The first thing Jim felt when he woke up was the rough rope against his wrists. Rope? When did he do anything that involved rope? He thought back to last night. He and Pam had watched a movie, (27 Dresses, it was Pam’s choice this week) and then they had fallen asleep on the couch. The last thing he remembered was his face buried in Pam’s red hair, and his arm curling over her stomach as the credits had played. But nothing involved rope.
Curious now, he opened his eyes. With unusual calm, he scanned over his surroundings. He was in what looked like a broken down, bare apartment, with walls torn and glass all over the floor. He noticed that besides his wrists, his ankles were also bound, and his arms, waist and legs were all tied to the too small chair he sat on.
As he scoured his memory for thoughts of the past night that could have lead to him being tied up in a messy apartment, he suddenly remembered Pam. What if something had happened to her? He had just assumed that it was just him in this apartment, but what if Pam was in another one of these rooms, also tied up? It was then that the full momentum of what was happening began to occur to him, and he felt his heart begin to race.
He was trying to take deep breathes to calm himself, when he heard a familiar voice. “Look who’s up.”
Jim turned to see Toby walk towards him. What was Toby doing here? Did he know where Pam was? Did he get called here to help Jim because he was HR or … Nothing was making sense anymore.
“I’ve been waiting forever for you to get up Jim.” Toby’s voice didn’t exactly sound like the one Jim had been used to for all these years. It was slightly more high pitched, and it was full of self-assurance.
“Toby? What’s going on?” But Toby didn’t answer Jim, it was almost like he didn’t hear him.
“You had Karen, you know? She’s such a beautiful woman, smart, bold, kind…well, maybe not too kind.” Toby chuckled to himself. Then his face went serious again. “You seemed happy. But that wasn’t enough, was it? You couldn’t just stand being happy, you had to crush other peoples’ chance for happiness.”
“Toby, I really have no idea what’s going - ” Jim was cut off by Toby’s hand smacking his face. It was harder than Jim could have imagined.
“You’ll talk, when I say you talk.” Toby snarled, and for the first time since he woke up, Jim felt a rush of pure fear.
“Yes, you killed Karen’s chance for happiness. You broke up with her. You broke her heart. And then you killed my chance for happiness. You took Pam.”
“What?” Jim whispered so softly Toby couldn’t hear him. He decided to take a chance again and spoke louder. “Are you – you’re in love with Pam?”
Toby laughed. “I’m not just in love with her, I am her. I know things about her that you’ll never know. I’ve studied every detail of her over the years, longer than from when you’ve ever known her. And you just think you’ll take her away from me? NO! SHE’S MINE! SHE’S ALWAYS BEEN MINE!”
“Toby…” But Jim stopped, because he saw Toby pulling something from his pocket. But it was just a piece of paper. Toby unfolded it, and then put it on Jim’s lap. Jim had to squint to make out the words that a heartbroken Pam was reading miles away from him right at this very moment.
Pam
I don’t know why I tried to do this. I’m not in love with you. I’ve never been in love with you. I was just confused about my feelings, but they’re clear now. I’ve already turned in my resignation to Dundler Mifflin, and I’ve left town by the time you read this.
Don’t try and come after me, you won’t find me, and even if you do, nothing will happen. I just can’t find anything to love about you, no matter how hard I try.
Jim
“I left an identical copy of that right by Pam, so it’s the first thing she’ll wake up to. Nobody will ever believe that you’ve been taken against your will, because Pam knows that you didn’t truly love her. In a way Jim, I was just writing out your feelings. I’ve just sped up the inevitable.”
The rest of Toby’s words grew mute as Jim stared at the letter that Pam was currently holding in her hands at this moment, crunching it up as she laid her head in her arms.
And at exactly the same time, their tears began to fall.
Author's Chapter Notes:
You know what really ticks me off about the Office fanfiction? There’s not enough action. I mean, I love a lot of the fanfiction on here, I’ve found quite a lot of stories I like. But you really don’t see anything that really requires the Office to get out there and fight. So, I have come up with a solution. Tell me if you like it, and hopefully we’ll get more of these stories out there.
I don’t own the Office or 27 Dresses (no, it’s not a crossover).
I don’t own the Office or 27 Dresses (no, it’s not a crossover).
