City Lights
Chapter One
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, no matter how much I'd like to.
… … …
Pam loved New York.
Ever since she'd visited for her interview with Jan, she had been infatuated, taken in by the city that seemed to have a life all its own. She'd never pegged herself for a city girl, but as soon as she'd set foot in New York Pam had felt a sense of excitement that she'd never felt in Scranton. She had an urge to explore, to find what little places in this big city that she could make her own.
She was as close as she'd ever been to accomplishing her dreams.
It hadn't taken Pam long after Jim left to realize that he was the only reason she'd stayed in Scranton as long as she did. It wasn't Roy or her family that kept college-educated Pam Beesly from promoting within the company or leaving it entirely, getting out of Scranton like she'd wanted to do since high school. Roy had kept her there initially, but it had been the man with tousled hair and boyish smile whose sole purpose in life seemed to be making her laugh who made her stay.
The same man who could kiss her to within an inch of her life and leave without a word the next day. Pam felt a fresh flash of anger at the thought, the same flash of anger that had given her the courage to call Jan and set up an interview for the graphic design internship in New York. Jan had all but told her it was a sure thing, and that night Pam began packing her things into boxes.
What Jan hadn't told her was that the seven graphic design interns were actually all being considered for a newly created position in corporate.
Pam was now the head of the brand new graphic design department at Dunder-Mifflin's corporate office.
She couldn't believe how quickly the time had gone by. Just six months ago Pam had been "just a receptionist," engaged to a man who'd never marry her, stuck in a job she'd never be happy doing, but now, well… Now Pam's salary had skyrocketed and she lived in an apartment that looked a lot like the one from "Friends." She'd even caught glimpses of an Ugly Naked Guy in the building next to hers from her terrace. It was a great apartment, nicer than anything that Pam could afford, but the elderly woman who'd rented it to her wasn't looking for money.
Josephine Fowler was the type of lady that most would call "grandmotherly," if you could imagine a grandmother who was worth millions. She was a petite woman in her seventies with a graceful air and an aristocratic nose. Josephine had been independently wealthy before she married her husband, who was twenty years her senior, and despite the usual dubiousness of such a gap in age, she had fallen madly in love with him and had remained so until his unfortunate passing last May. Understandably, she couldn't bear to live in their apartment without him, but she did not wish to simply let it go to the highest bidder. Instead, Josephine had chosen to hold on to the place for six months, waiting for an applicant who would fill the apartment with light and love the way that her husband had.
She had all but lost hope until she met Pam.
Hers was the last apartment on Pam's list. She'd added it on because it seemed too good to be true, and Pam liked to think she was on a bit of a lucky streak lately, so really, what could it hurt to try? And as she'd explained that to Josephine, the elderly woman's eyes lit up, and she said
"That is exactly what my Herman used to say. Young lady, the apartment is yours."
Josephine still called Pam to check up on the place and on Pam, and Pam called Josephine to lift her spirits on days that the city well and truly kicked her ass. She gave sound advice, and nothing pleased her more than hearing from Pam, since she had no children of her own.
The weekend after she moved in to her apartment, Pam went shopping to celebrate. Since she hadn't actually gone shopping in more than a year, Pam had called Kelly to come with her. Kelly agreed to go before Pam was finished inviting her, excited at the opportunity to dress her, gushing that it would be "just like having a grown up my-size Barbie!" She'd started by throwing out all of Pam's old, dowdy skirts and striped blouses and sensible shoes, and then proceeded to help Pam blow her entire wedding savings on a new wardrobe. Kelly let Pam keep her cardigans, but only in bright colors, and only if she promised to wear them over a smart top and slacks, where one might wear a suit jacket. Pam had traded in her trusty Keds for her ever-expanding shoe collection, and walked surprisingly well in heels.
Pam had her hair blown out at a salon, at Kelly's insistence, and from that point on had never allowed it to droop mousily around her shoulders. Instead, Pam spent time on herself in the morning, fixing her makeup just so, and styling her hair into the classic, large curls that she loved but hadn't had time to fix when she was with Roy.
Pam started every day feeling confident and attractive, and had proven to be a great team leader. She was able to point out where a piece needed work without sounding overly critical and creating tension, and was also a fountain of creative ideas when her design team was stuck.
And Pam loved her design team. She had a total of six people working under her: three interns and three full-time employees, and they all showed the same level of dedication and commitment to their projects as Pam did. At the risk of sounding like Michael Scott, Pam thought that she was a pretty good boss. But unlike Michael Scott, everybody on Pam's team thought so, too.
Together, they tackled a wide range of projects. They'd designed a new website for the company, complete with a more modern, stylized logo, but maintained the personal feel that had become Dunder-Mifflin's trademark by including staff spotlights on the front page. The first one had been Pam and her team, at Jan's insistence. They'd also produced a series of animated commercials for the company that had proven to be very successful. Sales had gone up, way up, in the last quarter, and everybody but Dwight was giving credit where it was due, to Pam and her design team.
Pam had kept in touch with people from the Scranton branch, particularly Phyllis and Kelly. Phyllis and Pam exchanged emails about office goings-on, and lately about Phyllis' upcoming wedding. Occasionally Phyllis would drop in a little bit about Jim, but Pam never asked about him directly. Kelly emailed or called Pam every day from the office, mostly to talk about Ryan and their "relationship" and to ask Pam's advice, which she always dismissed by saying "But you haven't dated for like, ever" but Pam didn't really mind. She liked to bounce ideas off of Kelly because, annoying as she could get, Kelly certainly had an eye for trends.
