"PPPAAAAAMMMMM!"
"Oh my god."
"PPPPAAAAAAAAMMMMMMM!"
"I think that's Michael. I think he's hurt."
"PPPPPPPPPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMM!"
You have got to be freaking kidding me.
It was Michael. Under a large tree, only ten feet away, Michael was on the ground crying wildly for Pam. Pam rushed off the bridge immediately to go to his side. I followed, reluctantly, cursing my luck and hoping that this wasn't some sort of sign. When we reached him, Michael was rocking back and forth, resting his weight on his arms, with his legs sprawled out in front of him. There were scattered leaves everywhere and a giant, broken tree branch behind him. As far as I could tell, with the exception of a few, shallow scrapes on his arms, Michael looked fine, but by the loudness of his voice, one would think that he was dying.
I didn't notice Kelly run up until she started speaking. "Oh my god, Michael, I can't believe you did that." She came close to Michael, hunching over to inspect any injuries he might have. "I told you I would be right back, why didn't you wait until I returned? Does it hurt? That looked like it would hurt. Don't worry. We'll do something. We'll get medical help."
"Ithurtsithurtsithurtsithurts," Michael chanted.
"Kelly, what happened?" I asked only mildly concerned. I was still a little upset at myself for the missed opportunity on the bridge.
Kelly began to talk so fast that she was barely understandable. "Michael and I went to find Jan. He wanted to do something even more romantic then the song, although the song was totally romantic. It would have been even more romantic had it not been a country song. Seriously, why a country song? Is that all that Michael had in his car? I can't see Jan liking country, she seems more like a soft mid-80's rock type of girl, which would have been totally awesome to see…"
"Kelly, you aren't telling me anything," I interjected.
Pam squatted next to Michael and placed an arm around his shoulders, "Michael, tell us what happened? Where does it hurt?"
"I hurt my leg, I hurt my leg, I hurt my leg," He repeated through cries.
"Is it broken? Where does it hurt?" She was rubbing his back gently, trying to clam him down, but he was still whimpering.
"Yes, it's shattered into a million pieces," He said dramatically.
"I don't think it's shattered in a million pieces, Michael," I said coming closer to inspect the leg. As far as I could tell, there was no blood or sign of outward injury, but he still could have broken it.
"You don't know, you are not a doctor."
"Michael, how did you hurt your leg?" Pam asked concerned.
"Oh, he totally fell out of the tree," Kelly responded quickly.
"He fell out of a tree," I repeated a little in awe.
"I was climbing the tree and branch snapped and I came crashing down," He explained. My eyebrows rose as I pictured the scene. "I landed on one leg and it snapped and now it's broken. I'm going to be paralyzed."
"I don't think you're going to be paralyzed," I said, noticing that he was moving his lower half just fine.
"Well, why were you in a tree, Michael?" Pam asked as if talking to a child.
"I needed to find Jan. So, I thought if I could get to a higher place I could see her." Michael cried.
"So, you fell out of a tree trying to locate your girlfriend?" I said, thinking it was remarkable that this man was able to function on his own.
"Yes, is that so hard to believe," Michael snapped back.
"Um, yeah a little bit," I answered. "You didn't think to just walk around?"
"Oh, we looked everywhere," Kelly added. "And we couldn't find her, so Michael thought the best thing to do was be at a higher elevation so he decided he should climb the tree. I told him he should because the tree near the pavilion had bigger branches, plus it's next to the pavilion where everyone is, so it'd be a better spot. I wanted to go inspect the trees at the north end, but Michael insisted that it'd be this tree, even though the branch totally split when he put his weight on it. And I don't know why he was calling out for Pam when I was just twenty feet away."
Michael's cries began to drown out Kelly's chattering. "Maybe we should carry him," Pam suggested, a little at a loss over what to do.
"I don't think we can move him," I said, trying to keep calm. "If it is broken, we don't want to move it."
"It's broken, it's definitely broken," Michael insisted.
Michael was beginning to attract attention from other people at the festival, including Ryan who just happened to be walking by. "What's going on?" he asked us, though he seemed more concerned with the stares of strangers than he did with Michael. "I could hear Michael screaming from across the park."
