Disclaimer: I do not own the Office. I will never, ever, ever own the Office. It's a simple fact.
Summary: What was going through Dwight and Angela's heads during their workday alone together? Now, we can find out... or at least what I thought happened. A one shot of Dwight and Angela... and wishful thinking of a fusion of Dwangela!!
A/N: Just a simple one shot that I thought up while talking to ktface3. By which, thank you for beta'ing, love! I hope you like this and it's inspired by the latest episode, Job Fair, which was extremely good, if not the second best episode of the season so far. My personal favorite being 'Local Ad'. Okay folks, a bit of Dwangela until the finale. Enjoy!
May 8, 2008
11:30 am
Dwight was going over his expense reports before turning them in at Accounting. He looked around at the other employees, hearing snippets of foul language and curses to him, pleading to leave early. He couldn't understand why everyone wanted to leave. You come to work to work, to do the things that are asked of you. If you leave early, you will still have to do the things that are asked of you, along with more work that would have accumulated. It was ridiculous to want to leave and practically beg for more things to do come Monday. He sighed, disgusted by his coworkers lack of intelligence and common sense to realize that they would be free from their obligations at 5:00, like any other day.
As he reached for another pen, he took a quick glance at her. He watched as she diligently worked, preoccupied by the task at hand. He blinked and looked back at his work, trying not to dawdle, but was consumed by the present thought that she always seemed to be in tune to his thought pattern, his opinions, and his mind. She understood that the work would be finished today instead of procrastinating. Knowing that she still held some of the qualities that made it impossible to hate her, he continued to work with a small smile on his face.
Over the past few months, he had done as best as he could by trying to move on. He tried to occupy his time by participating in activities outside of work that replaced his activities spent with her. He signed up for more Laser-Tag meets with his team, working on his tactics for the Jedi vs. Sith game in the coming weeks. He also went on some interesting trips with Michael to New York in search for sushi and hot babes. Even making out with a barely legal girl from college didn't snap him out of his funk. He knew that she had moved on, and in retrospect, he was happy for her. He never expected for her to not move on, but knowing that she did so effortlessly made him wonder what type of man he was. He shook his head, getting up to go the bathroom, hoping that a few splashes of cold water would derive him from his sullen state and be victorious as his Vater would want him to be.
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Angela was going over the last quarter's tax forms, rolling her eyes at the ridiculous system that was ordained at Corporate. She couldn't comprehend why there was so much attention focused on revitalizing the technology of the company, but they couldn't seem to upgrade the system for the most important aspect of the company, the money. She wasn't ignorant of her importance to the company, even though she despised the notion of money being so vital for people's lifestyles. She was disgusted by the choices people made in their lives, spending money feverishly and then wonder why their homes were being foreclosed. She shook her head, wondering about her own life choices, stealing a glance at one of her choices across the room. In spite of what transpired between them, there were times when she wondered if she had made the right choice.
She thought about how the two differed and shook her head at the memory of Andy calling her from the golf course at 2am, bragging about how he was perfecting his swing for today's pitch. She also remembered when he tried to hold her hand this morning, feeling the blisters on his fingers and palm and how they scratched her. She sighed, remembering the same feeling whenever Dwight would be out all day, plowing the fields and how rough his hands felt against her skin. Back then, she enjoyed the feeling of proof of a hard day's work, feeling the hours of agony and knowing that he did for a great cause. Andy's scars were nothing more than something to show off, but in his own way, he knew that he was trying to help Jim, in his own Andy-Bernard-is-a-hero way.
She watched as Dwight walked away to the bathroom, wondering if he still thought of her. She felt a cold chill down her spine, remembering the photo Michael had sent everyone a few weeks ago from their trip to New York and seeing his antics. She was happy that he was moving on, happy that he was able to be the man that she admired for so long, but trying not to admit that she missed that part of her life, the life that they shared together. Just as she was trying to erase her thought pattern, her phone rang.
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Dwight took another breath before reentering the office. He looked at himself in the mirror, which had been a feat in the past few months, disgusted at the blubbering fool he had become of late. He nodded at his reflection, wondering if he was looking at the Dwight Schrute he had always been so proud of being, or the sadder, disgusting imitation Dwight that had consumed nearly every facet of his life. He thought about Andy and Angela's small rendezvous in the kitchen and break room and remembering her smiling. He scoffed, knowing that if things were ever going to change, he needed to too. As he walked out the bathroom with a surge of confidence, he saw the deserted desks and coat racks. He looked around in shock, feeling a sudden surge of anger course through him, only halting at the petite blonde at her desk, staring back at him.
