#i just want her to do what pam almost did with ryan that one time

[perfectpaperbluebirds]

Intense Coddling

@sicktember 2022 Prompt #8

Fandom/OCs: the Office

Title: Much Better

Words: 1100

Inspiration: This ask requesting sick Ryan Howard from the early seasons of the Office

Author’s comments: As I said when I answered this ask, I have always been a Ryan simp despite his horrible life choices and generally bad personality. He’s just so pathetic and whumpable and cute. Enjoy this snippet set during the first month of Ryan and Kelly’s relationship. 

As anyone could tell you, an office is the worst place to be during cold and flu season (except maybe a school), and the Scranton branch of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company was no exception. Every other week someone was coming in sniffling or coughing. Everyone was armed with hand sanitizer, and potlucks were on hold until the spring, but everyone knew it wasn't a matter of "if" they got sick, it was a matter of when.

Ryan's turn came in late February, the worst time of the year. It had been a stressful month for him, what with becoming Kelly's boyfriend and all, so it was almost inevitable that something like this should happen. 

When he woke up one morning with a nasty sore throat and headache that confirmed the sniffles he'd had the day before were definitely a cold, he sincerely considered staying home. However his temperature was normal, and he knew between Kelly and Michael that he was certain not to be left alone, regardless of whether he went in or not, so with several resigned sighs, and a lot of cough drops, he made his sniffling way to work. 

His plan was to avoid Kelly for as long as possible and keep her from knowing he was sick even longer. All day, if he could manage it, and he carefully crafted ideas on how to avoid her the whole drive over. Naturally, that plan was shot to hell immediately when she walked in right behind him and they shared the elevator up to the office. She was of course ecstatic to see him and talked his ear off the whole time, which thankfully required very little input on his end. As long as he kept his cold in check around her, he might survive the day. 

Luck, as usual, was not on his side, though. Right inside the doorway there was a powerful hot air vent that blasted down on everyone all day long. Ryan usually appreciated that vent in the frigid Pennsylvania winters, but today it betrayed him. The change in temperature and airflow as he walked in tickled his sick nose exactly right, and he launched into a wet, unexpected pair of sneezes:

"Hiihh'DJEHSHhuue! Ttt'EHH-shuue!"

Kelly eyed him keenly as he wiped his nose on his sleeve. "Bless you, sweetheart. I hope you're not getting sick!"

"I'm fine. Just dust," he sniffled, walking toward his desk to hide his red face. Yet it seemed his fate was sealed. As he passed the reception desk, he caught a faint whiff of Pam's perfume, the one that always made him want to…

"Gihh-IHXSS'shooo! Hihh'TIHHSshoo!"

"You ARE sick!" Kelly crowed. "Your nose and eyes are all red and watery! You poor baby!" She ran to him and wrapped him in a hug, as if she'd just found out he had two months to live. 

"It's just the sniffles. It's really no big deal," Ryan sighed. 

As if she hadn't heard him, Kelly smacked her hand to his forehead like she was slapping on a sticker. "But your face is hot!"

"It only feels hot because your hands are cold from being outside. I checked this morning. I don't have a fever."

Kelly pouted, tucking her hands under her arms. "Well I'll be checking all day as soon as my hands warm up! I'm gonna take such good care of you. You'll definitely feel better by the end of the day."

"You don't have to do that. I'm fine."

"You're not fine, you're sick. But I'll make sure you feel much better soon." Her statement sounded as much like a warning as it did a reassurance.

It was a long day for Ryan. Just being sick on its own was tiring, but the intense coddling from his girlfriend was exhausting. For the rest of the day, it seemed every time he sneezed, Kelly was rushing over to bring him something, from several mugs of gross Indian tea (which he kept discreetly dumping onto the nearby plant), to tissues, to water, to cough drops, to a sweater. It would have been endearing if it wasn't so irritating. It was as if she took him being sick as a personal challenge to her status as his girlfriend and was determined to baby the cold right out of him. 

If she was bad though, Michael was almost worse. He insisted on hovering around Ryan's desk the entire day trying to hand him things or do things for him, likely thinking he was being helpful but only being a nuisance. Not only that, but Michael insisted on taking work away from Ryan and giving it to other people, saying Ryan needed to rest since he was sick. Jim was having none of this however, and pointedly asked why he didn't get his work passed off when he had bronchitis and a raging fever the month before and was told he still had to come into work. Michael pretended he didn't hear, but stopped trying to give Jim extra work after that.  

With almost no work to do and two people mother-henning him constantly, the day was the slowest Ryan had ever experienced, even at Dunder Mifflin. It didn't help that his cold steadily got worse as well, developing into a lovely cough and earache. However he remained stubbornly fever-free, per Kelly's hourly checks, so he stayed until five with everyone else. 

He was worried Kelly would try to come home with him to continue her coddling, so for the last few hours, he tried to make himself seem as gross as possible, intentionally sneezing on her several times and saying how contagious he probably was. Thankfully it seemed to work, and she started keeping her distance little by little. At five o'clock he shooed her away one final time. She half-heartedly offered to drive him home, keeping a few paces back, but let him leave with a promise to go straight to bed when he got home.

Ryan had never hopped in his car so fast. He took a deep, cleansing breath as he drove away, ignoring the fact that it made him cough, and headed straight for the nearest drugstore. He planned to have a proper sick day tomorrow, even if he had to find a way to give himself a fever. That meant he needed to stock up, not only for his own comfort, but also to ensure Kelly had no reason to stop over. He could survive a cold perfectly fine on his own, but there was no way he would survive another day of being taken care of.

#sicktember 2022 #prompt 8 #the office #sickfic

[gifted-burnout-archive]

Jim’s Best Friend

Part Thirteen - To Come Home

Word Count: 2104

Author’s Note: Yeah, so I think I’m going to maybe do a prompt list. And it doesn’t just have to be John Krasinski/Jack Ryan and Jim Halpert.... I dunno, I really like writing at the moment and I think I should try out some oneshot sort of things.

WARNING: implied smut.

March, 2007.

"So, Y/N is meant to be having a meeting with Michael and Jan today... And no-one but Pam and I know she's back in the States." Jim explained to the camera, glancing at his watch. "And as of two minutes ago, she has been in my car for two hours. Or in the warehouse, or wherever isn't the office." He glanced out into the main office. "I really hope she stays here in Scranton." He muttered softly, and a wave from Pam cause him to jump up. "Excuse me."

--

"Jan just called from the road, she should be here in ten minutes..." Pam informed, and as she did, the office door opened to reveal you, looking rather intensely at the floor that divided the office from the building behind you.

You needed time to think, to consider what could happen in the upcoming meeting, what people might think of you returning. In your thought, you had tidied out Jim's car, spent twenty minutes catching up with the building's security guy, Hugh, and gone to the bathroom twice. And after procrastinating for what felt like five years, two hours had passed, and you had a meeting to attend.

You took a breath, and set your shoulders, stepping into the office with a pretty smile and a wink to Pam. You kept your head high, stopping beside Jim in front of Pam's desk.

"Excuse me, Miss. I have a meeting with your manager that was moved up from noon to 11?" You said, loud enough for the office to eavesdrop. Jim shook his head, heading back to his desk with a big grin on his face, taking a seat to watch the scene unfold. He could see a few faces trying to place the dark-haired beauty, something about her too familiar.

"Ah, I have you right here, Miss Y/L/N. I'll let Michael know you are here." Pam responded in a loud voice, and your old colleagues jumped up to greet you. Phyllis was first, hugging you tight.

"What ten months can do! Do they not have food in Europe, Y/N?" She asked, and you noticed the ring on her finger.

"You're engaged!" You squeaked, and Phyllis nodded, letting you examine the ring.

One by one, you said hello to your old coworkers, even stopping by Dwight's desk to say a quick hello. Jim had stolen your old desk, Ryan stealing Jim's before that, and it was only one of the changes you noticed. There were two new staffers in the building, no doubt from the Stamford branch, and you noticed the woman from Jim's photo at a newly placed desk beside Phyllis. You headed over, smiling to her as she finished a phone call.

"We haven't met yet... But I'm Y/N. Jim has told me all about you, thought I'd say hello." You held out a hand, and Karen looked you over before smiling and returning the handshake.

"You went to Europe right?" She double checked, and you nodded, registering the sound of the front door opening again. You turned to see Jan, who smiled and nodded for you to follow her.

"Nice meeting you." You said quickly, straightening your top as you followed Jan into Michael's office. The moment the door was closed, Karen walked over to Jim's desk, tapping on his hand and gesturing for him to follow her into the hallway. Jim glanced at Michael's office door and then shrugged, following her out.

"What's up?" He asked, hands stuffed into his pockets. Karen turned to face him after pacing a few times.

"Y/N... You didn't tell me she was... Well..." Karen fumbled over her words. She wasn't the sort to get jealous. "She's hot, Jim. You described her as like a six at best and that girl is at least an eight point two." Jim laughed at that, quickly stopping himself when he saw she was serious. He, pulled her close, whispering something softly into her ear. A smile grew on Karen's face at the words, and she kissed Jim softly.

--

"What did I say to Karen?" Jim looked into the camera, a smirk crossing his lips. "A gentleman never tells."

--

"So, are we agreed?" Jan asked, looking between you and Michael, the latter of which had a frown on his face. "The temp will go with a glowing recommendation, and Y/N will be based here in Scranton as the company's reserve on Foreign Correspondence. What the Rochester branch can't handle, we have Y/N available for." Jan reiterated the agreement. "Y/N will also be available to the Scranton branch as a sales rep, though she answers directly to Corporate."

"First you left for Europe, and now you're joining the likes of Toby... Answering straight to corporate..." Michael grumbled, and you sighed.

"Michael, I won't have you talking to like that to my employee." Jan reprimanded him playfully, and smiled at you. There was clearly something going on there. "It's good to have you back with us, Y/N. Your boxes are being brought up by Darryl just now. You should be settled before lunch is over." Jan held out a hand, and you shook it quickly.

"Thank you so much, Jan. I promise to not let you down." You nodded, and Jan left the office, only you and Michael remaining.

The quiet was held for a few moments, uncomfortable and tense, before Michael let out a long sigh.

"So what? Everyone else gets a party?" You tried to joke with him.

"What am I supposed to say to a traitor?" Michael hissed, and you laughed out loud.

"I didn't betray you, Michael. I got out of Scranton, and I missed you, and I came back. If anything, this only makes us even after the Todd Packer thing." You folded your arms, and Michael looked down. He had hoped you had forgotten about it. "Why don't we go out tonight? We can get some food, catch up?" You suggested hopefully, giving Michael your best puppy dog eyes. He frowned deeper, trying his best to hide his smile, before he let it all burst out.

"Ah! I can't stay mad at you. Fine, yes, dinner! I want to hear all about Europe and, oh Y/N, the things you have missed here." Michael clapped, jumping up and hugging you tight. You did your best not to fall over, and Michael let go to open the door. "Ladies and gentlemen!" He called to the office. "It gives me great pleasure to announce that Y/N is back in Scranton!" The announcement was met with applause, and you curtsied to amuse your coworkers.

"Where you wanting the boxes, Y/N?" Darryl asked, standing by Pam's desk. You looked around the room, seeing the soon-to-be free desk was right across from Creed, and you bit your lip. As much as you wanted to be here, having Creed looking down your top the whole time was the last thing you dreamed of.

"Desk beside Jim's." You directed Darryl to place your boxes on Ryan's desk, who rushed out of the kitchen when he noticed.

"Y/N, what are you doing?" He asked, frowning at the smiles Dwight and Jim shared. "That's my desk."

"No, that's your desk." You pointed over to the spot beside Creed.

"But I'm not a temp anymore."

"And I'm not having Creed look down my shirt all day. Of course, I'm sure Kelly would love if you moved to the annexe with her..." You trailed off, smirking as his face dropped. Unlike Jim, you couldn't be pushed over so easily, and you remembered Ryan's weaker points.

"Creed is great." He said quickly, and you looked to a laughing Jim and winked. Within ten minutes, you had your new desk arranged and an office chair that didn't squeak.

"How did you do that..?" Jim asked, amazed by your ability to take back what you wanted. He hadn't wanted to cause any negative feelings between him and Ryan when he first came back.

"I'm better than you." You replied, taking a seat and placing down the last of your personal effects: a photo of you and your mom.

"Really? Because... The sales sheet would say otherwise." Jim had challenged you, and you had been in the office for no more than an hour.

"First to five sales?" You accepted it with a cheeky grin, and Jim nodded.

"Pam, keep count." He said, looking back at Pam, who was enjoying it all too much.

"Of course. Ready?" She asked, and with a nod of her head, the games begun.

--

"They really eat that much seafood in Spain?!" Michael asked through tears of laughter, the pair of you walking out the restaurant close to 11.30 that night. Your first day back had been more than successful, catching up with everybody, beating Jim in your competition, even messing a little with Dwight. It felt good to back in a routine, and you slotted back into the office like you never even left.

Michael and you had stuck to the plans, heading out after work to reconnect over burgers. And the past five hours had been filled with drink and food and joy, that you almost didn't want to get in the taxi.

"243 Maple Wood, please. Then 7303 Bonnie Place." You instructed the driver, sitting yourself beside Michael in the backseat. He looked up at you as the car took off.

