Author's note: Ooooh, Pam and Ryan's big blowout! Hahah. It gets pretty intense toward the end. You'll learn for sure what happened between them later on, don't worry. Right now I'm just giving you a little taste (: Also, this is my longest chapter yet! You know. Word-count-wise. So, yay! hahah. I love you guys.
"Well, have fun today."
"Yeah," he scoffed in return. "As if that's even possible without you there." Pam smiled as her fiancé pulled into a parking space in front of their office building. Jim grabbed her hand and leaned over for a quick peck on the cheek before exiting the car. She followed his lead, and leaned into his shoulder as they strolled toward the office doors. Immediately, she noticed a certain ex-boyfriend-slash-coworker if hers quickly walking a few steps ahead of them. "LOVE the hair," Jim called out, and the newly-blonde Ryan Howard picked up his pace.
Pam sighed inwardly at Jim's remark. He looked down at her, and she smiled in return, because she knew that would be what he wanted to see. She really just wished that Jim would stop his petty comments. She knew that he and Ryan were "sworn enemies," but that fight had ended a long time ago. She wished they would both grow up and get over themselves. "So sorry you have to work with that guy again…" he joked beside her.
She chose to ignore his statement and turned toward her boss, climbing awkwardly out of his car. "Hey Michael." He muttered something in return, but she didn't care enough to pretend to listen. She simply shrugged Jim's arm off of her shoulders as they entered the building and grinned in his direction before heading down the pathetic hallway toward the Michael Scott Paper Company. She was a little surprised to see Ryan standing outside their office. His back was toward her, and he seemed to be studying the door in front of them. It was… just a door. She could barely see the "Michael Scott Paper Company" sign over his ruffled hair. Certainly nothing he needed to stand outside and stare at. She took a deep breath and closed the gap between them. "Hey."
He turned around and his eyebrows shot up in what she assumed was surprise. "Hey, Pam." She was about to question why he hadn't gone inside, but he interrupted. "Know what this is about?" he questioned, moving aside so she could see a wide red ribbon draped across the wooden door.
"Michael," she simply responded. He nodded and rolled his eyes ever-so-slightly. She sighed and shifted her large purse from one shoulder to the other before leaning against the wall. Soon enough, the purse fell down her arm once more. She groaned and reached over to pull the straps back onto her shoulder. Her eyes accidentally collided with his, and she tried not to grin at his amused expression. "What?"
"What do you have in there? I mean, you never were a 'carry-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink' kind of girl."
"Don't tell me what kind of girl I am," she muttered. His pleased appearance fell a little, and she sighed at her statement. "Um," she said, a little more loudly. "Just some things to make this new office more homey. Picture frames, potted plants, that sort of thing."
"Oh," he whispered, tearing his eyes away from hers.
"Yeah. I guess I'm that kind of girl," she responded quietly. His head snapped back to look at hers, and she giggled slightly. A grin broke out onto his face, but he didn't have time to reply as Michael came springing down the hallway, cameras in tow.
"I would like you all to come with me on a journey," he announced toward the camera. Pam glanced at Ryan and found the same puzzled expression gracing his features. Suddenly, Michael pulled a giant pair of hedge clippers from his briefcase. She jumped back slightly, but was hardly surprised. Nothing much Michael did shocked her anymore. He attempted to cut the ribbon, but it wouldn't break apart. She suppressed a giggle as he grunted before tearing down the ribbon with his hands. "Welcome," he announced, gesturing wildly. Pam wished he would put the giant scissors down before waving his arms around like a lunatic. "To the Michael Scott Paper Company!" Michael quickly bounded into the closet… er, into their office, eager to show off his new workspace. Ryan slowly followed, pulling out his Blackberry on the way in. Pam shot an apathetic look to the camera and sighed before heading in.
She had to admit, it could have been worse. Michael was beaming proudly at his accomplishment, staring at her and Ryan for their reactions. Ryan glanced up from his cell phone for a moment to take a look around. "Oh cool," he exclaimed, signaling toward a small card table. "Are we gonna play poker?"
"No no!" Michael smiled. "That's your desk. Well, both of your desks." Ryan rolled his eyes before pressing more buttons on his phone.
Pam glanced around the rest of the tiny room. Boxes still lined the walls, but Michael had pushed them out of the way. A rickety computer table sat in the corner, an old monitor and various toys settling on it. Michael's desk, she reasoned. On top of the small poker table sat a sleek laptop and a phone. She began planning where she'd put the desk lamp and small flower she brought. Suddenly, she noticed something sitting in the corner next to Michael's desk. "Wait, is that the old copier from Dunder Mifflin?"
"Um, yes," her boss sighed, dejected.
She decided to take sympathy on the older man. "Good." He looked up in hope. "I, uh. I always loved that copier. Remember? I didn't even want to get a new one!"
Michael smiled. "I remember." Pam grinned in return. "See," he exclaimed, turning toward Ryan. "This place isn't such a 'hole,' is it?"
Ryan glanced up and looked around one more time. "Nah, it still is." He didn't notice Pam's frantic warning signals. Why couldn't he just lie to make their boss feel better? She'd been doing that all week. "But now it's a hole pretending to be something else."
"Well, you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?"
"You know what, secretary?" he challenged, turning to glare at her. "Maybe you should just…"
"What, Ryan? 'Maybe I should just' what?" He continued to stare deeply into her eyes before shaking his head and turning his attention to his cell phone. "Oh, there you go. Running away, just like before."
"Hey!" he shouted, whipping around to look at her once more. "I'm NOT running away. Why don't you stop making me out to be the bad guy?"
She laughed sarcastically before throwing her hands into the air. "Who is the 'bad guy' here, then? Jim?"
"I wasn't talking about then. I'm talking about now!"
"Well, I'm talking about then!" she yelled back. Now, they were both glaring and shouting at each other like two arch enemies from a bad superhero movie. She had always known this argument would happen eventually, but she didn't ever think it would be in a closet with an audience. Michael just stood in the corner in disbelief. Something told her she should stop screaming in front of her boss, and the documentary crew, but she ignored the warning and continued their fight.
"Fine! You wanna talk about that? Let's talk about it! I certainly wasn't the bad guy throughout that whole fiasco! You ended it way before I wanted to!"
Something inside Pam snapped, and she lowered her arms and glanced toward her shoes. "Fiasco?" she muttered. Did he really just refer to their relationship as a disaster? She definitely didn't feel that way. In fact, that time in her life was probably the happiest. Until it ended. She glanced up at the man that constantly entered her thoughts. His head was in his hands, and his shoulders were shaking as if he was gasping for breath. Suddenly, a hand ran through his hair and he stared back into her eyes. His face was a deep shade of red, and his entire face looked angry, except for his baby blues. Those eyes were swimming with a mixture of pain and regret; a look she had seen once before. Staring into his face like that had sent memories of that night flying into her mind. She quickly pushed them away before swallowing and turning toward Michael, cowering in the corner.
"I told you I couldn't work here. With Ryan." At that, she turned on her heel and stormed out of the room. She faintly heard Ryan call her name, but didn't let it phase her as she ran out of the building.