Jim Halpert was never one for fairytale romances. He knew they didn't exist, and had only been told in stories, to help people feel less lonely about their lies. He didn't consider himself a hopeless romantic. Sure, he had girlfriends in the past, and sure, he told them he loved them. But they soon became distant memories of a time long forgotten along with many other aspects of high school and college.
But as soon as he stepped foot into his brand new job, the office of Dunder Mifflin, Scranton, PA, his heart dropped.
Jim never believed in love at first sight, and if anyone had ever asked him about it, he'd scoff and walk away, that kinda stuff was for children.
But those thoughts and uncertainties flooded away to be replaced with images of soft curly hair and subtle smiles from a small receptionist who greeted him as soon as he walked in.
She had quite literally, taken his breath away.
He took in a deep breath of air to try and recompose himself after the shock, it took him completely by surprise.
She was beautiful, not beautiful as in perfect skin, flawless makeup, and extravagant hair, no, she was simply beautiful because she was herself.
He felt his heart rate speed up and his blood begin pumping, he tried to tell himself that he was just feeling nervous about the new job, that was all.
After the boss had greeted him... well, more so screamed when he saw him, grabbed his hand, and started talking to him as if they were kindergarteners on a play date, he decided to give him and introduction to everyone around the office. Jim had seen the tired, bored looks on everyone's faces and felt a pang of fear, fear of turning into one of them. His boss had yanked him along before he could really contemplate too far along into his life.
When he finally introduced the receptionist, Jim felt the same feeling he felt walking into the building, nervousness.
She had the same bored expression on her face, and if he looked close enough, he could almost see a hint of sadness lodged in there as well. However, as soon as she noticed him, her eyes darted to his and she gave him a soft smile, one he knew he was never going to forget.
Jim Halpert was doomed within the first 30 minutes at his new job.
-
Later on, after Michael and his childlike wonder had wandered into his office to search for Jim's first day video, Jim had decided to try and find something to do. He took a deep breath and timidly walked over to the receptionist's desk.
"I guess you guys have it pretty rough here, huh?" He chuckled.
She looked up from her computer and gave him a soft giggle.
"Enjoy this moment, because you're never going to go back to this time before you meet your deskmate Dwight." She glanced behind him, causing him to swiftly turn around.
She pointed to a strange salesman, who was on the phone with a client, talking about his family owned farm, which, if wasn't weird enough, had been doing it while he was poking the few bizarre bobble heads on his desk.
Before he could reply with a smug comment, Michael came out of his office and grabbed Jim by the arm, taking him into the conference room to watch his introductory video.
It was going to be a long day for him.
-
Later in the day, after he had been settled into his desk, Jim realized his lunch break was coming up sooner than he had expected.
He found himself unable to take his eyes off of the girl a few feet away from him, she was unaware of how many times he'd glanced over to her, which was in itself probably a very unhealthy amount of times.
He checked his watch and decided to just go for it.
"This might sound weird, and there's no reason for me to know this, but that mixed berry yogurt you're about to eat has expired." He said, pointing to the expiration date on the lid of her yogurt.
She looked down and peeled the lid completely off of the yogurt container.
"Wow, good eye, I would've never noticed that." She smiled up at him.
"How about, instead of you having to suffer some kind of expired yogurt food poisoning much later, we both take a lunch break down at Cugino's?" He suddenly felt the fear course through his blood, he had said that a lot more bluntly then he would've liked to, "I mean, I have my break right now, I thought it'd be a good idea, you know, you can help me get to know the place better?" He stammered, hoping to brush it off like he wasn't just asking her out on a date, on his first day, hours after just meeting her.
"Um, yeah sure!" She nodded, her eyes glowing.
"Great! Let me just grab my coat real quick." He quickly grabbed his things, hoping to brush off his excitement as much as possible.
-
They had gotten along so well, so perfectly, Jim had never thought he would've hit it off with someone this much in his entire life.
They managed to talk about everything from work to the beginning of their lives. He was sure that he was going to be stuck with this girl for a long time. Hopefully, the rest of his life.
She was so cute, the way she talked, she was so excited about everything, and seeing her outside the office allowed her to open up about so much more, Jim never thought he would see such a person with this much energy and light.
He was certain that he knew this about her the moment he met her. He was sure that this was the girl he wanted to spend his life with. It had only been a few hours, but he was so in love with her.
The clock ran out fast, time flies when you're having fun.
As he began to collect his things, he contemplated how to ask her out on a second date, and third, and fourth, and the rest of his life.
"This was so much fun, I'm glad I got to spend this with you. Everyone else looks miserable." He beamed.
She chuckled, "Don't worry, it won't take you too long to fit in with the rest of us, having Michael as your boss will do that to you."
He doesn't think he's met anyone more funny.
"I was wondering if maybe, once work's done, you wanted to-"
Suddenly he was interrupted by the ringing of her phone.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry." Her beautiful smile suddenly turned into a guilty frown.
"No! It's totally ok, you should take it." He reassured her.
She flipped open the phone and answered.
"Hey, Roy. Yeah, I can stop for some on the way back. Oh, I'm just out with a coworker. It's not a big deal. Uh, yeah. Ok, I'll see you tonight, love you."
His heart dropped. Suddenly, he noticed the ring on her finger, and he felt his whole world begin to crumble around him.
"I'm so sorry Jim, what were you going to say?" She flipped the phone shut and returned her gaze to him.
"Oh, me? I was just saying that maybe we should start to head back." He muttered, sounding more disappointed then he had hoped to.
"Oh, yeah you're probably right." She caught onto his disappointment and shifted her gaze.
He absently thought to himself about how stupid he was, assuming that someone as bright and beautiful as she was, was bound to be single. Of course not, she's too fun to be around, who wouldn't want to be with her. He was just overthinking everything, he didn't really love her, he just had a lot going on, and he decided to assume his stress was just being attracted to, well, an attractive woman.
When they arrived to the office, he met Roy. If his heart could have sunk any lower, he was sure he would've been drowning. Roy was nothing close to resembling him, he was tall, yes, but he was also husky, scruffy, and tough. Jim knew he couldn't compete.
Jim suddenly thought back to the saddened faces of his coworkers, and was reminded that his life could too turn out to be bitter.
The next few years of his life we're going to be long.
