Fic: Mistakes
OK, time to post my weekly fic. This one is an Office fic, as demanded by spiffychocolate, and it has been terrifying me all weekend. It is a scary show to attempt to write.
I also feel that this fic has a fair few problems, but it is my first attempt at a fandom I swore never to attempt, because it looked so darn hard. I've now decided that this is a practice fic, for when I write Spiff's actual Office fic, because I actual have an idea for that one that I'm pretty excited about. I would really appreciate it if people could read this one and comment with criticism, because I really need it. I don't know if the problems I'm seeing are in my head, I don't know if the character voices are right, I just don't know, so please comment and be as bitchy as possible. Although, if anything is good, it'd be nice to be told that in a comment too. :)
Umm... and this is the longest preamble to a fic ever written, so I'm gonna shut up now and post.
Title: Mistakes
Rating: PG
Characters: Dwight/Angela, from Angela's POV
Spoilers: Up to 'Travelling Salesmen'
Summary: Angela never made mistakes. Never, except once.
Angela Martin never made mistakes.
That, she knew, was one of the worst things a person could do, along with smoking, lying and wearing low cut blouses to work. She came to work every morning with her hair tied back and her skirt neatly pressed, and she did her job effectively and efficiently. In her entire time at Dunder-Mifflin, she had never made a single mistake.
It was therefore quite unbelievable that she was standing in the parking lot, unmailed tax forms in her hand and a cell phone pressed to her ear. She had come into work particularly early that day to find the forms still lying in her desk drawer, and she was now calling the only person who could help her find a solution.
“Dwight Schrute. What is the nature of this call?”
She pressed the phone closer to her ear. “Dwight, it’s Angela. I’ve got a problem.”
His voice instantly sharpened. “What’s wrong? Whatever it is, Angela, I can fix it. An ex-Lackawanna County volunteer deputy never fails in his duty. It’s right there in the handbook.”
“I was supposed to mail some tax forms to New York, but I just found them in my desk drawer. Dwight, if those forms don’t get to corporate, I am going to lose my job.”
A car screeched into the parking lot. A quick peer through the windows told her that it was Toby, probably coming in early to sort out another one of Michael’s messes. He waved at her, and she tightened her lips in response. This really wasn’t the time for such joviality.
“No one’s going to fire you,” Dwight was saying. “You are the perfect employee. Tidy, intelligent, with no unattractive odours. Everything will be fine.”
This did nothing to reassure her. Turning to walk further away from the main door, she snapped, ‘This is not the time to flatter me! Dwight, these forms are really important. They should have arrived yesterday, and I can’t take them down to corporate, because Toby has already seen me here! If I leave, Kevin will take it as an invitation to organise the accounts himself, and he will ruin my system! I cannot have accounts with Kevin’s sticky fingers all over them, Dwight, I can’t!”
He seemed to contemplate this for a moment. “Question: if you lose your job, why will this matter?”
“Dwight!”
“Sorry, Angela.” He paused for a moment, and then said, “I will take the forms to New York.”
She stopped moving. “What was that?”
“I said I will take the forms to New York. You don’t deserve to lose your job over this. Give the forms to me, and I will drive there and back before anyone even notices that I’m gone.” Then, as a heroic afterthought, he added, “I may even exceed the speed limit.”
Relief flooded through her. “Thank you, Dwight. That’s very kind of you.” She looked down at the now rather crumpled forms in her hand. “I just need to give you the forms.”
“Yes,” he said. “Of course, we cannot be seen together.” He paused, obviously deep in thought. After a moment, he said, with great severity, “Go to Scranton Park in five minutes and order a coffee from the stand. This will be my signal. You will then place the forms inside a paper napkin and discard both items in the third trash can from the gate. I will collect the forms from there and deliver them to corporate.”
She frowned, shocked by the very idea. “I am not drinking coffee from a stand!” she said, her voice sharp. “I don’t think the servers there even wash their hands.” Then she considered the rest of Dwight’s instructions and smiled despite herself. She had insisted that he take a break from that Battlestar Galaxy show after his recurring nightmare of being attacked by killer toasters, but it seemed that the replacement show had also had an effect. “We can meet around the corner from the office.”
“I am only thinking of your own protection. We might be compromised.”
She smiled. “Meet me by the office in five minutes.” Then she hung up before he could protest again. He really was a sweet man.
