AN: So last chapter, I decided to not have Pam drunk dial Jim. But then, after I posted it, I fully realized my mistake! I felt like I couldn’t change it now, but I figured…if Pam won’t drunk dial Jim, then someone has to! (Also, sorry if this chapters a little messy, I’ve had a really rough week.)
Kelly had already called Ryan 9 times, and had left 5 messages. He hadn’t called her back yet , but that might have been because it was already 2 AM. Pam was home and probably asleep, but for some reason Kelly just wasn’t tired. She stretched her arms high above her head and grabbed a wine cooler from her fridge. She sat on her couch, watching MTV (“Laguna Beach” was the best show ever) while flipping through all the numbers in her hot pink Razr. She was bored and still drunk and she needed someone to talk to!
Her eyes lit up when she found Jim’s cell phone number. When he had moved to the desk next to hers for a day, she had insisted that he give her his phone number. She had asked mostly because she just wanted more numbers in her phone; she enjoyed going through her phone book and seeing all the people she knew. It made her feel secure for some reason. She triumphantly pressed the green key and as she examined her nails, she listened to Jim’s phone ring.
Kelly figured that since she and Pam were so close now, Pam needed someone to stand up for her! God knows she wouldn’t do it for her self. Jim didn’t pick up the first two times that Kelly called, but she was persistent. Now that she had this idea in her head, she had latched onto it. Pam didn’t have many girlfriends, no one to investigate the men in her life and discover their intentions. Well, now Kelly would do that for her.
Jim finally picked up the third time. “What?!” He groaned into the phone, still half-asleep.
Kelly smiled to herself, sipping her wine cooler. Third time‘s a charm! “Hi Jim, it’s Kelly! Ohmigod, it is so good to hear your voice! How’s Stamford? Anyways, I have to talk to you about Pam.”
Jim almost hung up automatically as soon as he heard Kelly’s voice, but he stayed on the line once he heard Pam’s name. “Kelly?” he muttered, his eyes still closed. “What about Pam, is she okay?” Worry was now creeping into his sleep-laden voice. Why else would Kelly call at 2 in the morning to talk about Pam if nothing was wrong?
“No, Pam is totally not okay!” Kelly said indignantly.
Jim was suddenly wide awake. “Is she hurt? What’s going on?!” He asked frantically, his mind racing. Was she sick? Was she in an accident? God, Jim wasn’t sure if he could handle it if anything happened to her.
Kelly was oblivious to Jim’s worry. “Jim, Pam is sad.” She took a sip of her wine cooler. “She is so sad, but she won’t admit it! And it‘s totally your fault.”
Jim was now torn between angry and utterly confused. “Wait, what have I done? I’m in Stamford.” He stopped for a minute. “Kelly, are you drunk?” he asked exasperatedly, despite the obvious answer.
She simply ignored his last question. “That’s what you did Jim, you moved to Stamford! And now, for the first time since you’ve known Pam, she’s actually single, but you’re too much of a pussy to come back to Scranton and do anything about it!”
Now Jim was just angry. “I’m sorry,” he said “but I really can’t see how this is any of your business!” He sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes. He knew he should just hang up, but he felt like he had to defend himself.
“It is totally my business, because Pam is my friend!” Kelly cried. “And she misses you, like, a lot! We had a girls night out tonight, and Pam totally told me everything and I think-”
“What do you mean Pam told you everything?” Jim interrupted, suddenly nervous. If their was one thing that Kelly was known for, it was her complete and total inability to keep a secret. One time, as an experiment, Jim and Pam had told Kelly a fake secret, and they had timed it to see how long it took for the “secret” to get all over the office. It had taken 10 minutes and 23 seconds. Even if Jim was all the way in Stamford now, he still didn’t want this all over the office in Scranton. It didn’t mean he was coming back, he just didn’t like the idea of everyone talking about him.
Kelly hiccupped. “Well, I guess we might have had a little too much to drink, but we were just having so much fun, and then Pam started telling me about you and about everything that happened on the Casino night. And stop changing the subject! We are talking about you and Pam here, and about how you should come back to Scranton and finally settle this thing!”
Jim didn’t like this, the fact that part of him was starting to think that Kelly was making sense. “Kelly, if you know everything about that night, then you know that I risked everything, twice. She still said no.” He tried to keep the lingering pain out of his voice, worried that Kelly might pick it up despite her state of mind.
“Ugh, Jim, you’re really cute but you can be so stupid! She was with Roy for 10 years, since high school! And while normally that’s really romantic and adorable, here it’s not so much. But she couldn’t just leave her boyfriend/fiancé of 10 years as soon as you say something! You have to give her time!”
Jim needed to hang up now. Kelly was making more and more sense, and he was feeling increasingly stupid. “Kelly, I have to go.” he said shortly.
“Jim, c’mon!-” Kelly cried, but he had already hung up. She huffed, looking at the phone. Then she shrugged, threw her bottle in the sink, and went to bed. Pam was so going to love her for this!
xXxXxXxXxXxXx
Jim sat at work the next day, his head in his hands. He hadn’t slept that well after he had gotten off the phone with Kelly. Actually, he hadn’t slept at all. He had been up since 2 AM, just thinking. And he still couldn’t decide anything. He was pitiful. It was official.
Karen walked by his desk and up to the copier. He watched her go. She wore work-appropriate clothes, but she knew how to wear them in ways that flattered her body. She made an effort for work, but she didn’t seem in any way desperate. He liked her hair, like dark silk. Always in place. But at the same time, it bothered him. Too boring. No…spirit. Deep down, he just knew he didn’t like it because it wasn’t like Pam’s. This was ridiculous. He needed to get over Pam, but in order to do that, he needed to get closure with her.
If he was really gonna do this, he had to do it now. As Karen walked back to her desk, he called her name softly. “Hey, uh, Karen.” Stopped and turned towards him, smiling. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
“Sure thing ‘Big Tuna’.” She joked, mocking Andy’s nickname for Jim.
Jim rolled his eyes. “Okay, I’m afraid if you ever call me that again, we can no longer be friends.”
“Alright, alright, I have been warned!” Karen laughed. “Anyway, what’s up?”
Jim took a breath. “Well I was just wondering if you wanted to go out to dinner with me tonight.”
Karen looked pleasantly surprised. She had given up on Jim a while ago, feeling like she had expressed interest but he hadn’t responded. “Sure.” She smiled and Jim gave an audible sigh of relief, which made her laugh. “Where do you want to go?” she asked, still grinning.
Jim smiled back, even if it felt a little forced. Karen was a really nice girl. “Um, I’m not sure. I still don’t know Stamford all that well, do you wanna pick?”
“Okay, well then I hope that price isn’t an issue!” Karen joked, then walked back to her desk.
Jim faced his computer, and steadied himself. That was one issue taken care of, now he just needed to deal with one more thing. Picking up his phone he dialed the number for Corporate. “Jan Levinson please.” he said to the receptionist, then he waited for a moment. “Jan? Hi, it’s Jim Halpert.” he said once she picked up. “I just wanted to let you know, I’ll do it.”
AN: pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease review!
Author's Chapter Notes:
If Pam won't speak out for herself, someone has to!
