Guys, very sorry about the long wait! I knew how I wanted the next couple of chapters to go, but I couldn't think of how to word it. Plus I'd been busy with school and stuff and for once I've had a social life which has left little time to write. So here you go, the next chapter!
Jim's head was all over the place. Michael and Jan had been holed up in his office for over thirty minutes and in that time, he couldn't concentrate on his work at all. The fact that sooner or later he'd have to have a one to one conversation with the woman who pretty much broke his heart all those years ago scared him. He knew it was about business but surely they couldn't go through their meeting without bringing up the past?
He knew Pam had been watching him ever since Jan had gone with Michael into his office, but he didn't want to talk to her about it. She would see him in a completely different light if she knew he'd had an affair with their boss' boss, even if she was separated from her husband at the time and it was back when he was in college. All he could do to keep himself from going crazy at this point was mindlessly play solitaire on his computer. He noticed Dwight hard at work, eager to please the new boss, as well as a few other people around the office actually making an effort with their jobs for once. It amused him that even though the blinds were closed so they couldn't see what was going on in the office, people were still trying their best to please Jan and Michael. If only they knew how much he used to please her, he thought, amusing himself further.
Suddenly, he heard the door to Michael's office slowly open behind him, along with the footsteps of Michael and Jan.
"Okay everybody, I am going to begin my one to one discussions with each of you now in the conference room. I'll be doing this in alphabetical order over the duration of my visit. So Pam, would you like to join me in the conference room please?" Pam nodded and headed over to the conference room with Jan whilst Michael remained at Jim's desk.
"So, pretty feisty huh?" Michael grinned at Jim. Jim looked up, having zoned out slightly.
"Eh, what?" Jim replied.
"Jan, she's pretty feisty don't you think? Really adds to the hotness," Michael expectantly looked at him.
"Nah, don't really see it myself." Jim said, despite mentally agreeing strongly.
"Seriously? I thought you'd know a hot chick when you saw one Jimmy." Michael answered, surprised.
"She's not my type." Jim said dismissively.
"Huh, whatever you say." Michael replied and walked back into his office.
Jim sighed and leaned back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head. He could vaguely hear Jan and Pam's voices in the conference room and strained to hear them more clearly, but couldn't. He really didn't know what to do. He was soon to be stuck alone in a room with a woman who had meant so much to him and he had no idea how he was going to keep himself acting professionally. He had so much he needed to ask her; how's she been? Is she still with Gould? Although that was kind of answered as she remained Jan Levinson Gould, then again that could be just because she didn't want to go through changing it. No, she's still with him if she's kept her name. He knew he wouldn't get to talk about all this with her, especially now she's his boss, but he wanted more than anything to know.
About 10 minutes later, Pam and Jan came out of the conference room. Pam smiled assuringly at Jim, probably thinking his nervous behaviour since Jan arrived was just because of the pressure of pleasing their new boss, and headed to her desk at reception.
"Creed, could you come into the conference room please?" Jan called across the office, and Creed followed her, shutting the door behind him and they commenced their interview.
Jim tried to compose himself as he felt Pam's eyes on him being restless. He knew there weren't many people left for Jan to talk to before him, but he wished he could barge into the conference room and get everything out in the open with her at that exact moment. The waiting was killing him, he needed to talk to her again, like they used to.
"Are you alright?" Pam asked him as he turned to face her, a look of concern on her face.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just trying to think of how to make the best impression with the new boss, y'know?" he smiled back.
"Wow, Halpert's scared of getting on the wrong foot with someone for once. You'll be fine, everybody loves you." she said, the last phrase coming out incredibly assuring.
"Haha, thanks Beesley." he replied, about to continue until he was interrupted by Creed directly behind him.
"Whoa that new boss is a blast, gotta go make a few calls, laters." he said, hovering behind him for a few more seconds before running into the kitchen.
"Whaat?" Jim exchanged confused looks with Pam and turned back to his desk, until a voice behind him startled him.
"Jim? Could you step into the conference room please? I know Toby should be after Creed but as the HR rep I won't need to speak to him until I've spoken with everyone else anyway."
"Yeah sure," Jim replied coolly, getting up and weakly smiling at Pam who gave him a thumbs up as he proceeded into the conference room behind Jan.
He shut the door and sat down opposite Jan. His heart melted at being so close to her again, and boy, she'd barely changed. She still had those sparkling blue eyes, the luscious blonde hair, even if it was a bit shorter now, those soft lips; her face suddenly became so familiar again. After all the years of memorising her and how she looked, it felt so good to be able to see her in the flesh. As cliché as it sounded, she was even more beautiful than he'd imagined, and he really couldn't accept the fact that she was now his boss and was about to start interviewing him in such a professional manner.
