In retrospect, Jim thought that maybe he should have known what was coming. After all, it was the Friday before a three-day weekend. Still….

“Do you see?” Angela turned quickly. Her ponytail whipped in response, and her eyes narrowed in anger.

Jim nodded as he stood on the threshold of the office and the kitchen and took in the bizarre scene.

Phyllis sat at her computer, listening to music, without headphones, and no so quietly humming along to a song. Which, Jim realized after several seconds of thought, was Debbie Gibson’s “Lost In Your Eyes.” It took him a considerably shorter amount of time of thinking to decide not to share that he knew that with anyone.

THWACK!

Jim’s head suddenly turned away from Phyllis at the sound and he attempted to focus on its source, but couldn’t locate it. That was, until he looked over at Creed.

Creed was leaning forward in his chair, eagerly looking across the room at the far wall. It was then that Jim saw the bouncy-ball he had thrown against it ricocheting back towards him. Unfortunately, it hit Dwight’s bobble-head on its return trip, sending both of them to the floor.

“Dammit Creed!” Dwight dashed over towards his desk, and to the fallen toy/collectable.

“Sorry, Schrutey.” Creed paused for a second, as he continued to look over at Dwight, who was checking the bobble head for trauma. “Hand me back the ball, I’m going for a record.”

“No, I am confiscating this.” Dwight shoved the ball into the top drawer of his desk.

Creed shrugged, and reached into his own drawer. He pulled out another bouncy-ball.

Dwight took a step towards him, but then stopped. Jim thought that he might have gritted his teeth. Still, that really didn’t compare to what was going on in Accounting anyway.

Kelly and Ryan had both frozen when he walked in, so he wasn’t completely sure what was going on, only that it seemed to involve an inordinate amount of paper. At least judging from the dozens of balled up pieces scattered on the floor, and the loose pages that lay on Kevin and Angela’s desks. Also, there seemed to be a souvenir-sized Pirates bat involved as well.

However, what really surprised Jim was Stanley. He wasn’t just doing his crossword puzzle, he was doing it with his feet up on his desk, and his tie loosened. He smirked a little at his appearance….

But that was when he noticed Karen for the first time.

She was sitting at her desk, leaned back in her chair, and looking at him with a self-satisfied expression that conveyed the fact that she had been right about the need for him to set an example in the office. He returned her gaze darkly, and allowed himself to begin to wonder what exactly was going on between them.

Because it had just happened, he hadn’t really begun to process what had gone down in the Conference Room. It wasn’t like it was the first time they had ever argued about something, but it definitely was the first time it had gotten that intense. He usually backed down, let her have her way out of guilt and weariness, and tried to match her smile when she won. But this fight he had stood up for himself, at least partially, and told her how he actually felt. He let her know how frustrated he was at how she always seemed to want to change him, tweak him, improve him.

It wasn’t like he wanted to remain the same, either. He did have a new position, a new girlfriend, and Pam….well they had definitely changed. But, still, what he really wanted was someone who wanted what he wanted for himself, whatever that may be. Not someone who demanded what they wanted from him, or tried to tell him what he should want.

So, what did their fight mean? What is it just something they would move on from? Should he just call her on Monday, apologize, and show up at her house with her favorite take-out? He felt pretty confident that that plan would work, and it would get him a short-term fix to their relationship, and probably make up sex. But…did he really want that this time?

“Jim!” Angela now stood with her hands firmly on her hips.

Her voice shook him from his questions, and he cleared his throat to address everyone. “Uh, everyone….”

He heard the office get quiet, and the squeak of chairs that turned to face him.

“Thanks, um, look I know it’s Friday and everything….but” he stopped on the last word and stole a glance back over at Karen. Her face had gone from bitter to seemingly hopeful as he looked at her.

He stumbled over his next words. “Um, can, I mean, we’re an office and everything.” He paused again, and for the first time glanced down over his right shoulder at Pam. She stood silently, looking at him without the hint of the smile that she had brought to the room. Instead, her eyes were wide, and her lips were pressed into a firm line.

