THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM
DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters in this fan fiction. They are the creations and properties of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. The only exception to this is the new receptionist Charlotte, who is my own creation.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This takes place after the end of the second season of The Office – David and Dawn have left, and Gareth is 'temporarily' taking David's job.
Tim was sat as though in a daze. His work lay abandoned on his desk as he stared at the new receptionist. She had only been there a week – a week that had seemed an eternity. Since Gareth had moved into David's old office, Tim was alone in his little corner, which granted him more time to think. Or, to put it more accurately, more time to mope.
Charlotte was currently on the phone, smiling so brightly that no one would be surprised if it radiated down the phone-line. She was a lovely enough girl – she was smart, and friendly, and everyone got on with her. She was even able to tolerate Gareth's less-that-subtle advances on a fairly regular basis. But still Tim felt that he could not accept her – deep inside he was still longing for the girl she'd replaced.
"Oi, Tim!" Gareth's voice intruded his thoughts. "What do you think you're doing? We pay you to work, not sit and stare at the receptionist."
"What's the matter, Gareth? Bitter that yet another woman has rejected you?" Normally, baiting Gareth cheered Tim up no end. But lately there had been nowhere near as much fun in it – not when he had no one to share it with.
Gareth leant in closer to whisper, "That's what you think, Tim. But I know she's just playing hard to get." With a wink, Gareth walked over to the reception desk. Deciding that he couldn't play witness to the exchange, Tim turned his gaze to the rest of the office. The Swindon employees were all chatting amongst each other, laughing and joking. Tim's gaze fell onto a particular curly-haired blonde, and felt a pang of guilt. As she moved to return to her desk, Rachel happened to lock eyes with Tim. He managed a weak smile at her, but she merely turned away and moved back to her desk. Tim sighed – how had he managed to mess that up so badly? He and Rachel had got on so well, and he had ruined it all – why?
Unfortunately, he knew the answer straight away. The same reason that he could not accept Charlotte, the same reason that teasing Gareth was no fun anymore. It all came back to one person – Dawn.
I wonder what she's doing now. This thought had often occurred to him in the past week. Does she miss me as much as I miss her?
"Tim!" Gareth's voice was in his ear again. "Work."
Tim sighed and resigned himself to his job. His thoughts of leaving the firm had increased over the last week. Although he had always fooled himself that David was the only thing making him want to leave, he was slowly realising that this was not the case.
"Tim." This time the voice that interrupted was Charlotte's. "Everything okay?"
"I…I'm fine, thank you Charlotte." Tim started to fiddle with the paperwork on his desk, not really doing anything but hoping that it would make a point. Charlotte, however, was not moving. "Are you sure, Tim? It's just I get the feeling that I bother you somehow."
"Bother me? Why would you do that?" Tim was still not looking at the new receptionist.
"Come on Tim, be honest with her." Rachel's voice joined the conversation. Turning to Charlotte, she said "I wouldn't waste your time with him. Even if you did manage to get together with him, it wouldn't last."
"Rachel, I-" Tim didn't know what to say. He wanted to protest that it wasn't true, but how could he when he knew that it was?
"What, Tim?" Rachel was glaring at him. "Going to deny that you can't handle a relationship because you're so hung up on Dawn?"
"What?! I – that's ridiculous, I-" Tim was lost for words – nobody had been that blunt with him over his infatuation. Still, he had led Rachel on a little – he had liked her, he really had, but he still could never shake his feelings for Dawn.
Charlotte was glancing between the pair, sensing the unresolved tension between the pair. "Okay, tell me if I'm stepping out of line here, but…I'm guessing you two were involved once?"
Rachel nodded. "I guess I should have known who he really wanted. After all, he wasn't exactly taking pains to hide it."
As she stormed off to her desk, Tim looked at Charlotte. "I – she – I-"
"Don't worry. It all makes sense now." Charlotte sighed. "I'd better get back to work."
She headed back to her desk as Tim sighed and placed his head in his hands. He didn't know how much longer he could take this, feeling so isolated. He knew he would give anything to have Dawn back in the office – even if he had to have David back in charge and Gareth back at the desk next to him. He missed everything about her – her sweet little smile matching her sweet nature, the way she would always join in with his many jokes at Gareth's expense, even the way she'd look at him, and then glance away when he looked up. She probably didn't think he knew, but he did and that was what made it harder.
Half an hour later – a half hour that hadn't exactly been his most productive – Tim was distracted by the sound of the reception phone ringing. He looked up to see Charlotte answering in her usual cheery manner. Then, all of a sudden, her smile faded. Tim didn't dare listen in on the conversation itself, but it was clear that something about it had upset the new receptionist. As she slammed the phone down, he wandered over to her desk. "Who was that to get you so upset?"
