Chapter 3:

A couple of weeks zoomed by and Jim was settling into his role as salesman pretty well. He found it pretty easy actually once they assigned him clients. He didn't particularly like talking about paper but found that it wasn't actually that hard to sell it to people who actually wanted it. The key was just trying to convince them that Dunder-Mifflin, and Jim in particular, would actually be a better supplier. He was able to BS his way through his clients for the most part, using charm and just his general likability, and tried to show why working through a smaller company would be more appealing to the client. He was genuinely surprised at how well that actually worked.

He wasn't nearly as aggressive as Dwight was though. Dwight was not only assertive – he was ambitious and committed. Originally, Jim assumed he'd just try to easily beat Dwight at his own game but seeing how obsessed with paper Dwight really was he resigned that he wouldn't even try to beat Dwight, just do the best he could and keep doing his own thing. He wasn't here to be competitive, just to get experience and it be a stepping stone into something better. Plus, he would NOT end up like Dwight Schrute.

One helpful thing about settling into the office was that Michael loved him. Michael soaked up any attention Jim would give him and if Jim joked around at all, Michael would laugh heartily at his jokes. Michael also wasted a ton of time with conference room meetings.

As far as friends went, Jim wasn't making much headway aside from Pam. Most everyone just kept to themselves at first. Some would be friendly, an accountant named Oscar made time to talk to Jim a little bit but didn't he seem to catch on to Jim's sense of humor as well, and was a bit more straight laced. One of the other accountants, Kevin, would talk sports with Jim but was a little...slow to the uptake when it came to his wit. Kelly, the customer service rep, was incredibly friendly but he had literally nothing in common with her. All she would talk about was celebrities and teenie bop tv shows that made him want to gauge his eye out. She once seemed to be coming on to him and asked about whether or not he had a girlfriend, Jim said he didn't, and tried to avoid Kelly as much as possible for a couple of days after that and ignored her a little bit more.

Pam, however, was the bright spot in his days. Contrary to her friendliness with Jim, she was really reserved and wouldn't open up much about her private life. When they would have lunch together, she would discuss her favorite movies and books, things she enjoyed and unsurprisingly all of her favorites were Jim's as well. She had a lightness about her and was sassy but she clammed up around others, almost like she had tried before to joke around with them but they shut her down quickly. She specifically clammed up around Michael because he would all but harass her. But around Jim, she seemed relaxed and happy and so open that he really began to think that the feelings were not one sided and began to seriously consider asking her on a date.

It was at the end of his third thursday at Dunder-Mifflin that Jim stumbled up to her desk after he had gathered all of his things together to head out that he saw her at her desk vigorously scribbling something on a paper. Grabbing a jelly bean, he leaned over inconspicuously and saw that she was drawing a picture of a coffee cup.

“Hey, that's nice. I didn't know you could draw like that.” Jim said, softly.

Pam looked up, startled and immediately hid it under her hand, “Oh, I – oh it's nothing.”

“What's nothing?” Jim was surprised at her sudden secrecy.

“Oh, I'm just doodling.”

“That's a doodle? When I doodle it's just like swirls and zig-zags. That was pretty good.”

“Oh, it's... no. It's just my coffee mug.” She was blushing and looking really uncomfortable.

“Do you draw?” Jim asked.

Pam sighed, “I took a few community college classes out of high school before I came here.”

“Why'd you stop?”

She sighed, looking sullen and low, “Couldn't afford college and needed to pay the bills. Tale as old as time.”

“Well, you look like you have some raw talent there, Beesley.” He said, honestly.

She turned serious and looked thoughtful and Jim almost felt like he might have said the wrong thing.

“Did...I...say something wrong?” Jim said, forcing out a smile but feeling a little nervous he embarrassed her.

Pam shook off whatever feeling she put on her face and replaced it with a more nervous smile, “Oh no. You didn't...it's just...I have always really wanted to be an artist but, I don't know, I just don't really have the time.”

