“Jim...Pam...my office, now!”  The urgency in Michael’s voice as he stood rigid and slightly ashen-faced in his doorway caught neither one of them by surprise.  For the past two hours Michael had either been on the phone with Jan or pacing back and forth waiting for her return calls, and it was still only 10:15.  Something was definitely up.  Jim and Pam knew it, and so did everyone else.  A quiet buzz had permeated the office all morning and most every one of their colleagues had already approached either Pam or Jim trying to find out what might be going on.  Even Dwight had come down off his usual ‘holier than thou’ high horse to ask Jim’s opinion. 

But there’d been no new rumors of downsizing or layoffs, and since the merger, Dunder-Mifflin’s stock had even rebounded slightly...very slightly.  No, this had to be something altogether new.  Jim and Pam exchanged confused shrugs as they entered Michael’s office, each taking a seat across from their boss’s desk.  But, unlike times past, an empty chair was awkwardly left between them.

It was mid-February, only a few days before Valentine's Day.  The weather had been especially cold and brutal for the past several days, even for this part of northeastern Pennsylvania.  Through Michael’s window Pam watched the snow floating in the air.  It  had begun falling lightly as she’d driven into work that morning.  Now, it looked soft and white and she felt oddly comforted as she tried to follow the large flakes drifting harmlessly toward the parking lot below.  But a storm front was predicted to sweep through later that evening, and as she sat quietly awaiting Michael’s instruction, Pam couldn’t help thinking how the deceptive calm of the falling snow seemed an ironic backdrop to the bitter chill that had come to characterize whatever it was that was going on between her and Jim since his return from Stamford.

“What’s up, Michael?”  It was Jim who finally asked.  Pam glanced toward Jim, trying to read him.  Was he taking this seriously...or did he view Michael’s latest dilemma, whatever it was as just another opportunity to mock their boss’s general ineptitude in a time of imagined crisis?  Truth be told, Pam wasn’t sure that she’d be able to tell.  These days, when it came to Jim Halpert, she wasn’t sure she could actually tell much of anything about him anymore.

Everything had just gone so horribly wrong...so horribly, horribly wrong.  Despite all that had happened her hopes had been sky high when she’d learned he’d be coming back to Scranton...coming back to her.  She’d thought all her prayers had been answered and she’d been granted the ultimate second chance to finally set things right.  That’s what she’d hoped when she threw her arms around him with all the love and feeling she could muster as he’d walked through the office door and back into her life.  But she’d found out soon enough just how cruelly the fates could play.

He’d come back alright, but with a sexy new girlfriend and an emotional wall so impenetrable she couldn’t even call him a friend anymore...not a real friend and especially not her best friend.  Not the kind of friend to just sit down with over a quiet drink or a cup of coffee and explain to him how you’d made the biggest mistake of your life when you’d let his hands slip away that glorious but awful night last May.  Not the kind of friend who’d sit and let you pour your heart out, admitting all the feelings you’d denied yourself for so long.  Not the kind of friend who’d listen...just really listen to how impossible it had been for you to make sense of that kiss and the absolutely wondrous feeling of being held in his arms. 

And certainly not the kind of friend who’d understand how his words...those damned and tender words had so utterly shaken apart your entire world.  Definitely not that kind of a friend...the kind he’d been before he went away...the kind you’d fallen in love with.

So Pam watched him expectantly, searching closely for any clue as to how he intended to play it.  She was pleasantly surprised when she realized that Jim wasn’t looking to make a game of the situation, at least not yet.

“So Michael, what’s going on...what did Jan have to say?”  Jim’s question was sincere, no mocking tone and no sly, sideward glances in her direction.

Leaning forward ever so slightly, hands folded in front of her, Pam saw real concern on Michael’s face, “Yes, Michael...what do you want us to do?”

Michael propped himself against the edge of his desk.  “I need you to go to Albany.”

Jim frowned, shooting an even more confused look Pam’s way, “Who...me or Pam?”

Pam’s brow furrowed nervously as she bit her lip, “Yeah Michael, who do you need to go?”

Michael’s gaze shifted uneasily between them, “Both of you.”

“Me...and Jim?”  This was so much not what Pam wanted to hear.  “What’s in Albany?”

Michael half-turned away...as he always did when he knew he’d screwed up.

“Oh Michael...what’d you do now?”  Pam shook her head, not so much in shock because she was way beyond that with Michael.  No, it was merely a sense of resignation that once again her boss needed someone to bail him out of some jam he’d managed to get himself caught up in.   And as was too often the case, it was going to be her...and Jim.

Sheepishly, Michael looked in their direction, “I messed up guys.”  It was a whimper...par for the course.   Michael always played on both Pam's and Jim’s general good nature to diffuse any anger either might hold about being victimized by another of his occasional lapses in judgment.  The only problem was those lapses didn’t really seem to be all that occasional. 

“I’m supposed to send two people to some stupid seminar that corporate is running in Albany for all the northeast branches...and I totally forgot.   So Jan called first thing this morning when she found out that no one from Scranton had been signed up.”  Michael clenched his teeth.

Jim arched his eyebrows in response, “What’s the seminar for?”   Pursing his lips he managed a quick look toward Pam who, head bowed was slowly shaking her head from side to side.

“Some leadership thing...something about starting to prepare the next generation to take Dunder-Mifflin into the future.”  Michael waved his hands in front of him in an agitated manner and the way he caustically spewed out the word ‘leadership’ was enough to tell Jim and Pam as much of the story as they needed to know.  With Michael Scott on board to lead the Scranton branch for another fifteen or twenty years what was the need for his branch to waste everybody’s time by sending anyone to listen to some useless talking head.  To Michael, that was the kind of smart management thinking that clearly demonstrated true leadership ability, all the leadership his branch needed.  In his eyes, it was the corporate flacks who just didn’t ‘get’ it.  That’s what he wanted to believe and left to himself, that’s exactly what he did believe.

