He knows as soon as he pulls into the parking lot that this is a very bad idea. When Pam called his cell a couple of hours after work was over, he thought it was odd. When she asked him to please, please, please meet her because she desperately needed his help but wouldn’t tell him what she needed help with, he thought that was a little weird too. But the part that really intrigued him, the part that’s now staring him right in the face, is the part where she told him to wear comfortable shoes.

Oh, no, no, no. This is not something I’m going to do, he thinks. And if she wasn’t standing in the parking lot, pacing, he‘d turn his car around and call her back and beg off. But she looks so anxious before she sees him, and so relieved and grateful when she notices his red Corolla pulling into the lot that he can’t turn the car around. He knows he’s going to do whatever she wants, even if alarms are going off in every nerve ending in his body.

He slides the car smoothly into the last available space. She bounces over to him, a huge grin barely hiding her apprehension as she pulls open the driver’s side door. She’s dressed in a blue t-shirt and a flippy black skirt and low heels. After a sharp intake of breath, Jim lets out a low whistle that he’s relieved she doesn’t hear.

“I am so glad you came! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She grabs his hand and starts to pull him toward one of the doors of the strip mall. Jim’s heart speeds up as they close in on the door labeled Arthur Murray Dance Studio.

“Hold on,” he says, digging in his heels. “You didn’t tell me we were going dancing. What’s going on?”

She stops and purposefully bites her bottom lip. She knows she’s been a bad girl, but Roy left her in the lurch and she really has no choice. And she knows how cute she is when she bites her lip. She’s been avoiding talking about the wedding in front of Jim as much as she can, but now she really needs his help and so she decides to suck it up and make a withdrawal on their friendship account.

Jim looks at her steadily, with a little bit of annoyance in his eyes. He doesn’t know what she’s up to, but he knows this can’t be a good idea.

“We’re not exactly going dancing, “ She starts, her voice artificially bright, as though even she doesn’t believe what she’s about to try to convince him to do.

“See, the thing is, I convinced Roy to take dancing lessons with me. You know, for the wedding. So we’re trying to pick a place, and this place…” she indicates the Arthur Murray door thrusting her thumb at it. She’s the cutest hitchhiker he’s ever seen. “…offered us a free trial lesson.”

Jim rolls his eyes and groans. “So how do I fit into this?”

“He doesn’t want to be bothered with the picking.”

“Of course he doesn’t,” Jim mumbles. He kicks the ground and looks away from her. It completely sucks that she’s marrying a guy who couldn’t appear to care less about the wedding.

“What?”

“Never mind. Go on,” he says, but he’s narrowed his eyes so he’s squinting at her, waiting to be convinced that he should go along with whatever crazy scheme she’s got planned. Suck it up, Halpert. She’s gone along with enough of your schemes. You probably owe her this one.

“So anyway, “ She continues carefully. “When I got here, they said they needed both of us so they could see what level of dancing we already knew, and I told them we didn’t know anything at all but they insisted it had to be both of us. So I told them I’d call my fiancé, and I called you.”

“I’m not your fiancé,” Jim says, although it feels like it might just kill him to say it.

“I know that, and you know that, but they don’t know that.” Her eyes are pleading, beseeching him. She grabs hold of his wrist with both hands and her eyes are huge as she looks up at him. She’s almost jostling back and forth on her toes in her agitated state. Please don’t let me down, Jim. I really need you to be a good friend right now. Don't you disappoint me too. Please?

“I, uh, I don’t think this is a good idea, Pam.” He tries to pull his arm out of her grip, but she’s got a stronger hold on him than he expected. He keeps pulling, backing up toward his car, but she won’t let go.

“Seriously, Pam. Let go of me. I don’t want to do this.” He can’t look her in the eye. How can she do this to me? How can she not know that I can barely even listen to her wedding plans? She knows that. And now she’s put me right in the middle of it. The thought of spending the next hour helping her learn to dance for him, holding her for…

Holding her. For an hour.

She lets go of his arm and sighs in defeat. Then, she starts babbling. “You’re right. It was a stupid, stupid idea. I tried to call Roy but he’s out with Darryl and won’t bail on him to help out…It won’t do me any good to learn to dance if he won’t learn it anyway…I mean, I could learn to dance so I could dance with my dad, I guess, but I guess I can dance with my dad anyway, he won’t care… I just thought, since you told me once that you’d taken ballroom dance for a semester in college that….”

An hour. Minimum.

“I’ll do it.” He says.

She squeals like a child and jumps and claps her hands. In this moment, her joy and relief are palpable. She is beautiful.

“Really? Oh, Jim, you’re the best! The absolute best!” She throws her arms around him and hugs him before quickly dropping to grab his hand and pull him inside before he changes his mind.

When he looks around, the only other person there is the dance instructor. She’s a cute, petite blonde. She introduces herself as Sara.