It had been a few weeks since he made direct eye contact with her. He always seemed to turn his head so naturally before being detected at his movements (?) of glancing her way, seeing if her mannerisms were the same. Like if she still bit her bottom lip before she made a notation on a spreadsheet, or if she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before commenting on Kevin's odor. As they looked at each other, he realized he wasn't breathing, so naturally he began to cough. He quickly took a seat and tried to recover from his moment of weakness. After his short mind lapse, he remembered the matter at hand, and took out his trusty notepad and began to write down all the maleficent employees, knowing that he would be rewarded for his valiance.
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12:06 pm
Angela walked to the kitchen to retrieve her lunch, trying to remember what she packed that day. As she reached into the refrigerator, she noticed a Tupperware bowl of beet salad. She flared her nose at the sight of it, but secretly warmed at the memory of having the salad at a meeting at his home. She hadn't enjoyed a salad as much as she had enjoyed that one. It was filled with nourishment and love, consuming her with a warm comfort. She stood up straight and shook her head, slamming the door as she walked to the break room. As she took her seat, she saw Dwight walk in toward the vending machine. She looked down at her food, a turkey sandwich with a tapioca pudding; she suddenly had the urge to ask him to sit with her. However, she continued to munch on her sandwich, shying away from her adulterous thoughts.
She looked up for a second longer and saw that he had left. She smiled victoriously, knowing that she overcame her moment of weakness but feeling the familiar churn in the pit of her stomach whenever he was near.
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Dwight had left the break room, and left her to her thoughts. He watched her pick at her food, wondering if she even noticed that he was there. He shook his head and walked back to his desk. He opened up the Tupperware and scarfed down the entire bowl. He continued to eat to get that familiar but unwelcome sensation in the pit of his stomach whenever he was near her like that. He didn't want to be near her, knowing that she was tainted by the hands of Bernard. He didn't want to wonder what she thought about when she was sitting in the corner alone or what she was feeling being left by herself in the break room while everyone else went home. He didn't want to think about her, but the more he thought about not thinking about her, he thought about how much he was thinking of her and it became a vicious cycle of confusion in his head. There were no winners, only a loser who sat at his desk, knowing that the one person in the world that ever made him happy was only a room away, but not nearly as close to being his.
So he sat there, eating his lunch and praying that the feeling of emptiness was only temporary, being resolved with a full stomach. As he finished his last morsel, he noticed the shift in the air as she breezed by, walking to her desk without hesitation. He smiled a light whiff of her coconut soap, the one that she had adored since she was a child. He remembered when she mentioned to him that she loved the smell because it was the smell of her mother's friend. She had always had been a close friend of the family and she was the one who had given Angela her first kitten. He smiled to himself, knowing little things about Angela that no one else knew, and willing to stake his life that she never told Bernard half of the information he possessed.
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2:37 pm
Angela noticed Dwight standing by the copier when she was about to approach. She stood behind him, noticing it was the closest they had been in several months. She looked up at him, remembering his height and build and how it differed with Andy's. Andy was shorter that Dwight by several inches and had slightly smaller arms than Dwight. As Dwight continued to copy his papers, she couldn't shake the notion that she was checking Dwight out and feeling slightly ill yet exhilarated. She was starting to get impatient, but at the same time liking that she had an excuse to be near him again. She knew the silence between them was inevitable, but with them, it had always been a game of winks and stares and small smiles. She had convinced herself months ago that she was never going to participate again in the sport that they had become so good at, but she began to feel the slight longing for a quick glance or a small smile that only they knew about.
At that moment, Dwight turned around and walked around her, making sure not to 'accidently' graze the cuff of her sleeve or enter her personal bubble that she had created so many months ago. As he passed, she looked at him in the corner of her eye, wondering if he was doing the same. She felt that feeling of longing again for some privacy, something that she no longer had with Andy. Their relationship was open to the entire office. There were no secrets or solitude, only the laughs that echoed in the back of her mind and the small moments in the day when she could forget about him for a little while.
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3:46pm
Dwight had gone over the last few accounts and was making sure that everything was accounted for when he had the urge to sneeze. He never got sick and it was almost foreign to him to have his immune system fail him too. He tried to hold back the sneeze, not wanting Angela thinking that his genes were anything short of superior when it expelled faster than he could stop it. His first thought was to pretend it never happened, continuing to do his work. Then he thought he could start humming a song, and the sneeze was for an effect. However, any other plans of foolery were stopped when he heard her say, "Bless you."
