"I'm so sorry, this is so lame, you had awesome plans for us, and I'm sick. I'm not throwing up, but my throat hurts, and my nose is gross." Karen blew her nose and smiled somewhat pathetically.
"Sweetie, it's okay, we'll change plans, you stay here, I'm going to get us some movies, one action, one rom com and I'll make soup for the sick one."
Karen kissed his cheek, "thank you, you're pretty damn sweet."
Jim gently caressed her cheek, "hey, I told you, I love you, this is nothing, it's called being nice, not to mention getting away from the germs." Jim ducked as she threw an empty box of Kleenex at him.
"I love you too," She coughed a few times, "I just hope I'm still alive."
Jim kissed the top of her head, "I better hurry then."
Jim drove to Gerrity's, he preferred the discount supermarket, but Gerrity's was closer and had a Redbox, he quickly rented the Holiday and Casino Royale and put them in his coat pocket, he then ran inside and grabbed a cart. He rushed to the produce section and got a few carrots and a stalk of celery, as he was walking down the aisle with soups, he was reaching for some chicken stock when he heard his name, he turned and saw Pam.
"Oh, hey Pam." He grabbed one more chicken stock and then looked at her, she looked nervous, sad even. It hurt him to not be her friend, but they had both made choices, he owed Karen his loyalty. "Just grabbing some things to make soup for Karen, she's still got a cold and we were supposed to go Posh tonight, but we canceled."
Pam nodded slightly, "oh, I hear that place is really nice. Sorry she's not feeling well."
"Yeah, it's a cold, a miserable one, I told her I'm suing if I get a cold, she's been making me spend the night..um, sorry."
Pam chuckled softly, "it's okay, you guys are dating, it's what people do."
"Yeah, you know, just awkward to say around work people." He watched her face as he said work people instead of friends, knowing that it hurt her.
"What about you Pam, no hot dates these days?"
Pam shook her head, "no, you know, I made a mistake and dated Roy, I guess all the good guys are taken."
Jim wondered what she meant, but then pushed it from his mind, "well, I better finish up, I told her I'd hurry."
"You're wrong about me Jim, I won't go back to Roy." Jim was going to respond, but before he could, she turned around and was gone. As he paid for his groceries, he pushed the guilt out of his mind, they weren't really even friends anymore, things couldn't be the same anymore.
When Jim got back to Karen's, she was asleep, he quietly went into the kitchen, he chopped the chicken and vegetables, then boiled the chicken in the stock, adding some parsley and garlic. When he went back in the living room, Karen was sitting up, "it smells good in here Jim, thank you."
"My pleasure snotty," he noticed Karen was searching for something to throw, "just kidding. I got the Holiday and Casino Royale, I'm guessing the Holiday?"
"Yeah, but only because the first ten minutes of Casino Royale gave me a headache in the theater, so who knows what it would do to me now."
As they watched the movie, Jim sighed contentedly as he felt Karen's thumb rubbing absentmindedly on his hand, in little circles. When Karen fell asleep halfway through, he lifted her in his arms, "Jim, what's going on?"
Jim kissed her cheek, "I'm taking you to bed, you're exhausted, and I'm tired too. You need to get better so I'm not alone at work, Andy's supposed to come back this week, and Dwight has been extra Dwightish lately."
As Jim laid her gently on the bed, he kissed her again. Karen looked up at him, "You shouldn't be too bad, Pam is there."
"Sweetie, I've told you, she and I, not even great friends anymore. I actually saw her at the store tonight." Jim climbed in on the other side of the bed.
"Oh yeah? Must be hard after breaking up with Roy, again."
"I'm sure she'll go back, he's always been a jerk, and she knew it, so who knows, but honestly, that's not my concern, I had to listen to her complain all the time and she did nothing. It was like that Lifetime movie you made me watch, but without the abuse."
Karen hit him, "be nice, and the point of watching that movie was that it was terrible, that's why we played a drinking game."
Two days later, Karen was at her place, taking a sick day, Jim wanted to stay with her, but he had an important client meeting. As he entered the office, Pam was already there on a call, she waved sheepishly and Jim felt the guilt in the pit of his stomach start to bother him, but he had become well practiced at ignoring that when it came to Pam.
When Jim returned from his client meeting in the afternoon, Pam was seated bent over sniffing with her head in her hands, a small pile of Kleenex next to her. He had intended to simply pass by and return to his desk when all of a sudden, the old Jim, the one who loved Pam Beesly stepped behind reception and walked up to her, "Hey, Beesly, you okay?"