After a second she turned her head away, and looked down at her shoes. It was the same as it had been lately. Pam wouldn’t look at him, always turning away with a look on her face that almost looked pained, or sad, or something. It wasn’t like he could tell anymore what she was thinking or feeling….not that he ever could anyway.

But as Jim looked away from her and to the office, at the faces trained upon him, he realized the ridiculousness of what he was about to say. About what he thought he should say as Assistant Regional Manager.

Because, really, what was he doing? Was he actually going to chastise the office for goofing off in between turns of a RISK game in the break room? He wasn’t that guy. He wasn’t corporate, or a disciplinarian, or an example-setter. Who cared if people had fun? Wouldn’t that be a nice change?

He half-smiled as he spoke his next words. “Yeah, you know what everyone? It’s Friday…do whatever you want.”

He heard Angela gasp before he continued, “and Phyllis…” She looked at him with a broad smile illuminated by her monitor. “…be careful with that Debbie Gibson, you’ll get Stanley singing too.” He exaggeratedly raised his eyebrows at her, and smiled. She chuckled loudly, and he even thought he heard Stanley grunt in amusement.

As he continued, Jim could almost feel the weight peeling off of him. “Angela, I know you’re upset by…” he turned towards Accounting and Kelly and Ryan. “What are you guys playing?”

“Pirateball.” Ryan responded with a shrug of his shoulders.

“….upset by Pirateball. But, look, why don’t you just come into the break room and watch us play RISK? Or, go out and get decorations for next week’s Martin Luther King Day Party?”

Angela’s voice was deeply grooved with emotion when after a few seconds of direct eye-contact, she responded. “You are the Assistant Regional Manager, it is your responsibility to…” he hands waved frantically in front of her. “Do something!”

Jim sighed, and crossed his arms. He wasn’t backing down in arguments, not today. “I just did, Angela, okay? Look, do you have all the decorations for the party?”

He could see Angela’s mind shift from anger to thoughtfulness. “No, but…”

Jim interrupted her, hand raised. “Okay, so why don’t you, you know, do that.”

“Win-win-win.” He heard from beside him, and looked over his shoulder again to see Pam, cheeks flushed, and her smile returned.

It enhanced his own as he turned back to Angela. “Exactly.”

“Fine. But I will be notifying Toby about this!” In a huff, she turned on her heel and quickly walked towards the coat rack, passing Dwight at his desk.

“As will I! This is not second-in-command behavior, Jim.” Dwight announced loudly across the room.

“Are you going to do that now, or after I beat you in RISK, Dwight?”

Dwight snatched another of Creed’s bouncy-balls as it flew off the wall and at him. He put it in his drawer again, and slammed it shut loudly. “No, Jim. After I beat you.”

“Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmm. So, you want to?” he nodded back towards the break room.

“I do.” Without another word Dwight strode towards him determinedly and pushed his way between Jim and Pam, and through the door behind them.

Jim turned again towards Pam, and smirked the right side of his mouth. “I guess he’s ready.” He shrugged, and then turned back towards the door. As he walked through it, behind Pam, he turned his head and looked back towards Karen quickly. She was looking at him, features set coldly, and the type of anger in her eyes that he had already seen once today.

He looked away, and pushed through the door.

=

“Where were we? It seems like forever since we’ve played.” Andy leaned over the board and examined the troops closely.

Jim and Dwight regained their seats, and studied the board too. It really did feel that way. But, as Jim looked up from his examination, he noticed that one thing was very, very different then before.

Pam had just sat down in Kevin’s chair, opposite him at the table. He wasn’t the only person who had noticed, either.

“We’ve already started, Pam. You can’t play.” Dwight continued to look at the board, while he spoke. Jim wasn’t sure how he had even noticed that Pam had sat down.

“I know, Dwight, I’m just looking at the board.” Pam craned her neck and stared down at the board in what Jim was sure was mock-seriousness, especially when she started to bob her head in deep understanding.

“So…who is who?” Pam looked over from Dwight to Andy.

