, she got a job as an art teacher at her old high school. She and Jim were very happy.

*****

April, 2013

“Jim! We have termites!” Pam said, hanging up the phone.

“What?” Jim called from his computer.

“We have termites! That inspector that you had come today just called, and said we had termites!” Pam cried.

“Oh…” Jim said, trying as hard as he could to contain his smile. “So do we have to like…get out?”

“Yeah, they’re coming tomorrow to do that crazy tent thing, and spray the shit out of the house,” Pam said, walking into Jim’s home office.

“Well, that sucks,” Jim said, “So…do you just want to stay at a hotel?”

“That’s too expensive, Jim,” Pam said, sitting down at the edge of Jim’s desk.

“But,” Jim said, rubbing Pam’s stomach. “You’re pregnant, and I want you to be comfortable…it’s either a hotel, or Dwight’s beet farm. Do you really want to eat five pounds of bacon every morning?”

Pam giggled, and rubbed her bump as well.

“Fine…” she sighed, and moved down to sit on Jim’s lap, giving him a quick kiss. “You’re going to be a daddy…”

“I know,” Jim laughed. “And I thank you for carrying my seed.”

Pam laughed, and slapped Jim’s arm.

*****

“Jesus Christ!” Pam cried a month later. “We have foundation damage?”

“That’s what Chris just told me, and please don’t call me by my full name,” Jim laughed.

“I just want to go home…I mean, we spent all that time redecorating the house…” Pam sighed. “And it took us years to figure out how to get that creepy clown painting down. Seriously, the week after we found out how to take it down, we get termites. That painting was cursed…”

Jim laughed.

“Maybe it was…” Jim said. “But we should be able to go back to the house in two weeks, so…be patient.”

Jim held out his arms, inviting Pam to come sit on his laugh. Pam still tried to keep her angry face on, but she couldn’t help but smile as Jim’s arms wrapped around her body.

“So,” Pam said. “What should we name the baby?”

Jim had a look of deep concentration on his face, and he answered, “Well, if it’s a boy…”

“We’re not naming him Dwight,” Pam interrupted, and Jim laughed.

“You know me too well…but I don’t know,” Jim said. “What’s a good name?”

“I don’t know either…” Pam sighed. “I want a unique name, but nothing crazy like Motor Carriage or Pineapple.”

“How about Broderick? Brodie for short,” Jim suggested. Pam smiled.

“That’s a good name…Brodie Halpert,” Pam said, nodding. “Broderick Dwight Halpert.”

Jim laughed, and gently tickled Pam.

“Stop! You’re gonna make me pee!”

“So,” Jim said, a couple of minutes later. “What if it’s a girl?”

“Emily,” Pam immediately answered. “After my grandma…”

“Emily,” Jim repeated, nodding. “That’s a great name…”

*****

“It’s about time we get to go home,” Jim said, getting into his car.

“I know,” Pam agreed. “I just want to go home, and just have you cook for me. I’m so tired of eating out…”

“And,” Jim said, “That’s what she said.”

“You are gross, sir,” Pam laughed. “Disgusting.”

“You know, I actually kind of miss Michael,” Jim said. “And I don’t blame him for being such a jackass…being a manager is actually tough. You try to make people happy, but that ends up pissing someone else off…”

“Yeah,” Pam said. “He was a good guy…deep down.”

Michael had quit Dunder-Mifflin about a month after Jim received his degree, and moved to Nashua to live with Holly. Jim was regional manager of the branch now, and he enjoyed Dwight brown nosing him.

“Wonder what he’s up to?” Jim wondered out loud, pulling into Gerrity’s parking lot, so he and Pam can grab some groceries.

*****

“Home, sweet home!” Jim cried, as they pulled into their driveway.

Pam got out of the car, and felt her jaw drop. Right where Jim’s parents’ old bedroom used to be, there was a terrace. She felt Jim’s arms wrapping around her stomach, and felt him kissing her cheek.

“I watched the documentary,” Jim said. “And the day Jan came to do the women of the workplace seminar, I heard that you always wanted a terrace…so I figured since we don’t sleep in my parents old room…you know…I had some people come, and…do you like it?”

Pam turned around, and Jim saw that she had tears in her eyes. She was nodding her head, and smiling.

“Jim!” she cried happily, “I love it!”

*****

September, 2017

Jim and Pam were walking down the street. Emily was walking between them, holding both of their hands, excited that she was going to get ice cream.

“I want chocolate ice cream with spwinkles!” Emily exclaimed.

“What kind of sprinkles do you want?” Pam asked her daughter.

“Wainbow!”

“She wants ‘wainbow,’ Pam,” Jim smiled. “You should have known that already. I mean, she is your daughter.”

Pam laughed.

“I know, but she sounds so cute when she says it,” Pam said, stroking Emily’s hair. “What kind of sprinkles did you want again?”

