"And then he started singing an acapella version of 'Father Figure' by George Michael."

"No!" Pam stifled her laughter. She couldn't believe she nearly told Karen she was too tired for Friday night martinis. Sure, she was probably going to be hungover at her design internship tomorrow but Pam decided it was worth the sacrifice.

"And I realized, 'Shit, he thinks we're on a date right now. And he thinks it's going well!'" Karen said with wide eyes as Pam sat next to her laughing.

"What did you do?" Pam stammered out between giggles.

"Well, I knew it would not work to just tell him I wasn't interested, so I lied and told him I was very flattered but I was already seeing someone. Pam, I faked having a boyfriend for three months! I create his whole backstory, I had notes so when Andy asked me about him I would be consistent."

Pam thought her sides would burst from laughing so hard, and felt herself sliding backwards on the barstool. Karen reached out to grab Pam's foreman and Pam regained her balance.

"Careful there," Karen said, now laughing herself.

"I actually have a history of falling off of barstools," Pam said.

"Oh do you?" Karen took a sip of her martini and swiveled to face Pam. "Sounds like a story."

Pam shook her head, "No, it's embarrassing."

"I just told you the tale of how I accidentally went on a date with Andy Bernard and then had a nonexistent boyfriend, his name was Matt Lewis from New Haven by the way, nothing can be more embarrassing than that."

Pam gave a sigh. "Well, it was at the Dundies last year."

Karen held up a hand, already giggling, "Wait a second, what the hell are 'the Dundies'?"

"That's what Michael called the employee appreciation awards. Every year we went to Chili's and he gave out these trophies like you got in little league soccer but it was a gold plastic businessman on top. And Michael tried to be funny about it, like he'd give an accountant a 'Show Me the Money' Dundie or someone from the warehouse a 'Wide Load' Dundie. So my first year, I guess I was the only employee that never brought a 'plus-1' to any event, and I ended up with the 'Most Eligible Bachelorette' award. Then it became a running gag that I'd get an award about being single."

"Such a jerk, you should have complained to HR," Karen said, her tone surprisingly serious.

Pam was touched by Karen's concern. "Yeah, I probably should have. But last year I decided to get drunk instead. So I had two of those giant margaritas and was finishing off everyone else's drink. By the time it got to my award I was just stumbling and giggling drunk. Then, much to my surprise, Michael gave me the Dundie for the 'Whitest Sneakers'. And I was just so happy, I went up there like I won an Oscar and gave this speech." Pam laughed, "Like I think I actually said I felt God in that Chili's."

"Please tell me someone videotaped this."

"The documentary crew was there, so there is definitely footage. Afterwards I was just this happy drunk mess and it's a little fuzzy but I remember sitting at the bar with Jim as he talked to the camera crew and then boom, I fall to the floor. Dwight thought I was having a seizure so he made a big scene. Then management figured out I had been sneaking people's drinks, and I am now banned from the Wilkes-Barre Chili's."

"Is there a big sign over the door with your photo saying 'Do not serve this woman'?"

Pam laughed and shook her head, "No idea, it's possible."

Karen lifted her brow, "So 'Whitest Sneakers', huh?"

Pam smiled, "Yeah, I actually found out later that Jim went to Michael and convinced Michael to change my Dundie. And I always came in wearing my white Keds then changed to my work shoes at my desk." Pam gazed down at her drink for a moment before looking back at Karen's smirking face. "What?"

"Speaking of Scranton Jim, how was your date, on Wednesday?"

"I don't know if I'd call it a date. It was short, we talked, that was about it."

"Yeah and you blush like crazy and can't stop smiling whenever you talk about him, so I know something's up."

Pam took a sip, and turned towards Karen. "Okay, but really, not much happened."

It took all the courage Pam had to walk into Jan's office and say she was sorry but couldn't stay late tonight. "Something's come up," Pam said quietly. She expected Jan to purse her lips and ask more probing questions, but Jan just said okay and went back to reading the documents in her hand.

