"Hey Pam," I greeted walking into the office late.
"Hi Amber," Pam greeted back.
"Why are you late?" Dwight stood up from his desk.
"It's none of your business Dwight," I sighed.
"You are supposed to disclose all reasons of tardiness to me since I am Michael's number 2," He addressed.
"I'm his number 2," Jim corrected.
"She already disclosed it to me Dwight," Toby said in the back of the office.
"And you are supposed to disclose it to me since I am Michael's number 3 and I will disclose it to Michael," Dwight huffed and turned back to me. "Why are you late?"
"Dwight, I do not need to tell you," I insisted as I made my way to the annex door. Dwight, however thought that he needed the information so he blocked my path.
"Tell me why and I won't report you,"
"You can't report her when she didn't do anything Dwight," Toby muttered.
"How do you know she wasn't doing drugs or killing someone?"
"Dwight, you're being irrational," Toby said.
"I was at the doctors," I said, pushing him out of the way.
"I've been here for a couple of months now," I told the camera. "Dwight is finally starting to treat me like an actual member of the office." I glared at the camera. "You know, I like being treated as a member of the community but, I don't think this is how I want to be treated. He probably doesn't even believe me," I looked over my shoulder to see a disgruntled Dwight staring at me. I looked back to the camera. "Can I just stay here for a while?"
Still in the conference room after my interview, I started some paperwork that I had on my person. The front office was actually much more distracting than the annex, even with Kelly there. The front office had a much better atmosphere though. Well, not better but, different and I needed different today. Only for a little while. I missed looking to my left and seeing Toby, either being annoyed by Kelly or just doing that Toby face that I love so much.
I heard people screaming and hiding in the office. Maybe Dwight brought in something dead again. I brought my attention back to my work. The screaming became louder and louder and I heard a 'goodbye' from Stanley. I finally looked up and saw a bat fly into the conference room. I booked it towards the door but Dwight was already there and closed the door, locking it. I banged on the door.
"Dwight! Let me out!" I screamed.
"No can do," He replied.
"Dwight please!" I looked around at the flying bat.
"You tell me where you were this morning and I'll let you out," He laughed.
"I told you I want to the doctors! Now, let me out!" I yelled pulling on the handle.
"No, you brought this on yourself," He said and went back to work.
I sighed and sat back at the table. The bat was still flying around. The windows wouldn't open because Dwight said that a person could easily fall out. I don't know what he did to them but now they were hard as hell to get open. I sat in silence, not moving. If I didn't move, maybe the bat would calm down. Everyone would glance at me now and then, even Jim tried to get Dwight to give him the keys but it was no use. I sighed and felt with this. It's not so bad. Just in a closed room with a bat that could have rabies and that could bite me at any second. No big deal. I saw Pam walk past, looking at me as she past. She went through the door to the break room.
I looked at my paperwork that I was almost done with. I looked at the bat that was hanging upside down near me. I tried to continue to doing my paperwork but if I moved the bat would start flying around. I moved inch by inch and was able to continue doing my work. The bat would sometimes get restless and fly from corner to corner but it didn't bother me unless I was the thing that bothered it. I saw Pam walk towards the window and point at me. Toby came jogging into the office, looked at me and sighed. I waved and remembered the bat was in there. The bat started flying around and diving at me. I tried to stay still to make it stop but it was all hyped up. I booked it to the door and started jiggling the handle.
"Dwight!" I yelled.
"Let her out Dwight," Toby said.
"If we let her out then the bat comes out," Dwight responded.
"I called animal control and they won't be here until 6 Dwight," Jim said. "Let her out. She doesn't want to stay in there all day."
"She's going to have to go back to the doctors," Toby told him.
"Why was she there in the first place?" Dwight asked. "According to her file, she's not due for a physical nor is she due for any vaccinations. She isn't sick either."
"Why do you want to know so bad?" Pam asked.
"Dwight, you can't go into someone's file," Toby said.
"Can someone open the door?" I screamed and the bat screamed back.
"Because I write down every tardiness and no show on everybody and just because she is your girlfriend doesn't mean she is excused," Dwight huffed.
"Dwight, you can't do that," Toby sighed. "Give me the book."
"Can we please do this later?" I asked.
Jim grabbed the keys on Dwight's desk and looked for the key. Dwight tried to get the keys from Jim but he had already found the key and had unlocked the door. He opened it and I booked it, Jim closing the door behind me.
"I want to report Dwight!" I yelled point my finger at him.
"You were in there before the bat and you didn't pay attention, that is your own fault," Dwight scoffed.
"You need to relax before anything," Toby said in his gentle tone.
I grabbed Dwight's phone and dialed David Wallace's number. It rang twice and his secretary picked up.
"Amber Meier for David Wallace," I said angrily.
"David Wallace," He replied.
"Hi Mr. Wallace, this is Amber Meier from the Scranton branch," I said. "I want to report Dwight Schrute for locking me in the conference room with a bat."
"Oh jeez," David sighed. "Well, I will call Toby and we can make an appointment to talk about it together."
"Oh, Toby's right here," I smirked and handed the phone to Toby but Dwight grabbed it out of my hands.
"David, this is Dwight Schrute. Amber did not pay attention and stayed seated when the bat went into the conference room."
"That's it I'm leaving," I threw up my hands and went into the annex. I gathered up my stuff and came back into the front office. "Jim, I have to go back to the doctor to get a rabies shot now so that's where I'll be."
"Alright," Jim said and wrote it off.
"She..., she can't leave!" Dwight exclaimed.
"She's going to the doctor so, yes, she can," Jim insisted.
"I'll walk you to your car," Toby mumbled to me walking me out of the office.
