She went in early the day the merger was officially happening. Not because she was excited or nervous - well, maybe a little - but because she'd woken up before her alarm, unable to go back to sleep. Once, Dwight had told her that she was the face of the company - the first thing people saw when they walked in the door - and that she needed to make a good first impression. For once, she actually took something he'd said to heart and decided that the new people would probably be better off seeing her first rather than Michael. Maybe it would soften the blow a little bit.
And, it helped. Somewhat. Sure, it wasn't long before Michael bounded over in true five-year-old child fashion and led whichever new person had walked in to where they were sitting. There were a few times Pam truly cringed at some of the jokes he made, but she simply gave the new person a sympathetic look, hoping that, maybe, they would understand that he wasn't all that bad.
It was almost nine-thirty when Jim arrived. Not that she was watching the clock or anything. She'd just happened to glance at it the moment before the door opened and the last two employees walked in. Martin, she thought his name was, and Jim. Though, it could've been the Pope or Sandra Bullock that was walking in with him and she probably wouldn't have given them a second glance. Which meant that when Martin looked over at her as Michael started welcoming him into their 'family', she wasn't even looking at him. All she saw was Jim as he hung back, a vaguely amused look on his face as Martin kept trying to get her attention.
Pushing her chair back, she stood up as he neared the reception desk. She could already hear him saying 'Way to make a good first impression, Beesly' in her head, but, instead, he greeted her with a quiet, "Hey, Pam." Over three million things he could've said and that was what he chose. 'Hey, Pam.' Two simple words that seemed to say more than the rest of the words in the entire English language could have.
When she didn't reply, Jim pulled his thumb out from under the strap of his bag and wiggled his fingers in front of her face. "Earth to Beesly," he teased. Had his fingers always been so long and thin? A slow smile curved on her face.
"Just what is it that you're thinking about?" he asked, just as she softly said, "Hi."
They both laughed, Jim ducking his head a little. "You're making an interesting first impression today," he teased, then, with a raise of his eyebrow, he tapped his knuckles against the top of her desk and walked away.
It was another moment before she sat down, blushing when she realized she'd been watching him walk away. He hesitated when he reached his desk and found Ryan sitting there; his old desk, she reminded herself. Ryan just shrugged and gestured towards the desk that had been placed directly facing his. So, Jim sat there, clearly pleased that he was still sitting next to Dwight. Pam was a little disappointed that all she could see now was the back of his head, but, somehow, she knew she'd be seeing more of him eventually.
Pam tried to keep herself from grinning when they sat next to one another during the viewing of Michael's orientation video. As the video started, he looked over at her with an 'Is he serious?' look, to which she nodded, giggling softly as she leaned in a little closer to him. Her knee ended up brushing against his and, when he didn't move away, she left it there. After that, she didn't pay attention to anything but the scratchy feel of his pant leg against her bare knee. It took all of her self-control to not let her hand drift to his thigh.
She didn't notice the movie was over until Michael turned the lights back on. She winced a little when it was obvious the Stamford people weren't 'getting it', as Michael put it. She zoned out again as Michael tried to explain it, tapping the eraser of her pencil against her yellow legal pad. She was shaken out of her thoughts when people started to get up. Jim pushed his chair back and, when his knee slid against her thigh, she looked up at him.
He simply smiled at her and she smiled back, pushing down the idea that he'd done it on purpose.
She'd been trying to talk to him all day. Not about anything in particular, obviously. They were at work and it simply wasn't the place for that kind of conversation. But, between Michael's orientation meeting in the morning and his other stupid thing in the afternoon, she just wasn't able to really get him alone. That wasn't key to them talking, really, but.. she didn't want the camera guys around or anyone else around, for that matter, just in case... She didn't even continue on that train of thought. She was trying not to get her hopes up about anything.
Still, they had six months of things to talk about, because they only had that one accidental phone call and a handful of text messages, and years of silent agreements hanging over their heads. Agreements that really needed to be ended with a 'Hey, you know, we probably shouldn't do that anymore.' or something. Even if it was another thing that was unsaid; just known.
She'd been wanting to end that agreement since he walked in the door, but she just couldn't figure out how. The press of her hand against his wrist when she leaned over him in the kitchen to grab her teapot that was sitting on the counter next to the fridge did nothing but cause him to give her a silent look. A look that clearly said 'What are you doing?' and he wasn't referencing the fact that she could've just as easily walked around him instead of reaching over him. She didn't respond, just gave him a look of her own - a raise of one eyebrow and one corner of her mouth - then walked away.
He came over to her desk an hour or so later, handing her some reports that needed to be faxed to corporate, and, instead of paying attention to what he was saying, she just watched his lips as he spoke.
