There was a knock on Jan's office door. She quickly took her legs off of her desk and straightened up her suit. A quick run of her hand through her hair and she was once again a professional business woman. She opened the door to a nerdy messenger guy holding a ginormous red teddy bear. She looked pretty shocked, and the messenger smiled at the look on her face.
"A delivery for you ma'am."
"Thank you." She grabbed the teddy bear and closed her office door. She knew right away that the bear had to be from Michael. She cringed imagining herself carrying this dopey stuffed animal on the streets of New York. Why couldn't she be like most women and have received a beautiful bouquet of flowers? There was a note taped to the heart the bear was holding.
Michael had spent a good twenty minutes trying to figure out what to write on the letter to Jan. Finally, he decided to keep it simple and mysterious.
"Jan, be my valentine. Please meet me at Red Lobster in Times Square at 6:00pm. Yours Truly, Your secret admirer."
Jan turned the note over. It was written on a Sbarro's receipt. She groaned in frustration knowing damn well that her not-so-secret admirer was Michael Scott. She also groaned because she knew that it was going to be difficult to just blow him off, no matter how much she realized that she should. She glanced at the clock. Forty-five minutes.
Michael sat down at a table. He had sprayed himself with a cologne sample that he found in Sephora. He had definitely had some time to kill before dinner and decided to take advantage of his surroundings.. His hair was slicked back with some gel. A rose lay in front of him on the table. He was nervous. He had put it all on the line with Jan, and even though she had kissed he knew that Jan was a tough cookie. This night could quite possibly end up being one of the worst nights in his life.
At 6:13pm Michael started sweating. The waiter kept coming by to see if he was ready to order, and every time he had to shoo him away.
At 6:27 Michael gathered up his coat. He felt utterly defeated. He stared at the bubbles in his coke wondering for a brief moment if maybe she hadn't gotten the bear.
He didn't notice her approach the table, but when the chair across from him scraped against the floor he felt his heart tighten and for the second time that day she had taken his breath away. He tried to speak, but nothing came out. He quickly stood up and helped her out of her coat. His fingertips brushed against the back of her neck and he knew that he was in trouble. He had it bad for Jan Levinson.
She looked shy for a minute, gathering her words. She reached across the table and grabbed onto his hand that was fidgeting with the rose. Her face turns very serious and he gets ready to flinch at her words.
"Thanks for the bear."
"It's a bear holding a heart… no woman can resist!" He giggles nervously.
Just then the waiter comes around asking them if they'd like to order drinks, perhaps a bottle of wine. Jan quickly cuts him off.
"No wine, a diet coke is fine." As the waiter walks away, Michael looks at her slightly puzzled at her apparent dislike of alcoholic beverages.
"No excuses this time. This is me. It's consensual. Yes, I will be your Valentine."
She reaches into her bag and pulls out a tiny white bear with a red bow on its neck. She places it on the table in front of them. Smiling as if he had just won a Starbucks' expresso machine, Michael picks up the bear and reads the note attached.
"I can't bear being away from you."