It’s three minutes into her conversation with Kelly, and Pam is now regretting asking how her weekend was.
"Ryan was totally busy all weekend, so I just spent the weekend in my pajamas watching cute movies like Bridget Jones and The Holiday. Boys with accents are so hot!" Kelly finally takes a breath, and ushers Michael over to the conversation.
"Hey Michael. I was going through my mail on Saturday and my Netflix envelope came in. I have a movie we totally have to watch for that Movie Monday thing!"
She pauses for dramatic effect. Michael concentrates on her. And despite how grateful she is for the silence, Pam is just waiting for it to end.
"10 Things I Hate About You!" She squeals, and begins clapping. At first he stands frozen, but then Michael begins shake his head adamantly.
Pam lets out a little grin, remembering the last time she watched that movie.
***
"I cannot believe you’re making me watch this," Jim muttered into the phone as he popped the cassette into the VCR. With his phone cradled on his shoulder, he grabbed the remote and sat down on the couch.
"Shut up—it’s a good movie," she laughed, pushing her engagement ring on and off her finger. She still isn’t used to it being there yet. "Now, no fast forwarding. Just because I’m not physically there, I know what you’re doing."
"You bugged my place? Stalker."
She silenced him quickly. "We’re watching a movie, Halpert. No talking."
She would be more than happy to just talk to him all night long, but this is one of her favorite movies.
***
"You can’t just buy me a guitar every time you screw up."
The sudden silence catches him off guard. Throughout the entire thing, they had been making jokes and swapping stories. It was easy to distance himself from the angst-ridden teenage drama when it contained such outlandish things as people fist-fighting at prom. But when Kat read her poem in class with tears in her eyes and declared her love for Patrick, Pam suddenly stopped making jokes and was eerily quiet. Jim felt like this movie could have been a cheesy version of his own life, seeing as they both contained love triangles and unashamed pining over a girl only to receive nothing in return.
When he finally stops thinking, he realizes that Pam hasn’t made a noise. Was she sleeping? Did this movie affect her in the same way it had hit him? Could she possibly feel something that hit home for her too? He always thought too much about silences. When he was at work, he could see her face and be able to read it, but silences made him uncertain of what was happening.
He finally starts paying attention to the movie again; it’s at the part when Kat and Patrick make up and he finally hears something on the line. He swears he can hear Pam sniffling.
"Are you crying Beesley?" He asked, and she sniffles even louder.
"No," she lied terribly. "It’s just really adorable."
"No, you’re right, it is adorable." He said with a content smile. He wasn’t even telling a lie.
"That part always gets me." She admitted, and then began to rewind the tape. "She can finally forgive him and they are happy. He is willing to do whatever for her. In fact, the first time I saw that, I actually wanted Roy to buy me a tambourine."
He is baffled. "What would you do with a tambourine?"
"It wasn’t the tambourine, it was the gesture. Roy never-" She stops—they aren’t good enough friends to start dumping problems on him. "Anyway, this was fun."
"It definitely was." He said, letting the tape run through. He liked watching the black screen at the end—mostly because once he stopped the tape, this night would end. "We should do it again."
***
"...Heath Ledger is so hot, especially in that movie with the knights. Ryan would look so cute on a horse," is the first thing that Pam comprehends in the conversation.
Kelly has been trying to convince Michael to let them watch the film.
"No way am I watching some girly-girl teen flick called Ten Things I Hate About You."
"Actually..." Creed interjects, making it very clear he’s been eavesdropping. "I believe I’ve seen this teen flick you speak of. Doesn’t it involve a sheep?"
Kelly, Pam and Michael exchange looks of confusion. After a notable silence, Creed walks back to his desk.
"Michael, what happened to the whole democracy thing you were talking about on Friday?" Pam gives Kelly a slick grin.
"Fine, fine, fine!" Michael repeats, his annoyance growing with each word. Even though he didn’t want to watch this movie, he knew he had no other options. "Alrighty then, everybody. We’re going to do another vote for the Movie Monday selection. Kelly here has suggested we watch some lame-oh movie Ten Things I Hate About You. All in favor of the lamest movie on the face of the earth?" Slowly Creed, Kelly, Pam, Ryan, Phyllis, and Kevin all raise their hands.
Michael has a grim look of distaste on his face.
"Alright, you guys. Just know this." He pauses, looking at everyone long and hard. "You could have watched the greatest show on earth."
"I think we’re better off with Kelly’s movie," Stanley says out of spite. Michael just looks angrily in Stanley’s direction.
"You are unbelievable, Stanley. I sign your paychecks, and this is how you repay me?"
Michael surrenders and retreats to his office.
Pam looks up to see if Jim has any look of excitement.
His neck screams apathy.
***
She scurries into the kitchen to grab her lunch. If she hurries, she’ll only miss Michael figuring out how to run the DVD player. There is a sandwich and soda with her name on it.
She stands frozen at the door as Karen runs her fingers along Jim’s neck.
Right now, it says she is hitting all the right spots.
"Hey Pam." Karen says stiffly, moving her fingers to her pant leg. Pam waves, unacknowledged by Jim, and heads to the refrigerator. "Come on. It could be fun."
"Movie Monday?" Jim asks, full of bitterness. "Come on. I think I have some better things to be doing around here." He scoffs and takes a swig from his water bottle.
"Why are you so against this?" Karen asks defensively. The tension in the room increases exponentially with each second. "Do you not like the movie?"
Jim stares at Pam. The door to the refrigerator shuts with a loud thwack. He swallows hard, "It just brings back bad memories. That’s all." His eyes never leave Pam’s. After a three second stare-down, Jim scratches his head and looks down.
Pam grabs her lunch and tries her hardest to keep a stony face.
"Do it for me?" Karen whispers to Jim. She leans against the counter, pressing her body against his. Not looking at Pam as she quickly walks back to her desk, he silently agrees. She pecks him on the cheek and they walk in the conference room together.
Neither of them see Pam at her desk, crying.
***
Pam walks into the conference room twenty minutes into the movie. Her eyes are puffy, but she explains rationally that it’s her allergies, even though no one asks her what’s wrong.
She takes an open seat in the back row of chairs, and instantly regrets it when she realizes she is directly behind Jim and Karen. Karen’s head, rested on his shoulder. His arms wrapped around her, running his hands along her back.
She feels like crying again.
She tries to enjoy the movie, but finds it increasingly obvious, the comfier Jim and Karen get.
Angela, sitting to the right of Pam, notices her tearfulness. Without hesitation, she taps Karen on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, but this is still a workplace." She stays sternly, not bothering to whisper. Karen wipes her eyes wearily, and mumbles an apology. She and Jim just sit side by side watching the film.
"Pipe down, Chachi!" Michael turns around, scolding Angela. Surprisingly, he is getting into the film.
She’s stuck. She can’t leave the conference room, so she looks over and sees them. Her heart can’t stand that, so she looks forward the movie is on. She makes an attempt to watch the movie and focus on it, but all her memories keep retreating to that night.
So for now, she’s stuck with no escape.
