Jim looked down at the tiny blue teapot in his hands. So small, so unassuming. It was hard to believe that it carried the fate of his love. Because, hidden away at the bottom of the box, is a card, detailing how he loved Pam.

Oh, did he mention? He loved Pam.

This wasn't some stupid crush, like he was back in elementary school playing on the swing set. He was in love with Pam. 

The only thing keeping him from asking her out, leading her back to his apartment, and ravaging her body on top of his bed was the band wrapped around her fourth finger.

It wasn't Roy's fault. Sure, he had proposed to her, but it wasn't his fault that she was taken. She just... happened to be taken. But sometimes, he saw the way she looked at him, and how well they got along, and how she smiled (god, her smile), and it made him wonder.

Did she feel the same way?

Then he immediately dismissed it as completely ridiculous, because she was engaged and still wearing that ring and she loved Roy.

 He thought about at the Dundies, when Roy grabbed her arm and tried to force her to get in the car. Neither of them, nor the camera crew, saw him watching from the window, ready to storm out if she was injured in any way. They didn't see him thinking, I would treat her so much better than this. And later, when for a small moment, her sleeve slipped up and Jim got a glimpse of two small red marks from Roy's meaty fingers, he thought How Dare He. Fueled by rage and anger, when he sat stewing in his car as he thought of those bruises.

He thought about after the fire, while they were all waiting outside, how Roy chose Angela over his own fiance at Who Would You Do? How Pam's face, confused, fell as she blushed in embarrassment. How later, her face lit up when they were walking back from Dwight's car. How he could treat her so much better.

But for the time, there was still Roy.

And Roy was a huge factor.

 When the camera crew pulled him in for the interview later, he was ready to field any possible questions about the teapot.

 "So this year, for the first time ever, I got Pam in Secret Santa. And I got her this teapot, which I know she really wants, so she can make tea at her desk. But I’m also going to stuff it with some inside jokes. Like, this is my high school yearbook photo. She saw it at the party, and it really makes her laugh. Not sure why. What else .. ooh. This is a hot sauce packet. She put this on a hot dog a couple years ago because she thought it was ketchup. And it was really funny, so I kept the other two. [holds up a miniature pencil] This would take a little too long to explain, so I won’t. And this is the card. Because Christmas is the time to tell people how you feel." 

Why did he say that Oh my god Why Why Why.

How he felt couldn't have been more clear if he had How I Feel tattooed up on his forehead.

Oh god. 

My god, Michael had to ruin everything, didn't he.

He had this perfect idea of a gift, and now it all was going to shit. He was going to hand it to Pam, she would read it and either declare her undying love and waltz away with him, hand in hand (impossible), or (more likely) she would say sorry but she was in love with Roy and cut off all ties, at which point he would probably enter himself into the military.

He looked around the room, at all the people sitting in a circle, connected only by their workplace and Michael's dumbass antics. Oscar comforted Phyllis ("shh, shh, it's okay, don't listen to that bitch, i thought the mitts were wonderful") while Dwight berated Meredith for drinking too much and bad-mouthing Michael ("he is your BOSS! treat him with respect") and Ryan and Pam sat there ogling the iPod, his teapot lying unattended on the chair nearby. He was just about to walk over to talk to Pam when Michael rushed back in, screaming;

 "OkayOkayOkay I have an idea.", and so Jim watched as Michael ruined everyone's hopes and dreams. While people made valid points as to why Michael's idea was completely idiotic, Michael shut them down with remotely connected points and intermittent interruptions of-

"YankeeSWAP!" Michael's scream shook Jim from his stupor, and as he groggily shook his head, Pam let out a little giggle at his strange awakening. He looked over and caught her eye with a smile, and she blushed and looked away.

He smiled into the air for a moment, and then something caught his attention. Kevin was saying- "-how about we invite the downstairs workers up here. They always give the best presents." Which included Roy. Jim was about to say he didn't think that was such a good idea, when Michael said:

 "Of course! You know, they're like my homies and..." the rest of Michael's sentence faded away as he walked over to the door to grab the others.

 Jim sighed. How had everything gone to shit?