Pam went to the front desk to grab her purse, trying not to blush when Grace nodded over to Jim waiting in the corner and muttered, "Looks like you caught him". Jim and Pam walked to the elevators together and kept catching each other's eyes and smiling as they waited. Jim looked as if he was about to speak when they were surrounded by what seemed to be every person that worked on the floor.

The elevator doors opened, already with several people on board, and Jim and Pam stepped on, quickly getting shoved around. Jim reached the rear wall of the elevator, and Pam ended up with her back somewhat pressed up to his side. There was one more shove from the front and when Pam fell backwards into Jim's chest, he instinctively raised his hands to grab her shoulders. "You okay?" he asked quietly. She nodded, glad she wasn't facing him so he wouldn't see her cheeks grow red. She smiled to herself as he kept his hands on her shoulders for a few seconds before dropping them to his side.

After stopping at what felt like every floor, the elevator reaching full capacity, they arrived at the lobby. "Yikes," Jim said, adjusting his jacket and messenger bag strap when they reach a less crowded spot near the building entrance. "Welcome to New York, huh?"

Pam smiled, "Yeah, you gotta adjust your sense of personal space." She motioned outside, "There's a really good Thai place nearby."

Jim said that sounded great and they ventured onto the street. Much like waiting at the elevators, there was not much opportunity to converse as the sidewalk was flooded with business-suited people getting out of work. Jim just followed Pam as she weaved around pedestrians and crossed busy streets before they arrived at a small, tucked away restaurant.

The restaurant wasn't busy and Jim and Pam were seated at a small table in the corner. Pam's knee bumped his as they sat and they both laughed and apologized. Pam wondered if Jim was half as nervous as she was.

"So it's New York prices, but they give you good portions. I always leave with lunch for the next day," Pam said.

"Would it be really unadventurous of me to just get Pad Thai?" Jim asked after glancing at the menu.

Pam laughed, "Nothing wrong with that, it's really good here." She signaled to the waiter who quickly came to take their order.

"Speaking of adventurous, I wanted to hear about your trip," Jim said.

Pam felt her smiled fade a little; she knew he would ask about Italy but she didn't want to reveal the truth, that she was too distracted half the time to truly enjoy it. "Yeah, I suppose ... you haven't heard anything about it."

Jim politely smiled, waiting for her to continue.

"Um, it was good, Florence is really beautiful, I saw work by Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci-"

"All the Turtles?"

Pam laughed, "Yes, all the turtles. You know we're in their home city now, we might run into them."

"Splinter at least," Jim said.

"Oh I've definitely seen Splinter, he lives in the 57th Street station," Pam said, pleased with herself for making Jim laugh.

Jim held up his hands, "Okay, less mutant rodents and more Italy." He asked several more questions about the places Pam visited and the art she saw, keeping the conversation steady well after their food arrived.

They were both about half finished when Jim ran out of Italy questions, and Pam pushed her panang curry around her plate, unsure what to talk about next. "So how was your summer?" she asked without thinking. She felt her eyes widen and looked at Jim's faint smile, "Oh, I – you don't... we don't have to..."

Jim chuckled, "It's okay, we don't have to tiptoe around it. My wedding got called off, I tragically had to send back my Aunt Shelly's gift which was, appropriately enough, a lamp made out of seashells–"

"No it wasn't," Pam said giggling.

"Oh yeah, it was. Also, Dwight was actually nice to me for nearly a month, telling me that when an enemy of the Schrutes suffered a great personal loss, it was customary to put aside differences for one lunar cycle. We went paint-balling together." Jim gave her an uneasy smile then took a deep breath, "And uh, of course, the one person I really wanted to talk to wasn't around, and I was too chicken-shit to call her for nearly three months, so... yeah."

Pam bit her lip at looked at her plate. The waiter interrupted the awkward silence by coming over to ask if they wanted to-go boxes, and Pam smiled and nodded. "We will also take the check," she glanced at Jim, "unless you..."