After a brief meeting to hand over the papers (Dwight wore dark sunglasses and refused to look at her directly), Angela returned to her office. As she walked through the door, she met the sight of Pam, with her top three buttons undone, refilling her jar of jelly beans.
“Hi, Angela!”
“I don’t have time for you,” she said, keeping her eyes focussed on her own desk and marching straight past. She wasn’t being rude - she honestly didn’t have time to waste talking to such an attention seeker. She heard a disappointed sigh as she crossed the room, but that was to be expected. Pam’s idea of working was taking a break from solitaire to make eyes of Jim Halpert, so Angela could not expect her to understand the fine art of actually doing your job.
Once she was settled at the safety of her desk, Angela pulled the books towards her and began to do some calculations. After all, math was soothing. It was sensible and orderly, and Angela liked it that way. It was certainly more helpful than people, as Angela remembered when Kevin finally decided to come into work an hour later.
“Morning, Angela,” he said. She didn’t bother to respond. She watched him out of the corner of her eye, squeaking his chair, opening and closing desk drawers and stuffing his face with Reeses at every possible moment. There were days, few and far between but still existent, when she appreciated Kevin’s company. This was not one of those days. Distracted from her work, she turned to look at the door, hoping that Dwight would come striding through. It was an impossible thought, but perhaps if there had been no traffic, and he really had broken the speed limit, just a little bit.... Not that she condoned such behaviour normally, of course, but these were extreme circumstances. She was certain that his noble attempt to rescue her completely negated immoral actions like speeding. God knew their loyalty enough to see the predicament.
However, looking at the door didn’t help at all. Jim had just arrived and was currently leaning across Pam’s desk, flirting shamelessly with her. Angela watched as they both giggled and glanced in her direction. It really was disgusting behaviour for the office, she decided as she turned back to her work. She did not need to see the two of them verbally fornicating every day. They had probably even had sex on that very desk.
Angela made a mental note to disinfect the surface before touching it again.
But even if she didn’t want to look at Jim and Pam, the damage was done. Her work was no longer a distraction, and she watched the clock with impatience. By the time Kevin thought to check the voicemail, she was on her feet, her eyes fixed on the door. Dwight had a meeting at ten. He was always so punctual - it was what she admired in him the most - and someone would notice if he was not in his meeting on time.
The door finally opened at twenty after ten, and Angela resisted the urge to hurry towards him. She was not going to be Kelly, running and screeching after Ryan like a banshee high on slutty perfume. Instead, she walked casually over to the jelly bean box on Pam’s desk and pretended to be absorbed in those obnoxiously coloured candies. As Dwight reached for a note from Pam, she selected a white bean and muttered, “Is everything OK?”
“It’s fine,” he said. “You are in the clear.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. She sensed more than saw him smile, ever so slightly, before walking into the conference room and leaving her with her thoughts and the beans.
Suddenly realising that she was holding a pile of garish e-numbers, she quickly deposited them in front of Pam and returned to her desk. The strangest thing was that she couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the morning. Dwight had driven all the way to New York and back to help her. He had even broken rules that he strictly condoned to do so. She had had suspicions about his feelings before, but this had to mean that he really did like her a lot.
Her calculations flew from her pencil, and she even smiled at Kevin, who seemed rather concerned by this turn of events. The office was unusually quiet, as all the sales people had gone out on sales calls, and although she was sure that she would hear a multitude of complaints later, she was now enjoying the peace of an office without Michael. It really was turning out to be a wonderful day after all.
It was only a couple of hours before she started thinking about Pam. She had always been so critical of the receptionist, but perhaps her assessment had been a little rash. Pam did have to deal with Michael every day, and she didn’t have the support of a wonderful man like Dwight. In fact, the end of her engagement had been such a vital source of gossip in the office for so long that Angela almost had to pity her. She would hate to have her business discussed like that.
Looking over at the receptionist’s desk, she noticed that Pam looked thoroughly bored. There was probably little work to complete (or at least ignore) with the office almost empty, and she did not even have her own secret love to watch. Perhaps she, as the angel of good fortune today, should talk to Pam, or ask her out for coffee. That was the sort of thing that women did together, and she was certain that Pam would appreciate it.
“Hey, Pam. Would you like to go with me to grab a coffee?”