Jan's first one to one meeting with Michael was going fairly well. Especially well considering how distracted she expected to be seeing Jim again after all these years. Seeing Jim had knocked her completely off guard when she first saw him, but now she was putting the nervous energy into this meeting. They'd been in Michael's office for about half an hour now, and if she was honest, they'd covered pretty much everything that needed to be covered, and more due to Michael's strange excitement about new management.
He seemed like a fairly nice guy, even if he was a bit immature at times, but nevertheless he seemed to be a decent boss who knew exactly what he was doing. He had actually mentioned Jim at one point, describing him as a 'promising salesman who has become a valuable addition to the Scranton sales team'. It was nice to hear Jim being described as someone doing well in his job which would hopefully lead to big things for him. Not that a whole lot could happen to you while in the paper industry. Maybe she could get him up to Corporate to work with her, but that could be risky for many reasons, so maybe Scranton was the best place for him.
Michael was just finishing up a speech he had given Jan about Scranton and its qualities, which she had completely zoned out of, which prompted Jan to bring the meeting to a close.
"Michael, I've thoroughly enjoyed talking to you and I look forward to working with you in the future. I'm now going to proceed with the one to one meetings with your employees. Thank you." She looked over the notes she'd brought to see in which order she'd be holding meetings before stepping out of the office, Michael following her.
"Okay everybody, I am going to begin my one to one discussions with each of you now in the conference room. I'll be doing this in alphabetical order over the duration of my visit. So Pam, would you like to join me in the conference room please?" the receptionist nodded at her from her desk and walked over to follow her into the conference room.
"So Pam, how long have you been at Dunder Mifflin?" Jan asked her as they sat down.
"4 years this fall," Pam replied.
"Impressive, do you enjoy your job?" Jan asked, jotting down some notes.
"As much as you can enjoy being a receptionist." Pam smiled. Jan smiled briefly back.
As Jan continued to interview Pam, she couldn't help but think in the back of her mind how well her and Jim were seemingly getting on when she saw them at his desk. She would've thought they were dating until Pam mentioned being engaged to one of the warehouse workers Roy, and then she saw the engagement ring on her finger. It was a shame though, as Jim seemed pretty smitten with her from what she saw. She didn't want him going through another heartbreak with another married woman.
Their meeting didn't last long, as Jan figured she had quite a few employees to go through, so decided to end her talk with Pam and go out collect Creed, the next employee on the list.
"Thank you Pam, it'll be a pleasure getting to know you as time goes on." Jan said to her before they exited the conference room, shaking her hand whilst doing so.
They exited the conference room and Pam headed back to her desk whilst Jan scanned the room looking for Creed.
"Creed, could you come into the conference room please?" Jan called across the office, and Creed followed her, shutting the door behind him and they commenced their interview.
"Hi Creed.." Jan started, but Creed interrupted her,
"Listen lady, I like my job. I don't want to get fired okay? I'll do anything to make sure I stay. Good, we understand each other, I'll be on my way." Creed said to her quickly, and exited the conference room, leaving Jan sitting in a state of shock. After his quick departure, Jan checked her notes to see who was next to meet with. Jim. She wasn't really ready to be with him one to one, alone in a small room together. It wasn't the fact that wouldn't be able to resist him after so long or anything, it would be too much emotionally to have to sit and talk to him professionally without bringing up the past. She took a deep breath as she stood up to exit the conference room and invite Jim to join her for their meeting.
"Jim? Could you step into the conference room please? I know Toby should be after Creed but as the HR rep I won't need to speak to him until I've spoken with everyone else anyway." She asked calmly, trying to contain her nerves.
"Yeah sure," Jim replied as he got up and followed her into the conference room.
Jan really wasn't sure what she was going to say first. Well, obviously it had to be related to business, but come on, it was Jim Halpert in there with her. He meant so much to her and it killed her that she hadn't seen him in so long, and now here she was as his boss. It was a shame this was what would bring them together again for the first time, but it was better than not seeing him again. She couldn't believe they were meeting again though. He hadn't changed all that much, he looked a lot more mature than he did, and he was still as gorgeous as the first time she saw him. As Jan sat down opposite him at the table, she racked her brain for some way to start a conversation and break the obvious tension that had built up between them in such a short space of time.
