A/N: Just a tiny little chapter I decided to write because I feel like I haven't in forever. Hope you enjoy:)

Step 10: Take the 1 male

and make him wonder

why he can't break her heart

like he did

Ryan saw him.

All night, Ryan watched Jim look at Pam every time she was with her fiancee or when her face lit up with absolute joy at a winning hand of cards. Ryan recognized the heartbreak swimming in his eyes every time he did so, because it was a very real feeling he himself had. Casino Night was just a big, flashy excuse to drink and to gamble, and it wasn't a time to mourn over those people who you knew you could never have. Ryan reasoned this as he drank away at his Budweiser and half-listened to Kelly ramble about something that had happened to her the other day at the office.

"... and we were just having the best conversation in the break room last week. I swear, Jim is the best listener! He was just completely silent as I talked about the clothes I wore to our second date. You know, the dress that's low-cut at the top to show something, but not everything?? Jim seemed really interested. But then Pam walked in, and it kinda ruined the rest of the conversation. But whatever. They're so perfect for each other, it didn't even matter..."

Ryan blinked, suddenly registering the last thing she said, "Wait, what?" he asked stupidly.

Kelly looked at him strangely, "Jim and Pam. Don't you think they're perfect for each other? God, I thought everyone in the office noticed! They're always hanging out, and Jim is so obviously in love with her! I swear, their babies are gonna be models. And I don't mean the kind of models in the newspaper. I mean the kind in, like, my Seventeen or Cosmo magazines..."

Ryan tuned her out again, and thought about how even the people he worked with thought Jim and Pam should be a couple. Jim was always hanging around Pam, cracking jokes and eating her jelly beans. It was natural for people to think that about them, but Ryan couldn't help but wonder. Wonder what people thought about him.

Him and Pam. Ryan and Pam.

It seemed impossible; improbable even. Everyone saw them both as two separate people who just worked in the same office. Two people who had two different lives and different jobs and very different personalities that just made them two different people. Two different souls that were caught up in their own little worlds that no one would ever consider putting together. No one would think they had a connection. No one would think she had actually poured out her soul to him during the fire months ago. No one would suspect she had cried on his shoulder in the secluded hallway by the bathrooms while the guys were still in the warehouse eating pizza. No one would believe him if he said they had a little adventure together in Vance Refrigeration.

That idea was terribly depressing to Ryan.

He took a chug of beer, aware of the fact this wasn't the first time he tried to drown out something about Pam with alcohol.

Jim's idea of partying was growing more and more appealing to Ryan with each passing minute.

***

Step 10: Check