Tuesday

"Excuse me…could I ask you a question?"

Jim had just finished filling out the paperwork on his latest sale when he heard the voice from the reception desk. He looked up. Pam looked a lot more cheerful today than she had yesterday. She also looked a lot more casual and comfortable in a striped shirt and denim skirt. It wasn’t a glamorous look, by any means but it suited her much better than the fussy blouse and jacket she had worn yesterday.

"Trouble with the phones?"

She shook her head and gestured for him to come over there. He got up and went over to the reception desk. "What can I do for you?"

"Okay…this is going to sound weird, but I couldn’t help but notice. Every time that Dwight gets up and goes to the bathroom, which he does a lot, I’ve noticed, you do something to his phone. But I can’t quite see what."

"Oh...that. Well, as you know, I’m something of a phone expert, and Dwight’s phone needs periodic adjustments…and you’re not buying any of this are you?"

Pam shook her head, trying not to smile.

"Okay. Well, it’s a kind of weird thing I read somewhere...I have no idea if it will work." And he outlined his plan.

Pam looked doubtful, "That will never work."

Jim shrugged, "Probably not…but, " his eyes lit up with glee, "wouldn’t it be funny if it did?"

Pam’s eyes lit up also, but she tried to be stern, "But what has Dwight done to you? I’ve noticed that it’s like an armed camp over there between you two. If looks could kill, both of you would have been dead by now."

Boy, she really was sharp. Pregnant Peggy had been totally oblivious to anything not happening beneath her navel, and the temps couldn’t have cared less.

"Well, except for the fact that he tries to steal my sales whenever he can, and drives me generally batty with his habits and personality…not a thing."

"Is that worth torturing the guy for?"

"Probably not, "Jim admitted, "but that’s not why I do it."

"Why then?’

" I do it because he reacts so beautifully."

"What do you mean?"

"I can’t explain it...you have to see it. But I swear it’s like creating art."

"Oh come on."

"Nope I swear. Listen, Pam. I’ll make a deal with you. Let me do this nickel thing…you don’t have to do anything, just don’t tell Dwight. Anyway, you’ll be my witness when it goes down, and if his reaction isn’t the funniest thing you’ve ever seen, or if it makes you uncomfortable or anything, well, then I’ll call it quits and I won’t play any more practical jokes. Okay? Fair enough?"

"You’d do that?"

"Sure. We have to work together. I sit right here, practically under your nose. I don’t want you to think that I’m some mean guy who goes around torturing innocent beet farmers or anything. "

The phone rang. Pam smiled, "It’s a deal. Dunder Mifflin, good morning."

Jim went back to his seat. Dwight leaned over and hissed, "What were you doing talking to her? She’s engaged."

"She’s still allowed to talk to people, Dwight."

"Well, I, personally, am not going to waste my time."

"Well, I’m sure that she, personally, will be glad to hear that."

"What were you two talking about all that time?"

"We were plotting against you."

"Liar."

At lunchtime, Jim asked Pam if Roy was going to come up. "No. Darryl, the foreman, brought in one of those foosball tables, and they have tournaments down there during lunch every day. I don’t mind, really."

Today Kevin was eating lunch with Devon and Creed, the quality control guys, over in their back corner. So it was just Jim and Pam at the table in the breakroom.

Jim looked at Pam’s ringless hands while she ate her yogurt, "So…you’re engaged, huh?"

"Yep. Since Christmas. I was kind of surprised at Mr. Scott announcing it like that though. "

"Oh, Michael has no sense of personal…I don’t know, boundaries? He’s not a bad guy though. Anyway, I have to tell you. You have broken Dwight’s heart. And he had such big plans too."

Pam laughed, "I think he’s been avoiding me."

"Well, you are off limits, now. Dwight is all about the rules."

"Ah. I see. Well, it’s a good thing…uh, everybody isn’t like that."

"Yeah. So, if you don’t mind me asking...how come no ring?"

"Oh. No, that’s okay. We’re picking it up today, as a matter of fact. Roy’s credit was a little maxed out. But, uh...we’re working on that."

