Chapter 3: Inventory Part 2: Rain
After Pam seemed to have vented all she could Jim helped her up and told her to get some water. When she left he picked up the paper clips that had fallen from her hands over and over again and clenched them in his fists. They felt like they were still warm from her touching them, or maybe that was just his body reacting to the sudden heat from her. She’d been so close to him, lying on his chest, he was convinced she had left an imprint. It was the kind that he couldn’t see but that he could feel.
Jim placed the last of the paper clips back in the box as she came back down the warehouse stairs and approached him.
“Are you feeling better?” he asked, trying to remember what he needed to count next.
Pam nodded and picked up her tally pad. “Yeah, I guess. How much stuff do we need to count yet?”
It was funny how things got pushed so far behind them. The scene that happened not more than ten minutes ago felt like it’d been gone for years. “We still have the rest of the manila folders, highlighters, sharpies, more post-its and file boxes.”
“Wow, feels like we haven’t been doing anything.” The sentence was more weighted than she knew.
Jim nodded and handed her boxes of highlighters. “Yeah, we could have done more. A lot more than that.”
Pam wasn’t looking at him when he said it. But she knew he wasn’t talking about the stack of ball point pens.
~*~*~*~
After an hour or so of counting and tallying Pam realized the silence had set in again. She didn’t know where it could have been hiding but it felt like as soon as the last words left either of their mouths it struck again; blocking them from talking. There had been little comments about highlighters, the job she didn’t get, tallies and Jim sneezed once but other than that it had been silent.
“Are you hungry?” Jim asked her suddenly.
She hadn’t noticed her stomach had been growling. It was odd since it sounded like that loudest thing in the room. “That obvious?” She placed a hand over her stomach as if to silence it.
Jim smiled. “Sounds like you swallowed a lion. Come on, I’ll buy you dinner at the vending machine.”
Pam smirked and echoed his footsteps up the stairs. The silence didn’t follow them.
~*~*~*~
The closest vending machine was near the parking lot in the lobby. It was easier than going three floors up to their office break room. Jim played with the coins in his hands and looked in the machine.
“The real question is now, chips or candy?”
Pam leaned against the wall next to the vending machine and felt her grumbling stomach. “This can’t be good for an empty stomach.”
Jim smirked. “You defiantly don’t look like the type who would eat cookies before dinner.”
She smiled. “I was the queen of stealth; I took cookies when I wanted to.”
Jim nodded. “Well queen of stealth, chips or candy?”
She observed the selection and motioned him to push the coins into the slot. He did so and she pushed A4, which let M&M’s drop to the opening. She reached her hand through and pulled out the bag.
“Candy.” She said and smiled.
He smiled too as she walked over to the glass doors and opened the small bag of chocolate. He suddenly had a craving for candy as well.
~*~*~*~
“Were they calling for rain today?” Pam asked as she leaned against the railing near the glass doors.
Jim shook his head and poured M&M’s into his hands. “I don’t think so but you know the Scranton Weather Team.” He rolled his eyes. “They don’t know up and down let alone rain or shine.”
“That sounded like an advertisement for a Post Office.” She giggled.
Jim raised his eyebrows and turned sideways to face her. “Are you saying my goal in life is to be a postman?”
Pam nodded. “Yes, you most defiantly should. I could see you working the tight blue shorts already.”
Jim shook his head, embarrassed. “Thank you so much.”
Pam looked out at the pouring rain hitting the only two cars in the parking lot. There were only two street lights and they were blinking on and off due to the thunder and lightening.
“I hope the power doesn’t go out.” She said suddenly turning to head back to the warehouse.
“Yeah, whatever shall we do? Oh I know, we could go home.”
“And miss the excitement of counting more ball point pens? Take it back Jim, take it back.”
Jim laughed and followed her down the stairs of the warehouse and shook his head suddenly. As he reached the bottom he went to the nearest trash can and shook his hand a bit. The chocolate had melted in his hands.
~*~*~*~
“How many highlighters?” Jim asked tearing off a piece of notebook paper.
“Forty seven boxes.” She answered.
“And…” He glanced at the sheet. “Sharpies?”
“Twenty seven blue ones, thirty two red ones and ninety one black ones.”
Jim smiled looking up from the paper. “In boxes?”
She rolled her eyes. “No individually I counted a hundred and forty and some sharpies. Yes in boxes you dork.”
“Maybe if you spent more time counting than you do calling me names, we would actually get work done.”
She made a huge “O” shape with her mouth and punched him lightly in the arm. “Right that whole half an hour when you kept throwing M&M’s at me was completely my fault.”
“You returned fire; of course it was your fault.”
She shook her head. “You’re completely twelve years old.” She leaned against him to glance at the sheet. He wondered if she noticed he was doing it on purpose so she’d have to lean in close to him to see it. “How much left?”
“File boxes and the rest of the manilas and we’re done.”
She looked around the cluttered tables. “Where are those?”
Jim looked around as well and pointed over to the shelves. “I think some of them are up there.”
Pam started to head over when he pulled her arm. “What are you doing?”
“I’m getting the boxes and folders.” She pulled her arm free.
“And leave you to climb on a ladder with your type of gracefulness? I don’t think so.”
Pam scrunched her eyebrows and followed him to the shelves. “What about my gracefulness?” she pouted.
He smiled. “You don’t have any.”
“Oh and you do?” She watched him climb up the ladder and smiled.
