February 28th 2005, 9:46 pm

Jim held up his beer, “Here’s to the chance that Michael won’t make an ass out of himself.”

Everyone laughed and raised their glasses, “Here, here!”

As he gulped down his drink Jim looked around the table and smiled. It was the night before a documentary crew was supposed to come and start filming at the office. Apparently, the Scranton branch of Dunder- Mifflin had been deemed the most worthy of the honor. The filmmakers would be following the everyday events of the office, interviewing the employees and attempting to find some kind of story. Needless to say, Michael was the only one excited about having his life invaded in such a way.

In celebration of their last day of freedom a bunch of them had decided to go out to Poor Richards. Jim, Pam, Toby, Kelly, Meredith, Devon, Oscar, Kevin and Creed were all crowded around a table discussing what it was going to be like to have cameras following their every move and whether or not Michael would find a way to behave himself.

“I have a feeling that he’s going to be like one of those kids that turns into a maniac whenever they meet someone new. You know, like trying to get attention?”

“You never know, maybe he’ll tone it down.”

“Unlikely. Highly unlikely.”

“So, are the cameras going to like follow us into the bathroom?”

“I don’t think so Kev.”

“Oh my God, being in front of the cameras is going to be so awesome. I’ll just have to make sure that I’m dressed okay. I mean how embarrassing would that be to wear something totally heinous and have the camera catch you?”

“Yeah, the cameras are great. I used to be in a band and the cameras were always on me. Girls always wanted to have their pictures taken with me.”

“Did they even have cameras back then?”

“My friends and I are starting a Steve Miller Tribute Band.”

“Do you think the cameras will follow us home?”

“I don’t think so. They’re just going to follow office stuff.”

“Oh. Good.”

Meredith and Kelli eventually left the table in pursuit of two men at the bar and the others started drifting away leaving Pam and Jim alone at the table.

Pam tucked her hair behind her ear and pushed her beer away from her, “I can’t drink anymore. I have to drive home.”

“Where’s Roy?”

She shrugged as she flagged down the waitress to ask for a glass of water, “He couldn’t come. Or didn’t want to come. He kinda hates these things.”

Jim nodded and took another gulp from his beer. Pam eyed him and grinned, “How come you didn’t invite Mallory?”

He rolled his eyes, “Funny.”

“Oh, come on, she seems like a nice girl.”

“Pam, she insisted on going to the restaurant where her ex-boyfriend works just to make him jealous, she spent half an hour in the bathroom and then called me six times an hour after I dropped her off.”

“What’s so bad about that?”

“Six times Pam! Six times!”

She giggled loudly and he shook his head, “You are taking way too much pleasure out of my bad dates.”

“No I’m not. You’ve just been having a lot of really awful dates lately.”

He nodded and looked slightly disgusted with himself, “Yeah, I have.”

Suddenly the whole table vibrated as Jim’s cell phone began to ring. He flipped it open. “Hello?” After a beat he grinned and looked over at Pam, “Hey mom. Yeah. Yeah. I was just calling again to wish you a happy birthday.” He laughed, “I bet you did. Yeah.” Pam nudged him with her elbow, “Oh, Pam says Happy Birthday. Uh-huh. Yeah, she’s right here.” Jim blushed slightly, “No. We’re all out with a bunch of people from work. Okay. Hold on.” He handed the phone over to Pam, “She wants to talk to you.”

“Hey Mrs. Halpert. Sorry, Larissa. Happy Birthday. Yeah. No, he’s behaving himself.” Pam winked at Jim, “Okay, I’ll make sure. Did you have a good day?” She laughed, “Sounds like fun. Is the party still going on? Oh yeah. Oh no. I forgot to tape it. Yeah. Yeah. You’ll have to tell me about it tomorrow. Sure. Call me at work. Okay. Bye.” She handed the phone back to Jim who gave her an odd look.

“Okay mom, I’ll let you go. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Mom, I don’t… Okay. Happy Birthday. Love you too.” He snapped the phone shut and slid it back into his pocket.

“Aww, you’re such a good son.”

Jim just shook his head and took a drink of his beer.

