I hadn't revisited this in a while, so I thought I'd pick it up and take the next chapter on a small detour just to explore what people are thinking. There is a museum opening in the near future, so don't worry.
Jim pulled the van up in front of the house where Karen had parked her Miata in the driveway. He put it into park and slammed his foot down hard on the emergency brake.
"You trying to put your foot through the floor," Ryan said to him.
Karen recruited Ryan to help her move into her new apartment by asking him right in front of Kelly who gladly answered for him that he'd be more than happy to help a lady out. Karen was no fool, and neither was Kelly, who now had a pretty sure idea of her man's whereabouts for a good four or five hours on a Saturday.
"No, man, I just don't want this truck rolling down the street with all my girlfriend's belongings in the back," Jim said. "The E-brake's a little sticky."
"So that's still going on, huh?" Ryan said as he let himself out of the van.
"What was that?" Jim asked, but Ryan had already closed the door and was heading to the back to open up the rear compartment.
"So what's still going on? Me and Karen?" he asked Ryan once he reached the back of the rental truck. "Why do you ask?"
Ryan just looked at him a little confused and smiled.
"No reason," he said. "I just figured that now that you were back here in Scranton for what looks like the long term, well, you know?"
"No, I don't know," Jim said, obviously annoyed.
"You two just going to hang around and chat all day or are you going to move some furniture," Karen said, popping her head around from the other side of the van. "I've got some moving to do, and I'm not paying you to lollygag."
"You're not paying us," Ryan said without the tone that would suggest he was joking.
"Don't you worry, Howard," Karen said. "The sooner you get done here the sooner you can be back in the arms of your lady love."
She was good at knowing which of people's buttons to push, Jim thought. That's what made her a good saleswoman. She was always sure of herself, but not in a cocky way. She just never seemed to waste much time thinking about what she wanted. She knew and she went for it, even if it seemed a gamble. Well, he was gambling too, now, gambling that helping her move into an apartment two blocks from his wouldn't cramp he ever-evolving lifestyle too much. They'd been dating five weeks. They'd met his mom for lunch Wilkes-Barre two weeks before, but other than that neither had even met the other's family. And besides his roommate Mark, they hadn't even hung out with his friends at all. Now they were practically living together, no matter how much sense Pam had made when she argued otherwise.
Pam. She was right there with the right advice at the right time. It was weird how that had worked out. He'd thought she would have been hesitant to help him with his relationship. Since he'd returned he'd thought he'd picked up signs from her that she was feeling something she wasn't quite saying, feeling something about him. He'd caught her staring at him and Karen at least three times, and each time she'd tried to play it off. And for all her fancy new clothes and art classes, she never seemed that happy. He could tell that kind of thing about her. She even seemed to have reverted to her less-than fancy old clothes lately, too. Something was going on there, but judging by her willingness to help him iron things out with Karen, it probably had little to do with him.
He hoisted the end of a sofa loveseat and waited for Ryan to get a grip on the other end before backing it out of the van and carrying it across the lawn to the door.
"That baby converts into a daybed, so be careful which way you tip it," Karen said. "You don't want it converting on you on the stairs."
"You know the Scranton Yellow Pages list 14 different moving companies, and that doesn't include the dozens of man-with-van listings in the Scranton Pennysaver," Ryan observed.
"What a fun fact," Karen said. "You should save that for your next cocktail party."
She was prepared to go toe-to-toe with Ryan all day long. Kelly told her he wouldn't be in a good move. Kelly also said it would do him good to do something nice for someone else once in a while. The two women had had a long heart-to-heart girl talk almost as soon as Karen arrived in Scranton. Kelly understood well Ryan's reservations about their relationship. She also knew he was indecisive and insecure and wasn't really good at knowing a good thing when he saw it. He loved her more than he would even admit to himself sometimes, she knew. It was why she put up with him. At first Karen thought Kelly was the insecure one who need to grow up a little. After they'd talked a while, she realized Kelly knew what she was doing. And Karen had come to appreciate the way people – especially Ryan – underestimated Kelly's confidence and intelligence.
She wished she'd had such a good handle on her other new co-workers, Jim in particular. He could be so kind and funny and reassuring. He had the makings of a great manager with none of the cut-throat tendencies of a Josh or even an Andy. And he was so damn fine to look at, she thought. But there was a distance there. At first she thought maybe he was just the dark, brooding type. She realized that wasn't the case within a month of getting to know him. She'd since attributed it to his being in a new city with a new job and not knowing a soul. He'd come around a bit during his time in Stamford and revealed a different side of himself. He liked to play practical jokes, and he wasn't above helping out a co-worker in need. And he never took himself too seriously. That was when she started to fall hard for him. She thought the feelings were reciprocal until the branch closing was announced and he told her she should look for a job in New York. But he'd had a change of heart and urged her to come with him to Scranton. She knew he felt the same way. And they had a great thing going now, even if he had acted so weird about her moving into his neighborhood. There was that distance again that she didn't get.
Pam got it, though, she thought. Thank God for Pam, Karen thought. They were about the same age, and they had a lot in common even if Pam didn't seem to have a clue what she was doing with her career. That was an area Karen was determined to help her with. It was the least she could do to offer some professional pointers after Pam had helped her with Jim's sudden case of cold feet.
Karen wondered what it was Pam had said to Jim. Whatever it was, he'd had a complete change of heart from that morning. She wished she could get through to him so easily. But they'd only been together for a few weeks. Pam and Jim had worked together for years. They were probably friends, not that Jim ever mentioned her or anything. Just like a guy. Pam was probably this great friend to him, and he didn't even realize she existed. Well that was probably a good thing for her, Karen thought. If Jim had given Pam a second thought, they might have been an item. As it was, Halpert was hers now, and she'd get past his defenses and make him open up to her sooner or later. For now, she had an apartment to set up and a couple of movers who were slacking outside.