Dwight straightened up, trying to sound indifferent, "Thank you." He continued to look at his work, but he couldn't help but feel warm inside. It was the first time they had actually spoken to one another since Michael's dinner party a few months ago. He missed her voice, which only made the silence between that more unbearable. He remembered that he was the one that always seemed most vocal about their relationship with his declarations of love to her in the quiet corners of Dunder Mifflin. For a short moment, he resented the hold that she held over him, the grip she had over his heart. He cleared his throat, determined not to let the nature of his still-mending heart show.
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Angela looked over at Dwight, watching him clear his throat as he continued to do his work. She was hoping that he would at least look at her as he spoke. She remembered fondly when they were in the company of one another he would speak to her directly, not like all of those hundreds of conversations in the dark corners of their fluorescent playground's confines. She turned around, fearing that he might find her staring, afraid that he might see past her façade and half-truths and find her desire to have the small moments of eye contact back. The moments when she felt she was the most beautiful woman in the room the second Dwight laid eyes on her. The moments when she felt that the workday was not only about productivity but being near him for eight hours a day. She knew that she should have spoken to him more but speaking would only admit that what he did what he had done was forgiven, which she still felt very hurt by.
She shook her head, wondering how long the lights above had been buzzing, realizing that she never heard the office as quiet as it was at that moment. She listened to the silence, looking at the cameras, knowing that they were always watching and convinced that even in this state of resolve she felt as if she was still in tune with Dwight. She felt in it her bones, the longing that she had to be near him, and she wanted to believe that he felt it too, but the silence seemed stronger than the both of them. The silence took the place of words and in the silence, there was a harmony, a rhythm that seemed to deafen even the loudest scream. She wanted to speak, cough, make any sound that would replace the slight buzzing by the lights that mocked her, shown above her and could tell her secrets if they spoke. She wanted the silence to end but knew better than to stop it, knowing that silence was also her friend. It was the comforting hug after the hellish truths of not being with him as they were before. It was the gentle breeze that seemed to follow her home after the date that never seemed to end at the local theater that only showed Jerry Lewis films circa 1963. It was the sound of silence that reminded her of what she missed and what she needed, even if she wasn't ready to admit it. The silence was her friend, and she was sure it was his too.
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5:00 pm
Dwight looked at his trusty wristwatch. '5:00' continued to blink back up at him, as if it was mocking him, teasing him that the time had ended, that his day of solitude with her had ended. He stood up and tried to behave as he would normally in any other situation. He knew keeping a clear head above all else would be his saving grace to surviving. The click of his briefcase seemed to shout throughout the office, ringing home. The day had ended and as he walked to the door, he mentally kicked himself, knowing in the pit of his fears that this might be the only chance to be with her like this, sharing her air and having an excuse to leave with her, if only to the parking lot.
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Angela looked at the clock on her computer. '5:00' stood in front of her like a beacon, only the beacon was unwarranted. She didn't feel saved by the bell or as if someone threw her a lifesaver. She felt as if she was sinking deeper into her on misery, knowing that time had come to leave him again, like she did all those months ago. She would be the last person to admit that she sometimes regretted leaving the way that she did, leaving him in the crowded room on that cold October night. She hated the drive home, knowing that she would only ever have drives like that to come. She heard his briefcase open and shut, unexpectedly sending a chill down her spine, feeling the sound rush through her entire body. She knew that the silence seemed to consume every corner of the paper wasteland but she knew that hearing him shut it made the end even more real. She stood up and collected her purse and walked to the coat rack. She saw him move swiftly to the door, most likely trying to avoid her and she felt the familiar stab of pang in her chest. As she took down her coat, she saw him reach for the door. She nodded, thinking that he would walk out first when she saw him open the door wider for her. She felt her throat close slightly at his gesture before uttering, "Thank you." She knew that she heard herself say, 'Thank you', but what the silence swallowed was her quiet apologies, her sincere grief for the way things played out. She missed him, and she shouted it out, but the silence was just too strong.
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Dwight and Angela walked to the elevator, Angela only a few steps behind Dwight. Dwight had hit the down button and folded his hands in front of himself, looking at the doors. Angela adjusted her purse strap, fixing it so she could easily place it on the passenger seat in her car. She looked up at Dwight again, admiring his height. The cameras were hoisted in the doorway of the office, kneeling near the ground to prevent them from seeing the tape rolling. It zoomed on the couple, noticing the distance between the two. The camera man remembered over the years and how this pair seemed to be destined for one another. He wondered if they still thought about what they lost, and was internally fighting with himself to show them footage as he had with Jim and Pam. He knew that getting involved wasn't his job as a camera man and knowing that the producers wouldn't be thrilled with him if he happened to run the footage by them on a quiet Monday morning. Instead, he found solace from his distance behind the lens, knowing that if it were meant to be, time would tell.
