Jim pulled up in front of Pam and Roy’s apartment – soon to be just Roy’s from what she had told him earlier that weekend – just before eight thirty. After putting his red corolla in park, Jim typed out a quick text to Pam to let her know he was out front. Pam had called him Sunday afternoon to let him know that she did not have a car yet, but her father was going to take her out to close a deal after work with any luck.

Jim looked up to see Pam making her way out the door, and got up out of his car to open the passenger door for her before she reached it.

“Why thank you kind sir,” Pam said with a smile and a mock curtsey when she reached him standing there holding the door open for her.

“No problem at all madame,” Jim said with his best impression of a butler, causing Pam’s smile to widen as she sat down in the car.

Jim closed the door behind her and rounded the car to get back in. Upon starting the car back up and pulling out onto the road, Pam thanked him again for driving her to work.

“It’s not a problem Beesly, I was up anyway because Mark came back from the late shift and tripped on the entrance table,” Jim assured her.

Pam guffawed, and looked at him sheepishly, “Sorry, that must have been quite the wake up.”

“It was, nothing better than an adrenaline rush to wake you up at six in the morning,” Jim said with a chuckle.

They continued their banter for a while longer until Jim finally had to ask the question that gnawing at the corner of his mind.

“So, any luck with the apartment hunt over the weekend?”

“We managed to narrow it down to a few places, but I mentioned to my parents that I thought I might want to get a dog at some point and they kind of latched on to that and wouldn’t stop asking questions about the pet friendliness of every place,” Pam replied with a grimace.

“Huh,” was all Jim had to say about that, an idea forming in his mind.

“What’s huh, Jim? Spill.”

“Well, you remember a few months ago I told you about my cousin… that… y’know,” Jim trailed off as he tried to figure out how to phrase what had happened to his cousin, “… with the search?”

“Oh, yeah,” Pam said quickly, letting him know that he need not say any more, “why does that make you think of her,” Pam asked quietly.

“Well it’s just that I remembered that my aunt and uncle have been looking for a good home for her dog, since, y’know … she doesn’t need her anymore,” Jim managed to finish.

“Oh,” Pam said, clearly not sure what an appropriate response to that would be, “are you sure they want to get rid of the dog?”

“Yeah, they think it’s for the best.”

“Well, what’s her name,” Pam asked, Jim could see that she was picking up on his discomfort on the subject.

Jim was thankful for the shift, “Nikita, although she responds to Kiida, Pita, and sometimes Cheeto,” Jim said with a small smile.

“She’s a German Shepherd,” Jim answered before Pam could ask her next question, “about three years old, really well behaved and trained, because she was –,” Jim corrected himself, “is an emotional support dog.”

“Thanks Jim, she sounds great,” Pam said, seemingly interested judging by her tone, “I’ll have to think on that.”

“Please do, and if you want to meet her, or want to see pictures, you know where to find me.”

“I’ll let you know,” Pam said as they were pulling into the Scranton Business Park lot.

“Thanks again for the ride Jim,” she said as he pulled into his usual space.

“Any time Beesly, I don’t mind the company,” Jim said as they exited the car and headed towards the doors.

Jim picked up his pace a little to beat Pam to the doors and open one for her, which she thanked him for. As they got on the elevator Pam sighed and said to him how grateful she was that the documentary crew had wrapped last week and was away seeking funding, so the office should be relatively calm for the next while. Jim voiced his agreement, and added that it would be nice not having to double check if they had followed him into the bathroom, which got a chuckle out of Pam.

The morning went by quietly, with the only interruption to the tedium coming in the form of Kelly ambushing Pam while she was in the kitchen making tea. Jim managed to divert Kelly with a comment about how some article had said that Brad Pitt had a secret mistress, which turned out to be a mistake as he was stuck there for the next twenty minutes as Kelly went on about who it could possibly be. Kelly managed to get through almost every celebrity of the era before finally deciding that Brad wouldn’t do that and retreating to the annex.

Jim stopped by reception after that to grab some jellybeans and make sure that Pam knew she owed him one, and she just smiled at him and said she had an idea for a prank on Dwight and she’d tell him during lunch.

Lunch rolled around and Pam told him excitedly of her plan.

“So you know I had totally convinced myself Friday night that it was actually Thursday,” Pam started, “what if we can somehow convince Dwight that it’s Friday on a Thursday, and have him not come in to work the next day,” she finished with a bright smile and a sparkle to her eyes that Jim loved seeing.

“I’ll admit it has merits Beesly, but how do you propose we actually go about doing that,” Jim said, putting on his exaggerated thinking face to get a giggle out of her – it worked.

“I was getting to that,” Pam said with mock exasperation, “so you know how he keeps that tear off calendar at his desk,” Jim nods, “well, what if it were to start moving forward on it’s own,” she says with a devilish grin.

“Oh you are evil,” Jim says with appreciation, “so let me get this straight, we advance Dwight’s calendar for him until he stops noticing, and then skip a day on Thursday, and get an entire day Dwight free,” Jim summarizes with a big smile on his face, always impressed with Pam’s creativity in all things.

“Exactly,” says Pam with a satisfied smirk and a nod.

The rest of the day passed without incident. Near the end of the day Jim noticed an older gentleman standing at reception and noticed that Pam was absent from her desk, so he got up to greet them.

“Hi, can I give you a hand,” Jim asked as the man turned to face him.

“Just waiting for Pam, we’re car hunting after work,” the man, presumably Mr. Beesly, replied, taking stock of Jim as he approached.

“Ah, Mr. Beesly I presume,” Jim said, reaching out his hand to shake, “Jim Halpert.”

“Please, call me Will, or William if you’re feeling formal,” he said, grasping Jim’s hand and shaking firmly, “I’ve heard a lot about you,” he said as they finished the handshake.

“Only good things I hope?” Jim asked with a smile.

Will smirked back, “Well let’s see, tall, hair that would look better on a mop, and a good friend,” Will said and smacked Jim on the shoulder with a hearty chuckle.

“Well, two out of three isn’t so bad,” Jim shot back with a smile, and for lack of any other conversation starters Jim asked, “so how was apartment hunting this weekend? Pam told me you guys had narrowed it down to a few?”

“It went well I think,” Will said, nodding to himself, “Pam said she was thinking she might want to get a dog, which would make me feel better about her being alone, so we started looking into pet friendly apartments. I think at this point it’s really just down to two, but we’ll see tonight after we pick up the car.”

Before Jim could ask where the apartment options were, Pam came over to reception from the kitchen and greeted her father with a hug. She then quickly gathered her things and shot out the door with her dad after a quick wave and a bye to Jim.

Jim wondered what kind of car she was getting tonight; Pam had mentioned they were looking at a few but it seemed to Jim that her dad was confident that there was only one real contender. He would just have to wait and see if she texted him a picture of it or surprised him in the parking lot tomorrow.