"No one." Charlotte's answer was short and almost panicky. "Just – no one. Or at least no one important."
"I see." Tim didn't sound convinced. "Well, I'm going for lunch. If anyone calls for me, let me know."
~TC~ ~DT~
It was very rare that Tim spent longer than ten minutes of his lunch break actually on lunch, but today he made an exception. As he walked through the streets of Slough, he passed a café and had to double take. There was a blonde girl sat by herself, on a table close to the window – and Tim was sure that he recognised her. Approaching the window and looking more closely, he realised that he was right – he did recognise her. But why was she there?
Gathering his courage, Tim walked into the café. The girl looked up as he did so, and ran over to him. "Tim!"
"Dawn. It's lovely to see you." Tim allowed his best friend to hug him, before asking "I thought you were in America?"
Dawn shook her head. "We were supposed to leave yesterday, but I realised that it wasn't what I wanted. Not going to America, of course, because that would have been great. But just…the way Lee was organising everything, including me. I didn't want my life to be like that."
"I see." Tim forced himself not to get his hopes up. "So are you and he-?"
"We argued, he told me it was over and stormed off to the taxi." Dawn managed a weak smile at this. "Turns out I wasn't as devastated as I thought I'd be."
"So what are you going to do now?"
Dawn shrugged. "I guess I could always try for children's illustrator. What about you?"
This question seemed to throw Tim off-balance for a moment. "What about me?"
"Well, now that you've left Wernham Hogg – I take it Gareth's an even worse boss than-"
"Hold on, now that I've what?" Tim was confused. "I haven't left anywhere. Still there, unfortunately."
"Oh." Dawn's face seemed to fall a little. "It's just that…I phoned the office not so long ago…the new receptionist told me you weren't there anymore." She let out a short laugh. "And there was me thinking I was someone special. If I'd have known it was just the receptionist thing I wouldn't have bothered."
Tim opened his mouth to try and protest, but no words came out. Eventually, he managed to stutter. "What…what exactly did she tell you?"
Dawn shrugged. "Does it matter? She said you'd left, clearly she was lying. Guess you didn't want to speak to me."
"I did! I mean I do! I mean…" Tim trailed off as he realised what had happened. "Dawn, you have to believe me, I had no idea that it was you on the phone. If I'd known I would have been right there, you know I would." He reached for his friend's hand. "She didn't tell me you phoned."
"Why would she do that I wonder?" Dawn was still a little icy towards Tim.
Tim sighed. "Nothing is going on between Charlotte and me. I mean, she's a lovely girl, she's nice enough, she's cheerful-"
"I get the hint!" Dawn spat.
"No Dawn, you don't." Tim protested. "She may be all that, but I'm not interested. Nothing in that place interests me any more. Heck, even teasing Gareth's no fun anymore."
"Really?" At Tim's almost despondent tone, Dawn began to thaw. "And why would that be?"
Tim blushed a little as he quietly said, "You're not there to share it all with."
Dawn smiled at his response, finally taking his offered hand. "You know, I think I'd have missed you in America."
"You would?" Tim couldn't help but sound pleased. "Um, listen, I'm on lunch right now but I still have half an hour left. Don't suppose you fancy joining me?"
Dawn looked him in the eye and replied, "I'd love to".
~TC~ ~DT~
Forty minutes later, Tim strolled back into the office in a better mood than he'd been in all week. As he walked in, Gareth was there waiting for him. "There you are. And where do you think you've been?"
"Lunch?" Tim walked past Gareth, back to his desk. As he passed Charlotte he muttered, "You could have told me it was Dawn."
Gareth trailed after him, determined not to let this one go. "You get an hour for lunch Tim. You're ten minutes late."
"And?" Tim looked around him, apparently surveying his surroundings. "The place is still standing isn't it?"
Gareth glared at him, irritated at Tim's cool response. "Just don't do it again."
Tim laughed as Gareth stormed back into his office. Dawn's gonna love hearing that one!
He reached for his pile of work, but was interrupted by Trudy. "You've seen her then?"
"Seen who?" Tim had a vague idea what the Swindon worker was talking about, but he wanted confirmation.
Trudy grinned. "Come on, Tim. There's only one person that can make you this happy. In fact, last time you were this cheerful was…oh, I don't know, a week ago?"
Tim looked at her. "Hold on. So, you knew that Dawn was still here?"
