INTERIM LOVER, ryan howard.

004 ⋮ shoot your shot

ㅤㅤㅤ"How about drinks to celebrate two months of me being here?" Ryan suggested. 

"You'll find any reason to drink," Rachel giggled. "Meredith's having a bad influence on you."

"Well, can you blame me? From day one, life at Dunder Mifflin has not been easy. Now, are you done yet?"

"Hang on." She hastily added a few more lines to the drawing before revealing her masterpiece.

"Wow," he commented. "I thought you were doing a 'realistic' portrait of me. That's a stick figure."

"Well, I never said drawing dickheads was my forte," Rachel replied, sliding off his desk. "And I'm down with getting smashed tonight."

Ryan grinned, but before he could respond, Creed spun around in his chair. "I can help you with that," he grinned. "I can call up a few friends."

"But," Rachel continued, ignoring Creed's comment, "If you lose the game, you're buying drinks for me."

"Lucky me, then. I used to play varsity basketball for two years."

"BS."

"You'll see."

—

PAM
So the Temp's been here for a month and now he and Rachel are like... soulmates.

JIM 
I'm pretty sure our pranks really brought them together, like the time we stole their phones and somehow convinced them that they were telekinetic.

PAM
Oh, and the time we locked them in the office after hours. They were especially tight after that.

JIM
I'm convinced something happened that night.

—

"Are we ready for the game?" Michael beamed.

The response was deflated.

"I know, grumble, grumble. But you would follow me to the ends of the earth, grumbling all the way. Like that dwarf from Lord of the Rings."

"Gimli," Rachel corrected.

"Nerd. That is why you're not on the team."

—

RACHEL
Actually, I'm not on the team because Michael's sexist. Watch him appoint me 'cheer captain' or something.

—

Michael clapped his hands. "Let's put together a starting line-up. Stanley, of course. What do you play, centre?"

Stanley grumbled, "Why 'of course'?"

"I don't know. I don't remember saying that."

"I heard it," Jim added.

"Well, people hear a lot of things, man," Michael replied. "Other starters? Me, of course. I heard it that time."

"I'd like to play if it's just for fun," Phyllis volunteered. "I played basketball in school."

"Uh... Yeah. Who else?"

Rachel raised a brow at the cameras.

"We have Jim," Michael continued. "We have Ryan, the new guy. Untested. Willing to prove himself now. A lotta passion, a lotta heart."