As the tape was rolling, he watched as Dwight and Angela walked onto the elevator. He smiled to himself, knowing that the security footage would be filming them leave the building. As soon as the doors shut, he ran to the back toward the annex and opened the storage room closet that the documenters had developed as their editing room. He turned on the channel and found the odd couple walking to the doors. He hated that he couldn't get audio but for a brief moment, he forgot to breathe. For at that moment, a petite blonde found her hand in the palm of a taller salesman. It was brief, but knowing that it occurred made the aspiring filmmaker's heart swell with joy.
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Dwight walked through the open doors and heard Angela's small feet shuffle in from behind. He felt her presence without having to look at her. Years of hearing her voice from behind him or from behind her blonde mane gave him a sixth sense to her ever-foreboding presence in his life. He took it with stride, knowing that even if their confines weren't ideal, he was still with her, if only for a short while.
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Angela walked in after Dwight, noticing that he was wearing his favorite pair of loafers. She remembered when she bought them for him on his birthday. She smirked, recollecting the surprise that was on his face as he unwrapped the gift, a gift of longevity and purpose, which was what she thought they were. She shook her head again, feeling nostalgic and helpless. She knew this was it. This was the life she choose and the choices she made were for her and her alone to deal with. As she thought of her choices, she knew they effected him as well. She didn't know where to start as the silence seemed to make another appearance, but she eventually took refuge in the silence of the elevator, being with him, if only for a short while.
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The two lowly workers walked out of the office building and headed to their respective vehicles. Angela was surprised by the lack of silence as opposed to the traffic in the distance, a nearby train and the sound of other employees leaving for the weekend. Dwight could almost feel the shift of the air as he took a deep breath. He had survived the day without cracking. Sure, he had failed as an employee to Michael and mocked by his fellow employees by his control over them, but he could say in full confidence that he didn't fail as a human being. He stood strong and survived the day. Angela watched him walk a little faster to his car and had an undeniable feeling of fear of not making another choice. She wasn't a woman who made rash decisions. She made every move with several other moves to succeed the first move. She never entered a situation that she was uncertain of the outcome, but realizing that this day was something she never expected, she felt there was no harm in doing something bold, and for the first time, doing something that she knew was good for her and for him.
Angela walked up behind and called his name, "Dwight." Even for her, the sound of his name out of her mouth seemed foreign.
Dwight turned around slowly, making sure that he heard her right. When he saw her behind him, looking up at his profile, a warm sensation filled his entire body. "Angela."
Angela took a deep breath and moved closer to Dwight. She was standing in the direction of the sun and as she looked up and him, she saw that the late afternoon sunlight shaped his frame, providing a healthy glow. "Um… I just wanted to say that I stayed because –"
Dwight nodded, "Yes, I know. You stayed because it was the right thing to do." He scoffed slightly and looked down at the ground. He waited for her to respond but instead saw a soft hand approach his own. He felt her hand in his palm and closed his eyes, trying to remember the feeling for when he needed it the most.
Angela smiled as she made contact with him, admiring the fact that his hands were just as she remembered them, strong. She also appreciated the fact that they weren't covered with puss-filled wounds. She looked up at him again and genuinely smiled for the first time in months, "Yes it was."
Dwight smiled down at her and nodded, feeling her hand slip out of his again, being replaced with the gentle breeze. He watched as she turned around and walked back to her, feeling for the first time that there was still hope out there, even if it took a six-hour vow of silence.
Angela walked back to her car, smiling as she reached her door and sat behind the wheel. She couldn't believe what she did. She touched Dwight again. It seemed surreal as she could still feel the buzz coursing through her fingers, replacing the buzz from the lights in the office. She liked being bold; it wasn't something she would brag about at her next bible study session, but it was something that she could revel in when there wasn't much as to ponder about. She knew that she should have felt guilty about betraying Andy but a small part only did. The rest of her was still in Dwight's hand and she knew that that's where she wanted it to be.
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I hope you like! This is the only chapter I'm gonna do folks so… but if you like Dwangela, which it's hard not to, feel free to enjoy my other works featuring them , which is every story I ever written. LOL. Enjoy and thank you for reading. Now, as a token of your readership, leave me a review and I just might return the favor!