Creed stood outside Dunder-Mifflin’s entrance, smoking a cigarette. The biting wind snapped at his flimsy jacket, trying to find a way through the weave and to his skin. He ignored it, simply ashing his cigarette into the air. He’d been smoking ever since he was 15, and in the 60’s and 70’s there were a lot worse things you could do than smoke. And since he’d already done those things, and lived anyway, he figured to hell with it. His glory days were past, but smoking was still one small thing he could take pleasure in.



His eyes narrowed as he took a drag and he watched a car pull into the parking lot. The driver was nearly half an hour late, but Creed could hardily blame them. It took everything he had to come back to this place every morning. He was surprised to see that the driver was that young man who had left a while back, Jack or Tim or something. Creed wasn’t very good with names. Once you got old, you began to prioritize things more and for him, names just weren’t at the top of his list.



“Hey Creed!” The man smiled as he walked up to Creed, adjusting his messenger bag on his shoulder.



“Hey there…you.” Creed replied, thin lips pulled back into a smile. Ah, he remembered now. It was that young guy, Jim. The boy who loved the receptionist. The one who was moping all the time now. Creed was often far more perceptive than he let on; he found it was easier to be underestimated than to have people expect things from you. “Where’ve you been again?”



Jim smiled wryly. He wasn’t shocked that Creed didn’t know where he’d been. In fact, Jim was basically satisfied with the fact that Creed didn’t think that Jim was his long lost son or something. “I transferred to Stamford for a while, but now I’m back I guess.” He winced a little bit as Creed unconsciously blew smoke in his face.



“Ah.” Creed didn’t even try to feign interest.



“Well…see you up there.” Jim said. He was pretty sure this was the longest conversation he and Creed had ever had.



Just as Jim was about to pass Creed and enter the building, Creed clapped a hand on his shoulder, stopping him for a moment. “Hey, kiddo,” he said “She missed you. A lot.”



Jim felt his stomach twist in a way that had become all too familiar ever since he had met Pam. He had felt it every time he looked into her eyes or heard her voice. God, his stomach did back flips when he heard her laugh. He didn’t even reply to Creed. He just nodded, surprised at the depth of understanding that lay in the older man’s eyes. Then, Jim turned and entered the glass doors of Dunder-Mifflin, Scranton branch.



xXxXxXxXx



Pam sneezed, and moaned softly in misery. Of all the days to have cold. And not just any old cold that was hanging about. This was the mother of all colds. When Satan got a cold, it was this cold. All the other colds were too afraid of him, but this cold was downright ballsy.



Pam giggled a little bit at the mental image of Satan curled up in his bed in hell with tissues strewn across his room, but her momentary relief was quickly interrupted by three sneezes in a row. Her nose was raw from blowing it, and she didn’t have to look in a mirror to know that she looked awful.



“Wow, Pam, you look awful!” Kelly gasped in horror, confirming Pam’s suspicious.



“Thanks Kelly.” Pam said weakly. She would just take a sick day, but she was running low. She wanted to save up for a time when she was really sick. And also, quite honestly, she just wanted to see Jim. She wanted to see him so badly her heart physically ached. Even if she looked awful, she just needed to see him, to touch him. Just one more time, even if she didn’t deserve it.



Kelly became all business. “Okay, we need to make an emergency makeup-reapplying trip, stat. C’mon, girls room, now! Go, go, go!” Kelly raised her voice, much like a drill sergeant. Pam got up, startled, and stumbled towards the bathroom, if only to make Kelly be quiet. Kelly followed, grabbing her purse from her desk.



Pam opened the bathroom door, Kelly right behind her, only to walk straight into Karen. “Oh my gosh, I’m sorry!” Pam said, startled. Of all the people to totally embarrass herself in front of.



“Oh, it’s okay.” Karen said, laughing a little. She liked Pam; they had been introduced earlier by Michael. Karen almost hadn’t believed Jim when he had described Michael, but now that she had seen him in the flesh, she realized that Jim had described him to a T. Now she wished Jim had been exaggerated. Karen noticed Pam’s pale face and red nose. “Hey, are you feeling okay?”



Pam flushed. “Um, I just have a really awful cold.” The cold decided this would be an opportune time to make her sneeze. And she did, several times. “Ugh,” Pam groaned, managing to smile wryly. “See? Worst cold ever.”



“Well, I hope you feel better.” Karen offered, trying to seem comforting. She didn’t know what it was, but something about Pam made her feel… off-center. She didn’t want to say threatened, but it was close to that. All the same, she was a really nice girl.



“Thanks.” Pam said, her voice muffled by the tissue she held to her nose.



Kelly stood with her arms crossed over her chest, looking at Karen with a hint of hostility. “Oh, I’m sorry,” Pam apologized again. “I don’t think you two have been introduced yet. Karen, this is Kelly. Kelly, this is Karen.”



“Hi.” Karen smiled genially, offering her hand to Kelly. Kelly took it with the utmost distain, using just the tips of her fingers.



“Hello.” Kelly replied curtly. “Excuse us, we need to get to the mirror.” Karen looked a little confused at the coldness in Kelly’s voice, but she stepped aside and let the girls pass before she exited the bathroom.



Pam elbowed Kelly in the ribs. “You don’t have to be mean to her!” she exclaimed. “Karen hasn’t done anything wrong.”



“Pam!” Kelly cried, aghast at Pam’s ignorance. “Karen is the enemy! You can’t fall for her tricks!”



“I don’t think she’s playing any tricks, Kelly-”



Pam was interrupted as Phyllis exited one of the stalls. “Who’s playing tricks?” she asked, an unusual hint of excitement to her voice. Phyllis wasn’t exactly one for gossip, but she did love girl talk. A normally quiet woman, Phyllis couldn’t resist talk of crushes and boyfriends. It made her feel like she was in high school again.



Before Pam could stop her, Kelly was off and running. “Well,” she started “Jim’s totally coming back today, and it’s like him and Pam’s big reunion! But, now, he’s dating some hussy,” (a word that Kelly had learned from Angela) “So now Jim and Pam can’t be together like they’re totally meant to be!”



Pam flushed with utter embarrassment, but Phyllis’ face lit up. “Oh my goodness!” She exclaimed. “You know,” she confessed to Pam “I always thought you and Jim belonged together. Such nice kids, and it was obvious how much he cared about you. Not like that Roy. And that Karen girl is far too skinny anyway.”



Pam stared hard at her shoes, biting her lip. Phyllis saw the look on her face, and realized maybe she had overstepped her bounds with the comment about Roy. “Oh, I’m sorry dear, I just…”



“No, no, you’re right.” Pam said in an almost whisper. She sniffled, hoping that the other women would simply chalk it up to her cold. She lifted her head and forced a smile. “Hey, aren’t we supposed to be getting me ready for my big entrance?” Phyllis clapped her hands happily while Kelly began rummaging through her massive bag.



“Okay, first of all, we are going to need loads of cover up!” Kelly grinned, and Pam simply closed her eyes, preparing herself as Kelly started doing what she did best.



AN: I know, me and my cliff hangers! Well,  the more reviews I get, the quicker I post chapters, and the quicker that Jim and Pam finally get down to business!

I feel like I use italics the most whenever Kelly's talking. It's just the way that she is.