The outing was a success, and Angela returned to the office caffeinated and happy. She had clearly always misjudged Pam. The girl really was quite sweet once you got to know her, and she was a great listener. Of course, Angela wasn’t about to reveal any of her business to her directly, but she was certain that her subtle codenames had allowed her to both bond with the receptionist and keep her name off the office rumour mill.
Then it all went wrong. Dwight returned from his sales call with the smile of success, but Michael did not congratulate him. Angela watched with rising fear as Michael interrogated him, demanding to know why he visited corporate, and she knew that it was all over. Their secret, their perfect, normal, undiscussed love would be plastered all over the office walls. She had been stupid to think that she could make a mistake without dire, unbearable consequences.
After Michael had stormed back into his office, she saw Dwight give her a brief look. Meet me in the break room in five minutes. Feeling unable to continue with her work for another second, she went there immediately, and sat with an open but uneaten bag of chips in front of her. When Dwight finally arrived, concealed behind a newspaper, she knew that things were not going to end well at all.
“I have to tell them,” he said.
“I know.”
He paused for a moment, and then lowered his newspaper. “It’s gonna be OK.”
This was certainly not true. “How’s it gonna be OK, Dwight? Everyone will know our business.”
“That’s not the worst thing in the world,” he said, his voice gently reassuring. Even after all of this, he was still trying to protect her. “I’ll just stand at the front of the office and reveal our true love.” Then he added, almost optimistically, “It won’t be that bad. Look at Kelly and Ryan.”
All of her reassurance was suddenly gone. She pictured herself throwing herself around Dwight with a high pitched giggle and an inane comparison to the latest dumb celebrities. Simply imagining it made her feel nauseated.
“I hate those two people more than anything else in the entire world!”
Dwight sighed. “Well, I don’t have a lot of choices.”
Angela felt tears start to well in her eyes. Fighting them back furiously, she imagined the alternatives. She could be the subject of whispers from people she hated anyway, or she could have an office without Dwight. He loved his job more than anything else in the world. He certainly loved it more than he loved her, and that was OK. That was Dwight. She couldn’t force him to lose even the tiniest bit of status in his job just to save herself a little embarrassment. She simply could not accept that.
“Do it,” she said. “Tell them.”
She spent the rest of her afternoon alternating between pretending to work and watching him scribble madly on a piece of paper, clearly writing his speech. It was very like him to plan out his words precisely, to put things in the best light and soften the blow for her. She really was lucky to have him.
Then he got to his feet and cleared his throat. She felt her eyes widen, but she refused to register any other sign of fear. She was not Kelly or Pam or Karen. She would treat an office relationship with the composure that it deserved.
“May I have your attention please. This will only take a moment of your time.” Already her decision to stay composed was lost, as she closed her eyes and hung her head. At least she was resisting the urge to storm out of the office and avoid the carnage altogether.
“Although I love this company more than almost anything in the world, I have decided to step down from my post and spend more time with my family.”
Angela felt her stomach drop away. She must have misheard him. There was no possible chance that he was quitting. Not for her. Not for anything. Then she saw Pam give her a shocked look, and she knew that it was true. The rest of Dwight’s words washed over her, and he was then suddenly sweeping his possessions into an already half-full box concealed under his desk. With the box under one arm and his briefcase in the other, he moved towards Michael.
“I would like to give the rest of my belongings to Michael Scott.”
She noticed a look of guilt on Michael’s face as he took hold of the book, and she felt a sort of twisted pleasure in that. If he was going to drive Dwight away, he could at least get some pain from it. Torture was preferable, but guilt would do for now.
Dwight carefully removed his bobble-head self from the pile before turning to leave. At least she had done that part of the relationship right.
As Dwight marched through the front door, Angela found that she couldn’t contain herself any longer. “I need to go to the bathroom,” she announced to no one in particular, and she got up and moved after him. Pam gave her a reassuring glance as she passed, and Angela was surprised to find that she appreciated it.
Out in the hall, Dwight was giving an interview to one of the cameramen, and Angela stood and waited for him to finish.
“One of my life goals was to die right here, in my desk chair. And today, that dream was shattered.”
Angela’s heart broke even more at his words, but the cameraman merely gave him a polite smile. “Thanks, Dwight. Good luck with everything.”