"Oh, Ryan, I'm glad you're here," Michael said, throwing out a hand in an attempt to grab him. Ryan made sure he kept his distance. "I broke my leg and you have to carry me to the medical tent. I need to be carried to the medical tent."
"Michael, I'm not carrying you anywhere," Ryan said, now looking at though he wished he had kept on walking.
"Can you walk?" Pam asked. "We need to get you some help, but if you can walk on one leg, we could get you over to the medical tent."
"I can't walk, Pam, it's shattered. My leg is shattered and there's blood everywhere." Michael complained, completely over-exaggerating the situation. At this point, I was hard pressed to believe he had even broken it. "Will you carry me?" He asked Pam. "If Ryan won't carry you will you carry me?"
"I can't carry you Michael," Pam said. "You're going to have to try and walk or else stay here while we get help."
"I can't walk, I can't do anything," Michael wailed. "Get Oscar. Oscar can carry me."
"Oscar went back to the museum," Ryan informed much to Michael's dislike.
"Here, I've got an idea," I said. While it was against my better judgment, I had Ryan get on the other side of Michael and together we lifted him up. He was able to stand, though crying about the pain, and put all of his weight on me, almost causing me to topple over. Ryan pulled Michael towards him, nearly causing Ryan to tip over. Pam ran over to steady him. "Let's just get him over to the medical tent. The sooner he gets help the better for all of us."
Michael made the trip across the park to the medical tent as difficult as possible. His right leg was the one that pained him, but he neglected to sustain any weight on his left leg, so Ryan and I had to support all of his weight and he was much heavier than I anticipated. Pam did what she could, directing us towards the correct tent. Kelly tried to be soothing to Michael, but while she tried to calm him down, she consistently got in front of us blocking our path. Ryan would scream at her to get out of the way, which would often have the opposite effect. When we spotted the medical tent, Pam physically moved Kelly out of the way so that we could race Michael in.
Inside the tent lay a single white cot. Ryan and I brought him over to the cot and dropped him on it. My arms were about to give out and I assume so were Ryan's after carrying him all that way. We both knew that Michael probably was hurt, but after all the squirming around Michael had done, it felt good to just let go.
A woman with red hair and a white coat, presumably the on call paramedic, came over to Michael's side. "What happened?" she asked immediately, while beginning to inspect him.
Michael only let out a moan, so I answered for him. "He fell out of a tree and supposedly hurt his leg."
"Not supposedly," Michael yelled. "It's broken. It hurts so much."
"Well, let's check it out," The redheaded woman said, gently pushing up Michael's pant leg to examine. "I'm Dana and I'm going to take care of you."
"Oh good," Michael said, for the first time sounding a little relieved. "These guys just wanted to leave me there. I was going to die."
"Die, huh?" Dana asked, nice enough to appease him. "Well, they got you here just fine, didn't they…"
"Michael," Michael said, "I'm Michael Scott. I work for the museum and I fell out of a tree and broke my leg."
"Ok, Michael, let's see how bad it is," Dana said kindly. Kelly, Pam, Ryan, and I were crowded around Michael as she did her examination. "As far as I can tell your leg is going to be fine. There are a few minor scrapes here," she pointed to them. "And you might have a minor sprain in your ankle. We can wrap it up and get some ice on it and you'll be just fine. How about I get you some medicine to help the pain?"
"No, I don't need medicine," Michael complained. "I need my foot to heal."
"Please," Ryan begged, "give him some medicine."
"Well, let's get that ankle wrapped, alright?" Dana took off his shoe and sock then went over to the table that held the medical supplies.
While Dana searched for a bandage, Michael waved Pam to come forward. "Pam, I have to talk to you."
Pam gave the rest of us a strange look and went to stand by Michael's side. "What is it?" she asked.
"Come closer," Michael waved at her again. She bent down to reach his eye level. "I need you to go find Jan."
"Michael, I don't know where she is," Pam informed him. "I went to the location of the staff meeting and no one was there. She might have taken Christian back to the museum for their talk."
