Part III: Leap

 "How many of them really know what they want, though? I mean, a lot of them think they have to know, right? But inside they don't really know, so... I don't know but I know that I don't know."

--Say Anything

August 7, 2006, 8:05 am

The saddest part of the whole situation was that Jim was actually looking forward to going back to work. Back to that mind-numbing, monotonous life of sales calls and ham and cheese sandwiches and torturing Dwight.

Two months away had led him to appreciate the consistency that he hated.

Not that Australia was all bad.

In fact, it had been pretty incredible. Being on the other side of the world from Scranton was something that he had before only dreamed about and he made the best of his time there. He took every tour possible, befriended almost every person he met and reveled in the fact that he didn’t have to work for two months.

It couldn’t possibly have been anything other than incredible.

Just the fact that it was a laugh in the face of everyone who didn’t believe he would go was enough to make the trip worth every penny. And it didn’t hurt that just the simple act of getting on the plane helped to lift the weight that had been pressing down on him for four years. For the first time in a long time he felt… happy.

Of course, this didn’t stop him from getting drunk off his ass for the first few days in Sydney and sitting in his hotel room watching bad movies and staring at his cell phone.

He liked to think of it as a cleansing process.

It was on June 11th that he had woken up, taken a shower and gone for a walk. Decided that it was time to just let go. He needed to let go.

And he did.

The rest of the two months flew by.

Before he knew it, he was on the return flight, walking through the airport, meeting his roommate at the baggage claim, watching the familiar scenery all the way to his house.

There was nothing more comforting and at the same time depressing than driving through the streets of Scranton for the first time in two months. Or walking into his room to see it exactly the same as he left it. Like walking into a weird time warp. Jim had to convince himself that the trip had actually happened.

Until he saw the calendar that hung above his desk, still open to June, a dark black circle over the 10th day of the month.

Then he remembered.

She was married.

And that was that.

It would be a lie to say that he hadn’t thought about her for two months. The honest to God truth was that a day hadn’t gone by where he didn’t think about what her smile would look like in the Australian sun or how much fun they could have had exploring the continent together.

He was pretty sure that no matter what he did in his life she would always be there in the back of his head, smiling at him, making him wonder…

It didn’t ache so much anymore though.

She was married.

And that was that.

He had said it to himself a million times before. Only this time it was real and this time he really meant it.

She was married and surprisingly enough he wasn’t going to die.

The hole in his heart would eventually begin to fill in.

It had already begun to.

And he was actually looking forward to going back to work. He wasn’t mind-blowingly excited about the prospect of selling paper again but he didn’t dread it as much as he thought he might. Although, he was a little disturbed by this and would never admit it to anyone.

As he drove into the parking lot that Monday morning he saw that everything was pretty much the same. The same cars were there, in their same spots. Michael’s Sebring, Roy’s truck, Meredith’s van…

The lobby still had the same strange smell and the elevator still lurched when it began to move, the doors still opened to reveal the same Dunder- Mifflin logo glaring at him like a warning sign.

Some things never changed.

Before going in the office, he paused, running though the conversation in his head. The one he had had over and over with himself for two months.

Take a sure, deep breathe he walking around the corner, into the office, smiling widely, “Hey P… Umm, hi.”

He stopped short. There was an unfamiliar woman sitting in Pam’s chair. She eyed him with distaste as he stared at her.

“Can I help you?”

He opened his mouth then shut it again. Looked around and wondered for a moment if he stepped into the wrong office. No. Dwight, Phyllis, Stanley. Everyone else was there as usual.

“I’m Jim Halpert. I work here.”

“Oh right. The world traveler.” She rolled her eyes and looked back down at her computer.

Jim stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do. This he had not been expecting. He suddenly noticed that several people were watching him. He forced the grin back onto his face.

“Hey guys!”

They greeted him with false smiles and unenthusiastic questions about his trip. Most of them fell back to work with little interest in the fact that this was his first day back in two months. As if he never left.

He smiled at the cameras and sat down at his desk.

“Hey Dwight.”

Dwight looked up at him and regarded him with a beady stare, “Did you make sure to get inoculated before you came back? It’s unacceptable if I get sick with some foreign disease that you’ve brought back with you.”

“Nice to see you too Dwight. But I thought you couldn’t get sick.”

