Pining for Paris/Jim Halpert

Chapter 13: Double Date

"Please??"

"Kelly — I, I just —"

"I know you only broke up with Jim a month ago, but come on. Nick is really nice and he's cool, he's like, a scientist, or something. You don't have to start dating the guy, but give it a chance." I looked at her polished face before letting out a heavy sigh.

"Fine."

"Yay!" She clapped, excited. "Nick will pick you up at 7, and you'll meet me and Ryan at the restaurant."

"Okay," I huffed, rolling my eyes a little. "I can't believe you're making me do this."

"Wear something pretty!" She called as she skipped back to the annex.

"You know, you could at least pretend to be excited," Ryan said sarcastically, clicking around on his computer. I turned my chair towards him.

"You know, you could at least make your first sale," I clapped back, making Dwight laugh. Ryan made a face at me before turning back to his work, and I stared into my tea blankly. I couldn't believe I was doing this. I hadn't gone on a first date since the first date I had with Jim, and I knew that nothing this Nick guy could pull together could ever be as good as that. It was perfect, it was everything a date should've been.

But that's over now, I tell myself. Jim is gone, and so is your relationship.

At my apartment, I picked a simple blue shirt and black jeans, completing the outfit with heels. I didn't want to look too good (you know how it is) but I didn't want to look like how I felt on the inside, which is like crap 24/7. Around 5 minutes after 7, Nick knocked on my door. He was nice, like Kelly said, really sweet actually. He brought me flowers like we were in high school and introduced him as Nick Johnson, chemist at a pharmaceutical company. He studied in New York at NYU and played guitar in a Van Morrison cover band, Band Morrison. Of course I thought it was ridiculous, but I'm a fan of Van Morrison, so I was okay with it. I invited him in as I put the flowers in a vase and on my dining table, and he complimented my place even though it's a crappy apartment. He might've been a little too nice for my taste, but at least he wasn't a cheating liar.

He drove a Kia, which Jim would have found really funny but perfect for a dorky guy like Nick. Inside the car it was obsessively clean, but not new, and he had six or seven air fresheners in the back seat. On the drive there, he asked me about my job and complemented my outfit, but I could barely talk about myself for some reason. I was awaiting the question about either my name or my parents, but he got the idea that I didn't want to talk about myself very much from my short answers. I didn't want to bore him or make him uncomfortable, but in the process I think I made him feel both bored and uncomfortable.

The restaurant was okay. Jim and I went to that place once actually, it was more of an American-type diner than a real restaurant. When we went there we got really drunk off of these strawberry lime margaritas and started playing this one song, 'American Woman' by The Guess Who over and over again on the jukebox. Eventually the owners kicked us out because we were loud, so he and I took a cab to my apartment and we watched Mean Girls. It was actually a really fun night; when I looked at the front of the restaurant and the jukebox in the corner, I felt tears sting my eyes. I didn't know if I had the strength to go in here again, to order and eat and drink like everything was fine, like my heart wasn't in pieces.

I didn't want Nick to see, especially when he opened the door for me, so I quickly went to the bathroom to dry my eyes. I stared at my reflection in the mirror and felt like I was being choked by my own memories.

The date was okay. Kelly talked most of the time while sipping her strawberry lime margarita, Ryan made dumb, snooty cultural comments that I didn't think he really understood in the first place (oh Van Morrison? He was so much worse after the Doors broke up, his only good song as a single artist is Brown Eyed Girl) and Nick was actually perfectly sweet. When Kelly "accidentally" mentioned that I was going through a breakup, she said this weird apology, like she was sorry if it hurt me but she wanted Nick to know. And then she kept talking about it, telling Nick that Jim kissed our receptionist while dating me and then left me to go take another job in Stamford. I tried not to look at Nick as this happened, but I knew he was looking at me. I sipped my vodka seltzer, looking at the jukebox.

At the end of the night, I had barely eaten any of my salad because I lost my appetite once Kelly mentioned Jim. Kelly and Ryan left together, holding hands, and Nick and I stood outside of the restaurant. He put his hands in his pockets, looking at me, and I found the courage to look back.

"So, um, you wanna get some ice cream? There's a place a few blocks away," he proposed in a hopeful tone, looking at me sweetly.

"I — I don't think so, I'm feeling tired," I muttered, looking at my heels. I heard him sigh. "Hey, Nick, I'm sorry if I made things weird today. Like Kelly said, I just got out of something, and it was really messy, and I wasn't even ready to go on this date but she begged me, and I'm just sorry if I've been kind of clammed up."

He shrugged. "It's alright. I think you seem really cool and I'm sorry that this Jim guy hurt you. Clearly you deserve better." He paused, and my gut hurt. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. "Well, you have my number, so give me a call if you ever want a fresh start."

I looked at him suddenly. A fresh start. That's exactly what Jim said to me on my first day at Dunder Mifflin in the elevator... He told me he wanted to kiss me but wouldn't because he wanted a fresh start, and he wanted it with me.

"So, can I give you a ride back to your place?"

I looked at him, my eyes wet with memories. "Yeah, sure. Thank you."