Jim had to admit to himself that having the camera crew and his office mates find out about his relationship with Pam wasn’t the worst thing in the world.  Sure, there were Michael’s almost daily inappropriate comments, but Michael was really just white noise to him at this point. 

Since everyone knew, he didn’t have to make excuses for his behavior around Pam.  Part of him still couldn’t believe they were together.  Any day now, he expected the universe to say “just kidding,” and laugh as Pam left his life forever.  “But what the hell,” he thought.  “As long as we’re together I’ll cherish every sappy moment.”  That was what had driven him out of his bed so early on this Thursday morning.

Pam had art class last night, so she slept at her apartment.  That had enabled him to pick up the flowers, make a new mix CD, and write the five drafts he needed to get the card just right in complete privacy.  And he knew it was going to be a total surprise to his girlfriend.  It was his first opportunity to celebrate an anniversary with her, and he wasn’t about to let it pass.

He smiled to himself as he arranged the flowers in front of the door to Pam’s apartment.  It was six in the morning, and he knew Pam’s alarm was minutes away from going off.  He stifled a laugh as he knocked on the door and yelled in a fake, high-pitched voice, “Delivery for Pam Beast-, no Pam Beesley.”  He knocked again and put his ear to her door.  Satisfied by the grumbling, “Just a minute,” he heard on the other side, he ran down the stairs and hopped into his still-running car.

He had gotten less than a block when his cell phone started to ring.  He opened the phone and didn’t even have time to say “hello,” before Pam shouted, “You suck!  Thank you!”

“Kind of a mixed message there, Beesley,” Jim noted.

“Shut up,” Pam grumbled.  “I still had five minutes to sleep.  Okay, so I love the roses and daisies, but….”

Jim was grinning as he heard her uncertainty.  He couldn’t resist teasing, “But what?”

“What anniversary is this?  I mean, we’ve been dating five and a half months.”

“Beesley, it’s October fourth.”

“I know,” Pam replied.  “Why is it…Oh my God!  That’s when you started at Dunder Mifflin!”

“That’s right,” Jim verified.  “It’s the day we met.  Happy Anniversary, Pam.”

“Happy Anniversary, Jim.  I’m sorry I didn’t remember.”

“That’s okay.  We have plenty of others ahead of us.  I’m just pulling into the parking lot at work.  I’ll be waiting for you.”

“Love you,” Pam said.

“You better,” Jim said.  “I sprung for a vase, tunes and everything.”

“It was the CD that did it,” Pam deadpanned.  Switching to her most girly voice, “I can’t wait to hear it.”

“It’s all boy bands and Michael Bolton,” Jim promised.  “I wish we didn’t have that stupid launch party tonight.  But I fully intend to make up for it Friday after work.”

“McDonalds?” Pam guessed.

“You bet.  I won’t even make you order the Happy Meal. I’ll even spring for the Big Mac, fries, drink, and a shake.”

“You’re too good to me.”

“Love you Beesley,” Jim said.

“I know.  And I’m really lucky.  See you soon.”

As he hung up the phone, Jim thought back to his first week at Dunder Mifflin.  It seemed so long ago.  He walked up to the stairs to the empty office.  Not even Dwight ever showed up this early.

Dwight.  Jim still remembered how the uptight salesman had treated him that first week.

---------

“Rookie,” Dwight had said.  “I told Michael we didn’t need you, but for some reason it’s my job to make sure that you don’t disgrace the company.  First off, you need a haircut.”

“What does that have to do with selling paper?” Jim asked as he stared at the older salesman.  He noted silently that Dwight’s awful man-perm had to be just as long as his.

Dwight saw the stare.  “We deal with professionals.  They have expectations, Rookie.  My hair may be long, but the style screams, ‘professional.’”

“The name is Jim,” Jim said politely.

“Well, if you show you’re worthy of being a salesman at Dunder Mifflin, I might even bother to learn it.”  Dwight shoved an apple into his mouth and took a huge bite.

“Well, as much as I look forward to that,” Jim replied, “I have work to do.”

“Well, you’ll never outwork me,” Dwight boasted.  “I have a perfect immune system, I don’t take vacations, and I never celebrate holidays.”

“Wow.  You must have a ton of vacation time saved up.”

“I’ll never take it.  My clients depend on me to always be there.  And I will be.  Until I’m made regional manager.”

“Sounds like you have it all planned out.”

Dwight smiled, letting bits of apple fall out of his mouth.  “That’s how Michael did it, and that’s how I’ll do it.”

Against his better judgment, Jim asked, “So what’s the deal with Michael?”

“There is no deal,” Dwight replied, puzzled by the question.  “Michael was the best salesman here, then he became the manager.  He is my role model.”

Jim couldn’t help but notice how different Dwight was from his new boss.  “Well, alright then.  I guess that answers that question.  I’ll just be getting to work.”

And that was how he spent his first day at Dunder Mifflin, with his head down, talking to potential clients.  Stanley had mumbled hello, Phyllis had given him a slightly creepy stare, and Michael had periodically came out and mangled bits of old comedy routines.   He looked over at the reception desk a few times, careful not to be caught staring at the cute girl with honey blonde hair.

Selling paper wasn't too hard.  Jim had always gotten along with people, so cold calls weren’t that intimidating to him.  Shortly before five, Michael came over to his desk and asked him how he had managed his “first day in the inferno.”