“My body is protected against common diseases found in North America. Although… I’m strong enough that I could probably fight off anything you’ve brought back with you anyway.”

“Yeah, too bad our health care plan doesn’t cover Koalaitis infection.”

Dwight narrowed his eyes, “What’s that?”

“You haven’t heard of it?”

“No.”

“Ooh, it’s bad. There’s no vaccine. It’s really really contagious. But it’s got an incubation period of like four months so I don’t even know if I have it yet. I can be a carrier though. So let me know if you start breaking out in rashes in any weird places.”

Dwight eyed Jim for a moment and then shook his head, “You’re just messing with me. Dammit Jim.” He turned back to his computer and began forcefully pounding on his mouse. Jim pursed his lips to force back a smile and looked over at reception.

“Hey, who’s the woman at reception?”

Dwight didn’t look up from his computer, “Janice Medler. 30 years old. Married five years. One kid.”

“Wow. More than I wanted to know. Where’s Pam?”

“Don’t know. Don’t care.”

Jim bit it tongue in irritation and looked toward the cameras with a shake of his head. He got up and knocked on Michael’s door.

“Come in.”

He opened the door, “Hey Michael.”

Michael’s face brightened, “Slim Jim! Back from the Down Under! How goes it matey?”

Jim tried not to laugh at Michael’s horrific Australian accent. “It was great. But uh, I just had a question.” He pointed with his thumb back to where Janice was sitting. “What happened to Pam?”

Michael suddenly looked uncomfortable and motioned for Jim to close the door and sit down. He sighed and placed his hands on his desk.

“I don’t really know how to tell you this.”

Jim stomach dropped at the look on Michael’s face.

“Wow, this is really hard. Jim, I have some bad news. Pam has… moved on to a higher place.” He wiped some sweat from his forehead.

“What does that mean Michael?”

“Pam left the Scranton office.”

Jim leaned back into his chair, overcome with emotions of relief and desire to kick Michael in the head, “She quit?”

“Not exactly. Apparently Jan Levinson was still bitter about our breakup. She gave Pam a job in the corporate office. Lured Pam away with a higher salary and better benefits. Gave her some kind of internship. I don’t know.”

Jim looked up, “She took the internship?” He nodded and smiled to himself, “Good.”

“Yeah whatever. Good for her. Look Jim.” Michael leaned forward and lowered his voice to a whisper, “Janice scares me.”

“Yeah, what’s up with that?” They both looked toward the window and watched the new receptionist for a moment as she sat behind the desk filing her nails. Their heads snapped back she saw them looking at her. Michael shuddered.

“Why don’t you just find someone new?”

“Did you not hear me? She’s… I’m not going to fire her.” He looked at Jim with a smile, “Hey, you’re good with the women. Why don’t you…”

Jim shook his head and stood up, “No. I’m not firing anyone for you. Have Dwight do it.”

Michael scowled, “Dwight’s scared of her too.”

Jim just shook his head and started to walk out the door.

“So what are you going to do about Pam?

“Nothing Michael. I’m going to go back to my work.”

“Wow. Just like that? Man, if the girl I was in love with was suddenly single again I’d be all over that.”

Jim froze.

He stared at the wood markings on the door, his body suddenly draining of all energy.

He had heard wrong.

Slowly he turned. Michael was staring at him with a completely serious look on his face.

“What?”

“Yeah. I’d be showing her some serious Michael Scott moves.”

“What about… what about Roy?”

Michael snorted, “Roy can find his own women.”

Jim clenched his jaw, “No. She’s married to Roy.”

Michael laughed, “Ohhhh, boy. You really are out of the loop. They didn’t get married. Called it off the day before.”

Jim looked at him with a blank expression. The words were there but it wasn’t registering.

She didn’t get married.

“Not really sure what happened. Said it was mutual. She quit a couple days later. Moved up to New York. And now we’re stuck with Janice out there.”

She didn’t get married.

“So, what are you going to do?”

Jim blinked. “Umm…” He looked at Michael and shrugged, “Nothing.”

Without another word he turned and walked out the door. Sat down at his desk and stared at the blank computer screen.

She didn’t get married.

Michael watched him for a moment and then turned toward the camera. He smiled and tapped his World’s Best Boss Mug.

“And that. Is how you make a difference. One employee at a time.”