The Office Fanfic

01: I should just quit

{This means they're talking to the camera}

Jim's pov
I groan out of boredom. There's nothing for me to do here. 

My job is to speak to clients on the phone about... uh, quantities and type of copier paper. You know, whether we can supply it to them. Whether they can pay for it. And... I'm boring myself just talking about this.

Every day I come home from work, drained. Most of the time, I think quitting is the only way to put me out of my misery. But there's one thing stopping me.

Pam.

The only good thing about working at Dunder Mifflin is Pam Beesly. She's the only good thing amongst the annoying boss, overly irritable coworker and just the stress of the job.

The only problem is, she's engaged. To Roy Anderson. He's a jerk and he treats her like crap. It baffles me why she stays with him. It might be something to do with the fact that they were together in high school or something along those lines. She deserves much better. 

I find myself staring at her, admiring her beauty and working up the nerve to get up and go talk to her. She's getting ready to go out to lunch with Roy because they're going out to lunch today. She mentioned it to me this morning and she was very excited and I feigned excitement for her sake when in reality, I'd much rather her have lunch with me.

Roy walks in and I turn my head back to my desk so fast I get knocked with a rough case of whiplash. The last thing I need is a punch in the punch in the face from Roy. He's bigger than me, no question. I'm not sure I could take him in a fight. 

"Hey," she breathes, embracing him in an awkward side hug. He barely reciprocates it. 

"What'd you pack for lunch?" he asks, looking around Pam's desk. 

That's awkward. I cringe before reminding myself that I shouldn't be listening in on the conversation so I stop.

"Uh... I thought you were taking me out to lunch?" Pam says, her voice thick with uncertainty. I glance in her direction and she's doing that awkward half-smile thing that she does when she's nervous. 

"No, Pam. I never said that. How did you get that into your head? God." His voice grows slightly louder and Michael leaves his office. 

"Hey, guys. How goes it?" he asks, drumming his fingers on Pam's desk. She's slipping her jacket off and sinking back into her seat. 

"Fine, Michael," Pam deadpans, eyes glued to her computer. 

Roy scoffs and walks out of the office. Michael stands at reception, awkwardly swaying from side to side. "What's with that guy, right?" he jokes. Pam ignores him and stares at her computer. 

Michael finally takes the hint and returns to his office. I take the opportunity to go talk to Pam. 

"Hey, Pam. What's up?" I ask and steal a jellybean from her candy jar. 

She tears her gaze away from the computer and stares straight into my eyes. "Nothing, Jim. How 'bout you?"

I lean in close to her and whisper, "I will take you to lunch, if you'd like," I say, asking it as more of a question. Her eyes brighten and a smile stretches across her face. 

"I'd really like that," she beams. She grabs her coat and I leave mine behind, afraid that if I move even a step in the wrong direction, I'll mess this up.

And I really, really do not want to mess this up.

***

Yeah. Lunch with Pam was fun. We talked about... work and stuff. And Roy. And I mentioned a barbecue that I'm planning. She thought it was a great idea and she said she wanted to come.

Ryan's pov

I jump out of my skeleton when Michael screams out of no where. "Jesus Christ," I mutter under my breath. My heart's beating a mile a minute and I'd like to return to working but I doubt Michael screamed just for fun. He always has a reason for doing something, I've learned. He's very... different. Very different from any other boss I've ever worked under. 

"Michael!" shouts Stanley. "What the hell was that for?" I can pick up on things pretty well and I don't think Stanley likes me too much. I don't blame him. But then again, it's not my fault his daughter was practically all over me on 'bring your daughter to work day.' Believe me, I don't go for girls like that. 

"Well, it got your attention, didn't it?" Half the office rolls their eyes and the other half ignores him completely. I do neither. 

"So!" Michael shouts, clapping his hands together. How anyone gets anything done around here is a mystery to me. "It's my birthday tomorrow and I was wondering how the party was coming?" he asks, gesturing to Angela, head of accounting. She's the office bitch, Creed told me. I believe him.

"Fine," she says, rolling her eyes. "I'm all over it, don't worry."

"That's what she said!" he jokes. No one laughs except him. In fact, he gets quite the kick from the joke. He's doubled over and can't stop laughing. I catch Jim looking at the cameras. I can't stand him. One of my least favorite people here, I'll say. Always at reception, flirting with Pam. 

In the long run, I couldn't picture myself working here. The job was available and I was sent here from the temp agency. Maybe I'll actually learn something I can use in a career. If I stayed here any longer, it'd be my career. And that's the last thing I'd want. 

I'm interested in other things, like business. I actually go to business school in my spare time. 

Michael walks out of his office and towards me. Oh god, here we go.

"Hey, Ryan. Can I, uh, talk to you in my office please?" he asks.

I follow him into his office and shut the door behind me. We sit in silence for a few minutes. "Um, Michael?"

"Huh?"

"Why'd you call me in here?"

"Oh, right. Tomorrow is my birthday, as you know and I'm hoping you're not busy? So we can drink it up at Poor Richard's?"

"Oh, I'd love to, but my grandpa is coming up from Florida and my mom wants us to spend some time with him."

It's not true. Not at all. I'd rather eat a bowl of hair than have Michael stare at me for two hours while we awkwardly share drinks at the bar.

This job, in the long run, doesn't matter. It might give me experience but all in all, I don't care for it. I should just quit.

***

Definitely not my best, but better than it was before. What can I say? It's difficult to write the characters just like they are in the show. I had a script in front of me the whole time so that I could reference it.

Anyway, let me know what you think! I'd love to hear construction criticism and feedback. It will only make me a better writer. ;)  

If you'd like to see more of my current writing, I publish stories under @rxsefuel and I have a story going, called "Running Into You." Keep in mind, chapter two is undergoing editing but it should be finished soon. The summary is terrible because I've never been good at writing summaries but I'm working on it. 

I just want to say, again, if you're still here, thanks. I really do appreciate it.

-iz