Chapter One
Pam was never this late for work. The latest Jim had seen her come in was fifteen minutes, her face flushed and a few curls loose from her usual half up, half down hairstyle. She had told Jim that certain mornings, when coming in to Dunder-Mifflin seemed especially painful, she stopped for coffee on her way. That morning, she needed two coffees just to get out of her car. Jim smiled thinking about it, remembering how he teased her that he should be her reason to get to work every morning. Which, he had hoped was true. When he was honest with himself he knew that she was his reason.
When 9:30 slowly passed by, Jim sent Pam a text message. She had finally, after two years of having a cell phone, learned to text after he taught her. Hey, are you on your way?
Another five minutes passed before she answered. Yeah. Michael won't miss any important calls anyway. I'm fine.
Jim smirked at her response, but still worried about what had happened this morning.
Michael came out of his office with the camera close behind him. "Jim, you seem to know where Pam is all the time. I'm missing calls, deadlines."
Jim ignored the first part. "Uh, she's on her way."
Dwight watched the two of them closely. "Michael, I'm never late."
"Shut up Dwight," Michael sighed. "Why can't you be late sometimes? At least I wouldn't miss any important calls. God."
Dwight looked hurt for a minute before saying, "You should fire her. Set an example to the others. Otherwise they'll walk all over you."
"No, Dwight, I'm not going to fire the best looking person in the office. You should know that." He looked at the camera. "He's such an idiot."
Dwight tried again. "Then why don't you fire Phyllis?" Phyllis turned around to glare at him, and looked at Michael to make him apologize.
Jim tried, as he always did, to make everything less awkward. "Michael, if you're going to fire the most attractive, I think we all know that should be me."
Michael sighed again. "Well, Pam should be here soon to give me my messages. It was probably hard getting out of bed this morning." Glancing at the camera again, he added, "That's what she said!"
Jim gave his trademark expression to the camera before turning back to his work.
When Pam eventually walked in everyone in the office turned to look at her. Even Stanley, who normally seemed to imagine himself removed from the rest of them. Her clothes were wrinkled and mascara had smudged under one eye. Although Pam was never fashionable, she always came in put together.
Before Jim could rise to talk to her, Michael walked over to her desk. "Pamburger. If you're going to be late I insist you come in looking better than that." Realizing the whole office was watching, he caught himself. "Actually, try not to be late. I probably missed a lot of calls, so be on time Pam. It's inconsiderate."
Pam looked down at the phone. "You missed one call."
Michael could hear Kevin snickering in the back. "Well, Pam, Jan could have called. Or David Wallace."
"David Wallace never calls you."
"And the day he does you're not here to transfer the call." Michael stormed back into his office
Michael to camera: You know, what Pam and the others, like Toby, don't realize is that it says a lot about me that David Wallace rarely calls me. That means that I'm doing a good job as regional manager. David Wallace is saying, 'I trust you Michael. I trust you to do a good job, and I know you will.' And that may not matter to Pam or to Toby, but it means a lot to me that the CFO of Dunder-Mifflin trusts me. So… case closed.
With Michael gone Jim walked up to Pam's desk, leaning over it like usual. "Was there really only one phone call?"
Pam smiled, obviously relieved he didn't ask why she was so late. "Yep. And it was an 800 number."
Jim laughed. "Wow. Nice to know we're not in a risk of downsizing."
"I know, I'm so relieved. I mean if we close down who else are telemarketers going to call?"
"I sense some sarcasm in your voice Beesly, which I for one don't appreciate. I happen to enjoy taking up great offers of getting my future told. Or giving my credit card number and social security to businesses I've never heard of. You don't really live if there's no risk."
"And what does your future hold, Halpert?" Pam teased. She caught her reflection in the computer screen and wiped away dried mascara from her face, embarrassed.
Jim ignored it. "I think that's pretty obvious. Working in a mid-sized failing paper company. One day, I hope to get my own cubicle. But that's just a dream." He popped a jelly bean into his mouth. "What about you? Hope to become secretary at a larger failing paper company some day?"
