Title: Distractions.
Continuity: 'Grief Counseling'. (Season Three's 4th episode.)
Song: 'Stop and Stare', by One Republic.
Feedback: Of course, reviews are great.
Warning/Comments: Slightly A/U. Drabble. Jim's POV. (I seriously don't like this one; I'm having a hard time writing about the episodes on the early Season Three. I hope it gets easier with the following ones.)
Stop and stare.
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere.
Today I've spent the whole day looking for those Herr's chips for Karen.
It's not like I was especially interested on the chips, but frankly, these days I look forward to anything that can occupy both my time and mind at the same time. Anything that allows me to stop thinking about her for a second is highly appreciated. I need distractions, and this was a funny way to get distracted.
Not that I don't like Karen. Actually, I do. She's pretty, funny, friendly and nice…. and that's exactly the problem. Guess who she reminds me of… Yeah, exactly. I can't go over what happened with Pam for a second time. If something like that happened to me again, I couldn't handle it.
At first I wasn't sure what to do about this girl. I'm just in a complicated position, you know? I like Karen, and I have the possibility of starting something with her, but there's always that what if question in my mind. What if it goes wrong? What if I get my heart broken again? What if…?
But then somehow I decided to give her a chance. I forced myself to stop worrying about what could happen. That possibility didn't matter anymore. I refused to live another day this way-completely lonely, thinking about her all day. No, I'm done with that. I have to move on. That's why I came here, to move forward. To start over.
It's not gonna work, a voice in my head whispered. You won't forget her.
I tried to ignore those thoughts and devoted all my time to help Karen. The day went incredibly fast, while we ignored the files that piled up in our desks, we had fun calling to every store in the city and even to a supermarket in Montreal and pissing Andy off. It wasn't exactly a walk in the park for me, not with flashbacks of her popping up in my mind all the time, but it was still pretty funny.
At the end of the day, I was able to find the chips for her. How did I do that? I called the manufacture, which referred me to the distributor, who referred me to the vending machines company, who told me they sold them in the machines in the building next door. Seconds later, a bag of Herr's chips laid on Karen's desk.
I didn't turn around when I heard her sitting at her desk and grabbing the chips.
"Where did you find them?"She asked, and I could tell she was smiling, even if I wasn't looking at her.
"Where did I find what?"I pretended not to know what she was talking about, and I thought I heard her stifling laughter.
In that moment, I would have bet that she liked me and that she was interested in me. In normal circumstances, I would have felt flattered and happy, but in that moment, I couldn't help but fervently wishing to be wrong.