Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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At first, Karen’s all wrong. She’s uptight and he hears her behind him making exasperated noises when he cracks jokes on the phone with Kevin. He’s not really sure what her deal is but he always gives people a few chances until, like Dwight, they prove themselves unworthy of any more of his good humor.

The first time she assassinates him during their weekly Call of Duty “exercise”, as Josh likes to call it, he notices her smile. He calls her a psychopath to the camera, but maybe deep down inside that’s for Pam’s benefit. Even though they say this thing is going to be on TV one day, he wonders how long they can actually waste time filming without airing. Maybe he’ll show up one morning and the cameras will finally be gone. And then they can get rid of the tape and 2 miserable years of his life pining for the unattainable will be gone.

His bonding with Karen happens naturally if only because she appears to be the least onerous choice for socializing with. Her initial abrasiveness is off-putting to him, but it doesn’t take long to realize that Andy isn’t even an option – he is, in fact, completely out of his mind. And were it to come down to a Dwight/Andy standoff, Jim is positive 9 out of 10 judges would choose Andy as the insane asylum escapee. He needs contact with somebody and she’s really it.

Over time, she drops her defenses. Jim thinks maybe she has the same short-timer disease he had in Scranton. Maybe this isn’t what she considers her career either. He starts to think maybe he understands her.

The quest for Herr’s chips turns into a series of challenges to outdo the other and it’s the first time he really feels like he had a good day in Stamford. And she impresses the hell out of him with her foreign language capabilities. But that night at home, he realizes that maybe he’s just looking for a Pam substitute.

Maybe he pulls away a little after that. But then there is the time he calls the Scranton branch. She answers the phone. She isn’t supposed to be there. At first the sound of her voice makes him freeze up. But then they slip into old patterns and it’s like he never left.

After the awkward goodbye, he realizes it’s entirely too much like their old ways – as usual she’s managed to gloss over the fact that he told her he was in love with her and that she never called him after canceling her wedding. This is the first time he’s ever spoken to her when she was single. And in an instant, the joy he felt over hearing her voice again had dissipated into that old feeling in the pit of his stomach that he had just begun to be able to suppress at will.

When he thinks about Scranton it makes him tired. He’s distracted himself nicely by throwing himself into his job. But now he’s thinking again. He keeps hoping Pam will call him. Hopes she’s ready and the call they shared will finally spur her into action. But she doesn’t call and he sticks to using Kevin’s cell phone from then on.

Then there is the night of too much Jagermeister. The night they stay late to do the sales reports and Karen drives him home. Even though nothing happens, when he wakes up the next morning half-dressed on top of the covers with his tongue plastered to the roof of his mouth, he feels like maybe he missed an opportunity.

Later on when he’s taken the aspirin and drunk about a gallon of water, he notices his cell phone sitting on the kitchen counter. There’s a text message on it. From Pam. He doesn’t know what to feel. He thinks maybe a shower will help.

He’s late for work so he puts it out of his mind. He tries not to think about it all day but then he keeps catching glimpses of Karen out of the corner of his eye. It reminds him of how he was always aware of Pam’s movements. Maybe he’s weighing them both in his mind.

Pam. She had been foremost in his thoughts for over three years now. But he had done all he could, hadn’t he? He had finally been honest with her. And maybe it was all too much to lay on her, he’d considered that, but it had been months since she called off her wedding and she knew where he was.

It had been incredible to talk to her again. He loved it. But he couldn’t even allow himself to consider whether or not he still loved her.

Karen. There was nothing there. Yet. But could there be? She should be clearly ahead of Pam. She doesn’t have a fiancé, she’s not wasting her talents, she’s very direct, and she hasn’t yet broken his heart.

But yet, there is still hesitation. He doesn’t answer her text message right away. But then he sends a reply. Brief. Terse. Got the story from Kevin.

It’s a week later when Jan appears in Stamford, and something about it puts him on edge. When she offers him the number two position, he doesn’t hesitate. It must be a sign. He’s been patient, he’s been careful. But this is definitely a sign that he’s meant to be here.

When Josh drops his bombshell and all hell breaks loose, suddenly the signs aren’t so clear. And when Jan tells him Stamford will close and he can have the same great job but it will be in Scranton, his mind goes into free fall. He has no time to think; he must decide.

All day he considers his options. His first instinct is to dissuade Karen from coming to Scranton. Someone like her belongs in the city. He’s protecting her, he thinks, from Michael and Dwight. But then he thinks maybe he’s being unfair to her. Maybe he can handle Scranton better if she’s there. Maybe they’re meant to go there together.