Jim shook his head, "I'm good."

The waiter left with their plates and Pam put on a big smile, "So, paint ball with Dwight, huh?"

"Pam," Jim said quietly. "Don't change the topic, don't let me off that easy."

Pam shrugged, avoiding Jim's eyes, "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean."

Pam looked him for a second before casting her eyes down. "Okay, why didn't you call me for three months?" she said, more quietly than intended.

"Fear, I guess, maybe some guilt also," Jim said after a moment. Pam could feel his leg nervous twitching under the table. "After that night... at the office, I was just thinking about a lot of things, and hardly any of those thoughts were about the woman I was going to marry." He laughed a strained laugh, "Then Lisa comes home one day plagued with doubts about getting married and our relationship. And I couldn't ease those doubts because..." he looked down at Pam's hand resting on the table, "my heart wasn't in it anymore. It was... somewhere else. Lisa somehow sensed that, and that was it, she called it off."

The waiter returned with their to-go boxes and the bill. Pam turned to grab her billfold from of her purse, but Jim already had his wallet out.

"I got it," he said, placing his credit card on the small tray the bill sat on.

Pam could feel Jim's eyes on her, but she couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze, an overwhelming feeling of guilt washing over her. "I'm sorry," she whispered after a while.

"Why are you sorry?" Jim said.

She slipped her hand through her purse strap and grabbed her to-go box. She stood right as the waiter picked up the credit card. "Thank you for dinner, I'm glad we got to talk," Pam said quickly. She ignored Jim calling her name and opened the restaurant door.

"Pam, wait!" Pam kept her pace up as she walked down the sidewalk but could hear running footsteps approaching her. "Pam!" His hand reached her elbow and she stopped and turned around.

"It's my fault," Pam said, her eyes stinging.

"The wedding?" Jim said with knitted brows. Pam nodded. "How is it your fault?"

"If I hadn't told you I had feelings for you, if I hadn't k-kissed you, then you wouldn't have had doubts, and then maybe you could have reassured Lisa, and maybe she wouldn't have left."

"That's an awful lot of ifs and maybes, Beesly," Jim said with a half smile.

"I shouldn't have done it," Pam said quietly, shaking her head.

"Listen," Jim said, taking her hand. "I was just going through the motions with Lisa, I had been for a while. And she was doing the same with me. Yeah, maybe we would have gone through with it, but you know what, Beesly? I'm glad you told me and I'm glad we kissed because it made me realize I was about to get married to someone I didn't really know that well." He laughed, "Hell, I know more about Dwight's hopes and aspirations than I knew about Lisa's."

Pam chuckled and reached up to wipe her cheek.

"You are not the reason I didn't get married, you just helped me see the reasons why it would have been a mistake." He smiled slightly and gave her arm a light tug. "Okay?"

Pam nodded, "Okay."

Jim pointed his thumb back over his shoulder, "Cool, I'm gonna go back to the restaurant and hopefully all my stuff is still there, you gonna stay put?"

"Yeah, I'll be right here," Pam said with a laugh.

"Good," Jim said, giving her a big toothy grin before turning up the street.

"So then what happened?" Karen asked. "Did you guys get dessert, did you make-out?"

"Um, he walked with me to the subway and said he would try to come visit sometime soon," Pam replied. Karen gave a disappointed look and Pam laughed, "I told you it wasn't very eventful."

"Okay, so 'soon' like what? Next week? Next month?"

Pam shrugged, "I don't know."

"Give me your phone," Karen said, reaching for Pam's purse.

Pam drew her purse away from Karen's grasp. "What?"

"Pam, trust me, guys our age, even when they like you they're terrible at making moves, you need to give them a push."

"You're not going to send a message for me."

"Then you send a message, just say you hope to see him in the near future. Plant the seed in his head."

"Fine." Pam took her phone out of her purse and looked at her screen. "Oh, my God," she mostly said to herself. She looked to Karen's curious face, "Jim called me like 15 minutes ago." Pam glance around the busy bar.

