INTERIM LOVER, ryan howard.

006 ⋮ disaster at the dundies

ㅤㅤㅤThere was much to like about Rachel Munroe, from her brilliant stubbornness to the way she radiated joy when she did nothing at all. She wore a rough exterior which only topped the hundreds of walls she drew up to protect something that intrigued Ryan. Though he wanted to unravel those layers one by one as he did with her clothes, he knew that she would never want it from him.

Feeling a pair of eyes on her, Rachel glanced up to briefly meet Ryan's stare. She winked, causing him to turn a deep shade of red. With a soft laugh, she went back to her work.

—

RACHEL
Tonight's the Dundies, the annual employee awards night here at Dunder Mifflin. It's my second, the company's eighth. No one looks forward to it except Michael for obvious reasons. I wonder if Ryan's going to enjoy this...

—

Michael waltzed up to the island of desks closest to his office, speaking to the cameras. "Why don't I take you on a tour of past Dundie winners! Jim, why don't you show us your Dundies?"

"I can't because I keep them hidden," he lied. "I don't wanna look at them and get cocky."

"Good idea. What about you, Rach? Show us your Dundie."

Rachel let out a groan, pulling out a plastic trophy reading The Hottest in the Office. Michael enthused at the cheap prize. "Look at that, ladies and gents! Will Rachel win 'Hottest in the Office' for the second year in a row, or will her crown be taken by someone else?"

Rachel rolled her eyes, as Dwight the kiss-ass said, "Mine are at home in a display case above my bed."

Michael was deterred back into his office. Jim took this as an opportunity to wheel his chair beside Rachel. "I think we should stop Michael from giving Pam her 'longest engagement' award," Jim whispered. The two glanced over to the conference room, where Pam sat dully and watched the television, apparently compiling a highlight reel.

Rachel's lips curved into a sorrowful smile, admiring the love Jim had for Pam. Though he might never have her, he still cared for her dearly. And Rachel had only seen a fraction of that over her time at Dunder Mifflin. "I agree. And you should be the one to tell Michael."

"But you're his favourite employee."

"Hilarious. You know that's Ryan," she corrected. "Plus, you were the one who brought it up. And also, you owe me for the time I risked my life for Dwight's lunch."

—

JIM
We were online shopping and we came across this super hot sauce. So naturally, we decide to get some and see if Dwight can handle it. Rachel almost burnt her fingers off just trying to put it into Dwight's sandwich.

[The cameras replay footage of a red-faced Dwight violently shoving Rachel out of the way to get to the kitchen sink.]

JIM
But it was worth it.

—

"It was you!" Kelly giggled, pointing to Rachel.

"It wasn't," she quickly retaliated.

"Yeah, it was." There was something forced about her laughter, but perhaps that was the way she laughed. Rachel didn't know; she had spent all of three minutes with Kelly Kapoor in her entire life.

"What's the joke?" Dwight forced himself into the circle of women. "You're not perfect either."

Pam's smile dropped. "We're not laughing at you, Dwight."