"So you and Jim finally decided to date?" He said with a raised eyebrow. "I knew it! I always knew it, I have a radar for this sort of thi-"

"Oh, no!" You interrupted. "Jim is just letting me stay until I find a new place. He has a spare room, offered it to me last night instead of a hotel." You explained quickly, and Michael didn't look convinced.

"I don't believe a word you say Y/N, the chemistry there is palapalable..."

"Do you mean palpable?" You giggled, shaking your head. "He's been dating Karen for what, four months now?" You guesstimated, and your friend shrugged. "You seriously thought we were together?"

"Well, you're really touchy feely around the office with him, always getting him coffee and tormenting Dwight..."

"We're best friends..."

"Maybe." Michael shrugged, and the conversation ended there. You had never thought you were overly attentive to Jim, but looking back, the pair of you did partake in platonic PDA fairly often. "It'll be weird... Not really being your boss anymore." He spoke up again.

"I assure you Michael, you can order me around all you like. It'll be like old times, except some of the time I'll be speaking in Spanish over the phone. Or French..." The car slowed down outside of Jim's place, and you gave Michael a squeeze. "Thank you for tonight. I missed this."

"We'll make it a monthly thing." Michael said nonchalant, and you opened over the cash for the full fare.

"I'm holding you to that... And I wouldn't stress too much about the whole Jan thing... It'll work out at some point." You assured him, jumping out of the car. Part of the night had been dedicated to Michael's turbulent love life, and you were filled in on Carol at Diwali, then Christmas, and Jan at Christmas, which had led to a bizarre relationship that sort of happened? You had suggested dating outside of two women, but knowing Michael, he wouldn't listen to that advice until they were either both dead or married.

You tapped twice on the cab's roof, sending it speeding down the road towards Michael condo, and you walked up the driveway to Jim's front door, unlocking it with the keys he had given you that morning. You locked the door and dropped the keys in the bowl, heading first into the kitchen, and grabbing a drink.

As you shut the fridge, you heard giggling, and you walked into the living room to find Jim and Karen half naked on his couch, in the middle of a rather heated make out session. Karen spotted you first, her eyes widening as she covered herself with Jim's shirt.

"What... Why are you here?" Karen asked, and Jim looked over.

"Shit... Sorry Y/N..." he muttered, and you cracked open your can of beer, sending the pair a smile.

"No problem, I'll be in the guest room, headphones on... Enjoy your night, guys." You couldn't help but chuckle as you walked behind the couch to your sleeping quarters, the awkward situation was not what you had expected to face that evening.

And then, you realised that finding your own place, it might be better to do sooner rather than later.

--

Tags: @imsuperawkward​ @rosie2801​ @onceuponahuntersrealm​ @poppirocks​

#au #jim halpert #michael scott #pam beesly #dwight schrute #the office #jim halpert x reader #jim x reader #office au #reader #reader insert #reader is female #romance #friendship #pam and jim #jim and pam #slow burn #from season 1 #fanfiction #fanfic #fandom #john krasinski #steve carell #jenna fischer #rainn wilson #jackryanplz #part thirteen

[theofficeimagines]

guilty pleasure

Pairing: Ryan Howard/fem reader

  Warnings: smut, unprotected sex, reader and ryan dont really like each other lmao, strong language, mentions of pee but this isnt a piss kink fic i promise

  Word count: 2344

  a/n: this happened in a dream and i dont know how to deal w it so i wrote it out and then i found your blog so im sending it to you anonymously ksdhfkdsjfgh ive never read or written the office fanfiction before i dont know why my brain did this

-

  Kelly was invited to a frat party by a friend and naturally begged Ryan to come with. He didn’t seem keen on it, bored as usual with any plans Kelly tried to make to draw him back into a committed relationship, until you walked in on Kelly tugging at Ryan’s arm in the kitchen and she shifted her attention to inquire you. Ryan eyed you silently throughout the exchange. You told her that sure, you’d be there, and smiled. Ryan turned and watched as you left and you heard him suddenly exclaim “Ow!” as Kelly punched him.

  “Why don’t you leave her alone, you know she doesn’t like you.” Kelly grumbled.

  “Yeah, whatever, Kelly, I’ll come to your stupid party.” He replied, clearly not hearing what she’d actually said.

  You knew Ryan had a thing for you. He stares without restraint and always makes suggestive comments whenever he catches you when Kelly isn’t trailing his heels. The first time he tried flirting with you was in the presence of Pam, whom you’d immediately hit it off with. You looked at her, eyebrows raised, when he left, and she rolled her eyes.

  “Don’t worry about him, he does this to every new girl in the office that hasn’t broken thirty yet.” She said, giving you a warm smile.

  Sure, he was kind of cute, but maybe if he wasn’t so god damn pretentious you’d at least try and properly befriend him. But tormenting him with his own lust while keeping him at an arm’s length away was more fun. You didn’t like the way he treated Kelly and you wished she’d wisen up and drop him, but she seemed too far gone in her idolization to be reasoned with. So you didn’t exactly feel bad flirting back and then leaving him high and dry whenever he got particularly irritating. Someone had to have some control over his sexual impulses.

  But you’d never been to a non-office party with him before and couldn’t wait to see what he’d do to try and get your attention.

  You didn’t expect much in the way of formality from a frat party, so you showed up simply in your favorite jeans and the first clean casual shirt you spotted. You were never a makeup person and didn’t intend on starting now.

  By the time you got there, you really had to pee. You cursed yourself for drinking so much highly caffeinated name-brand soda throughout the day and not bothering to use the bathroom before leaving the house.

  You weren’t surprised to walk in and immediately find Ryan chatting up some random girls about how he was the youngest VP in Dunder Mifflin history and now how he’s some pseudo deep artist because “it didn’t really suit me.” He pretended he didn’t notice you come in and cleared his throat, suddenly overtaken by “um, uh.” He quickly recovered and continued his yapping, scooting closer to one of the girls to brush her hair out of her face and over her ear.

  Unimpressed, you sauntered over and placed your hand on his shoulder. “The real reason he isn’t VP anymore is because he got fired and arrested for committing fraud.” You said to the girls with a smile, kissed his cheek, and walked away to find the bathroom.

  Ryan stared at you, mouth agape. You heard the girls laughing despite the loud music and one of them said, “Wait, you got arrested?” incredulously.

  You were maybe ten steps away when Ryan finally snapped back to reality and shouted, “Hey!”

  You ignored him, shouldering past some sweaty, already drunk frat boys to get further into the house, toward where you assumed a bathroom might be.

  He followed and hollered, “Hey, (Y/N), what the fuck!”

  You finally stopped and turned on your heel as you heard your name. He seemed surprised and paused, causing you to cross your arms and look at him expectantly.

  “Why’d you do that? I was totally gonna lay one of those girls tonight!” He said in that classic Ryan Howard exasperated whine.

  Raising your brows, you scoffed and sounded a sarcastic, “Uh-huh.” before beginning to turn away again.

  “Hey,” he started and you sighed and turned back, “- I know you’re too stuck up and too deep into the feminist movement to sleep with me, but at least you could let me get on with other girls!”

  You laughed. “Ryan, your shit doesn’t work on me. I know you only came because I did and you were only talking to those girls to make me jealous.”

  “Fine, whatever, I give up.” He responded by throwing up his hands.

  “Really? That easy? After all this time?”

  “Yeah, if you’re playing hard to get, you’re playing too hard to get because I’m tired of this.” He seemed genuine for the first time in his entire life and you felt a small pang of disappointment in your chest. You enjoyed messing with him, and who knows, maybe one day you’d finally give him what he wanted.

  “Alright, hun, good luck with that.” Your tone was sarcastic as you patted the side of his arm. He glared at you and you turned away to continue on your quest for a bathroom. Any bathroom.

  The house was much larger than it looked. Or at least it seemed that way with so many people swarming in it, moving freely from room to room, the only rooms with closed doors barely contained the moans of frisky college kids. You hadn’t dared open any of them, not wishing to see something you might regret. You were about to give up and leave when you found Kelly.

  “Hey Kelly, where’s the bathroom?” You grabbed her arm to get her attention.

  “Whaaaaaa? I can’t hear you man!” She slurred. She was drunk. “The music’s sooooo loud!” She doubled over giggling.

  “The bathroom. Where is it?” You said louder.

  “Oh it’s ummm…. It’s uhhh…. This is a frat house, man! Just go whenever you want!” Kelly danced as she gave you her unhelpful advice.

  You sighed heavily, your bladder not enjoying the movement from being jostled about by wasted party-goers. You continued your way through the house when you spotted Ryan again. He was chatting up the girl whose hair he’d been playing with earlier. Something inside you snapped, you actually became jealous despite yourself, and you marched over.

  Grabbing Ryan hard by the arm, you pulled him away roughly as he hollered at you what your problem was.

  “Take me to the bathroom.” You demanded.

  When he saw the look in your eye, realization dawned on his face and he said, “Look, (Y/N), if this is another one of your games -”

  Despite your better judgement, you grabbed his face and kissed him ferociously. “Take me to the bathroom.” You commanded once again.

  This time he simply nodded and lead you by the hand through the crowded building.

  Upon finding an empty restroom, you whispered to yourself, “Thank God,” and began to enter when you realized Ryan was following closely behind you. You quickly turned and pushed him out, saying, “Wait, I actually have to pee.” and shut the door in his face.

  Having finally drained your bladder and washed your hands, you swung open the door to find Ryan still standing directly outside it. You grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him into the room, slamming the door shut and locking it and placing another hard kiss on his lips. He kissed back, almost angrily; your teeth gnashing one another’s. You didn’t know what had gotten into you, you didn’t know why you wanted this so suddenly, but you wanted it now and you wanted it bad. And you could tell he did too.

  Pulling away for air, Ryan gasped, “So we’re really doing this, huh?”

  “Shut up.” You snapped, untucking his shirt because of course it was tucked in, and grabbing him by the back of the head to pull him in once again. He made you so fucking angry, he was so annoying and manipulative - maybe you just needed to get this frustration out of your system by taking it out with none other than Ryan’s own body. You tugged at his hair, nails digging lightly into his scalp, as his hands ran up your shirt, setting your skin on fire.

  His mouth moved to your jaw and he backed you up towards the counter. “Feisty, huh?” He mumbled against your skin, his breath making you shiver.

  “God, you are so annoying.” You gasped as he moved to kiss down your neck, biting hard at your flesh.

  “I wouldn’t have to be so annoying if you weren’t such a bitch.” He said into your ear.

  You growled, grabbing his face to kiss him again, this time biting down on his bottom lip and sucking on it, eliciting a groan from deep in his throat and he smacked and squeezed your ass. You felt wild, feral - you hated it when men called you a bitch. But when Ryan did it, it made you wanna fuck him harder.

  He grabbed your thighs and pulled away just enough to say, “Jump,” across your lips. You obliged and he helped you unto the counter; whatever was on it before you clattering to the floor and into the adjacent sink. He tugged your shirt over your head and you began to unbutton his. His mouth and teeth back on your neck and jaw, his hands roughly grabbing at the bare skin of your torso, you fumbled feverishly with his stupid button-up. You caved and tore open the shirt, the buttons popping surprisingly easily from their stitches.

  “Hey -” Ryan began to protest, but you quickly cut him off.

  “Don’t call me a bitch.”

  He shrugged off the shirt and you took the chance to get rid of your bra. Ryan hissed at the sight of your breasts and didn’t hesitate to grab them. Heat pooled in your belly and you ran your nails down his chest, his abs, his hips…. And you began to pull apart his belt. His fingers dug into the soft flesh of your breasts as you impatiently tugged at his jeans.

  “Jesus, just fuck me already, Ryan!” You whined, and he finally got the hint to push down his jeans and pull off yours as you braced against the counter to lift your butt. He pulled down your painties along with your jeans and you shimmied your feet out of them, Ryan wasting no time to take off his boxers.

  He took his hardened length into his hand and began pumping it in his fist, grabbing your chin to kiss you roughly. You spread your legs, scooting toward the edge of the counter to encourage him to finally start fucking you. He rubbed the head of his dick up and down your slit, spreading your wetness.

  “You ready for this?” Ryan questioned.

  “Fuck me.” You answered simply.

  Ryan didn’t need anymore convincing. He grabbed your hips and thrust hard inside you and you let out a loud whimper. He didn’t bother allowing you to adjust to his size, instead setting a brutal pace that turned you on even more. You hooked your arms under his shoulders and dug your nails into his skin, pulling down his back and back up again and buried your face into his shoulder. He moaned, grabbing your throat and pushing you back, forcing you to watch as he fucked you senseless. He watched as your breasts bounced with his movement and used his other hand to rub your clit.

  You were a fucking mess, moaning and whining as he pulled you back forward and trapped your body against his so he could rut into you harder, his fingers hard on your clit.

  “Oh fuck!” You cried, nails digging back into his shoulders. The fact that you knew you shouldn’t be doing this, the way he was grabbing you and biting you and kissing you, the rough and painful way he handled you, the fact that you were in a stranger’s house, only turned you on even more. You ground your hips desperately against his and wrapped your legs around his waist and he moaned, his fingers bruising your sides.

  Ryan grabbed your face with one hand, forcing you to look at him, and he groaned, “You gonna cum for me, baby?”

  You whimpered. “I’m not your baby.” You responded indignantly.

  He grabbed your thigh with his other hand, pulled it further up his torso and hooked it over his elbow, spreading you wider and pounding you harder. You cried out, clenching around him, that heat in your belly feeling insatiable.

