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.

The walls in Jan’s old office are very white, and next to them Ryan looks very small.  He jiggles a pen against the edge of his desk nervously.  It is clear he is not quite sure what he should be doing.   His first couple of days at Corporate has been a little . . . disjointed but still better than Scranton, he thinks.

His new boss, David Wallace pokes his head in.

“So how has your first week been?”

“Great.  Um, just great.”

“Good!  I am really looking forward to hearing your ideas on how we can improve our communication with the Scranton branch. It is my top priority for the next quarter.”

“Definitely.”

“I really think you can help to bring up their numbers, and reel that branch in so that it runs more effectively.”

“I can . . . definitely . . . do that.”

“Great. Oh, and don’t forget you are leading that seminar at the Scranton branch tomorrow.  I am really hoping that it will bring about a positive change.”

Ryan nods enthusiastically.  Wallace walks out as an email arrives with a little chime.

The subject line reads “I Hate You.”  Ryan looks up, deer in headlights. He has received over a dozen of these kinds of emails over the past two weeks. In fact the only emails in his inbox are similarly titled emails, such as “You’re a Jerk, I hate you.” and “I hate that I am crying right now.”  The sender is Kkapor@dundermifflin.com.

Ryan hits the X button quickly, and then deletes all the others one by one.
A new email pops up immediately and Ryan sees it is from Mscott@dunderfmifflin.com.  It is one of those animated emails where a cartoon girl shakes her booty, and then big red letters fly across the screen; YOU GO GIRL!

Ryan shakes his head.  He is not looking forward to dealing with Scranton tomorrow.
* * *
Kevin smirks for a long moment, “Oh yeah, they are totally doing it.  Which is exactly the advice I gave to Jim.  I think he probably used my list to make his decision.  In fact I am pretty sure he did.  It was a really comprehensive list.”
* * *
“Is that what people are saying? Cause Jim and I  . . . we are taking things . . .” she is shaking her head and then looking down, searching for the words “ . . . we haven’t even talked about anything, and we are not . . . So, I guess we are taking things slow.  And did Kevin really say that?”
* * *
“Pam?  Hmm, I don’t know her very well.  I am not sure who she is seeing these days.  I am probably the wrong person to ask.” Jim says innocently.  He looks away, guarded, and there is more that he does not say, because truthfully, things are still strange.
* * *
“It is absolutely shameful the way they flaunt their relationship around the office.  If you are going to carry on an office romance you should do it with dignity.  Like adults.” Angela says, nodding, as if the ultimate authority of office romances. “Not giving each other meaningful looks across the room and having secret conversations when they think no one is watching.  It wouldn’t surprise me if they are caught sneaking off to the supply closet at lunch . . .              
* * *                 
“ So our very own ‘Sam and Diane’ ”, Michael says happily, miming double quotation marks for really no reason.  “The age-old question answered ‘will they or won’t they’ ”, he says, with a big grin, once again miming air double quotation marks.  The wheels turn for a moment.  “I think they are probably ‘doing it.’ ”, he says unable to suppress a giggle.
* * *
Karen is silent for a long moment, looks sick, and then resolute.  “He broke up with me before we even left New York . . .”

Karen and Jim are in the courtyard of the office building that houses the corporate office of Dunder Mifflin.  They both lean over the railing.  They speak without looking at each other.

“Answer one thing.  What does she have that I don’t?”  Her gaze is very direct, and Jim shifts his weight from one leg to another uncomfortably.

“That’s not . . . it’s not just about Pam.”

“Really?  She is the reason we are breaking up. Even if you can’t say it out loud.  If it hadn’t been for that day at the beach, we would be planning on moving here.”

“Maybe, but it wouldn’t have been right. Not for me.” Jim says looking at her intently. 

There are tears welling up in Karen’s eyes but she won’t let them flow.  She looks past Jim.  “Right.  I really don’t get you.  I don’t even know how to talk to you. And I think, you never even fully looked at me, for me.  I was the bookmark, until you could get back to your real life.  And that sucks.”  She pauses, taking deep breaths because she will not cry.  “You should leave now.  Go back to Scranton.  I can stay with friends tonight, get a ride back tomorrow.”

“Are you sure?” Jim reaches out to touch her shoulder, trying to look into her eyes, but she backs away.

“Just go.” she says shaking her head.  “Just go back to Scranton.”
* * *
“Troops, I have some ‘excellent news’”, Michael say air quoting again.  It is his new thing.

“ ‘Are we ‘getting raises?’ ”, Stanley says mocking him, air quotes and all.

“No, Stanley, no raises.”

“What a surprise.” Stanley mutters going back to his crossword.  “Let me know when something exciting happens”, he says across the desk to Phyllis.

“What is it Michael?” Dwight says excitedly. “Are we going to choose teams for the paintball team building exercise you have been planning?”

“No Dwight, and way to ruin the surprise. Ryan, our new boss, ‘my protégé’ has signed us up for a corporate seminar, and our speaker will be here after lunch.  We are going to learn a lot about how to treat each other in the work place.”

“Seems kind of last minute.  I have a lot of work to do. Ryan is not a very good planner.” Angela says to no one in particular.

Dwight nods in agreement with Angela’s statement.  Their eyes meet.  Angela’s smile is rigid and yet sweet.  Pam catches the look, which pretty much confirms what she already knows.  She looks over at Jim, but quickly decides not to point it out.  Angela told her things in confidence, and she feels strangely protective of the secret.

