Jim could only stand in shocked surprise at the sight of the other man in the doorway. Where he would normally have a witty remark, Jim’s mind was for once blank. Ryan must have felt something similar. He was remained stock-still with one hand on the door and one hand holding his towel up. They didn’t say anything for several long seconds. That was until Karen’s voice came from further in the room.

“Ryan? Is that the front desk with the extra towels?”

Hearing her voice snapped Jim out of his trance. He pushed past Ryan and walked in the room. There was a small hallway leading past the bathroom and a closet. The single king size bed was facing away from the door. Rounding the corner Jim looked down at where she was laying naked on the bed.

“Not quite,” he said with frost in his voice.

“Jim!” Karen quickly started fumbling to cover herself with sheets. “What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here? What is Ryan doing here?!” Before she had a chance to answer, he waved a hand at her face and glared at her. “Actually, strike that. I know exactly what he was doing here, or rather who he was doing.”

“It’s not like that,” Karen started out.

“Oh please, I’m not an idiot, it’s exactly like that.” he spat back at her. “How long?”

She tried gathering more sheets around her. “What?”

“Don’t play dumb, I know you heard me.” Jim crossed his arms. “How long?”

“A couple weeks now,” she said after swallowing hard.

Jim felt something brush behind him. Turning his saw Ryan reaching for where his clothes were laying discarded on the floor. Ryan froze under Jim’s stare.

“Hey Jim,” awkwardness was imbibed in every short syllable. “I, um, I think I’ll just, um, you know, get going.”

“No Ryan. You stay.” Jim turned to glare back at Karen. “I’m sure you two will be really happy together.” With that he turned and left the room. He was almost to his car when he heard a shout behind him.

“Jim! Please wait!” Karen was rushing up to him clad in a bathrobe and slippers. She stopped as he turned from his car. “Can’t we talk about this?”

“Really? You want to talk about how you’ve been cheating on me for two weeks? Acting like everything’s great, while sneaking around with Ryan?”

“I know Jim. I screwed up.” She tried reaching for his arm but he drew away. “But we had something good going. We can’t just give up on that.”

“Apparently it wasn’t good. Not if you’ve been inviting him into your room and your bed.”

“Actually, this is the first time Ryan’s been here,” she said as she looked at the ground.

There was no hiding the anger in Jim’s voice now. “And that’s somehow supposed to make me feel better!?”

“No,” Karen admitted. “But it’s the truth.”

“Karen,” Jim huffed as he slammed his car door to stand in front of her. “How am I supposed to trust that?” She didn’t have a reply for him, she just shuffled her feet and shivered against the snow falling. “Just tell me one thing,” Jim’s voice was softer, but still laced with anger. He waited for her to look up at him. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” she started.

“Oh bullshit!” Jim snapped.

“You want to know why?” Karen finally had some heat to her voice. “Fine! You were never going to let me in. When I saw the way, you were looking at Pam when you two set Andy on each other and how you've never looked at me like that, well I started asking around. Real great bringing me here to be your shield against the girl who broke your heart. How did you think that made me feel! Thinking no matter how long we were together I’d always be second best!
“So, when Ryan asked me out for drinks, I said sure. And you know something Jim? He’s got more ambition in his little finger that you’ll ever have. I know everyone at the office glosses over him like he’s still a temp, but he’s got ideas, visions, he’s going to go somewhere rather than a sales rep at a failing paper company!”

“No! You don’t get to turn this around on me!” Jim fired back. “You were the one cheating on me! Don’t EVER forget that. And I wasn’t using you as a shield against Pam. I was really trying to make things work between us. I was doing that before the branches merged if you remember. That day we spent looking for those chips of yours! Those times we had alone where you helped me get better at Call of Duty? The dinners we had right before the transfer? Remember those?!”

“Yeah, sure,” she scoffed. “Trying to make it work. Then what was all that crap today with Michael about being a rebound?”

Her reply caught him off guard. “What?”

It was Karen’s turn to glare now. “That conversation you had with Michael on the couch. Who were you really talking about? Michael’s fake college waitress girlfriend or me? If all I am to you is a fun distraction why the hell shouldn’t I take any guy to bed that I want?”