He can’t eat. He can’t concentrate. He can’t think. His mind drifts back to the day he met Pam. Before he knew she was engaged and then the punch to the gut later on when he met Roy. Her fiancé.

But now Roy is out of the picture. Can he work with her again? Does she want him to? What if she’s seeing someone? He knows for a fact that she went on one date already.

He has no other career options on the table. His family is in Scranton. He even misses Michael, especially after Josh made his own selfish career move. He regrets ever being nice to Josh.

It’s near the end of the day and he knows he has to decide. Jan will be calling him any second. There are important corporate decisions to be made and they’ve never hinged on him before.

Time to suck it up, Halpert. Be a man.

He hopes he hasn’t misinterpreted things again.

The decision was made. He felt like he'd jumped onto a runaway train. Suddenly he had to pack, find a new place to live, and deal with the fact that he had to face up to everything he had just run away from six months ago.

How the hell would he handle this? Six months ago he'd told her he was in love with her. It wasn't any less true today but he hadn't let himself think about that since the summer. He'd had his mourning period for all that could be with Pam. He had just started taking baby steps toward moving on.

He didn’t really believe in Fate, but he was sure it was having a good long laugh at his expense.

He hadn't told Karen anything about the circumstances surrounding the transfer. Maybe he didn't want to let her get that close. Maybe he wasn't ready to open that particular Pandora's box. Lord knows, he hadn't allowed himself to work through it - he just shut that inner door and soldiered on through.

A few days after he made the decision to complicate his life again, he found himself inviting Karen to drive to Scranton with him that weekend just to get the lay of the land. They drove around to all the high points - downtown, the Steamtown Mall, the Lackawanna coal mine.

He even drove past the office park where Dunder Mifflin was located so she could see where it was. His chest tightened and he found himself speeding past. He could see her looking curiously at him out of the corner of his eye but she didn't say anything.

When they got back to Stamford that night, she insisted in buying him dinner. He let her. She was easy to talk to and he liked that she got his jokes. He liked a lot of things about her and when she confessed that she'd like to see him more like this, outside of the office, he said he thought he'd like that too. 

It was their last day at the Stamford office and they were packing up their desks. Later on, he went by her place to help her pack the last of her boxes. As he was walking out the door to leave, she caught his hand and he turned into her, she, already leaning into his kiss. He thought she wanted more but that was all he felt he had to give her.

As he drove home, he wavered between feeling a bit giddy and feeling sick to his stomach. He packed all weekend and didn't return her calls. Finally on Sunday, he couldn't ignore her anymore and he lied and said his cell phone died and he had packed his charger by accident.

He was staying at a cousin's house until he found a new place. She was staying at a hotel until she decided where she wanted to live. She had joked that maybe they could be roommates. He laughed and changed the subject. He asked her to dinner the night before their first day. He was in a good mood but they drove past Chili's and suddenly he wasn't very hungry anymore.

He picked at his food and barely held up his end of the conversation. And when he dropped her off at her room, he kissed her a little too long, a little too insistently. She didn’t ask, but he knew that she wanted him to stay. But he thought about white sneakers and green teapots and made some excuse to leave that he didn't even remember when he thought about it later.

Was he leading Karen on? Where did he even want that to go? He knew he was holding out until he saw Pam again. He knew he couldn't take that last step until he'd looked into her eyes again. Until he'd seen her without the diamond on her finger distracting him as it caught the light.

He was restless all night, drifting in and out of sleep. He finally gave up at 5:30. Fully dressed, he intended to get there early to help his Stamford office mates acclimate. But he found himself on his knees, dry heaving into the toilet. He ended up being the last to arrive.

Michael was there and he navigated around him. Then suddenly she was there, jumping into his arms. She looked so different - pretty as he remembered but with a new glow. Fancy new Beesly.

Everything about the day was a little off. Everything was moving in slow motion. Surreal, this, to be back in such a familiar place but now so different.

When Michael gathered them all in the conference room, Pam took her usual seat next to him, Karen behind. When she tapped his back, he instinctively reached for what she knew he was handing him. Later, as they walked inside again, she absently stroked his back.

He hadn't seen the stricken look on Pam's face.

When they day was finally over, he realized that he hadn't really talked to Pam all day. She came walking out and he had his chance.

What came out of his mouth surprised him as much as the last thing he had said to her in this parking lot. Twice now he said one thing meaning to say another. He wondered if this building was cursed. Maybe built on some old Indian burial ground or something else from a horror movie. Maybe he was cursed.

As usual, there were more misinterpretations.

He watched her taillights leave the parking lot as his chin dropped slowly to his chest. This wasn’t going to be easy. Not by a long shot.