“Hey, can I talk to you about something?”

He pretended to contemplate the request. “Well, you proposed the toast, so technically, you do have the floor.”

“Do you think it should be this hard?”

“That’s what she said,” he replied with a smirk. She was not amused.

“Jim! I’m trying to ask a serious question about our relationship and you’re cracking jokes, as usual.”

He reached over and clinked his glass to hers with a wink. Still no evidence of a smile. He set his glass down and reached for her hand.

“Look, we’re having a nice dinner. Can’t we just take a moment to celebrate the fact that we’ve reached the six month mark rather than analyzing how we got here?”

Finally she softened and gave him a smile. “You’re right – bad timing. I’m sorry. Really. Here’s to us!”

“To us.”

As they were sipping wine, the waiter set down their plates before them. They settled into an affable silence as they tucked into their meals.

He was cutting his steak when she asked, “Have you given any more thought to where you wanna go on vacation?”

He clenched his fork and paused. “Um, not really. Why don’t you just pick somewhere and let me know what to pack?”

“What fun is that?” she pouted. “I think we should choose together. After all, it’s our vacation, not just mine.”

“I just want to go away with you and get away from the office,” he laughed. “I don’t really care where we go.”

“But I want you you to care! I mean, if we want to have a healthy relationship…”

“Jesus, Karen. Let it go. For one night just…stop. Please.”

“I just feel really alone here sometimes, Jim. Like I’m the only one willing to put in the work to make our relationship healthy.”

“Well maybe it shouldn’t be so much work!”

Her face crumpled. Shit. He hadn’t meant to snap like that. He knew from past experience that this would require a lot of reassurances on his part.

Her voice quivered slightly. “That’s what I was asking you before! Should it be this hard? Every time I bring up the vacation plans you get weird and distant. Just like when we talk about your career and you get defensive…”

“We’re not gonna start on that topic too, are we?” he smiled wearily.

“You have to make things happen, Jim. You can’t wait for them to come to you. I mean, with the whole Michael breaking up with Jan situation, who knows what opportunities could open up. Maybe this might be a good time to ask about moving to corporate like we talked about…”

She looked over at Jim who was staring at his meal. His voice was barely audible above the noise of the restaurant.

“What is it about me that you like?”

“What do you mean?”

“Tell me one thing you like about me.”

“Come on, Jim…” she sounded exasperated.

“No – you want to analyze things again so let’s get into it. Let’s get right down to the root of it, in fact. What was it that attracted you to me? Tell me just one thing.”

“Well, you’re just a good person, I guess. You’re nice to people and I like that. Well, you’re nice except when you’re torturing them like you do to Dwight. And I liked that you seemed really into your job when you came to Stamford. You’re good at it. When you’re not disparaging it, of course.”

“So basically, you like my sense of humor, except when you don’t. And you like that I’m into my career, except when I’m not.”

“That’s not how I meant it. You’re twisting my words around!”

“Well then, how did you mean it exactly?”

She ignored his question. “What was it about me that attracted you?”

He closed his eyes and smiled. “Remember the day we spent trying to track down Herr’s chips?”

She smiled back. “Of course I remember!”

“That was the best. You were so... awesome. You rose to the challenge and you even spoke French for crying out loud! Who wouldn’t love that?”

“That was a pretty good day,” she said, reaching across the table to take his hand in hers.

“I just have one question.”

“What?” she asked dreamily.

He leaned forward. “Who was that person and where did she go?”

She hesitated for a second before blurting back, "Maybe the same place your career aspirations went."

He stared at her.

She cleared her throat. "I'm... really sorry. That was uncalled for. I just don't get your question. I mean, I'm right here, Jim. I've been here all along."

He shook his head and returned his attention to his meal.

"What? Why are you suddenly so quiet? You seemed to have a lot you wanted to say."

"No. Actually, I think I got an answer to my question."

"Now I'm really confused. Can you explain, please?" she asked coolly.

"Do you not see that you've changed since Stamford?"

