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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.
Author's Chapter Notes:
I don't do comedy well, so let me know if this works. Or what doesn't. Critiques at all levels are welcome.

"Aren't we a little old for class valentines?" Jim said, leaning over Pam's desk for some pink jellybeans.

Pam looked at the cheap valentine that Michael had given her, along with every other person in the office. "It looks like the kind we used to have to give out in elementary school."

"Yeah. I hated those."

"It's no fun when you're ordered to bring valentines for the whole class."

"Yeah."

"Thirty to a pack."

"Yeah. And my mom always made me buy them out of my allowance, which was really unfair."

Pam put hers on the counter next to the jellybean dish. "I got a pink teddy bear on mine. What did you get?"

Jim pulled a small valentine out of his back pocket and laid it next to hers. "Honeybee carrying a heart that says 'Bee Mine'."

"Awwww."

"Stop it."

"So what did you get Karen for Valentine's Day?"

Jim bit his lip and looked away. "Um. Dinner reservations at a restaurant."

"Which one?"

"ShowtuneZ, the new one downtown."

Pam blinked. "Seriously? The karaoke restaurant?"

Jim shrugged. "You saw her at Phyllis' wedding. She loves to sing."

"Well, no, I left early." She looked away, remembering Roy's hand warm in hers as he led her out of the reception hall. "However, I hear she's really good." Pam looked down at her desktop and moved a pencil.

"Yeah."

He rummaged around in the jellybeans, looking for more of the pink ones. She reached into a drawer and brought out a half-filled bag of candy and plopped it in front of him. "Here. You can have all the pink ones if you pick them out."

Jim looked over his shoulder. "Hey, not so loud."

"Don't want Dwight finding out you like pink jellybeans?"

He grinned at her. "I'll tell him they're loaded with testosterone."

She smiled back. "Yeah, he'll buy that one. Not."

Jim glanced over at Angela, leaned closer to Pam. "Do you think Dwight and Angela..."

Pam shook her head firmly. "I never think Dwight and Angela."

"Yeah. My head would explode."

"Yeah."

He leaned further over her desk, glancing down. "What's in the pink folder?"

"Michael made me make his Valentine's Day reservations."

"Reservations? Jan's coming here?"

"No. They're meeting in New York. He made me get reservations at a hotel for him."

A slow smile spread across his face. "Hotel reservations? Really?"

Her smile matched his. "Yeah."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Switch hotels on him?"

"Absolutely."

"Got any candidates?"

"Let me think." He stared off into space, munching. She wondered how often he got to New York. She wondered if he'd been there with Karen. "Okay, there was this one place, right off Times Square. I was in Manhattan with a couple of guys from college for a game at Madison Square Garden, and we checked into this place you would NOT believe, Pam."

"Roach motel?"

"So big, they had license plates."

She laughed. "Sounds perfect."

"Oh, you have no idea. The reservation desk was behind bullet-proof glass for a reason."

"Oh, my God. Do I even want to know what the room was like?" The air fairly shimmered between them.

"It was more like a crime scene than a bedroom."

"Oh, we have to do this. What was the name of the hotel?" She swivelled to her keyboard, hair bouncing, a sparkle in her eyes.

"Something close to 'Hilton', which was what fooled us. Milton? Hinton?" He drummed his fingers on the desktop. "I know it was on 47th Street."

"I'll look it up." She clicked through her browser search engine and called up Mapquest. "Okay, here's Manhattan. You know it totally has to be Manhattan or Michael will never go for it."

"Right."

"Okay, Times Square....hotels...47th Street...Oh, here's one. The Hinton Hotel." She clicked on a picture of a faded, art-deco building dating from the 1920s. "Oh, my God!"

He craned his neck around to look at her monitor. "Oh, God. Yes, that's it. Worse than I remembered."

"I hope we can get a room," Pam said. "It's Valentine's Day."

"You can book it through Fleabags.com, I suspect. What else is on the agenda?"

She handed him the pink file folder while she typed busily, making reservations. Jim opened the folder and paged through the contents. "Wow. He ordered flowers and candy delivered to the hotel. And a singing telegram."

Pam giggled. "Yeah. Oh, Jim, we have to..."

"Yes, we have to. I'll be right back." He dropped the pink folder on the ledge and went back to his seat.

Pam took three phone calls and finished changing Michael's hotel arrangements. As she finished, the printer behind her hummed to life and spat out a single sheet of paper. Jim walked over, picked it up and handed it to her. He leaned over her, looking at her monitor. Pam could not remember the last time he'd hovered so close, but it felt good.

"Okay," she said. "I just saved Michael about three hundred dollars, but I don't think he's going to appreciate it. What did you do about the telegram?"

"Singing strip-o-gram."

Pam laughed. "Oh, good God."

"Not just any strip-o-gram. This one sings--"

"--My Funny Valentine?"

He grinned. "Of course. Oh, and it's a guy."

"Perfect. He'll love the comparison."

"Now. What other entertainments shall we rearrange?" Jim arched his eyebrow.

