1Title: Pay Raise
Rating: PG-13 (just to be safe)
Ship: Jim/Pam (oneshot) FLUFF WARNING AHEAD, AND light Kelly/Ryan
Summery: When Pam goes to tell Roy great news, she arrives to a shocking sight and discovers where her heart really lies, and what her friends would do for her.
Genre: Romance/Drama/and some Humor near the end
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, places, or anything. sigh
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Pam Beesley stepped out of Michael's office with an unreadable expression on her face. Jim abandoned his sales work for a few seconds as he watched her come over to his desk, her hands shaking.
Michael had called her into his office a few minutes earlier, (with a joke at the end, as usual), and neither of the two had any idea why. Was she to be fired? A pay cut? Demoted? Or was Michael in need of a massage, or something?
Jim looked up at her from his chair. "So?"
Her voice was even higher then usual when she replied. "I'm...I'm..," She broke out into a grin, and then whispered, "I'm getting a major pay raise!"
Her friend smiled as well. "Pam, that's awesome! Now you can buy name brand candy for me to eat when I'm bored."
Pam laughed and rolled her eyes. "You'll just have to make due with the cheap mints, because I'm using that money to go on a cruise with Roy that we've been planning for two years."
"Oh, yes, the usual selfish Pam," Jim joked, after his smile dropped a notch, and he recovered quickly.
Pam gasped. "I better go tell Roy...oh, he'll be ecstatic!"
"Lunch isn't until the next Big Bang, so he'll be waiting awhile," replied Jim dryly, checking the time on his monitor.
Biting her lip, Pam leaned against his desk. There was a long silence and she made a decision.
"I'll go now. Roy's leaving for lunch today, and it'll only take ten minutes, tops," she said slowly, gazing at her reception desk. "And...Jim, could you answer the phone if anyone calls?"
"Well...," Jim replied, not very excited at the prospect, "okay, but you'd better hurry, or Michael will have a cow and a half."
Pam grabbed the sides of his face and quickly kissed the hair on the top of his head.
"Oh, Jim, you're a lifesaver!"
Jim waited until she had grabbed her coat and gone out the glass door before touching the spot where her lips had brushed against his sandy locks. He was smart enough to know that she was only being friendly, but couldn't fight back the embarrassed look that he gave to the rest of the room, who were staring at him in high interest.
30 MINUTES LATER
Michael had not emerged from his office yet, to Jim's relief. However, the salesman was feeling a built guilty rushing over to the reception desk whenever a phone rang, not to mention that he was worried about Pam.
She said it would only take ten minutes, and she had gone twenty minutes past her word. Jim wasn't worried when she was five minutes late, that was life, things happen. And even at ten minutes late, he was still pretty nonchalant. But there was no way Pam would be cutting work for half an hour to chase her lost husband around a warehouse. If she couldn't find him, she'd have just come back up to the office.
Maybe they took an early lunch to celebrate...maybe a breakfast or something? Jim thought to himself. He looked out the window to see if Roy's car was still in the parking lot, and indeed it was. Though, that wasn't the only thing he saw.
Near the entrance to the building, was Pam, her face in her hands and her shoulders rocking violently. She was quite obviously crying, but Jim was clueless as to why, and at the same time angry with Roy for not taking the time to comfort her.
He looked back in forth between his desk, and Pam's, which were both empty. Reluctantly grabbing his coat and giving a frustrated groan, Jim went out the door and down the elevator to the parking lot.
oooooooooo
Kevin, Angela, Kelly, and Ryan were all watching these events with strong amusement. They rushed to a window as they saw Jim go out the door, about half an hour after Pam, and they saw him go out into the parking lot. He approached the upset Pam, words were exchanged, and Pam buried her face into his shirt. Kelly let out a soft "Aw..." and leaned her head on Ryan's shoulder. The temp gulped.
"They're gonna do it in Jim's car. I give em' three minutes." Kevin said thickly behind them. Angela gave him a strict, but not very shocked, look and went back to her accounting.
oooooooooo
It was the longest elevator ride in the history of Jim's life. Floor by floor dinged by as he nervously tapped his fingers on the handicap rail. When the red number turned to P, and the doors opened, he had to resist running to her, for the second the elevator peeked open, he could see her weeping.
Well, more like sobbing.
When Jim reached her, her hands were soaked with saline, but to him, she still looked gorgeous amongst her tears.
"Pam, what happened? Is Roy hurt?" he softly asked.
She looked up and saw him. "Jim?"
He nodded, and she ran to him and flung her arms around his neck, her wet face leaving a slight imprint on his white dress shirt.
Automatically, he wrapped his arms around her. Jim was still assuming that something had happened to Roy, and that's why he wasn't out here. But between her racking shoulders and heavy sobs, Pam managed to choke out four words: He's cheating on me.