"No, she'd never leave me," Michael said seriously. "But if I'm going to die here…"
"Michael, you're not going to die," I said rolling my eyes.
"Just- ssshhh…" He waved an annoyed hand at me. "Look, you have to find her and bring her here. She has to know about my condition."
"Michael…" Pam started.
"Just go find her and take Kelly with you," he pleaded. Dana came over and gave him a pack of ice to use while she began to wrap his foot. "I know you don't want to and you think you have so many other things to do, but you know I would do it for you. If you ever fell down a well or something and broke your neck, I would be there for you."
"Fine," Pam gave in, rubbing her forehead. Pam didn't want to find Jan at all, but Michael's persistence eventually wore her down. "Come on Kelly, let's go find Jan." She shot me an apologetic look before she left the tent. Kelly trailed after her, complaining about having to leave.
"Michael, are you sure you don't want any medication?" Dana asked. "You should be fine in a few hours, but it must hurt a bit."
"No, I'll be fine," He assured her. "Your love and tenderness will heal my foot."
"Ah, that's sweet," she responded. "But I really do insist."
"You know, I might have an idea," Ryan said deep in thought. "I will be right back."
"Ryan, can you get me some magazines or something?" Michael called after him, but Ryan had already left the tent. "And some chicken. I want all dark meat chicken."
"I don't think he can hear you," I said. I was very aware that I was the only one left though I had no desire to stick around to pamper Michael.
Dana finished wrapping Michael's ankle, "Looks like you're all set." She said patting his leg lightly. "I suggest you stay here for a little bit, keep the pressure off the leg." There was a tiny beeping sound and Dana checked her pager. "I have to take this, if you don't mind watching him for a minute."
"Sure," I gave a little sigh and grabbed one of the folding chairs that rested against the side of the tent. I didn't intend to stay, but Michael did need someone to watch out for him and I figured it was the least I could do.
* * *
Twenty minutes passed and it remained Michael and I. Dana had yet to return neither had Pam or Kelly. I had hoped that Jan would magically appear so I could leave, but the more I wished for it the less likely it became. Ryan came in for a moment holding a chocolate pudding cup; already open, which he gave to Michael. Michael ate it greedily, like a child, but yelled at Ryan for not getting chicken or magazines. Ryan claimed he would get right on that, but he hadn't been back since. If I had to guess, I'd say there was some sort of medication ground up in that pudding, because not long after Ryan left, Michael complained less about his leg, though, unfortunately, more about everything else.
I never thought taking care of a grown man could prove to be so difficult. Michael complained about everything, from the temperature in the tent to ridiculous ideas for new business ventures. I gave him another pillow and tried to get him to rest, but he was far too antsy to sit still and I believed that nothing short of tying him up would do the trick.
When I wasn't trying to make Michael more comfortable, I sat in the little chair, ignoring Michael's whining, and thought about the moment on the bridge. I really felt like an idiot for not taking my chance, but the more I thought about it the more I wondered if it was better that I hadn't asked. Maybe there was a reason Michael fell from that tree at that moment. Pam and I could just be friends, couldn't we? I got a sinking feeling in my gut that that would be a difficult path to follow. I decided I should just leave it for the moment and let events play out, figuring some answer would present itself. I leaned back in my chair and shut my eyes in an attempt to get a little peace of mind.
"Jim!" Of course, Michael would never let me have that.
"Yup," I said reluctantly pulling myself out of the chair and coming to his side.
"My ice pack, it's melting, I need more ice." He took the blue bag off his ankle and handed it to me.
"Alright, hold on," I said. I put the pack on the table and began to search around for something that could possibly hold ice. I came up empty handed. "I'll have to go to another tent or something," I explained to Michael. "There isn't any ice here."
"No, no," Michael stated quickly.
"Why? Is there something wrong?" I asked.
Michael attempted to sit up, but didn't get very far. The medicine was kicking in and he was becoming drowsy. "No, I don't think so. My leg is feeling better. But I feel tired."
"Then you should stay lying down," I recommended.
"Where's Ryan at? Why isn't he back with the chicken?" he asked, but I didn't have an answer for him. "I know it doesn't take that long to get chicken. There is an excellent restaurant across the street that sells it."
