-1Disclaimer: I don't own The Office, only NBC does. )
Notes: My second story, but this one is on The Office. It's based after the Season 3 finale. This is a Jim/Pam fiction.
All reviews and constructive criticism are welcome, except for flaming. Please don't flame, it's not necessary.
"Speech"
Italics are messages
Summary: Based right after Jim asks Pam out on a date. Jim and Pam finally get to go out together, but is it what they've always wanted? JAM.
Smelling the Roses : Chapter 2
Pam rose the next morning, before her alarm clock could start beeping, smiling at how rested she felt. She remembered the night before very clearly. How concerned he was when she accidentally started staring off, how cute he was whenever he bumped his hand against her own…and especially, how good his hands and lips felt on her.
She giggled a little, deciding to finally get up out of her comfy bed, which she was convinced was the only good thing in her apartment. She felt herself skip slightly to the bathroom, brushing her teeth and showering. She used her favorite shampoo and conditioner, strawberry splash and her trusty vanilla soap. She almost thought about leaving her hair down but chose not to, not desiring certain comments that would come from Michael.
After finishing up in the bathroom, she went to her dresser and picked out what she thought was a nicer outfit than usual, consisting of the low-cut magenta colored top she got online shopping with Kelly. This time though, she wore a tank top under it, hoping to attract less attention that way.
Pam ate her breakfast quickly, feeling excited for work for the first time in a while. Traffic could have been worse, but she soon arrived at the building. She saw the cameramen waiting out there for her, asking her how she was this morning…the usual questions.
"You know, I feel pretty good today. I'm in a good mood." She said brightly.
"Why do you feel this way?" They asked curiously.
"Well…I just do." Pam replied with a smirk on her face, obviously holding the truth back. With that, she left the cameramen hanging as she walked into the office…having an extra stride in her step.
She paused before opening the door, wondering how obvious it was that she was in a wonderful mood today. She shrugged, opening the door and walking to the desk that she had been coming to for the past few years. Pam halted though, for she saw a lovely bouquet of flowers on top her desk that she didn't see at first. Surprised, she approached it, marveling at the softness of the pink and white lilies. She had never gotten lilies before.
Her moment with the flowers was soon cut off by Kelly with Phyllis in toe, obviously curious. Pam saw Angela roll her eyes and continue working while Kelly interrogated her, or at least it felt like it. Phyllis was busy awing the flowers.
"Oh-my-god! Those are so, so pretty! Pam, you look like a model, seriously. So…" as she leaned closer with a grin on her face, "who're they from?" She asked, practically on her knees, begging. Phyllis joined in soon after, "Who's the lucky guy Pam? He's sweet to give lilies, not the typical man." Pam laughed a little and figured she'd try the clueless card.
"I don't know…I haven't been on a date, well…since that artist for the paper. I guess I must have an admirer." She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth because now, Kelly was bouncing around like a kid who had too much pop rocks, at the thought of a secret admirer.
"Secret admirer! So cute! This is just like in the movie where…-" Kelly was stopped by Michael sliding to her desk.
"Hello Pah - Pammy! Arr.. Oh! Flowers…Mm, so Pam got busy. How was that? Pam is a tiger…Who's the dude?" He rudely asked while twiddling his fingers around in the air.
Pam was slightly relieved because she didn't want to hear Kelly drabble on about another romance movie, but really…She did not want to deal with this either.
"Michael. Could you not ask those kind of questions? It's really rude. It's none of your business though." She felt herself snap slightly. She didn't mean to say it like that, but she could not deal with all the attention she was getting and what kind of questions were getting asked. The only person she wanted to see was…
There he was, strolling into the office from the kitchen area. He walked in running his hand through his recently-cut hair as he made his way to his desk in a gray suit with a brown tint to it. She smiled, and he automatically seemed to find her gaze and smiled back. She forget what she was angry about.
She turned to apologize to Michael but he was all ready back in his office, playing with the phone cord. Phyllis looked around and walked closer to her, while whispering, "You can tell me, you know that, right? I'll keep a secret." She smiled at Pam, followed by returning to her desk.
Pam thought it was tempting to tell Phyllis. She was a sweetheart and probably a great secret keeper, but she'd talk to Jim first. It might be fun to keep their relationship a secret until someone found out. Though, at Jim's Christmas party, Phyllis had thought Jim and her were a couple when she asked if there were any secret office romances. She turned to her side, Kelly was completely absorbed in writing down a list of people she probably thought were Pam's secret admirers.
"So…Kelly, having fun?" Leaning over her shoulder, trying to grab a peak at the list. She bit her lip in surprise at seeing Ryan on the list, and Jim!
