Michael dropped his briefcase, and stared at Holly in disbelief. His face was frozen as if he was in shock. Holly’s fingertips felt cold, and her knees were shaking. Never in her life had she been this bold.
But Michael Scott…there was something different about him, and Holly was oddly attracted to that. She liked how Michael would always give her Mini Mounds Bars every morning. She appreciated his terrible impressions of Adolph Hitler, even if they were extremely inappropriate. And she liked his childish smile. To Holly, Michael seemed so innocent…
“Guh…ur…gurugh…” Michael stammered. “Dinner? As in…a date? With dinner?”
Holly nodded.
“Like a date?” Michael repeated.
“Yes, Michael,” Holly smiled. “Like a date.”
“Wow…” Michael breathed. “Um…gosh, I wasn’t expecting that. It’s like those twists in movies…”
Holly laughed, but she began to anticipate rejection. At the very least, she could say that she had tried…
“So when…when, um…gosh...sorry,” Michael stammered, as sweat beads formed on his forehead. “When are you free?”
“I’m free tonight,” Holly said quickly in excitement. “Was that too eager?”
“No…” Michael smiled. “So I’ll pick you up at 6:00?”
“That sounds good,” Holly said. “Here’s my number…”
Holly quickly scribbled her number onto the back of one of her cards, and handed it to Michael.
“Alrighty…I will call you later, Holly,” Michael smiled.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
*****
As Holly rummaged through her suitcases later that afternoon in her motel room, she realized why she didn’t make rash decisions. First of all, she had nothing to wear. Secondly, she should have called Kelly to ask if she had any advice, and that usually takes about a week, because Kelly would be having a heart failure due to her excitement. Thirdly, she really did not know what other women her age wore on a first date.
She thought about her last first date…sixteen years ago. God, that made her feel old. What did she wear though…? Oh, a mini skirt and a tank top. She laughed to herself when she imagined Michael picking her up tonight and she was wearing a mini skirt with an Ace of Base tank top.
“I don’t even have any jeans!” she cried aloud. “Frick…”
And what kind of underwear do women of her age wear? She had a couple of silk panties, but thongs are really in right now, aren’t they? But was that too slutty? Gross…what if the strings showed? Why was she even worrying about underwear? Chances were that Michael and Holly would not have sex tonight. She’s not some scarlet woman. Oh god…she needed to make a quick trip to the Steamtown Mall.
While Holly walked around Macy’s, she tried to look for women around her age that were fashionable. She saw one woman in a track suit that said, ‘MILF’ on the ass…did men find that attractive? She saw another woman in a spaghetti strap top wearing what she liked to call hooker boots. And then there was the woman who was either a nun or a lost Amish person…
Holly settled for a brown sleeved cardigan and a black shirt. Neutral colors, but…it looked hip. She then purchased a couple of jeans.
When she got back to her motel room, she had more problems—her hair. What kind of woman didn’t have a stupid curling iron or stupid hot rollers or a stupid hair straightener? A stupid one…she quickly ran back down to her car, and went to the Walgreen’s down the street. She quickly found the hair accessories and some hairspray.
By the time she got back to her motel, she realized that Michael would be there in about thirty minutes.
“Hurry up!” she yelled at her hair rollers, bouncing on her heels in anticipation waiting for them to heat up. “Hurry the hell up you pieces of shit!”
Her rollers were still in her hair by the time she heard the door knock.
“Damn it!” she hissed. “One moment, please!”
She quickly unrolled the rollers from her hair. After a quick spray of Clinique Happy perfume, and a quick sniff at her armpits, she opened the door finding a smiling Michael holding up a bouquet daisies. He was wearing black turtle neck and some jeans. Oddly enough, Holly thought he pulled the turtle neck off quite nicely. But she still wondered if they were going to rob a bank for their first date…
“Hello,” he said, handing her the daisies. “Uh…I didn’t know what kind of flowers you liked…”
“Aw…thank you, Michael,” she blushed. “They’re beautiful.”
“Yeah…” he said quietly, staring down at her. “You look…wow…you look very nice!”
She blushed a deeper shade of red.
“So do you,” she said softly. “Very dapper…”
“Thanks…so uh…we should…”
“Yeah,” Holly said. “We should go…”
“Okay…I hope you like food…”
“Well, I wouldn’t be living without it…”
Michael laughed.
“I meant Chinese food…I’m just…nervous,” he said, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt.
“It’s okay,” comforted Holly. “I’m nervous too…and yes, Chinese food is okay...”
*****
Holly was staring down at Michael’s plate of sesame chicken. Michael looked up at her.
“Do you want some?” he asked with his mouth full. Usually, Holly would find this disgusting, but for some reason, she didn’t.
