10 Years Later
“Dunder Mifflin, this is Erin. Please hold, I’ll transfer you.”
The phone rang.
“Jim Halpert,” I answered. “Yes, Mr. Walters, I believe the shipment went out this morning. Hold on one sec, and I’ll double check…Yup, the shipment should be arriving at around 1:00. Yes sir, no problem.”
I hung up my phone, and sighed.
Its funny how sometimes things don’t turn out the way you expect them to. Ten years ago, if you were to tell that I would be working at a failing, mid-range, paper company, I would have laughed in your face. In fact, ten years ago, I always envisioned myself standing in front of a classroom, giving a lecture on The Grapes of Wrath, but what can you do?
Also, ten years ago, if you were to tell me that I would have gotten kicked out of college for a crime I didn’t commit, I would have never believed it. So here’s the abridged version of how I got kicked out of school, and ended up moving back to Scranton to work at Dunder Mifflin under Michael Scott:
Near the end of my Junior year at University of Colorado, I became an RA. I also became pretty good friends with a guy named Mark. What I didn’t know about Mark was that he snorted a ton of cocaine, and he would sometimes hide his stash in my room; without my knowledge…
So my old roommate Dwight, who was also an RA, did his monthly (over) inspections, and when he got to my room, he found Mark’s stash of coke. Dwight, the guy that takes things way too seriously, did the right thing, and turned me in. Thus, I got expelled. I was never mad at Dwight. He was just doing his job. But to this day, I still have an urge to kick Mark’s ass. The jerk denied everything.
After all of that happened, I moved to Portland to stay with my parents for about three or four years. One day, Michael gave me a call, and offered me a job. At that time, I was a shift supervisor at one of the many Barnes & Noble, so I took the job offer. Plus, it was pretty sad being a twenty-two year old guy, living in his parents’ basement. So there you have it. I’ve been working here at Dunder Mifflin for the last six years…
“Hey, Halpert,” Karen smiled, leaning against my desk.
“Hey, Filipelli. What’s up?”
“Just bored…so about our date tonight, I have I cancel,” Karen frowned, “Some of my old friends from Stamford are in town, so…”
“Yeah, no problem,” I smiled. “I’ll take you out some other time.”
“Thanks,” Karen said, leaning down to kiss my cheek. “I’ll see you later, yeah?”
“Yeah,” I said, watching Karen walk back to her desk. “Later, Filipelli.”
I’ve been seeing Karen for the last eight months. I guess it’s safe to assume that things are going well. She’s a great woman: she’s smart, she’s funny, and she’s beautiful. Karen has long brown hair, olive skin, and big brown eyes. She’s pretty foxy, I’m not going to lie…and for the most part, I’m happy with her. Sure, she hogs the blankets (and the remote) whenever she sleeps over at my apartment, and she always makes me cut my hair, but she’s safe. Safe is good, right?
I met Karen through work. The Scranton branch absorbed the Stamford branch a couple of months ago, and she worked at the Stamford branch. After her first week, I asked her out for coffee, and ever since then, she kind of assumed that we were dating. For awhile, I wanted to tell her that I was just being friendly, but…eight months is pretty late for that.
“Jimbo!” Michael called from his office. “Can you come in here, please?”
I slowly got up from my chair, and took my time walking into Michael’s office. Michael smiled up at me.
“So what are your plans for tonight, big guy?”
“Well, I—”
“You should swing by our place for dinner tonight,” Michael interrupted.
“Michael, I—”
“Holly and I both know that you never do anything, so I won’t take no for an answer, my friend,” Michael said. “Believe me; you want to come over tonight.”
“Why? Did you guys get a crib, and you need my help installing it?” I asked. Holly was five months pregnant.
“No…but now that you mention it, we really should,” Michael mumbled. He shook his head. “No, we have a surprise for you, big guy!”
“What kind of—”
“Nope, no…no one likes a spoiler,” Michael smiled. “Just be at my condo by seven, okay?”
*****
I got home from work at around 5:30. I took a shower, put on an old CU shirt, and made my way to Michael and Holly’s condo an hour later.
Michael and Holly have been married for last three years, and they’re as happy as can be. Before I left to Colorado, I sort of looked down on Michael. I know that sounds mean, but honestly, he was twenty-three, and he hung out with me. He was also in a very abusive relationship with this girl named Jan, and he worked at Staples. But now I look at him, and in a weird way, I envy him. Michael found his soul mate, has a way better job than I do, and he’s happy. As Michael would say, “My how the turntables…”
I walked up their driveway to the front door. Before I could ring the doorbell, a beaming Michael pulled open the door, and pulled me in.
“Wow,” I said, rubbing my forearm. “There really was no need to do that.”
“I’m just excited to see you out and about, buddy,” Michael exclaimed, leading me to the living room. I saw Holly in the kitchen.
“Hey, Holly,” I said, walking over to give her a hug. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m doing well,” Holly smiled, rubbing her pregnant belly, which was fairly large for being only five months pregnant. “Michael and I are having twins! We just found out today!”
“What?” I asked. Holly beamed, and nodded. I smiled over at Michael. “Is that the big surprise?”
“ Oh no, no, no…your surprise is forthcoming, Jim,” Michael said, Holly nodding enthusiastically behind him.
“Aw, Holly, you’re not making soft shell crab for me, are you?” I joked. “It’s not even my birthday…”
“What?” Holly asked.
“Never mind,” I said, just as the doorbell rang. I saw Michael and Holly exchanging smiles as Michael rushed over to answer the door. Then I saw her…
“Pam!” Michael yelled in excitement.
I was frozen in the middle of the hallway, watching Michael and Holly attacking Pam with hugs. Pam…I haven’t seen her in ten years. I haven’t even thought about her for years, and here she was. She was gorgeous. Her hair was straighter now, and her smile was even more radiant than before.
Pam looked up at me after Michael had finally released his hug, and she looked just as shocked as I did.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Wow! It's been a long time since I've updated! I'm sorry, but I've been pretty busy the last month, but I finally got a chance to update! I hope you all haven't forgotten about this story!
Chapter End Notes:
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