"Do you want me to go look for him?" I asked.
"No, don't go, Jim," Michael pleaded. "I know I've only known you for a day, but you seem like a good guy and I don't want to be alone."
"Alright," I complied. Instead of sitting down, I began to pace back and forth, deep in thought. I couldn't get Pam out of my head and I kept replaying the moment on the bridge over and over, each time having an infinitely better ending than Michael falling out a tree.
Michael began to doze, occasionally waking up with a start. I tried to get him to fall asleep, thinking I could sneak away while he was out, but he seemed to be an incredibly light sleeper.
"Why do you keep doing that?" He asked. His eyes were half shut, but they followed me across the room.
"I just feel like walking," I replied.
"Your walking is making my leg hurt," he complained.
"No, it's not," I replied simply.
"We're friends now," he said, turning on his side to face me. "You can tell me what's bothering you."
"Nothing's bothering me," I assured him.
"Then why are you pacing?"
"Because it's been forty minutes and not a single person has been in this tent," I replied quietly.
"That's not true, Ryan came back," Michael reminded me.
"Michael, why don't you try to sleep," I suggested. "I promise if you do, you'll feel better."
Michael let out a moan, "Oh, I can't sleep. Jim, I think I messed up with Jan bad. I think I lost her forever, Jim." He began to cry and I stopped pacing to stand by his cot. "I just want to work things out with Jan," He said between sobs.
I squatted and patted Michael on the back, "I know you do." As much as Michael had annoyed me today, I couldn't help but feel bad that the guy just couldn't seem to get it right. I let him cry on my shoulder, hoping the outpouring of emotion might finally exhaust him.
But a moment later, Dana finally arrived back in the tent. "How's my favorite patient?" She asked, going directly to his ankle to check it out. "Are you ok? Would you like some medicine?"
"Uh, I think he already has had some," I said, picking up the empty pudding container and throwing it to a nearby trashcan.
Dana nodded, understanding as she unwrapped the bandage. "Well, it looks fine, what happened to the ice pack?"
"Oh, there wasn't any more ice," I explained, pointing to the table where the empty blue bag lay untouched.
"I can go get him some more," She said as she rewrapped his ankle. "Thank you for staying with him. I have an emergency that needs taken care at the north end of the park. All he really needs is some rest and to stay off that ankle."
"I've got it," I assured her, though I wasn't thrilled about the idea of staying here longer.
"Alright, Michael," she said patting his leg lightly. "I think you're going to be fine."
"Are you sure," he was still a little whiney.
"I'm sure," she responded with a smile.
"Dana, I just have one question."
"What's that?"
"Do you always where that coat?" He asked, "or do you have a short little white skirt and hat that slutty nurses sometimes wear?"
"Yeah, that's not appropriate," I said under my breath. It amazed me that just when I thought I had sympathy for him, Michael ruins it by doing something inappropriate.
Dana didn't seem too off put. "Just this uniform," she informed him.
"Hey Dana," Michael cried again, "You wouldn't hurt me right? My girlfriend hurt me. She ripped my heart right out and that's why I climbed that tree. If we were dating, you wouldn't hurt me like that right?"
Dana gave him a smile, "Get some rest Michael." She said before she exited the tent.
"I like her," Michael said.
"I know," I said, pushing on Michael's shoulders. "But now it's time to get some sleep.
"If I wasn't dating Jan, I would go for her," He continued. "Not only is she hot, but she heals people. What is more wonderful than that?"
"Hmmm, not much," I said, trying to get him to lie down.
"Why don't you go for her?" he asked suddenly.
"No, I think I'm alright," I said.
"What, are you gay?" Michael asked with a giggle.
I rolled my eyes, "No."
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
"No."
"Is it because of Pam?" Michael said out of nowhere.
"What?" I asked, genuinely shocked that he would ask that.
"I saw the way you were looking at her earlier," Michael said with an unusual amount of perception. I wondered what exactly Ryan put in that pudding. "Do you like her?"
"What, no," I scoffed, my cheeks turned red, completely betraying my feelings.
"It's ok, it can be a secret between the two of us," Michael said excitedly.
