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"EVIE–"
Her head snapped toward the direction of Jim's desk. The smile she was so used to him sporting was no longer present. Before she could ask what was wrong, Michael's door once again pulled open. Her shoulders slumped forward when she noticed the paper in his hands.
"I pledge to always keep an open mind and an open heart," he read aloud, a hint of a smile present on his pale face. Everyone turned toward their boss with tired expressions. In one fluid moment, he ripped the paper in half.
Evelyn glanced toward Jim, then Pam, her brows furrowed in confusion. Jim leaned back in his seat, shaking his head as Michael continued to rip apart the page. Once it was small enough, he dropped the yellow pieces to the carpeted floor. Evelyn couldn't tear her eyes away from those small pieces of paper sitting there in a pile on the floor.
"Well," Michael spoke up, his actions finally clicking in his head, "I do believe in that part of the pledge that I just read. But a pledge? Come on. I mean, who are we? The Girl Scouts? No." Evelyn visibly cringed. Her finger began to tap away at the ceramic mug in her hands anxiously. "Look, the, um, the guy, Mr. Brown, uh, he got us halfway there. He got us talking. Well, no. I got us talking."
Michael now leaned against his open doorway, chuckling to himself. "Yeah, he got us nothing. He insulted us. And then he abandoned us. You call that diversity training?" She wanted to walk away. Many times Michael goes on those tyrades, she wants to just walk away. Life would be so much better if she just walked away and ignored the stuff happening around her. But, much like a car wreck, she was stuck in her place, too invested to look away.
"Were there any connections between any of us?" he asked, looking between his employees. It was then that Angela walked out of the break room, confusion evident on her pinched features. "Did anyone look each other in the eye? Was there any emotion going on? Were– no!"
Jim glanced toward Evelyn through his lashes. She was staring at Michael, unblinking, hiding behind her steaming mug. Her dark hair was pushed behind her ears, her glasses sitting perfectly on her button nose. His heart beat harder once her eyes met his and they smiled.
"Where was the heart? I didn't see any heart. Where was my Oprah moment?" Michael asked. Jim shook his head as a smile crawled across his face. "Okay. Get as much done as you can before lunch because, uh, afterward I'm going to have you all in tears."