“I forgot to tape Law and Order. She’s going to call and tell me about it tomorrow.” She glanced over at him and jabbed him playfully in the side, “That’s not weird for you is it?”

“Not at all. She likes you.”

“Well, I like her. She reminds me of my mom sometimes. Plus there’s that added bonus that she gets to tell me all about you as a kid.”

“No. You’re not talking to her anymore.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about your dream to be in a grunge band?”

“Oh wow. That is so not cool.”

“Do you have any pictures?”

“I’m never talking to my mom again.”

Pam laughed and bumped his shoulder with hers, “She’s just proud.”

“You’re never talking to her again either.”

“What if we promise not to talk about you?”

“Deal.” Jim took another sip of his beer and surveyed the room, a hint of a smile playing on his lips.

Pam eyed him warily, “You know who I’m worried about? Dwight. What’s he going to be like with cameras around all the time?”

Jim rolled his eyes, “I don’t even want to know what the cameras are going to bring out of him. Although…” He beckoned Pam to lean closer and they put their heads together conspiratorially. “I’m thinking I might be able to convince him that they’re not a documentary crew but spies from a competing company.”

Pam’s eyes widened, “Oh…” She fell into a fit of giggles, her hand resting on Jim’s arm, “That is so perfect. Who knows how he’ll act then.”

Jim’s grin widened and he attempted to not be too aware of the fact that her hand was still resting on his arm.

“Yeah, I figure that he’ll either work his hardest to intimidate the cameras thereby acting like a complete jackass or he’ll refrain from talking at all.” He held his hands out like a scale moving them up and down, “Either way, we all win.”

Pam shook her head, “I don’t know how it’ll last a week.”

“To tell you the truth, I don’t really know what kind of juicy office tidbits they’re going to find at Dunder- Mifflin. Not exactly the most exciting work environment.”

“They did say they wanted to follow a typical office. And while Michael and Dwight and Kevin may not be typical, I’d day that there’s nothing more basic than paper.”

“Yeah. But I just think it’s gonna be boring. What do they expect to find?”

Pam’s hand brushed Jim’s as she reached out for her water. She didn’t notice the way he pulled quickly pulled back, “That is true. It’s not exactly Young and the Restless around here.”

Jim looked around the room, “Then again…”

“What?”

“Maybe the cameras will find something that everyone else is missing.”

Pam nodded and thought about it for a moment. Suddenly she jumped to her feet and held out her hand, “I think we need some better music around here. Got any change?”

Jim dug into his pocket and pulled out a few quarters. Watched as Pam ambled over to the jukebox and studied it while chewing on her lip. He tore his gaze away. Tried again not to think about the way it felt to have her so close in the corner of the booth.

Yes, the camera would catch things that no one else did. He suddenly found himself growing self conscious, running his hands through his hair. Lately he had been feeling like those casual glances over to reception were becoming more and more obvious. He would have to make sure that the camera never caught him doing that. Never caught the way that he looked at her when she walked away. Yeah. He could do that. He could pretend for the camera. He stole another glance at her and then downed the last of his beer.

Pam scanned the titles in the jukebox, dropping a quarter in and selecting a song. She thought about what Jim had said. The cameras were going to be on them. All the time. Catching those little moments. Little moments that were not meant for everyone to see.

It hadn’t escaped her that some kind of change had occurred in her relationship with Jim. Over the course of three years he had slowly become one of her closest friends. Her best friend in the office. The one person who made it all bearable. She found herself looking forward to the times when he would come over and talk to her or just simply turn and catch her eye. It was all harmless. But she didn’t want it documented on camera.

She knew she was playing with fire in that. There was always Roy to consider. Roy to think of. She loved him. But knew that he wouldn’t respond well to the harmless flirting between her and Jim. Even though that’s what it was. Harmless. Completely harmless. It was fun. Comfortable. Jim was a good friend. She had learned to depend on him. There was nothing wrong with that. It never extended beyond friendship

Pam looked back over to the booth where Jim was sitting by himself. Waiting for her. Yes, she would have to be careful and make sure that no one got the wrong impression. Not that there was anything to hide.

She smiled to herself and tried to shake aside the worries. No. There was nothing to be concerned about. The cameras couldn’t catch something that wasn’t even there. Right?