  His fingers came back down on your clit and you held onto his shoulders for dear life.

  “God, you feel so fucking good.” He moaned.

  The two of you were slick with sweat, the room filled with animalistic noises and the sound of your skin smacking together. The coil in your belly felt just about ready to snap, all you were capable of was repeating varients of, “Oh God, oh fuck, oh shit,” and releasing the most wanton moans and whines. You could feel Ryan was close too, his breathing ragged and his thrusts becoming more erratic.

  It wasn’t until Ryan buried his hand into your hair and pulled, hard, that your orgasm shook your body and you screamed. Warmth spread all throughout your body as you came, and you clutched and clawed at Ryan for support. You heard him grumble something like, “So fucking hot,” as he rode out your high.

  Soon enough, he buried himself deep inside you and came, biting into neck and sucking hard, sure to leave a nice bruise. He pulled back and grabbed your face to kiss you, softer this time.

  The two of you stayed pressed against each other for a few moments, trying to catch your breath, before Ryan pulled out of you and you released your iron-clad grip on him.

  “Did we just hatefuck?” Ryan asked.

  “Yeah. Yeah, I think so.” You breathed.

#the office #the office us #ryan howard #submission

[senadimell]

2, 7, 30?

Ooh, my first request!

2. Favorite underrated historical figure?

Princess Taiping/ 太平公主！ I wrote a paper on her and it was really hard to find sources discussing her in her own right. She’s a Zhou and Tang-dynasty figure, the daughter of the famous Wu Zetian, known as the only female emperor in China (Zhou being the single-generation dynasty established by Wu Zetian) She’s not someone I’d emulate, but man, she lived a wild life. 

She instigated two successful coups and played politics like nobody’s business. All the while, she amassed landholdings and wealth. She was her mother’s right-hand woman: Emperor Wu* used one of the Taiping Princess’ plans to get rid of a confidante who’d gone too far by setting fire to a temple. Princess Taiping’s first husband was implicated in a failed rebellion against her mother and executed, but she was able to remarry and stay on the scene. In fact, we’re pretty sure her mother had the wife of her second husband assassinated so she could remarry him. I think it’s fascinating that she was able to stay on top during her mother’s rule, as two of her brothers were executed by her mother and two were ousted from power after being named successors. Later in her mother’s life, Taiping outmaneuvered both her mother and her mother’s head of secret police to coerce her mother into agreeing to oust him. 

Eventually, she knew winds were changing in the court and her mother was falling out of favor, so she helped convince her to abdicate the throne in favor of one of her brothers, who I will refer to as Emperor Zhongzong.

It’s kinda complicated to talk about the crazy intrigue that followed her mother’s death, because practically all of her brothers and nephew all have multiple names: birth names, ruling names, and post-humous reign titles, so it can get a little confusing. So Emperor Zhongzong (sounds like jhong-tsong) came into power and his wife, Empress Wei, was also a strong political actor. She did not want Princess Taiping wielding that much political power, and Princess Taiping had lost her most powerful backer when Wu Zetian stepped down. Empress Wei wanted her daughter, the Anle princess, to hold power in the court, and even tried to have her named crown princess and heir, something unprecedented. That didn’t work and her son Li Chongmao/later Emperor Shao was named successor instead. It’s strongly suspected that Empress Wei and the Anle princess (sounds like ahn-leh) conspired to and successfully poisoned Emperor Zhongzong. The Taiping Princess lost no time in launching a coup, and in two weeks time both Empress Wei and the Anle princess were dead. 

Li Chongmao didn't stand a chance. He was around 10-12 when this happened, and when people were still talking about who would be the new leader, she said “Everybody turns to the prime minister [princess Taiping’s brother, Li Dan, later Emperor Ruizong], little boy; this is not your seat.”** Emperor Ruizong treated Princess Taiping as a political equal and relied heavily on her advice.

Meanwhile, his son Li Longji grew in political power and prowess. She felt threatened by him, and participated in a smear campaign to limit his power. He tried to placate her appointing her supporters to  government, so the government was filled with people loyal to her. Unfortunately for her, Emperor Ruizong’s advisors still managed to convinced him to exile her. Through her connections, she was still able to maintain power in the court. 

In 712 ACE, Emperor Ruizong took a comet as a sign he was to step down (rather than eventually getting killed in the struggle between his son and sister) and announced his future abdication to his son Li Longji, temple name Emperor Xuanzong (shu-en tsong) which is how I will refer to him from now on). Aware of what this would mean for her, the Taiping Princess planned her third coup, an armed struggle to upend the soon-to-be Emperor Xuanzong, but was betrayed and discovered. She fled to a monastery, but was found three days later and permitted to commit suicide (seen as more honorable than execution). In the aftermath of the coup, all of the political leaders associated her were implicated by association and were executed or forced to commit suicide. Get this: that was all but one of the chief ministers! It took years for the state to completely appropriate her amassed landholdings and wealth.

*So Empress usually denotes a designated wife of an emperor (皇帝）. Wu Zetian went from a consort to empress regent to empress regnant, essentially. When Wu Zetian ascended the throne, she did some masterful religious and linguistic subversion to establish her legitimacy and came up with a lot of new terms and names to justify what she was doing, since it was unprecedented.  Essentially, she was the female version of Emperor, but translating the linguistic titles is complicated. 

**Sue Wiles and Lily Xiao Hong Lee “Li, Princess Taiping” Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women, Volume II: Tang Through Ming 618 - 1644. Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women.

7. Which time period would you like to live in?

Now. The current one. Go back too far even in the past century and I lose rights and privileges that I value, like the ability to dress as weirdly as I please, the ability to discuss issues of mental health and the #me too movement with women’s rights in general, the ability to work where I want, and the ability to openly practice religion. I would also miss conversations and changes within my own faith community about treating people of all races and backgrounds equally, church culture vs. doctrine, and attitudes towards church history.

 But if I were a time traveller and could stop in a place for a vacation, I’d love to live in the early 1900s (1900-1920) and visit major urban centers for art, music, and to witness labor conditions and activism. Alternatively, if I were a time traveller I would simply attend live showings of my favorite shows and concerts (lots of musical theatre)

30. Favorite kids/teens history books:

Most of the historical fiction I’ve read takes place in the past 100 years, and a lot of it takes place in the 30s and 40s. I do have a rule for myself that I don’t seek fiction about the Holocaust--the things here are exceptions. I tend to read survivor’s accounts instead, though I couldn’t think of many novels in for this rec. 

 Between Shades of Grey, by Ruta Sepetys--gorgeous, heart-wrenching book about a girl in Lithuania sent to a Soviet prison camp in Siberia. 

Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire, by Elizabeth Wein--both take place during WWII. Rather brutal and play around with alternative narration styles.

The Devil’s Arithmetic, by Jane Yolen. I don’t know how to describe it. During a Passover Seder, Hannah Stern is transported back in time to 1942 Poland, during World War II. 

Anything by Gillian Bradshaw (she’s more of a ‘dump you into the history hard and let you figure things out’ kind of author, which I love--I��m trying to get my hands on A Beacon at Alexandria. She also writes historical fiction set in antiquity, which I don’t see as often.)

Flygirl, by Sherri Smith about the WASP (Women’s Airforce Service Pilots). Tackles the racism of the era as well.

The Red Umbrella, by Christina Diaz Gonzalez, about the Cuban exile after the revolution of 1959

Esperanza Rising, by Pam Muñoz Ryan, about a girl who leaves her estate in Mexico and has to live as a migrant worker in California. 

Uprising, by Margaret Peterson Haddix. This is about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911 and is a good introduction to labor issues and unions in US history. This book is almost solely responsible for why I don’t think Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them looks anything like New York at the early 20th century (yes, I know this takes place 10 years earlier, but conditions hadn’t changed all that much). 

The Lightning Tree, by Sarah Dunster (not the book of the same name by Patrick Rothfuss). This one’s a bit personal--it’s a coming-of-age story following the story of a girl of Waldensian heritage set in Utah right after the Utah War (1858) and a year after the Mountain Meadows Massacre. It’s character-driven, lyrical and subverted my expectations of what would happen. 

The Vanishing Point, by Louise Hawes. A fictionalized biography of Lavinia Fontana, a famous female artist in the Italian Renaissance. Considering how the art world is dominated by male artists, this was really neat to read, and also takes place further in the past than a lot of things I read. 

Distant Waves, by Suzanne Weyn: Probably the weirdest book here, but just fabulous. It combines spiritualism, Nikola Tesla, Houdini and Doyle, H.G. Wells and the wealthy crème de la crème of the era with the Titanic.

Non-fiction

Yankee Doodle Gals, by Amy Nathan is about the WASP and is fabulous.

Teens at War, by Allan Zullo. Ten stories of teenagers at war throughout history.

Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials by Marc Aronson. One of the things I realized was just how much of an anomaly the trials were, as previously courts had been denying spectral evidence as a valid source of evidence.

Night, by Elie Wiesel. A personal history of surviving the Holocaust. Here’s the thing--if you can, read both the edition before his wife translated it and compare it to her translation. Her translations soften the hard edges of the book, which isn’t something I usually want if I’m reading about the Holocaust, but have been called more true to his words.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. A moving and disturbing story about race, medical exploitation, the invention of vaccines, and poverty in the U.S. I don’t know if this counts as a teen novel, but I read it as a freshman in high school on my librarian’s recommendation.

Savage Girls and Wild Boys Does this count as children or history? It’s a history about feral children (raised by animals, etc) and other children raised in extraordinary circumstances. 

Sort of history? It’s more modern. Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick. It’s kind of a memoir of Arn Chorn-Pond, someone who survived the Cambodian genocide of 1975-1979 and was a child soldier. It’s brutal, but I recommend it to everyone. 

This isn’t a children’s history book, but I can’t miss an opportunity to recommend it. The Rape Of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust Of World War II by Iris Chang is utterly heartbreaking. The Rape of Nanjing has hugely significant to cultural memory, and yet most people I’ve talked to in the states have never hear about it

As for children’s books, I read my copy of The Secret Soldier by Ann McGovern to death. If not for its length, it would probably be falling out of its binding by now. 

I also read my mother’s childhood copy of The Story of Helen Keller by Lorena A. Hickok over and over again (first published 1958). 

Survivor, by Allan Zullo. Compilation of stories from children who survived the Holocaust. 

The Hidden Girl, the story of Lola Rein Kaufman written between her and Lois Metzger. After her mother is killed by the Gestapo, she has to hide in a barn to survive.

OH! ETA:

Rejected Princesses: Tales of History's Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics  and Tough Mothers: Amazing Stories of History's Mightiest Matriarchs by Jason Porath are a fun way to get familiar with historical and legendary female historical figures. There is some swearing and description of all the sorts of things you can imagine have happened to historical women, but it’s organized by rating and type. 

@brightbeautifulthings I don’t know if asking automatically tags you?

#historical fiction #nonfiction #history #princess taiping #tw: rape #tw: genocide #tw: massacre #code name verity #rose under fire #between shades of grey #the devil's arithmetic #the immortal life of henrietta lacks #gillian bradshaw #women's airforce service pilots #wasp #cuban exile #holocaust #nikola tesla #spiritualism #margaret peterson haddix #cambodian genocide #never fall down #rape of nanking #triangle shirtwaist fire #lavinia fontana #renaissance painters #titanic #this is too hard to tag

[imaginetheoffice]

Before You Go - Ryan x Reader

Pairing: Ryan x Reader

Warnings: None

Genres: Fluff, Mild Angst

Word Count: 2,743

Just got into the Office and wanted to try out some writing for this show. Hope you all enjoy!

Before You Go

A clamorous shuffle of employees interrupted the usual silence that befell the office in its closing hours. Pam smiled occasionally at the exiting person before resuming her work, which was most probably Solitaire. You had just gotten off of your final sales call for the day, to which you gladly hung up the phone and rose from your seat with a triumphant exhale. You stretched your arm before absentmindedly wandering over to Pam’s desk, where you leaned forward and gave her a tired smile. The receptionist returned your smile, though as you were about to open your mouth to say something to her you felt a light hand rested on your shoulder.

 Brows raised in curiosity, you turned around to face none other than Ryan Howard. You could’ve sworn you saw this determined look in his eyes with a big grin, as if he’d just accomplished some enormous feat. Laughing slightly at his newfound confidence, you just tilted your head slightly to the side in curiosity. “Ryan?” you first questioned, your expression reflecting the amusement of the situation.

 “Y/N, hey! I was just wondering if you’d be interested in drinks tonight.” He suddenly insisted, leading you to be taken completely by surprise. You shot a look to Pam before straightening yourself up and shooting him a teasing yet ultimately curious smile.

 Nodding your head slightly, you crossed your arms over your chest in slight interest. “Of course, I’d be interested! But what’s the occasion?”

 Ryan’s smile widened at this, and he exhaled as if this newfound strength within him was just flowing. “You won’t believe this, but I got the job at corporate.” He paused as if he himself were trying to take in the words he’d just spoken. “I’m just… so excited!”

You initially gasped with shock as your eyes widened, a slight laugh escaping your lips. “Wow, Ryan! That is amazing, congratulations! I am so proud of you.” You paused for a moment, blinking as you studied his expression. You shook your head in amazement. “Wow,” came your breathy laugh as you looked at him with your remaining disbelief.