Pam's smile faltered for a second. "I have no idea." She brightened. "However, I would like to think of myself as an administrative assistant, thank you."
Jim realized they had hit too close to home. He certainly didn't want her wasting her life as secretary here, and knew that despite what Roy told her she didn't want that either. "You know, I hear Jan's administrative assistant left. I bet she'd be a great boss."
Pam laughed. "Oh, that would be the worst. Even worse than here." She watched Jim eat another jelly bean from the container. "Um, I wouldn't eat those if I were you. Kevin picked the jar up yesterday and started shoveling them into his mouth. I think some might have fallen back out…"
Jim paused, then realized she was being serious. "I need to go wash my mouth out." He could hear her laughing as he walked away.
Angela to camera: I'm sick of watching Pam and Jim flirt every day. They should keep their relationship outside of the work place. (pause) Oh wait, they don't have a relationship. (Angela rolls her eyes) Roy is such a nice man. I'm guessing that's why she was late this morning.
Creed to camera: Why do I think Pam was late this morning? (pause) Which one's Pam?
Pam smoothed her clothes out at her desk, occasionally having to answer calls. Dwight, for some reason, was selling the most at the office and most of the transfers were for him. She really couldn't understand why he was such a good salesman. She had worked out several theories with Jim one day, but most of them didn't make sense. Jim had an idea that maybe he put some sort of mind-altering substance in beets and gave them to clients, forcing them to sign a contract. But, most people would never eat a beet, not to mention drugs were the last thing a volunteer sheriff deputy would have. Especially Dwight.
Realistically, Pam knew the reason why Jim wasn't the best seller was because he didn't apply himself to work. He really did spend a lot of time at her desk talking to her instead of talking to clients.
Not that she could complain. If Jim wasn't here it really would be a terrible job. Calls were becoming less frequent, and there are only so many times she can say "Dunder-Mifflin, this is Pam" without going crazy.
Lately she had been spending a lot of her work time playing spades, which Jim had introduced her to. She could play with three other people online, which was a quiet way of social interaction that wouldn't get Angela or Dwight annoyed.
The ace of spades had just been played by the other person on her team when a "new email" icon popped up.
To: Pamela Beesly
From: Jim Halpert
Subject: Stop winning spades for a second to answer
Question: Think you can take a break from your busy job to get coffee with me?
To: Jim Halpert
From: Pamela Beesly
Subject: How do you know I'm playing spades?
Fact: I think I can shuffle work around to make time for you.
To: Pamela Beesly
From: Jim Halpert
Subject: Because you squint when you're playing games on your computer
Fact: Putting "I think" in front of the sentence means it's not a fact.
Fact #2: Get your coat because lunch break is in fifteen minutes and we're leaving early (is this an order or a fact? Wait, I think asking a question means it's no longer a fact). I'll create a distraction (this is a fact).
Pam grinned, looking up at Jim, who was pretending to go through some paper work. Suddenly he threw the papers down, glancing around the office.
Dwight sighed and looked over. "Jim, stop acting like an idiot."
"Oh my god, Dwight. Do you smell that?" Jim exclaimed.
Dwight seemed to be thinking carefully about whether this was a trick or not. "Smell what? You?" He chuckled at his joke.
"No. I thought with your innate sense of smell and volunteer policeman skills you'd be able to smell that. Something's burning. I think it's coming from the kitchen."
"First of all, it's volunteer sheriff deputy. Get it right. Secondly, I don't smell anything." Dwight started to look doubtful.
"Wait. Isn't Michael in the kitchen? He said he was going to cook his sandwich. I told him not to microwave it in aluminum foil." Jim started to stand, but Dwight pushed him down and ran towards the kitchen, yelling at everyone to keep calm.
Pam couldn't keep herself from laughing any longer. Jim grabbed his coat and hers as she got up from her desk. "Jim, he'll be right back!"
Jim walked with her out the door. "Michael snuck out to go somewhere ten minutes ago when Dwight was in the bathroom. I figure we have five minutes before Dwight figures out Michael isn't in danger. The smoke's coming from a candle in the bathroom."
