AN: Hey guys! Thanks so much for all your reviews! I'm glad yall are liking the story. Well, without further ado, on the Ch. 3...

Disclaimer: I don't own The Office….

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Pam glanced at the clock for the hundredth time, sighed, then returned her attention to the book in her hands. Or at least tried to. She had reread the same page eight times already, and still wasn't sure what had happened. She found she couldn't focus.

Roy wasn't home yet.

After dropping her off at home after work, he left to go have a few beers with "the guys." Six hours later and he still hadn't returned though.

Pam knew she should be concerned for Roy, worried that the reason he hadn't come home yet was because he was hurt or injured, laying in a hospital bed somewhere. But she wasn't. Or at least not that kind of worried.

No, her worry was that he was going to come home drunk. Really, really drunk. And a drunk Roy did not mean good things for Pam.

Roy was an angry drunk.

She considered slipping off to bed and pretending to be asleep when he finally came home, but decided against that remembering past experiences. He would only be more upset that she hadn't waited up for him. Last time he had dragged her out of bed and dropped her on the floor, where he slapped her around a few times before roughly "making love to her" as he called it.

Pam shivered just thinking about it. No, she definitely didn't want to have a repeat of that night again.

A few minutes later she heard scraping on the door, as Roy tried to fit the key into the lock, a good indication he was very drunk.

Pam set her book down and stood, preparing herself for whatever was to come. She was ready to be as accommodating as possible. Anything to keep him calm.

But she was not prepared for this.

Roy stormed through the door once he finally got it open, then slammed it shut behind him.

Pam visible flinched at the sound. This was not good.

Roy turned toward Pam, scowling, this eyes blazing in anger.

Pam took a step back. She had never seen him this livid before.

"Pam."

He had spit out her name, as if it was something disgusting.

Pam's mind reeled, trying to figure out what she could have done to set him off like this, but came up with nothing new. She hadn't even really talked to Jim the last few days.

Roy took slow, even steps in her direction. Pam was amazed at his ability to walk straight. She was positive he was drunk, yet he didn't show any signs of swaying or being clumsy. She could only guess that his anger prevailed over all that.

"How…how were the guys?" Pam asked pleasantly, trying to keep the fear out of her voice.

Uh-oh. It looked like she had asked the wrong question.

"The guys? Well, the guys were just great," Roy slurred in a cold tone as he continued to approach Pam. "In fact, they gave me some pretty good advice."

Pam backed up slowly as he advanced, and gasped when her back hit the wall.

"Oh, really?" She questioned softly. Anything those guys had to say was probably not good for her. Pam had to be around them every once in a while, and they were not exactly moral or respectable characters. Frankly, they were assholes. It's no wonder all of them were still single….

Roy stepped up to Pam and slammed his hands on either side of her head, effectively trapping her between him and the wall.

Pam raised her eyes to look at Roy, then wished she hadn't. He had never looked so…so menacing before.

He leaned forward until his lips were next to her left ear.

"They said….they said you must be cheating on me."

Pam's eyes widened as he said those words, and had opened her mouth to adamantly deny it when he struck her so hard she flew sideways to the ground.

She held her throbbing cheek with one hand, while pushing herself up with the other.

Roy stood over her, glaring down, hands on his hips.

"They said that you needed to be punished."

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An hour later Roy had finally passed out on the couch.

Pam laid on the floor for who knows how long, before she was able to muster the strength to pull herself up with the coffee table and stagger to the bathroom.

Once inside, she locked the door, then slid down it to collapse in a heap on the tile floor. She laid a bruised cheek against it, the cool tile helping to soothe the hurt there.

And then she cried.

Her body shook with each gut-wrenching sob, as she released all the hurt and pain Roy had so happily bestowed upon her.

It had never been this bad before. Not even close.

For the last hour Roy had slapped her. Punched her. Kicked her. Thrown her into walls. He'd even taken off his belt and beat her with that, leaving huge, painful welts on her back and legs.

And the worse part was that he had grinned. The bastard had actually grinned while inflicting pain on her.

As her crying slowly came to a stop, Pam felt empty. Completely, hopelessly empty.

Here she was, sprawled on the bathroom floor, covered in bruises and blood that her boyfriend, the man who was suppose to love and take care of her, had given her.

And Pam wanted out.

As she slowly slipped into unconsciousness, her last thought was a silent plea for someone to give her the strength to leave.

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Pam jerked awake at the pounding on the door.

She slowly tried to pull herself to a sitting position, ignoring Roy yelling her name through the bathroom door, and let out a groan at the movement.

Her entire body throbbed.

She leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths.

Just go away.

As if he had heard her request, the pounding stopped, and with a few muttered curse words, she heard Roy step away from the door. A few seconds after that, she heard the front door slam as he left.

Pam slowly opened her eyes to look at the clock on the bathroom sink.

She was going to be late for work.

Leaning forward, she grasped the counter and slowly pulled herself up, wincing at the pain that movement caused.

Pam raised her eyes to look in the mirror, and gasped in horror.

She didn't recognize herself.

The entire left side of her face was an array of yellow, purple and blue bruises.

Her bottom lip was swollen, and dried blood was crusted from one corner of her mouth to her chin. She had another cut on the right side of her forehead. Finger marks were visible around her neck, from when Roy had held her against the wall and choked her last night.

She didn't even want to see what the rest of her body looked like.

Pam maneuvered over to the bathtub, closed the drain and turned on the hot water.

She smiled faintly at thinking how good a bath would feel.

But first things first.

Pam stood, and grasping onto the counter again, made her way toward the phone in the kitchen.

It was time to call in sick.

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Thanks so much for reading, let me know what ya thought! I know Jim wasn't in this chapter, but don't worry, he'll be making an important appearance in the next one...hint hint. Anyways, thanks again and have a great day!!

Until next time,

Western