[For Pam]

[callofkaren]

Karen liked to think she knew Jim Halpert pretty damn well, and that was one of the reasons she'd decided on doing what she was going to tonight.

Jim was king of running away from his problems, and Karen had known he'd clam up as soon as he got Pam to the compound and settled in. She hadn't been surprised to hear Pam was in the crash room, and Karen felt for her. It was a little strange, but she did. A year and a half had passed since she'd shown up, had her own problems to sort through (most of which involved Jim) and some things had changed.

Of course, others stayed the same, or changed back, too. With an irritated thought toward Jim, wherever he was, Karen made her way down to the crash room.

She poked her head in the door, and smiled when she saw Pam. "Come on, Beesly," she announced, walking in. "I'm breaking you out for a little fun. Or, at the very least, to get you drunk." Karen held up the small bottle of moonshine to show Pam. "What do you say?"

Comments

[callofkaren]

Karen nodded. "I totally understand. When I first got here, it was like everyone knew Jim, which wasn't exactly the best thing at the time for me." Suddenly finding out your boyfriend was married and expected a kid sucked that way.

She shrugged, and gave Pam an apologetic smile. "I promise I'll stop bringing up awkward topics from now on."

[this-is-pam.livejournal.com]

"No, it's... it's okay." The situation wasn't, not really, for anyone, but if Pam had picked up on anything, it was that her presence alone was awkward. She couldn't fault Karen for bringing the conversation back to what had happened since she'd shown up. Besides, it wasn't like they had any reason to catch up on what was happening in the office or anything.

Hearing that Karen could sympathize was, admittedly, the least bit relieving, anyway. Pam hadn't stopped to think much about what it must've meant, Jim being from so early and Karen being from so close to her, but in retrospect, that had to have been difficult, too. "That's what it feels like now. Only instead of everyone knowing Jim, everyone knows me."

[callofkaren]

"It'll get easier," Karen assured Pam. It was weird being on this side of the equation, and she didn't think she liked it any better than when she was the one feeling awkward and hurting. "I mean we can't go home or anything, but...it gets better over time. Promise."

[this-is-pam.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I hope so." If only for the sake of it, Pam managed a smile, then reached out for the bottle on the table to take another sip. "This helps, at least. I don't think I've ever been so glad to be able to drink." Really, she just needed to get out of the Compound. That would undoubtedly help. It'd be easier to keep out of people's way, then, and chances were it'd be less obvious that Jim had no intention of speaking to her any time soon. She could deal with it -- she had before -- but that didn't make it easy. She was just glad she hadn't told him what she'd planned to on the beach.

[callofkaren]

"This place will give you tons of opportunities like that," Karen said, half grinning at Pam. "Lots of weird stuff happens. I mean, really weird — about a month ago, I spent a few days in Han Solo's body."

[this-is-pam.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, people were telling me about things like that," Pam replied, wrinkling her nose slightly in bemusement. She shook her head a moment later, hands settling on the table as she looked across to Karen. "It's all still pretty unbelievable." She paused briefly, then added, "If I had to be in someone else's body, I could think of worse people to be than Han Solo, though."

[callofkaren]

"It was awesome," Karen enthused. For about a second, then she wrinkled her nose. "I don't think Nick appreciated it as much, though. But then he turned into a woman like, a month later, so I guess it was even."

[this-is-pam.livejournal.com]

"Nick?" Pam asked, and only after she'd spoken did she remember Karen referring to someone by that name the evening she'd arrived. "Oh, is he your...?" She gestured vaguely with one hand. With the way everything else was going, she definitely didn't need to make an assumption that could lead to things being awkward with Karen, too.

[callofkaren]

"Yeah, he is," Karen said, and she was pretty sure her smile said everything anyway. It was one thing she really couldn't stop herself doing lately.

It also felt more than a little weird being the one in this position when things had been reversed so long ago when Karen had first shown up. Of course, she wasn't in a relationship with Jim, but still.

[this-is-pam.livejournal.com]

Pam had to admit, it was easier to let herself relax around Karen knowing that there wasn't a conflict of interest. She might not have had a chance with Jim now, given the circumstances surrounding her arrival, but it had been difficult to want to get too close to her back in the office, knowing that Karen had what she didn't. With as pleased as Karen looked, Pam couldn't help but feel happy for her, too. Whoever this Nick guy was, Karen at least seemed to really like him.

"That's great," she said, and meant it, too. "I'd really like to meet him sometime, if you'll introduce me." Probably she'd known him before, but Pam figured that Karen would know she knew.