Jim wasn’t sure about his total, so he took a minute and added the figures.  “Looks like I sold 500 reams today with monthly contracts for two hundred.” 

He looked up to see Dwight’s pale, shaken face and heard his new boss say, “Better look out Dwight.  That’s more than you sold your first day.”

“Beginner’s luck,” Dwight snarled.

---------

Pam arrived at the office, and taking advantage of the fact that neither the office staff nor the camera crew was present yet, sat on Jim’s lap and gave him a kiss.

“What were you doing?” Pam asked.  “You looked like you were deep in thought.”

“I was just thinking about my first day here,” Jim admitted.

“Well, that’s what anniversary’s are for,” Pam agreed.  “Do you remember the end of your first month?”

“Yeah.  Dwight called all of my new clients one week before they were due for their next order and offered them a discount for signing a two-year deal with him.  All of my commissions for the month walked out the door.”  Truth be told, he was still bitter about that.  His first student loan payments were due and he really needed the money.

“Well, some good came of it,” Pam said with a smile.

“I put Dwight’s phone in Jello.”

“Your fist prank,” Pam said, looking nostalgic.  “It was a thing of beauty.

“Yeah, that’s one of the reasons I came in early today.  I was thinking about coating the wheels of his desk chair with silicon so when he pushes back from his desk he’ll go flying….”

“Jim,” Pam pleaded.  “Dwight and Angela are fighting.  You know he’s been depressed.  It wouldn’t be right.”

“But Pam, it’s Dwight.  I mean, how can I not…”

“Please, he’s tried to be really nice to me lately.  Pranking him now would just be mean.”

“Fine,” Jim grumbled.  “The things I do for you, Beesley.”

---------

When Meredith arrived, she asked Jim to sign her cast.  As she handed Jim a Sharpie and lifted her skirt, Jim thought, “The weird thing is that this doesn’t even make the top one hundred strange things that have happened to me since I came to work at Dunder Mifflin.”  But as he snuck a look at a smirking Pam he thought, “She’s worth it.”

---------

After Dwight began his contest with the Dunder Mifflin website to see who would be the top salesman, Pam’s resistance to pranking the uptight salesman wavered.  After the air horn went off, she agreed with her boyfriend.  Sometimes it was a good thing that he wasn’t a perfect person.

---------

They meet for lunch in the break room, happy for a few moments of relative peace in a day of air horns, Michael gloating, and death glares from accounting.

“So, you said you had something special planned for tomorrow night,” Pam ventured.  “Should I pack a bag?”

Jim smirked, knowing he had managed to arouse Pam’s curiosity.  And anything that made Pam aroused was good in his book.  “Nope, there’s nothing you need to bring.  But I really think you’ll like it.”

“That’s all you’re going to say,” Pam said with fake exasperation.

“Yep,” Jim replied smugly.

“What if I already have plans for Friday?”

“Well then, I think you should break them.  You won’t be disappointed.”

She was just about to respond to that when Michael barged into the break room.  With his too-wide smile, he announces that he has two tickets to the launch party in New York. 

Pam meets Jim’s eyes.  It would be nice to spend the anniversary of their meeting in New York.  Maybe they could take Friday off and make it a long weekend in the City. 

“Are they ready for that?” Pam thought to Jim,

“What are we waiting for?” Jim thought. 

Michael had been barking about something, but it couldn’t be that important.

“Sure,” Jim said.

“Great,” Michael responded enthusiastically.  “I was thinking Pam, but a boy’s night out would be good, too.”

Jim and Pam began processing the information.  Pam reached the finish line first.  “One of the tickets is for Michael,” she said.  The painful realization was evident on Jim’s face.

“Well, you two decide and let me know,” Michael said, showing unusual sensitivity by letting them reach a decision in private.  The last thing he wanted was to intrude on their relationship.  At least as long as he was with Jan.  When he told his girlfriend that Pam had seen his penis, the look that she gave him was truly frightening.

As soon as the door closed, both Jim and Pam say, “Not it.”

Pam declared herself the winner.

“No way,” Jim argued, surprising Pam a little.  “I guess there are some things he’s willing to fight about,” she thought.  And of course, one of them was spending hours trapped in a car with Michael. 

Still, after Diwali, Pam had sworn that she would never let herself be trapped alone in a car with Michael again.  “Tie goes to the girlfriend,” she stated.

Phrased that way, Jim couldn’t argue.  But that meant there was no way he was going to tell her what he’d planned for Friday night.  Let her stew on that for the evening while he was quarantined with Michael.

---------

As he prepared to with Michael, Jim whispered a few things to Pam.  They decided on the next message Pam would be emailing Dwight using the new email account they had set up for the computer.

Pam said, “So, I guess I’m spending tonight at my place, all alone.”

“Well, you can sleep at my place, but I won’t be in until late if I know Michael.”

“So you aren’t worried about me finding anything that will spoil the surprise for tomorrow?”

“Oh no, everything is placed in a secured location,” Jim assured her.

“Really,” Pam said.  “And you’re not going to give me any hints?”  She put on her biggest pout.

“Okay,” Jim relented.  “Just think about our journey,” he whispered.  “Look in my photo album if it’ll help.”

And with that, Michael and Jim left for New York.