When Jim figured out her message, he mentally swore and held her tighter. He saw some of his co-workers staring at them from a window, but he was too consumed with wrath to care.
A few minutes later, Pam finally stopped crying and they sat down on a bench together.
"Who was he with?" Jim asked sensitively. The first woman that came to mind was Katy.
"I know who you're thinking," Pam hiccuped, giving a small smile, "but it wasn't her. I don't know who it was. But she really liked sticking her tongue down my fiancee's throat."
Jim clenched one of his fists so hard that his nails cut into his palm and a light trickle of blood rose up. He ignored it.
Pam didn't. She held his fist with both of her light hands, and his instantly relaxed. He was normally passive and friendly, but the hate in his eyes made her wonder if she was really holding the hand of Jim Halpert, rather then Adolf Hitler.
"Where is he?" Jim asked coldly.
She winced at the harshness in his tone, and grabbed his shoulders. "Stay here with me, please, Jim," she said quietly.
The frostiness in his eyes melted away as he wrapped her into another hug, and kissed her forehead. She didn't cry, but the despair she held was like a blatant weight in the atmosphere.
Roy was huge. Roy was strong. Roy was could also be very aggressive. But nothing was going to stop Jim from getting back at him for what he did to the best woman on the face of the Earth.
But he didn't want to let go of her, either. In fact, nothing could make him leave Pam, who needed comfort more then anything, to go off and beat the living crap out of Roy.
"I may as well kill myself, Roy was everything to me, and now I have almost nothing," Pam murmered into his chest.
Jim felt his heart tighten a bit, but put on a smile and looked down on her. "You've got me. You'll always have me Pam, no matter where you go or what happens."
It was in this truth that Jim realized how much he really loved her. He wasn't going to run from it anymore. There was no one to hide it from either, no Roy to screw up everything and crush his feelings day after day.
"Oh! I'm sorry, that's not what I meant, and I really do appreci-" Pam said and he cut her off.
"I know."
As Pam stared up in him in admiration, he was overwhelmed with the wanting to kiss her. It wasn't the first time he'd wanted to, but the need was almost out of control. He wanted to be with her so much it hurt.
"I know you want to murder Roy, but don't, that'll only make things worse," Pam sighed, and she let go of him. The heat from her body left an imprint on him, and when he released her, it felt like part of him was missing.
He couldn't help it. He caught her hand as she went to sit back down, and pulled her closer easily.
"You don't deserve this," he whispered.
oooooooooooooooo
"Oh! He's going to kiss her!" cried Kelly. She turned to Ryan. "Isn't this so romantic?"
Dwight had hastily walked over when she'd said this, and looked out the window in disgust.
"You couldn't pay me to watch Jim smooching someone. That's unprofessional and revolting. As Assistant Regional-,"
Kevin whipped him around. "Dwight? Shut up," he said bluntly, and stuck his face against the glass.
Dwight pushed his glasses up his nose.
oooooooooooooooo
"I...," Pam spoke absently, lost in Jim's brown eyes. Silence, she had learned from him, was the most simple form of love. The eyes said everything they wanted to get across, and right now, Jim's were begging her to fill the small gap left between them.
There was a foot difference in height between them, so leaning up to him was difficult. When he found out what she was attempting to do, he grabbed her waist and lifted her up, so her head was slightly higher then his. He gave his one-of-a-kind shrug, and kissed her.
ooooooooooooooo
Kelly sighed and cupped her hand to her mouth. Even Angela had gotten up from her rolling chair to see what was going on, and the sides of her lips twitched as though she was about to smile.
"Well it's about time!" retorted Kevin monotonously.
Ryan nodded. "I'm not into that whole soulmate thing, but there are just those people, that...it's like they're meant to be."
"Oooh, Tempy's getting all romantic on us," Dwight said, annoyed that everyone was too busy watching their coworkers confess the obvious, rather then do any real work.
"It's so cute, don't you ju-," Kelly began, but she took another look out the window and gasped. "Oh my God, guys! Watch!"
The others gazed out the window too. Kevin gave an "uh-oh" and Dwight "hmphed" in satisfaction.
"Oh look," he said. "It's our little friend named karma."
ooooooooooooooo
Pam discovered more passion in the first second of that kiss, then in any one between her and Roy. It was so deep, and meaningful, and told her everything that Jim had tried to for the last three years. Deep down, she knew that Jim had always loved her, but she always told herself that if he didn't come clean before time ran out, he didn't care enough anyway.
The problem with that idea, was that she had to convince herself not to develop those feelings too, which had been very hard.
The pair stayed in the kiss until they ran out of breath, and Jim set her down lightly on her feet. That's when they heard the worst possible thing behind them.
"What do you think you're doing Halpert!" exclaimed Roy furiously. "Get off my girl!"
