.
The drive back to school went unnaturally fast. She wanted to put all of this Roy stuff behind her. She got a call from Kelly an hour ago. She was at some sorority rush party. She said that she just wanted to see where she was at. That excuse wasn’t a hundred percent believable, but Pam wasn’t in the mood to investigate Kelly’s motives. As she came over that hill and saw campus lit up against a comparatively dark city she was glad to be back to her life. No more distractions.
She parked her car and walked to the building. She wondered if Jim was really still awake. It was already 3, but Jim went to bed at ungodly hours on most nights. As she got closer to the building she could see his window. The light was on. She decided to stop by her room first and drop off her purse and her coat. When she reached her door she saw a note hanging on it.
Pam, Don’t come in. I have a friend over. –Kelly
Kelly had sexiled her at 3 in the morning. ‘You suck Kelly!’ If only she was ballsy enough to say that out loud.
She went up to Jim’s room and tapped lightly on the door.
“Hi.” After 1 am he didn’t expect her to show up.
“Hey. I hope you didn’t wait up for me.”
“Jim Halpert waits up for no one.”
“Well does Jim Halpert want to invite me in?”
“I don’t know, let me ask him – Yes, he would.” He moved away from the entrance and allowed her to pass.
She sat down on his bed. “So Kelly sexiled me.”
“Sexiled?”
“Yeah, she exiled me from room to have sex. Sexiled.” He still looked a little confused. “Dwight never sexiled you? Wait, don’t tell me. That is one image I want to keep out of my head.”
He laughed and sat down next to her. “Where were you going earlier?”
She sighed loudly. “Long story short, I had to drive Roy back to Scranton.”
His heart dropped into his stomach. She noticed that look in his eyes. “No, he came with his brother and he left him here and he was drunk and alone. So I drove him back.”
That didn’t answer any of his questions, but she looked tired and she didn’t seem like she was in the mood for 20 questions. “Are you tired?”
“A little. Four and half hours of driving will do that to you.”
He nodded. “Do you want to watch some TV for a bit? Just until Kelly is done doing, you know.” He shuddered at the thought.
“Sure,” she said through her yawn.
“You can sleep here if you want.” She suddenly wasn’t as tired anymore. “I mean, you can have the bed and I’ll take the chair.”
“You don’t have to.”
“It’s not a big deal. That’s where I get most of my sleeping done at. Just sitting in front of the TV and sleeping in that chair.”
She looked down at the bed and then over at him and then at herself. “I think we can both fit in the bed.” Although those words seemed to just roll off of her tongue it took all she had to spit them out.
“No, it’s fine. You take the bed and I’ll take the chair.”
“Are you denying your best friend the pleasure of your company in bed?” That is not what she meant. “I meant... that did not come out right.”
He laughed at her confusion. “Okay, but only because I wouldn’t want to deny you all of this.” He pointed down at his body.
She kicked off her shoes and threw her jacket on the chair. She scooted over in the bed and got under the covers. He walked over to the door and turned off the lights. He walked slowly back to the bed. Was this really happening? Could he actually do this? He grabbed the corner of the blanket and slid under the covers. She was facing the wall on her side and he mimicked the shape of her body but made sure to never touch her. He was pretty sure that he wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight, but as soon as he heard her steady breathing he was a goner. He didn’t know that the sound of someone breathing could be so calming. His eyes were on her back and he watched as it rose and fell every few seconds. Then subconsciously or not, he inched his way closer to her until his chest was touching her back and he wrapped an arm around her stomach. She nestled up closer and he was glad that she was here.
“Night Pam.” He whispered into her hair.
In the morning she woke up to a white blur. Her face was buried in Jim’s shirt. He was still sleeping and his hands were comfortably on her waist. She breathed in his scent. Why hadn’t they done this sooner? She closed her eyes and went back to sleep. The next time she woke up Jim was gone. She sat up in the bed and glanced over the room. He left a note on her purse. She reached down on the floor. It said that he forgotten that he had a study group this morning but asked her to meet him for dinner later. She got out of the bed and fixed it. It was the least she could do. She grabbed all of her stuff and walked out of the room.
Kelly wasn’t in the room when she got back. She sat down at her computer and noticed that stupid picture. Why did she still have it up? She grabbed it and put it in her bottom drawer on her desk. She eventually got ready that afternoon. She wandered down to the office at noon because she knew Ryan was working.
“Question Ryan?”
“Yeah,” he said without looking up from his book.
“Where were you at last night at 3?” That look on his face said it all. “No Ryan. Come on. In my room? Please just lie to me and say it wasn’t you.”
“I wish I could.”
She laughed at him, he clearly regretted it, but Kelly had her hooks in him now and there was no escaping that.
“Where did you sleep last night?”
Before she could answer Katy walked in the room.
“Hey guys. Have any of you seen Jim?”
Pam lied and said no.
