At the end of a long, weird day at work, Jim took out his phone on his way to his car. Shoving the memories of Jan's all-too-disturbing shower from his mind, he dialed Pam, who was doing laundry the last time they'd spoken, which was earlier in the day. He listened to her chirping on her voicemail message.
"Hey, this is Pam. Leave a message!" Jim missed hearing her voice in person.
"Hey, it's me. It's…" He looked at his watch. "5:03. Guess you must be out or something. Is it me, or are we a little off today? Hope you didn't have any major laundry issues. Hey, you remember that time I helped you do your laundry, and that crazy guy came in and started yelling at you? And yet, here you are, back in a laundromat. You know, I'm just trying to help you, Beesley. Be safe. Wish you were home.
Um, anyway- I miss you." he hung up the phone, now in his car, and turned his key in the ignition.
Having now brought up the memory, he was thinking about the time he and Pam had ended up in a laundromat. It had started, as much of their romance has, in the office. They weren't dating yet. Jim had just come back from Stamford with Karen, but missed Pam.
"Hey, Beesley. Got any plans for Saturday?"
"Um, yeah, but they're really lame. I have to go to the laundromat."
"How about we grab coffee and catch up while I help you with your laundry?"
"Sounds great," Pam smiled.
Karen was beyond angry that Jim was choosing to spend his Saturday with some other girl, but Jim ignored this and went out with Pam anyway, meeting her at the laundromat with their coffees of choice.
"Sprinkle of cinnamon," he confirmed, handing her the coffee.
"Thanks," Pam said, smiling. She had already put her first load of clothes in the washer, and sat atop a dryer, while Jim sat on a bench, while waiting for them to finish washing.
"Pam, wouldn't it make sense to put all of your clothes in at once? Like, just use a few machines, instead of taking 3 hours on one machine."
"Oh, right. Duh. It's too early," Pam said, giggling a little as he helped her load her clothes into two other washers. "So, how was Stamford?"
"Um… really weird," Jim answered, chuckling a little. Walking in everyday to a receptionist that wasn't Pam was weird. Playing Call of Duty during work hours was weird. Call of Duty in general was weird. Having a normal boss was weird. His coworkers were weird. Even Karen was a bit weird.
"Weirder than the Scranton branch? I'm not sure I believe you on that one. Weirder than Michael Scott? There's no way."
Jim would've responded with a witty quip about Stamford or Michael, but a man, clearly delusional in some way, came in and started yelling at Pam.
"You think you can just use as many washers as you damn well please, don't you!"
"Hey, hey. Calm down, man. There's plenty of other washers in here, it's fine." Jim said, putting his hands up and moving in front of Pam protectively.
"Don't you tell me to calm down," The man said aggressively, shoving Jim backwards, causing him to fall to the ground.
"Jim!" Pam yelled as the owner of the laundromat escorted the aggressor of the conflict away. Hopping off the dryer, she crouched next to his face. "Are you alright?"
Smiling, he nodded. "We are getting you your own washer and dryer tomorrow, Beesley."
Laughing, Pam helped Jim up. "I think I'll risk the perils of the laundromat, but thanks."
"Absolutely not," Jim said, his tone firmer now, as he helped her move her clothes from the washers into the dryers. "Pam, what if I hadn't been here when that crazy dude came in? You need your own washer and dryer."
"Fine," Pam whined, though secretly she was excited at the idea of getting to spend her whole weekend with Jim, for a moment not caring that he was dating Karen. "Thanks for helping me with the laundry. I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Absolutely."
They hugged briefly before going to their respective cars.
"It's a date," they both whispered to themselves.