“Oh, no,” Holly said, shaking her head. “I’m allergic to sesame seeds.”
“Really?” Michael asked in disbelief.
“Yes…I wish I wasn’t though. That chicken smells good,” Holly shuffled her rubbery chow mein around her plate.
“Do you want to go somewhere else?” Michael asked.
“No, it’s fine…”
“Are you sure? There’s a carnival in town,” Michael persisted. “I went there yesterday with my mom.”
Holly chuckled, but stopped when she saw that Michael was blushing.
“Was it any good?” she asked.
“It’s pretty good,” Michael replied. “They have this really awesome burger stand…best cheeseburgers I’ve had in a long time.”
“But you already ate…” said Holly, looking down at Michael’s nearly empty plate.
“Don’t worry about it,” Michael said. “I can eat a lot…plus Chinese food makes you hungry an hour later anyway. Maybe that’s why that Kim Jong Il fellow is so angry all the time…”
“He’s North Korean,” Holly chuckled.
“Oh, my mistake,” Michael said quickly, looking around as if he was expecting an angry mob. “So what say you, Holly-lu-jah? Does the carnival sound good?”
Holly smiled, and nodded.
“Yes!” Michael pumped his fist. “Because there’s this cool Tilt-a-Whirl ride that they have, and it is freaking awesome!”
*****
“They have ribs over there,” Michael pointed. “You don’t have to eat corndogs…”
“But if I line up the corndogs, they look like ribs,” Holly smiled.
“Good point…” Michael looked up at the vendor. “Fifty corndogs, please...”
The vendor shook his head.
“Do you really want fifty corndogs?”
“No…no I do not,” Michael blushed. “Um, just two corndogs, please.”
Before Michael could pay, Holly quickly handed the vendor a ten dollar bill.
“You already paid for the Chinese food,” Holly said as they walked away to find a table.
“Yeah, but you barely ate,” sighed Michael.
“Really, Michael, its fine,” Holly insisted, taking a seat at a wooden table. Michael sat across from her, and took a bite of his corndog.
“Thank you,” he said with his mouth full of corndog, swallowing it with a loud gulp. “So what made you want to be a psychiatrist, Holly?”
Holly choked on a piece of her corndog in an attempt to answer quickly. While she was coughing, Michael handed her his bottle of water.
“I don’t have cooties,” he said with a reassuring smile.
“Thank you,” Holly wheezed after taking a drink of water. “Wow, sorry about that.”
“It’s fine. I mean, I remember when I choked on my first sausage…”
“That’s what she said,” Holly chuckled.
Michael gazed upon Holly in awe.
“What did you say?” he asked as if he had never seen anyone like Holly before.
“Um…that’s what she said?”
Michael snorted, pointing at himself and then Holly.
“I used to say that all the freaking time!” he cried happily. “I’ve been saying it for the last thirteen years! My ex-girlfriend made me stop saying it…wow! I can’t believe you say it too!”
Holly chuckled kindly at Michael’s excitement. She liked how his face would light up over the smallest things…
“I used to say it a lot in college,” she replied.
“Wow…that is…remarkable,” Michael sighed happily. “So anyway, why did you get into the helping people with their problems game?”
“Oh, well…” Holly thought for a moment. “I guess I used to like listening to people…helping them with their problems. I used to get a rush, you know?”
“You used to get a rush?”
“After awhile, it gets old giving the same advice,” Holly said. “I don’t know…not much really goes on here in Scranton, you know? I mostly get patients who are recently divorced…that stuff gets old pretty quick.”
“I can see why…”
“Why did you get into child psychology?” Holly asked, tossing her corndog stick into a nearby trashcan.
“Nice shot!” Michael smiled. “But I got into child psychology because I love kids. The kids I talk to are between the ages of six and seventeen. I don’t know…I guess it’s easier for kids to find their innocence again. I’ve talked to a lot of kids who have been abused, or blamed themselves for their parents’ divorces…it’s nice to see their faces when they realize that it’s not their fault or that it’s going to be okay. Kids aren’t afraid to start over…adults on the other hand; well…we don’t like change. And I guess…well, I had an absentee father…he was there, but he was never really there. And when my mom left him, she met a guy named Jeff. I hated him. And I just wanted…I just wanted someone to talk to.”
“Oh, Michael,” breathed Holly. “I’m so sorry…”
Michael shook his head.
“But I am sorry that your job isn’t fulfilling anymore,” Michael said.
“It’s not your fault. Actually, I have this patient…but he’s not really a patient,” Holly said. “He’s kind of like my own personal therapist…”
“Oh…?”
“The thing is, he has a brain tumor…I don’t know what kind, because he doesn’t like to talk about it,” Holly explained. “But he’s lonely…his family and friends don’t really talk to him about anything but his tumor. So he asked me to treat him like a friend…”
“That’s very kind of you…”
Holly shrugged.