Pam lifted her head and shook it sadly, her eyes red from crying. Jim felt a lump in his throat, he hated to see this, cheering up sad Pam had once been his favorite pastime, but that was another time. "You wanna talk about it, in the break room or away from everyone one?" Pam looked at him for a second, considering him, she nodded first, then weakly added, "yeah, out by the elevators."
Pam switched the phones to voicemail and walked out of the office, followed by Jim, she stopped after they passed by the elevators in a little area that was almost never visited by office people. She looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears again, "I got a call from Roy's mom today. She really hates me. I guess the news got to her about our kiss, but she called me and gave me hell, blaming me for Roy's issues and for not loving him like I should have. Been a rough morning, but I just needed to say it, I mean, we're just coworkers, right?" She turned to walk away when he gently placed a hand on her arm, stopping her.
"Beesly, listen, I've been kind of a dick, I know, you know Roy is my least favorite person, aside from war criminals and dictators, but besides them, he's up there, but you are a good person, you put up with so much, you know I thought you were crazy for it, Roy's family is just pissed because now they're stuck babysitting his dumb ass."
Pam offered a crooked smile, her eyes still red, "thanks, Jim, I don't think you're a dick, I know…I hurt you, I'm sorry."
"Pam, you aren't responsible for my feelings, I…" Jim's sentence was interrupted by his phone, "oh shit, this is Karen, I told her I'd answer every time she called."
Pam smiled weakly, "It's okay, thanks for talking to me." Jim sighed deeply as he watched Pam walk away.
"Hey Sweetie, how're you feeling." He hoped his words didn't feel as empty as he felt.
"I'm good, I'll be better when you're back, I'm feeling crappy, but better."
Jim closed his eyes and forced his concentration and feelings back onto Karen, "you know what, I'll be home in a half hour, I'll get out now, call for take out from The Casa Bella, I know it's not as good as your New York Italian, but it's the best here. How's that sound?"
"Sounds great, I love you."
"I love you too sweetie, I'll see you soon."
As Jim left he thought he heard a sound, had he gone back he would have seen Pam sitting on the ground in a little nook, trying to stop crying, but she lost it when she heard him tell Karen he loved her. Jim quickly hurried home to Karen not knowing his effect on Pam.
The next day, when Jim and Karen entered the office Pam was smiling and perky with them as they entered, Jim didn't know it, but she was determined to be a good friend to him when he was with Karen since Jim was her greatest support when she was with Roy, they may not be the friends they were, but that didn't mean she couldn't be a friend to him.
That day was also safety training, Jim was loving it, placing bets and making money on crazy things. Karen wasn't happy as she lost a bunch of money betting on office habits. When Michael finally had his feelings hurt enough and staged a demonstration on the roof, Jim and Pam were having a great time questioning Michael and Dwight, and then trying to save Michael's stupid life as he threatened to jump from the roof. Karen didn't question Jim for hanging out with Pam since Jim had proven his loyalty and love to her.
A week later, both Pam and Karen were cracking up when Jim came into work dressed like Dwight, the mustard yellow shirt, the calculator watch, the glasses, the tie, and even a bobble head just like one of Dwight's. Karen and Pam even managed to joke together about Dwight that day, but all of that was about to change.
A week and half after the dress like Dwight prank, a flasher exposed himself to Phyllis. Everyone had been disgusted with Michael's behavior and reaction, like always, but then he had whisked all the women of the office to the mall to buy them something and talk to them, and like everything at Scranton Dunder Mifflin, it became all about Michael and his issues, this time, about Jan.
That evening as Jim and Karen ate dinner at Ipanema Grill, Karen started her barrage of insults on Pam. "Look, she had it bad with Roy, I get it, but she thinks everyone should give up on slightly difficult relationships now if they suck at all, I just thought he should at least try to make it work, but the secretary convinced him he should end it, so he ended it, don't get me wrong, Jan's insane."
Jim laughed at her comments, while he carefully planned what he would say, knowing that agreeing with Pam could set off alarms in Karen, which he desperately wanted to avoid, and he knew agreeing with Pam that bailing out on difficult relationships would hurt her as their own relationship had its own downs, for sure. "She is insane, but should Michael Scott be breaking up with any female willing to date him, history says no."
Karen laughed and rubbed his inner thigh with her hand, "I know! If it was a normal person, leave, but him, no fucking way, he'll never find someone else!"
Jim felt pangs of guilt that night as his thoughts turned to Pam as he thrust in and out of Karen. While he stood behind her stimulating her clit with his hand and caressing her breast with his other hand, he could have sworn he heard Pam's voice screaming in pleasure, not Karen's, he tried to drive it from his mind, he was committed, he had told Karen he loved her, he couldn't back away from this.