 The man nodded his head, quickly fixing his tie as he caught on to the gaze the two of you had maintained. He quickly cleared his throat, flashing a quick smile though dismissing your excitement for the time being. You realized it as well, to which you broke his gaze and for a moment also cleared your throat. Finally, your gaze wandered back up to him, to which your excitement dwindled slightly.

 “So,” he began slowly, “eight-thirty work for you?”

 You nodded, “eight-thirty sounds perfect. See you then, Ryan.”

 Ryan took a step back and went to grab his coat, to which he quickly checked his watch and nodded. “Later, L/N,” he dismissed, exiting out the door. You simply inhaled sharply as you couldn’t suppress your smile, to which Pam eagerly teased you about it. Though you wouldn’t lie, there was just something about Ryan that was different today. Whether it was good or bad, you would have yet to find out.

-

Despite Scranton’s humble populations, even the most local of bars managed to fill up to their limit on Friday nights. The blaring music was trampled by the loud conversations, though it hadn’t been a concern to either of you. Although, when you’d finally made it to the bar, you’d found there was only one barstool left, to which Ryan insisted you take. Of course, the two of you went back and forth for the time being until Ryan reluctantly took the seat, to which you only slightly rubbed in his face with a beaming grin.

 Your time at the bar was short-lived, however. One drink for the both of you before there was a mutual agreement to ditch this place and head to an old diner situated a few miles out from the bar. The old diner had a sort of old charm to it, you’d always thought. There had been several nights you’d gone here just for a sort of pick-me-up whenever those particularly hard days hit you. Sometimes you’d come here with Pam, once with Michael and a few others in the office, and now with Ryan. You had to admit, coming to a favorited place that you’d typically frequented alone with a friend had a warm feeling to it, something almost bittersweet. Ryan was leaving, but at least he was having a warm goodbye.

 Sure, you were obviously happy about his new job. Anyone should be happy about it. It was a significant raise and it seemed to be an excellent confidence booster for Ryan. Not that Ryan had particularly needed it, it just really helped to push him to make some bold choices that he most likely wouldn’t have made otherwise.

 Yet, you just couldn’t shake off the few feelings of uncertainty you felt regarding his reassignment. Anyone would be sad for a friend leaving, you told yourself, but the words just hadn’t sounded convincing enough. Overall you were proud of him, but there had been just a little feeling gnawing in the back of your mind as if there was something you needed to say. Not only that but that this would be your only shot at it.

Shuffling down to the booth seat, you placed your purse next to you as Ryan slid into the seat adjacent to you. He flashed you a quick smile before taking the menu and adjusting his possessions. You thanked the waitress before clearing your throat, only to notice Ryan’s quite intense fixation on his phone. You raised a brow in curiosity, giving him a look of wonder but it expectedly went without notice.

 In a fluster, Ryan placed his phone elsewhere, to which you then heard a distinct ringing that instead became a muffled buzzing. He nervously laughed, a clear countenance of slight distress on his features as he pursed his lips together. “So, I broke up with Kelly today,” the former temp outright started, forcing a laugh out as his phone continued to consistently ring.

 As much as you wanted to find amusement in this situation to lighten the conversation, you only furrowed your eyebrows together in concern and slight confusion. “Oh no! Ryan, I’m so sorry to hear that. That must be devastating. Are you doing alright? And is that…” You trailed off for a moment, motioning to the phone as Ryan helplessly tried to silence the wrath that poured through its screen. The waitress came by with two glasses and filled each with water, though not without sending Ryan a look before departing.

 He laughed again, shuffling in his seat before crossing the arms over his chest. “Yeah, no, no, it’s alright,” his tone was extremely cautious. “I’ve been meaning to do it for a while. And I mean, I cherished what… we had, but I think now that my life’s straightening out, I need to focus on obtaining what I really want in life.” Ryan pursed his lips again, puffing his cheeks out in slight embarrassment as the phone continuously buzzed at him. “And, yes. 63 missed calls since I last checked.” He shook his head. “I’m probably not going to check again anytime soon.”

 You nodded slowly at his comment, trying to withhold your amusement at his flagrant embarrassment with the situation. It really wasn’t that bad, you didn’t mind. Something about his need to perfect the situation really did brighten your night nonetheless. You appreciated his efforts.

 There was a moment of silence where the phone ceased its ringing. Out of amazement, you gasped at Ryan with clear amusement in your eyes and Ryan gave you a nervous thumbs up, only until the buzzing started up again. The poor man sighed deeply, bringing his hands to his face and rubbing his face with them in exhaustion. Once lowering them, he looked up at you and simply said, “Again, I am so so sorry.”

“Ryan,” you couldn’t properly get your words across without laughing lightheartedly. “It’s really alright. I don’t mind.” You paused for a moment, just basking in the fact that this moment was even occurring. “But you should really call her back. It wouldn’t be fair to leave her hanging like that. Just to say goodbye.”

 Ryan winced slightly at your suggestion but nodded somewhat distractedly, sighing. “Yeah, you’re probably right. I will sometime, but… I’m just saying Y/N, if I die, I’m totally blaming it on you. All of it.” He teased, his smile stretching across his lips.

 Your eyes widened in shock, though you burst out with a laugh as you shook your head. “That is cruel, Howard! You can’t do that to me. Michael would kill me. Or Dwight would do it for him. Either way, cruel!” your voice proclaimed dramatically, earning Ryan’s clear amusement. He just beamed at your playful humor, though for a moment you felt a different type of look within his eyes.

 “Exactly.” Ryan confidently remarked, smirking towards you as you playfully gasped. “You know,” he began slowly, swallowing a bit uncomfortably. His smile fell slightly, but whatever he was about to say seemed like it was from the heart. “I’m gonna really miss these talks, Y/N.”

 You nodded, your eyes wandering around the diner as you sighed. You frowned for a moment but quickly returned your focus to the man in front of you. “Me too, Ryan. It’ll be different. But on the bright side, I am sure you’ll have a blast in New York!” You paused with a mischievous look glimmering in your eyes. “And don’t talk like I’m dead yet. We can still visit on the weekends. It’s only a two-hour drive.” Your point stood out clear to Ryan as he nodded slowly, considering it. The man shrugged lightly.

 “Yeah, I guess so. It just won’t be the same.” A short sigh escaped his lips as he rubbed his hands together, lowering his arms down to his side before glancing up to you with a close-lipped smile. Something had been on his mind – surely the big transfer, but you’d really hoped this talk would’ve helped him through it. Silence engulfed the two of you, only for it to take a moment for Ryan to realize that the buzzing menace had come to an end.

 “Guess the talking distracted us from it! Enjoy it while it lasts, Howard,” you teased, seeing the poor ex-temp’s absolute delight and relief from the break you two were miraculously granted from the heavens.

 He laughed. “Will do!”

 The night played out charmingly as the two of you constantly spoke over what ended up only being milkshakes, which somehow led to the most playful topics you’ve had with Ryan for a while. It was really tonight that you realized how much you appreciated his presence and how different everything would be without him. You would miss Ryan Howard, and you didn’t doubt that fact for a second.

 Something still seemed to linger between the two of you despite all the ground you’d covered and neither seemed to have the courage to even remotely discuss it. Instead, you found humor to cope with this and Ryan greatly appreciated it. You assumed Kelly or this new job had been on his mind, or even moving and making new acquaintances. There was a lot to be worried about and frankly, you didn’t blame him. There was just this innate part of you that genuinely cared for him and wanted everything for him to turn out right, for Ryan to be happy. It was the same feeling you’d felt the first few times you’d talked with him in the break room. The feeling that twisted your heart, impairing your ability to think, and just made you feel like an enthralled love-struck fool. Whatever it was, you didn’t want to lose that feeling. And perhaps that’s what frightened you the most.

 The night hours were wrapping up and few lingered in the diner, the waitress having nudged you with your bill to which you suggested to be split, but Ryan emphatically insisting he covered it. You didn’t want it to end, as foolish as that sounded. You wished you could’ve been here, talking with him so much longer about everything – about the story in the break room, or his terrible calls with Michael, or the party of his roommate’s that he was convinced never happened but his roommate convinced him totally happened (he had one too many drinks that night). You didn’t care what it was about, you just wanted to be there with Ryan. To be with him and his presence.

 You scooted over from your booth and swung your legs to the side as to stand up, leaning down to gather your belongings. Ryan did the same, and an uncomfortably thick silence stung the both of you. He had this look on his face of undeniable regret, with his lips tightly pursed and his forehead wrinkling. You gave him a weakened smile, to which he nodded in reply. His phone buzzed one last time, to which you lightly laughed.

 “Of course,” you teased him, “you couldn’t end the night without it.”

 He chuckled.

  You shuffled your feet slightly, glancing at the clock behind his head before avoiding his gaze momentarily. “Um, I just wanted to make sure you’re all good. You got everything you need?” You lifted your eyes to look up at Ryan, who returned the gaze hesitantly.

 “You mean other than you?” Instantly as the words escaped his lips, he swallowed roughly, breaking the gaze and turning his figure to the side. Your heart immediately soared in your chest, pounding out of control although your face presented shock and the exact opposite reaction that your mind currently processed. Ryan finally looked back at you and shook his head, his brows pressed downwards as he picked up the message. “I’m… I am so sorry, Y/N. I didn’t mean to say that.”

 You shook your head, your lips tightly pursed though you were on the verge of biting them. “No, no! I, uh, I really appreciate it, Ryan. That was sweet.” You gave him a warm smile before gently patting him on the shoulder, to which Ryan lightly smiled at although his embarrassment became dominant. “Again, I’m really going to miss you, Ryan.”

 He nodded in agreement, a slight disappointment befalling his features. “Me too. I mean, I’m going to miss you, Y/N. We’ve got to call, though, alright?” He insisted, placing a hand on top of yours on his shoulder. Immediately your breath became caught in your throat as you only nodded, the edges of your lips tugging into a smile.

 “Alright,” you agreed, pulling your hand away before pulling him into a warm embrace. Ryan lowered his hand and firmly hugged back. The two of you pulled apart, to which you finally convinced yourself to say, “Goodnight, Ryan. Good luck in New York!” You wished cheerfully, sending the man off.

 In reply, the man smiled back and finished, “Night.” Though with those words as you turned around, his expression became tight and concerned. Ryan sharply inhaled, taking a sudden impulsive step forwards that he knew he wouldn’t regret. He held up a hand, waving towards you as he called out,

“Wait, Y/N!”

 With sudden perplexity, you turned around to face him with no questions asked. You could only send him a look of bewilderment mixed with your lingering bittersweet feelings that Ryan took no notice of as he made this decision. His steps were hasty, uncalculated, and he quickly advanced towards with a confident stride that only his heart could praise as right.

 Ryan gently met your eyes with his own and slipped his hand behind the back of your head, leading your lips to meet his own. Your heart soared – you were filled with the charming scents of love and fulfillment; the heat of your face was nothing compared to the warmth and delicacy of his touch. You willingly leaned in towards his kiss, to which he repaid with equal passion and love he had been wanting to pour out all of this time. The kiss was short-lived but sweet and passionate. You were smiling like a buffoon, and you knew it.

 He couldn’t stop smiling either, but lightly he took your hand in his own and proposed,

 “Would you be my girlfriend?”

 And suddenly, you thought, two-hours wouldn’t be such a long time after all.

#the office imagine #the office x reader #ryan x reader #ryan howard x reader #ryan howard

[madisonballer23]

5 Reasons Why “The Office US” is the Best Show EVER

One of the most memorable and successful American TV shows is none other than “The Office”. This television series aired from 2005-2013, yet it is still a very popular show that people watch on live-streaming services such as Netflix, over and over again because it never gets old, and its humor continues to keep audiences hooked. The show is portrayed in a documentary style, where a never-seen camera crew follows around the office workers (interviewing them from time to time), and is focused around a seemingly boring paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania. With nine seasons of romance, huge laughs, pranks and awkward moments, “The Office” is widely known to be one of the best shows to ever be on TV.  Each character that is a part of the cast is unique in their own cooky way, and they quickly become endearing to the viewer. They make the viewer believe that their dream job is to be a paper salesman in Scranton!  Becoming one of the most beloved television sitcoms in history is no easy task, but in support of this idea, here is my list of five reasons why this show was and remains the best.

1. The Plot

The plot is one of the key aspects that makes this show great. The idea of a documentary crew filming everyday life in a paper company office?  Though maybe odd-sounding, it is actually hysterical -- while at the same time, being strangely relatable.  This is what grabs the viewer’s attention, to want to continue watching it since it turns a job that is originally thought of as boring, into a comedic environment that the viewer can’t stop watching -- wanting to see what could possibly come next. There are a lot of people in the US who work in offices similar to Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch. It could easily be anyone, sitting making sales calls about cardstock.  Because the viewer can easily picture themselves working in such an environment, it adds additional intrigue into what the next episode (or even the next scene) will bring!

The idea of filming the shenanigans of seemingly regular people at their regular job is a simple one. With the added bizarreness of Regional Manager Michael Scott, the show’s hilarity is elevated even more, and in a way only “The Office” can be, all in the little town of Scranton, Pennsylvania. While it may seem odd to have this popular show be centered around a fairly unknown town, it is the heart and soul of Dunder Mifflin, and adds to the show’s charm.

