Pam arrived 5 minutes earlier. Even though the network assured her they had taken care of all possible applicants to the receptionist job, so that she'd be the best candidate, she wanted to give a genuine good first impression.
And she wanted to check out the place where she would spend so much time in the following months.
In her mind she had pictured one of those modern open offices, with glass partitions and steel looking tables, and maybe a nice view to go along with it. The moment she got to the parking lot, she realized she needed to lower her expectations, dramatically.
The hall was small, and smelled like instant soup, and the elevator cracked unnervingly. Maybe she'd get stuck and what a great first impression would that make.
But she made it to the assigned floor, and was greeted by a very boring sign saying "Dunder Mifflin Inc.". Whoever designed it didn't really put a lot of effort.
The inside of the office was worse. Much worse.
Pam had the impression of being taken back to the 80s, to her mother's work where bored secretaries would type all day long on loud metal typewriters. This was more or less the same, minus the typewriters. Bored people sitting in brown, boring, badly lit work stations, staring at their monitors or mumbling on the phone. Even the furniture seemed to be in desperate need of an update.
She could hardly believe someone in the network would even consider a location like this would make good TV.
"May I help you?" the soon-to-be ex-receptionist stopped her train of thought, barely sparing a cold smile.
"Yes… uhm… I'm Pam Beesly. I'm here for Mich-"
"Yeah, I know. Take a seat."
Pam did as she was told, on a very old couch that sunk a couple of inches. The receptionist pressed a couple of keys on the phone on her desk and mumbled something barely audible. Now that she had to wait, Pam started studying the people working at the boring furnished desks.
The first two seats were empty, but a little bit further into the office, two people, a woman and a man, were speaking on the phone. To the other side of the reception there was a partition that, she imagined, hid more employees.
Two closed doors and walls full with posters and certificates held them all trapped. No windows. Barely any real colors.
And suddenly the door on the left opened and a man in a suit, with generous amounts of hair gel, exited from what looked like a bigger and better furnished office.
"Hello, hello, hello. Who do we have here?" he said genially.
Inside Pam's mind a voice yelled 'action'.
"Good morning," she said, standing up. "My name is Pamela Beesly-"
"Of course, come on in, don't be shy," and he walked back into the office, beaconing her with his hand. Pam caught a glimpse of the receptionist rolling her eyes.
The office was large, with much comfortable looking chairs and a window. Before Pam could take much more, the man introduced himself as Michael Scott and starting asking questions about previous jobs and education.
The network had provided a very detailed and very fake résumé and Pam added a couple of details to her character. Since nobody was really supervising her at the time, she supposed it wouldn't matter. And even if it did, the person in front of her seemed much more interested in talking than in listening to her answers.
"So," Michael Scott finally said, glancing at a typed paper over her desk Pam supposed had the standard questions he was supposed to ask to any new employee. "Why would you say you'd be good at this job?"
"Well," Pam pretended to consider her well-rehearsed answer. "I like people; I like to help people, Mr. Scott. And I am a fast learner."
"Yeah," Michael said thoughtfully. "Women tend to be better for helping and serving, right?" Pam refrained from raising an incredulous eyebrow but just barely. Misogynistic much?. "And please, call me Michael."
"I suppose so, Michael," she said meekly. This is not the time to get sassy, Pam.
"Are you married?"
Again she considered protesting Wasn't that an illegal question for a job interview?
"Engaged," she said, forcing her voice to a sweet, almost shy tone. "My fiancé's name is Roy. He makes deliveries for the warehouse." She looked at the cheap ring on her hand trying to seem fond of it.
"Is that so?" her potential new boss looked a little disappointed. "The new guy?"
"He started two months ago," Pam nodded trying to sound proud. "As a matter of fact, he's the one who told me about this job opening," she said in a would-be conspiratorial tone.
"Well… I like to think about Dunder Mifflin as my family, you know? So, to have a family inside my family is like a dream come true!"
Pam smiled, while in her head she was praying this man wouldn't be as creepy as he seemed, "that sounds really nice." At least there would be the camera crew to protect her… she supposed.
Michael looked thoughtful to the ceiling and Pam had the impression his mind was miles away.
"Well," he finally said. "We will be in touch as soon as we reach our decision."
Pam nodded and stood up. "Thanks for the opportunity."
"No, no, thank you!"
She opened the door and went out, to see that the two empty chairs were now occupied by two men. One frowned at her through his glasses. The second one, much younger, smiled and raised his eyebrows.
Yeah, she finally understood what the assistant producer meant when he told her about them being boring. She couldn't, for the life of her, imagine someone would willingly watch these people during their everyday interactions.
There was another Pilot that would never see the light. At least she would get paid.
Pam knew her hiring was arranged, but that didn't stop the feeling of small victory when she received Michel Scott's call two days later. She was going to start next Monday. So, that interview, which she saw as the second part of her audition, had gone well.
During the weekend she knew she would have better relax and enjoy her last days of freedom, but instead she closeted in her apartment, working notes on this new Pam, based on the general information the network had given her.
They had agreed they needed her to be as close as her usual self as possible, but there were things she needed to consider. Her engagement with Roy, long time high school boyfriend, with whom she was supposedly sharing a house. Her secret dream of becoming a painter. Her dropping out of college.
This was the first time she got to work on a character so deeply, and she realized she was enjoying it. She was starting to like this new Pam, shy and timid, and she wished the writers got her to find a little bit of a voice. To accomplish something other than being a receptionist.
She smiled to herself. Maybe she could make it happen, little by little.