“Well, Roy, I’m glad to see you were able to make it after all, “ Sara says, smiling at him. “You have a very persuasive girl here.”

Roy? I have to pretend to BE him? This just gets worse by the minute.

“Uh, yeah. She’s persuasive all right. It’s never easy to drag me away from the game and my buddies. I was only on my fourth beer when Honey Pie here insisted I head out and if I’d had any idea how cute dance instructors were I’d have come without her…” He stops, but only because in addition to the disgusted look Sara’s giving him, Pam has firmly lodged her elbow in his ribs. “Ow! Honey Pie, that isn’t nice.”

“Sara, can you give us one minute, please?” Pam’s gritting her teeth. Sara looks confused. She wanders into her office, telling them to knock when they’re ready.

Jim can see how pissed off Pam is, but it was worth it to vent his frustration with her for always allowing Roy to put her on the back burner. And also, she didn’t tell me I’d have to be called Roy all night.

“Jim, “ she hisses. “You’ve got to stop it. Seriously. Are you going to help or are you going to screw around?”

He sees a look he’s never seen on her face before. At least, he’s never seen it directed at him. He doesn’t like it, not at all. Her eyes are hard and desperate, and if she were a car she’d be throwing a piston right now.

“I’ve had about enough tonight. I knew I couldn’t count on Roy, but you? I thought you’d at least be there for me. God!” Pam knows it’s not fair to lay all this on him. It’s not his fault. He’s just being Jim, and if she was just being Pam she’d be laughing along with him. But the frustration with Roy’s lack of interest in the wedding and the long hours of planning are taking their toll. Sometimes she feels like she’s just going through the motions because it’s what everyone expects. Sometimes she doesn’t even care if she gets married anymore.

He puts his hands on her shoulders. “Hey,” he says.

She looks up at him, eyes brimming but not crying. She’s holding it back with everything she’s got. He makes a move to wrap his arms around her and she pushes against his chest with her palms.

“No, don’t even hug me. If you do I’m going to start bawling. I can’t do this.” She looks down at the ground. He puts a hand under her chin and lifts her face so that she has to look at him. She averts her eyes, looking to the side, at the ceiling, anywhere but directly at him.

“I’m sorry. I had no idea it was this important to you.” She finally looks into his eyes and sniffles. “Come on. Get Sara. I’ll behave.”

She gives him a last questioning look, and when he nods and tilts his head toward the office, she goes to get the instructor. She spends a few minutes in the office making apologies for her fiance’s rudeness, and then they both come out. Whatever Pam said, Sara’s attitude toward “Roy” is much improved, and she continues with a smile.

She runs them through some standard questions before deciding that since Jim has taken classes before they can probably try a Rumba.

“The Rumba, “ she explains, as she goes to the stereo to pick out some music, “is a waltz with a wiggle. It’s romantic. It’s sexy. It’s perfect for your wedding dance. If the Tango is the dance of passion, Rumba is the dance of love.”

“I thought a Rumba was a robot vacuum, “ Pam says. She shines adorably at him, a glimmer of a grin on her. He pokes her in her side and she bends over, laughing.

“Not Roomba, honey. Ruuuuuumba.” Jim drawls. She giggles, and he’s so entranced by it that he’s surprised to be drawn away from her by Sara, who insists that he dance with her first so she can show him the steps.

Pam watches from the side as Sara fits Jim’s hands to her in the appropriate dance position. His framing is actually pretty good, for someone who’s never danced. Oh, but he has, Pam reminds herself. I’ve just never gotten to see it before now. And did he call me Honey? Jim doesn't call me Honey. She’s forgotten for a moment that he’s pretending to be engaged to her, and that it's really FakeRoy calling her Honey and she thinks that even though she’s always hated names like honey and sweetie and babe, she likes the way it sounds coming from him. Honey.

As she watches him dance with Sara, she imagines what he was like in college. I bet all the girls in his class wanted him for a partner. I mean, look at him. He’s tall, he’s cute, he’s actually very good at this. I just wish he didn’t look so good with her…what? Stop it, Pam.

When he stops at the end of the steps Sara’s run him through, he and Sara are face to face, close enough to kiss. Pam feels heat rush to her face. She feels like she’s intruding on something. An unfamiliar feeling begins to build in the pit of her stomach, and she thinks she might have to throw up. When Sara lets go of Jim and turns to look at Pam, smiling, the feeling fades.

“Ready?” Sara asks brightly.

“Um,” she looks from Jim to Sara. She clears her throat. “Yeah.”

Sara quickly runs through the steps with Pam while Jim watches. “You’re very lucky.”

“What do you mean?” Pam asks, trying to follow the steps while Sara chats. She’s not very good at this. She’s never taken a dance lesson, and it’s a bit much to ask her to talk and dance at the same time.

“Roy. You’re very lucky to have him. He’s a great dancer. He said he’s only had a few lessons. He’s a natural.”

