Ryan had to endure Pam's constant staring in his direction.

Ryan had been promoted when Jim Halpert transferred to Stamford. Sales did not come naturally to him, and cold calls were the worst. Trying to beg the interest of people who had no need of Dunder Mifflin paper and who, if they needed paper, would probably acquire a supply some other way than waiting for some rookie to call them and rattle off a speech about why Dunder-Mifflin was so great.

Unfortunately, sales was the highest ranking job one could get in this place, except for manager, and you could not get manager unless you had sales experience.

Pam stared over at him again, with that same kicked-dog expression she wore ever since her wedding was canceled. Ryan did not think she was staring at him, per se. Her eyes were too blank for that. Ryan pivoted his head to the side, looking at the wall where Creed and Meredith sat, but he did not see anything noteworthy there, either. He spun his chair further around.

Michael was talking to Oscar Martinez. He was apologizing, about . . . what? Calling Oscar gay when he was? The logic would only make sense to Michael.

Finally Ryan had an excuse to get away from his blank desk and silent phone. He headed for the annex.

Kelly was chattering to Danica about everything that happened while Danica was away in Alaska. Danica looked like she could use a break too. Because, honestly, as much as Ryan loved Kelly, sometimes she could overwhelm him with chatter.

"Did you know Oscar is gay?" he posed to Kelly.

"No!" Kelly said. "Really? He never said a word about it to me."

That's a surprise, Ryan thought. "I guess he wanted to keep it a secret or something," he reasoned. "But since Michael knows, it's not really a secret anymore."

"Michael found out before me?" Kelly screeched.

"Uh-oh," Danica murmured in sympathy. She did not need supertalents to know that Michael would spend the rest of the day trying to demonstrate political correctness about homosexuality while trying to prove he himself was too masculine to be gay.

Kelly stood up. "I'm going to find Oscar right now and let him know we're supportive."

"Maybe we should wait," Danica said, "until Oscar brings it up."

"But everyone already knows. Better to clear the air right away." Kelly strutted off.

Toby Flinderson, the other occupant of the annex, cleared his throat. "Guys, could I ask you - and could you ask Kelly - to show a little more discretion about Oscar's sexuality? He did not choose to have it known to the office and I think we should try to respect his privacy."

"Michael's probably the one you want to speak to," Ryan pointed out.

"I've already spoken to him. But the way you and the other coworkers react can also negatively impact the work office and we cannot afford a lawsuit."

"Sure," Danica said. She was unruffled by this news, anyway.

"Sure," Ryan echoed.

Kelly swept back in.

"You're back already," Toby observed.

"Of course. How long did you think it would take? I just told him that it was cool that he came out."

"The thing is, Kelly, he didn't . . ." Toby repeated his warnings to her.

"Well, duh. Of course I won't make a big deal about it. Did you talk about this to Michael yet? Because he wants to have a meeting about it."

"Christ." Toby dashed to the main office.

"My cousin just died last week." Danica confides to the camera, "So why the hell would I care about this? It's Oscar's business, not mine."

Toby failed to persuade Michael to cancel the meeting.

Ryan did not sit with Danica and Kelly. He sat towards the front of the door by Pam. When Michael began his presentation, Pam bowed her head towards him, as if to share a laugh, but Ryan only returned with a puzzled look.

"She's losing it," Kelly whispered. "She's been acting strange ever since she called off the wedding."

Or since Jim moved away, Danica acknowledged.

"We've got to bump her up on the blind date registry," Kelly decided, referring to her own system of fixing up her friends with their future soulmates. "Sorry, Danica, but she needs it more."

"No problem," Danica whispered. Danica was hardly the most enthusiastic date.

They paused as Oscar reluctantly admitted he was gay, probably hoping that that would be the end of it. Not even close, as Michael and Dwight made it their mission to uncover all the other office gays.

"Danica," Michael named.

"What?"

"You turned down Jim, right?"

Pam's head shot up. She gaped at Danica in shock. So did Ryan.

"He never asked me out," Danica answered evenly. "So, no."

"But if he did, would you have said yes?" Michael asked.

"That's not your business."

"What does that mean?" Michael whined.

"What does it matter? He didn't ask me out."

Her refusal to answer went nowhere, so Michael moved on with his accusations to Phyllis, who distracted the others by announcing her engagement to Bob Vance. The meeting continued on, fostering more awkwardness and absurdity. When Oscar finally said he did not think he could work in this office anymore, it came to no one's surprise but Michael's.