This is my very first fic ever, so it's not the best thing ever written. In fact, it could be pretty bad! Anyway, please read and review. Let me know if it sucks!
I don't own the Office or any of the characters.
Ryan slammed the off button on his alarm and padded his way to the bathroom. As he scrubbed his hands over his face, he started to wonder, as he often did these days, how he got here. When he first got the job in New York, he had images of all the shiny new things he would have. He imagined a ritzy apartment in the best part of town, the newest and hippest devices, and how he would be the envy of all the stodgy old men that currently ran Dunder Mifflin. Now 6 months later, the reality has set in and it's not nearly as pretty as all those fantasies. Despite his nice salary at corporate, Ryan quickly discovered that his salary in New York doesn't go near as far as it would in Scranton. He couldn't afford a place in Manhattan, so he commutes to work not in the sports car he imagined, but the same old blue vehicle Michael admired so much. Ryan was also surprised at his co-worker's reactions to him. He came to New York full of fresh, fun ideas to help the struggling company get back on top. He quickly discovered that new ideas weren't as well received as he had hoped, and many seemed to dislike his general attitude. It was a humbling experience...not that he would let it show. He still puffed up his chest and walked around with his, "I have an MBA...love me..." attitude, but his heart wasn't in it. He always thought he hated Scranton and his co-workers. But he had to give them one thing...they cared. Ryan really only had two compadres in New York and it was more a 9-5 relationship with both. But in Scranton, despite their crazy (and sometimes creepy) ways of showing it, his co-workers treated him as a friend. Ryan was convinced when he first moved to New York that he was glad to be rid of Kelly. And he was...for a while. There were no more colorful pillows suddenly showing up on his couch. His cell phone wasn't ringing non-stop. He could go home to relative silence and know it wouldn't be interrupted. He could even play with his brand-new X-Box without whining or interruption. But sometimes, he would hear something and be thrown right back to her. An Avril Lavigne song. A magazine cover with celebrity babies. A high pitched laugh or a frilly pink drink at the end of the bar. At first it would feel like he was suffocating. Now it just left him with an ache low in his stomach that he couldn't describe. He tried to ignore it, but as his loneliness grew, he started to realize: he missed Kelly, and he wanted her back.
I know this is pretty descriptive and all Ryan, but Kelly will come in with her thoughts in the next chapter. We'll also see some dialogue and other characters in the next few chapters.