“Wainbow!” Emily cried excitedly.

They were sitting outside, eating ice cream, and enjoying the cool fall breeze. Emily was laughing about something that nobody seemed to get but her. Jim and Pam watched Emily, smiling, as she was saying something about Princess Unicorn.

“So,” Jim said. “Michael and Holly are coming to visit…”

“Yeah?” Pam said.

“Yup…I was thinking about throwing Michael a party.”

“What kind of party?”

“Well, before he left, he asked me to host the Dundies,” Jim said. “And we haven’t had a Dundie night since he left, so I figured we can have one. Something fun for the office, don’t you think?”

“Do I get a Dundie?” Pam asked, smiling.

“Yeah, I’m gonna give you the hottest outside of the office award,” Jim said, giving Pam a kiss.

May, 2010

“Do you really want to quit?” Holly asked.

“Yeah,” Michael said. “I’m just getting tired of that place. I mean, they sent you away…”

“You’re really going to move here?”

“Yeppers, I got the job at CP Paper Merchants,” Michael said. “I’m going to be the best manager they’ve ever had!”

Holly smiled, and began to laugh.

“I’m so happy we’re going to live together!” she exclaimed, hugging Michael.

Michael returned the hug, and gave Holly a kiss. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a box.

“Holly Flax?” Michael said getting down on one knee. Holly put her hands to her mouth. “Will you…”

Holly had to contain herself from bursting out “YES!”

“Will you…do me the honor of being my wife?” Michael asked, looking up at Holly, and seeing her eyes lighting up.

“Yes!” Holly exclaimed.

Michael slid the ring on Holly’s finger, and quickly got up to kiss her.

“Wait,” Holly said.

“What?”

“I forgot, I’m already marrying someone…”

“What?! Who?!” Michael demanded.

“You…” Holly smiled, kissing Michael.

When they pulled apart, Holly looked down at her ring. It was beautiful…

“Holly?” Michael asked later that night.

“Yes?” Holly replied, gazing at Michael.

“This is going to sound weird, but…” Michael started, “Have you heard of Fundle Bundle?”

Holly thought for awhile…she was sure she had heard of that before…

“I don’t think so,” Holly said shortly, “Why?”

“When I was a kid, I was on this TV show, Fundle Bundle,” Michael explained. “And this puppet asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up…So I said that I wanted to get married and have a hundred kids…”

Holly rolled over to her side, and smiled at Michael.

“And I just want you to know that I’m happy that we’re engaged,” Michael said.

“Me too,” Holly said, rolling on top of Michael, kissing him passionately.

*****

February, 2014

“Do you want to talk about it?” Michael asked Holly, as they were driving home.

“There’s nothing to talk about, Michael,” Holly said sadly.

“Holly, it’s not your fault,” Michael said softly. Holly felt tears burning in her eyes. “Things like that happen. Remember Tina Fey in that one movie where she couldn’t get pregnant? We can hire a suckrogate…”

“Surrogate,” Holly corrected him. “And Michael, I’m dried up. I’m a fucking raison…I’m fucking infertile, and I don’t want to talk about it!”

Michael felt his heart shatter, as Holly burst into tears. There really was nothing he could do. He couldn’t cheer her up. Michael knew Holly was blaming herself for what’s happening, but it wasn’t her fault. She knew it, but it didn’t matter to her. They both wanted a baby so bad.

Michael pulled into their driveway, and watched as Holly stormed into their house. He followed slowly, and saw that Holly was in the kitchen, making an awful lot of noise, starting dinner.

“Here,” Michael said, taking a pan from Holly, “I’ll make dinner tonight. Do you want spaghetti?”

Holly didn’t say anything, and just stormed out of the kitchen. Michael knew Holly was crying in their bedroom, but he didn’t know whether to go up there or not. All he could do was prepare dinner that he knew neither he nor Holly would eat.

“You want to leave me, don’t you?” Holly asked Michael later that night while they were both lying in bed.

“What? Why would I want to do that?” Michael asked, surprised. “I love you, you ditz.”

“I know you’ve always wanted a baby,” Holly sighed, trying to hold back the tears. “And…I’m sorry, Michael.”

Michael rolled over to his side, and gave Holly a hug.

“Even I know that there’s nothing you should be sorry for,” Michael said, kissing Holly’s cheek. “Things like this happen to a lot of people…”

“I know, but…” Holly began to sob. “Why us?”

“Because,” Michael said, wiping tears from Holly’s face, “We’re awesome…”

Holly chuckled.

“I really wanted to have kids…”

“I know, Holly…” Michael said. He decided it was best not to say, “me too” for Holly’s sake.

