He reached out and grabbed a bottle of green Nyquil, some Tylenol Sinus, and some nasal spray. A small brunette woman next to him was struggling to reach the high shelved Benadryl, so in a swift move, he extended his arm and got it for her.

She smiled and blushed. "Uh, thanks. It sucks being short."

"No problem. And trust me, sometimes it sucks being tall."

He saw a flirtatious glint in her eyes and all he did was nod at her.  He turned and walked down the aisle with his basket, towards the fabric softners.  His cell phone vibrated as he approached the check out line, and when he recognized the number,  he grinned at it and then cleared his throat.

The check out girl watched him in amusement as he pushed out a fake cough and sniffle and then answered the phone.

"Hello."

"Hello, Jim. This is Dwight. I see you are not here today."

"Very observant of you. *Cough* What do you want?"

"Josh said you called in sick this morning. I was wondering what your symptoms were, seeing as it has kept you from reporting to work today."

Jim bit his laughter back and swiped his debit card. "*Hack* Well, if you must know...Dwight...I'm stuffy, my throat hurts, I have a fever, and my head has turned 360 degrees around. And oh...*sniff* I projectile vomited pea soup across the room."

The cashier giggled.

"Sounds serious."

Jim winked at the cashier and grabbed his bag. "It is. So...uh, what else do you want?"

"What was that? I heard beeping."

"Maybe you're sick too, hearing things."

"That's impossible, I don't get sick."

Jim unlocked his door and sat the bag on the passenger seat. "I though the same thing. But there's the epidemic. It was on the news, everyone's getting it."

"You're lying."

"Nope," Jim replied starting up his car. "I heard it makes you eat other people, and you eventually become a zombie."

There was a long pause. "You're lying."

"No, Dwight. I'm scared. I'm very *sniff* scared."

He heard Dwight cover up the receiver and mutter something to someone, probably Andy. Jim struggled hard not to burst out laughing. "Well...I uh-I... well....stay indoors. Barricade yourself in if you have to. And if it's too late, for the love of mankind, kill yourself Jim."

"Will do." Jim replied. "Hey Dwight, stay vigilant. Don't be a zombie."

"I won't Jim, I won't."

Jim flipped down his phone and laughed to himself as he pulled into his drive way. Dwight and Andy were the tag team of stupidity in the office. And they both deemed themselves assistants to the regional managers. Dwight, of course, appeasing Michael's many demands and Andy trying hard to brown nose an annoyed Josh. What a difference a year had made at Dunder-Mifflin Stamford. Creed, Kelly, Oscar, Kevin, and Meredith had transferred there. Stanley stayed behind and got a new job working for a pharmaceutical company. Phyllis decided to work with her husband, Bob Vance, at his company. At first, it was interesting seeing how the Scranton branch intermixed with Stamford, but now, the ‘new-ness' of it all had worn off.

Jim shut the door to his apartment and placed the keys in the bowl next to the door. He padded into the living room, smiling at the sight before him. Pam sat there, her nose red from blowing, her hair in a wild messy ponytail, and her eyes dark with rings under them.

And yet, she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. She had met him at the water cooler after all, a knowing smile on her face. And before he could apologize about what an ass he had been, she shook her head and motioned for the elevators. Quickly he went back to gather his stuff and shut down his computer while she waited patiently for him. Jim followed her towards the waiting elevators, and at that point, realized he'd follow her anywhere. Descending to the lobby, he focused his eyes on his feet, his heart beating fast and he went to glance up at her, catching her staring at him.

That actually made him blush, and together they stepped out and walked towards the parking lot. He felt her reach a hand out and touch his, intertwining her fingers with his, and he gasped a bit. She just kept her eyes ahead, a small smile pulling her face. When he approached her car, she stood in front of him, and finally dropped her head.

"I'm sorry." She said in a whisper.

"Me too." Jim replied, disgusted with his recent attitude towards her.

She nodded and looked back up into his eyes, and he swore that one stare was so powerful, it almost knocked him down.

"So," she said, her voice strong. "No more apologizing, no more looking back. Promise?"

He nodded. Honestly, Jim felt he had raged enough and looking at her right now, her eyes boring holes into his own, he felt no more doubt about this. "Promise."

And they spent that evening together, and then next evening, and the next, until a month had passed and Pam was his roommate. She fit in his life perfectly, and it was like they had never parted. It went from roommates to bedmates of course, and then they moved into their official "couple" apartment, just last month. Pam started her internship at corporate, but the commute home wasn't that brutal as they thought it would be. She only interned 2 days a week, and Jim was proud she was sticking with it and was doing a good job.

Now she lay sprawled on the couch, a mess of sniffles and coughs.

She turned to see him staring at her. "What?"

"Nothing. You're just...beautiful." He said smiling.

"Right. You got me some drugs?" she said as she blew her nose.

"What am I? Your pusher?"

"Gimme my Nyquil or feel my wrath Halpert."

Jim nodded and handed her the Nyquil. "Don't overdose on that, okay?"

"Whatever. What else did you get?"

He put the bag on the counter and pulled out 2 cans of tomato soup and 2 cans of chicken noodle. "Soupy goodness... which you might not be awake to enjoy, seeing as how you just took enough Nyquil to put an elephant asleep...you might get to eat with one of my grilled cheese sandwiches."

She smiled and sniffed.

"Oh and I got ginger ale, if your tummy hurts. And a new box of tissues. Fabric softner..."

"I love that stuff. When I could actually use my nose to smell it. " She replied and he smiled wider. This is why he was fucking in love with her.

"And I got also stopped at Blockbuster... I figured all that channel flipping would make you dizzy."

"Thank you Jim." She sniffed. She turned back around and sneezed loudly. "Dwight called, asking me all these questions. I told him I had some sort of zombie infection. He must have believed me."

Jim burst into laughter. "So did I! God...that is awesome. Bet you, he's going to stock up on potted meat and bunker down in his basement."

Pam laughed too, and then started coughing. Quickly, Jim was by her side, a glass of water in hand.

"Do you think they'll notice, we took a sick day together?" Pam asked as she sipped her water.

"I don't really care."

Pam snuggled against Jim and sniffed. "Me neither."