Jim walks into the office, slightly late and a bit tired (and maybe even a little hungover) from the previous night's events. He offers a smile to his favorite receptionist, but is greeted with a cold stare. Not cold, just... serious. He gives her a quizzical look, wondering what is the matter.

"Did you get my message last night?" she asks seriously, in a lower tone than she'd expected to hear come out of her mouth.

"Uh, no, I forgot to charge my phone. Why, what's up?"

"Oh, well, uh..." She falters. "Can I talk to you in the break room? It's, uh... it's kind of important."

"Sure," he says a bit too quickly. The hurry over and Jim can't help but notice stares from several employees. He's out of the loop, and starting to get more than a little concerned. "What's the matter?" he asks as soon as they're alone.

"You know how I've been seeing Roy again lately?" Jim coughs and nods. "Well... I wanted to start things fresh with him. Just be honest with him, you know? So I thought, well I have to tell him everything. I have to tell him about --" she pauses, reluctant to say what she's about to say, because they've never spoken of it -- "about casino night." Jim's getting anxious. "I told him about the kiss." She is looking down, fidgeting with her watch. "I told him I kissed you and that you had feelings for me, and that I had them for you." Wait, what? "And he just flipped out." She's starting tear up. "He started breaking things and yelling and--" she looks at him. "It's over, for good, definitely. And I told him that." She's looking down again. "But he and Kenny just tore the place apart. I left and I don't know what happened or if he got arrested or anything, but..." She sniffles. "I'm worried that he might come after you or something."

"Oh," is all Jim can lamely manage. He notices Karen looking in at them, but can't be bothered with that right now. "Did he hurt you?"

Pam stifles a smile at his concern. "No, nothing like that." Jim looks as if to speak and she quickly adds, "Roy's never done anything like that."

"Well, then--"

"But... he can get violent." A laugh slips from her lips as she adds, "obviously. Just... I don't know, I guess I need to talk to him, to tell him not to hurt you."

"I can defend myself, Pam," he responds, but it's not defensive, it's more like he just wants to protect her.

She is looking anxiously at him now, about to say something, and he's trying desperately to keep focused on the very pressing issue at hand. His mind can't help but wander to the fact that Pam had just admitted she had feelings for him. Had. Great that the English language would choose to be so ambiguous about something this potentially life-changing. He can't be troubled with tenses as she's speaking again.

"I really don't know what to do," she stammers, struggling to keep her composure. She hates doing this at work. She hates being this exposed. She hates the cameras and the eyes upon her.

--

Karen is getting antsy outside, completely oblivious to the situation everyone else seems to know about, as all eyes are on the break room. She goes for the door, but Kelly sneaks up behind her.

"Ohmygod Karen did you not hear what happened last night?"

Karen has never really spoken to Kelly before-- they are just two very different types of girls-- but if Kelly could give her information, then she supposes she has no choice but to talk to her. "No, what happened?"

"Ohmygosh, well, like, the whole office went to Poor Richards last night and it was like totally fun and chill and everything and Ryan was being totally sweet until Stanley's daughter started coming onto him and I was like, get your hands off of him, and then Stanley started yelling at him and-- oh yeah, but Roy and Pam were there and they were being totally cute and like really happy and then I don't know what happened but Roy got like really mad and started yelling and tearing things apart and Pam was like 'it's over' and Roy was like 'I know this is so over' and then Pam stormed out and Roy and his brother just kept breaking things and ohmygod it was like so scary but luckily Ryan was there and--"

"You don't know what she said to him?" Karen interrupts, but by now Pam and Jim are coming out of the break room. "Jim can I talk to you?" She gives him a pleading looking-- one he's not particularly used to seeing-- and he's headed back for the break room. They both miss the Pam's disheartened look as she makes her way to her desk.

--

"Hey Pam, do you by any chance know what happened last night?" It's Michael, and he's leaning in uncomfortably close.

She nods, but says she'd rather not talk about it.

"Don't you think that since I'm the boss it would be kind of important for me to know about this kind of thing?"

Pam's feeling unusually defiant. "You know what Michael, it's not."

He looks at her incredulously. "Someone's PMSing," he whispers audibly to the camera.

----

It's late, much later than they normally stay, but neither Pam or Jim can leave. Karen has gone-- Jim had to give her a half-hearted excuse about having a lot of work to do. Karen knew it was a lie, but didn't push it. Everyone else had gone gone too, and no one questioned Pam and Jim's staying despite the fact neither had any reason to.

"Jim?"

He looks up. He's been waiting for further interaction all day. "Yeah?"

"Are you actually working or are you just playing spider solitaire." It's not a question since the answer is obvious.

"Just playing spider solitaire," he responds unnecessarily, not looking up from his game.