The next day, Michael couldn’t concentrate at work. He put salt into his coffee three times, walked into the women’s room by accident, and broke his World’s Best Boss mug. When Michael checked his E-mail, he saw that Jim had sent him pictures of Pam and his new baby girl. Normally, Michael would be happy for them, but not today. He was bitter. He knew Holly was sitting at home, contemplating on whether to leave Michael or not. Why did this have to happen to us?

Holly laid in bed all day. She didn’t even bother to call in to work, nor was she answering the many phone calls she was receiving. Holly remembered when Michael told her about Jan, and how she had a sperm donor. For some reason, this broke Holly’s heart even more. Why couldn’t Jan just have a baby with Michael? At least he would have been happy to be a father, and now Holly couldn’t even give Michael the one thing she knew Michael wanted most.

“Hey, Holl,” Michael said, walking into their bedroom, and giving Holly a kiss.

Holly didn’t say anything to Michael.

“Listen,” Michael started, “the doctor said we might have a chance.”

“I don’t think we do,” Holly said softly into her pillow.

Michael sighed, and left the room. He walked downstairs, walked out the front door, and got into his car. Michael knew where he had to go.

“Michael Scott,” Michael said, “I just wanted to have a quick work with Dr. Jones…”

“Do you have an appointment?” the receptionist asked.

“Well…no…” Michael said, wiping sweat from his forehead. “I just need to talk to him…”

“Mr. Scott?”

Michael turned around, and saw the doctor that he and Holly had come into see the day before.

“I’ve been trying to call Mrs. Scott all day,” Dr. Jones said, shaking Michael’s hand.

“Why would you call my mom?”

“Er…your wife. Holly…”

“Oh, right…” Michael laughed. “She’s really upset…”

“Well, I was calling to tell her that she still has a chance,” Dr. Jones said. “In-Vitro fertilization…”

“What’s that?” Michael asked, following the doctor to his office.

“Well, what we do is, we take ova, eggs,” Dr. Jones added, seeing Michael’s look of confusion. “and your sperm to fertilize the ova, and place it back into Holly’s uterus…”

“They have things like that?” Michael asked.

“Yes…we do,” Dr. Jones said smiling, as he saw Michael grin.

“Wow, that’s…wow,” Michael said, breathless. “Um, can I come back in with Holly? She’s at home…”

“Of course, Mr. Scott,” Dr. Jones replied, shaking Michael’s hand again.

Michael began to walk out of the office, before he reached the door, he turned around to Dr. Jones.

“Um, Doc?” Michael started, “Is your first name Indiana?”

“No,” Dr. Jones replied.

“Oh, okay…sorry about that,” Michael said, turning to walk out the door, “I’ll be right back with Holly!”

*****

“Holly!” Michael called, running into the house. “You’re not a raison!”

Michael ran upstairs to the bedroom, where Holly was still in bed. Holly looked up at Michael with a confused expression.

“Listen, I just talked to Dr. Jones,” Michael said, “and his first name’s not Indiana, but he said you can still get pregnant with the In-Virtue fertilization!”

“Do you mean In-Vitro?” Holly asked, sitting up.

“Yes! They take your egg, and my man-juice, and…then they put it back, and then the baby grows inside you!”

“I still have ova?” Holly asked excitedly.

“Yesh! You still have ova…” Michael said, as Holly got up to hug Michael.

Holly held onto Michael, and she felt more tears coming out of her eyes. This time, they were tears of happiness. Michael began to cry too. He finally had a chance at being a real father…having a real baby. Sure this baby wouldn’t be made through sex, but he could still have sex with Holly anyway. Win-win…

“Thank you,” Holly sobbed.

“No, Holly,” Michael said, staring hard into Holly’s eyes, “Thank you…”

“I love you, Michael…”

*****

January, 2015

“Hey Michael, it’s Jim,” Michael heard on his phone.

“Jimbo! Long time no talk!” Michael said, happily. “How’ve you been, man?”

“I’ve been pretty good,” Jim said, “Emily’s been keeping Pam and me up all night.”

“That’s what she said!” Michael exclaimed, and then adding, “Sorry, that was inappropriate.”

“It’s fine. Listen, I just got the pictures you sent of Chevy,” Jim said. “Congratulations, man!”



“Thank you, Jim…he’s keeping me and Holly up all night too,” Michael said happily. “But I’m on a diaper run, so…I’ll just talk to you later, yeah?

“Yeah, of course,” Jim said. “Good luck!”

“Thanks,” Michael said, hanging up his phone.

Michael ran into Costco to buy diapers in bulk, quickly paid for them, and sprinted to his car. He wanted to get home as soon as possible to see his son. When Michael got home, he walked in quietly, to make sure he didn’t wake Chevy in case he was taking a nap. Holly was sitting on the couch, and smiled at Michael with her finger to her lips.

“I just put him down,” she explained, giving Michael a kiss.

“Damn it,” Michael said, disappointed. “I wanted to watch Dora…”

Holly giggled, and pulled Michael down on the couch next to her.

