Disclaimer: I own bitchin' a 2003 Honda Element; however, I don't own The Office nor any of its characters.

The following story takes place the day after the events depicted in "Dwight's Speech."


Chapter One: Vacation Days.

Pam was a bit off that morning, not her usual self. She felt depressed and kept thinking obsessively about Jim's decision to schedule his vacation to coincide with her wedding. It wasn't as if he had made the plans far in advance. And the wedding date had been fixed for nearly two months. It couldn't have been accidental, she thought.

Talking head Pam: Yeah, Jim won't be able to come to my wedding. He's leaving for Australia two days before. (looks like she might cry) Am I disappointed? Yeah, but I'm sure that there was some special deal or cheaper flight or something that he couldn't pass up. (clearly reaching for an excuse; suddenly she gets an idea) Hey, could you guys maybe ask him why he chose then to go on vacation?

Suddenly it occurred to her that maybe Jim wasn't as close a friend as she thought he was. We never hang out together outside of work really, she thought. Maybe he only thinks of me as a work buddy, not a real friend. The thought left her even more depressed.

Jim did not witness much of Pam's internal conflicts from his usual vantage point from his desk. Only minutes after he settled in at the office that morning, he went in to see Michael in private and hadn't come out in over 30 minutes. Through the blinds, their conversation seemed animated and slightly combative.

When Jim finally did emerge, he sat down briskly at his desk and went to work immediately without saying anything to anyone and without looking up from his computer screen.

Talking head Jim: Why go on vacation then? Well, um (struggling uncomfortably), it's just the date that popped into my head, I guess. No particular reason, really.

Michael followed Jim out the door of his office and called Pam in to take some notes. He looked flustered.

"OK, Pam, take some notes and draft up a couple of memos to corporate, but first, I'll need you to process Jim's new vacation time," Michael shook his head as he announced this second request.

Pam hesitated and then asked, "Um, isn't it office policy that no two people can take the same vacation time? I reserved that week off for my honeymoon."

"Well, that's the point I kept trying to get across to Jim, but he said he'd ask for a transfer to the Albany branch if he couldn't get those days. And if Craig thinks he's going to get my best salesman (correcting himself), well, second best salesman this year . . . you know, sometimes compromise is the mark of a good leader."

"Uh huh." Pam puts her head and prepares to take notes for Michael.

"Oh, Pam, and before it slips my mind—you need to overnight FedEx Jim's vacation request to the New York offices. Since it's less than two months notice, corporate needs it by tomorrow noon."

"Right, OK."

Later, in the break room, Jim is being anxiously questioned by Kelly and Kevin about his plans for Australia.

Kevin offers to do some website research on Australia for Jim.

"Thanks, Kev, that's very helpful of you."

"I know this website that lists all the nude beaches in the world," says Kevin. "I'll print out all of the ones in Australia."

Less enthusiastically this time, "Gee, thanks Kevin."

Pam walks into the break room and sits down at the table to eat lunch.

An idea suddenly comes to Kelly: "Oh my God, Jim! What if you fall in love in Australia with some beautiful woman that looks just like Rachel Ward in The Thornbirds?And then you have to decide if you have to move to Australia or if she has to move to Scranton. And maybe you can't be together at all because neither you can abandon your homeland . . . "

Jim, Pam, and Kevin are all dumbstruck.

"Um, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, Kelly."

Kelly and Kevin eventually leave the break room, leaving Jim and Pam finishing their lunches.

"Ham and cheese, eh? Bold choice," Pam ribs Jim, trying not to let her hurt feelings about the vacation/wedding thing show.

"Hey, I'll have you know that I've gone with Monterrey Jack cheese today, not Swiss."

"Hmmm, a new and exciting Jim?"

"I'm getting there," Jim says, not noticing Pam's frown.

"Hey Jim?"

"Yeah?"

Pam struggles on the edge of a question and then finally gives up and says, "Nothing. It's nothing." She abruptly gets up and leaves the break room, leaving a slightly confused Jim sitting alone.

Talking head Pam: So, did you ask him? (listening to the answer) Nothing? No reason at all? (She looks pissed at first and then her face starts to scrunch up and she cries softly)

The work day progresses even more slowly than usual for Pam, unable to stop looking up at Jim, painfully aware that he doesn't look up nearly as often as he used to. And when he does look at her, it's often devoid of his mischievous smile. It was as if a light has been turned off within him.

But all of this registered only as a series of mysteries about their relationship that Pam seemed unable to solve. An objective observer might say "refused to solve," but Pam was far from objective. In her own mind, she attributed the strangeness between herself and Jim as somehow being her fault.

Did I do or say something to annoy him, she asked herself. Does he longer find me funny? Does overhearing make all these wedding plans make him think of me as just another silly girl and not his friend who's above all that?

Waking Pam from seemingly endless unanswerable questions, the FedEx man walked up to the reception desk and asked for the package she had called them to pick up. He was there to pick up Jim's vacation request. A sudden thought seized Pam.

As she stuffed the FedEx letter envelope under a pile of magazines, she coolly told the FedEx man, "oh, no, there's been a mistake, we don't have anything for you."

As Pam watched him go, a wave of guilt rushed through her body. What had she done? At just that moment, Jim looked up at her, smiled the rare Jim smile of old. "Almost quitting time," he calls out.

"Oh my God," Pam cries out to Jim's confusion. Suddenly she grabs the envelope out from underneath the magazines and runs out of the office trying and catch the FedEx guy. She frantically pushes the elevator button over and over, but soon panics and runs down the stairs instead.

She arrives outside the building just in time to watch the delivery truck drive away.

Roy knew something was wrong with Pam that night at home, but she kept dismissing him, saying she was just nervous about all the wedding plans still needing to be arranged. In truth, she was making herself sick thinking about what she had done to Jim. She couldn't even comprehend why she had done it.

She slept uneasily all night, unable to figure out a way to tell Michael what had happened. And, oh God, what am I going to tell Jim, she thought.

She woke up early in the morning, having had less than two hours sleep. She dialed Michael's voice mail and called off sick.

Jim was just coming out of the shower when the doorbell rang. Who is here at seven o'clock in the morning, he thought. With nothing but a towel around his waist, Jim ran downstairs and looked out the peephole.

"Pam?" Jim said aloud, startled and confused.

He opened the door. "Pam, what the Hell are you doing here?"

She stuttered for a moment, thrown for a moment by Jim's partially undressed state. "Um, could you call in sick today?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Because," she hesitated, "I need you to drive me to New York City."

"Huh?"

More to come, my friends. As always, feedback is cherished.