"Pam.. Hellooo.." He reached over the desk to wave his hand in front of her face. "Did you even hear anything I just said?" He looked mildly concerned. "You've been acting..." He'd been about to say she was acting weird, but changed his mind at the last minute, for some reason. He didn't think it was his place to point out something like that anymore.
"Yeah, sorry. I just um.." She blushed. "I spaced for a minute. Yeah, I can fax these. No problem." She stood up and took the reports from him, immediately turning around to go to the fax machine. If she'd looked back, she probably would've noticed Jim intently watching her walk away.
Despite Pam's efforts, nothing more than a few looks and idle chit-chat had passed between them by the time everyone was getting ready to leave. Everyone but them, anyway. With his new position, Jim had a bit more work to finish and Pam, well, she didn't really have any reason to stay late, but she found herself taking her time in straightening up her desk and shutting down her computer.
Just as the last few people were saying goodnight, Roy walked in. Now, she was wishing she'd left right at five. He gave her an uneasy smile, which she had to force herself to return, and she glanced over at Jim. Roy followed her glance, then called out. "Hey, Halpert. I heard you were coming back."
Pam thought she saw him stiffen slightly before he turned around, but brushed it away until she noticed the forced smile on his face.
"Yeah," Jim replied simply.
There was a long awkward silence before Roy turned back to Pam, tapping his fingers against the reception desk. Clearly he was looking to walk out with her. She needed to come up with an excuse to get him to leave.. and fast.
"What's up, Roy?" she asked, wincing inwardly and knowing that was definitely not the way to get him to leave.
"I just came up to see if you wanted to um.. You know..," he stammered, gesturing towards the door.
"Oh, well. I actually have some stuff to finish up here. Faxes and stuff," she replied, perhaps a bit too quickly, and gestured towards the machine. "It could take a while."
He looked a little disappointed but just nodded. "Okay. Maybe.. another time."
Once he was finally out the door, Pam sighed audibly, dropping her face into her hands and rubbing her fingers against her eyes. When she looked up again, Jim was staring at her, the look on his face completely unreadable, but he quickly turned back to his computer and started shutting it down. She chewed on her bottom lip for a long moment, staring at the back of his head, then stood up, turning off her monitor as she pushed her chair in.
The next time she looked up - when she stood up from grabbing her purse from underneath her desk - Jim was standing next to the coat rack, already holding her coat out to her.
"Oh. Thanks," she said softly, dropping her purse onto her desk and reaching for her coat. He simply held it out to her, open, and then she realized she was just supposed to slip it on as he held it, so she did. Her eyes closed for a moment when she felt his hands smooth over the backs of her shoulders and down her arms to her elbows.
She turned around after a long moment, focusing completely on grabbing her purse from her desk. When she moved to leave, Jim was still stand there, just watching her.
"Ready to go?" she asked, hating how it sounded as soon as it was out of her mouth. She looked up at him, giving him a shy smile before ducking around him and heading towards the door. She didn't even need to glance over to know he was there next to her as she waited for the elevator. They walked in together and walked out together, the space and silence between them heavy with uncertainty and something else Pam couldn't put her finger on.
They paused outside, their cars on opposite sides of the parking lot.
"So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow," she said, taking two steps towards her little blue car.
"Yeah," he replied, his gaze sliding over to her and lingering. She caught him looking, eyes locking with his.
"Jim, I-"
"Yeah," he cut in, his look almost matching the one he'd had that one night in May. "I know."
She retraced her steps, adding two or three more until she was standing in front of him.
"No, I don't think you do." Her voice was soft, as she silently pleaded with him to just understand. Before he could say anything, she stood up on her toes and pressed her lips to his. She could feel him hesitating and immediately started berating herself. What was I thinking? Obviously he doesn't want this. I'm so stupid..
Her train of thought was immediately derailed when she felt his hands slide across her back and she relaxed against him, hands moving up to his hair. Pam had no idea how long they stood there like that, lips and breath and touch saying everything they couldn't bring themselves to voice, but it felt like hours.
When she pulled away to catch her breath, Jim leaned in again, resting his forehead against hers, and a smile tugged at her lips.
"So... How was my first impression?" she asked, lips inches away from his.
He responded by kissing her again, pulling away after a moment to reply, "Perfect."
Story Notes:
This was written for yankeeficswap on lj. This was written for katrina87 and her request was: Jam. Fluffy "deleted scenes", stuff we never saw. Just cute moments in the office. Angsty stuff. I'd like to see fic where Jim's back and Pam is more interested in him and flirts a lot. XD You take it from there. So, I kinda just took the 'Jim's back and Pam is more interested in him' part and ran with it. :3 Also, thanks to Leah, Melly, and Tracey for being betas and serious encourage...ers. Or something. :D?
Disclaimer: The Office and it's respective characters do not belong to me. This is for fun, not profit.
sideviewhotel is the author of 7 other stories.
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