CHAPTER ONE: Plastic Smiles and Wedding Bells

"Morning, guys"

Jim entered the office again, with a fake smile plastered on his face. He avoided looking at the receptionist, whom he had loved so dearly before he had left. He couldn't believe that she had actually gone through with the wedding, and yet, he knew in the back of his mind that she had to marry Roy; it still hurt to think, though, that he loved her with everything he had, and she couldn't even bother to think twice about how he would feel about her marrying a different man.

He sat down at his usual spot, right near Pam's desk. As usual, he stole glances at her the whole day. Instead of going to her desk and chatting over some candy, he focused on his work the whole day. Dwight managed to go the whole day without getting pranked by Jim and Pam at some point. The office seemed calm and ordinary, which signaled that something was wrong.

At the end of the day, Jim saw a sight that crushed his heart: Roy came upstairs with a ring on his finger, and he and Pam left for the day. Jim couldn't take it anymore. He went to his manager, Michael, and strung together the saddest chain of words he had encountered:

"Can I move my desk? Like, to the Annex?"

Michael, being his normal self, taunted Jim. He joked about Jim's desk mate, Dwight, until Jim finally snapped.

"Enough jokes. Can I move my desk or not?"

Michael stared at him. Never had Jim been this harsh to him.

"Yeah, sure thing…"

With that, Jim went back to his desk, gathered all his things, and went to the opposite side of his workplace. Once he had located an empty desk, he placed all his items there. This would be his new second home.

Jim got in his car and left. He went back to his apartment and collapsed on his bed. The love of his life had just slipped through his fingers, and he did nothing about it. He couldn't believe that Pam was really gone. How would he continue with his life? How would he manage to go to work every day and see her with Roy, happily married? Jim knew he was being selfish, but he couldn't help it; he was near tears by the time he had managed to get to sleep.

All he could think about was how happy she was; how she must have had the time of her life at the wedding that he didn't attend; how great her life was at home with her husband that she loved. Jim was envious of Roy, but also furious. How could he be so terrible to Pam, and yet she still stayed with him?

He was miserable. But at least she was happy.

Pam was far from happy. The wedding had gone horribly wrong; when Pam walked down the aisle, Roy was drunk. When it was time for them to say their vows, Roy couldn't get one sentence out without stuttering. Before he could finish, he turned around and threw up all over his best man, Darryl. During the reception, Roy was constantly stumbling, relying on Pam for support. Finally, Pam snapped. She went outside to the back of the church and sobbed for what felt like an hour. She just couldn't believe that what was supposed to be the best day of her life could go so horribly wrong.

When she returned to the office, everyone seemed to treat her differently; she seemed to be held to a higher standard, and she didn't want to find out what would happen if she failed to be good enough. The worst part, though, was all the questions.

"So, when are you and Roy planning on having a baby?"

"Are you guys going to move into a bigger house?"

"So what's next with Mr. and Mrs. Roy Anderson planning next?"

Pam couldn't get over the fact that she was now Mrs. Anderson. She was hesitant about taking Roy's last name, but he eventually talked her into it.

"C'mon, babe. Do it for me…"

That's all it took. Pam took a look at her life. She was becoming a pushover, but whenever she tried to do something, Roy would just scoff at her and walk away. Pam couldn't stand the type of person she was becoming, but seemed to be stuck with nothing she could do about it.

When she returned to the office after the wedding, she was afraid about how Jim would react. He had planned to travel over the time of her wedding, but instead stayed in Scranton. That made it worse for Pam when he gave her back the RSVP she had sent out, with the box labeled, "unfortunately will be unable to attend" checked in black ink. Her eyes welled up with tears as Jim walked back to his desk.

Pam got there before Jim, which happened fairly often. She opened up a game of Solitaire on her computer, and waited for Jim to come in.

He looked fine. She was thrilled to see that she wouldn't lose her best friend over the situation. It wasn't until 10:30 that she noticed something was wrong; Jim hadn't looked at her the entire time her was working. He seemed focused and attentive to his work, which was unusual for Jim. He hadn't taken a trip to her desk to talk the whole morning, and when he did find his way there, it was simply to make copies (which he did, instead of asking Pam).

Had she blown it? Had she wrecked her friendship with Jim just to marry a man she wasn't sure she even loved? It couldn't be. Maybe Jim was just having a bad day, and didn't want to talk. He hadn't even pulled any pranks on Dwight; he obviously wasn't feeling like himself.

Maybe he's sick or something… Pam thought to herself. However, she knew that wasn't true.