A/N: Six days ago, I watched "The Office" for the very first time and I finally understand why so many people love it! So I hope you enjoy this,
my first "Office" story!
"You're a jerk!" Pam yelled at her boss. But Michael Scott only laughed. In the chair beside him, Ryan sat, staring at the floor. There was no doubt that he was as
shocked as Jan.
"Come on, it was a joke!" Michael laughed.
"No one's laughing but you!" Pam retorted. She stood and walked out of the office, slamming the door behind her.
She was shaking with anger as she made her way to the bathroom and when she arrived she was grateful that it was empty. She stared in the mirror at her
reflection. She looked positively awful. And the weird thing is that inside she felt even worse. Michael Scott had a way of making people feel lower than pond
scum. In fact, Pam was sure that he took pleasure in it. She could have taken a job anywhere, but she chose Dunder Mifflin, clearly in a moment of pure
insanity.
When she'd calmed down some she splashed water onto her face and patted it dry with the paper towels that were as soft as sand paper. When it came to
making their employees happy, Dunder Mifflin was certainly at the bottom of the list. She took a deep breath, prepared to face whatever or whomever came her
way.
But when she returned to the office, she wasn't prepared to see him sitting at his desk. There was no way to avoid him, so she simply brushed the tears from
her face and feigned a smile.
"Hey, Jim."
He looked up and smiled. "What's going on?"
"Oh, nothing. Just heading out."
"Yeah, me too."
"I thought you were going out with-." She couldn't bring herself to say Roy's name, but in actuality she didn't have to.
"Nah, I'm just going to go home and watch some basketball."
Pam nodded. "Okay. Um, well… have a good night." But before she could take another step, she felt his hand on her arm.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
She turned away. She should have known he'd see right through her. "Nothing." She lied. "I'm fine. Just a headache."
She knew that he didn't believe her for a second. He was her best friend and he knew her too well; even better than she knew herself.
He took her chin in his hand and turned her to face him. "Headaches don't usually make people cry."
She sighed deeply. There was no use in lying to him.
"What happened?"
The office door opened and as soon as she made eye contact with her idiotic boss, she grimaced. Michael, however, laughed out loud and pointed at her from
across the room. "See you tomorrow, right Jan?"
Tears stung her eyes and she angrily brushed them away. "You're a jerk, Michael!" She shouted "I hate you!"
Jim held his hands up "Whoa, what was that all about?"
Ignoring him, Pam pushed her way past him and headed for the elevator, trying her best to block out the sound of his voice calling her name.
She didn't have to turn around to know that he was practically sprinting across the hallway. "Hey, wait up!"
The elevator took forever to arrive, no matter how hard she pushed the button and she could hear Michael yelling "Come on, it was a joke!"
Mercifully the elevator doors opened and she stepped inside. The sooner she could leave the better. But he was too quick for her and took his place beside her
just as the doors closed. She did her best to ignore the man standing beside her but it wasn't easy. Why did Jim have to be so handsome? And why were they
alone in the elevator, the absolute worst place to be?
"Look, I'm fine." She said. "You don't have to-."
He followed her into the lobby. "I'm not leaving till you tell me what happened. Is it Michael?"
When she didn't reply he sighed. "What did that jackass do?"
The tears started to fall. There was no use hiding it anymore. "Um, well, he called me into his office and said that he was going to have to let me go."
"For what?"
"Stealing post its!"
"Post its? Aren't those like fifty cents?"
"That's what I said! I've never stolen anything in my life! And then when he saw me crying he started laughing and said 'You've been X'd, punk!" What does that
even mean?"
Jim shook his head. "It means he's a bigger jackass than I thought! Wow!"
"Yeah, it was all a big joke! Can you believe that? I guess he wasn't expecting me to cry."
"I'm sorry. That was really lame of him."
She nodded. "I know."
In the lobby the silence fell between them, but then he touched her shoulder. "Come on."
"What?"
"Just come on, okay?"
She hesitated. "Why?"
"Don't you trust me?"
"Of course."
"Okay then."
She followed him across the street to the Starbucks. They walked inside and found a seat.
"What can I get you?"
"Jim, you don't have to."
"It's the least I can do. So what'll it be?"
"I'll have a mocha double espresso."
"Perfect I'll be right back."
True to his word he returned a few minutes later with two steaming paper cups emblazoned with the Starbucks logo and handed one to her. "For Maryanne. And
this one is for-." He read the name on the cup- "Monty. Wow, I guess that's me. We'll see if they at least got the order right.
Jan laughed and took a sip of her drink, wincing at the unexpected taste of a cinnamon mocha. "Oh, not at all."
"I'm sorry, I can-."
"No, don't worry about it. It's fine. What about yours?"
He took a sip. "Wow, that's about as far from a vanilla latte as you can get!"
Jan was laughing so hard she could hardly stop. How was it that this guy was so good at cheering her up?
"Well, thanks anyway." The warmth of the cup immediately warmed her soul. Or maybe it was the company.
They sat and enjoyed their drinks, laughing and talking about everything that had nothing to do with work and soon she'd forgotten all about her jackass boss.
"Do you want another drink?" Jim asked when their cups were empty.
"No thanks. I should probably get home."
"Right. Me too."
"I'm sorry you missed your basketball game."
"I'm not."
She could feel her cheeks warm. "Thanks."
"Well, I'll walk you back to your car."
"Okay."
When they reached the parking lot they stood facing one another.
"Look, don't worry about Michael. He's a big jerk."
"I know. I just… I don't know what I'll do if I lose my job."
"Hey, it'll be fine. I think you'll be working here for a long time."
Pam laughed. "Great."
"It is great. So are you better now?"
"Yes. Thank you so much."
The feeling of being pulled into a hug was so comforting that she leaned against him and closed her eyes. She wished she could stay in his arms forever.
"Well, I'll let you get home."
"Okay. Thank you… for the coffee."
"You're welcome. Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
She kissed him on the lips and then drew back in disbelief. "I-I need go to."
"Yeah…Goodnight."
As quickly as possible she climbed into her car and started the engine.
"I'll see you tomorrow!" he shouted through the window.
The same words that Michael had said. But coming from Jim they held an entirely different meaning.
Tomorrow…what a beautiful word it was.
THE END