Dwight nodded, and the cameraman turned to return to the office. He raised an eyebrow at Angela as he passed, and she shot him a withering look in return. “I need to talk to him about his paycheck,” she said.
“Of course.”
Once that interfering cockroach was gone, she approached Dwight, who was now leaning against the wall with a look of defeat on his face.
“Why did you do that, Dwight?”
He looked deeply surprised at the question. “I couldn’t let you suffer,” he said softly.
Throwing caution to the wind, Angela pulled him into an embrace. “Thank you,” she whispered. He nodded and patted her soothingly on the back.
“You know,” he said, stepping away from her, “this could almost be a good thing.”
“How is this a good thing?”
“We… we are like Kate and Sawyer.”
She blinked. “What?”
“It’s a noble comparison,” he said patiently. “You are the strong beautiful female, and I am the protective male, hardened by life, who sacrifices himself to save you. And everyone knows that those two are going to live happily ever after in the end.”
“That’s... sweet.”
She did not appreciate being compared to that murdering whore - why would she ever have sex in a dirty cage? - but Dwight’s opinion of the woman meant that it was more than flattering. And although even she, the woman who watched TV with her boyfriend while criticising it for its many sins, could see that Kate and Sawyer were doomed from the start, Dwight’s optimism regarding the pair was rather endearing. She suddenly felt overwhelmed by the love that had made her so happy earlier in the day. Dwight loved her. Dwight even loved her more than he loved Dunder-Mifflin. He loved her more than anything. And now he was leaving.
“I’ll see you soon, Dwight,” she said, fighting to keep her emotions in check.
He nodded. “Goodbye, Angela. I am certain we will meet again soon.”
She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and then he was gone.
After spending what must have been a suspiciously long time in the restroom, crying out the mess that she had made, she returned to her desk to find the cameramen recording reactions to Dwight’s departure. She gave her own account with all the dignity and concealed love that it deserved, and then stood by Stanley and listened as others gave their accounts. Ryan was suitably polite considering his pathetic stupidity, Phyllis looked sad but seemed unable to actually make a comment, and Kelly said ‘omigod’ so many times that, if they were edited out, there would be nothing left but pouting and references to Tom Cruise.
Then Andy went in. As she listened to his words, her face set. He was not going to get away with this.
She had now made her first mistake at work. She was not going to make another one.
I also feel that this fic has a fair few problems, but it is my first attempt at a fandom I swore never to attempt, because it looked so darn hard. I've now decided that this is a practice fic, for when I write Spiff's actual Office fic, because I actual have an idea for that one that I'm pretty excited about. I would really appreciate it if people could read this one and comment with criticism, because I really need it. I don't know if the problems I'm seeing are in my head, I don't know if the character voices are right, I just don't know, so please comment and be as bitchy as possible. Although, if anything is good, it'd be nice to be told that in a comment too. :)
Umm... and this is the longest preamble to a fic ever written, so I'm gonna shut up now and post.
Title: Mistakes
Rating: PG
Characters: Dwight/Angela, from Angela's POV
Spoilers: Up to 'Travelling Salesmen'
Summary: Angela never made mistakes. Never, except once.
Angela Martin never made mistakes.
That, she knew, was one of the worst things a person could do, along with smoking, lying and wearing low cut blouses to work. She came to work every morning with her hair tied back and her skirt neatly pressed, and she did her job effectively and efficiently. In her entire time at Dunder-Mifflin, she had never made a single mistake.
It was therefore quite unbelievable that she was standing in the parking lot, unmailed tax forms in her hand and a cell phone pressed to her ear. She had come into work particularly early that day to find the forms still lying in her desk drawer, and she was now calling the only person who could help her find a solution.
“Dwight Schrute. What is the nature of this call?”
She pressed the phone closer to her ear. “Dwight, it’s Angela. I’ve got a problem.”
His voice instantly sharpened. “What’s wrong? Whatever it is, Angela, I can fix it. An ex-Lackawanna County volunteer deputy never fails in his duty. It’s right there in the handbook.”
“I was supposed to mail some tax forms to New York, but I just found them in my desk drawer. Dwight, if those forms don’t get to corporate, I am going to lose my job.”
A car screeched into the parking lot. A quick peer through the windows told her that it was Toby, probably coming in early to sort out another one of Michael’s messes. He waved at her, and she tightened her lips in response. This really wasn’t the time for such joviality.