2. The Setting

“The Office” needed to ground itself in a real city, and it found its voice in the mundane details of everyday life. Having the setting of this show be in a little town in Pennsylvania, makes it unique, yet also very relatable to everyday Americans. Scranton is indeed a smaller town in Pennsylvania, that is not really well known, but the people who do live there notice the tiny details they see in their town, like lesser-known company and brand names and and “Ma and Pa” shops. These small things that are put into scenes of this show, really grab the attention of many people, and not just the locals from Pennsylvania.  It is part of the show’s genius, and helps the viewer fee a part of the fun.

This proves that the writers of “The Office” paid attention to where they were setting the story. The fact that this place is just a normal, everyday town with a slightly abnormal company, makes the show relatable to us and funny all at once. What the show did for the town of Scranton was almost unmatched, in that people started to go there to tour it and to see where this great show was filmed, and of course, where all the love stories from the show began. It created a reputation of Scranton that no one could have imagined when the show started.

3. The Love Stories

A lot of love fills the air in this TV series, which is an aspect that makes the audiences want to keep on watching as well.  Everyone loves a good love story!  There are multiple amorous adventures (i.e., love triangles) that form throughout the 9 seasons of “The Office.” Some examples of these include the very clingy Kelly and her love-interest Ryan, an on and off relationship between Angela and her love-interest Dwight, Phyllis and her husband Bob Vance, and of course everyone’s favorite, Jim and Pam.

One vexing issue with the relationship between Pam and Jim is that they have to deal with a never-ending flood of distractions like Roy (Pam’s old boyfriend), along the way to an incredible marriage ceremony in what has become an iconic cliffhanger episode. However, Jim and Pam aren’t perfect, and yet, that’s what makes them feel like the perfect couple to the viewer. They’re just two average people who just happen to work in the same zany office. If they can find love in that everyday environment, why can’t I?  They deal with losses, distance, and breakups and everything else that life throws at normal couples today.

4. The Humor

“The Office” is mainly loved for its great humor.  This show is my all time favorite because no matter how many times I have seen an episode, many of them still make me laugh out loud, even if I am by myself.  People like myself who watch “The Office” over and over again, cry laughing more times than one can count and it never seems to get old -- that’s not easy to do (when the viewer knows exactly what’s coming next.)  It is the comedic acting, timing and skill that make the show what it is.

From examples like the “That’s what she said” jokes by Michael Scott, to the pranks that happened between Jim and Dwight on a daily basis, to the weird sentences that seem to come out of Creed’s mouth, “The Office” brings a brand of humor that is not offered in most other shows we watch today.  

5. The Characters

This show is absolutely character-driven, without a doubt. Every single episode involves Michael doing something mind-numbingly rude or outlandish, Dwight being insane and Jim’s popular “look” into the camera. The cast that was chosen to play the roles of these characters were very skillful in improvisation since it is a huge part of what makes this show a great comedy. They really play the roles of the characters like they were really talking to the viewer. What really makes them stand out is that they are all unique and yet, relatable at the same time.  

It is easy to see yourself as Pam, for example, wondering if a receptionist is all she will ever be, and debating whether or not she can chase her dream by going to art school. Even Michael has relatable characteristics -- in wanting desperately to be loved and admired.  All the characters bring something to the table; even those the viewer never thought would matter. The actors that play these characters, really bring the best out of themselves to help us grow closer to them as you watch.  It doesn’t take long before the viewer connects with each of them, and that is a big part of what makes “The Office” extraordinary.

The actors skill in portraying the characters in the way they do, wrapped-up in zany plot-lines, really sets up this comedy in ways that are incredible and well thought out by the writers and directors of this show.  This aspect also helps the viewer really dig deeper into the emotions of each character and what roles they play in any particular plot-line.  But, perhaps most importantly, the viewer will get three main things out of watching “The Office” that seem to be universal: the viewer will laugh at all of the jokes made by Michael and his fellow employees, cry of laughter when they do things we never would think are funny, and you will want to continue watching because it will never get old.

[sage-nebula]

The Office Survey

@theofficestan came up with some cool survey questions for The Office, and I saw said questions in the tag, and since I have some time to kill (while I’m here, at work . . . my life is The Office in a lot of ways tbh), I figured why not? 

This got long, though, so I’m putting it under a cut.

1.)  Your three favorite seasons of The Office? (in order, if possible)

HMMM, outside of my top favorite season, this one is hard. But if I had to choose . . .

Four

Five

Either Seven or Nine

Four is an obvious winner. Although it’s tragically the shortest season due to the writers’ strike, every single episode in season four is pure gold, to the point where it’s really hard to pick just a handful of favorites. I mean, honestly, season four is home to these pure gems:

“Fun Run”

“Dunder-Mifflin Infinity”

“Launch Party”

“Money”

“Local Ad”

“Dinner Party”

“Did I Stutter”

“Goodbye Toby”

And that’s me narrowing it down. Honestly, season four was just . . . easily the best, imo. In addition to having so many good episodes (many of which were double the length, which slightly takes off the sting of it being a shorter season overall), the character balance was just really on point as well. Pam and Jim had just gotten together, so they were arguably at their cutest (arguably, because let’s be honest, they’re almost always cute); Michael escaped his abusive relationship with Jan and was starting his growth into a character that you could really root for; Dwight and Angela sadly broke up, and she began her relationship (read: fiasco) with Andy; I honestly prefer Ryan as the temp and wish that Karen had gotten that job instead of him, but at the same time we saw some growth and evolution in his relationship with Michael as well; Toby revealed himself to be a total creep, and so on and so forth. Season four is just really great! I really wish it had been longer.

That said, season five is also really, really good, and has to be my second favorite. Aside from the fact that this is where the Michael/Holly storyline started and was arguably at its best (I still like them later, I just prefer how they were depicted in s5), season five had the Michael Scott Paper Company arc which was AMAZING and I wish it had lasted longer (I really loved the brot3 that was Michael & Pam & Ryan; they were something else), as well as the episodes:

“Weight Loss”

“Customer Survey”

“The Surplus” (even the the “conflict” here makes no sense, it’s still a good episode)

“The Duel”

“Prince Family Paper” (COMEDY GOLD)

“Stress Relief” (ALSO COMEDY GOLD)

“Lecture Circuit” (SAME)

The Michael Scott Paper Company episodes as mentioned (“Two Weeks” - “Broke”)

And again, this isn’t to say the other episodes were bad, because they weren’t. This is me trying to narrow it down to some top faves.

Lastly, seven or nine . . . it’s hard for me to choose. Seven is up there because it did have some really good episodes, including quite a few which highlighted the relationship between Jo and Michael (which, while brief, was one of my faves). It also brought Michael and Holly back together, and “Michael’s Last Dundies” and “Goodbye Michael” are episodes that make me tear up every time. On the other hand, Michael also leaves, and that’s painful (even though the show is still good even after he leaves, and anyone who says otherwise is wrong), so. Season nine, meanwhile, was AGONIZING to watch as it was airing, considering all that goes on with Jim and Pam; I was on tenterhooks every week, terrified that the show was going to ruin everything and split them up. But it didn’t! They pulled through, and honestly I like that they were portrayed as a more realistic couple. We also had the introductions of Pete and Clark, who had a bit of a rough start but were still nice additions to the cast, as well as the best series finale a TV show has ever had (which is why I’m praying they don’t ruin it with a reboot). So both season seven and nine probably tie as my third favorite seasons overall.

2.) Your two favorite romances other than Jim/Pam?

In order:

Michael/Holly

Dwight/Angela

Michael and Holly edge out over Dwight and Angela purely because I feel that Michael and Holly were less dysfunctional. Like, there’s a quote from Angela in 2x15 where she says, “I’m in the healthiest relationship of my life,” but the joke is that she’s not; her insistence on secrecy with their relatonship is a mark of unhealthiness in their relationship, not because they’re bad for each other, but because neither of them are really in a place where they can be together healthily and happily. Of course they don’t stay this way; both Dwight and Angela grow exponentially over the course of the show, and by the time the finale comes they’re both very happy and healthy. But they had a period where they were, imo, just as dysfunctional as Ryan/Kelly, just in a different way, and others (Andy in particular) were caught in the crossfire because of it. Meanwhile, Michael and Holly never had that problem, and honestly, they’re just so dorky and cute. It’s not hard to believe that they are, in fact, soup snakes soulmates. So for me, Michael/Holly edges out over Dwight/Angela, though I love Dwight/Angela a lot as well.

3.) The five Office episodes you watch most often?

I honestly can’t answer this, because I’m one of those people that watches the show all the way through, and then two days later starts again from 1x01. I’m incorrigible. However, anything from seasons four or five is a safe bet if I’m just wanting to grab a singular episode to watch out of the blue. Also 2x12 “The Injury.”

4.) Pick just five favorite characters

MMHHH . . . I’m going to cheat and do two separate lists. The first one is for main characters (not just those in the opening credits, but also those who are in a lot of prominent storylines, such as Erin, Angela, and Robert California), and then one for side characters. I’m justifying this because it’s pretty much impossible to not have a top five list dominated by main characters since they receive so much focus, but The Office also has so many fantastic side characters that I don’t want to leave out.

So that said:

Top 5 Main Characters:

Jim Halpert

Pam Beesly-Halpert

Dwight Schrute

Ryan Howard* 

Michael Scott

See?? The headliners really dominate. That said, Ryan gets an asterisk because I’m very picky about the seasons in which I love him. I like him best in seasons 1-3, where he’s there to be a deadpan snarker who is just . . . resigned and yet not to the fact that he’s a temp in this ridiculous place. I like him again in season five during the Michael Scott Paper Company arc. But otherwise I’m very “eh” about Ryan, because I feel that they often didn’t quite know what to do with him, and he wasn’t as entertaining as a hipster douchebag as he was when he was a quiet deadpan snarker. Jim says once, “I liked you better as the temp,” and Ryan says, “Me, too,” and honestly, same.

Top 5 Side Characters:

Stanley Hudson

Oscar Martinez

Nellie Bertram

Darryl Philbun

David Wallace

Yes, I really like Nellie. I’ll admit that part of it is because I adore Catherine Tate, but I also feel that a lot of people unnecessarily lambast her simply because they like Andy, and in all honesty, Andy deserved to lose his job after he did a No Call, No Show that involved hanging up on the CEO, and deliberately refusing calls when he knew that his job was on the line. He chose Erin over his job, and the fact that he felt he could just do that with impunity was a mark of his own immaturity. No, Nellie didn’t get the job in a very conventional way, but Robert California was not a conventional CEO. Doesn’t change the fact that she was selected, or that Andy acted like a prat.

Anyway, Stanley is amazing and severely underrated. I love Stanley. He deserves his decommissioned lighthouse that has a button he can press to launch that lighthouse into space. Give it to him. (Alternatively, he has earned his place in Florida. I’m glad he’s happy Florida Stanley for the remainder of his days.)

5.)  Name three unpopular opinions you have about the show

Haha, let’s see:

The show was not bad after Michael left. Though honestly, I feel that this opinion is mostly shared by people who aren’t really fans of The Office as much as just people who know of it, and like an occasional episode, but otherwise don’t care that much. I’m never one to participate in “true fan” nonsense, but people who say that The Office sucked after Michael left remind me of genwunners in the Pokémon fandom: They like the early parts they saw, but didn’t want to give later things a chance. I admit that season eight especially has its rough patches, but that doesn’t mean that it was bad. I love all nine seasons of The Office---even season one has gems like “The Alliance”---and I disagree hard that the show was terrible after Michael left. Of course I missed him, but the rest of the cast was strong enough to still carry the show after he was gone.