"I don't have any idea what you're talking about," I said shaking my head, trying to play it cool.
"You can tell me if you like her, it's not like I have anyone to tell," Michael goaded. "Would you really be this defensive if you didn't?"
I blinked a couple of times, amazed at the words flowing from this clueless man. "I, um," I took a deep breath. I couldn't hold it in any longer and even if it was Michael, a questionable confidant at best, I had to let someone know how much I felt for Pam. "I know I've only known her for, like, a day, but I- she's just wonderful, Michael."
"I know, she is very hot," Michael commented, "She's got nice boobs, nice legs…"
"No, that's not what-," I shook my head. While I couldn't argue his point, I wanted to make clear that Pam's physical attributes weren't the only things I liked about her. "She's a wonderful person, Michael. She's sweet and kind and warm-" I stopped, engulfed in my own thoughts. "And she has a great sense of humor."
Michael jeered, "Oh please, I've known her for years. She does not have a good sense of humor." Somehow, I wasn't surprised to hear Michael say that.
"Yeah, well, your judgment is debatable," I muttered. "You did climb a tree to find a girl."
"Well, if you like her so much, you should just tell her," Michael advised in a strangely calm and normal voice.
"I don't even know if she's interested," I said honestly.
"How are you going to know if you don't try?" Michael asked and for a moment, I thought I saw a little bit of wisdom in his eyes.
"Huh," I said, thinking that Michael might actually have a point.
"Don't give up," Michael continued, "Step up and be a man. That's what I did with Jan."
"Sure you did," I said, Michael missing my sarcasm.
"Hey," it was Pam who had just entered the tent; she tapped me on the shoulder, which had made me jump. "How is he?"
"I'm fine, Pam," Michael said, not wanting to be ignored. "Where's Jan? Did you find her? Did you tell her what I did?"
"Michael, I don't know where she is," Pam said, kneeling beside me to console Michael. "Kelly and I looked everywhere. Kelly's still looking, but I came to tell you that I don't think she's here right now."
Michael didn't seem too upset by this information. Instead, he glanced over at me and raised his eyebrows a few times. "I think now's the time," he whispered.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, letting out a nervous laugh. I certainly wasn't going to do anything with Pam in front of Michael."
Michael sat up, "Come on Jim, do it."
"What's he talking about?" Pam asked curiously.
"Nothing, he's delusional," I said, pushing him back down, "and he needs rest."
"I don't need rest," Michael said, struggling to get up again. "You're being stupid if you don't just tell her."
"Tell me what?" Pam eyed me suspiciously.
"He thinks you're hot," Michael blurted with a giggle. "And he's too scared to tell you."
"Michael!" I said, embarrassed that Michael would break confidentially and act so childishly. I would have said more, but I was too anxious to hear her reaction to say anything else.
"Oh, right," She said rolling her eyes. She didn't believe him. "He probably thinks you're hot too."
"No really, he told me…"
"Hey, I thought those drugs were kicking in." I said, pushing him back down again. "Really, Michael you need to rest."
"I didn't have any drugs," Michael argued.
"Yeah, you did, now just lie down and think of happy things.
I said. "Hey, you haven't complained about your leg in a bit. You must be feeling better."
"Yeah, I am feeling better," Michael said closing his eyes. "I think am sleepy, too."
"Yup," I said, thankful that Michael was finally winding down. Michael curled up on his side, with his eyes shut. Pam and I waited a few minutes until we heard snoring to conclude that he had actually fallen asleep.
"We should probably move," I suggested. "He's a light sleeper, though he seems to be out now." We went to the edge tent opening, keeping an eye on Michael. His breathing was slow and rhythmic and he looked peaceful asleep.
"Yeah, I couldn't find Jan," Pam explained. "But even if I did, I'm not sure she would come."
"That's a shame," I said. "He seems to truly care for her."
Pam gave me shrug, "Michael's always been a little desperate and Jan- I wouldn't say it's the best match."
Pam and I stared at each other for a moment. "Hey Pam, uh, about what Michael said earlier…"
"You know what," Pam cut in. "He makes things up all the time. He's an instigator, so you don't need to apologize or anything."
