Her relief was short-lived, however. On Tuesday morning she left her house to go to work, and as she passed Jim's place on the way, her heart dropped into her gut. Pam's car was parked out front. She slowed down for a moment, and saw that Jim was walking Pam to her car. They were laughing about something, and then they embraced. Karen had to look away, so she sped up and drove away as fast as she could.
At first she tried to convince herself it didn't necessarily mean what she thought it meant. But in her heart she knew the truth. She was in tears by the time she got to work.
Just a few more days, she told herself as she walked into the building. She was one of the first people there, and she really needed some coffee. When she returned to her desk from the break room Pam had already arrived. She was smiling as she got settled, not even noticing Karen was there. Karen couldn't help but glare at her for a few seconds, before she had to force herself to focus on her work. Jim strode in a few minutes later, with a grin on his face and laughter in his eyes that Karen had rarely seen. He started to talk to Pam but glanced over and saw Karen, so instead he nodded stiffly and sat down at his desk.
The morning dragged by slowly and the longer Karen sat there, the more angry she became. Even though she tried to avoid looking directly at him, whenever she heard his voice on the phone or talking to Dwight she felt a rage building up. At one point she heard him chuckle and saw him cover his mouth to stifle a laugh, and all she could think was that maybe Pam sent him a funny email mocking her or something. And as much as she knew that wasn't true, a part of her felt so exposed and humiliated that she really believed it may be possible.
Her pent up anger finally bubbled over when she accidentally stumbled upon Jim and Pam in the break room at lunch. They weren't doing anything but sitting at a table eating lunch, but she couldn't hold it in any longer.
"So," she said to Jim, with just the right amount of bitterness in her voice, "you sure move fast."
"Karen," Jim started to say, but she walked out of the room. He followed her.
"Karen, please," he pleaded. "Talk to me."
She spun around and faced him. "Talk to you? Okay, I'll talk to you. What do you want to hear? That everything is fine? That I enjoy sitting here knowing that you and her are together? That it's not killing me?" She was shouting now, and Toby turned around from his desk to see what the commotion was about.
"Tell me, Jim, how long did it take you to fuck her after you dumped me? You couldn't even wait a few hours, could you?"
Jim was red faced and shaking now. "It wasn't like that," he said quietly.
"Then what was it like, Jim? You couldn't even let me get the hell out of this piss-hole town before you started screwing that bitch."
He was getting angry. "Don't... talk about her that way," he growled.
"I'll talk about her however the hell I want!" she yelled back, aware that Pam was still inside the break room and could hear everything she was saying. At this point Toby approached her and Jim and put a hand out in between them.
"Guys, this isn't really the place to discuss this," he said in the same voice he used whenever he tried to gently correct Michael.
Jim ignored him. "No, Karen, I am willing to take total responsibility for hurting you, but I will not let you blame Pam for this. It's all my fault. Not hers."
She snickered. "I'm sorry, did I at some point imply that I didn't blame you? Because that's pretty much the furthest thing from the truth."
"Karen. Jim. Seriously, this is not appropriate," Toby interrupted again.
"Oh, shut up, Toby," Karen shot back, but she immediately regretted it and apologized. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." She paused and added, "I'm done," as she turned and headed through the kitchen and back out to her desk, where she grabbed her purse and headed for the door.
She stopped by Michael's office and said simply, "Michael, I'm going to be taking my vacation time for the rest of the week. Personal reasons." She left without waiting for a reply.
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.