“No one’s going to fire you,” Dwight was saying. “You are the perfect employee. Tidy, intelligent, with no unattractive odours. Everything will be fine.”
This did nothing to reassure her. Turning to walk further away from the main door, she snapped, ‘This is not the time to flatter me! Dwight, these forms are really important. They should have arrived yesterday, and I can’t take them down to corporate, because Toby has already seen me here! If I leave, Kevin will take it as an invitation to organise the accounts himself, and he will ruin my system! I cannot have accounts with Kevin’s sticky fingers all over them, Dwight, I can’t!”
He seemed to contemplate this for a moment. “Question: if you lose your job, why will this matter?”
“Dwight!”
“Sorry, Angela.” He paused for a moment, and then said, “I will take the forms to New York.”
She stopped moving. “What was that?”
“I said I will take the forms to New York. You don’t deserve to lose your job over this. Give the forms to me, and I will drive there and back before anyone even notices that I’m gone.” Then, as a heroic afterthought, he added, “I may even exceed the speed limit.”
Relief flooded through her. “Thank you, Dwight. That’s very kind of you.” She looked down at the now rather crumpled forms in her hand. “I just need to give you the forms.”
“Yes,” he said. “Of course, we cannot be seen together.” He paused, obviously deep in thought. After a moment, he said, with great severity, “Go to Scranton Park in five minutes and order a coffee from the stand. This will be my signal. You will then place the forms inside a paper napkin and discard both items in the third trash can from the gate. I will collect the forms from there and deliver them to corporate.”
She frowned, shocked by the very idea. “I am not drinking coffee from a stand!” she said, her voice sharp. “I don’t think the servers there even wash their hands.” Then she considered the rest of Dwight’s instructions and smiled despite herself. She had insisted that he take a break from that Battlestar Galaxy show after his recurring nightmare of being attacked by killer toasters, but it seemed that the replacement show had also had an effect. “We can meet around the corner from the office.”
“I am only thinking of your own protection. We might be compromised.”
She smiled. “Meet me by the office in five minutes.” Then she hung up before he could protest again. He really was a sweet man.
After a brief meeting to hand over the papers (Dwight wore dark sunglasses and refused to look at her directly), Angela returned to her office. As she walked through the door, she met the sight of Pam, with her top three buttons undone, refilling her jar of jelly beans.
“Hi, Angela!”
“I don’t have time for you,” she said, keeping her eyes focussed on her own desk and marching straight past. She wasn’t being rude - she honestly didn’t have time to waste talking to such an attention seeker. She heard a disappointed sigh as she crossed the room, but that was to be expected. Pam’s idea of working was taking a break from solitaire to make eyes of Jim Halpert, so Angela could not expect her to understand the fine art of actually doing your job.
Once she was settled at the safety of her desk, Angela pulled the books towards her and began to do some calculations. After all, math was soothing. It was sensible and orderly, and Angela liked it that way. It was certainly more helpful than people, as Angela remembered when Kevin finally decided to come into work an hour later.
“Morning, Angela,” he said. She didn’t bother to respond. She watched him out of the corner of her eye, squeaking his chair, opening and closing desk drawers and stuffing his face with Reeses at every possible moment. There were days, few and far between but still existent, when she appreciated Kevin’s company. This was not one of those days. Distracted from her work, she turned to look at the door, hoping that Dwight would come striding through. It was an impossible thought, but perhaps if there had been no traffic, and he really had broken the speed limit, just a little bit.... Not that she condoned such behaviour normally, of course, but these were extreme circumstances. She was certain that his noble attempt to rescue her completely negated immoral actions like speeding. God knew their loyalty enough to see the predicament.
However, looking at the door didn’t help at all. Jim had just arrived and was currently leaning across Pam’s desk, flirting shamelessly with her. Angela watched as they both giggled and glanced in her direction. It really was disgusting behaviour for the office, she decided as she turned back to her work. She did not need to see the two of them verbally fornicating every day. They had probably even had sex on that very desk.
Angela made a mental note to disinfect the surface before touching it again.
But even if she didn’t want to look at Jim and Pam, the damage was done. Her work was no longer a distraction, and she watched the clock with impatience. By the time Kevin thought to check the voicemail, she was on her feet, her eyes fixed on the door. Dwight had a meeting at ten. He was always so punctual - it was what she admired in him the most - and someone would notice if he was not in his meeting on time.
