Sure enough, she woke up with a violent headache. She stumbled into her friends' kitchen where Amy sat at the table reading the paper.
"Do you have any aspirin?" she asked.
"Cabinet to the right of the fridge, top shelf," Amy replied, getting up and pouring Karen a cup of coffee. "I take it you're not feeling so hot this morning?"
"You could say that," Karen mumbled in reply. "What time is it?"
"Nine forty-five," answered Amy.
"Oh shit! Tell me you're lying!" Karen ran to her purse and pulled out her cell phone. "I totally forgot to call in sick today!"
She quickly dialed the number for Dunder Mifflin Scranton, and as the phone started to ring she remembered that she should have called Michael directly instead of -
"Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam."
Shit, she thought, and sighed. "Um, hi Pam, it's Karen. Could you tell Michael I won't be in today because I'm sick?" She kept her voice as impersonal and emotionless as she could muster.
"Oh, um, sure Karen... I hope you feel better."
"Yeah, I'm sure you do," she replied, a little less emotionless, and without even stopping to think she hung up on Pam. "Bitch," she muttered under her breath. She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, remembering the horrible day she had had yesterday. She tried to remember how Pam's voice sounded. Was she extra giddy this morning? Maybe Jim went back and declared his love for her in the middle of the office. Or maybe he waited until everyone left and then jumped her on the conference room table. She felt sick to her stomach thinking about it, but then she told herself that despite his recent actions, Jim was inherently a nice guy, and he probably wouldn't make a move for Pam until some time had passed. No, she thought, there was no way he would dump her and run off with Pam all in the same day. Just no way.
As promised, Amy just hung out with her all day. They made cookies and watched daytime TV and complained about men. Amy was also currently single and her last relationship had ended badly not too long ago, so Karen appreciated being able to commiserate with her.
Around noon her phone rang, and she saw it was Jim. She didn't answer it, and she didn't even want to listen to the voicemail he had left. Then at 1:00 it rang again. She was going to throw it across the room until she read the caller ID - it was the Dunder Mifflin corporate office. In all the drama with Jim, she had almost forgotten about her job interview yesterday. She answered it this time.
It was David Wallace. They exchanged greetings and then he said, "Listen, I'm calling with some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that we've decided to go with someone else for the job you interviewed for."
"Oh. Okay," she replied. Great, her one ticket out of Crapwoods, Pennsylvania and she blew it. She felt the sting of disappointment in her chest.
"But wait... I was really impressed with you and I would like you to come in and interview for another position we have open in a different department. It would be in marketing and something completely different than what you do now..."
"That sounds great!" she interjected. "When do you want me to come in?"
Wallace chuckled and said something about how enthusiastic she sounded. Whatever, she thought. She just wanted a job that wasn't in Scranton. He asked when she was available next and she quickly told him Monday. He put her on hold to check with the person she would be interviewing with, but when he came back he said, "Unfortunately she'll be away at a conference until Thursday. Would that work for you?"
Figures, Karen thought, but she told him it was fine and set the interview for Thursday morning. Almost a whole week away. That would mean that she would have to go back to the Scranton office at some point between now and then, much as it sickened her. But again, she reminded herself that Jim was a decent person and he would never start anything with Pam right away out of respect for her. Or would he?
She was going to need more aspirin.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