"Yeah, it's way too loud in here to call him back, text him," Karen said, reading Pam's thoughts.

"'Out having drinks, what's up?'" Pam recited as she typed.

"Say you're with me, so he doesn't think you're out with a guy," Karen quickly added.

Pam scoffed a little; she doubted that Jim would think she was on a date, but she added 'w/ Karen" anyway and pressed 'send'. Pam set the phone down and she barely got chance to take a sip of martini before her phone buzzed.

"He was eagerly anticipating that message," Karen said with a raise brow.

Pam pressed the 'message open' button and read it aloud. "'How about I come up next weekend?'" Pam's jaw fell.

Karen motioned to the phone, "Text him back, say yes!"

Pam carefully typed, 'That sounds good'. She placed the phone down on the bar and laced her fingers together nervously.

"Can we get another round?" Karen shouted to the bartender. She turned back to Pam, "What are you two gonna do? It's Labor day weekend, he'll stay a night or two, don't you think?"

"I-I don't know," Pam said, still dumbfounded at Jim's previous message.

Karen smirked, "Are you gonna have him stay with you?"

Pam rolled her eyes, "In my broom closet with Grace? Yeah right." The phone buzzed and Pam nearly dropped it as she flipped the phone open "'What time are you usually finished on Saturday?'" she read to Karen.

"Okay, definitely staying overnight then," Karen said. "Make sure he books a nice hotel."

"Why would I care what kind of hotel he..." Pam looked at Karen, who was grinning madly. "I'm... not gonna think about that right at this moment."

"No, don't think about it, that ruins the spontaneity. Just, you know, be prepared," Karen said, lifting her glass to her curled lips.

Pam blushed and text Jim that she was usually finished at 4pm on Saturdays, but could leave earlier. She set the phone down again and finished off her drink. "Hey, off topic, but do you remember when you said it would come back to bite Dunder Mifflin if they kept Stamford?" Karen half smiled and nodded. "What did you mean?"

The bartender arrived with their next round of drinks, and Karen started to twirl the stirrer of her new drink between her fingers. "You know, Josh was actually was gunning for my current position, and for a while he really passive-aggressively prevented me from even applying for it. Then he realized it wasn't going to be a raise in pay or status. He also realized if he didn't fill my Stamford position, and just made all the other salesmen take on my clients with no base pay increase, that would make the branch look very productive to corporate and get him kudos from Wallace." Karen popped the olive from her drink into her mouth. "Guess which branch is short a salesmen and which regional manager got the biggest bonus last quarter?"

Pam nodded slowly. "So Josh looks out for Josh," she said.

"Exactly."

Pam half smiled, that was one point in Michael Scott's favor, she reckoned, he truly cared about his employees even if he expressed it in very misguided ways. Pam's phone buzzed and Karen's eyes widened, darting between the phone and Pam. Pam scoffed softly at Karen and read the message. "'I'll meet you at DM at 4 next Sat. Pick a place to go before dinner.'"

"What, he's gonna make you plan this date?" Karen said sarcastically.

The phone buzzed in Pam's hand. "'I booked something for after dinner,'" Pam read.

"Write, 'oh yeah, what?' and winky-face," Karen said, the corners of her lips curling up again.

Pam blushed, "Wow, no." Karen snickered, and Pam send one last message.

"What did you say?"

"'Can't wait', and I compromised and put a smiley face." Pam said. After a moment, the phone buzzed again and Pam smiled when she saw, "Me either, Beesly".

Karen leaned over to read the text, "He calls you 'Beesly'?"

Pam shrugged, smiled still plastered on her face, "Sometimes."

"Ugh, you two are already nauseatingly cute," Karen said in faux disgust. "So now that that's sorted out, tell me more ridiculous Michael Scott stories."

Pam put her phone away in her purse, took her drink in her hand, and turned to Karen. "Okay, let's start with the Adventures of Agent Michael Scarn of the FBI..."