"No, actually," I was having a hard time getting out the words. "Michael didn't entirely make it up, I mean, when we first met-"
"Yeah, I understand," she cut in again. "But, I'd like to think we're friends now, so it's, like, no big deal. And really, who hasn't thought that about a friend like that every once in a while."
"Yeah," my heart sank. Was friendship all she wanted? Had I misread something somewhere? "Um, yeah, I guess you're right and I've noticed Michael blows things out of proportion anyway, so-"
Neither of us spoke for a moment. I debated telling her the truth, but if all she wanted was to be friends, then I didn't want to ruin that, even if it was a struggle for me.
"So, is this awkward now or something?" She seemed unsure as she spoke.
"Oh yeah, can't you feel the tension," I said, trying to make light of the situation to hide what I really felt. "Actually, I think everyone that I interview is hot. I have a very specific screening system."
She gave me a friendly smile, "So, we're cool."
"We're cool," I returned her smile. "And Pam, I do think we're friends, so really, it's no big deal."
She nodded, though her smile faded into a frown and she turned away. Before I could determine what she was thinking Kelly and Ryan returned to the tent.
"We couldn't find her," Kelly announced they came to our side.
Pam raised her eyebrows, "We?"
Ryan gave a smirk as he peeked into the tent to see Michael still asleep, "Oh, looks likes my experiment worked."
* * *
"So, I need to get the pavilion ready for the speaker," Pam said to us. Michael still slept soundly and none of us wanted to disrupt him. "Um, Ryan, Kelly can one of you guys help me set up the chairs."
"I can help too, if you need me," I offered.
"Jim, you don't have to do that," Pam said.
Kelly had another suggestion, "Why doesn't Jim just interview me for the paper and you and Ryan can go set up chairs."
"You just want to get out of doing work," Ryan accused. "You take any excuse not to help out…"
"Oh, like you helped with the basket weaving," Kelly shot back.
"Look, who ever wants to do an interview is fine by me," I said, not really wanting to hear the two of them fight again.
"Fine, I'm doing it," Kelly said definitively.
"Actually, I'd like to do it," Ryan said, "I'm the one that has a master's degree in art history and you haven't even finished your bachelor's. Who do you think is more qualified to talk about art?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, who is the intern for the museum?" Kelly taunted, "That would be me. And, wait, I forgot what you do. Oh, that's right, you work in the gift shop. So, who do you think is more qualified? Yeah, I'm doing the interview."
Pam rolled her eyes, "Ryan, will you please help me? Kelly can do the interview. Believe me, it will get done faster that way."
Ryan let out a sigh, but complied anyway. We all headed out to the pavilion. Ryan and Pam began to clear the tables from the basket weaving as Kelly and I took a seat at a nearby picnic table to conduct the interview.
"Are you sure you don't want any help?" I asked as Ryan and Pam made their way past us carrying a table.
"Jim, having your here makes my job so much less boring, but really," Pam insisted. "Do your interview, I promise it's much more interesting than hauling chairs and tables around."
Hearing her say that was reassuring. I smiled a little and turned my attention back to Kelly, who was waiting to start. "So, Kelly," I said. "How'd you get into art?"
Kelly didn't hesitate, "When I was younger my parents bought me these finger paints. And I would paint all the time, like finger paints and oil paints, and colored pencils, which, I know, aren't paints, but they were still pretty awesome because they had these sparkle things in them which made the pictures shiny when they came out, but when I was seven, my parents got me these regular kind of colored pencils and they just weren't the same. They weren't the same, Jim. I mean, how was I supposed to color when my pictures weren't sparkly…"
I rested my head on my hand, thinking that Kelly would probably haven nothing relevant to add to the article. Part of me wondered if Pam had stuck with me Kelly purposely.
"Hey, aren't you supposed to be writing this down?" Kelly snapped.
"Oh, right," I pulled out the tape recorder, set on the table, and pretended to turn it on. Kelly didn't even notice and continued to talk about everything but art.
Pam came by, lugging rack of chairs, stopping when she reached our table. "You know, I have decorated this pavilion, like, five times since the festival started. I think I could have a career in a very specific type of decorating." She grinned before starting out again, "Alright, you guys have fun."
