Kelly hesitated a little before knocking on Pam’s door. She really hated to bother Pam again—they were friends, but not really that close. To be honest, Kelly didn’t really have anyone else. Outside of work, her only close friends were her DVD player and her credit card.
She could hear voices on the other side of the door. Pam already had company. Kelly was suddenly sorry she’d come. She turned to leave just as Pam’s door snapped open.
“Kelly?” Pam sounded breathless. “Aren’t you supposed to be out with—“ She stopped when she saw the tears in Kelly’s eyes threatening to fall. “Hey, is everything okay?”
Kelly bit her lip and shook her head. “I…can I come in? I’m sorry that I’m totally intruding or whatever, but I just really need someone to talk to.”
“Yeah, sure,” Pam waved Kelly in and followed her to the living room. Kelly stopped suddenly when she saw Pam’s guest, Jim, sitting on the sofa looking sheepish.
“Oh, hey Jim, I didn’t know you were here. I can totally go…”Kelly turned around but Pam stopped her.
“Don’t worry about it. We were just playing some Scrabble.” Pam motioned toward the Scrabble board. “But we’re pretty much finished. Besides, you look like you could use some company.”
Kelly’s eyes welled up as she and Pam both sat down next to Jim. “Yeah…”
She told them what she’d heard Ryan say when she’d walked into Alfredo’s. After she finished, Jim shared a glance with Pam, and said, “So you didn’t tell him?”
“No. I haven’t told anyone, other than Pam and she told you, I guess.”
“Kelly,” Pam started. “People say stuff they don’t mean all the time. I’m sure Ryan wouldn’t actually kill himself. He was probably exaggerating.”
“It’s not that,” Kelly sighed. “It’s just…I’m not blind, Pam. I saw the look Ryan gave me when we broke up. I know that telling him that I’m pregnant would totally mess up this thing he has going in New York and I really know now that he doesn’t want me back. I think I’ve always known that, I just didn’t really want to face it. Hearing him talking to whoever it was—probably some girl anyway—it just….made me think about it. You know?”
“That is…surprisingly mature of you to say,” Jim said, raising his eyebrows.
“Thanks, Jim.” Kelly smiled weakly. “So, well, what do you guys think I should do now?”
Pam patted Kelly’s hand. “Well, first of all, I think you should keep this quiet around the office. I mean, we all know Michael—“ Kelly nodded at this “and you probably don’t want to deal with Angela if she finds out you’re having an ‘illegitimate’ child. Do you think you can deal with this on your own?”
“Yeah. Totally. I’ll be fine. I’ve always wanted babies anyway. It’ll be awesome.” She said, but her heart wasn’t really in it.
“Ryan’s an asshole, Kelly.” Jim added. “You don’t want him around anyway.”
“Yeah….I know. I think I’ve known for a while.” Kelly sighed a little, and then smiled. “Hey, do you guys want to watch a movie?” Jim cringed at Pam from behind Kelly, but Pam gave him a Look.
“Sure, but I don’t really have any movies you’ll like, I think, Kelly. I mean, I have Legally Blonde but—“
“Oh, no way. I was thinking…how about Better Off Dead? Do you guys like that one?”
“That’s one of my favorite movies!” Pam jumped off the couch and pulled the DVD from one of the shelves and popped it into the player.
Jim’s eyebrows rose. “I didn’t know you’d ever even heard of Better Off Dead.”
“Duh.” Kelly smiled. “John Cusack was totally hot. Well, before he got all old and stuff.”
“Maybe you don’t have such bad taste after all.” Pam said as she plunked back on the sofa between Kelly and Jim.
“Thanks.” Kelly knew she’d meant it as a compliment.
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Ryan drummed his fingers on the table. It was after 8 o’clock. Where was Kelly? He’d been looking around once every thirty seconds or so for a glimpse of her shiny black hair, a twirl of a pink skirt. Listened for the sound of her high, sweet giggle, but there was nothing. She had never been late for a date before—this wasn’t a date, he reminded himself—and he was starting to think that maybe, just maybe…she’d stood him up.
He downed the dregs of his third beer and slammed the bottle on the table a little harder than he meant to. A couple sitting two tables away glared at him. The limit at a “family restaurant” was usually two, but the waiter must’ve seen something in his eyes because he’d brought him the third.
Now he was feeling a little fuzzy, a little jumpy. Not tipsy. Ryan Howard can hold his liquor much better than that, he thought. Three was nothing. Even so, nervous bubbles fizzed in his stomach as he signed the check and walked out to his Sebring. The company had given him the same car they’d given Michael. It was hilarious, really. A girl’s car.
His tie was stifling him. He loosened it and threw the damn thing on the hood of his car. Pulled out his Blackberry. Call her, he thought. I’ll call her. Find out what was so damn important. Why she didn’t show up.
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Pam was snuggling with Jim while trying really hard not to look like it, moving a little closer to him whenever she thought Kelly wasn’t looking. Kelly was snuggling with one of Pam’s throw pillows and trying not to watch the couple on the couch next to her. Her stomach was queasy, and she was considering whether it was worth it to run to the bathroom. Maybe if she ignored it, it would go away.
On screen, it was the weird part with the singing hamburger and she wasn’t really paying attention. She’d never really gotten this little musical number, and she was sort of dozing off when she felt her phone vibrate. “Clumsy” by Fergie echoed through Pam’s tiny living room. They were both looking at her now, and she was staring at her cell phone.
“It’s Ryan,” she mumbled. It was strange to see his number on the little screen.
“Don’t answer.” Jim said firmly, “You don’t want to talk to him.”
“Yeah,” her finger hesitated over the ‘Ignore’ button. Just a little. But she pressed it and shut her phone. Jim was right anyway. She really didn’t want to talk to him.
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“Hey, this is Kelly Kapoor! I’m totally not here right now, so leave me a super awesome message and I’ll call you back as soon as I possibly can! Thank you so much for being awesome and calling me, I’ll be thinking about you all day!”
Please record your message after the tone. When you’ve finished recording, you may hang up or press one for more options. To leave a callback number, press five.
BEEP.
“Hey Kel, it’s uh, it’s Ryan. I—how are you? I’m okay, yeah. Pretty good. Um, so Pam said you wanted to talk to me and well…call me back, I guess. Bye.”
Chapter End Notes:
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