Pam's smiled faded a bit. "Uh, Jim. I don't know how far we should take this prank."

"Why not?"

"Well, it's not just Michael, you know. It's Jan. And I don't really have anything against her."

Jim smiled. "Hey, Pam, we're making memories here. Years from now, Michael and Jan--"

"--will not be together. Please God," Pam shot back.

"All the more reason to give them a memory that they can both laugh at."

"When they get out of therapy."

Jim shrugged, still smiling. "Okay. I'll go ahead and cancel the theatre tickets."

Pam's eyes got big. "You got them theatre tickets? I've been looking everywhere for some! Michael wanted to take Jan to --"

"These are Off-Broadway tickets. Like, way, way off Broadway."

Pam's eyes narrowed. "Oh, God. What are they going to see?"

"A classic in the making. Theatre history. They'll love it." He nodded towards the single sheet of paper he had printed out.

Pam snatched it up. "Dragons?"

He pointed at the title. "Look again."

"Drag-Ons?" She read further down, her eyes widening. "Oh, my GOD! Drag queens who pull people from the audience?"

"Yeah. They dress them up in wigs and costumes and make them say lines with the rest of the cast. Participatory theatre."

"We'll tell him it's an improv group," she said, giggling. "Oh my God."

Jim leaned in closer, almost touching shoulders with her. "Bonus--they take pictures of their victims and post them on their website."

"Oh, God, how can we make sure they'll pick Michael?"

Jim looked at her, and their faces were only inches apart. His grin echoed hers. "You have to ask?"

"Duh. He'll volunteer."

"Right." He paused, looking into her eyes, and their smiles faded as they realized how close they were. For a long moment, the shimmer between them changed to something richer, something hotter. Then he stood, slowly. "So."

Pam slipped the theatre reservation into the pink folder. "So. He'll probably fire us both."

"Nah, he'll love it," Jim said, his voice a little unsteady. "But Jan might fire us."

Pam snorted. "No, she'd send a death squad after us."

"Well, I'll die a happy man," he said. His tone was odd, and when Pam looked up at him he would not meet her eyes. "Anyway..."

Pam smiled. "Hey, thanks. This was a great idea."

He smiled again then, and the shimmer was back. "Thank you, too. If this is my last day at Dunder-Mifflin--"

"--or on earth," she reminded him.

"Or on earth, then I'm glad to spend it pranking Michael with you."

Once she would have looked away or tossed off some remark to deflect the bubble of happiness in her. Once she would have quickly turned to some other task so he could not see how happy it made her when he spent time with her. This time, she let her grin widen, let her eyes lock with his, let the moment linger. And the shimmer was very warm indeed.

"So," he said softly, and his voice had dropped into that low, intimate register that sounded like dark chocolate tastes. "Got any plans for Valentine's Day yourself?"

"Oh, yeah," she said. She bent to pick up her purse from under the desk. "I've got it all set up. Chocolate fondue for one, a 'Happy Valentine's Day' balloon, and a dozen pink roses."

His eyebrows did that thing that showed a million expressions at once, from curiosity to interest to...jealousy? "Pink roses? Secret admirer?"

She smiled. "My dad. He sends them to my house every year. Oh, and for entertainment tonight..." She pulled a DVD case out of her purse and handed it to him.

"Oh, Pam! A chick flick? Let me guess--'Love Actually'? 'Sleepless in --'" He stopped, in shock. "Oh, my God, Beesly! 'Army of Darkness'?" He looked at her with naked worship in his eyes.

"A Bruce Campbell classic," she said.

"I know! Sam Raimi--"

"Not to mention the famous car--"

"The 1973 Oldsmobile Delta Royal," Jim said. "Oh, my God. What a perfect Valentine's Day movie." She reached for the DVD case, and he reluctantly handed it back to her. "I just wish..."

She took hold of the case, but he didn't let go, caught her eyes with his. And he wasn't smiling.

"You wish what?" she asked. But she knew already what he wanted to say. That he wished he could see it with her.

"If..."

She waited, holding her breath a little. His eyes bored into hers, serious now. Confused. Questioning.

The phone rang. They both jumped. She made no move to answer it, holding his gaze. The phone rang again. Jim blinked, looked away. Released his hold on the DVD case.

"I guess you'd better get that."

Pam sighed, her heart sinking. Well, they'd had a moment, she told herself. There will be more. Jim nodded at her, went back to his desk. Pam picked up the phone.

"Dunder-Mifflin, this is Pam."

"Hey, Pama-lama!" Michael almost sang into the phone. "I'm on my way back to the office. Did you make my reservations?"

Pam grinned. "Oh, yes," she said. "You and Jan will have a memorable Valentine's Day."

Across the room, she saw Jim swivel in his chair and grin at her.

Valentine's Day held more hope than usual this year.


Chapter End Notes:

Info about "Army of Darkness", aka "Evil Dead III", here .

By a stunning coincidence, the first "Army of Darkness" film has been made into an off-off-Broadway musical, Evil Dead -- The Musical .



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