Pam had to remind herself almost daily to keep her distance from Jim. She usually managed, but it was proving to get more difficult with every passing day. Like when they seemed to be on the verge of slipping back to their old bantering, right before the basketball game the office upstairs played against the guys from the warehouse. He had smiled and she had wanted to tease him about Roy being a better player, but she bit her lip and kept her eyes on her monitor, never in her life being this engrossed in a game of Minesweeper.

It was fortunate that Roy was scheduled for a delivery that day, meaning that he would be in this episode. That gave her a chance to take some distance from Jim and actually kiss her pretended fiancé, for Jim's sake but especially for the cameras'. Nothing to see here, guys, Pam thought triumphantly as she kissed Roy good luck. Just a regular couple doing regular couple things.

She was not blind though, and Jim happened to be a very good player, easy to look at. As the game developed, it became harder and harder to take her eyes off him and pretend she wasn't annoyed by Roy's fake displays of jealousy. At some point her eyes met a cameraman and she tried to remember if she had been looking at Jim just before. That would've been a treat for production and the last thing Pam wanted to do.

After the game, Roy offered her a ride home, but this time she made some excuses. She felt her temples throw and she'd rather take an overpriced taxi than listening to hip-hop. Because of the game, and all the wasting of time Michael had done before, she had some actual work to do, so she let some time pass, making copies and almost enjoying having the quiet office all for herself. Funny how she had somehow grown fond of the place, plain and sad as it was.

When she finally came out, about one hour later, she was starting to feel better.

"Hey, can you hold it?"

Pam stopped in the hallway, her hand on the door of the elevator. One of the boom operators was walking towards her, a backpack on his shoulder.

"Hey, Brian," she said, a little disappointed that her little bubble of solitude had burst.

"Doing late hours, Pam?"

She shrugged, as he let her step first into the elevator.

"Funny how sometimes I have to do some real job around here," she said, realising that this was one of those rare situations in which she didn't have to keep facades of any kind.

He chuckled. "Well, I've seen you trying to fix Michael's…" he struggled for a moment to find a suitable word, "faux passes. More than once."

"Well," she shrugged again, but she was secretly feeling a little proud. Being a receptionist was not hard, but having to deal with Michael required a lot of diplomacy and Pam was willing to believe she was starting to anticipate some of his reactions. "I can't lose my job, now, can't I? Neither of them."

He nodded as the elevator reached the ground floor.

Pam took out her phone to get her taxi and Brian looked at her with interest. "Do you want a lift?"

She considered him for a moment, but she was tired and she didn't really want to stay there on her own, waiting for the taxi.

"Sure," she finally nodded.

Both started walking outside. The documentary crowd had to park in a nearby parking lot, so it was a bit of a walk, but she didn't mind. She could use some fresh air.

"Crazy that basketball game, huh?" Brian said after a moment.

Pam shrugged. She had a lot to say about it, but she was not sure about Brian. He was part of the production team, even if just the boom operator. After the Jim incident of last week she was ready to believe everybody from the network was trying to trick her into doing or saying stuff they could use later for an episode. "Not crazier than other stuff happening in that office." She finally said, noncommittally.

"True that." Brian nodded. After a short silence, he added, "you know, at first I thought Michael was one of you."

"One of whom?" Pam asked, a little scared.

"You know. An actor. A bad actor," he added quickly, noticing Pam's expression.

She snorted. "No actor would do that kind of stuff. Never."

"Well, no human being in their right mind, really," Brian said. "And yet, he exists."

Pam chuckled in agreement. "He's worse since you guys came here but he wasn't very sane before."

"I can only imagine."

"I do wonder how come nobody has filed a real complaint. If I wasn't doing this other stuff I would."

"I believe you."

They walked in silence for a moment.

"How much do you know about production?" Pam asked. Maybe it could work the other way around, and she could get some information from him.

"Not much. I'm a local boy, hired for this specific task." He said, and after a moment he spoke again. "At first I believed they were crazy for wanting to film this as a documentary, but it is good money and I am having fun watching you guys. It's great not to have to make dozens of takes of the same thing and just go with what happens."

He seemed to be sincere. After a moment in silence, they reached the satellite parking lot and Brian pointed at a small black car. Pam climbed in, praying for silent radios, but when he joined her, he didn't even turn on the engine.

"So Pam…" he started slowly.

"What?"

"So…" he scratched his bearded chin thoughtfully. "I'm trying to remember the rules here and I don't know…"

"What rules?" She asked, with a casual hand gesture destined to make sure she wasn't wearing her mic, just in case.

"Are we allowed to have a drink? Together? I mean, if you want to."

She thought about him for a moment. So far he had been just the guy holding the mic over her head, in plain black t-shirts and a Mickey Mouse wrist watch. A friendly wave when she came early for directions or messages from production. A passing comment like the ones he would exchange with everyone in the office. But he was far nicer than Roy, and being with him didn't require her to act. Plus, she could really use a drink.

