Disclaimer: I don't own the Office or any office for that matter.
A/N: Okay people, fast update. I was kinda of busy. Packing up Christmas decorations and trying to get back in the swing of things. Going back to school, waking up before noon, eating dinner before midnight. The usual. Hope you like this chapter. It was a hard chapter to write. You have to read to find out why. Thanks to those who have been reviewing, and to those who haven't, get your act together. I want reviews, please?
9:12 pm
Michael and Paul stopped in front of a small house. A few lights were still on, but the glow of the house was dim. Michael looked around the neighborhood and noticed that there were other small houses similar to the one he was standing in front of.
Michael took his helmet, "Okay… so… where are we?"
Paul took his off as well, "Oh, we're still in Scranton."
Michael looked at the small house again, "So… this is…"
Paul nodded, "Yep, this is the house of Pam Beesly. Well… she's not exactly Pam Beesly anymore."
Michael turned around, "What? What do you mean –?
Paul beckoned Michael to follow, "Let's find out." Michael and Paul walked up to the house and walked through the brick wall, which led them into the kitchen.
Michael looked around the kitchen, noticing nothing that remotely reminded him of Pam, "It's really… clean."
Paul nodded, "Yeah, it is … that." Paul looked around the kitchen and noticed a list on the refrigerator, "Hey look, a shopping list."
Michael shrugged, "So what?"
Paul budded his head toward the list, "Oh, I think you might be interested. Look."
Michael walked across the room and read the list:
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Milk
Potato chips for lunch
Turkey slices for lunch
Pork chops for Roy's game party
More hamburger meat for Roy's game party
Beer for Roy
Beer for me
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Michael stepped away from the refrigerator, "Roy? But… Pam…. she –
Paul shook his head, "Nope. She and Roy are together. They never separated."
Michael yelled, "But what about –
At that moment, Roy came into the kitchen. He looked similar to the way he looked when him and Pam were engaged. Michael looked on with awe as Roy opened up the fridge, "Hey, we're out of beer!"
Pam shouted from a different part of the house, "I know. I wrote it on the list on the fridge."
Roy slammed the fridge, "But how am I supposed to watch the last of the game without my beer."
Pam's voice was louder as she came closer to the kitchen, "I don't know." She came around the corner, "Maybe with your eyes. They seem to be doing the job just fine up 'til now." She smirked and showed him the list on the fridge. "I was going to go to the store after work."
Michael looked at Pam, who seemed more reserved than she did recently. She had her hair pull back in a clip, with some hair hanging down in the front and back. She was wearing flannel pajamas and long wool socks. She had some bags under her eyes and seemed distressed. Michael looked into her eyes and saw pain and regret, as if she hadn't truly smiled in years. "She looks different."
Paul nodded, "She is different."
Pam yawned, "It's late. It's after ten and we have to leave for work early tomorrow.
Roy smacked his lips, "C'mon Pammy, there's three minutes left of the game."
Pam shrugged, "Fine. I'll be in bed." She yawned again, this time with her left hand, showing off her engagement ring and her wedding ring. "G'night."
As Pam walked back to her bedroom, Michael turned to Paul, "She's married?"
Paul nodded, "Yep, she married him."
Michael looked confused, "But she canceled it, because she loves Jim."
Paul shook his head, "No, she doesn't."
Michael yelled, "Yes she does. She called off her wedding for him and now they're together. They love each other. They're happy. She and Roy –
"Are married." Paul beckoned Michael to follow Roy into the living room.
Roy was watching the game Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers. He was sitting on the edge of seat, "C'mon, man. Get in the game! Don't let Chicago win. Get in there!" As the Bears scored another touchdown, he threw an empty bag of chips at the television. "Dammit!"
Paul shook his head, "You see, Michael, Roy and Pam got married about two years ago. Roy proposed to Pam in a Burger King parking lot in a rainstorm and he set the date about three years later in the bathroom, shaving. They married and moved into this home where Roy still works for Dunder Mifflin in the warehouse and Pam still works as the receptionist. They've lived together as man and wife with a simple comfort. Roy has only truly been with Pam. He loves her as much as he knows how and feels he has something special with Pam. He knows she loves him and knows she's the woman he'll be with for the rest of his life, and he's okay with that."
Michael looked over at Roy and nodded, "I always thought he never appreciated her."
