Alright, here I am again

Alright, here I am again. I updated Business Ethics, so now I can indulge myself with non-fluffiness.

Also, thanks to my reviewers and to those who put a story alert of this. However, if you like it enough to put a story alert on it, could you please just take a moment or two to review? Thanks. I appreciate it.

Once again, I own nothing. I don't own The Office, I don't own The Simpsons, and I don't own telephones, but I own one of them.

Pam ran to the bathroom and splashed her face with cool water. She watched each little droplet run down her cheeks. She wasn't really crying anymore, but her eyes were still red and puffy. The tiny little touch of mascara she put on for her date with Jim marked the area under her eyes. She washed it off with a towel, then took out her contact lenses. She reached for her backup glasses, the ones that she kept at home, and put them on, slowly.

Pam flopped down on her couch and reached for the remote. She grabbed it and flipped channels until she heard a familiar voice saying, "D'oh!" Her face broke out in a little half-smile. The Simpsons had gotten her through a lot. Maybe they could help her with this.

She didn't understand it. She knew Jim was a prankster by nature. In fact, that was one of the things that drew her to him. So why had she gotten so upset at his fake proposal? It was going to happen eventually. But still, joking about it and never actually doing it just struck her as so…so…

Roy-ish. That's what it was. Roy never wanted to set a date for the wedding. By the time he finally did, it was too late. One of the reasons she had fallen for Jim was that he wasn't anything like Roy. This just came as a slap in the face.

Pam sighed. It really wasn't Jim's fault. He probably just wanted it to be more of a surprise when he did propose. And she had never actually told him that all of the fakes bothered her. Still, the uneasiness brought on by the realization of Jim's Roy-like behavior remained.

She looked at the phone. She thought of calling Jim, of telling him that she was sorry for her overreaction and that she wasn't mad at him. But she couldn't do it. She was mad at him, for reasons she couldn't explain.

From the television, Pam heard Marge's trademark growl. In her head, however, the battle raged on.

You can't be mad at him for not proposing.

But he keeps joking about it. I'm starting to think it'll never happen.

It'll happen. Relax. He's doing this to make you laugh.

Well, he's not doing a very good job.

The battle continued like this for some time. Pam could feel herself getting tired. Maybe all she needed was some sleep. She closed her eyes, and let the world around her fade away.

A sudden ring woke her up from her much-needed sleep. A second ring, and she knew she wasn't dreaming. She sprung up from the couch and reached for the phone. Chances were, it was Jim, calling to apologize. What would she say? Of course, she would have to apologize too. This whole thing was mainly her fault, anyway. Still, she decided that if Jim had an apology for her, she would accept it, and if he didn't, well…

She picked up the phone. "Hello?" she said, groggily.

"Hi, Pam," said a familiar voice. It wasn't Jim. She knew who it was.

"Toby…?"

I know it's short, but it was mostly thoughts. The next chapter will have more actual action in it, I promise. That is, if you review. You are officially being held ransom, and when I reach my secret ransom number of reviews, I will post chapter 3 (or at least, finish writing it. I'll start tomorrow, when I'm not sick anymore.) Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!