9:37am
Pam squirmed in her chair. Jim, who was sitting next to her and was usually the restless one, sat very still, listening intently to what was being said. This time it wasn't Michael who was giving a speech at the front of the conference room, it was Jen Wilson, the blonde, tight-nosed producer of the documentary being shot at Dunder-Mifflin. She had been speaking to the entire staff about the documentary and how they planned to be shooting over the next eight months. Eight months, in which Pam anticipated her coworkers to act ten times worse than usual; all of them wanting the documentary to be their ticket to fame and fortune. Two hundred and thirty-six days to be exact, Jen explained to them. And Pam knew she'd be hating every moment of it.
Michael was already on his worst behavior. It was bad enough that tonight was the Dundie Awards, but with the cameras around she knew he would waste the entire day preparing for that, leaving her to pick up his slack. It didn't matter that he sometimes proved to be a good salesman; she often wondered how many customers they lost due to Michael's inability to manage. Pam slumped in her chair wishing they could go about their day and not even be bothered.
"So, I think that just about wraps up what we need to go over," Jen was explaining with her false smile. Pam's dislike for the woman grew every time she saw her. "Oh," she said, her eyes widening as she caught Pam's eyes. "That reminds me. I want you all to know that like last time, our benefactor wants us to continue our little love storyline so remember, your coworkers here," she pointed at Jim and Pam, "are not a couple."
"Whoa, what?" Jim asked seeming as confused as she was. No one on the documentary crew had come to talk with them about the situation. "I thought that contract ended when the documentary was wrapped up last time?"
"Yeah," Pam agreed hopefully. "No one came to talk to us about a new contract. I thought that was a one time deal."
"You know what everyone, the meeting is over. If you have any questions you can ask me in a few minutes. I would like to talk with Pam and Jim alone, please." Everyone began to file out as Jen opened the briefcase that rested on the table. She pulled out two thick piles of paper and plopped them down. "These are the new contracts."
Pam looked over at Jim with an astonished face. "What?" she said a little in disbelief of the huge stack of paper in front of them.
Jim reached over and flipped through the first one. "What's in it? What are the terms?" he asked.
"Oh, it's not that different from last time," she began. "The two of you downplay your relationship whenever the cameras are around. Occasionally, we'll give you a 'scene' or two to act out to move the story forward and answer a few questions in your interviews we have prepared for you but other than that, Jim, you show you're in love with Pam and Pam, you don't seem to notice. Just like last time. Of course, Pam, you will still have to pretend to be engaged to Roy. There is no way we would give that angle up."
"And what do we get out of it?" Pam asked not entirely sure she would be satisfied with any offer they would give.
"Ten thousand dollars up front and another five thousand dollars a month," Jen said. "I know you guys are engaged. If we get some great footage during our stay, maybe our benefactor will chip in to help you out with your wedding."
"Why do you expect us to go along with any of it?" Pam asked. The deal seemed almost too good to be true and she wanted to make sure they weren't getting in over their head.
"Because it's good television," Jen replied simply but that answer was not satisfactory for either of them. "Look, our benefactor is giving your company a lot of money to shoot this documentary. In return the company gets a ton of publicity when it comes out. We know that corporate is looking to shut down a branch. You could sign the contract and we continue to pay the company to shoot here, which will in turn keep this branch open or you don't sign them and we take our money and project elsewhere, which leaves corporate with an easy choice of which branch to close down. Your company is barely keeping afloat financially and if it means cutting one of their losses, particularly the branch that is performing the worst, they'll do it. It's your choice."
"You people are horrible and I don't think I want to be apart of it," Pam said vehemently.
Jen turned her attention to Jim who had been unusually quiet. "Jim, what do you think?" she asked.
Jim looked carefully from Pam to Jen then back to Pam again. "Jen, can Pam and I speak alone for a second?" Jen nodded and left the room.
"You want to sign it," Pam accused after Jen shut the door. "Do you really want to spend the next eight months pretending we're not together?"
"No, I really don't," Jim admitted. "But, Pam, they're offering us fifty-thousand dollars. Plus, they may pay for the wedding. I don't know if we should be so quick to pass up that opportunity. We could save up for a house…"
"I like the townhouse," Pam interjected even though she didn't want to admit she would love a real house.