As expressed above, Andy deserved to lose the regional manager position, Nellie would have been better at it, and Andy/Erin was tbh a bad relationship. This is three in one, but since they all center around Andy, I figure it’s fine to include them all in one.  I already kind of explained above why Andy deserved to lose his job, but honestly, he really seriously did. You can’t just pull a No Call, No Show that involves you hanging up on the CEO and expect to keep your job. Hell, in most professional environments you can’t pull a No Call, No Show period and expect to keep your job unless you have a damn good excuse, and that’s the thing: Had Andy done that because he, say, got in a bad car accident on the way to work, or had a family emergency, that would be one thing. But he didn’t. He did that because he wanted to go get Erin back, and the only reason why he wanted her was because he couldn’t have her (more on that in a second). Andy didn’t have a good reason for blowing off work, he just didn’t. By doing what he did, he demonstrated that he didn’t actually care about his job. Therefore, he deserved to lose it. Secondly, I do think that Nellie would have been better. Sure, she was clueless---but so was Michael. So was Andy. The only people to have that position over the course of the show who weren’t clueless were Jim and Dwight (well, Dwight in season nine, at least). Nellie might have been clueless, but she could have learned, particularly since it was obvious that Dwight was keen on helping her with it. In addition to that, though, Nellie was her own, original character; after Michael left and Andy replaced him, it felt a bit like they were trying to write Andy as though he was Michael. He wasn’t quite a Michael clone, but there were certain episodes (such as “Gettysburg”) that had a Michael feel to them. But Nellie didn’t have that issue; Nellie had her own backstory, her own issues, and while she was clueless, she was clueless in a way that was different than Michael or Andy. She was a shake-up to the already established dynamic of the show, and so I feel that she would have been a better fit not necessarily in the sense that she was better equipped to be manager, but that having her in that seat could have led to some more original episodes over the course of season eight especially. Lastly, I’m sorry, but Andy/Erin was terrible and I’m glad it sank. It was really cute at first; the flirtationship they had was cute at first, particularly since they were both silly and immature. However: The Office is, overall, excellent in terms of character writing. For the most part, all of the characters are well-written, well-rounded, and realistic. However, Andy Bernard is one of the few exceptions. They changed his character both subtly and massively depending on the storyline they wanted to have, and writing him as more innocent and silly so that they could pair him up with Erin is one instance of this. Look at how Andy tries to court Erin in comparison to how he tried to court Angela; you could argue that he’s just shifting his approach in order to woo a different girl, and/or that his relationship with Angela changed him, but in honesty it doesn’t feel that way because we’re supposed to believe that Andy’s shyness is a genuine part of him. Andy was never shy about approaching women; in fact, in season three he says that his success with women is tied partly to his ability to slowly and steadily wear someone down. And we see this with Angela; he keeps pursuing her until she finally gives in. With Erin he was very tentative about it, coming across as more innocent, sweet, and a bit silly, which I think was probably due in part to the age difference between them, so that it wouldn’t seem creepy. Nonetheless, it’s hard to enjoy the fact that they’re both silly and naive when that’s . . . not really Andy, both before and after they’re together for the first time. They’re not really a good match for each other unless Andy’s personality is changed to specifically make it so. Moving on from that, and also setting aside how awful the will-they-won’t-they nonsense was (their first break-up was ridiculous, and clearly only done so that the writers could continue the will-they-won’t-they for the sake of drama), it’s as I said above: After their first break-up, Andy only ever wanted Erin when he couldn’t have her, and in that, it came to feel like he viewed and cherished her less as a person and more as something to win and then possess.  I mean, think about it. Erin breaks up with Andy because of a contrived reason (she found out about his prior relationship with Angela). She ends up going out with Gabe, and Andy spends the duration of Erin’s time with Gabe being upset that Gabe “stole his girlfriend” (he didn’t; they weren’t together at the time), and insistent that Erin was “still in love” with him (she wasn’t; they only dated for like three weeks). Eventually, Erin decides that she does still have feelings for Andy, and she breaks up with Gabe to get together with him. After she makes this known, Andy . . . rejects her, because it “doesn’t feel right.” In other words: Andy was upset pretty much the entire time Erin was unavailable, but the second she was available and wanted to be with him, he lost interest. He then proceeds to keep ignoring her until he finally gets a new girlfriend of his own, Jessica. He then proceeds to up the ante on ignoring her, and starts going out of his way to hurt her feelings or otherwise flaunt his relationship (e.g. replacing her as head of the Halloween party without telling her, saying loudly how much he loves Jessica on a phone call with her when he knows that Erin is within earshot, etc). Eventually, Erin decides to pull a Jim and move away so that she can move on from Andy. Suddenly, after a season of ignoring her and deliberately flaunting his relationship in her face, Andy decides that he must have her back, and drives down to Florida to harass her until she comes back with him (there’s the “wear ‘em down until they say yes” Andy we all know and vaguely dislike).  In other words: Andy was not romantically interested in Erin (and no, following her home to make sure Robert didn’t take advantage of her doesn’t count imo; that read less like jealousy and more like genuine concern considering that Robert is kiiiind of a creep), and in fact went out of his way to make that clear, but the second he saw that she was moving on from him, he just had to have her back. So he gets her back, and they return to Scranton. And what happens then? Well, he loses interest. Again. Except instead of breaking up with her, Andy just starts ignoring her again because there are other aspects of his life that are more interesting or enticing. His a capella drama is more interesting. His family’s boat is more interesting. And then he leaves her to go sailing on a boat for three months. And though he keeps in constant contact with David Wallace and tags her in memes on twitter, he only e-mails her four times. Once again, since he knew that Erin had interest in him, he lost interest in her. He had no interest in actually maintaining their relationship or spending time with her. So then Erin breaks up with him so that she can pursue Pete, someone who is genuinely interested in her and wants to be with her. And once again, now that Erin is unavailable, Andy wants her back. He tries to convince her to stay with him even though she is unhappy, telling her that if she fakes it, he won’t know the difference. He’s so utterly selfish that he literally does not care at all about her feelings. And while many felt this was out of left field, it’s not at all a surprise considering he only had interest in her when she didn’t have interest in him. He didn’t care about Erin as a person, really; he didn’t like or love her so much as he liked / loved the idea of her being into him. When he saw that he lost that, he flipped out. That’s not love, and it’s not a good relationship, and tbh I’m glad that she dumped his ass. Pete might have been (okay, was) underdeveloped, but at least he was genuinely into Erin, ffs.

I don’t think Creed is that great. Actually, I kind of dislike him. Don’t get me wrong, he does have some good lines. But mostly I just feel that he was a bit over the top with his creepiness in later seasons (such as the implications that he committed murder?), I don’t find any of his lines to be all that spectacular, and honestly, I can’t forgive him for what he did to Debbie Brown. I really can’t. So while most fans of The Office adore Creed, I’m just not one of them. Sorry, but I think he’s a bit overrated. That said, his song and final lines in the finale were great. But then again, everything about the finale was great, so that’s no surprise. :P

Thanks for making this; it was fun and a great way to kill time at work!

#the office

[theoffice-cris]

The Wedding Invitations

Set somewhere in season 8.

“Oh! Oh! oH! WOOAH! Yeah! In your face Dunder Mifflin!” shrieked an excited receptionist, causing the rest of the office to fall silent in curiosity of what was suddenly going on.

Jim and Pam exchanged knowing looks before the pregnant woman hesitantly rose from her seat and waddled over to reception. 

“Erin?” she said, a gentle smile resting upon her lips as she leaned over onto the desk in attempt to alleviate the pain from her aching feet. “You okay?”

“Huh? Oh! Yeah..” the younger girl squealed, bouncing in her seat as she brought the envelope to her parted lips. “I just--"

Unable to finish her sentence due to her excitement, she jumped out of her seat and shoved the opened envelope into Pam’s arms. The older lady smiled as she retrieved the content of the envelope and began to read it.

“Go ahead, read it aloud!” Erin sang.

“Uh... Sure.” Pam agreed hesitantly. 

She’d known exactly what it was just by looking at the envelope, she and Jim had received an identical golden envelope two days prior. However, she couldn’t decline while Erin stood mere seconds away from exploding with more of those shrill squeaks.

“Erin Hannon, your company has been requested at the celebration of Mr. & Mrs. Scott on April 29th..... Be there or be square.....lots of love Michael and Holly Scott.” she read.

Pam: So, Michael and Holly came to visit us a few months ago and Michael asked Jim to be best man.

Jim: After much consideration, I accepted.

Pam: And by much consideration, he means he said yes immediately after Michael ‘popped the question’.

Jim: I---That’s---okay, listen--

Pam: Michael thought that he had to get down on one knee when asking his best man to do the honors. And I must say, Michael’s proposal to Jim was pretty more romantic.

Jim: More romantic than the day I proposed to you?

Pam: Oh yeah.

“Did you and Jim get invited?” Erin asked.

Pam flashed a smile to Jim, “Yeah we did. Actually Jim is Michael’s best man.”

“Oh!” Erin smiled faintly, before snatching her invitation back. “That’s cool.”

Erin: So, I kinda thought that I’d gotten invited before Jim and Pam. Yeah, I got really excited. But turns out, they’d already gotten invites and Jim is his best man.... I guess Michael remembers me at receptionist number two. But hey, that’s totally fine too! At least he remembered.

“So, your invitation to Michael’s wedding came in today huh?” Phyllis asked, absentmindedly tracing the edge of the reception desk.

“Yeah!” Erin smiled. “Wanna see it?”

The girl anxiously handed the envelope to Phyllis who silently declined. “Uh, it’s okay. I heard it when Pam read it, then when Andy read it and when Kevin tried to read it...”

Without another word, the larger woman regretfully returned to her desk.

Phyllis: So, Michael and Holly’s wedding invitations have been sent out. Apparently, they’re all hand written by Michael. Which in Michael Scott, that means that they’re only inviting the ones that he really likes... I haven’t gotten one.

“Hey, uh, Gabe...” Toby said, hesitantly approaching the lanky man. “May I ask you something?”

Toby: Have I received an invitation to the wedding? Well, ya know.....No... But, something tells me to remain hopeful.

Gabe turned in his seat, "Sure, what can I help you with Toby?”

“Well, it’s uh, about this wedding invitation thing...” He started.

Gabe resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He’d gotten so tired of hearing about the wedding invitations. People were bragging about what had been written inside of their invitations as if it had been written by someone who, well, wasn’t Michael Scott. He didn’t see the appeal. 

To be fair, his opinion on the whole ordeal could have a bit to do with his own invite.

“No.” the blue eyed man sighed.

It didn’t exist.

Toby smiled a small smile as he left to return to his desk, not giving Gabe the chance to elaborate on what was inside.

Gabe: No, I wasn’t invited. And you know what? It doesn’t matter. Michael Scott is a part of Dunder Mifflin’s past and as far as I’m concerned. I forgot he existed.....You know, if this office focused their energy on working rather than some poorly crafted wedding invitations it would make my job a heck of a lot easier. 

“And so I told her, “If my boyfriend left me in the middle of the food court like that I would just kill myself.” Kelly blabbed to Ryan who had been too busy playing Solitaire to truly process what she’d been saying.

“Uhuh.” he hummed.

“Oh yeah. By the way, my wedding invitation come in this morning.” she said. “I can’t believe Holly never asked me to be a bridesmaid.”

Ryan frowned, “Why would she have asked you to be her bridesmaid?”

“Um, because you need at least one smoking hot bridesmaid to model the dress. Duh.” she snapped.

“Right.”

“Please join us, Meredith Palmer as we celebrate the union of Michael and Holly Scott on April 29th. You’re invited, yes. You have to come to both the ceremony AND the reception. Not just the reception. It’s my wedding day, not just a celebration of free booze.”

Angela rolled her eyes, “Meredith, how could you be so proud to read that aloud? He’s openly insulting you by insinuating that you’re an alcoholic.”

“Who cares?” Meredith bit back. “Where’s your invitation?”

Angela brushed a stray strand of hair from her face before stomping off to her desk.

Angela: No, I didn’t get an invitation and frankly I do not care. The senator and I have a very important dinner that evening anyway.

Andy impatiently tapped his fingers on the edge of his desk, he’d been burning with questions since the start of the work day. He stormed out of his private office to stand in front of the reception desk.

“Excuse me, may I have everyone’s attention please?” Andy asked, clearing his throat. “Can I have everyone in the conference room, ASAP?”

Without any questioning, the conference room was full and all, well most attention had been on Andy.

“It has come to my attention that Michael has sent out wedding invites to his friends here at Dunder Mifflin and--”

“You brought us in here to talk about some damn invitations?” Stanley asked, definitely not amused. 

Andy nodded, “Yes, but it was only take a few minutes.”

Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Stanley returned his attention to his Sudoku puzzle book.

“As I was saying, about those invitations...” Andy returned. “Just out of pure curiosity, show of hands: Who here has received an invitation?”  

His eyes darted across the room as he called out the names of those who’d had their hands raised, “Tuna and Lady Tuna--Halpert duo, D-Dog--”

“Ugh, could you please not refer to Dwight as ‘D-Dog’“ Angela groaned in distaste

“Right-o. Halpert duo and Dwight.” Andy corrected, “Erin, Oscar, Daryll, Kelly, Ryan, Meredith and wait, Stanley? Really?”

“Is there a problem with that?” he asked.

Andy quickly took a step back, “No, no. Of course not. Alright, well... Everyone return to their stations.”

Andy: How could I not get invited? I mean, he invited Stanley? STANLEY! 

The regional manager put on a brave smile until the only person left in the conference room was Dwight, who only looked at him and confidently brushed past him to return to his own desk.

Dwight: So, Phyllis, Toby, Creed, Gabe, Kevin, Angela and Andy didn’t get invited to the wedding? How interesting. 

“What’s in the box Dwight?” Jim asked as the bespectacled man stood in the break room brooding of a small, unlabeled cardboard box.

Dwight scoffed, “Right as if I’d tell you.”

Jim flashed a glance at the camera before sipping his coffee, “You know... I think I overheard the others guessing what you had in there. Wanna know what their guesses were?”

“I do not.” Dwight said, abruptly leaving Jim in the break room alone.

Jim whipped out his cell and sent a text to Pam, asking her to join him in the break room.

“Hey, what’s up?” Pam asked, absentmindedly rubbing her belly.

“You notice that Dwight has been walking around with that cardboard box all day?” Jim whispered, careful to not interrupt Creed who’d been reading a newpaper.

“Yeah.” she said, placing her hands on her hips. “What about it?”

“I’m almost positive he’s hiding something. He won’t let it leave his side.” Jim said, “He even carried it to the bathroom with him.”

“Ok, gross.” Pam frowned.

“We need to figure out a way to get the box away from him.” Jim said, rubbing his chin. “I think I have an idea.”

“Good morning all.” said the CEO as he placed his hat on the coat rack.

Everyone immediately scrambled for something to make themselves appear busy. 

“Good morning, sir!” Erin smiled.

“Ah, Robert. Good morning.” Jim said walking over to Mr. California. “May I speak with you privately?”

“Halpert.” he said, looking Jim in the eyes in an attempt to read him and get a gauge on what he wanted to talk about. “Is this about a raise?”

“Uh, no. It’s not.” Jim said. “The uh, email you sent me?”