“We’re finally parents,” she said, smiling. “I think you’re gonna make a great daddy…”

“I think you’re gonna make a great mommy,” Michael said, giving Holly another kiss. “Do you want to go check up on Chevy?”

Holly smiled, she knew Michael just wanted to be with his son as much as possible.

“Sure,” Holly said, getting up, and grabbing Michael’s hand. “After vou…”

“Thank vou,” Michael said.

The quietly walked up the stairs, and into Chevy’s nursery. The room was painted blue, and Michael had hired a painter to paint pictures of Kermit the frog and Gonzo from The Muppets. Michael slowly walked over to Chevy’s crib, and saw Chevy sleeping. He had Holly’s blonde hair, and Michael’s green eyes. Michael smiled, as Holly took his hand.

“He’s beautiful, isn’t he?” Michael whispered to Holly.

“Yeah,” Holly said smiling, “He really is…”

October, 2017

“So you want Michael, Holly, and Chevy to stay with us?” Pam asked, as she put the vacuum cleaner in the closet.

“Yeah,” Jim said, “You weren’t there after the cameras left. Michael turned normal.”

“But,” Pam said, fidgeting with her hands, “Fine…Only because he came to my art show the day the bat was in the office.”

Jim walked over to Pam, and grabbed her hands. Pam suddenly didn’t feel so nervous anymore, and she smiled at Jim.

“I think it’s sweet of you to do this,” Pam said. “Throwing a Dundies ceremony for Michael…”

“Well, Pam…if it wasn’t for Michael, I would have given up on you,” Jim said, kissing her.

Jim helped Pam tidy their house up, while Emily followed them around.

“Hey Em, are you excited to see Chevy?” Pam asked, kneeling down to fix Emily’s hair.

“I guess…” Emily sighed. Pam laughed. Emily had gotten into the habit of sighing and being overdramatic.

“How old is Chevy now?” Pam asked Jim, getting up, and fixing her skirt.

“He’s about seven months younger than Emily,” Jim said, “So he’s probably like two and a half…”

“I’m actually excited to finally see the little guy,” Pam said. “He’s such a cutie…well, you should go finish up your column before Michael and Holly get here.”

“Right,” Jim said, walking past Pam to his computer.

About an hour later, just as Jim had sent his piece to his editor, the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it!” Emily screamed, and Jim heard rapid footsteps coming down the hall.

“Emily, wait,” Pam called, “You’re not old enough to answer the door by yourself.”

“Fine,” Emily sighed, and Jim laughed to himself. She was being overdramatic again.

“PAM!” Michael cried, happily, rushing in to give Pam a hug. “Wow, is this Emily?”

“Hi,” Emily said shyly, hiding behind Jim’s leg.

“Hi, Emily…I have a question,” Michael said, kneeling down. “Do you know what Ms. America is?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, you’re gonna be the future Ms. America,” Michael said. Jim laughed.

“Hey Michael,” Jim said, giving Michael a hug. “Holly.”

“Hey guys,” Holly said, carrying Chevy in.

“Aww…” Pam cooed, giving Holly a hug, and playing with Chevy’s tiny hands. “He’s so adorable…”

“Thanks,” Holly said, smiling. She knelt down, and shook Emily’s hand. “She’s getting big…”

“Yeah,” Jim said, walking up and giving Holly a hug, “She’s growing like crazy…”

“So how was the drive, you guys?” Pam asked, taking Chevy from Holly’s arms, as Jim took their jackets.

“It was fine,” Michael said, taking Chevy from Pam. “Chevy didn’t cry once, did you, big man?”

“No,” Chevy said softly. Something told Jim that Chevy was going to take after Holly—shy, and quiet.

“Hey, big guy,” Jim said to Chevy, “How old are you?”

“This many,” Chevy said, holding up two fingers.

“Wow! You’re almost a grown up!” Jim said, taking Emily’s hand, “This is Emily.”

“Hi,” Chevy said quietly.

The adults laughed as both of the kids hid behind their fathers, too shy to talk to each other.

“Well, come in, and have a seat,” Pam said, leading everyone to the living room.

Michael and Holly sat down on the smaller sofa, and Michael brought Chevy to his lap. Jim and Emily sat down on the larger sofa, while Pam went to the kitchen to get drinks for everyone.

“So how are things at Dunder-Mifflin?” Michael asked, taking a beer from Pam.

“Pretty good,” Jim said, taking a sip of his beer. “How are things at CP?”

“It’s funny you ask, because we’re totally kicking Nashua branches a…butt,” Michael said, glancing over at Chevy.

“Oh, be quiet,” Holly said, laughing, and gently pushing Chevy’s hair back.

“So who still works at the Scranton branch?” Michael asked Jim.

