Jim's Best Friend: The Office AU

A Severe Attitudinal Problem

June, 2008.

"DID I STUTTER?" Stanley asked in a raised voice, his question directed to Michael. Your boss had messed up, you knew it: no-one bothers Stanley enough to get him shouting, but Michael interrupted his crossword. The entire conference room fell silent in the wake of Stanley's address, Jim glancing over at you, his hand sat comfortably on your thigh, drawing little circles. A few minutes ago, he was winding you up, having you thinking that he would propose in the middle of a meeting. And however much your boyfriend's teasing would border on anxiety-invoking, it was so much better than the sheer silence around you now, and the look of shock on Michael's face. The same face that had been submerged in cement earlier that morning... What fun times you let fly by you...

"Good... This is good." Michael said quickly, turning away from his paper chart board with the word 'Energise' scrawled over it, now facing the door. "I'm going to get myself a glass of water." He exited quickly, leaving his employees to their own devices, and you knew he had gone into the storage closet to cry. Michael did it a lot.

You were the first to move after a minute or so of Michael disappearing, the phone at reception beginning to ring and seemingly shaking the rest of your office from their stupor. You squeezed Jim's hand before rushing out the conference room to answer the phone, taking a seat at your desk with a happy sigh as you tried to bring back your cheery tone of voice.

"Dunder Mifflin, this is Y/N." You answered, smiling as the rest of the team exited and returned to their desks, sending a wink Jim's way. You listened for a moment, hearing heavy breaths on the other end of the phone, causing you to frown a little. "Hello?" You asked.

"Sorry, who am I calling?" The voice on the other end was male, gruff, and you cleared the lump from your throat when replying.

"That's alright sir. This is Y/N Y/L/N, at the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch. Is there anything I can help you with today? Have you dialled the wrong nu-" Before you could finish your second question, the caller hung up, and you let out a note of confusion as you set down the phone. You spun in your chair, quickly gathering some files for Toby, and getting up from your desk, Jim grabbing your hand as you walked past.

"Y/N..." He said seriously, reaching into his pocket and causing your breath to hitch. The reaction made him grin, and you knew he had got you again. "I propose that you tell me who was on the phone." He suggested with a cheeky smile, and you hit his arm lightly, his other hand retrieving a pack of gum from his pocket.

"Some old guy, I think he called the wrong number." You said with a shrug, taking one of the fruit gum strips and unwrapping it. You popped it into your mouth quickly, Jim following suit.

"You know, it might be your stalker." Dwight interrupted, not looking up from his computer, causing you and Jim to look over at him. you almost choked on your gum.

"Run that by us again, Dwight." Jim asked quickly, tilting his head to make sure he heard his co-worker right the second time.

"Y/N's stalker." Dwight restated, and your eyes went wide. Since when had you had a stalker, and since when did Dwight know?

"Dwight, you really need to expand on this on, buddy." you said quickly, a little off-guard. Dwight looked over at you, rolled his eyes dramatically, and turned his chair away from his computer.

"There's a man, who hangs around the building sometimes. Especially in the last couple of weeks. He watches the cars come and go, I saw him last week watching you leave." Dwight said nonchalantly, and Jim looked up at your shocked expression which matched your own.

"Why wouldn't you tell me this, Dwight?" You snapped, your heart beating a little faster in your chest. the subject of your anger shrugged.

"It's not my fault you aren't observant."