"I don't know, Jim. He has some amazing detective skills," Pam smiled.
Jim held the door open for her at the coffee shop next door. "Well, he has been researching my certificate in black belt karate that I showed him this morning. Fortunately it's in Japanese, so that should slow him down."
Pam laughed, and ordered their drinks. She always got a chai vanilla tea and knew Jim liked his latte with extra espresso. Jim sighed. "Beesly, you know I like sprinkles on my latte."
The barista gave them a funny look, which pushed Pam to ask "Can we have blue and pink sprinkles on our drinks? We're both very allergic to any other kind of sprinkle."
Jim nodded. "It's a serious condition."
"Sprinklitis," Pam confirmed knowingly. She giggled as she sat down at their usual table. "Ok, so what happened this morning? You have a black belt?"
Jim nodded. "Yes Beesly, I can't believe you don't know this about me. I happen to have my black belt in karate from a Japanese school that is very exclusive."
He took a sip from his drink. "Wow. This is just disgusting." Pam agreed, and waited to hear his explanation. "I learned a few karate moves on Youtube last night and by coincidence, happened to start practicing them as Dwight pulled into the parking lot. As he told me I had no idea what I was doing, I showed him my Japanese certificate and of course, my belt."
Pam laughed. "Where did you get a black belt?"
"I found an old belt and used a sharpie to color it black." He smiled. "As all great karate masters do, of course."
"Jim, I am so, so sad I missed this."
"Yeah, I am too. I was going to have you hold a fake piece of wood that I would break in half. Maybe next time."
Pam could feel his gaze on her, and looked down at her drink. She knew she had unintentionally brought up her lateness this morning. "Jim, I really…" she trailed off.
"Hey, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."
She didn't look up. "No, I understand if you want to know."
"Well, I am always interested to learn more about the exciting Pam Beesly. It's really like watching a soap opera." She could hear the smile in his voice, and relaxed a little.
"That's not what I meant," Pam smiled slightly. "You're my best friend. You should know when I'm going through stuff." She glanced up, and noticed the smile was gone and replaced by a look she couldn't figure out. "Oh. I mean, I think of you as my best friend, but if you don't think of me that way that's fine." She started to retreat back into the shy Pam Beesly that the rest of the office knew, embarrassed.
Jim grabbed her hand, startling her. "No, Pam, that's not what I-" he paused. "You're my best friend, too. Sometimes you're more than just my friend. You're…" He opened his mouth to say something else, but stopped. "I mean, who else would pull pranks on Dwight with me besides you?"
Glad that the awkward moment seemed to be over, she smiled. A comfortable silence stretched out between them, and Pam thought about how nice it was to be with someone and not feel like she had to fill silence with talk. Although Jim's thoughts seemed to be somewhere else, he smiled back at her.
A familiar voice behind Pam startled the moment. "Oh my god." She turned to see Roy and a camera. Confused by his reaction, she looked back at Jim for clarification and realized they were still holding hands. She let go quickly.
"No, Roy, it's not how it looks," she started.
The cameraman went back and forth between Jim and Pam at the table and Roy's face as he processed what he saw. "What do you think you're doing?" Roy's face expressed his anger and hurt. Pam was still frozen, shocked by what was happening, and Jim seemed speechless as well. Roy moved suddenly towards Jim, but when Pam grabbed his arm he stopped.
Roy clenched and unclenched his fist, wrestling with what to do. Finally he looked at her, unusually calm. "Guess you've made your decision."
Feeling panicked, Pam shook her head. "No. No, it's not like that. We were just having coffee-"
"Yeah, Pam." Roy waved his arm dismissively. "I see that." He walked out, the camera still on Jim and Pam, as well as the entire coffee shop.
Jim finally spoke, standing and putting Pam's coat around her shoulders. "Come on, let's get out of here," he said softly. Pam allowed herself to be led by Jim.
For the first time since the camera started filming at Dunder-Mifflin, the cameraman let people walk away without following.