"Oh, I totally wanted to be an interior decorator when I was younger," Kelly started again. "I mean, I have these closets that are the dumbest thing, they can't hold any of my hangers. I mean, aren't all closets supposed to hold every kind of hanger size? It's making my life difficult because I am forced to leave my stuff on the floor, then I have to walk around the piles and search for the clothes that I need, and my clothes get wrinkled, then I need to iron them, which takes up so much more time than if I could just hang them up. Or why can't they make hangers all a universal size? I mean, who comes up with this stuff?"
Part of me wanted to ask what that had to do with interior decorating and another part wanted me to tell her just to buy smaller hangers, but I figured that would start a debate that I didn't want to get into. Instead, I spotted a newspaper on the end of the picnic table and pulled it over. There was a partially done Sudoku puzzle on top and I started working on in, pretending to take notes on what she was saying.
Pam came by a few minutes later. She glanced over my shoulder to see what I was doing. I was afraid she was going to call me out on not listening, but instead she bent over and whispered softly in my ear. "You can put the four in that bottom box." I looked up at her, amused. "Yeah, I'm a Sudoku expert," she bragged, "My top time, level moderate 18 minutes, so suck on that, Halpert." I laughed as she walked away.
Kelly had moved on to clothing. "And I just bought this totally awesome new dress that is pink and low cut, but not too low cut, I mean I'm not a slut." I took a second to examine what she was wearing, a rather low cut, pink, flowery dress. I wondered if she realized she was describing the outfit she was wearing or if her entire wardrobe consisted of slutty pink dresses. "Really, Jim, I don't do that. I mean, I'm not a virgin by any means, but I won't just sleep with any guy. Unless he's totally hot…"
Pam dragged another chair rack by and again stopped beside the table "Hey guys." She said, rocking on her heels.
"Sure you don't need help with that?" I asked quickly.
"No, I just want to wait a second before going up there. Jan is back and it looks like she isn't happy." Kelly and I turned our attention towards the pavilion where, indeed, Jan was screaming at a scared Ryan over who knows what. It only lasted a minute or so before she stormed off the pavilion. "Thanks, I hate being in the middle of Jan's rants, especially when they aren't directed at me."
"I can't believe how crazy Jan is acting today," Kelly said as Pam began pushing her chairs towards the pavilion. I pulled up the paper again, concentrating on the one box that was being particularly tricky. "She's usually not like this, I mean she is crazy over all, but this festival has her worked up more than ever. Ryan probably deserved it though. He usually does. Oh, I can't believe my boss is dating her assistant. I mean, of course, I would never date someone like Michael, but I can totally see why Jan would. She is such a sad woman and I don't understand how such a beautiful woman could seem so sad, but she is so that's why she's dating Michael. And they have such a sad relationship. I can't believe Michael tried to be romantic then fell out of a tree. They're so tragic. They're like Romeo and Juliet, the Claire Danes one. That movie totally reminded me of when my sister died…"
I had zoned Kelly out to concentrate on my puzzle so I didn't notice Pam behind me until she rested a hand on my shoulder for balance, proceeding to take off her shoe and shake it. "I have a thing in my shoe. When you were younger, did you ever come up with names for stuff like that? I know we did, I just don't remember the name."
"We usually called it a rock," I joked.
She put her shoe back on, then playfully hit my arm, "I'm almost done."
Kelly seemed speechless for the moment.
"What?" I asked when she wouldn't stop staring at me.
"You totally like her."
"What…no." Was I completely transparent to everyone?
"You totally are. Jim, why didn't you tell me you had a crush on Pam?" She looked at me as if it hurt that I didn't divulge all my personal secrets. "It's so obvious now. You totally want her. I can see it in your eyes. Unfortunately she doesn't feel the same way about you."
"Really?" I said. She had perked my interest more than I wanted to let on.
