Author's Chapter Notes:
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It was Monday morning. Karen sat in her car in the Dunder Mifflin parking lot, staring at the door. She was already late but she just couldn't get out of the car. She noticed both Jim's and Pam's cars were already here. She dreaded walking in and having everyone stare at her. Did they all know she and Jim broke up? She was sure there would be gossip about it. There was always gossip.
Eventually she forced herself out of the car, through the door, and into the elevator. Her heart was beating rapidly and she thought she may lose her breath. But when the elevator opened she inhaled deeply and told herself that this was fine, she could do this.
However, her resolve crumpled as soon as she walked in the door. Jim was at the reception desk, leaning over, talking to Pam in a low and whispered tone - in between giggles. They were both obviously in a good mood and having fun with each other. But then Pam looked up and saw her, and her expression changed from happy to somewhat panicked. Jim looked around to see what caused such a change.
"Hey," he said, softly, "I didn't think you would be in today."
Doing her best not to betray her current emotions, she answered flatly, "Why wouldn't I be?" and without waiting for an answer, headed toward her desk.
The first thing she noticed was that Jim had switched desks. He was now sitting where Ryan used to sit. So now he can look at her all day, she thought, that's just great.
Then she noticed that everyone seemed a little awkward around her. Not that she was ever best friends with anyone in the office, but she could tell that they were hiding something. Phyllis smiled weakly and wouldn't make eye contact, and when she ran into Oscar in the break room he kind of hurried off mumbling something.
But it was Kelly that really gave it away. She was sitting in the break room crying, and when she spotted Karen she ran over and threw her arms around her, babbling about how "Oh my God, Karen, I totally know how you feel. Men are such assholes. I can't believe Ryan and Jim did this to us."
Us? Well, that answers that, she mused. They all know we broke up and are trying to avoid me. She didn't even bother to ask or care about what had happened between Kelly and Ryan. Instead she headed back to her desk.
She was intercepted by Jim in the kitchen. He looked very tired, and somewhat nervous. "Hey, can I talk to you?"
She didn't reply, but she did stop walking and looked up at him.
"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry, that I never meant to hurt you. And I know that sounds really lame, but it's true. I'm sorry I put you in the middle of everything..." He trailed off and looked at her. "I guess there's nothing I can really say to make this right."
"No, not really," she answered, and tried to walk around him to exit the kitchen. But that was when Michael appeared in the doorway. "Oh hi Karen, you're feeling 'better'" he said, complete with air quotes. Jim just rolled his eyes, and Karen again attempted to leave the room. But Michael wasn't done.
"So I guess you're already okay with Jim boning Pam? Man, I gotta give you credit, I would be..."
"Michael!" Jim yelled, then turned to Karen as if to say, "What an idiot!" But he didn't quite sell the expression. There was something... there. Guilt perhaps? Or was she being paranoid? It was ridiculous to think that someone like Michael would even know what was going on in Jim's personal life, but...
She turned back to Michael, about to ask him to elaborate, but Jim grabbed her arm, and said, "Okay then, that's enough of that, Michael."
She quickly pulled away from him. "Don't touch me," she hissed, and stormed back to her desk.
Jim avoided her for the rest of the day, and mercifully, he also seemed to avoid Pam. Maybe there was nothing going on between them after all - yet. Karen was just praying for Thursday to arrive so she could go on that interview, impress the hell out of them, and leave this hellhole once and for all. And if she didn't get that job, she would quit anyway. Maybe move in with Amy and Lauren and look for a job in the city. She had some savings; it wouldn't be too bad. Yeah, that sounded like a good plan. She just had to make it a few more weeks.
At the end of the day she couldn't wait to get out of the office, so at 4:59 she hurriedly packed up her stuff and left the office without a word to anyone. She breathed a sigh of relief when she reached her car. Just a few more days, she thought. Days now, not weeks. If she got the job in New York she would take her vacation time until it started, so she wouldn't have to come back to Scranton. Yes, that's exactly what she would do. She felt better about everything already.