“Well, if you see him can you tell him that I think I left my sweater in his room.”
“Your sweater?” That wasn’t the question that she really wanted to ask.
“Yeah, you know how it is when you’re dating someone. Always leaving all of your stuff in each others’ rooms. See you guys later.” Katy got the reaction she was hoping for.
“Way to go Halpert.”
“Really?!?” She sighed. She felt like a complete idiot. Jim wasn’t interested in her. He had a girlfriend and she was practically throwing herself at him last night. It all made sense now. He didn’t want to sleep with her in the bed last night. This morning when she woke up with his arms on her waist he probably thought it was Katy. She was reading the signs wrong again.
She was lost in her thoughts. She didn’t see Karen walk in. She walked over to her mailbox and threw some papers in it. “You okay?”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you.”
“I have no idea.”
“Hey, maybe you can help me. I need someone to help cut out all of these stupid blood alcohol charts for my program next week.” Karen picked up the giant stack of papers back out of the box. “Tempting, I know. How ‘bout I throw in some food as payment?”
“Sure,” she said very unenthusiastically.
Karen grabbed the huge stack of papers and two pairs of scissors from the desk, and walked into the TV lounge. Pam followed.
“So why are you so down in the dumps today?” Karen sat down in front of the TV.
“Stupid boys. Stupid me, I guess.” Pam sat next to her.
Pam thought about what she would say to Jim later at dinner. Would she apologize for putting him in an uncomfortable position? Would she say congratulations on the relationship? Why didn’t he tell her about Katy?
Karen felt bad for her. “What are you doing later?”
“Me?” Karen nodded. “I’ll probably just get some dinner and then sit around here.”
“I know technically this isn’t allowed, but I’m going to a party if you want to tag along.”
She thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, why not?” She really needed a break from this on going saga of will they or won’t they.
The two sat there for awhile just cutting the paper and talking about people. It was nice to talk to another girl who didn’t abbreviate ‘oh my God.’ Actually it was nice to talk to a girl who didn’t say ‘oh my God’ every third sentence.
“So what’s Toby’s story?”
“He was in love with this girl for two years and things were going good between the two of them and then one day out of nowhere she ended it. He used to be a really happy person.”
Pam nodded her head. “I know that story.” Pam suddenly felt empathy for Toby. She would make it a point to be nicer to him. “What about Meredith? I never see her.”
“Meredith... she’s pretty much trashed 24/7. Last year she almost got fired, but Stanley didn’t want to spend the time looking for a replacement.”
“Awesome.”
“She’s nice though. Just drunk.”
They reached the last sheet of paper and Pam let Karen take it. It was already 4. They had really taken their time doing this. She was supposed to meet Jim in an hour for dinner. She really didn’t want to go. She didn’t want to sit across from him and have to look into those eyes. Spending more time with him wasn’t going to help her stop wanting him. She wasn’t that girl, that desperate girl who would do anything for the man she wanted. She would step back and let Jim be with the girl he had chosen.
Karen placed the last chart on top of the pile and exhaled loudly. She could see that Pam was having it out with herself again. “I was going to go downtown and get some food before the party. Alcohol and dorm food never sit well with me. We could do a little window shopping and then grab some food before the party.”
This was the out she was looking for. She could just tell Jim that she had made plans and she couldn’t go to dinner with him. She looked down at her clothes; she was wearing jeans and a hoodie. “I should probably change first.”
“If you want. It’s not really a fancy party. Just some old RA buddies and few new ones.”
“I’ll just change my shirt.”
“Alright, meet me at my room in 15 minutes.”
“Okay.”
She went to her room first. Grabbed a tank top and put a cardigan on over it. She looked herself over in the mirror. She looked at her hair up in that ratty bun and pulled it out. She was going to be someone else tonight. Someone who was just there to have fun. She was going to take a page out of Kelly’s book, not the page that was drenched in pink, of course. She put a little makeup on and she was ready to go. Now for the hard part, she had to go cancel her dinner with Jim.
His door was open when she got up there. He was sitting in front of his computer. She cleared her throat to announce herself. He was taken aback a little when he saw her. She really got dressed up for just a little dinner in dining hall.
“You look great.”
“Thanks.” She smiled, but then she remembered what she was here for. She stopped herself from entering the room.
“You’re a little early though.”
“Actually, I came up here to tell you that I can’t go to dinner with you.”
“Oh.”
“Karen invited me to this thing.”
“Oh cool. Have fun.”
“Thanks. You too.” She turned around and walked down the hall, but she stopped for a brief second. She wanted to mention Katy, but she would leave this one alone. If he wanted her to know about Katy he would have told her.
Jim was still sitting in the chair watching her walk away. Why was it always one step forward and then two steps back with Pam?
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Pam hears something unexpected.
Chapter End Notes:
Next chapter Pam parties it up with Karen. Thank you for all the reviews. They really do keep me motivated to keep writing.