“Oh, pretty much everyone. Toby’s still there, the accountants, I think Dwight’s trying to kill me…Phyllis left a year after you left, Creed’s still there, Daryl…and we got some new people in sales,” Jim said. “You should stop by tomorrow, Michael.”

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Michael said, taking Holly’s hand.

Pam smiled at them, and realized that neither of them had aged. They both looked very happy together.

“Holly, are you sure you just had a baby?” Pam asked, “You look so thin!”

Holly laughed.

“You should have seen me last year,” Holly said, “I was 190 pounds.”

“No way!” Pam and Jim cried out, while Michael nodded behind Holly, mouthing, “Yeah, she was!”

“How’d you lose all the baby weight?” Pam asked, trying not to laugh at Michael, and giving Jim’s hand a hard squeeze so that he’d stop shaking from silent laughter.

“Yoga, and Michael and I would go jogging,” Holly said, smiling at Michael.

“Hey, Emily,” Michael said suddenly. “Have you ever seen ‘The Muppet Show?’”

Emily shook her head, and Michael gasped.

“You haven’t?” Michael said playfully, taking out a DVD, “Chevy loves it! Chevy, do you want to watch this?”

“Okay,” Chevy said, smiling.

“Ask Emily if she wants to watch too…”

“Do you want to watch, Emmy?” Chevy asked shyly.

“Okay,” Emily said, getting up, and taking Chevy’s hand to the den. Jim followed them, and put the disc in the DVD player.

Later that night, they all had take out from Chili’s. Jim jokingly apologized to Michael and Holly for Pam, and explained to Holly that Pam had been banned from Chili’s for life. Jim and Michael put Emily and Chevy to bed, and came downstairs.

“…yeah, the documentary ended up being embarrassing,” Holly finished as Jim and Michael came back to the living room.

“Are you guys talking about the documentary?” Jim asked, picking up his glass of wine.

“Yeah,” Pam said.

“God…they really made me look like a douche bag, didn’t they?” Michael said, laughing.

“Well, you did drive into a lake…” Holly laughed.

“No! They made me drive into the lake,” Michael explained.

“Really? They made you do that?” Jim laughed.

“Yeah, and they also made me look like in idiot,” Michael said. “Seriously, in the six years they’ve been there, they made a two hour documentary…They show me as being a jackass…”

“And they made Dwight tell me that Kevin was slow,” Holly said, shaking her head, “And that made the cut…”

“Yeah, they did make you guys look bad, didn’t they?” Jim chuckled.

“I was disappointed when they didn’t put in the footage of you coming to my art show, Michael,” Pam said, smiling at Michael.

“Yeah, and they didn’t show the footage of you and me at the booze cruise, either,” Jim added.

“Yeesh, well…the past is past…” Michael said.

“So Pam and I were thinking of playing a game,” Holly said, “The newlywed game, even though we’re not really newlyweds, but it will give us a chance to see how well we know each other.”

“Okay…” Jim said, glancing at Pam, who was beaming at him, and shaking his head.

“All right,” Jim said, unfolding a piece of paper, “First question is for Holly: Michael’s favorite movie is?”

“Oh, that’s easy,” Holly said, “Animal House.

Michael shook his head, and held up his notepad which read, The Ring.

“You told me your favorite movie was Animal House!” Holly exclaimed, gently pushing Michael.

“That was before we watched The Ring! It was the first movie we saw together…” Michael explained.

“Michael, you can’t do things like that. It’s not fair!” Holly said. “But that’s sweet of you…”

Jim and Pam laughed as they watched Michael and Holly playfully argue with each other. Jim had to admit, this was a lot more fun than he thought it would be. Michael bent down, and picked up a piece of paper.

“Oooh, this is a good one,” Michael laughed. Holly leaned over to look at the question Michael was holding, and she giggled. “This one is for Pam: What was Jim’s most humiliating childhood nickname?”

Pam waited until Jim wrote his answer down.

“I promised Jim that I would never repeat this…”

“Just do it, Pam,” Jim laughed.

“Chicken legs,” Pam replied, laughing. Jim shook his head, and held up his notepad which read chicken legs.

“All right!” Pam said, getting another question from the basket. “Another one for Holly: When did you and Michael first meet? What kind of question is that, Jim?”

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t think of any…” Jim said, shrugging his shoulders.

“That’s actually a funny story,” Holly said, smiling at Michael who was smiling back. “When we were kids…”

Michael held up his notepad, and wrote down “when we were kids.”

“Are you serious?” Pam asked.

“Yeah, it was after Michael went on Fundle Bundle…we were like…ten?”

“It’s true,” Michael said, “We met at a park a couple of days after I was on Fundle Bundle…”

“Wow,” Jim said, “So you guys met like…thirty years ago?”

“That sounds about right,” Holly said, holding Michael’s hand.

“How did you guys figure that out?” Pam asked.