But as they sat and listened, and watched Michael squirm both Jim and Pam knew how to put two and two together.  Jan’s back and forth calls that morning were all about proving to Michael that corporate did get it...that she got it.  They both understood that Jan had to be under the gun in the aftermath of the fiasco that had been her plan to merge their branch into Stamford and it was only Josh’s surprise defection to Staples that had saved Michael’s ass.  He’d lucked out and survived the merger, but Jan certainly wasn’t going to continue to allow him to ignore her authority as his boss.  She couldn’t afford to...it just wouldn’t be good for her future.  Jim and Pam understood that.   Jan was not going to allow one, Michael Gary Scott of Scranton, PA to drive yet another nail into what she thought was still left of her corporate career.

“And...” Michael averted his eyes as his voiced cracked, “...she told me it was either get my people to Albany or start looking for a new job.”  He rose deliberately and slowly walked around his desk toward the window, his shoulders visibly slumping as he looked out into the distance.

Both Jim and Pam remained silent.

“I’m sorry...I...” Michael’s voice fell to a near whisper, “if you guys could just...I...I... can’t lose my job!”

This time Pam turned to Jim with a look he understood all too well...the one that told him they had to do something.  That’s all it took, just that one look.  And in that moment, without a word being spoken, the way her eyes held his... so nearly the way it used to be...he knew what he had to do.

“It’s okay, Michael.  If you need me to go...I’ll go.”

Suddenly, Michael turned to face them, his mouth tightening with guilt.  “Thanks Jim...I owe you guys.”

 “But why me, Michael...why do I have to go if it’s for managers?”   Pam was genuinely confused, but there was more to her concern than not understanding why Michael had chosen her.  There was a discernable note of fear in her question as well, and it had everything to do with her being alone in Albany....with Jim! 

“Every branch is supposed to send a guy and a girl...er, excuse me...I mean a man and a woman...you know, diversity and equal opportunity and all that stuff.”

“Well, why me...shouldn’t Angela go...or...” Pam hesitated as she stole a sideways glance toward Jim, “...or maybe...Karen?”  Pam caught just a hint of a tightening in Jim’s jaw at the mention of Karen’s name.

“Angela...geesh, no.  God, if she ever became a branch manager she’d probably make people say the Lord’s Prayer every morning and read the bible on their lunch breaks...it’d be like a revival meeting everyday!  Who’d want to put up with that...er...not that I have anything against God or religion or any of that?”

The sincerity in Michael’s face forced Jim and Pam to almost involuntarily turn to one another.  Again, without saying a word they somehow seemed to share the same thought...that maybe a revival meeting wasn’t really all that different from the circus that Dunder-Mifflin Scranton could oftentimes be under its current leadership.  Of course, Michael remained oblivious to even the slightest possibility of such sweet irony.

“And besides, Karen’s in sales and I can’t afford to send two sales reps...we still need to sell paper, Pam!” 

The lack of enthusiasm in Pam’s eyes was clearly evident. 

“Look Pam, don’t argue.  Besides, you’re pretty smart...you’ll understand what they’re talking about.”

But Pam still wasn’t buying it.  To her ears it sounded more like Michael was only sending her to fill an extra space.  She didn’t need his condescending attitude and this time she wasn’t going to let him get away with it.  She rose from her chair, folded her arms across her chest and tilted her head to one side, signaling her continued displeasure with her boss’s plan.  “Look Michael...if you think you’re going to...”

Jim abruptly cut her off. “Michael...you’re absolutely right.  There’s no reason why Pam shouldn’t be able to handle this...I think it’s a great idea!”

Pam’s head snapped back at Jim’s words.  What the hell was he doing?  She searched his face for a raised eyebrow or a snarky wink...any of the old telltale signals that used to clue her in that he was just messing with her...or with Michael...or someone.  But this time she couldn’t find any.  Instead, Jim was completely serious.  Now, she was worried.

Jim refused to look at her, but nodded toward Michael, more or less sealing the deal, “So, that’s settled…when does this thing start?”

The abject look of guilt returned to Michael’s face as he hesitated to answer Jim’s question…another worrisome sign.  “Uh…first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Tomorrow?”   Jim’s shoulders sagged.

Out of the corner of her eye, Pam caught him gritting his jaw in frustration.

“Hey boss…thanks for the advanced warning.”  Jim turned just in time to see Pam sink deeper into her chair, defeated.

Michael picked up a narrow blue pamphlet lying on his desk, giving it a perfunctory once-over.   “Yeah...” he answered much too enthusiastically, “...tomorrow…9 a.m. sharp.  And by the way, I see here they’re even providing a tasty continental breakfast at 7:30…sounds yummy!”   Michael sheepishly handed the brochure to Pam who snapped it from his hand.  “Oh...and don’t forget to pack for two nights.”

“Two nights?”  Pam seemed even less amused.

“Yeshhhh…it’s a two-day seminar…and you’d better get moving ‘cause you’ve got to register at the hotel by five, tonight.”

Pam looked straight into Michael’s eyes in almost total disbelief, “What?”  He tried to avert her glare but Pam wouldn’t have it, “Michael, the weather’s getting worse…and you want us to drive up to Albany in a snow storm?”

“Pamalama…I said I was sorry and you really can’t blame me for the weather, so…”

At that moment both Pam and Jim were more than willing to blame Michael.  Not only for the weather, but for a whole range of calamities and other disasters…both natural and unnatural, that had not only befallen each of them personally, but also their families and friends and even not so close acquaintances.  But they both knew that wasn’t going to change anything.