Pam knew what boyfriends were supposed to do. Even though Roy was her first, she knew. She knew by the gaps in Roy's smiles, in the space between their warm bodies in the cold bed. She discovered boyfriend things in the weeks between compliments, she counted. She definitely knew what were not boyfriend things, like trashing a bar, or slowly breaking someone down.
It was a slow Friday. It was two thirteen, and Pam had only answered four phone calls. She already ate lunch, already checked her horoscope seven times, already tried to catch Jim's eye twice. Once he was stretching, and once he was turned sideways to talk to Ryan. He didn't notice her. Finally, she stood and walked toward the break room. Just as she was bending over to get her yogurt from the refrigerator, Kelly pounced.
"Hi Pam!" She said, leaning on the counter. Pam stood and smiled a very small smile.
"Oh hi, Kelly. How are y-"
"Did you hear about Karen and Jim?" Pam glanced into the camera. Did they break up?
"Uh..no," she said. "What happened?"
"Well Karen's family is totally coming in to visit and see her new apartment and Karen's place is like, so tiny, and Jim is letting her brother stay with him. Isn't that, like so cute?" Kelly gushed.
"Uh, wow. Yeah it is," Pam nodded, directly avoiding the camera's lens.
"I haven't met Ryan's family yet, but if he has a sister, she could totally sleep on my floor or something." Kelly said.
"You don't know if he has a sister?" Pam popped the top of her yogurt and placed it in the trash. "How long have you been dating?"
"Ryan's a very private person," Kelly said carefully, looking into the lens.
"I think its weirder that Kelly knows about Karen and Jim's personal lives," Pam said in her talking head later. "I mean, they aren't Brangelina. There are a lot more interesting things going on in the office than Jim's acts of kindness." Pam paused for a second. "Is that mean? He is a nice guy...it's just..." She shrugged. "We could talk about Michael and Jan some more," she resolved.
Boyfriend things.
On Monday, Jim walked into the office with Karen. Their hands were intertwined and Jim took her coat from her shoulders. She grinned from behind her dark lashes and sauntered to her desk. Jim smiled at the receptionist without meeting her eye directly. Neither looked into the camera.
Pam joined them for lunch that day. She picked at her salad, making small talk with Karen when Jim walked in, opened the fridge and grabbed his water bottle and Karen's iced coffee. Pam sipped her sweet tea.
"How was your weekend?" Pam ventured, looking at Jim, who placed Karen's drink in front of her. Karen smiled at him and definitely checked out his behind before he sat. They caught eyes and giggled.
"My family visited," she said, clearing her throat. "We, uh, actually had to find something to do in Scranton." She laughed.
"I told her its harder than it sounds," Jim said, grinning. "I told her I've been trying to do it for oh...so many years."
"What did you do?" Kevin asked from behind them.
"I gave them the grand tour, of course," Jim said in a mock-boastful voice. "Karen drove around and I was the tour guide." He chuckled. "I showed them everything worth mentioning...where they have the best gas station chili dogs, where you wanna go if you have the strange urge to graffiti things...you know, Scranton's high points."
"Nice," Kevin said, nodding.
"No, he was great," Karen squeezed Jim's elbow. "Made Scranton sound like a smaller New York City. My parents loved him." She said, smiling. "You guys should be jealous."
"I don't think I was out of line at lunch," Karen said in her talking head later. "I know what I said. Pam has that warehouse guy now. Whatever."
Boyfriend Things.
Like touring the city, like taking my coat, like embracing my family, like getting me things without asking. Roy couldn't do boyfriend things. I couldn't be his girlfriend.
"How are you doing, Pam?" Toby asked meekly on Wednesday morning.
"Good, Toby," she chirped. Just then she heard music coming from his pocket. Drops of Jupiter in her haaaairr..it sang.
"You like Train?" Pam asked, not being able to disguise her giggle. Toby blushed and laughed.
"It's Sasha. The song kind of reminds me of her," he said flipping his phone open, "and yeah, I kind of like Train." he added before speaking into the phone: "hey baby," Pam looked on, smiling. It was cute to see Toby talk like that. "No, your lunchbox is on the kitchen table...yeah. Got it? Alright Sach. I love you." he flipped it closed. "Sorry, he said."
"So, Train..." Pam laughed again.
"Hey," he said in mock protest. "You recognized it!" Pam laughed.
"Actually...yeah..." she said slowly "I love Train. But I broke my cd a few months ago and haven't bought a replacement." She shrugged.
"Sasha should call more often," Toby said.
"Absolutely. I'd love to see her again, though." Pam said, biting her lip.
"Of course," Toby's eyes lit up. "I'd love that." The phone at Pam's desk rang. "I'll let you get that," he said, strolling away. What Pam didn't catch was Toby's huge grin on the way to his desk and the fact that Jim was listening to the dial tone on his phone for the entire conversation.
Boyfriend things.
Two days later, Pam got to work early. Having talked to Toby on the phone all night, she wanted to see him as soon as possible. It was amazing how easy he was to talk to; she figured that's how he became an HR representative. He said cute things like "Roy didn't deserve you" and "you're beautiful." And it wasn't awkward. Because Pam knew just what to say in reply. It was like something inside her unlocked when she talked to Toby.
When she peeled off her pink coat and hung it up, she saw something on her desk.
It was a Train CD. She smiled to herself and sat down in her chair, allowing herself to swoon.
Boyfriend things, like staying on the phone until I fall asleep. Like giving me gifts and letting me cook you dinner. Like asking before you kissed me for the first time, like looking me in the eyes the first time you say "I love you." Boyfriend things like answering my cell phone, even when my mom calls, and even talking to her for longer than I would. Like knowing almost everything about me, and not ever using it against me.
Toby is Pam's boyfriend, and he does boyfriend things.