"Do you... do you think we need to talk?" She knows they do, but she doesn't know about what. The earlier break room conversation has just sort of ended with unresolved tension.

"Pam--" he begins, and for a second he thinks of telling her that he is still hopelessly in love with her and would drop Karen immediately if she wanted him to, and that he can handle Roy, and that everything will be okay. But he doesn't, he just stops.

"What?"

"Why did you get back together with him?" he finally thinks to ask. He'd been shocked when he saw them leave together, and he needed to know.

She clearly wasn't expecting this question. She's glad Jim's still staring at his monitor. It's easier. "I thought he'd changed. I was caught up in the moment, and for some time I'd been considering getting back together with him, when you--" she stops herself. She's already said too much. She can't take it back and she's wincing. But isn't she supposed to be honest now? Confident Pam who gets what she wants? Jim has tensed, but he isn't saying anything, so she continues. "When you started going with Karen. I mean, it's not like I expected you to come and sweep me off my feet after I turned you down and didn't see you for months." She can't believe she's saying this, and it's coming out so easily. Well, maybe not easily, but considering... "But I just didn't think you'd get over your feelings that quickly. But I was happy for you, I guess, happy you'd moved on, and I thought maybe if Roy had changed I could still be happy with him. I mean I'd given him ten years of my life, that's still something." It's all flowing out, and it feels like such a beautiful release. "I felt like if I could just make it work with him, then those ten years would all be worth it, and that everything would just work itself out. I was willing to try and I'd already tried to open myself to you and it wasn't getting me anywhere--"

"What?" Jim has to interrupt. "When did you open yourself to me?"

"I don't know, I tried to make myself seem available, I tried to flirt a bit but it was hard with Karen... You never came to me, even after I broke up with Roy."

"You didn't even tell me you left him! I had to find out from Michael at some stupid convention."

"I needed time to myself! What was I supposed to do? Just call you up after I'd just gotten out of a very long-term relationship-- after I'd rejected you and not talked to you since-- after you moved away from me-- and just say 'hey, Jim, I backed out on my wedding and I'd appreciate it if you could come and sleep with--'" she stops now, not knowing how these words are coming out of her mouth. Suddenly it dawns on her that this conversation is happening at the office, her at her desk, him at his-- they're not even facing each other for Christ's sake. "Maybe this isn't the best place to have this conversation."

He turns to her now with a look she absolutely cannot read. She can't expect him to know how to respond. A part of her wants him to rush over and ravage her right there in the office, but she knows Jim wouldn't do that, not with Karen in the picture. Because Karen really does care for him. Pam is being too selfish here. She just wishes he'd say something.

"Um," he manages to say. "Maybe, uh..." He murmurs something angrily to himself. It shouldn't be like this. She's just admitted she wants to be with him, right? Hasn't he been waiting three years at least for this? In his head this situation usually turns quickly to passionate, passionate sex, but that's not what's happening, and really he can't let it happen. What about Karen? He does really, really care about Karen. He doesn't love her, no, but-- he realizes Pam is staring in agonizing anticipation. "Maybe I should talk to Karen."

"What does that mean?" she stammers.

"It means I don't think I can continue talking about this until I talk to Karen."

Pam wonders if that means he's going to break up with her so he can pursue her without guilt. But that is really selfish. Really, really selfish. But wouldn't it be nice...

"Pam, I just... I just don't know what to say to you right now. What exactly are you saying to me? Do you want me? Do you want me to drop everything to be with you? Break Karen's heart and sweep you off your feet and carry you away to a house with a terrace?" He doesn't understand why he's so angry-- maybe he wants her to suffer like he has-- but isn't it clear she has? Maybe anger is the only other way to express the passion brewing inside him besides...

"I'm sorry! I knew I shouldn't have said anything I just wanted to be honest." She pauses. "Once." Immediately she wonders if that was inappropriate. The smile emerging on his face (which he clearly wants to fight, though he doesn't know why) tells her no.

"Thank you," is all he manages. Why can't he just tell her he loves her? That he will break up with Karen? That he wants to whisk her away to the house with the terrace and everything else? He considers kissing her, but she's still standing behind her desk. This whole situation is really playing out more awkwardly than it ever did in his head.

"Jim, if your feelings have changed about me-- and I totally understand that-- just... tell me. I'm a big girl and I just... want everything to get everything cleared up. Finally. I think we both deserve that much." She's being too valiant, she thinks.

"I haven't," he quickly responds. "I haven't at all and I've tried but I can't." He's not looking at her. Maybe that's a poor choice. He raises his gaze to say, "I love you."

He's crying. And she notices now that she is, too.

She walks over to him, a smile creeping across her face.  He's still, waiting.  And when she's there, he wraps his arms around her, and for awhile, they just stay like that, barely moving. 

That's when they find it.

Comfort.

Finally.