“He’s a good guy,” Holly said.
“Is his insurance taking care of the bills? I mean, if they find out what you’re doing…”
“Oh, he pays,” Holly said. “But I never cash the checks. It just doesn’t feel right; I mean…he helps me more than I could help him…”
“Wow…”
“Yeah, but anyway,” Holly said, staring over at the Ferris wheel. “You wanna go on the Ferris wheel?”
“I’d like that very much,” Michael smiled as he got up off his seat. He held his hand out for Holly. She smiled as she took his warm hand, feeling even bolder than ever, which she didn’t understand why. It’s not like you can get an STD from holding hands, but…there was something pure about it. She and AJ never held hands…
So they walked over to the Ferris wheel, hand in hand. Holly felt Michael’s thumb gently brushing her own, sending a pleasant tingling sensation up her arm. Michael handed two tickets to the wheel operator, and helped Holly into her seat.
“You’re chivalrous, sir,” Holly beamed.
“Chivalry ain’t dead,” said Michael, placing his hand on his knee. Holly stared down at his hand, and saw his knobby fingers…he must have broken some over the years.
“What sports did you play?” she asked, nodding to Michael’s hand when he looked over. He held his hand up.
“I used to play hockey back in the day,” he said. “How did you know I played sports?”
“It just looks like you’ve broken a couple of fingers back in the day,” Holly replied, taking Michael’s hand again as the wheel began to turn.
“Yep,” Michael smiled.
“So were you any good?”
“I wanted to go pro,” Michael boasted. “But I really wanted kids and a family. You’re on the road so much…”
“Oh, so do you have any kids?”
Michael blushed.
“No…” he admitted. “It would be nice though…”
Oh, god…we’re talking about kids on the first date. Do I even tell him that I can’t have kids? Oh, Jesus.
“Well, you can’t always get what you want,” Michael shrugged. “So tell me, Holly…what are your greatest fears?”
Holly couldn’t tell whether Michael was being serious or not. When she looked at his face for confirmation, she guessed that he was being serious. What an odd question…
“Bees,” Holly replied. “I hate them. I broke my left leg twice, and that pain was nothing compared to getting stung by a bee. I got stung in the ear…literally, inside my ear. I thought I was going to die. What about you?”
“Probably snakes,” Michael replied. “I hate those bastards. You got stung by a bee inside your ear? How does that work?”
“I was taking out the garbage, and there was a beehive on the side of our house,” Holly began to explain. “And a bee lands right here.” She pointed to where her jaw line began, just underneath her ear. “And I’m terrified, so I stand still. I stand there for five minutes, and the bee crawls in my ear! I start to freak out, and then it stung me. Worst day of my life…”
“Oh man…” breathed Michael. “It was worse than your divorce?” Michael quickly went comatose. His eyes were wide, blank, and his lips puckered into an ‘O’ shape. “Sorry…wow…I just blurted that out. You don’t have to answer that!”
Holly shook her head, and laughed.
“It’s fine,” she reassured. “But yes, it was worse than my divorce. That was a long time coming…”
Michael released Holly’s hand, and placed his index finger and thumb on the bridge of his nose. Holly rubbed his back.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, genuinely confused.
“I’m so sorry,” he sighed.
“About what?”
“I just made an ass out of myself…bringing up your divorce? Gah…I’m so stupid!”
“Hey,” breathed Holly gently. “It’s fine. AJ wasn’t right for me, okay? I really don’t care as much as I should…it’s really fine, Michael.”
“I’m sorry,” he repeated, sounding defeated.
“I already told you, it’s fine,” Holly smiled, taking his hand again. “Really…”
A moment later, they stepped off of the Ferris wheel. Michael still hadn’t spoken, and he quietly led them back to the parking lot. Holly didn’t know what to do, and she really couldn’t understand why Michael was acting like this.
“Hey, Michael,” she said, tugging his hand. “Talk to me.”
Michael didn’t say anything. He just stood, staring down at the sidewalk, with a look of the deepest sadness on his face. Holly gave Michael’s hand a squeeze, and stepped in front of Michael, unaware that their noses were inches from making contact…
“Michael, look at me,” she commanded softly, hoping her breath didn’t smell. Michael raised his eyes slightly so that they met Holly’s. She realized how gorgeous his eyes were. “What’s wrong?”
Michael exhaled sharply.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I told myself not to make an ass out of myself, and I totally did…and then I mentioned your ex-husband. And so I thought maybe you only asked me out because…I don’t know…I just…I’ve liked you for awhile, Holly…”
“You didn’t make an ass of yourself,” Holly smiled kindly, brushing Michael’s hair back with her hand. “In fact, I had a lot of fun with you tonight. I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun…”
“Really?”
