October, 2008
So much happened today. So much pain. So much jealousy…Holly couldn’t take it anymore. She was giving up. There was no point in chasing after something that can’t be caught. Maybe she’ll call the yoga instructor…she just couldn’t stand being alone. No. She can’t. She wouldn’t be able to stand the rejection.
“I’m fine, weirdo.”
“She smells like old tomatoes…and dirt.”
She was expecting Michael to be mean to her. She was prepared for it. She just wasn’t prepared for seeing Michael getting hurt repeatedly by the same woman. He must have gone through it for years. He deserves better. She always saw something in Michael that no one else was able to see. Holly saw Michael as a sweet, caring person.
“Well, you have to tolerate a lot when you are part of a family,” Holly remembered. Michael genuinely cared for his employees, and at the time, Holly couldn’t realize why Michael had made such a big deal. Now she understands.
Holly got up to the filing cabinet, ready to resign from Dunder Mifflin. In the five months she’s been here, she has never felt so alone. Michael felt so close yet so far away. She couldn’t stand seeing him everyday and not being able to get closer to him. Before she found what she was looking for, she heard the annex door opening. Michael looked heartbroken.
“You still gonna be mean to me?” Holly asked sarcastically. Michael didn’t answer. He didn’t even look at her face. Am I that hideous?
All of a sudden, Holly felt Michael’s arms wrapping around her waste. She was breathless, stunned, confused…but she didn’t care. Holly put her arms around Michael’s back, her eyes burning from tears. The feeling of confusion left her, and was replaced with a feeling of elation. She felt her mouth curving into a smile, and she was no longer to hold her tears back. The camera was staring rudely at them, and she didn’t care. She was too happy to care. After what felt like hours, Michael let her go.
“You wanna go out?”
Holly wiped a tear from her eye, and cleared her throat.
“Yes.”
Holly was in her apartment, looking for something nice to wear. She was excited, nervous, excited…Holly couldn’t remember the last time she felt like this. After trying on at least ten different outfits, Holly settled for a white blouse, black jacket, and a pair of blue jeans. Just as she was finished checking herself in the mirror, the doorbell rang. Holly rushed to the door, unable to contain her smile, and saw Michael smiling at her.
“Hello, m’lady,” Michael said with a fake British accent, as Holly stepped out.
“Why, hello, sir. Beautiful night, yes?” Holly giggled. “So where are we going?”
“I forgot that I have improv tonight…so would you like to come with me to my improv class?” Michael asked, stepping aside so that Holly can get out.
“Oooh, I’ve never been to one,” Holly said, excited, “That sounds like fun, Michael.”
“Yeesh…it should be fun,” Michael said, opening the car door for Holly, “and after, I was thinking we can go back to my condo, order some Zah, and watch ‘The Ring.’”
Holly smiled, and nodded. “That sounds wonderful, Michael. I didn’t know that you were a fan of scary movies.”
“What?”
“The Ring…that movie is really scary.”
“The Ring is not a horror movie. It has Johnny Knoxville, and he tries to join the Special Olympics,” Michael said, tapping his steering wheel. WHAM! was playing in the background.
“Michael, that’s ‘The Ringer.’” Holly said, giggling. “So which is it? ‘The Ring’ or ‘The Ringer?’”
Michael stared straight ahead wearing a confused expression.
“I…uh…” Michael stammered, “I do not know.”
Holly laughed, and so did Michael.
“Looks like we’re going to have to find out,” Holly said, and Michael nodded.
When they got to Michael’s improv class, Michael introduced Holly to his instructor, and asked if it was okay for Holly to participate tonight. The instructor nodded, and Holly took a seat next to Michael. Holly laughed as Michael interrupted everyone’s scenes by yelling, “Agent Michael Scoon, FBI!”
“Michael, no Michael Scarn tonight, please!”
“I’m not Michael Scarn, I’m Michael Scoon!” Michael argued.