The door finally opened at twenty after ten, and Angela resisted the urge to hurry towards him. She was not going to be Kelly, running and screeching after Ryan like a banshee high on slutty perfume. Instead, she walked casually over to the jelly bean box on Pam’s desk and pretended to be absorbed in those obnoxiously coloured candies. As Dwight reached for a note from Pam, she selected a white bean and muttered, “Is everything OK?”
“It’s fine,” he said. “You are in the clear.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. She sensed more than saw him smile, ever so slightly, before walking into the conference room and leaving her with her thoughts and the beans.
Suddenly realising that she was holding a pile of garish e-numbers, she quickly deposited them in front of Pam and returned to her desk. The strangest thing was that she couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the morning. Dwight had driven all the way to New York and back to help her. He had even broken rules that he strictly condoned to do so. She had had suspicions about his feelings before, but this had to mean that he really did like her a lot.
Her calculations flew from her pencil, and she even smiled at Kevin, who seemed rather concerned by this turn of events. The office was unusually quiet, as all the sales people had gone out on sales calls, and although she was sure that she would hear a multitude of complaints later, she was now enjoying the peace of an office without Michael. It really was turning out to be a wonderful day after all.
It was only a couple of hours before she started thinking about Pam. She had always been so critical of the receptionist, but perhaps her assessment had been a little rash. Pam did have to deal with Michael every day, and she didn’t have the support of a wonderful man like Dwight. In fact, the end of her engagement had been such a vital source of gossip in the office for so long that Angela almost had to pity her. She would hate to have her business discussed like that.
Looking over at the receptionist’s desk, she noticed that Pam looked thoroughly bored. There was probably little work to complete (or at least ignore) with the office almost empty, and she did not even have her own secret love to watch. Perhaps she, as the angel of good fortune today, should talk to Pam, or ask her out for coffee. That was the sort of thing that women did together, and she was certain that Pam would appreciate it.
“Hey, Pam. Would you like to go with me to grab a coffee?”
The outing was a success, and Angela returned to the office caffeinated and happy. She had clearly always misjudged Pam. The girl really was quite sweet once you got to know her, and she was a great listener. Of course, Angela wasn’t about to reveal any of her business to her directly, but she was certain that her subtle codenames had allowed her to both bond with the receptionist and keep her name off the office rumour mill.
Then it all went wrong. Dwight returned from his sales call with the smile of success, but Michael did not congratulate him. Angela watched with rising fear as Michael interrogated him, demanding to know why he visited corporate, and she knew that it was all over. Their secret, their perfect, normal, undiscussed love would be plastered all over the office walls. She had been stupid to think that she could make a mistake without dire, unbearable consequences.
After Michael had stormed back into his office, she saw Dwight give her a brief look. Meet me in the break room in five minutes. Feeling unable to continue with her work for another second, she went there immediately, and sat with an open but uneaten bag of chips in front of her. When Dwight finally arrived, concealed behind a newspaper, she knew that things were not going to end well at all.
“I have to tell them,” he said.
“I know.”
He paused for a moment, and then lowered his newspaper. “It’s gonna be OK.”
This was certainly not true. “How’s it gonna be OK, Dwight? Everyone will know our business.”
“That’s not the worst thing in the world,” he said, his voice gently reassuring. Even after all of this, he was still trying to protect her. “I’ll just stand at the front of the office and reveal our true love.” Then he added, almost optimistically, “It won’t be that bad. Look at Kelly and Ryan.”
All of her reassurance was suddenly gone. She pictured herself throwing herself around Dwight with a high pitched giggle and an inane comparison to the latest dumb celebrities. Simply imagining it made her feel nauseated.
“I hate those two people more than anything else in the entire world!”
Dwight sighed. “Well, I don’t have a lot of choices.”
Angela felt tears start to well in her eyes. Fighting them back furiously, she imagined the alternatives. She could be the subject of whispers from people she hated anyway, or she could have an office without Dwight. He loved his job more than anything else in the world. He certainly loved it more than he loved her, and that was OK. That was Dwight. She couldn’t force him to lose even the tiniest bit of status in his job just to save herself a little embarrassment. She simply could not accept that.
“Do it,” she said. “Tell them.”