"Yes! I really need to figure this out Pam! I've been feeling so down in the dumps since Ryan broke up with me…he…" Pam cringed, expecting Kelly to cry or yell, so she changed the subject.
"Who do you think it is?" Pam asked, wanting to hear what Kelly was speculating. "Well, I was thinking of Kevin, Toby, Oscar or maybe even Jim…though you guys are friends." She grinned, satisfied with her guesses.
"Oscar, why? Isn't he…you know…" Pam began but Kelly stopped her, "I heard he might be switching over, or is trying to. Just imagine, you and Oscar would be so cute." She said with a giggle.
Pam sighed quietly, she really wanted to hangout with Jim…She couldn't help but miss him all ready. When Kelly looked back down at her list, Pam sneaked a look over at him. He seemed to know she was staring at him so he twirled his chair to face her desk. The corner of his mouth turned up, his eyes twinkling with something she could not name. A big smile formed across her face.
"Who do you think?" Arching her dark eyebrow up, she inadvertently drew Pam's gaze from Jim's hypnotizing one.
"Hmm…Kelly, you know…it could be anyone. Maybe it's Ryan." A gasp flew from her mouth, as she ran back to her desk…probably for the phone. Pam felt bad for sending her off like that, but she didn't feel like talking with Kelly all day.
She let out a breath of relief, finally being able to look back at the gorgeous flowers. She placed the pot between her hands carefully, and moved it so it was right next to her computer monitor. It fit perfectly. While shifting the flowers, she noticed a white spec poking out of the dirt. Looking around briefly, she pried it out. It was a small envelope with her name on it. She pressed her lips together, a little anxious to see what was inside. Tearing it open, quietly of course, she pulled out a simple card with a beach setting on the front. She read it, a small smile adorning her features.
Dear Pam,
I had a great time with you last night. Too bad Dwight wasn't at Chili's, huh? Anyway, I just…I love spending time with you Pam…You're a wonderful person. I think you're the main reason that I'm glad that I applied for this boring job.
As a token of my…appreciation (Wow, how cheesy am I right now?) I picked out these lilies for you. Now you're picturing me lost in a flower place, asking for help. I picked pink and white for a reason, just to let you know…Incase you were wondering. Maybe I'll tell you, if you ask nice enough. Now, I'm going on and on…so I'm going to shut up now. Thanks for being a great date, and I hope you enjoy the flowers.
Sincerely,
Jim
She bit her lip to suppress the laugh that would have left her mouth, picturing him in a flower store. Though, she did feel awe's drift into her head at all the sweet things he said.
It was getting close to lunch time so Pam casually headed toward the fridge, tapping Jim on the back quickly. She saw Jim stretch in his chair first, then get up slowly, like she did and proceeded to follow her. As soon as he closed the door, she spoke.
"Thank you… the flowers, they're…perfect, they're beautiful." She took out a small coffee cup. She liked to have a little coffee jolt in the afternoon.
"You deserve them. Besides, beautiful flowers for a…-" Jim didn't get to finish as Kevin entered the room, immediately talking about how hungry he was.
"I have an awesome sandwich guys, I've been dying to eat this…all day, all day." He stresses awesome and all day, all the while maintaining the same tone of voice.
Jim smiled at her and she gave him one back, having a good guess as to what he was going to say. She turned to the fridge, trying to hide the warmth she felt on her cheeks.
"Yah man? What kind?" Jim asked, the now drooling man.
"It's barbeque pork…I decided to have a subway one. I heard it's really, really good." He said in the middle of opening the sandwich wrapping.
"Mm, sounds good. Enjoy, and tell me how it is. I'm going to have my usual." Pam smirked, deciding it was time to tease and she felt her cheeks cool down more. Jim was such an easy target sometimes.
"Oh yeah, that intense ham and cheese sandwich Halpert." He turned to her, an eyebrow raised with a smirk on his face.
"Is that smack-talk Beesly? I'll have you know that my ham and cheese's are king." She laughed, a beautiful sound.
Everyone else soon joined the area. Angela practically ripping her paper bag from the fridge and walking out. Creed kept his lunch bag in one of his drawers, which everybody grossed at over when they found that fact out. Dwight took his what was believed to be his Battle Star Gallactica lunch box and exited as well. Pretty soon, mostly everyone was sitting at tables.
"Someone heard, right? You know, the person who got Jan's job?" Phyllis asked while stirring up her salad.
"I heard she got fired for continued misconduct." Oscar piped in, then taking a bite from his pasta. Pam looked over at Jim, he had a little grin on his face. Her and Jim had often made jokes about Michael probably causing Jan to go loopy. They didn't think it would be so soon.
