“Michael?” Holly asked, gently knocking on the door of Michael’s office.
“Yes, Holly?” said Michael, hastily clicking the computer mouse. Holly smiled. She could have sworn she just heard “Wannabe” by Spice Girls. “How was your weekend, Holly-gram?”
“It was fine, I finally found an apartment,” Holly said, sitting down on a chair across from Michael.
“That’s great! Where is it?”
“It’s on Haven Blvd.,” Holly replied. “Yeah, I’m still getting settled in…”
“I see…so what can I do for you?” Michael asked, fidgeting with his ‘World’s Greatest Boss’ mug.
“Michael, were you listening to the Spice Girls?” Holly asked chuckling. She saw Michael blush.
“No, I mean yeah, but I was just…I was just trying to find some new music, and that song just came up…” Michael stammered.
“I’m not making fun,” Holly said smiling. “So you’re looking for some new music?”
“Yes, do you have any suggestions?”
“Well, you should check out ‘Colorblind’ by Counting Crows…it’s my favorite song,” Holly said.
“Okay, I will check that out…but anyway, what can I do for you, Holly?” Michael asked, twirling his thumbs.
“I know it’s rude of me to ask, but I have a lot of heavy boxes sitting in a storage box, and I was just…I was just wondering if you can help me out?” Holly said shyly, looking at her feet.
“Of course I can!” Michael exclaimed.
Holly looked up at Michael and smiled. Michael stood up, and walked out of his office. Slightly confused, Holly followed.
“Okay everybody, our new HR rep, Holly, needs someone to help her move in to her new apartment…so…any takers?” Michael called. Holly blushed.
“No, really—“
“No, I will find someone to help you…any takers?” Michael asked the office again. Everyone hastily went back to work. Holly felt her face burning now.
“You know what? I’ll help, Holly,” Jim said, getting up. Holly looked up at him. He looked very tired.
“Thank you, Jim, but…”
“No really…I’ll help out,” Jim said smiling.
“Okay, thank you, Jim,” Holly said as Michael went back into his office.
Jim and Holly took separate cars to U-Haul, and rented a small truck. They both drove back to Holly’s storage unit, and silently put boxes into the truck.
“Listen, Jim, I really appreciate this,” Holly said to Jim.
“No problem. It’s just nice to get out…Pam and I haven’t really been talking this weekend,” Jim said, wiping sweat off his forehead.
“I’m sorry to hear that…can I ask why?”
“Oh…it’s…kind of a long story,” Jim said uncomfortably. Holly understood.
They got back to Holly’s new apartment, and they brought up all the boxes. When they finished, they drove back to U-Haul to return the keys to the truck. Just before Jim reached his car, Holly called out to him.
“I know this is going to sound weird, but…can I buy you a drink?” Holly asked. Jim wore a confused expression on his face, so Holly laughed, “Don’t worry, I’m not hitting on you…I’ve just been bored all weekend, and I thought…I thought it would be nice to talk to someone.”
“Sure, that sounds good,” Jim said, but he didn’t sound very enthusiastic.
Holly followed Jim’s car over to Poor Richard’s. When they arrived, Jim ordered a beer, and Holly ordered a glass of red wine. She wasn’t a heavy drinker, but she just needed someone to talk to. She felt so alone ever since she moved to Scranton, and couldn’t help but feel sorry for herself that the highlight of the last five days had been fixing a broken chair with Michael. She also felt embarrassed whenever she thought about him. There was no way that he could like her.
“So how are you liking Scranton so far?” Jim asked, interrupting Holly’s thoughts about Michael.
“I like it okay, I guess,” Holly said, “maybe it’s too soon to tell…I don’t know.”
“It’s not much, but it’s an okay place to live,” Jim said, downing his beer, and holding the empty bottle up to the bartender, who took it and gave Jim another beer.
“Yeah, it seems okay…” sighed Holly. They sat together in silence for awhile, and Holly began to feel guilty for asking Jim to go out for a drink. She had really wanted to talk to him about Michael. After all, Michael had said that they were best friends. “So are you sure everything is okay with you? You seem a little…”
Jim looked up, “Yeah, I mean…not really. Can I tell you something, Holly?”
“Of course. I am your HR rep, aren’t I?”
“Yeah, but keep it off the record?”
“We’re not in the office, go ahead, Jim. What’s wrong?” Holly asked, as Jim took another sip of his beer.
“The reason why Pam and I aren’t talking is because for the last month, I’ve been teasing her about proposing to her. I was going to do it Friday at Toby’s party, but—“
“Andy and Angela…yeah,” Holly said, nodding.