Jim had to take several deep breaths to prevent himself from screaming at her. The fury her words triggered was still there though. “Even if it started out like that, what I said still holds true. I was trying to be a good boyfriend to you. Then you see me having fun with another woman or having a conversation that wasn’t about you and rather than talking to me, like an adult, you thought it would be a better idea to jump into bed with Ryan.
“Ryan! The one salesman at the office who has yet to make an actual sale since he got the job months ago! Yeah, a real hotshot! Did he tell you about how he almost burned our building down last year? All those ideas and visions he has, does he have an actual business plan for any of them? Or did he just use a bunch of buzzwords and a couple strong drinks like he tried with me when he pitched them to me a while back? That MBA he’s getting? Did he or did he not tell you he’s last in his class?”

“What?” Karen shook her head. “How do you know that?”

“It’s a small office and he’s been going out with Kelly who sadly can hardly keep anything to herself.”

“Kelly,” Karen blew her lips at the thought of the perky customer service rep. “What an airhead.”

Jim hung his head and shook it before looking back up at her. “Oh, how little you know. You never met Kelly before Ryan or the camera’s showed up. Before her former boyfriend killed himself”

“He what?” Karen looked stunned.

“Killed himself. Gunshot straight through the head.” Jim mimed the action with a finger gun to his temple. “And guess who it was that walked in on the body?”

Jim could see Karen wilting. “Oh my god.”

“Before then, Kelly wasn’t anything like how she is now. She was really quiet for a long time after it happened. We tried getting her to go to a therapist, but she never did. Finally, one day she waltzed into the office the bubbly person you see today. Some of us like Oscar, Phyllis, Pam and myself have tried talking to her about what happened. She won’t mention it. Denies it happened every time it comes up.”

“I never knew...” Karen trailed off.

“And just what do you think this will do to her when she finds out? Hmmm?”

“I didn’t think...”

“Exactly!” Jim said. “Because, and I think I just realized this, you only see the outside of people. Jim’s cute but kind of a slacker so he’ll be fun to date. Phyllis has smelly perfume so I’ll avoid her. Angela’s mean so I’ll stick it to her. Kelly’s an airhead so she’s not worth my time. Michael’s an idiot so it’s okay to resent him.
“But dig deeper and you’ll find there’s a lot more to people. I may not have the highest number of clients, but I do have the most returning customers, and some of the largest single orders too. Phyllis’ perfume was a gift to her from the grandmother who raised her after her mother just up and left one day. Angela may be harsh, but she has successfully nursed more sick cats back to health and gotten more of them adopted than any private or public shelter in the county. It may be a defense mechanism, but Kelly’s personality and her willingness to listen to customers has helped me, Phyllis, Dwight, and Stanley get a lot of sales. So, much so that on more than one occasion we’ve had new customers tell us they’ve switched to us because they get a real person when they call customer service rather than a phone tree. Michael’s defiantly out there I’ll admit. But if you look past all the bluster, he’s a man with a heart of gold who truly only wants what’s best for his employees.”

His speech had drained the anger out of him. He nodded back to the hotel before turning to his car door again. “Go back inside Karen. It’s cold out here.”

“What about us?”

Jim had one foot in his car. His voice was calm when he spoke. “There is no us anymore Karen. You showed me a lot about your character tonight. Enough for me to know that’s not what I want now or long term. At least do me one favor, unless it specifically has to deal with work business, don’t talk to me for a while. Good-bye.”

He didn’t wait for a reply. He sat down in his car and left the parking lot. I guess I never really knew her at all either. Not like I know Pam. Any lingering anger in his heart started to dissipate at the thought of the curly haired receptionist. Speaking of which.

Digging his phone out of his pocket he dialed a number that had never left his speed dial.

“Jim?”

A wave of calm and a smile came over him when he heard Pam’s voice. “Hey, is that offer to come over still on the table?”

“Of course. How’d it go?”

“I’ll tell you when I get there. But I first have to ask you something.”

“Shoot.”

“How do I get to your fancy new apartment?”