Jim nodded, “Well, you should be one. I'd love to see more...I mean, only if you wanted me to.”

Jim was aware that he was really putting himself out there and he was hoping she'd pick up on the fact that he wanted to get to know her, all of her, better. This was the first big, personal thing about her he had learned and it was the most endearing thing he could imagine.

Pam blushed and smiled, shyly, “You know what? Maybe I'll bring my sketch pad in sometime.” She looked in his eyes and her eyes darted a little all over his face for a second and he didn't miss that. He had this feeling that if there were other coworkers just within ear shot, he might ask her out right then and there. Instead, he took a deep breath and backed away a little bit and decided to keep his cool.

“I can't wait, Beesley. See you tomorrow?”

“Sure.” She watched him as he backed away, “Have a good evening, Jim.”

Jim's heart was all over the place. He was falling fast and hard for this girl – he truly couldn't believe it.

That night his brother Jonathon and his roommate Mark were having their monthly game night and having a few beers together. After a few slices of pizza and a couple of rounds of beer, Jonathon began to loosen up a little and ask Jim about his new job.

“So, Jim, is being a paper salesman everything you'd ever dreamed about?”

Jim groaned, “Let's make this a paper free table please. I've learned more and talked more about paper in the last three weeks than I ever want to talk about for the rest of my life.”

“That bad, huh?” Mark asked, “So, you thinking about sticking around longer or finding something new?”

Jim shrugged.

“What's your boss like?”

Jim coughed on a little bit of his beer, “Oh, he's... something.”

“Good something? Or difficult something?”

“I haven't entirely figured him out yet.” Jim said, “He is somewhere between a problem child and a idiot. He likes me though.”

“What about your coworkers?” Jonathon asked, “Are they at least nice?”

“Well,” Jim began, “my desk-mate has delusions of grandeur and tries to put me down any chance he gets. I spend a good amount of my day passively getting back at him.”

Jonathon laughed, “Meaning you prank him?”

Jim tapped his nose.

“And you get away with it??” Mark asked.

“Not yet...Michael – my boss – doesn't seem to mind and there's someone who actually has been helping me.”

“Oh, so you have a friend there?” Jonathon inquired.

“Yeah, she's...” Jim started and didn't really know how to continue, “she's great.” He considered staying silent but he felt himself blush a little.

Jonathon couldn't resist teasing his little brother a little, “Oh yeah? How great?”

Jim ran his hands through his hair, “Really great...I...really like her.”

“Sounds like this job isn't too terrible.” Mark laughed, “What's her name?”

“Her name is Pam.” Jim said, realizing he couldn't get her name out without smiling a little.

Jonathon smiled, “So, I take it the way you're smiling, she is gonna be my new sister in law?”

Jim sobered up, “I've only known her a couple of weeks, Jonny.”

“Well, what's she like?” Mark asked.

Jim cleared his throat, “She's just really nice, funny, talented, cute, and just... I've never really met someone like her before.” He sighed afterwards and noticed how lovelorn he sounded and groaned a little at himself. He avoided the gaze of his brother and friend knowing they were probably going to give him “that” look.

“So, you're going to ask her out, right?” Mark prodded. “You seem to really like her. Even in college I never saw you talk about a girl like that.” It was true. He had dated around and had one girlfriend in college but he never really got “that feeling” before. He always ended breaking up with them because it just didn't feel right or noticed when the girl ended things with him, he wasn't too troubled by it and moved on pretty quickly.

Jim shook his head, “I've been considering it. I think she likes me too but I sense she is pretty reserved. I don't want to put her off or anything.”

“Is there a rule about office relationships or anything?” Jonathon asked.

“Not that I know of.”

“Jim – you got to ask her out. You never know.” Mark said, flatly. “You are usually so okay with just, I don't know, floating around life and just existing that if you feel a pull towards something, you need to follow that instinct.”