“Then, let’s get down and dirty.” Robert said, gesturing to his office. “Shall we?”

Jim nodded and walking into the room, the CEO following close behind. Pam watched out of the corner of her eyes, trying her best to hide the smirk threatening to grace her lips.

Pam: So, Jim and I learned that the great Robert California has a hard time working through his email. And sometimes, he accidentally sends emails to the wrong people. So, if you go up to him and say “About the email you sent me” he will bring you his office and ramble about random things that make no sense. 

Jim: Ultimately it’s about random emails he’s sent throughout the day but the things he apparently emails about are fantastically entertaining.

Pam: He doesn’t really give you a chance to tell him exactly which email he’s talking about. So, Jim and I conjured up a plan to tell Robert that he had received an email about a promotion for Dwight. 

Jim: Which buy us just enough time to swipe the box see what’s inside and put it back before he even realizes it’s gone.

She quickly gathered some papers and made her way over to knock on Andy’s office door.

“Ahh, if it isn’t Lady Tuna and Mini Tuna!” Andy smiled, “Come on in.”

Pam quickly closed the door behind her.

Jim emerged from the office, wearing a face of varying emotions as he returned to his desk.

“Can you believe it?” Jim said to Dwight. “This guy is actually thinking about investing in the beet farming business.”

Dwight slowly turned his attention away from his computer.

“I actually told him that there weren’t any beet farms near by so I couldn’t give him an idea on what business would be like here in Scranton.” Jim said. “Pfft, that’s-- I can’t believe I lied to him... I totally forgot about Schrute Farms. I need to go back and put in a plug for you--”

Dwight quickly stood to his feet, “No, you stay right here. You’ve screwed this up enough.”

Without so much as a glance at his mystery box, Dwight stomped over to Robert’s door.

“Ah, Mr. Schrute. Just the guy I needed to see.” Robert said, “Come in, close the door.”

Jim: And I learned that if you go up to Robert about investing in any non- conventional business, he will be all ears. So, it’s like a double whammy.

Jim quickly swiped the box into his arms once Dwight closed the blinds to Robert’s office and he joined Pam in Andy’s office.

“Alright, you guys. As regional manager, I should say that it does not look good that I am condoning the theft of someone’s personal belongings and--”

“Shush!” Pam hissed.

Jim carefully unfolded the flaps of the box, careful not to rip anything as he opened it.

Everyone gasped when they realized what was inside.

“Are those--” Andy started.

Jim reached into the box and sifted through the envelopes, “Kevin Malone, Phyllis Vance, Angela Martin, Creed Bratton, Gabe Lewis, Toby Flenderson Trashy Shiterson, and---”

“Andy Bernard!” Andy cheered. “YES!!!!!!”

Andy: “Nard-Dog, you are cordially invited to the union of Michael and Holly Scott on April 29th. It’s gonna be the kickass party of the year, yo!” How could I possibly have believed that Michael would have forgotten about little ol’ me?

“This is awful!” Pam whispered, “This is exactly why Michael should’ve just mailed them all to everyone’s houses rather than to the office.”

Jim nodded, “Yeah, well I was trying to do everyone a favor by not giving him everyone’s addresses.”

“So, what are we gonna do?” Andy asked. “We’ve got to let these guys know that they actually did get invited.”

“I’ve got an idea.” Jim smirked, “But Andy, this won’t work until we get you to cooperate.”

“Sure, anything!” Andy nodded.

“I’ll go return the box.” Pam said swiftly exiting the office with the box in tow.

“I got an anonymous call that an employee in this building is feeling unsafe and is requesting that I do a check.” Hank the security guard said.

Andy exited his office, putting on his best serious face, “Hey, Hank. What’s the problem?”

“I gotta check everybody’s bags and make sure nobody is carrying anything threatening.” he said, an annoyed undertone in his voice.

“Alright, everyone. Hank here needs to take some security measures. Please cooperate. It’s going to be quick and painless so long as everyone cooperates.” Andy said. 

Hank sighed as he walked over the reception desk. “Bags: briefcases, purses; box: plastic or cardboard; Anything that can hold or conceal any item. Put ‘em on your desk. Imma start with you little lady.”

“O-Oh! Uh, okay!” Erin said, quickly slamming her cross body bag onto the desk.

Everyone watched has Hank conducted his search, he’d gone through nearly everyone’s things except Jim, Dwight, Pam and Andy’s.

Eventually, he’d made through everyone’s things but when he’d gotten to Dwight. He’d finally gotten some resistance.

“You do not have to go through this. It’s just an empty box. Can’t you tell by how light it is?” Dwight spat.

“Oh come one Dwight.” Kevin groaned. “He’s gone through everyone’s stuff.”

“Yeah, just let the man do his damn job.” Meredith added.

Kevin: When Hank was going through my briefcase, he found a couple of condom wrappers; empty. I was pretty embarrassed. Now, people are going to start thinking I have sex in this office.

Hank opened the box and pulled out the contents of it. Everyone’s eyes shifted to the person next to them when they realized how familiar those golden envelopes looked.

“Dwight stole the remainder of the wedding invitations?!” Gabe asked.

Everyone gasped, and soon the entire office erupted with chatter.

Oscar: What an interesting development. Dwight actually hid the invitations from these guys? You know what? That’s a new low. Even for him.

Kelly: As it turns out, Dwight was hiding the invitations all along. That’s pretty crazy, right? I mean, I knew he was mad that he wasn’t Michael’s first choice as best man but neither was Jim. Originally, Michael wanted Ryan. I wonder what he would have done if he knew that he wasn’t even second choice.

Ryan: I totally knew about Dwight stealing the invitations. Michael texted me and told me that he sent a bunch of invites here to the office. Dwight picks up the office mail and leaves it for Erin to sift through. Why didn’t I say anything? Well, he bought my silence after I asked him for mine. 200 bucks. 

Toby: Would you look at that? I actually did get an invitation. It wasn’t the nicest thing I’ve ever read but it’s better than nothing. I should remember to thank Holly for getting me a spot.

“Dwight, how could you?” Angela spat.

Dwight walked away from the angry blonde to the break room where he could reflect on his mistake.

Dwight: I simply failed to consider every possible angle. I should’ve put them where no one in this office would have thought to look. The handbook drawer in the annex.

Jim: In search of entertainment, we found this. And it was interesting-- To say the least... But I guess, in a way, Pam and I are heroes.

END.

#the office #the office scenario

[gifted-burnout-archive]

Jim’s Best Friend

Part Fifteen - The Website Solution

Word Count: 2579

Author’s Note: You kissed Jim! He kissed you! Eek! On another note, I got an ask today about my update schedule, so I have decided to a new chapter of this fic post every 1-2 days at 3am GMT (11pm EST). I hope that’s ok, and I’ll be sure to update my page if I’m not posting an update for whatever reason.

WARNING: Todd Packer, that is all.

May, 2007.

Jim had been in a state of turmoil for the past few weeks, and he wasn't quite sure what to do about it. He had come clean to Karen about the kiss with Y/N about a week after it happened, which set off a chain reaction in the office of bad blood between Karen and Y/N. The whole building had begun to take sides, and it had split Jim from his best friends, in support of his girlfriend. About a fortnight later, Y/N was done with it all, and she moved through to the annex under the pretence that her constant Spanish and French distracted the sales team, which she was a part of. Y/N had left him voicemails too, apologising for what happened, and not just to Jim. Karen has received a few, and while they appeared civil on the surface, there was war brewing beneath the surface.

The girlfriend or the best friend? The new or old coworker? Karen or Y/N?

And Jim was in the middle of it all. He would have discussed it with Pam, but she was another talking point with Karen, how he used to have feelings for her back in the day. Karen had asked him to refrain from spending time with both of them. Jim was doing his best to comply, seeing it as only fair.

And yet, as Phyllis' wedding rolled ever closer, and the day came for the bachelor and bachelorette parties, Jim still couldn't get Y/N's kiss out of his head. The way her lips felt on his was something he hadn't experienced with the other women he dated, and he couldn't figure out why. He was happy with Karen, she was great, but Y/N kissed him like it was the last chance she would get, and he didn't want it to stop.

Maybe she was right to kiss him like that.

"Gentlemen, reminder we are in the warehouse from 2.30 to 3.15." Michael called from his office, the clock on the far side of the room reading 11.42. Jim sat at his desk, delaying his orders to find a male stripper for the ladies luncheon shower as long as he possibly could. Karen and Pam were helping Angela organise it all in the conference room, and with Dwight so very invested in finding a lady stripper on Michael's request, Jim really didn't have much to do. Except work.

He wasn't going to be doing that.

He let out a yawn, rubbing his eyes to try and stay awake. He and Karen has been having long talks every night for at least a week, and Jim was running on empty in the sleep department. But, it kept his girlfriend happy, and that meant he was happy. Tired, but happy.

—

"Something's up with Jim and Karen." Pam reported you the camera crew." Not that I've been eavesdropping. It's not really any of my business. But... I've gotten pretty good at reading the back of Jim's neck, and after what Y/N told me... I think I knew what's been happening." She smiled a little, in the way that just said 'what can you do?', before looking out the window at Jim, who yawned again.

—

"Halpert!" An all too familiar voice called out, Todd Packer walking through the door. "Tall, queer, handsome as ever. Hi everybody, it's me, Jim." Todd did his best to intimidate Jim as a gay man, being met with zero laughs. He looked over Karen, who stood by Jim's desk, and sauntered over to her hips first. "Hello, hello. Todd Packer. And who might you be?"

"Karen Filipelli, Jim's girlfriend." She introduced herself, and Todd guffawed.

"Really? This guy?!" He made sure, and Karen nodded, taking Jim's hand. Before Todd could continue on that streak, Michael appeared from his office.

"Packer!" Michael yelled, giving him a bear hug, Todd pulling away quickly.

"Need a coffee, Mike. Back in a few." Todd promised, making his way to the annex. He stopped in the kitchen for a second, hearing bizarre muffled conversation, and he walked through to the break room to find Y/N pacing back and forth.

"Oui, oui, je sais. Mais il est important que nous triions ce site Web, Paul, ou nous perdons des clients étrangers ...." you spoke in an angry tone, trying to get your message across to Paul in Rochester, who took over the branch as a native French speaker the year before. It appealed to the European clientele. "Oui, je sais... Non, je ne le sais pas..." you looked up, doing a double take as you realised Todd Packer was blocking your exit, and you gulped. "Paul, je me rends compte que vous dirigez Rochester maintenant, mais il est essentiel que nous triions ça..." As Todd approached, you rounded off the call. "Très bien, rappelez-moi." You said, closing over your phone.

"My, my, my. You got hot, Y/N. Like, properly hot." The sleazebag looked you over slowly, his eyes focusing in on your chest, and you did your best to push past him for the door. He took your arm. "You know, I wouldn't mind you talking dirty to me in bed en français." He whispered, and you pushed him off.

"In your dreams, Packer." You rolled your eyes, heading back to your desk beside Kelly. She opened her mouth to start chatting. "Not now, Kelly, I'm really not in the mood." You cut her off before she could start, glaring at Todd Packer as he headed back through to the office.

"God, fine. I like Karen better anyway." Kelly snapped back, getting up and walking after Packer towards the conference room, hoping to help with decorations.

You sat in the quiet of the annex, and you ran a hand through your hair. The past few weeks had been nightmarish, and it only seemed to be getting worse.

After you kissed Jim, he stopped talking to you completely. You had told Pam what happened, and sent him voicemails to apologise, and then sent Karen voicemails to apologise, but by that point you were deemed the 'office slut' by half of the main office, and 'drunk but well meaning whore' by the other half. You couldn't take any of the side glances for much longer, and moved yourself to the annex, temporarily, so to get some peace of mind, and avoid the stares of your workmates.

And honestly, it hadn't been terrible. You could block out Kelly's voice most of the time, and Toby was fairly quiet, so you actually got more work done than ever before. Though, on that front, you were facing more and more problems with the online orders from abroad. And after Paul, the head of the Rochester branch, had refused to listen to you once again, you were coming to the end of your tether.

Michael refused to discuss the shift to a more internet friendly company, and Jan was sleeping with Michael. Even when you did mention it, it was met by deaf ears.

That lunchtime, you ended up taking lunch at the same time as Ryan, the pair of you sitting and eating quietly. Your phone rang, you answered.

"Paul, oui..." you started the conversation in French, smiling at Ryan as you sat back in your chair, taking a sip of your soda. "Je sais mais..." You began, but Paul was clearly just shutting you down. Again, and again, and again. After about five minutes of trying to fight it, you groaned. "Paul, Nothing good is going to happen if we keep down this road! We need a website that actually works I-" Ryan was looking at you with some interest now, and you sighed again. "Bye Paul." You hung up the phone, your heading dropping to the table.

"You know, I couldn't agree more." Than said after a second, and you glanced up at him, an eyebrow raised.

"Really? Everyone I've brought it up to seems to think the opposite." You admitted, taking another drink of your juice. Ryan turned his chair to face you properly.

"Within, what, ten years, Dunder Mifflin is going to be obsolete. We need to be a part of a progressive company, the sort that makes the transfer to online sales now rather than later." Ryan set it out plain and simple, and you couldn't help but nod. He got it. Your entire problem at the moment was the instability of the internet presence of Dunder Mifflin.

"I just know that if we had a decent website, our position in the foreign market would be more than temporary. Not a one time flop venture, but an actual foothold in the European economy." You laughed a little, shaking your head.

