Title: Damn
Author: emma4713
Classification: The Office (US), Jim/Pam
Spoilers: Post-season three finale
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters.
Summary: Post-The Job. Short one-shot. What happened between Jim and Karen.
Written: 8/10/07
Word count: 513
Author's Note: This is my third of three Jam fics written in a day. The others are "They Never Talked About It" and "With Jim Halpert". Please read and review! J
Damn.
Jim was now standing in his living room, having just gotten home from asking Pam on a date. And then he remembered it.
Karen.
He hadn't broken up with Karen yet. He didn't call her after his interview. He had headed straight for his car then straight to Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.
Now what was he supposed to do? He couldn't go on a date with Pam when he was with someone else; he wasn't that kind of guy. He couldn't break up with Karen over the phone; he wasn't that kind of guy either. But he had to call her. He had left her in New York. He had to go pick her up.
He listened to the three messages she left on his voicemail before he called her. They got a little more panicked and a little more angry with each message. He wasn't going to enjoy this phone call.
She picked up her phone immediately. "Jim? Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Uh, yeah I'm fine. Sorry I didn't call you. I—uh—my mind got caught up in other things."
"At first I thought your interview was running long, but surely it must have been over hours ago. What have you been doing?"
"Well, I'm—uh—I'm in Scranton."
Karen was silent. Was he supposed to say something or wait for her to talk?
"I wish you had broken up with me before it came to this Jim. I thought that we could get through this, but you're obviously still in love with her."
He made no argument. "Look, I'll come back right now to pick you up. I—"
"Don't worry about it Jim. I'll stay with a friend tonight and catch a train back tomorrow."
"At least let me pay for your ticket."
"Jim, I know you're kind of stuck on being the good guy, the perfect guy, but I really don't want anything else from you. I mean, I want a lot from you, but you can't give that. We shouldn't have stayed so long in this relationship anyway. It's better now to just make a clean break."
Was he really breaking up with her over the phone? Was she breaking up with him?
"I'm happy for you Jim. Really, I am. Be with Pam. It's what you've always wanted."
"Karen I—I don't know what to say." He really didn't. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let it go on for so long. I was trying to get over her."
"I know Jim. Look, we don't have to talk about it. I'll just—I'll see you at work, okay?"
"You didn't get the job from corporate?"
"No, did you?"
"I turned it down."
"Of course."
After an uncomfortable silence, Karen spoke again.
"Goodbye Jim."
"Bye."
So there. That was done. He didn't know if it was easier or harder than he expected. He didn't know if he cared. He had a date with Pam. Tonight. And he had to get dressed and buy her flowers and try to do something with this mess of a haircut he had.