Disclaimer: I do not own the office, as much as I wish that I did.
A/N: I just wanted to say that I totally love the way things have worked out for Jim and Pam! I would not change it in any way! That being said, I am writing this story merely for fun. This story takes place sometime in season two, when Pam is engaged to Roy and they haven't set a date for their wedding yet. Please read and review!
Chapter 1:
It was a typical Monday morning in the office, and no one wanted to be there besides Dwight. Pam sighed and put her head down on her desk. She closed her eyes and longed to fall asleep. Last night had been a particularly long one spent arguing with Roy, and she hadn't gotten much sleep, but that was pretty much the way every night went recently. She tilted her head to the side and ran her fingers through her frizzy hair. She hadn't put a lot of effort into doing her hair that morning, and right now it was just a tangled mess of brown and red curls pulled back into the usual half-ponytail. While she was in the midst wallowing in self-pity, the phone rang. Pam groaned and rubbed her eyes as she answered drowsily.
"Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam."
"Hi Pam, this is Jim Halpert. I'm calling to report a seriously exhausted secretary who's being a total downer this morning."
Pam smiled and looked up at the one good thing about working at Dunder Mifflin. Being with Jim just took away all of the stress in her life, she couldn't ever be upset when he was around. Sometimes she even thought that maybe there was something more between them, but it was just a feeling after all.
"Anyways," Jim continued, looking over at Dwight's empty desk, he'd gone over to accounting to subtly flirt with Angela, "I was wondering if playing a prank on a certain co-worker of mine would help cheer her up a little bit. What do you think?"
"Hmm," Pam pondered with that warm feeling inside of her that she always got when she talked to Jim, "well, playing pranks on other people is a little bit immature...and she'd love to do it. What did you have in mind?"
"Well, I was thinking about doing something involving that obnoxious megaphone of his..."
Pam laughed, recently Dwight had become fed up with people leaving the office or starting their lunch break early. He claimed it was "wasting important company time", so he'd bought a megaphone and proceeded to yell at whoever decided to get up from their desks a few minutes before the actual time. "Oh he'd love that..."
"Yeah," said Jim, his feet propped up on Dwight's desk, "you know they sell these megaphones for kids, that look like real ones, but they distort your voice. I think Dwight would really enjoy that."
"Wow," said Pam shaking her head, "kiddy megaphones, that's the best we can think of? Have we really sunk that low? We should be ashamed."
"True, and going out to buy one would force us to spend less time in the office, and that'd just be horrible."
"It would almost be a punishment for thinking of such a lame prank," Pam agreed, "and I think it's important that we learn our lesson."
"I agree," said Jim, smiling at Pam, "let's do it."
So during lunch that day, Jim and Pam convinced Michael that they needed to go out to lunch because their doctors had told them to eat more seafood. After listening to Michael make several uncomfortable jokes, they finally managed to slip away from their dull office.
"So," said Pam, "there's a party store just down the street from here. We could walk there."
"Sounds good," Jim replied contently.
As they walked down the sidewalk, the warehouse boys were on their lunch break as well, and were eating outside when Jim and Pam passed by them.
"Hey Pam!" Roy called over to her. He ran up to the two of them. "What's up guys?"
Pam tried not to look uncomfortable or anxious. "Nothing," she said quickly, "we were just running an errand for Michael."
"Huh." said Roy, staring at the two of them. He wasn't sure why, but he always got the feeling there was something going on between them. "Alright. Well, I'll see you at five."
Pam couldn't help but notice that something in Roy's tone sounded threatening. "Okay, bye." She gave Roy a soft kiss on the cheek and then walked off in a hurry with Jim trailing behind her.
After catching up, Jim raised his eyebrows and looked at Pam.
Pam looked up at him. "What?" she asked, sounding slightly aggravated.
"Oh, nothing," Jim replied, "I just didn't know Michael was so interested in our prank, that's all."
Pam sighed. "Well what was I supposed to say? That we were skipping work to go pull something on Dwight?"
"Right," said Jim with a hint of sarcasm. "Because Roy and Dwight are such good friends, he'd hate to know that we were messing with him."