"Did I ever say he did?" Paul shook his head, "He's confidant that Pam will never leave him because he thinks she couldn't find any better than him. In his mind, no one would want to be with her. He doesn't realize that he was lucky to find a woman like her. He doesn't cherish what he has with her. He expects it to be that way because he feels that Pam is lucky to have him in his life, not the other way around."
Michael looked in the direction of Pam, "How does she feel?"
Paul beckoned Michael, "Let's find out." They walked to the back of the house, where there was a room with light shining out of a crack with the door slightly closed. Paul and Michael walked through the wall and saw Pam. She was sitting in bed with a photo album in her lap. She was looking through the pages, shaking her head. "God, that wedding was horrible. It rained the entire ceremony." She chuckled a bit and suddenly turned sullen.
Michael felt uncomfortable, "I don't think we should be in here. This feels… weird."
Paul shook his head, "You wanted to see how you affected Pam's life. I never said that this was going to be easy. You have to see it to fully appreciate your place in this world, Michael. This is your non-life."
While Paul was yelling at Michael, they both didn't realize that Pam was crying. She was blowing her nose on a Kleenex. "Pull yourself together, Beesly. Suck it up." She wipes her eyes, "This is your life. He's your husband… who never touches you." She sniffed some more, wiping away a stray tear. She inhaled sharply, "You gotta pull yourself the fuck together. Be strong, Pam. Be strong." She exhaled slowly, but choking on a lump in her throat, starting a new stream of tears flowing from her eyes. "I'm tired of being strong. 'Pam, be strong.' 'Pam, be brave.'" She quivered from the crying, "I just want someone to lean on. Someone to hold me. Not be some slave to some asshole." She sniffed and shrugged, "I guess that's too much to ask." She put the photo album back on the nightstand and wiped her face, "Pull it together, Beesly. Breathe. Just Breathe." She laid down on her pillow and tried to calm herself down.
Paul shook his head, "Poor thing. Stuck in a loveless marriage, never truly knowing happiness. Never truly knowing love."
Michael sat next to her on the bed, being unnoticed by Pam. "But I don't understand. She and Jim were perfect for each other. They just… clicked. I don't understand." He tried to touch her, but remember that he couldn't. "I want to make her happy."
Paul shrugged, "I'm afraid that's not your job. She's married and she made her own choices. These are the consequences she has to live with."
Michael objected, "But if I were around, they'd be together."
Paul shrugged, "Maybe so." He was turning around when the phone rang.
Pam sprang up, "Hello, Dunder Mifflin, this is … um…. I mean… hello?" She rolled her eyes at her silly mistake. She smiled slightly, "Hi, Kelly." She nodded, "Yeah, he's watching the game." She nodded and chuckled, "Yeah… okay… maybe… oh, Kelly, I don't know… Dancing? Roy hates dancing…. I don't know, maybe…. What does Ryan think? … Maybe…. I gotta go… See ya tomorrow… Bye." She hung up the phone and shook her head, "Dancing… with Roy? Please. I'm more likely to get ran over by a train than go dancing with Roy Anderson." She shook her head again and turned off the light.
Michael looked over at Paul, "Kelly's with Ryan? I thought –
Paul shrugged, "I'm afraid so. You wanna go see them?"
Michael shrugged "I don't know. What happened to Jim?"
Paul nodded, "I think we can see him after Kelly and Ryan. I promise, it's along he way."
Michael looked over at Pam one last time, "This isn't right. She deserves to be happy. She doesn't deserve this pain."
Paul agreed, "No one does." He turned and walked through the wall.
Michael followed, not before waving goodbye to Pam, "I'll make sure you never shed another tear, I promise." He walked through the wall and walked over to Paul's motorcycle, putting on his helmet. "So, where we going now?"
Paul fastened his buckle on his helmet, "I thought we take a little detour and check out some other employees before seeing Jim."
Michael looked confused, "Why?"
Paul shrugged, "Well… Jim doesn't exactly live close."
Michael shrugged, "Okay, let's hit the road."
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More to come. Michael visits a few more employees of Dunder Mifflin before seeing Jim. I hope you liked this chapter and how I conveyed Roy and Pam's marriage. I also hope that I made Pam's fight with herself believable. Please let me know.
And on with the usual plea…REVIEW!!!!