"I'd like that, yeah," she finally said.

She also liked his smile, she admitted to herself, as he turned on the engine.

oooooo

They would meet, twice or three times a week, in bars located across town. Brian had actually mapped the other employees' houses to prevent them from bumping into any of them. Or anybody from production, just in case.

It was annoying, but Pam had to admit it was also fun, in a cloak and dagger kind of way.

And it made it much easier to keep herself distant from Jim, not just physically but especially in her mind. Brian was a nice guy and even though she still missed her interactions with Jim and his witty sense of humour, the boom operator kept her distracted enough.

Two weeks after the basketball game, he kissed her in a dark corner of a very loud bar in Wilkes-Barre. For a brief moment, she enjoyed it. It was a very good alternative to Roy's half-hearted sloppy pecks, but Pam knew she had to stop him.

"What?" Brian asked with a sly smile and Pam dragged him outside by the hand.

As soon as they exited, he pulled her against him and kissed her again. This time it was much difficult to resist, but Pam managed.

"This is definitely against the rules," Pam said, almost in a gasp.

"It is if they find us," Brian retorted.

"What if they do?" Pam insisted, trying to marshall reasons why this could be very wrong. "I don't wanna lose this job."

"They won't." He replied, "and I honestly don't think you would lose it for this. We might get a slap on the wrist and that's that. Hey, the network might even enjoy the scandal!"

"You don't know that," Pam said, even though she had to admit he might have a point.

He smiled, still, even though he looked a little bit rejected. "Maybe I do."

Pam bit her lip, and looked at his friendly brown eyes.

"Why would you want to kiss me anyway?" She asked after a moment.

"You crazy?" He snorted, making a point of looking at her up and down. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Well… you know nothing can come from this, right?"

He frowned a little. "Pam, wait a minute. You're overthinking. I just think we have a great time together and I also think we can make it better. Don't you?" He took his hands, softly this time, and it felt nice.

"I do but…" she sightled. "Doesn't it bother you? The fact that we have to hide? That I have to kiss another guy? That you get to see me doing that?" A sudden thought hit her. "Wait, you're not into that, are you?"

Brian chuckled. "A threesome with you and Roy? No thanks."

Pam laughed, nervously.

"I don't like it, looking at you guys kiss, but it's your job. And mine. And you"ve talked about it. About Roy. I don't feel there's something I should worry about there. And about the rest of it… well, we're hiding anyway. We could keep on doing it," he got closer, and dropped one of her hands to cup her cheek. "Only, let's make it more interesting."

At this Pam ran out of arguments, so she kissed him back, trying to just focus on his lips and his hands, and forget all about her job and the people in it.

Two days later, the purse girl arrived. She was an actress all right, Pam was willing to bet her month's salary. Nobody had told her anything but she just knew, from the way Katy (if that was her real name) would move, wave her hair and stand in front of the camera in a too casual way. Even her awkward looks in front of Michael seemed to be well-rehearsed.

They actually chatted a bit, Pam and her, and even though she didn't say it, Pam had no doubt.

And she was hot. She didn't need Michael or Kevin's terrible comments to notice that this Katy person was not just randomly hot. She was a hotter version of her, Pam. Which felt too much of a coincidence.

At lunch Roy decided to join them, and he even said aloud that he could hit that girl "if I wasn't dating Pam." Her suspicious brain shifted gears and less than a second later Pam, the actress, was giving a snappy retort and even making an almost dramatic exit. That part had been fun. Maybe this new girl would spice things up a bit.

But as the day passed, Pam's suspicions seemed to be confirmed by the awkward and hilarious interactions between her, Michael and Dwight. The latter even bought a purse for his personal use, and Pam could imagine the whole scene playing on TV and being just hilarious.

It was funny and cringey at the same time, and for a wild second her eyes and Jim's met, and she felt they were sharing one of those moments that had become rarer since her impromptu visit to New York. It stopped all of a sudden, because Roy lingered at her desk, apologizing and making plans, and the next thing Pam saw, out of the corner of her eyes, was Jim resolutely standing up from his desk and walking towards the purse girl.

Needless to say, he succeeded where Michael and Dwight had failed.

She shouldn't care. She shouldn't even pay attention, but she couldn't help it.

As Pam watched Jim help Katy into his car at the end of the day, while she was leaving with Roy, she made up her mind. Her text was brief and friendly. Was Brian up to meet for drinks later?

Is it ok if we meet at my place? He asked.

Her answer was quick. Yeah. Send me the address.

They barely drank half-a-glass of wine on his couch before he started kissing her, eagerly. When Brian's hands ventured under her top for the first time, she drowned every thought she had had during the day and didn't even consider making excuses.

It was only as they collapsed naked and breathless in his bed that she finally understood.

Katy was not just an actress, and she had not been placed there just to prompt Michael and Dwight. She had been designed to be Jim's new love interest.