"Oh. Good." Jim ate his sandwich in silence for a few minutes, wondering what it was that a really nice girl like Pam saw in an obvious lunkhead like Roy. Jim wondered what Roy had maxed out his credit on. But it was none of his business. This girl was none of his business. They were just co-workers sitting in very close proximity, which reminded him, "Oh…listen. I just wanted to give you a heads up. Our office really stinks as far as privacy goes. You and I sit really close, which means that you get to hear all of my scintillating sales calls, but I also get to hear pretty much everything that you say, also. Like that phone call to your mom, this morning."

"Oh? What did I say? Anything really embarrassing? I don’t remember."

"Oh no, nothing, but I just wanted to warn you that even though I’m not trying to be an eavesdropper…I kind of am." He didn’t tell her that he had heard her say some rather nice things about himself and how helpful he had been, yesterday. Or that it had brightened the very bad mood he had been in this morning.

"Well, I’ll try to be more discreet."

"I would just be more careful about the prank calls to Moe’s tavern."

Pam snorted, "But he always falls for them."

They talked a bit about the Simpsons and other television shows they liked.

"Roy likes to watch a lot of sports. He even has a big screen TV. Roy hopes that we’ll have our new apartment in time for the Superbowl. He always invites a crowd, and the place he’s living in now...well, it’s pretty small."

"Hey...I just found a house. Over on Silverlake Drive. I signed the agreement last night. I’m moving in over the weekend. I can’t wait to be on my own."

"A whole house?"

"Well, I’ll be sharing it with this dude named Mark. Seems like an okay guy, though. We went out last night for a couple of beers. I mean, if I hate it, I can get out of it easily enough. I made sure of that." He didn’t mention the huge fight he had had with Donna when he told her he had signed a lease, which had resulted in him spending last night very much alone.

"Well, congratulations, then. Where are you living now?"

"With my folks…I guess that makes me a real dork, huh?"

"Please. I’d be living at home if my parents weren’t all the way in South Williamsport."

"Heck of a commute."

"Yeah."

"Hey, it’s time to get back. Listen, I’m going to buy myself a bag of M&Ms for the afternoon. Would you like something? My treat."

"Maybe a Hershey bar? Or anything chocolate. Thanks."

Jim dropped coins into the slot. "Well, chocolate is okay, but what I really love is jelly beans. But the machine doesn’t carry them. The real M&M freak is Kevin. He keeps a huge jar of them on his desk. Sometimes in the late afternoon, when I’m falling asleep, I go over there and grab some. He doesn’t mind. Here you go." He handed Pam the chocolate bar. "Back to the salt mines."

"Thanks."

Back at his desk, Jim turned to look at Pam a few times that afternoon. He wondered why she had seemed so unhappy about this job yesterday, so much so that she almost lost it for herself. Today, she seemed perfectly cheerful, though she still seemed a little nervous around Michael. Well, that was no mystery…Michael took a bit of getting used to. She was different. Different from the kind of girls he usually found attractive. She wore very little makeup, and her hair was, frankly, a bit of a mess, even with the restraining barrette. Her outfit today looked like it came from a Land’s End catalog. Jim’s sister, Janice, dressed exclusively from Land’s End, which is why he recognized it. But she was a stay at home mom with a one year old, not an office worker. Still, the all over effect was…nice. That’s it…she was what his mother would call "a nice girl." And they really hit it off, too. Shame she was engaged. Not only engaged, but looking for an apartment together.

Damn! He really should call Donna, and see if they could come to a meeting of the minds about his whole house situation. But he was strangely reluctant to pick up the phone…to have Pam overhear…he’d stop at her place after work today…unless she was closing tonight. He always forgot her schedule.

Dwight got up and went to the men’s room, and Jim carefully inserted another nickel into his headpiece. It was getting full…only a few more would fit. He turned to see if Pam was watching and sure enough, she was. He smiled at her, and she shook her head, but she was smiling too.