“Well, when my mom and Holly’s dad met before the wedding,” Michael said, “My mom brought some pictures with her…And Holly’s dad recognized seeing me because I was the only ten year old who wore suits back then…”

Holly laughed.

“Wow, that’s amazing,” Jim said. “Pam and I first met when we were sixteen…”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it was actually her and Roy’s first date…” Jim said, and adding, “Sorry to bring it up. And Roy accidentally left Pam at a hockey game…”

“Yeah, well…it’s destiny, I guess,” Pam said, shrugging.

“That’s amazing,” Michael said. “It’s getting late! Holly, we should go check into a hotel…”

“Actually, we set up a room for you guys,” Pam said. “We figured you guys have been driving all day, so you were probably sick of driving…”

“We can stay?” Michael cried happily, “Jim, you and me should bunk together…and Holly and Pam could have a slumber party…we can play who would you do!”

“That’s—uh, that sounds great…but…I’d rather sleep in our bedroom,” Jim said, wrapping his arm around Pam’s shoulder. Michael looked slightly disappointed.

“Fine…” Michael said, “I would totally do Holly though…”

“Michael!” Holly cried, “Inappropriate!”

“We’re all adults here…”

“I’d totally do Jim,” said Pam, out of nowhere. Everyone burst out in laughter.

“That was actually fun,” Pam said, getting into bed later that night. “I think Holly made Michael less annoying…”

“Yeah,” Jim said, “I’m glad you had fun.”

“You didn’t?”

“I did,” Jim said, “But I just realized something.”

“What?”

“We need more friends…”

*****

“All right,” Jim said, opening the door into the office, “Welcome back, you guys…”

Holly and Michael, holding Chevy, walked into the office. Michael’s smile quickly faded when he saw Jan sitting at reception. He quickly looked at Jim.

“I forgot to mention her…she just started a couple of days ago,” Jim muttered softly to Michael.

“Hello, Jan…” Michael said awkwardly. Holly quickly grabbed Michael’s hand, and gave him a swift kiss on his cheek. She tried hard not to smile as Jan frowned, and glared at Holly and Chevy.

“Michael,” Jan said, getting up to give Michael a hug. “Good to see you.”

When Jan leaned over to give Holly a hug, Michael muttered, “Wish I could say the same…”

“This is Chevy,” Holly said, taking the toddler from Michael. “Chevy, say hi to Ms. Levinson.”

“It’s Levinson-Bernard,” Jan said, not really taking notice in the baby. “Andy and I got married last year…”

“Hey-yo!” Andy said, walking up to Michael and Holly, “Mikey-Mike, it’s good to see you again, sir! And it’s good to see you as well, H-O-double hockey sticks-Y…”

Michael shook hands with Andy.

“Good to see you, Andy,” Michael said. “So you and Jan…?”

“Yes, sir,” Andy said proudly. “I bought some candles from her, and then it was love at first burn.”

“Good for you guys,” Holly said, smiling. Jan was still glaring at Holly. “Congratulations…”

“Thank you, Holly,” Andy said, and he turned to Michael, “You better watch out, Michael, I might steal Holly from you too…”

“You better not!” Jan said loudly.

“I was only joking, my dear…” Andy said, “Now, I’m gonna get back to work!”

“All right, guys,” Jim said, “I’m just gonna get some work done, and you guys can feel free to walk around, and talk to people.”

“Aw,” Michael said, “My old office…”

“Yeah…” Jim said, letting Michael into his office.

“You know, Jim…Holly and I…” Michael said, chuckling, “The first time we did it, was right there…” Michael pointed to his old desk, and walked out of Jim’s office. If the camera guys were still there, Jim would have surely given the camera a look of shock.

“MICHAEL!”

Michael got the breath knocked out of him as Dwight rushed over to hug him.

“Michael! Are you back? Did you get your old job back?”

“No, Dwight, just visiting,” Michael said, massaging his ribs.

“Hey, Dwight…” Holly said, walking up to Dwight.

“Holly…Tiny One…” Dwight quickly turned back to Michael. “Michael, please come back, I think Jim is sabotaging our company.”

“What was that?” Jim asked, walking out of his office.

“Nothing, sir,” Dwight said, suddenly standing stiff as a board, like a soldier, “I was just saying hello to my old friend, sir.”

“At ease, salesman,” Jim said.

“Thank you, sir!” Dwight said, walking to his desk.

“Punishment…” Jim told Holly when she and Michael gave him a confused expression. “Just a joke…”

“What did he do?” Holly asked, walking towards the break room.

“I was messing around, I told him that I've been a spy from the CIA, and he actually believed me, so I told him that I'd try to recruit him,” Jim explained. "That was like two years ago, and he's still trying..."

“Wow…I should have done that,” Michael said, and he suddenly stopped.

Holly looked at him, and saw that Michael was glaring at someone. She turned to look at who Michael was glaring at. It was Toby. Toby got up from his chair, and walked up to Michael smiling.