"What?" Ryan asked.

"Just can't find someone to make or endorse that website..." you raised and lowered your eyebrows as you spoke, pulling your mouth into a tight lipped smile.

"Then we need to go higher up. Beyond Michael and Jan and Paul... Take this to the IT head at corporate, take this to the CFO." Ryan suggested, and you smiled. He had as much passion as you had reason for the idea, and it balanced nicely.

"I'll... I'll send an email. After the parties, CC Michael and Jan and Paul in... Do you want to be credited?" You asked, finishing your drink and standing from the table. A quick glance at the clock told you it was almost time for the bridal luncheon, where you planned to eat nothing as stay for as little time as possible.

"Yes, credit me, please. If this goes well, I want my name on it." Ryan nodded fast, and you returned it with a smile.

"Alright. Well, enjoy the bachelor party, let's hope it's not a total disaster." You joked, heading back to the annex, but both of you were sure that disaster lay ahead.

Ryan headed back to the office, making a beeline for Pam's desk, who looked a little surprised by his appearance. Ryan didn't spend time talking to her, in or out of work.

"Hey, Pam." He said casually, leaning on the shelf and smiling at her. He wanted something.

"Hey, Ryan. You need copies made or..." Pam trailed off, noticing Jim turn round to listen in.

"Actually, I had a question about Y/N." Ryan revealed his true purpose for the visit, and Jim leaned in closer. "She's single, right? I mean, I know she had a boyfriend before she left for Europe, but do you know if she's on the market now?"

"She's single, yeah... I wouldn't expect too much, she's not really in the right headspace for dating at the moment." Pam suggested, and Jim gave her a questioning look she didn't respond to. Ryan tapped on the desk with a smile.

"Thanks Pam, you're the best." He said with a grin, heading back over to his desk by Creed. Jim shared a look with Pam before turning back to his work, finishing up before all Hell broke loose at 2.30.

—

So far, you had sat through a bizarre twenty minutes of entertainment. It seems that Jim had hired a history speaker instead of a stripper, which made for a much better party, in all honesty. After Karen and Pam's back and forth about Franklin's many girlfriends threw the impersonator off course, a few glasses of champagne threw the conference room into hysterics, your new friend tying a cherry stem with his tongue, and sending a wink to Pam, which sent you all laughing.

You had all taken a break, for bathroom trips and a restocking of cocktail mixers, and you found yourself alone in the kitchen with Karen, both prepping coffee.

"So, I guess you have the Ben Franklin wig, and the costume, and you figure, how could I put this to practical use?" Karen said with a laugh, and you smiled, not quite sure what to think of the sudden interaction. She had avoided talking to you as much as possible for weeks.

"I like to think his dad was a Ben Franklin impersonator who pressured him into it." You joked along, adding a few more heaps of sugar and extra creamer into your coffee. "Hey, um... I know I left voicemails and emailed you, but I really should have said sorry in person about the whole Jim thing." You said quickly, and looked up to gauge Karen's reaction. "I don't really do confrontations very well, and it was a stupid drunk mistake. I just-"

"You know what? It's fine. Honestly... Jim and I are in a better place because of it, if anything you sort of helped the relationship." Karen assured you, and you felt the tension ease up a little. "I mean, you had to exile yourself to the annex, I think the past few weeks of shunning are more than enough of an apology." She added.

"I guess so... Not going to lie, I miss the main office... Hey, did you get harassed by Todd Packer today?" You asked, taking a sip of your coffee as the pair of you headed back to the conference room.

"The balding dude with the red face? Yeah! What an asshole." Karen exclaimed as the pair of you walked in, and Pam looked over.

"Todd Packer?" She asked.

"Todd Packer." The pair of you replied in unison, sharing a laugh.

The parties ended after an hour or so, and you sat yourself down at your old desk, logging onto the computer and picking up the phone. You would move your things back through at some point, but you had a pressing matter to attend to, and you didn't need Kelly in your ear.

The boys came back into the office about fifteen minutes later, Dwight accompanied by a blonde with heels high enough to cause ankle breakage, and you smiled at Ryan as he walked through the door, waving him over.

"You want me to answer phones... With my clothes on?" You overheard the woman say, and you bit your lip to stifle a laugh.

"We paid you for three hours work, now get to it." Dwight ordered, and you looked up at Ryan, the pair of your sharing a chuckle.

"Sorry, Uh, I wanted you to read the email before I sent it." You explained why you called him over, and Ryan nodded, leaning over you to read the computer screen, one hand on the desk and the other of the back of the chair. You looked up from your monitor to see Jim with a frown on his face, but the moment you locked eyes he looked back at his screen.

"Wow... That's... That is exactly what we need. Can you make sure to CC me in?" Ryan asked, and you nodded, quickly adding him to the email and sending it off. "Oh, by the way... You going with anyone to Phyllis' wedding?" Ryan asked, and your eyes widened.

"I, uh... I'm not." You stuttered our, and Ryan smiled.

"I'll pick you up from your place at 11 then?" He suggested, and you nodded slowly.

"Sure... I'll text you my new address." You said slowly, looking over at Pam with a shrug as Ryan walked away.

It wasn't like Ryan was bad looking, and as much as the notebook had given you order in life, maybe a change of pace would be good. And, anyway, maybe it wasn't even a date. Just two friends going to a coworker's wedding.

What could possibly go wrong?

--

Tags: @imsuperawkward​ @rosie2801​ @onceuponahuntersrealm​ @poppirocks​

#au #jim halpert #michael scott #pam beesly #dwight schrute #the office #jim halpert x reader #jim x reader #office au #reader #reader insert #reader is female #reader is bi #romance #friendship #pam and jim #jim and pam #slow burn #from season 1 #fanfiction #fanfic #fandom #john krasinski #steve carell #jenna fischer #rainn wilson #jackryanplz #part fifteen #queue

[theofficeimagines]

Garden Party Favours

This is my first time writing anything The Office related but I've been re-watching the show a lot lately and decided to take a whirl at writing for it! Hope you enjoy :)

After working at Dunder Mifflin for just over a year now, she thought she’d seen it all.  The cameras were one thing, though after a while she almost forgot they were there. Sometimes she’d be sitting at home after work and would start talking automatically, laughing at her mistake. The bosses were something else entirely. Michael Scott had been manager when she started, though he left soon after. In the short time she’d known him she felt like she’d known him her whole life, he was..different as bosses go. He was always nice to her though, and she could tell he really cared about his staff. Deangelo Vickers was fine, a little odd but he wasn’t there long enough to really make an impact on her. She wondered if there was ever going to be a permanent boss, especially after Dwight’s disastrous attempt. When Andy was selected, she was happy about it. Andy could be a little irritating at times, but he wasn’t the worst. Robert California however, she just couldn’t quite get a grip on. Whenever he was in the office, she felt a weird vibe from him. This culminated when she found herself alone with him in the kitchen one afternoon. She’d seen him come him, and gone back to reading her magazine. After about ten minutes she’d looked up and noticed him staring at her. When she’d gotten up to leave he’d started on about how the mind needs sex to stimulate it, not vapid publications. Upon that note, he’d walked out. She’d sat at the table feeling incredibly weird, yet not surprised. He was just one of those people who..is just doing their own thing. No matter what people think. Of all people, Dwight seemed to notice she was a little put out when he’d walked into the kitchen a few minutes later.  He didn’t say anything in particular, just rattled off some of his thoughts on his lunch, but she was sure she’d seen a look in his eyes she didn’t often see. She liked Dwight, though that seemed to be a rarity in the office. She knew he wasn’t the easiest to like, and could be incredibly irritating but she was drawn to him nonetheless. She secretly loved all his stories about Schrute Farms and his life outside the office. He was unlike anyone she’d ever met, but in the best possible way. She generally got along with everyone in the office, but wished she could be just a little closer to just that one.

  When Andy announced that he was having a garden party at Schrute Farms she was thrilled. She’d heard so much about the place that she really wanted to see it for real. She’d asked Pam what to expect and was pleasantly surprised when she arrived and it wasn’t quite as Texas Chainsaw Massacre-y as she’d been expecting. It was a little weird when a bearded man who looked like he’d stepped out of the 1800’s insisted he was the Valet but she decided to just roll with it and pray she’d see her car again. She got a bit of a shock when Dwight shouted her name as she walked into the party but when he did the same for the others she got used to it. Kind of. Sitting at a table with a few others, having a casual conversation, she sat back and took in the view, it was so peaceful here. She thought of her cramped apartment and envied all this space Dwight had. When Pam got up to go change Cece, she went with her to the house, praying there was a working toilet and she didn’t have to use an outhouse. She’d give her cramped apartment that much, god bless that tiny bathroom. Thankfully, there was a bathroom, though she wasn’t sure what century it was from. Using it quickly and stepping out again, she bumped into Dwight in the hall.

  “Oh, sorry. I was just headed back outside. This is a great party.” She smiled, gently smoothing her dress.

“Thank you, I appreciate your gratitude, Y/N.” Dwight gave a curt nod before moving to head back down the hall. Before he could, she decided to take a shot at flirting. As far as she knew Dwight wasn’t involved with anyone and she certainly wasn’t. If she didn’t try she’d never know, what would be the worst thing to happen?

“I meant to tell you Dwight, you’re a really good host. It was kind of nice hearing you shout my name like that. Maybe sometime I’ll be shouting yours.”

That. That was the worst that could happen. What kind of flirting was that? She was suddenly very aware of the camera.

“Well, if you’re planning a party of your own I warn you hosting duties are more difficult than they appear. I personally used a rare book I fo-”

“Maybe, I better get back, make the most of the party.” She forced a smile and left as fast as her legs could carry her, feeling her cheeks grow flushed. As she was leaving she could hear Dwight saying something about goats to one of the staff but she couldn’t be sure, she just wanted to get out of there. When she was asked for a quick interview on what just happened she wanted the ground to swallow her whole.

“So..yeah. I may have a tiny crush on Dwight, and may have just totally embarrassed myself in front of him. Could you excuse me a minute? Just gonna go live in a ditch somewhere.”

As she was walking back outside she bumped into Pam.

“Hey, I feel like I haven’t talked to you all day. Everything okay?” Pam asked, smiling.

“Just..great. Enjoying the party. Beautiful weather isn’t it? I’ll be right back.” She gave a last glance behind her towards Dwight before quickly escaping outside, leaving Pam looking confusedly at the camera, then at Dwight.

  “There you are, Y/N, drink?” Meredith asked, holding up a bottle of wine. “Please. My car is probably the other side of a beet field at this stage.” She needed something, anything to take her mind off what just happened. She should’ve known Dwight wouldn’t have picked up her meaning. If she’d lifted up her dress and jumped on him he still probably wouldn’t have noticed. Maybe.

A few drinks later, she was feeling a little more relaxed. The party was winding down, just a few from the office chilling out with beer and burgers. Dwight had just finished the ‘closing ceremony’ and joined everyone. “Great party Andy, and of course great host.” Jim raised a toast. Everyone cheered and took a drink as the sun began to set. “Yeah, I had fun today, except for..well, you know. You didn’t see my car anywhere?”

She was a little tipsy, the setting sunlight shining in her eyes as she talked to the camera.

“Y/N we can give you a ride if you want.” Pam called over, smiling.

“No need, I’ll take her. I wanted to talk to her anyway.” Dwight interjected, not quite meeting anyone’s eye. She was sure she saw Pam smile at Dwight, but wasn’t quite sure.

“Oh, are you sure? I don’t want to be any trouble..” She trailed off, feeling sobered up all of a sudden. What did Dwight want to talk to her about? Probably thought she was thinking about planning a party herself. Technically that was true. Pity party, invite only.

“Y/N, have a seat.” Dwight held his arm out, gesturing towards the couch. It was just the two of them now, she didn’t see any of the crew. Dwight had asked her inside, and she couldn’t shake the knot in her stomach.

“So, Pam tells me that you’re interested in me.” She froze as the words left his mouth. What had Pam done? Had she been really obvious?

“Well..yes, you’re a friend. At least, I like to think you are. Though I’m friends with everyone in the office. Though sometimes Ryan can be a bit of a douche, and I don’t really know Toby as well as everyone else, maybe I should make more of an effort to get to kno-”

“Ryan was a temp who got lucky and Toby is the worst. There, just saved you some time. You’re welcome.” Dwight smirked.

“Great, thanks, Dwight. I better be going, I don’t want to keep you from anything.”

“You’re not keeping me from anything. Listen..Pam said you liked me in a romantic manner. I don’t know if that extends to sexual feelings, though I wouldn’t be surprised as I am a very dominant, well-groomed and sexually voracious being. I would understand if you felt that way towards me.” Dwight was being as matter-of-fact as usual, and she couldn’t tell if he was saying he accepted her feelings or reciprocated them. Hell, she’d come this far.

“What if Pam was right? What if I was attracted to you..in every way?” She dared to look at him, feeling bold.

“As I said, it would be understandable.”

“Would it be acceptable? If I wanted to do things to you I’ve never wanted to do to anyone else? If I wanted you to do things to me like nobody ever has before?” She could feel the alcohol spurring her on as she slowly rose up from the couch, her eyes meeting his. His expression didn’t change, until a slight smirk grew on his lips, and she dared to step forward.

#theofficeimagines #submission #the office #the office us #michael scott #jim halpert #dwight schrute #pam beesly #ryan howard