His smile grew wider at the sound of her laughter. She quickly gave him directions. “Drive safe,” she told him afterwards.

“I will. See you soon Beesly.”

“You too Jim.”

Settling in for the rest of the drive, he felt his stomach start to churn. Cool it man. It’s just Pam. You’ve always been able to talk to....no! Not this time. This isn’t just Pam. This is the Pam who told you she loves you. Not the Pam who broke your heart or the Pam that was always out of reach. This is the real deal. Holy crap!

His nerves hadn’t calmed down when he arrived at her apartment complex. Before he knew it, he was knocking on her door. This time when the door opened, the sight before him was much more welcoming.

“Jim,” Pam said his name softly as she wrapped her arms through his overcoat to hold him.

Instantly his arms were around her and his nose was in her hair. As he breathed in her scent, he let out a breath that carried his nervousness away with it. There’s no hiding it this time. She really does want me.

“Come on,” Pam broke the hug and nodded to the door. “Let’s go inside.”

After slipping off his shoes, overcoat, and suit coat he followed Pam to her living room. Looking around he wasn’t surprised by what he saw. Her artwork was pinned up on walls she’d painted a soft eggshell blue. She had a small book case near her TV that held various books on art along with what he assumed were her textbooks for her art classes. Crossing over to the bookcase he picked up the teal teapot that was resting in a place of honor on top.

“I’m glad you kept this,” he said while smiling.

Pam walked up next to him. It was the first clear look he’d gotten of her since she let him inside. Her hair was down, she’d taken out her contacts, and was wearing soft pink flannel pajama pants along with a faded yellow t-shirt with a sun in the middle of it. In short, he thought she looked beautiful.

“I could never get rid of that,” she smiled and took the teapot from him to set it back down. She led him to her couch and curled her legs under her as he sat down. “So? What happened?”

Jim let out a small laugh and leaned back into the cushions. “Well, good news and bad news. The good news is that Karen and I are done. Couldn’t be any more done.”

Pam tilted her head at him. “What’s the bad news?”

“Things are going to be a lot weirder around the office.” He leaned forward to look at Pam. “When I knocked on Karen’s hotel room door, Ryan answered wearing only a towel.”

“Oh my god!” Pam’s hands shot to her mouth. “Ryan? As in Ryan Howard, from work?”

“Yeah,” Jim told her how the rest of the conversations had gone. Pam stayed silent while he spoke. She did reach out to put a comforting hand on his back and rubbed slow circles.

“Wow,” was all she could say when he was finished.

“Yeah, wow,” he agreed.

“What are you going to do?”

He blew out a long breath. “Ignore them for now if I can. This isn’t like what happened with Roy. No workplace rules were violated so I can’t do anything from that point.”

“It still sucks,” Pam told him.

“Yeah it does.”

Pam leaned forward to hug him from the side. “I’m so sorry you had to walk into that.”

Jim closed his eyes. The warmth of her body spreading into his own. It was very calming. “Thanks.”

Jim turned to pull Pam into a warm embrace. Pam pulled her glasses off so they wouldn’t dig into his shoulder. They stayed wrapped in each other’s arms.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The raps on the door caused them to break the hug. Pam pulled her glasses back on and looked curiously at the door. “Who could that be?”

Leaving the couch, she padded over to her door and looked through the peep hole. Immediately she turned from the door with a somewhat panicked look on her face. “Just a minute!” she called back through the door.

“Pam? What’s going on?” Jim asked as she kneeled down in front of him.

“Jim you trust me, right?”

By now Jim was perplexed. “Of course, I do.”

“Okay, it’s just, I know we have a lot of talking to do about, well everything. Anyway, when you were gone, I did go out of a few dates. I haven’t seen or called any of those guys since you got back but one of them decided it would be good to just show up un-announced.”

“Is that who’s at the door?”

Pam nodded. “Yeah, I was out with Penny one night and he and a friend come up and talked to us. I met him for drinks one more time, but that’s all that happened. Anyway, he’s back and, this is kind of embarrassing, but I think you know who he is.”

Jim looked at the door for an instant before looking back at Pam. “Who?”

“Danny Cordray.”