“Hey, Michael,” Toby said, “Long time no…”

“Why are you even here? Why is he even here?” Michael demanded.

“Michael, stop…” Holly muttered, giving Toby an apologetic look.

“I work here…” Toby mumbled.

“Well, go back to work, weirdo,” Michael said, walking into the break room

Jim went back to his office to work, while Michael, Holly, and Chevy chatted with Oscar.

“So whatever happened with Angela and Andy?” Holly asked Oscar.

“Oh,” Oscar said, “Andy found out that Angela had been cheating on him with Dwight…”

“What?!”

“Yeah, he called off the wedding, and he started dating Jan…” Oscar said.

“Wow,” sighed Holly.

“Oh, hey, Toby,” Michael said, just as Toby walked in. “Can you shut the door on your way out? Thanks…”

Toby mumbled something about wanting to get a soda, and silently left the break room with Oscar.

“Michael, be nice,” Holly said.

“You have no idea what it was like after you left here…” Michael said. “Seeing Toby sitting at your old desk—it was…it was terrible. The worst moment of my life.”

“That was years ago,” Holly said, smiling. “But I told Pam that I’d meet her at the mall…I’ll see you later tonight.”

“Okay,” Michael said, giving Holly and Chevy kisses. “Have fun!”

Michael walked Holly and Chevy to their car, and watched as the drove away. When he got back into the office, he bumped into Kevin.

“Hey, big guy,” Michael said, shaking Kevin’s hand. “How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been good,” Kevin said, “so you and Holly are still together?”

“Yeesh,” Michael said. Kevin didn’t say anything back, so Michael excused himself. He heard Kevin mumbling, “what a waste.”

“Hey Mike!” Daryl said, as Michael walked into the kitchen.

“D-bag! How you’ve been, man?” Michael asked, shaking Daryl’s hand.

“Dinkin Flicka, Mike,” Daryl said.

Michael sat in the break room for the rest of the day while people filtered in and out. He found out that Dwight and Angela had gotten married, and that they already had two kids, and he was surprised to see that Creed still worked there. Finally, Jan came into the break room, and sat next to Michael.

“So you and Holly got married?” Jan asked.

“Yeah, that’s why I left this company,” Michael replied. “I’m actually VP at CP Paper Merchants now…”

“Congratulations,” Jan said.

“So how’s Astird?”

“Astrid,” Jan corrected him.

“Sorry, how’s she doing?” Michael asked, “She’s about nine now, right?”

“Yes she is, and she’s doing fine,” Jan said, “I signed her up for some beauty pageants…”

“Right…”

“So Holly’s treating you well, then?”

“Of course, she’s an angel,” Michael replied, smiling. “She and Chevy make me feel like a king.”

Just then, Jim and everyone else from the office walked into the break room.

“So Michael,” Jim said smiling, “since you’re visiting, we decided to have a Dundies celebration in the warehouse tonight.”

“Really?!” Michael asked excitedly.

“Yup,” Jim said, as everyone smiled and nodded behind him. “And we all thought it would be fun if you co-hosted.”

“Wow…I didn’t prepare anything,” Michael said, “But I’ll do it! This is great!”

Later that night, Jim and Michael went over the list of Dundie winners, and Michael had tried to come up with jokes. Holly and Pam were sitting with everyone in the warehouse with Chevy and Emily. Michael heard Dwight yelling at everyone to settle down, and heard music blaring.

“Early with the cue…” Michael said, running out.

Everyone cheered as Michael sang his own rendition of “OPP.” Michael felt good about himself.

“Okay, so the first award of the night,” Jim said into his microphone, “the first sales award…goes to Ryan!”

Ryan looked embarrassed as he walked up to grab the trophy from Jim.

“Congratulations on your first sale!” Michael said, hugging Ryan, “Don’t start any fires, sweet cheeks.”

“FIRE GUY!” Kevin yelled.

“This next award goes to Holly and Pam,” Jim said, “they get the Welcome Back award!”

Pam and Holly walked up to Jim and Michael to get their trophies, both smiling, and hugging their husbands.

“I thought you said I was going to get the hottest outside the office award,” Pam mumbled in Jim’s ear. Jim just cleared his throat.

The awards went on. Kelly won the most talkative award, Kevin won the don’t go in there after me award (again), Andy won the acapella award, Dwight won the world’s best assistant award, Angela won the designated driver award, Meredith won the AA award, Oscar got the best dressed in the office award, and Stanley won the excellent work award.

“Creed! Step away from Chevy!” Michael yelled into his microphone, causing everyone to cover their ears.

“And Emily!” Jim yelled.

Creed was bent down, untying his shoe laces in front of Holly, Pam, Chevy, and Emily, all wearing horrified expressions on their faces.

“I just wanted to show them my four toes…” Creed said.