Later, Holly and Michael performed a rap together, that no one but them seemed to enjoy. Holly didn’t care. This was actually the most fun she had had on a first date. She loved laughing with Michael. The glares from the others didn’t even bother her. Next, they did a scene in which they were prisoners.
“Yo, Prisoner H!” Michael said, wearing a scowl.
“Prison Mike, long time no see, dawg,” Holly said, doing her best to act tough.
When the class was over, Holly and Michael were laughing as they walked back to Michael’s car. Holly had her arm wrapped around Michael’s, and when they got to Michael’s car, she gave him a swift kiss on his cheek.
“That was a lot of fun, Michael,” Holly said, blushing.
Michael just smiled, he didn’t know what to say, but he felt his cheeks burning. Michael opened Holly’s door for her. On the drive to Michael’s condo, they were singing along to WHAM!
“Wake me up, before you go-go!” they sang together, giggling.
“Well, this is it…this Casa de Scott,” Michael said, getting out of his car.
“Oh, this is such a nice neighborhood,” Holly said, getting out of the car and following Michael to his condo.
“Very gay friendly,” he said, opening the door, “After you, my lady.”
Holly giggled, and walked into Michael’s condo. There was a strong, sweet, burning smell, and Holly scrunched up her nose, letting out a cough.
“Oh, Jan…she used to make candles in here, and the smell never got out,” Michael said. “You’ll get used to it, Holly Berry. Get it? Halle Berry, Holly Berry?”
Holly laughed, “That was good.”
Holly looked around Michael’s condo, and added, “This is a nice place, Michael.”
“Thank you…” Michael said, taking Holly’s jacket. “So let me show you around…”
Michael led Holly around his home, showing her where the bathroom was, and the extra rooms. One of the rooms was filled with boxes filled with pictures of Jan with other men. Holly raised and eyebrow, and looked at Michael.
“Oh,” Michael said, “Jan still hasn’t picked up all of her things.”
“I see,” Holly said, staring at a gigantic collage of Jan.
“She was full of herself…” Michael said, sadly. “She totally sabotaged my condo.”
“I’m sorry, Michael,” Holly said, patting Michael’s arm. Michael felt himself tensing up.
“Not your fault, Holly-gram,” Michael sighed, “So are you hungry? What do you like on your pizza?”
“Oh, pepperoni is fine,” Holly said, following Michael back out to the living room. “Do you have any pictures of you in here?”
“They’re out in the garage,” Michael said, “Jan took them all down, and I never got around to hanging them back up. Do you want to see them?”
“Of course!”
“Well, I’ll just order some pizza, and I’ll meet you there in a jiffy!”
Holly went out to the garage, and saw that it was filled with boxes. All of the boxes were labeled Michael Scott. She felt a surge of pity, when she came to the conclusion that Jan must have told Michael to bring his things out here. Holly walked around, staring at the piles of boxes, and found the one that she was looking for. ‘Pictures.’
Holly pulled it out, and saw many framed pictures of Michael standing with people from the office.
“Oh,” Michael said, Holly turned, and saw he was standing at the door. “I like to take pictures with people from the office before they go on a sales call.”
Holly saw a picture of Dwight and Jim in a frame that said ‘Best Friends,’ and a picture of Michael and Ryan in a frame that was shaped like a heart. She held it up, so that Michael could see it.
“Oh,” Michael said, taking the picture from Holly, “Inside joke…I meant to give it to Ryan on his birthday…”
Holly laughed, and looked through more pictures. She took out a scrap book titled ‘Christmas ‘05” as Michael explained that he loves to scrap book. She looked through all the pictures, Pam with a man that she had never seen before, Jim and Oscar sitting together on the couch, Michael with Meredith, Michael with Daryl, Michael with a lampshade on his head…Holly laughed as Michael explained what was going on. Just then, the doorbell rang. Michael paid for the pizza, as Holly grabbed some sodas from the fridge.
“So let’s see what we’re going to watch,” Michael said, setting the pizza down. “And it looks like we are going to be watching… ‘The Ring.’ Is that the one with Johnny Knoxville?”