Pam groaned. "Can we drop this now, please?"
"Alright, fine. Let's move on."
For a while they just walked down the sidewalk in silence. Jim kicked himself for annoying Pam the way he had. He hated knowing that he'd hurt her feelings. He just didn't understand why she seemed so afraid to tell Roy the truth.
"Look," said Jim, "I'm sorry Pam. It's really none of my business what you choose to tell Roy anyways."
Pam smiled, "It's fine Jim. Let's just forget about it."
"So," Jim continued, "did you hear about Michael crashing Jan's easter dinner party so that he could meet her family?"
Pam stared at Jim and gasped, "What?"
Jim laughed, "yeah, he told me all about it because apparently, we're best friends now."
Pam shoved Jim jokingly, "And you've been keeping this from me? How could you? Tell me everything!"
Pretty soon Jim and Pam were cracking up as Jim told her the latest insane thing Michael had done in his life. Pam was filled with happiness. She wished that she could always feel this way. Just enjoying herself with the one person who always knew just how to make her smile.
Eventually, they reached the party store. After browsing through the aisles, Jim found a microphone that made your voice several octaves higher than it actually was. They agreed that it was perfect and reluctantly headed back to the office.
"Stanley Hudson! It is four fifty eight! Get back-" Dwight stopped, suddenly realizing that something was wrong with his voice. Jim and Pam exchanged glances at each other, trying not to laugh. "Alright! Who did this?" Dwight yelled, still shouting through the megaphone. "I demand to know! Who thinks this is funny?"
Jim and Pam were now difficultly struggling to hold back their laughter. Pam wasn't sure why she found this so funny, perhaps it was just knowing the secret that she and Jim had managed to pull off together. Either way, she was practically dying, when Roy walked in.
"Roy!" said Pam, quickly sitting up straight. "What are you doing here?"
"It's five o'clock," Roy said simply.
"Actually," Dwight snapped in his still squeaky vocie, "it is only four fifty eight!"
Roy stared at Dwight with a confused look on his face. He turned back to Pam. "What's up with him?" he asked.
"Someone switched his megaphone with one of those toy ones that make your voice all high," said Pam laughing slightly.
"Sounds really immature," Roy said plainly.
Pam's smile faded. "Oh, yeah, I know right?" she glanced over at Jim, who was chewing on his pen and pretending not to be eavesdropping.
"Well," said Roy, sounding irritated, "come on, let's go."
"Okay," said Pam, not wanting to bother Roy. She grabbed up her bag and hurried towards the door. She was about to leave when she heard someone call after her. She turned around and saw Jim wave his hand at her.
"Bye Pam," he said timidly.
Pam stared into Jim's big, brown eyes and thought about what she was about to face when she got home. There were so many things she wanted to tell him, so many secrets she'd kept from everyone else. She felt the need to run into his arms and pour her heart out to him, just from one look into his eyes. Out of the millions of things she longed to say to him, all she could manage to do was utter a soft, "Goodbye Jim," and then she slowly headed out the door.
"Aw, come on! What are you thinking? Pam, the guy fumbled the ball again!"
"That's horrible Roy," Pam scurried about the kitchen while Roy yelled at the television. The night before she and Roy had gotten into an argument over the thought of setting a date for their wedding. The topic was sort of a taboo in their house, but Pam had somehow mustered up the courage to bring it up and well, things hadn't gone over well. So while Roy watched football, Pam was busy cooking him dinner to try and patch things up. Roy had always loved lasagna, and she'd borrowed her mom's recipe for the occasion. Pam rummaged around their tiny kitchen trying to find some oregano. Their house was small and quaint, they'd bought it when they'd first become engaged. Originally, Pam and Roy had intended for this house to only be temporary and to move after they got married. However, it had been three years, and the odds of them moving out anytime soon didn't look great.
Despite the fact that their kitchen was way too tiny for the average person, Pam had managed to find the oregano and make dinner. "Roy, I finished the lasagna," she said gently.
Roy groaned, as if it were a hassle for him to have to get up off the couch. He titled the t.v. to the side so that he could still watch the game while he ate. Pam wished he would turn it off so that they could just sit down and talk like a real couple, but she didn't dare say anything.