Trudy nodded. "I saw her last night. Actually, she said she was going to phone here, but-"
"She did," Tim cut in. "Only Charlotte decided to tell her that I didn't work here anymore."
"I see." Trudy glanced at the receptionist before turning back to Tim. "So, what's happening with you two then?"
"I'm not exactly sure," confessed Tim, "but I'm pretty sure things'll go better than my last two attempts."
"Well, good luck to you. I know there was that thing with Rachel, but even then I knew you should be with Dawn. No one'll be surprised."
"Um, thank you." Tim watched the Welsh girl as she walked back to her desk. He noticed her talk to Rachel for a bit. The blonde glanced over at him and nodded, then started to approach. As soon as she was close enough, Tim opened his mouth to explain, but Rachel cut in. "It's okay, Tim. I know why we didn't work; I know why you've been so unhappy. So…if you and Dawn want to make a go of it, I don't mind."
She managed a small smile at the Sales Rep, who smiled back. "Thank you, Rachel."
As the Swindon blonde left, Tim leant back in his chair and smiled to himself. Things are looking up, Tim my boy.
~TC~ ~DT~
That evening, as everyone was getting ready to leave, Tim looked up to see a familiar blonde waiting by the reception desk, clearly dressed for an evening out. He walked over to her, trying to appear casual even though his insides were leaping with excitement. "Dawn. This is a nice surprise."
"I thought, you know, now that I've split up with Lee…maybe we could go for a drink?" An impish smile played at Dawn's lips as she echoed Tim's first ever attempt at asking her out. "You know…just as friends…"
Tim smiled. "I'd love to."
Just then, Charlotte returned to her desk. "Almost forgot my – oh, you must be Dawn." She offered her hand to the other girl. "Charlotte. The new receptionist."
"We've spoken." Dawn took the offered hand, but there was still an edge to her tone. "As I recall, you told me that Tim doesn't work here anymore."
Charlotte blushed a little at this. "Well, I…I…I thought you wanted your old job back."
Tim and Dawn glanced at each other, then laughed. "Why would I come back here?" Dawn asked. "I've only just escaped."
"No need to rub it in," Tim joked. He then turned to Charlotte. "So…why would Dawn wanting to speak to me make you think she wanted her job back? Surely she'd have asked for Gareth or Neil?"
Charlotte blushed a little deeper. "Well, I…I have to go." She grabbed a random file from her desk then darted off. Tim and Dawn laughed. "I think you were in with a chance there," teased Dawn.
"Well, like I said. She's nice enough, but I'd much rather be with my best ever friend."
Dawn blushed at this. "Tim…"
They were interrupted by Gareth, who was the last person still in the office other than them. He was about to walk past without saying anything when he spotted Dawn. "Ah. Dawn. We don't have your old job, we have Charlotte now."
Dawn giggled. "Well, it's nice to see you too, Gareth." She shot a look at Tim, who was trying his hardest not to laugh. "But I don't want my old job back."
"Oh, good. Good. Not that there's anything wrong with you, of course, but…"
"You're having too much fun trying to pull Charlotte?" Dawn sounded deadly serious, but Tim could tell she was winding the new regional manager up. Gareth looked away, clearly unable to come back to that. Instead he clumsily stuttered. "So, America. Why aren't you there?"
Dawn smiled wickedly. "I just couldn't bear to be away from you for any longer."
Tim had to look away to cover up the laughter he couldn't keep away. Gareth blushed a little. "You don't mean that. I know you don't, because everyone knows you fancy him. Freak."
Without another word, Gareth walked out, leaving Tim and Dawn alone in the office. Tim finally allowed himself to laugh, and managed to say "That was classic!" before speech became impossible. Dawn soon got caught up in the laughter, and for a few minutes that was all they did. Finally calming down, Tim asked, "So, where are we going for this drink? As friends, of course."
Dawn smiled as she reached for his hand. "Well I was thinking the pub. Unless you have any better ideas?"
Tim returned her smile, taking her hand in his own. "Well, the pub sounds a good place to start."
The pair walked out of the office, hand in hand. Tim looked at his companion, a strange smile on his face. "Is it true, what Gareth said?"
"What, the bit about me missing him being a lie?" Dawn teased. "No, he got it all wrong. I really was being serious."
"Not that bit. The bit after it."
Dawn blushed a little. "Maybe…I don't know. I guess because of Lee, I-"
"It's okay." Tim's smile widened. "I think you've just told me everything."
Dawn suddenly stopped, forcing Tim to do the same. He turned to question her, but was stopped by her grabbing his face and kissing him. As she pulled away, she whispered. "No. Now I think I've told you everything."