“No, that’s the scary one, Michael,” Holly said, giggling.
“Damn it…” Michael grumbled, putting the DVD in the player.
Michael and Holly sat on the couch, eating pizza, and watching the movie. Holly curled her legs up to her chest. She couldn’t stand horror movies, but she didn’t care. She was with Michael. Michael was staring up at the TV with a horrified expression on his face, occasionally gasping when something scary popped up. Holly scooted closer to Michael, and Michael wrapped an arm around her. She leaned into Michael, and all of a sudden, she wasn’t scared. Neither was Michael. The weight of Holly calmed his nerves, and he rested his cheek on the top of Holly’s head, breathing in the sweet scent of her hair. Holly smiled to herself as Michael would occasionally flinch. All of a sudden, Holly had an urge. She got off of Michael, and gave him a hard stare. Michael stared back at her, as her face was getting closer to his. He started to lean in to kiss her…
DING-DONG!
Holly and Michael screamed, and then laughed.
“Who could that be?” Michael wondered out loud. “Don’t move a muscle, I’ll be right back.” Holly nodded, and felt herself blushing. She couldn’t help but to feel annoyed by the doorbell.
“Jan!” Holly heard, Michael crying out. She felt her stomach tremble. “What are you doing here?”
“I need you to watch Astrid,” Holly heard Jan saying.
“I’m kinda busy right now, Jan…”
“What are you doing?”
“I have a…” Holly heard Michael saying. “I have my date over…” Holly smiled. She was dreading hearing the word ‘friend.’
“Who are you on a date with?” Jan demanded. Holly heard footsteps getting closer to her.
“Jan, wait…” Michael started, but he was too late. Jan had seen Holly. Holly didn’t know what to do, so she just gave Jan an awkward smile.
“Oh…” Jan said, turning to Michael. “Can I talk to you, Michael?”
“Jan, I said I was busy…” Michael said, but Jan grabbed Michael’s hand, and led him out of the living room.
“I told you not to date Holly, Michael. Why don’t you ever listen?” Holly heard down the hall. She didn’t mean to intrude, but it was kind of hard not to.
“Jan…you can’t tell me what to do,” Michael sighed.
“What did you say?”
“You can’t tell me what to do, Jan.”
“Just tell me why you’re dating her.”
“Because…she treats me like a person, and I can be myself around her, and she respects me…just…please get out of my house, Jan…”
“Fine, Michael!” Holly heard rapid footsteps going down the hall, and the front door slamming. Holly quickly got up, and walked to the kitchen, trying to appear as if she hadn’t heard anything. She smiled to herself, as she heard soft footsteps coming up behind her.
“Holly,” Michael started.
Holly turned around, and saw Michael wearing the same sad expression that he had before he hugged her earlier. Holly stepped up to Michael, and gave him a warm smile.
"I'm sorry I said that you smelled like old tomatoes and dirt. I think you smell like flowers..." Michael said, and Holly chuckled.
“It’s okay, Michael…” she said, hugging him, and whispering, “I adore everything about you…”
Michael pulled his head back, and looked into Holly’s eyes. Holly leaned her face closer to Michael’s, and he bent his head slightly, and leaned into hers. Their lips met, and Michael wrapped his arms tighter around Holly’s body, still embracing her. When they finally pulled apart, they both laughed nervously.
“So…” Michael said, “do you want to watch ‘Best of the Muppet Show?’”
Holly nodded, and followed Michael back into the living room. They cuddled against each other, and neither of them could erase the smiles that they both wore on their faces. Hours had passed, and neither of them spoke until they were finished with the first disc. It was getting late, and they were both tired.
“So…do you wanna play mini-golf tomorrow?” Holly asked.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Post "Baby Shower." Michael and Holly's first date.
Once again, The Office is owned by NBC, and not me. No infringement intended
Once again, The Office is owned by NBC, and not me. No infringement intended
Chapter End Notes:
I always thought it would be funny to see Holly and Michael going to an Improv class together. I hope you guys enjoyed that...and please rate and review! Thank you!