"Oh, yeah, but she only dates big guys like her ex-husband. Pam was so in love with him and it was so shocking to hear that they got divorced. He was a linebacker for his high school football team, a big guy, totally built. He could so crush you if he wanted to. I mean, you are rather scrawny and your hair flips out weird. Seriously, don't you own a comb? Anyway, I have this totally awesome guy I want to set her up with…"
I wasn't sure if there was an insult in there, but I did conclude that Kelly had no idea what she was talking about. Judging by the way Pam acted yesterday when her ex showed up, she wasn't sorry about the divorce.
"So, do you want me to ask her out for you?" Kelly asked, anxious to do so.
"Please, don't do that," I said amazed at how quickly she went from telling me I wasn't Pam's type to wanting to ask her out for me. However, this wasn't elementary, if any one was going to do the asking, it would be me.
"Oh, but I should. I mean, when I first liked Ryan, I totally couldn't ask him out and I had to have a friend ask him for me because I wouldn't do it, but then my friend said he was into me, so it was totally easy. And we went on a date and he was such a gentleman, but he didn't kiss me at first, and I was wondering, 'Ryan, why aren't you kissing me?' and then he kissed me, so I said 'Ryan, I can't believe you just kissed me…"
I suddenly felt very bad for Ryan. He probably kissed her to shut her up. I rubbed my head feeling a headache coming on from Kelly's persistent chatter. So, instead of listening to Kelly ramble on about her relationship with Ryan, I watched Pam up at the pavilion. Ryan was noticeably absent and it bugged me a bit that Pam was setting up the rows of chairs by herself. I watched as Jan came back, pulling Pam aside. She wasn't yelling at Pam like she did Ryan, but Pam had a serious look on her face, nodding at Jan's words.
"Hey, Kelly, I think the interview is over," I stopped Kelly in mid-sentence.
"Are you sure?" Kelly asked, "I haven't even told you about my favorite pieces in the show."
"I've got enough, thank you." I grabbed my tape recorder and left a stunned Kelly at the picnic table. As I made my way to the pavilion, Jan left, not acknowledging me as we passed each other. I grabbed a chair out of one of the racks and opened it up. "I'm gonna help, it's what I do."
She smiled, "Thanks, Ryan skipped out of here pretty quick. Apparently, he was trying to help grill something over at the Food Tent earlier and started a grease fire, which scorched the top of the tent. We've rented all these tents, so yeah, Jan wasn't happy about that because we have to pay for damages."
"Oh, that's not good," I said as I reached for another chair. "So what did Jan have to say to you?"
Pam was straightening my row, "Oh, she just wanted to tell me about how the meeting with Christian went. She said that without Michael there, things did go a lot smoother and he's going to do what he can to help us out." She stopped straightening and leaned on one of the chairs, giving me a half smile. "She also said that she's happy about the job I've been doing and that after the speech is done, I can go home without having to clean up."
"Pam, that's awesome," I complimented.
"I know, Jan never praises me on anything, so it's a really big deal," she said happily. "Plus, I get to go home without having to clean anything up for a change, so that's nice."
"Really, good for you," I said as I took another chair from the rack and placed it in line.
"So, how did the interview with Kelly go?"
"Do you have some sort of secret conspiracy against me going on?" I joked. "Because that a mind numbing experience. And what is with all of your coworkers being insane?"
"They're not so bad," Pam said, though I'm sure she could commiserate. "They're not crazy, they're just quirky."
"And they've got you defending them," I teased. "I think you've worked at the museum too long Beesly."
"Oh, right, 'cause Dwight is normal," she shot back.
"Alright, I'll give you that one," I responded.
We both laughed a little, letting it die into a noticeable silence. Here we were again, that strange tension between us. The push and pull of it was driving me crazy and didn't know how long I would be able to hold out on being just friends, not when I was dying to cross the line that friendship makes.
I knew it wouldn't be long before something gave, but I promised myself to wait until after the speech. One final event then I would wrap up my article, she would be done with the festival for the day and then it would be a more appropriate time to discuss personal matters. A few more hours then, I could tell her how I felt. I worried that if I made any sort of move earlier, the timing would be off, but I had to know. I didn't care if she thought we were only friends or that there was the possibility that she didn't feel the same way. If I didn't try, then I would always be left wondering. Only a few more hours.