“Back away, Creed!” Michael warned.

Just then, David Wallace came down into the warehouse. He smiled and waved to everyone, and then walked up to Michael.

“Jim invited me,” Wallace said, shaking Michael’s hand, “I wanted to talk to you later…”

“All right,” Michael said, slightly confused. He looked over at Holly who was giving him a quizzical look, and he shrugged.

“Let’s take ten,” Jim said to everyone, and they all got up, and began talking to one another.

Michael walked outside with Wallace.

“So…what’s up, David?” Michael asked.

“I just wanted to apologize for sending Holly away,” Wallace replied. “I didn’t think you would actually quit…”

“Water under the bridge,” Michael said awkwardly.

“Well, we’re actually thinking of opening the Stamford branch back up,” Wallace continued, “And we were wondering if you wanted to be the manager there…”

“Leave Nashua?”

“Yeah, if that’s what you want…”

“Listen, I appreciate it, but I actually got promoted at CP…I’m going to be the Vice President…” Michael said. “Holly doesn’t know yet…I wanted to surprise her.”

“Oh,” said Wallace, “it would have been great to have you come back, but…Congratulations, Michael!”

David shook Michael’s hand again. “You were a good guy, Michael.”

“Thanks,” Michael said, “You too…”

Michael walked inside, and walked over to Holly and Chevy who were talking to Kevin. Michael picked Chevy up, and gave him a kiss.

“You having fun, big fella?” Michael asked, and Chevy nodded. “Hey Kevin, can you keep an eye on Chevy for us? Holly and I need to talk…”

“I, uh…” Kevin stuttered.

“Thanks,” Michael said, walking away with Holly.

“What did Wallace say?” Holly asked Michael.

“He offered me a job…at Stamford,” Michael said smiling.

“Did you take it?”

“No,” Michael said, “Because I got promoted at CP.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Holly asked smiling.

“I wanted it to be a surprise,” Michael replied shrugging.

“But you loved working for Dunder-Mifflin…”

“I know. But I love you more,” Michael said, “And Dunder-Mifflin tried to take you away from me.”

Holly smiled, and gave Michael a kiss.

“All right, everyone,” Michael turned around, and saw Jim standing with the microphone. “We have one last Dundie to give out, and then we can all get drunk…”

Everyone laughed, and cheered.

“This last award,” Jim said, holding up a big trophy, “Goes to a man that I personally think brought us all closer together. This award goes to a guy who treated everyone like family…sure he was politically incorrect sometimes, and he said a lot of inappropriate things, but he was a guy that loved all of his employees. The world’s best boss award goes to Michael Scott!”

Everyone cheered louder, and they all began clapping Michael’s back, and gave him hugs. Michael was deeply touched (that’s what she said), and Holly gave him a kiss. She then urged him to go up (that’s what she said again).

“Wow,” Michael laughed, “Thank you…everyone. I missed you guys. Even you, Toby. I’m not gonna lie, I loved working here at Dunder-Mifflin, and I miss the hell out of it. I was always treated with respect…”

Michael nodded to David Wallace, who nodded back.

“I guess,” Michael continued, “I just have to say thank you to all of you guys. And I’d like to thank Holly, for giving me the thing that I’ve always wanted: sex.”

Everyone laughed, and Holly felt herself blushing.

“But seriously though, Holly gave me the best gift of all…our son, Chevy,” Michael said, beginning to tear up. “But anyway…thank you all!”

Everyone began cheering, as Michael walked over to his family to embrace them again. Jim and Pam came over to them, and gave them each a hug.

“Seriously, Jim,” Pam said, as they watched Michael and Holly feeding Chevy, “Why didn’t I get the hottest outside the office award?”

Jim smiled, “Because I’m gonna give you that award tonight, Pam…”

“That’s what she said!” Michael called over his shoulder towards Jim and Pam.


Jim smiled at Pam, and gave her a kiss. After all those years of pain and heartbreak, Jim knew things were truly going to be good. There would be no more nights wondering about the girl from the hockey rink. There would be no more nights of late night drinking. There would be no more nights of feeling alone...Things were going to be good. Sure, things won't always be perfect; there would be speed bumps along the way. There would no longer be anymore Katy's, or Karen's, or Roy's...it would just be Jim and Pam. And as Jim stared down at Pam and Emily, he knew he had so much more to live for.

As for Michael, he had never been happier in his life. He was a father of a healthy young boy, and the husband of a woman that truly got him. For Michael, there would be no more sleeping on a bed bench, or getting teased in a playground. He had Holly and Chevy, and that's all he needed, and that's what he lives for; even if they were a handful. That's what she said.

“So,” Michael said to Jim later that night, “Was this year’s Dundie’s a success?”

“Absolutely, it was,” Jim said, as he and Michael smiled as they watched Pam, Emily, Holly, and Chevy all laughing together.