When we got outside, I had already gotten off the phone with my doctor. I had to be there as soon as possible. I fumbled with my keys as we walked to my car.
"I will call David Wallace and talk to him. We'll call you later," Toby indicated. "I'm not sure if he will do anything to Dwight since he is the best salesman we have so I'm not promising anything."
"Okay, thank you," I stammered.
"I'll still pick you up for my daughter's play tonight, right?" He asked.
"That will be great," I smiled getting into my car.
"Be safe," He grinned and closed my door.
"Toby and David Wallace called me after I got out from the doctors," I said to the camera in my driveway. "I said to fire Dwight and David Wallace gave me the 'he's our best salesman' gag. But, he did give me a raise though." I looked at the camera smiling. "It was a big raise."
"My ex-wife is going to be there," Toby sighed driving towards Sasha's school.
I sucked in my breath. I never really wanted to meet his ex-wife but I knew that someday I would. I didn't want it to be today though.
"Hopefully she'll ignore us though," He said seeing that I was now nervous. "She usually ignores me."
"Well, that's good. I mean it's not good that she ignores you but it's good for me," I said quickly.
"I feel bad," He started. "Pam asked if I wanted to go to her art show tonight."
"Oh I saw that poster," I replied. "I was interested. Pam's so nice and talented."
"Yeah, she is," Toby gave a small smile. I found that weird but shrugged it off.
"If she has another art show, I'll totally go," I said ending the conversation.
We parked on the street and walked into the school. There were so many parents, grandparents, and just family in general. I clung on to Toby's arm as we made our way to the auditorium. We got a seat in the second row in the exact middle. I looked around for Toby's ex. I had no clue what she looked like but I was assuming that I would know when I saw her..., and because on one side of the seating there was a section that said the kid's parent's names on the seats. Unfortunately, Toby didn't have a seat over there. Fortunately for me, Toby didn't have a seat over there. Of course all the parents were sitting there. I bit my lip and looked back to the stage.
Toby took my hand and squeezed it, which calmed me down a bit. As the play started,I kept looking at the parents section overtime another new character came out on stage. Of course they all did the same thing. Why was I obsessing over meeting his ex-wife? I've met ex-wives, and ex-girlfriends all the time and it didn't bother me then. What makes me bothered now? I shook my head and tried to concentrate on the show but my mind wandered. Was she prettier than me? Did she have better hair? Did she have nicer eyes? I wanted to find out but didn't at the same time.
I thought about when my most recent ex made me meet his ex. She was a model, literally. That honestly felt great. Sarcasm. She had such soft, acne free skin. She didn't even have a single freckle. She had beautiful bright green eyes compared to my dirty hazel eyes, blonde hair compared to my badly dyed hair, and thinner compared to my cookie eating fat ass. I wasn't that fat. I could still rock a bikini but my butt and thighs are huge. Guys always comment about how great my butt is but I just don't see it.
As the play ended I remembered to clap with everyone else. When the lights came on I stretched and got up. Toby checked his phone for any messages, and then got up.
"Did you like it?" Toby asked waiting to get out of the aisle.
"It was adorable," I lied. Shit. I completely forgot to at least concentrate for a few minutes here and there. Hopefully, he won't ask me anything more about the play.
"Daddy!" Sasha came running towards Toby.
"Hey sweet heart," Toby smiled as he gave Sasha a hug.
"Hi Amber," Sasha greeted me shyly.
"Hi Sasha," I grinned. "You were great tonight."
"Thank you ," She whispered as she continued to hug Toby.
"Where's mom?" Toby asked.
"She's over there," Sasha pointed at a dark haired, slender woman standing next to a man that looked as muscular as a gorilla. "But she doesn't want to talk to you."
"Of course she doesn't," Toby mumbled. "Well, go back to mom before she worries. I'll see you on Saturday, okay?"
"Okay daddy," Sasha said kissing Toby on the cheek. "Love you."
"I love you too sweetie," He replied.
"Bye Amber," Sasha waved as she ran to her mother.
"Aw, she's adorable," I told Toby.
"I wish I could see her more often," Toby muttered as we walked out of the school.
"I think it's cute that she still calls you daddy," I thought for a moment. "I guess it's normal for a kid, especially girls, to still call their father's 'daddy' when they really love them."
"I'm assuming you didn't call your father 'daddy' when you were 7?" Toby grinned as we got into his car.
"No, I was calling him father by the time I was 4," I mumbled, playing with my bracelet.
"I'll stop asking about your family if it makes you anxious," Toby stated noticing that I was uncomfortable.
"No, it's okay. Talking about it kind of makes me feel better," I admitted.
We stayed silent for the rest of the ride. It was a comfortable silence though. I yawned and started to drift off to sleep. I had an exciting day. I almost got bit by a bat, almost quit my job, and almost met Toby's ex-wife. As I drifted, I thought about Pam. Toby doesn't flirt with her or anything but he does act weird when she comes into the annex or whenever she talks to him. Okay so maybe he has a fizzling crush on her. So what? The way everyone talks about Toby in the office makes it seem like he isn't a cheater. Also, Pam is into Jim. Oh please, it's not a secret.
"Time to wake up," Toby whispered kissing my cheek.
"I wasn't sleeping," I lied.
"Right," Toby smirked as we got out of the car. "Thanks for coming tonight."
"Oh, it was no problem," I said.
"I think Sasha really likes you," He smiled as I unlocked my door.
Hayes barked up a storm wanting to go out. I yawned again and then smiled. "I hope she does."
"I think so," Toby mumbled. "Have a good night."
"You too Toby," I gave him a kiss and walked through the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."