Roy. Right now, lucky is not a word I’d use to describe landing Roy. But Sara’s really talking about Jim, isn’t she? Am I lucky?

“Oh, that. Yeah. Well…” Pam stops. “Can you not be talking to me about that? Because I can't figure out the steps if you make me talk.”

“That’s ok, because it’s time you two tried this together anyway. Roy,” Jim cringes. “You stand here. Pam, you stand here.” Pam looks apprehensive. “It’s ok, Pam. Roy’s got a pretty good handle on this. A good partner can help you through it.”

They move into place in front of each other. Jim looks at the top of Pam’s head. They stand about a foot apart, neither willing to be the first to move in. Sara stands next to them and makes tsking noises.

“You two! This is a romantic dance. That means body contact. Closer!” She pushes them together until Pam can feel Jim’s chest through the thin cotton t-shirt she wears. She can feel the rhythm of his breathing and the beat of his heart. He puts his hand in place on her back and holds one out to the side for her to grab. She puts hers the way Sara tells her to put them, one on his shoulder. She looks up at him as she slides her other hand into his, the warmth of his palm sending a rush of heat through her arm. Every nerve ending in her hand and arm wakes up and her eyes widen in wonder as she looks up at him.

He’s not sure he can keep his knees from buckling when Pam presses up against him, her small, smooth hand in his. He can smell her hair and her perfume and the hot, spicy scent of the cinnamon gum she’s chewing. Having her this close to him, close enough that he can almost feel the underwire snaking beneath her breasts, is dizzying. He never thought he’d be in this position, with her, and that she’d let him hold her this way. As he holds her gaze, he imagines what it would be like to bend his head down and kiss her. Only once, just to taste, to feel, to know if it’s everything he thinks it could be. He imagines he’s brave enough to make his move. He thinks that maybe he could get away with it, just this once.

The spot on her back where Jim’s hand is pressed is burning. She thinks it might leave a mark, her senses are so concentrated on that spot. The heat radiates from his palm through her lower back, and she watches his face. What she sees is frightening and intense and so so so very tempting. Her eyes flutter closed for a moment, and she knows that if he leans down and kisses her, she won’t stop him. For the pretending, of course. To make it believable.

She feels him lean in, his breath rushing past her ear as his cheek brushes against hers. He shudders almost imperceptibly against her and holds her close for a moment that feels like forever and still manages to not be long enough. Her eyes stay closed and she revels in the ache that builds in her. She knows what that ache is, but until now she hasn’t ever felt it for anyone except Roy, and it’s been a long time since he made her feel that way.

It slips deliciously from her stomach to her breasts and her nipples harden. She can feel Jim pressing hard against her, feel the urgency as he presses into her. Hip to hip, they stand, leaning on each other as though there is nobody else in the room, nobody else in the world. She feels his mouth rake past her cheek as he pulls back. Kiss me now, Jim. Please. Now.

“Wow, “ Sara breaks the spell. “Guess what guys? I'd like to have you try it together, but time’s up. So, are you interested in lessons?”

They break apart quickly, but don’t stop staring at each other. Jim wipes his hands on his pants. “Um, I’ll, uh…wait for you outside. Ok?”

Pam stutters. “Oh, yeah. I’ll just be a minute.”

Jim backs out the door and only takes his eyes off Pam when she follows Sara back into the office.

Sara advises Pam to sign them up for the beginner classes, and Pam says she’ll think about it. She just wants to get out of the office and go talk to Jim as quickly as she can. After Sara gets her to promise to call in a couple of days with a decision, she walks Pam to the door.

“You really are very lucky, you know?” Sara says. Pam nods at her. “I teach a lot of people to dance for their weddings. It’s been long time since I’ve seen anyone look at each other the way you two do. It’s nice.”

With that, Sara closes the door and locks Pam out. She pulls the shade over the window, and Pam is left alone in the parking lot.

Well, not entirely alone.

“Jim. In there, I…”

“I just wanted to make sure you got out ok, “ He interrupts. “It's dark, late at night. I wanted to make sure you got to your car safely. And here you are.”

“Listen, Jim.”

“I’ll see you Monday, Beesly.” He walks with her over to her side of the car and opens her door.

“Oh. Okay.” She slides into her car and looks up at him, a questioning look on her face. But what about what just happened in there? I didn’t imagine that, did I?

“Just one thing?” He says.

“Sure. Anything.” She’s surprised to realize that when she says anything, in this moment she actually means anything.

“No more dance lessons. If Roy can’t be bothered to go with you, I can’t be your sub. Ok?”

She nods, and he taps the top of her car and gives her a wave. He walks to his car without looking back. She knows, because she never takes her eyes off of him until he’s started his engine.

He waits until she leaves before he heads home. He knows that he missed yet another opportunity to tell her how he feels.

Another will come. You’ll be ready next time.