“Really,” Holly insisted. “And Michael? I’ve liked you for awhile too.”
*****
Holly couldn’t remember the last time she had felt this…euphoric. It must have been months…no, years since she felt like this. In the last week, she had gone out with Michael every night. They would watch movies at his condo, make jokes about each others convertibles, because honestly, who drives a convertible in a climate like Scranton’s? They would also go on for hours quoting old SNL episodes, and then, as Jim Halpert loves to say, they would make out. A lot.
She was a child again. Evenings with Michael consisted of hours of inside jokes, most of them involving “that’s what she said.” Sometimes they would go to the ice cream parlor down the street from their work, and order a fifteen scoop sundae. Michael’s new nick name for Holly was Scoopy-Doo, while Holly called Michael “Scooper Man.” Holly introduced Michael to yoga, but she realized that quiet meditation did not go well with Michael. Sometimes he would blow a raspberry and they would giggle while others gave them dirty looks. Michael invited Holly to go along with him to his Improv class. They made up characters like Michael Klump and Hollis the Walrus, Prison Mike, and they even had new hip-hop monikers—DJ Jazzy Flax and MC Mike Scott. And then there were the nights when they would just lay in bed together, cozying up in each other’s arms. For the first time in her life, Holly felt perfection…
“Someone’s all smiles this afternoon,” Jim said as he walked into Holly’s office the next week.
“I’ve had a good week,” Holly said, feeling smug.
“That’s good,” Jim grinned. “I did too…I found Neutral Milk Hotel’s On Avery Island on vinyl, so…yay for me!”
“What?”
“Neutral Milk Hotel?” Jim asked in disbelief. “You don’t know them?”
Holly shook her head.
“What’s wrong with you?” Jim demanded. “They are one of the greatest bands in the world! You have to listen to them!”
“What kind of music are they?”
“Indie, Psychedelic-Folk…they’re indescribable,” Jim sighed. “They’re amazing…”
“I guess I’ll listen to them later,” Holly said, feeling sure that she’d forget to listen to this band.
“So what made your week so good?” Jim asked.
“You can’t tell?” Holly teased, knowing that Jim knew exactly why she was so happy.
“Well, I don’t know how to say, ‘you got laid, didn’t you?’ without offending you,” Jim chuckled.
“Last night,” Holly glowed. “Twice…”
Jim reached out his hand.
“Hey five, doctor!” he exclaimed happily, his hand smacking against Holly’s. “Who’s the lucky guy?”
“He works on this floor…down the hall,” Holly replied, just as her phone rang. She looked up at Jim. “One minute…Yes?” a slight pause, “An emergency? Send him in…”
She looked back up at Jim, a worried expression on her face.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I don’t know…Michael’s intern says there’s an emergency,” said Holly, adding. “Michael’s my…”
“Boyfriend,” Jim finished, as a man with large glasses and a larger head walked into Holly’s office.
“Dwight Schrute,” he said in a commanding tone. “Dr. Scott has asked me to give you this.” Dwight held up a folded up piece of paper, and handed it to Holly. “He would like your reply soon. It’s urgent.”
Holly took the slip of paper from Dwight, as Dwight examined her desk.
“Oh, man…is this oak?” he wondered aloud. “Such craftsmanship…” he ran his fingers along the desk, and then looked at Jim.
“Hi,” Jim smiled. Dwight made a ‘psh’ sound, and rolled his eyes.
“Drug addict,” Dwight muttered. “Methamphetamines by the look of it…”
“Close,” said Jim. “It’s a brain tumor…but good guess nonetheless.”
Holly chuckled to herself as she read Michael’s note:
Are you free tonight? Check yes, no, maybe so.
xoxoxoxo,
Michael
Holly quickly scribbled a check mark next to the yes box, folded the note, and handed it to Dwight. Dwight quickly left her office.
“Sorry about that,” said Holly.
“No problem,” Jim said. “What’s up?”
Holly blushed.
“He wanted to know if I was free tonight…”
“Wow,” Jim laughed. “He couldn’t just text you?”
“Come on, it was cute…he had little check boxes and everything…”
“So are you in like fifth grade now?” Jim teased.
“Shut up,” Holly smiled.
Author's Chapter Notes:
This chapter is very Holly centric. No Jim and Pam flashbacks...so...sorry for that. But I hope you enjoy this chapter! Barely any angst, and hopefully, you're as big of a Holly and Michael shipper as I am!
Chapter End Notes:
Don't forget to let me know what you think! And this is probably the only really fluffy chapter in this story. But I hope you enjoyed it! And yes, I did have to include AT LEAST one Jim and Dwight interaction, because...Jim's not Jim without Dwight.
