"So somewhere downtown?"
"Jim..."
He was confused for a second, waiting for a further criticism of his restaurant choice, but she had abruptly left the thought mid-way. Her pink sweater flexed as she ceased staring at his eyebrows and hunched over her desk once again. He caught a fleeting glimpse at her phone, which showed no messages. He stole a brief glance at the small bulge hiding her cellphone positioned close to her pocket, which neither vibrated nor made a sound.
"So... you gonna finish sometime today Pam?"
She smiled at him, congenially flashing white teeth before resuming her thought. "I hate that place."
"Then choose something else," he forced in. "I mean, you keep shooting down my ideas."
She contorted her features into a mock-frown, pursing her lips against his bemused expression. "That's cause your ideas suck."
"Ouch," Jim whispered, turning back his attention to his phone, which sadly provided no diversions for him. "That hurts Pamera."
"Oh God," she truly did frown this time. And then with the utmost gravity and seriousness: "Please don't call me that. He's probably going to come soon and - "
"Good morning everybody."
" - do that anyway."
Almost instantly, Jim witnessed Pam completely throw herself off her happy state and resume a condition of what he dubbed, "Post-Michael Entrance Inattention and Apathy". He saw the source of her distress linger over their workplace for a while, clad in his usual dark blue suit and blue-collared shirt, swept neatly above dark dress pants. And for the first time in many years, Jim noticed that Michael's tie actually enhanced his appearance rather than detracting from it.
"Looking sharp Michael," Jim prodded at honestly. Pam quickly turned to understand what would make him say such a thing, but affirmed the accuracy of the compliment with a timid nod.
Michael snapped out of his lingering gaze and looked squarely at Pam. "Pam, I actually wanted to mention something to you, do you wanna meet in my office for that, or - "
"I'm not going to meet in your office Michael," she immediately fired back.
Smart move Pamera, Jim privately mused, smiling once again.
"Well then I would just like to make a note of - " and Michael leaned in, close enough to make the conversation private but oddly not usually close enough to make the chat a violation of personal space.
Jim tried very hard to somehow swivel his pointed ears towards the two conversing people, although Pam did not speak, only gradually nodding her head and opening her mouth in slight surprise.
"Ok Michael," Pam finally broke in, after the latter moved his head away. To Jim's surprise, her voice was tinged with acceptance rather than passive-aggressive discontent.
And without saying a word more, Michael quietly walked into his office, slowly but softly swinging the door shut behind him. Jim tilted his head to see more of his boss, who furtively sat down before picking up his desk phone and initiating a conversation.
"So," Jim again started, turning to face Pam now. "Did he call you Pamera or Pamela or Pammy or threaten to use on you or - "
"Oh," Pam interrupted, face again becoming sternly introspective. "He told me that my sales numbers were a bit low, and to improve them I might have to put more person-to-person contact in my sales calls."
Jim opened his mouth in surprise.
Pam continued. "And then he said that this... remark was not meant to be offensive but only constructively critical."
Jim closed his mouth once again. "He... said that?"
Pam rolled her lips in, speculating quietly in her head. "Yep. Exact words."
Jim mulled these thoughts over, coughing to lighten the tension. "So... get your game up Pamera."
"Shut up," she commanded, trying her very best not to smile, but losing this vow all the same.