“As a matter of fact I do. I just happened to be the captain of my junior high basketball team.”
She rolled her eyes and giggled. “Which has nothing to do with gracefulness and agility.”
Jim shook his head. “Take it back Pam before I drop files on you.”
Pam lifted her hands in defeat. “I’m sorry if I mocked you.”
Jim nodded and stacked three file boxes on top of each other and folders on top of that. “Yeah, you bet you’re sorry.”
He lifted them in one swift motion and descended the ladder carefully; Pam stepped back watching him do so. Although Jim’s balance was short lived when he turned and tripped on the final step of the ladder. He fell foreword sending the boxes and folders in the air and they landed before he did on the tables of sharpies and pens. Jim landed a few inches away from the ladder on mostly his chest and elbows and Pam rushed to the floor as he turned on his back.
Jim grunted painfully. “I take it back, I have no agility.”
Pam went behind him as he tried to lean foreword. But he gave out and slumped back down on her. His head was leaning on her shoulder and she was between holding his chest and reaching for his arms. “Oh my god Jim, you scared the crap outta me. Are you ok?”
“Yeah, I think. I’m not gonna from anything if that’s what you’re worried about. Except from embarrassment. I might die from that.”
She smiled slightly and gave his torso a squeeze. She didn’t care if he gave a light groan from it; he could have gotten way more hurt than he did.
“Here sit up.”
He did so watched how she suddenly got way more serious as she was looking over his body. She was feeling most of his chest and arms and that’s when he realized that the only pain he had was when she stopped touching him.
“Pam, I‘m ok really. Just a whole lot of bruises.”
“I just want to make sure you’re not bleeding anywhere.” She was touching his arms now and he grabbed one of her hands with his own.
“Pam. I’m ok, really.”
She looked at him and nodded. She grabbed one of his arms and draped it over her shoulder as she helped him stand. He grabbed his side a bit as he stood and she guided him over to the stairs.
“I think I bruised my ribs.” He said a bit painfully.
She sat on the stair below his and shook her head. “I think bruised your brain.” She said quietly.
He noticed she smiled after that and he smirked. “Are you laughing at me?” he asked.
She covered her mouth and shook her head, although it was clear she was hiding a fit of giggles.
“I can’t believe this. I fell from a ladder and you’re laughing at me.” He shook his head. “I can‘t imagine what you would have done If I would have fell from a higher step.”
“I’m sorry; it was just the macho speech before hand.”
“Yeah, yeah now my ego’s bruised too. Thank you.” He grunted feeling his ribs again and she nodded.
She grabbed his hand from his ribs and squeezed it. “I’m glad you’re ok.”
He nodded and wouldn’t tear his eyes from her own. She didn’t look away either as he started descending to her step and he leaned closer to her. Their foreheads touched and Pam let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. When the air reached Jim’s lips he felt like he was on fire and the imprints she’d left on his skin felt like they’d been left by a branding iron.
Their lips were a half an inch apart when Pam stuttered. “Jim…what— I-I have to get something from my car.”
He pulled away and shook his head. “I’m sorry.”
But she was already up the stairs and out the door. He followed her as fast as he could; it felt like his bones were breaking.
~*~*~*~
Jim made it to the lobby and stopped when he realized Pam hadn’t left. She was leaning against the railing again staring out into the rain. He went up to her slowly in case she decided to bolt and leaned against the door.
Her knuckles were turning white; she was gripping the railing so hard. He guessed she wasn’t running because she forgot it was raining. “Those weather men can be really unpredictable.”
She shook her head. “So can a lot of things.”
He wanted to apologize again but God help him; he couldn’t find one thing to be sorry for. “Still need to run out to your car? I mean, I could do it if you want.”
She turned to face him and shook her head. “I can’t remember what I was going to get.”
Pam confused him really. She never could decide on anything. She was clearly avoiding the situation but she wasn’t doing a very good job at it. “So, in a matter of five minutes you forgot what you wanted in your car?” he was challenging her and it felt like the right thing to do for once.
She didn’t say anything though; she just turned her back to him and shook her head.
“Or do you not want to get wet?”
“I don’t want to get soaked.” She said finally but he could tell she was just thinking of something that she could actually grab from her car.
Jim came up behind her and whispered. “What if you don’t have a choice?”
Pam’s eyes widened as she felt Jim wrap his arms around her waist and lift her from the floor. She flailed and found herself giggling as he pulled her into the rain.
“Jim! Jim stop, stop!”
But he wouldn’t because she knew she was laughing all the time that he was doing it. When he finally carried her to her car and placed her down, she was soaked.
But then again, so was he. “There you go Beesley. One way ticket to your car.”
She smiled loving the way his hair drooped with droplets of rain. She could feel her own curls filling with water and her clothes were starting to feel heavier.
She shrugged. “I lied; I have nothing to get out of my car.”
She lied about a lot of things. “I know. But I wanted to drag you out here anyway.” He said over the thunder.
She saw the lights blink inside Dunder Mifflin and the street lamps shuddered with their confusion of losing electricity.
When the lights seemed to have gone out she took that moment, with the lightening as the only light, to throw herself in Jim’s arms and push her lips on his. It only took him a second to respond and soon he was lifting her farther into his arms and pushing his lips deeper onto hers. When Pam opened her eyes she saw him again, the street lights had regained their light.
Leave it to Dunder Mifflin’s parking lot to confuse her.
Chapter End Notes:
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