"All I know is that I didn't get it, I don't think Karen did either." Jim added to the conversation.
"I don't know and I don't care, long as they can do something." Stanley muttered while working on a crossword puzzle and munching on a bagel. Pam turned her gaze back to Jim, asking him who he thought.
"I was considering Dwight, but I think he'd be afraid to leave Michael." He replied, causing a horrified expression to cross their faces.
Michael then barges in, canceling their conversation and throwing away his chicken noodle thingamajig.
"WUZ up? Everybody chill, homies? Ha, so what's everybody talking about? Hot people…Now that is a conversation. Who wants to go first?" They all let out a sigh as soon as he finished.
"Who got Jan's job?" Oscar bravely asks, the whole office looking at their boss.
"I heard she lost it…" Jim says, a smirk hidden on his face…clearly expecting a certain response from the older man.
"That's what she said! Um…" He pauses to gather himself then continues, "That was inappropriate Jim. Oscar, everybody…I'm not able to talk about this until everything has been signed." He bit his lip in nervousness, a tell sign of him hiding the truth.
"Please Michael, tell us." Pam asked cutely.
"After lunch! The conference room!" He yelled dramatically before taking his leave, most likely going to inform the others.
"This is ridiculous." Phyllis whispered under her breath.
Lunch wrapped up, the room slowly dispersing back to their desks, all silently hoping that Michael forgot about the meeting in the conference room. Pam and Jim remained, both feeling as though they couldn't talk because they kept getting interrupted.
"When's our second date going to be?" Pam asked boldly, while talking a breath and putting some things away. She was trying to be more honest.
"Second date, huh? Glad I'm not the only anxious one." He said smiling.
Pam honestly could never get sick of his smile. It lit up his face completely, no matter how small it was and his eyes always sparkled. His eyes…they were such a nice shade of green, and very expressive. He had told her once that when he was little, he could never get away with anything because his eyes told the truth.
"I don't know, anywhere or anytime is fine for me." She knew she sounded difficult but she had no idea of where to go.
"Hmm, How about my house at six. Dinner. That ok?" With that she turned around, almost floored by the strength in his voice. He stared at her, seriousness and a touch of something else in his depths. She tucked a strand of honey brown hair behind her ear and nodded, not being able to speak at the moment. She quickly changed that.
"Yes, that's…good, That sounds really ok." She couldn't tear her gaze away from his, she felt as though his deep green eyes were penetrating right through hers. That is until Dwight came charging in, throwing his lunchbox in the corner, telling them about the meeting and storming out.
Pam couldn't resist laughing and soon, Jim followed suit. A few tears came to her eyes as she laughed, not knowing why she was laughing so hard.
"Wow, he threw that with such…distaste. Poor lunchbox, why?" Jim said as soon as he calmed.
"I don't think I want to know…" She paused, searching for the right words. "What should…I mean, how should I dress tonight?" He was at the door when she asked. He pulled his grasp away from the door handle and turned back to her.
"Something nice, but don't worry about going overboard or anything. Just wear what you feel like wearing. This is my place we are talking about here." He laughed at the last part, before nodding to her and leaving the room.
Sure enough, it was Ryan who got the job. The meeting didn't last long, due to the fact that Michael started crying, and pretended like he wasn't before going to his office. Dwight, of course, followed him like he was Michael's shadow. Everyone filed out, ready to go back to work. The day seemed to pass like watching water boil but luckily Jim was there to help speed things up. It was about five o'clock when Michael told everyone to head home, and then a mad dash for the door began. Pam took her time, there was no use rushing. It was funny to see Stanley always make it out first, followed shortly by Creed.
Once again, just Jim and Pam left. He was waiting for her to finish cleaning up. She grabbed her flower pot and proceeded out with Jim by her side. He opened the doors for her, which gave her a smile every time. Then they were outside, near their cars. He helped her put the flowers in the back of her car, pausing afterward.
He was right there, she could smell his cologne. She edged up on her tip- toes, planting a small kiss on his lips before winking at him and getting into her car. He smiled at her, his eyes transfixed on her. She suddenly felt her cheeks warm again so she ducked her head down to check her purse as an excuse.
"Remember Beesly, I expect you at six sharp."
"What if I don't? You going to send the dogs?" A smirk clearly on her face.
"Oh, you don't want to know." She giggled, causing him to laugh. He closed her car door, then waved to her as she drove off. As she got closer to her apartment, she couldn't help but think of how lucky she was to have been given a chance with him.