The perfect woman (jim/karen... jim/pam) Pg-13
Title: The perfect woman
Author: speedbumpsal
Pairing/Character: Pam and Jim ... Jim and Karen
Word Count: 821
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Jim realizes he has the perfect woman... but what does it mean?
Spoilers: Through Cocktails
Author's Notes: Um, just word vomit.
Jim had just finished the majority of his work calls for the day, and it wasn’t even lunch time.
It was like this everyday… and just like everyday, he relaxed instead of working on new buyers. If he wanted, he could be a better salesman than Dwight. Jim winced just a bit at this thought. Even if it meant making more money, Jim did not want to be more like that man if he could help it.
Jim leaned back and observed the people around him. Dwight was on a sales call, talking to a customer. Jim always marveled at how he sounded so normal on these calls. You would never know you were buying a product from someone like Dwight, and if you did… well, you probably wouldn’t be buying it.
Jim looked behind Dwight to Karen, who was typing on her computer, oblivious to his eyes on her. She was so beautiful. He knew that it was shallow, but he really enjoyed taking her to the cocktail party last night, and being seen with her…. Showing her off a bit. Karen smoothed out her bangs with her fingers, and let her hand rest on the back of her tan neck, sighing. She was funny, too, Jim thought. And a good person… and she cares for me. Jim broke his stare, and concentrated on the blank computer screen ahead of him, as if he was looking at something very important. She had it all. The entire list of things that he, or any other man would want in a woman. She even brought him a beer the other night, and sat with him, to watch the game on tv, without a single complaint… she even seemed to enjoy it. She had it all.
Jim suddenly felt very guilty. He knew that he didn’t love her. Well, not yet anyway. But the question was… why? When a woman such as Karen came into his life… someone with every quality in a mate he could possibly ask for, why couldn’t he love her?
He had tried. He had actually tried to pretend that he had more feelings that he did for her once. They had been at home, and he had been questioning his feelings, and thinking the same damn thoughts that he had been thinking right now, and that’s when he gave it a shot. He decided to shove out every negative thought that came to him, and to try and love her.
Do you know what happened? Do you know what fucking happened? He had gone into the kitchen, to get her a drink, and had forgotten to ask her what she wanted, and called out to her.
“Pam?”
When he had said it, he knew he had better cover his ass quick.
“What, Jim?” Karen had asked from the living room. Jim had heard her hurt and threatening tone.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I was about to tell you that Pam was giving out messages from corporate today about office relationships, I was wondering if you got one?”
“No, really?” The topic of choice had more than erased any questions in Karen’s mind, and it was not long before Jim had agreed to disclose their relationship to corporate. A small price to pay for the fight that would had followed if he let her know he had called her by the wrong name… and Pam’s at that.
That night he had gone to bed wondering why, when he had tried to trick himself into loving her… he had called her by Beasley’s name. So he stopped trying.
Jim’s screen saver had come on… and he had realized that he had been staring at it for the past few minutes. He reached towards his mouse, and wiggled it, returning his computer to the main screen. He sighed, and got up, heading towards the water cooler for a drink. As he filled his cup, and took a sip, he made eye contact with Karen and winked.
He just wanted to be happy.
He just didn’t want to hurt her again.
He turned and headed back to his seat, trying not to look at that familiar face behind the receptionists desk. He was bad at that game.
He looked at her, only to be met with her eyes as well. It was a brief meeting, before she looked away.
Jim admitted to himself as he sat back down, back facing her, that she was not as pretty as Karen. Not as out spoken, and he knew she hated sports, and would have switched the channel if it were her in Karen’s place the other night…
Karen had every thing on the list. Pam did not. Any sane man in Jims place would chose Karen over Pam in a heart beat…
Then why was his heart still beating so fast?
Jim looked back at Karen… But someone else filled his mind… and his heart.