Jim continued. "We could go on a honeymoon to anywhere you'd want to go. I just think, maybe, the money would be useful."
"But look at the cost," Pam argued. She grabbed one of the contracts off the table and began to flip through. "Do you realize what this is? They'll have complete control over our lives at work. There is a list of regulations we have to follow, along with a list of fines for breaking the rules. It means eight hours a day can't be ourselves. Eight hours a day that I have to be aware that every time I look at you I'm not allowed to express how I feel."
Jim starred solemnly at the floor. "I understand Pam, and I feel the same way but I also don't want to be responsible for the loss of everyone's jobs." He said finally. "Do you? I just-I don't know if I could handle the guilt. Yeah, this whole situation sucks. They're bribing us into something we don't want to do but Pam, there are plenty of couples out there who go to work every day and not even see their significant other. Do you know how lucky I feel just to be able to look up from my desk during a stressful day at work and see you sitting there? And, of course, actors do this all the time…"
"We're not actors," Pam reminded him.
"I know," he said with a sigh. "But maybe now we are. We can get through this, Pam, I know it."
Pam frowned but she understood where Jim was coming from. She knew a sense of guilt would get her as well if the branch closed. And as much as she hated to admit it, they could use the money. "Alright," she said. "I'll agree to do this under one condition. If it gets to be too hard, if they start asking us to do crazy things, we put in our two weeks notice. We can put our resumes together, start looking for new jobs because if this goes bad, I don't want to stay in it."
"I'll go along with that," Jim told her. "Any sign that this is a bad situation, we bail, okay?" Pam nodded. "Okay, I'll go get Jen."
11:04am
Pam shifted her weight in the chair; her butt was beginning to hurt and her eyes were becoming strained from watching the television for the last hour. Michael had given her the task of watching every previous Dundie Awards so she could put together a highlight reel. Seven long tapes filled with bad jokes and horrible impressions. She was amused, at first, by the ones that occurred before she had arrived, especially the ones before Michael was regional manager, but the novelty wore off quickly and now she was just bored.
She was at least grateful she was doing this task instead of some other inane thing Michael cooked up. She had been worried, with all the time Michael was spending in his office, that she'd have to take care of all the Dunder-Mifflin business Michael was missing but instead that had been dished out to everyone else. She now felt only a little bad about writing what she did on the wall of the bathroom. She had been feeling particularly vindictive that morning and needed to take it out on someone. The girls all had a good laugh over it and Dwight looked as though he'd do anything to read it but it was all in good fun. If Michael ever saw it, he'd probably laugh.
Pam got the next tape ready and realized it was her first Dundies Awards. With a smile, she popped it in. Everyone filed in and she saw a younger version of herself take a seat near a younger version of Jim. They had been dating six months at that point and she got a warm feeling when she was reminded of the time early in their relationship.
As the tape rolled on, one of the cameramen came in. She sighed a little but turned her attention back to the TV screen and pretended he wasn't there. He said nothing, as usual and took a seat next to her, occasionally panning from the television to her reaction.
She watched as a numerous amount of people received their awards, a half dozen or so who no longer worked there. She wondered what some of them were doing today. Her thoughts were interrupted when the Michael on the video announced his next award was going to Jim and Pam. She remembered being excited for receiving one, though a little nervous as well because she was already aware of how Michael treated his employees. The Most Boring Couple Award, Michael had just announced in the video. She remembered being incredibly stunned when he had given them that. She didn't think they were boring but who knew what went on in Michael's head.
She remembered the scene fondly as she watched Jim walk up to retrieve the award. Then, she noticed the cameraman there and thought the sight of Jim giving Pam a congratulatory kiss on the TV would not be good for the documentary.
"So, you guys are gonna have to edit this out, right?" Pam asked casually. She rarely interacted with the cameraman unless asked a direct question.
"Edit or doctor the tape," he replied in a gruff voice. "We do that stuff all the time."
"Really?" she asked. She wasn't sure why she was so surprised by that.
A few minutes later, the screen showed Kevin sitting down in front of the camcorder. She had forgotten he had done that and now all she had was audio. She sighed and rested her head on her hand as she listened.