“Oh, yeah, well that douche bag Wallace is actually a bad planner, he emailed me about it last week, but I blew it off.”

“Total douche bag.” Andy says agreeing with Michael, nodding his head. 

Dwight shakes his head at Andy.

“You’ve got something brown on your nose.” he says to Andy.”

“And I figured, what the hay?” Michael says continuing “Ryan is our new boss and he’ll be totally kick back, but then Ryan called this morning and I guess it’s still on. I’m sure it will be very informative.”  He says it will help to ‘change the perception of the Scranton office’ whatever that means.”

Andy is wiping his nose self-consciously during Michael’s speech, and then it dawns on him and he drops his hand embarrassed that the camera caught it.

The whole staff is seated in the conference room, as an older man resembling Colonel Sanders from KFC starts the projector.  The first slide comes up:  HOW TO COMMUICATE WITH TACT AND PROFESSIONALISM.

“Look around the room.  The true leaders in your organization are those that have a skill.  An important skill.  The ability to communicatate effectively.” Colonel Sanders starts.

Jim leans over to Pam and whispers.  “ I have this really strange craving for extra crispy.”

“Weird.  I can’t imagine why.” Pam says blank faced, and then a small smile as she looks at him out of the corner of her eye.

Jim still loves this.  Even though things are still, well admit it, strange, and awkward, and messy, yet here he is still waiting for that smile, those words, that are his, always have been his, even though sometimes it felt like they weren’t.

He is daydreaming, and then it is ruined.

Michael leans over to Jim shows him his pen, turns it upside down and giggles.  Jim trying to ignore him does not react. 

“Good leaders don’t rule with brute force but rather with diplomacy.  This is very important in the work place, because good leaders lead by example.  It is all about professionalism . . .”

Disappointed with Jim and already bored with the lecture, Michael slides over to Ryan and repeats the gesture with the pen.  His pen is the kind that when you turn it upside down the girl looses her bikini top.  Ryan shakes his head authoritatively, cutting off Michael’s giggles. Michael shrinks in his chair like a child, sullen, and annoyed that no one wants to play with him.

“Good communicators listen first and act second, not the other way around.”

“Yikes! This is really boring Ryan!” Michael says standing up.  “And as a good leader, who cherishes democracy I think we should let the people vote on whether we need this training course or not.  Show of hands on how much this sucks?”

Dwight and Andy’s hand shoot up simultaneously, and Michaels falters as no one else raises their hands.

“I supported you first, and therefore more than Andy.”

Andy just smiles his anger management smile.  “Michael, as your are my boss, I always support you.  As always you are correct, this office is already highly professional. I don’t see how we could benefit from this training.”

Pam looks at Jim disgusted.  He shakes his head, smiles, and is already a million miles away, wondering what tonight will be like.

“Angela?  You are always nagging about needing to get back to your desk to get some work done.  I could use your vote.”

“Michael” Ryan says stepping in “come on, corporate would really like to see us finish this class.”

Kelly’s raises her hand high.  “Michael is right, this class is so stupid, and I have much better things to do with my time.”  There is venom in her words and Ryan shrinks back a bit.  

Creed, who has been dozing, sits up with a half snore.  “Who’s that getting hysterical?” he says to Karen.

Karen, who is ticking off the awful minutes in her head, gives Creed a withering look.  “You should probably just go back to sleep.”

“And besides what do you know about being a good communicator?  You haven’t responded to even one of my emails.  I don’t call that being a good communicator at all.  Like Michael said, you suck!”

“Not exactly what I said.” Michael says softly under his breath.  He puts a hand on Ryan’s shoulder, a big smile emerging. “Don’t worry grasshopper, you still have much to learn.”
* * *
It is the end of the day, and almost everyone is gone. Kelly and Meredith are on their way out.

“You drive.  My ex has the kid this week, I am getting hammered.” Meredith says to Kelly.

“I drove last time.”

Pam’s eyes widen, and her mouth drops open, having heard the entire exchange.  She looks at the back of Jim’s neck wondering if he is having the same reaction.  As Kelly and Meredith leave, Jim swings around.

“Wow.” Pam says.

“Wow, yeah, BFF’s?  Who could have seen that coming?”

“There are no words.  I wonder what they talk about.  No, I have an idea, and I don’t want go there.  They found each other, so . . . yeah I guess stranger things have happened.”

“Yeah, stranger things . . .” Jim says, double meaning behind his words. Pam glows.  Jim is talking about them in a way too, and it makes her happy.  For a long moment they are in their own world, silently reading between each other’s lines.

Jim breaks it.

“Wow, long day”, he says stretching exaggeratedly.

“Yeah, me to”, she says in mock seriousness.  “I am glad I have nothing to do tonight. I think I will just watch Big Brother.”

“That sounds so relaxing. I am so jealous.  I have this whole thing tonight, so I will probably be up late, and I am going to be so tired . . .”

“Ok, shut up!” Pam says giggling as they wait for the elevator.

The doors open and Jim follows behind Pam.  Smiling, but crookedly because there is still the big elephant in the room between them.  Neither of them knowing, how and when the words will come.  They have just been enjoying the thing that is them, not ready to talk about the in between.

“So seriously Big Brother?”

Pam nods smiling. 

“ I really hate reality TV.”

“I know.