“Ah, well, Pam, that’s an excellent question.” Andy grinned at her, and proceeded to explain the situation.

“I’m the Red soldiers, and I’ve got all of Europe. Did I ever tell you that I went for a semester abroad when I was at Cornell?”

Jim thought he saw the faint traces of a smile pull at her lips…

“Oh, I don’t think so, Andy…but, um, so you’re Red…and who’s yellow?”

“I am.” Dwight leaned back in his chair, and finally shifted his concentration away from the board. “Once I conquer Greenland and Brazil, I will control all of the Americas.”

Jim couldn’t help himself. He knew that this was a chance that he couldn’t afford to blow. She had really been a friend when Karen had freaked him out with her talk about moving next to him, or well, two blocks over, and ever since then she had been really distant. It made it impossible to return the favor…but now? Well, if he could just get her to laugh, to smile….it would…be nice….to return the favor.

“How’s the Greenland campaign going, Dwight?” He asked.

Dwight turned towards him. “It will be going fine, Jim. Just you watch.”

“I was, wait.” He furrowed his brow and tried to look as quizzically as possible at Dwight. “Do you mean earlier?…I don’t think that went fine. Andy?”

He didn’t miss a beat. “It was a massacre. Like Dwight singing karaoke.”

“Well, it was Styx.” Pam interrupted. Jim was surprised, but still ready.

“Exactly. Um, have you heard “Blue Collar Man” or, uh, “Fooling Yourself”….”

Andy picked up where Jim left off. “Too Much Time On My Hands, Mr. Roboto, Renegade…”

Jim nodded emphatically and joined Andy in looking at Pam in shock. He saw her smirk a little, before she responded. He took it as a good sign.

“Yeah….so where are your troops, Jim?”

He looked at the board quickly again to remind himself, and then rubbed his hands together. “Well, I’ve got all of Africa, and Australia. So…”

“Suite Madame Blue.” Dwight interrupted.

Jim looked over incredulously at Dwight who seemed to be looking thoughtfully past Andy and at the opposite wall.

“Yeah, that’s a good one, too….”

“On Tuesday evenings Mose and I play American Gladiators in the barn while listening to that part of the song where they sing ‘America…America’. You know?” While he spoke, Dwight blinked away the distance of his gaze, and focused it on Jim.

It took everything inside of him not to laugh, or even smile. He stuffed his tongue between his bottom front teeth and lip and pressed down hard. After a second or two, he nodded in agreement. After a few more moments he could even speak. “Yeah, yup, I do.”

“Whose turn is it?” Andy looked at the board, again.

“It’s Jim’s. Though I’m sure he’s done. His armies are stretched to the limits as it is.” Dwight answered quickly.

Jim picked up the dice and looked for any way to make Dwight wrong. He couldn’t see any though.

“You should take Venezuela from Brazil.” Pam offered, pointing to South America on the game board.

“Oh?” He asked back.

“Yeah, well, you take Venezuela, you isolate Peru and Argentina, and hold the only North American attack point. Plus, Dwight will have to allocate troops to fight against Greenland, so if you reinforce it, you can rip through North America.” She finished causally.

There was a collective silence as all three men looked at her.

“What?” Pam lowered her eyes self-consciously and squirmed in her seat uncomfortably.

“Um, no, nothing Patton. Though, I just occupied it this turn, so I’ll have to wait, you know, to satisfy your thirst for blood.” His light tone was a little presumptuous, he knew. They hadn’t joked around with each other like this for a long time, and to try to jump back into it like this was a little risky. But he couldn’t help how good it felt.

Then she smiled at him, and he felt it like a blast of hot air. “Yeah, well, at least reinforce Indonesia. Dwight’s building a bridge on the coast of Asia through Mongolia and Siam so that he can transport troops all the way from Peru there. He wants to conquer Australia.”

Dwight’s response was almost immediate. “What?! No….I don’t. At all. That’s…no.” Jim saw him look over to him nervously. There was a pause of several seconds as they stared at each other.

“I’m attacking China from India.”

Dwight picked up the defense dice.

“Dammit, Pam.”