"What?" She slammed her wine glass on the table. Jim watched it slosh dangerously close to the rim, methodically chewing his steak. "I've changed? My God, Jim! You're not even the same person I met in Stamford! Ever since Christmas you've been wasting all your time playing pranks on Dwight, you're moody, you never want to go out in public with me. I don't know what's wrong with you but I try to get you to open up about your feelings and you just shut me down. You made it really hard on me when I was thinking about moving to your street and you can't make a decision about anything including our vacation."

"I told you when we started seeing each other I needed to take it slow. That there was someone... and..."

"Not someone - Pam! Why don't you ever say her name? Pam was the reason, Jim. You didn't even have the decency to tell me it was her before I let you talk me into moving to Scranton."

"I never talked you into it. It was your idea."

"You certainly never discouraged it! Do you think I would have moved here if I knew then what I know now? Do you think I would've come willingly into your little Scranton freak show with Michael the ringleader and Dwight his insane sidekick and a whole unrequited romance saga that you're still in denial about?"

"Well at least you're open-minded about the people you work with."

"No, don't do that. Don't turn everything into a joke."

"You need to joke more. You take everything too seriously!"

"Life is serious, Jim! You don't take anything seriously! You joke around the office which does nothing for your career..."

"Why are you always so concerned about my career? Isn't that my business?"

"I just don't want to see you throw your life away in Scranton. You could be so much more."

"I happen to like Scranton. What if I don't want to be more? Do you even care what I want? You never ask! You just keep telling me what I should do."

"So what do you want then? Tell me."

He shook his head. "I don't know."

She slapped her hand to her forehead in frustration. "Jesus, Jim."

"Sorry," he shrugged with a half-smile. "I can only be what I am. I can't be more than that."

Karen grasped the edge of the table, trying to maintain control of her emotions. She had no idea how to respond. It seemed like they had said all these same words before and yet apparently nothing had changed.

"Maybe Pam was right," she said slowly.

He tensed. "You talked to Pam? About what?"

"I said sometimes you have to work through the rough patches in a relationship. She said it shouldn't be that hard - that if you're incompatible you should move on."

"When did she say that?"

"Today. When we were at the mall with Michael. I thought she was dead wrong - I thought you could always get through the bad times if you wanted it bad enough and you worked hard enough at it."

"Maybe sometimes you can't." He was really looking at her for the first time tonight. Then she looked away.

"Jan told me there was a position available at corporate for me if I want it."

Jim took a deep breath. "That's really out of the blue."

She laughed nervously as her eyes met his again. "Not really. I asked her about it a month or so ago."

"Oh." 

"Yeah. I asked her if there was anything for you too but she told me they needed you here right now."

"Oh." He was ashamed that all he felt was relief.

"Is that all you can say?"

"Are you going to take it?"

Her brow furrowed. "Do you think I should?"

"Do you want to?"

"I think... yeah, I think I do."

The waiter discreetly approached to clear their plates and ask if they were interested in the dessert menu.

Karen pushed her chair back from the table. "No," she said looking at Jim, "I think we're good. Are we good?"

Jim nodded to the waiter. "Yeah, we'll just take the check, please."

Karen stood, "I think I need to get out of here. Do you mind taking a cab home? I just want to go home and start packing. I find myself with some vacation time that I desperately need to take."

He stood as well. "No, I don't mind taking a cab. You sure you're okay?"

She shrugged. "Yeah. I actually feel pretty good, all things considered. I guess Pam was right. This had gotten to be way too much work."

Jim's hands were characteristically shoved in his pockets and he nodded and shuffled his feet nervously.

"She's a smart girl, that Pam."

He reached out and grabbed her hand. "Hey, Karen, I'm so sorry about all this."

She squeezed his hand and pulled away. "It's okay, really. Now I do just want to get out of here."

"Yeah," he sank back into his chair. "Not the best anniversary dinner ever, right?"

"Not really," she said quietly, a single tear slipping down her cheek. She swallowed and backed away from the table. "Hey, be happy, Halpert."

"You too, Fillipelli," he muttered as he raised his glass in her direction. He downed the rest of his wine as she pushed open the door and sprinted through the rain to her car. "You too."