"So," Pam began, "how was work?"
"Good," Roy grunted while stuffing his face with lasagna. "Except someone spilled coffee over a ton of reams of paper, so it'll be coming out of our paychecks." He chewed loudly. "I hate when people pull stupid stunts like that. Oh, that reminds me, do you have any idea who switched Dwight's megaphone?"
"N-no" Pam stuttered, hoping Roy couldn't tell she was lying, "I'm not sure who it could be."
Roy didn't seem to notice Pam's fib. "I bet it was Halpert," he went on, "the guy acts so juvenile. Remember when he totally overreacted after I elbowed him during the basketball game?"
Pam played with her food, "he's not that bad," she muttered.
Roy shrugged. He took a second portion of lasagna. "Speaking of Jim, you guys sure do seem to get paired up a lot of the time in that office of yours."
"Really? I didn't notice." Pam didn't like where this was going.
"Yeah, like today. When Michael asked you guys to run an errand for him. What'd you have to do anyways?"
"Pick up his lunch for him," said Pam nervously, trying to laugh. "He was too lazy to get it himself."
"Well when I came up to you guys, you seemed so secretive. Like you were...hiding something..."
Pam looked up at Roy. His eyes widened, and he suddenly looked tense. His mouth hung open slightly. Shit, Pam thought, he's figured it out.
"No way." said Roy sounding shocked and angry. "You guys were the ones who pulled that lame prank? You lied to me?"
"It was just a joke," Pam tried to explain.
"Then why couldn't you tell me about it, huh?" Roy stood up, angrily pushing his chair behind him. "You didn't think I'd find your precious inside joke with Jim funny?"
"No, Roy, calm down," Pam said slowly, "Like you said, it was a dumb prank. We were just being stupid."
"No!" Roy yelled furiously, "I saw him say goodbye to you today! I'm sick and tired of you going off and flirting with Jim all day while I'm at work! Stop being such a whore!"
Roy's words stung. Pam tried not to get upset. She took a deep breath and stayed in her seat, knowing that the only way to reason with Roy when he was angry was to try and stay relaxed.
"Roy please, I'm not flirting with him. We're friends, we just wanted to get out of the office," she stopped, knowing she'd said the wrong thing.
"Oh, so you guys just decided to go and run off together! God damn it Pam!" Roy boomed. "You're engaged to me!"
Pam cracked, irritated with Roy for being so irrational. "Last time I checked engaged means that you're gonna get married one day! I don't think that really applies to us, now does it?" she snapped at Roy without even thinking.
Roy's nostrils flared. He was pissed. He clenched his fists. Pam waited for him to say something, to yell at her in anger, but he remained silent. Then suddenly he kicked the table over, sending lasagna flying across the room, and charged at Pam. He smacked her across the face and knocked her out of her chair. Pam cried out in pain as her head hit the ground with a thud.
"Roy, please," Pam begged. She slowly stood up, one hand holding her throbbing head, the other extended slightly as a hopeless way to try and keep Roy away from her. "Please, not again. Not two nights in a row."
But there was no stopping Roy now. He pushed Pam back down on the floor with such force that her back slammed against the wall. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!" Roy bellowed. Pam didn't respond, she lay curled up on the ground stifling back tears. "ANSWER ME WHEN I AM TALKING TO YOU!" Pam wailed out in agony as Roy kicked her square in the back. Her muscles tensed as she prepared herself for the next blow, but it didn't come. Pam looked up at Roy, with tears in her eyes. Roy stared at Pam and the anger disappeared from his face. "Don't ever lie to me again," he said bluntly. He looked at her for a few more seconds, then shook his head, and walked away.
Pam took a deep breath, knowing that things could have gone much, much worse. For a while she just laid on the floor, her heart racing. Little by little, she pulled herself up, using the wall for support. As she stood, her head immediately began to pound and she could feel a searing pain in her back. She moaned softly and then limped over to the bathroom to take a shower. She knew it was important to leave Roy alone for a while so his rage could wear off completely. As the hot water poured down on her, she closed her eyes and wished that she could disappear.