She spent the rest of her afternoon alternating between pretending to work and watching him scribble madly on a piece of paper, clearly writing his speech. It was very like him to plan out his words precisely, to put things in the best light and soften the blow for her. She really was lucky to have him.
Then he got to his feet and cleared his throat. She felt her eyes widen, but she refused to register any other sign of fear. She was not Kelly or Pam or Karen. She would treat an office relationship with the composure that it deserved.
“May I have your attention please. This will only take a moment of your time.” Already her decision to stay composed was lost, as she closed her eyes and hung her head. At least she was resisting the urge to storm out of the office and avoid the carnage altogether.
“Although I love this company more than almost anything in the world, I have decided to step down from my post and spend more time with my family.”
Angela felt her stomach drop away. She must have misheard him. There was no possible chance that he was quitting. Not for her. Not for anything. Then she saw Pam give her a shocked look, and she knew that it was true. The rest of Dwight’s words washed over her, and he was then suddenly sweeping his possessions into an already half-full box concealed under his desk. With the box under one arm and his briefcase in the other, he moved towards Michael.
“I would like to give the rest of my belongings to Michael Scott.”
She noticed a look of guilt on Michael’s face as he took hold of the book, and she felt a sort of twisted pleasure in that. If he was going to drive Dwight away, he could at least get some pain from it. Torture was preferable, but guilt would do for now.
Dwight carefully removed his bobble-head self from the pile before turning to leave. At least she had done that part of the relationship right.
As Dwight marched through the front door, Angela found that she couldn’t contain herself any longer. “I need to go to the bathroom,” she announced to no one in particular, and she got up and moved after him. Pam gave her a reassuring glance as she passed, and Angela was surprised to find that she appreciated it.
Out in the hall, Dwight was giving an interview to one of the cameramen, and Angela stood and waited for him to finish.
“One of my life goals was to die right here, in my desk chair. And today, that dream was shattered.”
Angela’s heart broke even more at his words, but the cameraman merely gave him a polite smile. “Thanks, Dwight. Good luck with everything.”
Dwight nodded, and the cameraman turned to return to the office. He raised an eyebrow at Angela as he passed, and she shot him a withering look in return. “I need to talk to him about his paycheck,” she said.
“Of course.”
Once that interfering cockroach was gone, she approached Dwight, who was now leaning against the wall with a look of defeat on his face.
“Why did you do that, Dwight?”
He looked deeply surprised at the question. “I couldn’t let you suffer,” he said softly.
Throwing caution to the wind, Angela pulled him into an embrace. “Thank you,” she whispered. He nodded and patted her soothingly on the back.
“You know,” he said, stepping away from her, “this could almost be a good thing.”
“How is this a good thing?”
“We… we are like Kate and Sawyer.”
She blinked. “What?”
“It’s a noble comparison,” he said patiently. “You are the strong beautiful female, and I am the protective male, hardened by life, who sacrifices himself to save you. And everyone knows that those two are going to live happily ever after in the end.”
“That’s... sweet.”
She did not appreciate being compared to that murdering whore - why would she ever have sex in a dirty cage? - but Dwight’s opinion of the woman meant that it was more than flattering. And although even she, the woman who watched TV with her boyfriend while criticising it for its many sins, could see that Kate and Sawyer were doomed from the start, Dwight’s optimism regarding the pair was rather endearing. She suddenly felt overwhelmed by the love that had made her so happy earlier in the day. Dwight loved her. Dwight even loved her more than he loved Dunder-Mifflin. He loved her more than anything. And now he was leaving.
“I’ll see you soon, Dwight,” she said, fighting to keep her emotions in check.
He nodded. “Goodbye, Angela. I am certain we will meet again soon.”
She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and then he was gone.
After spending what must have been a suspiciously long time in the restroom, crying out the mess that she had made, she returned to her desk to find the cameramen recording reactions to Dwight’s departure. She gave her own account with all the dignity and concealed love that it deserved, and then stood by Stanley and listened as others gave their accounts. Ryan was suitably polite considering his pathetic stupidity, Phyllis looked sad but seemed unable to actually make a comment, and Kelly said ‘omigod’ so many times that, if they were edited out, there would be nothing left but pouting and references to Tom Cruise.
Then Andy went in. As she listened to his words, her face set. He was not going to get away with this.
She had now made her first mistake at work. She was not going to make another one.