Author's note: These flashback posts are always so freaking fluffy. hahah.
"Morning, Pam," Ryan greeted as he strolled into their chilly office building. She seemed to be studying a couple of faxes, an old pen cap in her mouth being chewed to death. He couldn't help but notice the way her hair cascaded perfectly around her shoulders, or how her hand was constantly reaching to push her bangs away as they fell onto her beautiful eyes.
She looked up, the pen cap dropping from her mouth as it broke into a huge smile. "Oh. Hey, Ryan." He returned her sentiment with a grin of his own before collapsing into his desk chair. Since Pam's big confession a few nights ago, things had gotten a little more… normal around the office. Well, as normal as things could possibly be at this place. Pam was especially more friendly with him. Sure, she had opened up to a few more of their coworkers, but usually stayed reserved throughout the workday. Except when she was around him. It was like he had become a security blanket for her or something. And that thought didn't upset him in the slightest.
Ryan's favorite part of the day was the half hour he got for lunch. Of course, that little break from work, and the hectic office, had always been the favorite part of his day, but lately, his favoritism had grown immensely. He and Pam used to sit at the back table in silence, slowly chewing each bite as to elongate their time away from Michael. But now, they spend their time laughing and chatting. They barely have time to take a bite before the clock chimed and they had to return to their respective mundane jobs. Before, no one would dare to take the empty seat across from them. But now, for a mere thirty minutes, Pam was the host of a big, fancy Hollywood bash. She'd initiate conversations with coworkers two tables away. People would fight for the chance to sit at "their table." For a mere thirty minutes, she was more of the "old Pam" than even the real old Pam was. He walked into the break room that day, somewhat to see her entertaining an audience, a familiar twinkle dancing in her eye. He was immediately a tiny bit upset at the fact she was being so alive without him, but quickly pushed that thought aside. There was no reason for him to be jealous, that just means that she's pulling even more out of her "post-Jim phase." It's not like she ever needed him before that guy left. Suddenly, she looked up and noticed his entrance. Her eyes shone impossibly brighter, and the tiny grin that settled on her mouth broke into a huge, dancing smile. At that moment, he felt very thankful that he never had to make a reservation for "their table." She always granted him a seat.
"So I just walked out. I mean, what would you say to that?" she laughed. Oscar threw his hands in the air, chuckling beside her. "I guess I'll need to find a new apartment soon, unless I want to put up with that every month…" Ryan shot them both a questioning glance before taking out his traditional turkey sandwich.
"Ryan," Oscar began. Pam continued to giggle in the background. "What would you do if your seventy-year-old landlord asked you to pick him up a prostitute instead of paying rent?"
"Don't forget the jar of pickles!" she squealed.
Ryan's mouth dropped open. "Wait, what!?" he exclaimed, and Pam dissolved into laughter once more. "Your landlord asked for a prostitute--"
"And a jar of pickles," she cut in.
"…And a jar of pickles," he finished, "for rent?"
"Yeah," she replied, managing to catch her breath to formulate an answer. "I went to his apartment to drop off my rent check, and he pulled me into his living room, and said that he didn't want my money this month. And so I started getting nervous, because hello? I was sitting in a creepy old man's living room and he said he wanted something other than money. So I started to inch away, when he was like 'Why don't you go downtown and find me a cheap prostitute? Oh, and pick me up a jar of pickles from the grocery store.'" By this time, Ryan, Oscar, and Phyllis were ready to fall onto the floor.
"That'll be Michael in the future," Oscar choked out between giggles, which sent everyone on another round of laughter.
After catching his breath, Ryan replied. "Not just in the future. You guys have no idea of the insane things Michael sends me to get him."
"Like what?" Pam's eyes twinkled in laughter.
"Honestly, you don't want to know," he responded, shaking his head in mock horror. She playfully nudged his shoulder as another giggle erupted.
After a while, Oscar stood, tossing his paper bag into the trash can behind them. "I should get back. My break ended about seven minutes ago."
"Oscar, I don't think Michael will even notice if you're an hour late," Pam reasoned.
The Mexican man lowered his voice. "Michael isn't the one I'm worried about," he gestured to Angela glaring in the doorway. "But I do expect updates on your landlord."
"No problem," she laughed. "I'm sure I'll have a fresh batch of information tomorrow." A few moments later, Phyllis followed Oscar's lead and left Ryan and Pam alone once again. They sat in silence for a couple minutes, focusing on their meager lunches. Ryan chewed his regular turkey sandwich slowly, pondering meaningless things. He hardly felt her hand on his arm. "Want some?" she asked, gesturing to the yogurt cup in her delicate fingers. "I know peach is your favorite."
"I don't have a spoon." She simply took hers out of the cup and held it out to him as well. He grinned and took the plastic utensil from her fingers before diving into the yogurt container. He licked the spoon clean and passed it back to her, taking her smile into his mind. "What?"
"You know," she began, licking the white spoon herself before dipping it back into her lunch. "Hypothetically, we just totally kissed."
Ryan smirked. "Okay, twelve-year-old. It's time to act like adults now." She simply shrugged and threw the empty yogurt container away before heading back to her desk. He rolled his eyes at her childish statement, and took a final bite before following her out the door. He couldn't understand why the back of his neck tingled as she said the word "kiss."
The rest of the afternoon was fairly uneventful. Dwight made some inane accusations, while Michael somehow managed to distract everyone in the office without leaving his own. A normal day. At five o'clock, he packed up his briefcase and started to leave, only pausing to grab his coat from the rack beside Pam's desk. "Ryan, wait," she announced as he turned to walk away. He spun around and she was only a couple inches away from his face. His breathing hitched as he felt hers against his lips. She brought two fingers up to her mouth, and kissed them gently before pressing them against his lips. "I think that was us hypothetically making out," she whispered with a tiny grin. "See you tomorrow, twelve-year-old boyfriend."