“Exactly! I mean, I gave Phyllis money for the fireworks, and I planned out everything I was going to say to Pam, and then…Andy…you know…” Jim said, staring at his beer bottle. “I tried proposing to her over the weekend, but…I couldn’t. I don’t know why, but I just couldn’t, and I feel like I let her down. She barely said a word to me since Friday night…and I am at a loss as to what I should do now…should I just propose to her tonight?”
“Well…here’s what I think should do,” Holly said, taking another sip of her wine, “I think you should win her back.”
Jim looked stunned, and Holly took notice.
“I’m not saying she doesn’t love you, just show her that you really love her. She’s probably having second thoughts…”
“What kind of second thoughts?” Jim asked, putting his beer down, and chuckling.
“Well…Andy proposed right when you were about to propose to Pam. I’m pretty sure she was expecting you to propose that night, so she’s probably disappointed. Not in you, in herself…if that makes any sense,” Holly said. Jim sat in silence for a little bit, deep in thought. “So just show her that you really love her, Jim…you know, make her feel special.”
“Yeah,” Jim said smiling.
“Get her some flowers tonight, take her out to dinner or something. I’m sure you’ll know what to do,” Holly said, smiling at Jim.
“I think I’ll do that…” Jim said smiling back. “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it, I did nothing but watch romantic comedy movies all day,” Holly said laughing.
“So…” Jim said awkwardly. He felt that it would be rude to leave, even though he wanted to rush out to buy Pam some daisies. “Is everything good with you?”
“Do you want the truth?” Holly asked, feeling tipsy. She was on her third glass of wine.
“Of course, you helped me out, maybe I can help you out,” Jim replied, giving Holly a crooked smile.
Holly sighed. “Things are okay, it’s just that…I asked Michael out Friday night, and he declined…and I don’t know. He seems like a great guy, and I think I like him.”
Out of kindness, Jim tried his best not to look surprised at what Holly had just said.
“He declined?” Jim asked. “That’s weird, because he…nevermind.”
“He what?” Holly asked quickly, looking anxious.
“Well,” Jim said, “I’m usually not the gossiping type but…”
“But…?”
“Friday afternoon, Michael pulled me into his office to ask about songs he should download…for you,” Jim replied. He was starting to feel a little like Kelly, and at that moment, he hated himself a little. I’ll just blame it on the beers, he thought.
Holly smiled, and started to laugh. “He told me that he was going to make me a CD…” Holly said, more to herself than Jim.
It was Tuesday. Holly was getting ready to go home from a long day at the office. Michael had barely come to talk to her, and she was beginning to think that Jim was just pulling her leg about Michael. Holly thought back on the conversation she and Jim had. She told Jim that she found Michael sweet, funny, and caring.
“He’s a good guy,” Holly remembered Jim saying, “A couple of years ago, he organized this inspirational seminar thing on a booze cruise. Back then, Pam was engaged to some other guy…I told Michael about my feelings for her, and yeah…I guess in a weird way, he inspired me.”
Holly couldn’t help but smile at that thought. She didn’t know why, but thinking about Michael made her feel like a teenaged girl, giddy over the fact that a cute boy smiled at her.
But today, she had barely seen Michael. He had been in his office all day, and she couldn’t gather the courage to go talk to him. She sighed, as she picked up her purse, and shut down her computer, and headed out of the annex. Through the kitchen windows, she saw Jim and Pam leaving together, smiling and holding hands. She smiled to herself as she made her way out of the kitchen into the main office. Before she reached to door, she heard Michael bustling out of his office.
“Holly…um…I made you this,” Michael said shyly, handing her a CD. Holly smiled at him, and it took all of her willpower to not kiss Michael.
“Thank you,” she said, taking the CD. ‘Welcome to Scranton, Holly!’ the CD read.
“No problem, just making sure you feel…welcome here,” Michael said, giving Holly a quick smile. “Well, I have to finish up some paper work…Have a good night.”
“You too,” Holly said, still smiling.
When she got into her car, she popped the CD in. The first song was “Wannabe” by Spice Girls, and Holly laughed to herself. She decided to just scan through the songs on the CD. U2, Phil Collins, Run DMC, Bonnie Tyler, and a bunch of other corny music were on the CD. Holly couldn’t help but smile to herself. Michael even liked the same kind of music that she did. When Holly got to the last track on the CD, she felt a lump in her throat. It was “Colorblind” by The Counting Crows. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt tears brimming in her eyes.
“He’s perfect,” Holly said out loud to herself, as she took the CD out of her car stereo, and got up to her apartment.