Jim and Pam whipped their heads around to look at the hulking man who was quickly approaching them. Before Jim could stand in front of Pam, she had rushed forward, put both hands out to halt her ex-fiancee, and then backhanded him across the face.
Everyone who was looking out the window, Jim, and Roy all stood with their mouths opened, as Pam retreated a couple of steps and stared at him triumphantly.
"How dare you make accusations against us, when I saw you with your hands up another girl's shirt fifteen minutes ago?" she yelled. Jim beamed.
ooooooooooooooo
When the fight had started, Kelly, Kevin, and Ryan, all were rushing out of the office to fight off Roy. Dwight sat down with content across from Angela and gave her a smirk. By now, Michael had noticed the commotion and emerged from his office, only to shrug and go back in.
Kelly and Ryan were far ahead of the rest, and she was desperately pressing the button on the elevator.
"This is taking forever! By the time the elevator comes, Jim's gonna be made into a fur coat!" she cried.
Ryan scoffed. "Screw the elevator, I'm taking the stairs!" He pushed open the door that led to the grimy stairwell, and his girlfriend followed.
In the middle of the last flight, he tripped and rolled down the stairs.
"Ooof!"
Kelly ran to him frantically. "Ryan! Baby, are you okay!"
"I think I broke my pancreas. That's one of those pointless organs, right? Right?"
Before she could answer, Kevin ran by, picked up Ryan clumsily, and flung him over his shoulder like a sack.
"Never leave a dude behind," he announced grandly, and the trio headed through the door to the parking lot, with Ryan wondering how in the world he looked hanging off Kevin's shoulder, with Kevin trailing after.
oooooooooooooo
"What are you talking about?" said Roy, his voice wavering slightly, and his face turning pale.
"I caught you in the warehouse swapping spit with some blonde chick when I went to tell you that I got a raise," Pam replied bitterly. Roy swallowed.
"That ain't true, hon, you probably dozed off at work and had a bad dream, and he took advantage of you!" Roy gave a sharp look at Jim. "You know he's always trying to feel you up and steal you from me!"
Jim had to interpose. "She doesn't belong to you! She doesn't belong to anyone!" he roared. "Don't you see that all you've done is keep her on a short chain and tell her that you're protecting her? She can protect her own self, and she doesn't need any of your help!"
Roy brushed past Pam and shoved Jim. "What makes you think that she needs your help, paper boy?"
Jim thought he was going to be beaten within an inch of his life, when Kelly, Kevin, and someone on Kevin's shoulder came running across the parking lot to them. Kevin was yelling famous war cries, and Kelly took off her high heels and threw them in Roy's direction. Pam grabbed Jim's arm and pulled him out of the way while Roy was distracted by flying shoes.
Kevin set the man on his shoulder down, which turned out to be Ryan. The temp appeared to have a hurt leg, and he supported his weight on Kelly's shoulder. When he was free of Ryan, Kevin ran forward and body slammed Roy.
"Remember the Alamo!" he yelled.
Jim held Pam's hand tightly. "I thought you said that violence would only make things worse?"
She giggled. "Does this count as violence?"
He laughed. "I think we could pass this off as self-defense."
"Bite him, Kevin! Go for the ears," Ryan was saying, standing on one foot and looking more awkward then ever.
Roy, hearing this and not wanting to find out what Kevin's teeth on his face would feel like, ran to his car while digging the keys out of his pocket. He climbed in and locked the doors before the other man could reach him, and sped out of the parking lot.
Ryan slumped to the ground and gave a sigh of relief. As Jim was kissing Pam again, Kelly grabbed Ryan's face and pulled him into one too. Kevin felt left out, so he walked over to someone's Mercedes and hugged it.
Roy was fired the next day, for having sexual activities during work hours, as well as attacking two people. The others were let off on 'self-defense' but were warned to not let it happen again. All five were required to stay late the rest of the week for the time they had blown off, thanks to Dwight's request. Also, the office wouldn't pay the medical bills for Ryan's injured leg, either, which was sort of annoying, but a slap on the wrist was better then probation.
Kelly filed a complaint about elevator speed. It was never answered.
Pam still got her raise too, and not only appreciated the money, but how it had saved her from ruining her life. If she hadn't gotten it, she never would have caught Roy, and she would have married an unfaithful man.
The first thing she did with the money was buy Jim a big bag of York brand mints.
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Thanks for reading! I'm sorry that everyone was so out of character too, but I wanted a different approach to the Pam/Jim oneshot. I didn't want to write another "Pam decides to call off the wedding because she realizes she's in love with Jim" sort of stories...I love em' to death, but I haven't seen a story with Roy cheating on her, so...poof, I had an epiphany.
Anywhoo, read and review...PLEASE...and also, no outward flames please. I understand that NO STORY (including Harry Potter)is totally perfect, and constructive critisism is a great thing, but...flames are pointless.