Jim looked at his friend and nodded. The moments were few and far between that he felt truly called towards something and there was something about Pam that made him feel like everything just was right.

“Yeah, well, maybe I will.”

****

The next day he came into work and immediately was greeted by Pam with a smile.

“Hey, Halpert, did you have a good evening?”

“Yeah, had my brother and my friend over to play games.”

“What, like Monopoly? How cute.” Pam teased.

“Hey...we play important board games, I'll have you know.”

“What? Like Chutes and Ladders?” She teased.

Jim laughed, “Exactly, Beesley.” He smiled at her for a couple moments longer and drummed her desk nervously and started move to his desk.

“Jim – um...” Pam said, stopping him.

Jim's heart fluttered a little and he looked at her, “What's up, Pam?”

Pam looked a little nervous and her expression was more sincere. It was a new Pam “look” that he filed away. “Well, um, you know how you asked if I wanted to show you my sketches sometimes ..?.”

Jim nodded.

She blinked nervously, “Well, I brought my sketchbook in today if you, um, want to see it.”

There was something in that moment that gave Jim the green light to just go for it.

“Yeah, of course. I definitely want to see it. Yes. How about, um...” Jim lowered his voice a little and leaned in with his elbows on reception, “...would you like to go and get a drink with me after work tonight and show them to me?”

Pam stared at him for a moment and then looked a little surprised and said, “Oh...um...yeah we could do that. Let me just check on something and then I'll let you know, ok?”

“Oh, do you have plans or something?” Jim asked, chuckling a little nervously, trying to read her reaction. It wasn't exactly the reaction he had pictured but it also wasn't a resounding “no” either. Pam seemed to be someone who didn't wear her emotions on her sleeve so she could just be keeping her cool.

“Oh, not really. I think I can do that. Just...I'll let you know soon.” Pam said with a little smile.

“Ok,” Jim said, covering his confusion with a smile, “sure. I'll be...” he pointed to his desk a few feet away, “...right over there.”

She smiled and let out a quiet laugh, “I think I can remember that.”

He felt awkward but hopeful. She seemed to want to so that was...good but he felt a little like his offer was hanging in the balance. He walked back to his desk and tried to busy himself with his emails and any work he had to do. There wasn't much, unfortunately, and it made the waiting for her answer a little more distracting. Dwight was on a sales call too so he didn't have Dwight to mess with to take his mind off of things. He went to the break room at around 10:00 am to grab an extra cup of coffee (like that would help his nerves) to rid himself of the boredom he was experiencing of staring at his desk and doing mindless paperwork and opened the fridge to see any creamer inside. He saw a little yogurt cup in there, mixed berry, that he'd seen Pam eat every day at break time, picked it up ,and smiled at it like an idiot, when he noticed it was expired. He put the yogurt down awkwardly and closed the fridge. He sat in the break room, finished his coffee, and then went back to his desk and attempted to cold call some clients.

Around lunchtime, Jim noticed Pam was being less friendly than normal and Jim desperately hoped him asking her out didn't make her feel like she wouldn't be able to be his friend still and realized how boring this job was without her company. So, he decided he'd break the awkwardness and speak first. When she walked into the break room and got her lunch out, he waited a few minutes and walked in to grab his lunch as well.

She was about to stick her spoon in her yogurt and the only thing Jim could muster out was,

“This may sound weird, and there's no reason for me to know this, but that mixed berry yogurt you're about to eat has expired.”

Pam stopped for a moment, put her yogurt down and laughed.

“What?!? Is this more detective work of yours or something?”

“Yeah, something like that.” Jim let a breath out after seeing that she was smiling normally again.

“Hey, so, about tonight...” he started.

Pam swallowed quickly, “Oh, right, sorry I didn't give you an answer. It's fine. I'll shut the office down around 6:00, we can go from there, is that alright?”

Jim's heart about lept, “Alright, great, Beesley. Let's do it.”

If he had thought the day had been going by slowly before, it had no comparison to what the next few hours would be like for him.