But for all of Pam's success, she still thought about Jim on an all too regular basis. He'd left her without saying goodbye, and she'd done the same to him. Although he wasn't actually there for her to leave, she hadn't been there for him to come back to when the Stamford-Scranton merger took place. She hadn't even called him when she called off her wedding, and certainly not when she moved to New York because somehow, Pam was still really angry at him. They hadn't spoken since Casino Night, when he'd taken her entire world and flipped it around, and then left before she could process it all. She wondered if he still thought about her, if he'd seen her picture on the new website, if he was still as in love with her as he was six months ago. And she wondered how, if he had been in so love with her, he could leave her so easily.
Those were the thoughts that plagued her on nights like tonight, when she was alone in her apartment, curled up on her couch with a soft fleece blanket, a good book, and a bowl of ramen noodles. Rain fell softly outside, and Pam thought it made a perfect atmosphere for quiet night in. It occurred to Pam that she spent a lot of quiet nights in. She was probably the single most boring person in New York. Who moved to New York to spend nights alone in their apartment?
Maybe, she thought, it's time to spend a night out.
A bright flash of lightning lit up Pam's apartment, and was followed closely by a loud crack of thunder as the sky opened up over New York City. Pam's lights flickered off and on, and fat raindrops mercilessly pounded her windows.
Pam could go out another night.
… … …
The sun was back out by the time Pam got to work the next morning, and had sunk below the horizon by the time she got home. It had been a long day, but Pam loved every minute of it.
The day had started with a meeting of all of the department heads with David Wallace, just like every Monday, where each department gave a status report and shared any ideas they had that could boost profits. Pam looked forward to these meetings, always willing to brag about her team and share whatever ideas they'd come up with. David Wallace liked to point out that he could always count on Pam to throw a fresh idea into the mix every Monday. And when it was Pam's turn to speak in the meeting, she did not disappoint.
"Well, last week Jan and I were discussing stationary as an avenue the company really hasn't explored yet. I pitched it to my team, and we came up with a few ideas." Pam stood and passed out manila folders to the people seated at the conference table. "Inside those folders you'll find what we've created to potentially compete with other stationary suppliers like Staples, and we could even look into selling our products at stores like Target that don't specifically deal in office supplies. You'll notice that the pieces range from classic and professional for a business setting, to fresh and trendy for a younger demographic."
She paused for a moment, allowing the group to look over the several sheets of paper in their folders, waiting for their reactions. After a few nods, all eyes were back on her. David Wallace spoke first.
"This is very impressive, Pam. I know this isn't your area, but do you have an idea for introducing this?"
Pam nodded in the affirmative.
"Yes, we were thinking a promotional sale at first, to gauge interest among our existing clients, and also using the stationary ourselves for mailers to potential clients. Using something other than the standard bright white would really say something about the way we do business; it's definitely more personal, which is what we pride ourselves on. It would cost us a little more in the short run, but it's a statement that I think is worth sending."
David Wallace clasped his hands on the table in front of him, his face pensive but optimistic.
"And how would we get all the branches on board?"
Pam smiled. "Well David, we'd start by sending a design representative with several different logo options for the branch's personal stationary, and let them choose which combination they like. On your sample sheets you'll see that we've designed seven different logos, all of them interchangeable with any of the paper styles."
"It sounds like you've really put a lot of thought into this, Pam. We'll take it under consideration and you'll hear from us either way by the end of the day."
Pam had evidently impressed the group more than usual, because she'd heard back from them within the hour. Wallace had told her that the committee was really invested in the idea, and wanted to get the ball rolling ASAP. ASAP, as in Pam was meeting with the advertising coordinator to plan the best possible introduction for Pam's line that afternoon.
It had taken them until nearly ten o'clock at night, but Pam and the advertising coordinator, a sleek, corporate type named Phillip, had come up with a plan. They'd lump the new stationary collection in with the website launch party first thing in the New Year (the website was already up and running, but they hadn't officially "launched" it yet. Pam didn't know why a party was necessary, but chalked it up to Michael rubbing off on Jan, infecting her with his constant need for celebration). Pam would personally consult with the staff of each branch before then, getting their individual branch orders and hand-delivering special promotional packages for each employee as "holiday presents," along with the Dunder-Mifflin bathrobes they gave out every year.
On top of that, Pam and her team were going to create an entire section of the website where the more tech-savvy clients could customize their own stationary with the help of the salesmen, who would be receiving a crash course in the new service in the coming weeks, and corporate would be ordering the first custom paper to test the system for possible bugs. It wouldn't be anything too complicated, just choosing their own weight and style of paper and entering text in a variety of fonts to be embossed if they so chose. The design would be submitted to the salesmen, who would be responsible for checking it for errors, pricing the order, and of course, the final sale. It was a wonderful way to incorporate technology while also increasing the role of the sales department, whose value David Wallace had a reputation for doubting.
And somehow, Pam had also earned herself a raise and a company car, which she'd be picking out on Wednesday. She'd only been in corporate for about six months, but Jan told her she'd earned it for being "so consistently amazing," and Pam was not about to argue. She had, after all, made the company a fortune. She'd also need a company car, because Pam would be doing some traveling over the next two weeks.
Pam would be responsible for training the sales crew at the newly merged Dunder-Mifflin Northeast.
She'd be going home.