fic (the office)

four times Michael buys Holly lunch (and one time she buys him dinner)

the office us, michael/holly
spoilers: "new boss"
summary: Michael and Holly's relationship has always been very gastronomy-oriented.
warnings: extreme fluff, also kid!fic, which I vowed never to write.





four times Michael buys Holly lunch (and one time she buys him dinner)







[1]

It's the day after the ethics seminar and Holly still has the binder on top of her desk, a constant reminder of her half-failure. It's okay, the first weeks on a new job are always hard and at least Holly seems in good graces with the boss, which is important and something she had never quite managed so soon before. But then again, she has never had a boss quite like Michael before.

She feels mildly optimistic about...about many things.

At lunch time Michael shows up at her desk. Things are still slightly awkward and they haven't really talked about their argument and she hasn't really thanked him (not in so many words) for helping her out yesterday.

Michael looks at his feet and places a salad bowl on Holly's desk.

`Is this the one you liked?´ He asks with a small voice. `I picked the most boring-looking because your salad looked sort of green yesterday?´

Holly looks at it. It's not her kind of salad, no, not at all. Holly likes spinach, this is lettuce.

`Yep, that's me, boring salad lady,´ she tells him.

`Yesterday's lunch wasn't exactly the greatest.´

`Nope,´ Holly says. `Actually, I've been polling and the results just came in: It was officially my worst meal in Scranton so far.´

Michael blushes a tiny bit. `Sorry.´

`Oh, no, that wasn't,´ she shakes her head. `I was joking. It sucked big time, though.´

`And I'm sorry I threw away your leftovers. That was mean,´ Michael adds.

`Yeah,´ she pretends to think about it. `I don't know if I can ever forgive you for that.´

Michael seems to buy it, and looks downhearted for a moment but then Holly smiles at him. He chuckles.

`Hey, I bought this!´ He taps his fingers on the salad dismissively. `It's more than enough compensation, this stupid, boring-looking salad.´

`And would you be interested in having half of this stupid, boring-looking salad?´ Holly asks, with her heart in her voice.

`What, like together?´

`No. Actually I was thinking I could eat here and you could eat in the break room and then we could compare notes,´ she says, trying so hard to keep a straight face.

For a moment Michael seems a bit lost, like he is not sure if he should say “yes” even if it's clear that he wants to have lunch with her – Holly feels stupidly happy that it's so clear that he wants to.

`Okay,´ he says finally, taking the bowl in his hands and studying the contents closely. `Ew.´

Holly laughs.



[2]

Michael decides he is going to let her have the rest of the french fries.

`You'll need the proteins because I'm going to kick your ass at mini-golf.´

`Then you should have them,´ Holly declares; Michael cocks his head to one side, baffled. `Because I'm so going to kick your ass at mini-golf today.´

Michael ponders if it's too soon to say "I love you".



[3]

Michael keeps his phone switched off right from the moment he leaves New York, all the way through the highways and side roads and wrong turns and GPS panic attacks; he knows it would only be people trying to convince him to get back. He loses his way a couple of times, adding a couple of hours to the already endless journey. He doesn't care. Maybe this is what people call an adrenaline high.

Everybody in the office looks up when he turns up. He walks past the receptionist (Pam would have made a better job of trying to stop him, Michael thinks with scorn). It's really been a shitty, wonderful, surreal drive and the tiredness threatens to weight him down now. He clears his throat. He doesn't trust his voice at all.

All eyes turn to him of course, and no doubt this people remember him from his stint at lecturing them months ago. Michael doesn't care. It's not like he works in the same company anymore, he's had half a day of not being their colleague and it's not like anyone cares about this stupid branch, he tells himself over and over.

`Excuse me,´ he shouts to no one in particular, just the general area of the office. `Can I speak to... with...? Is she here? Is...Holly Flax?´

His voice dies down before he finishes saying her name. He's tried so hard not to say her name for such a long time now, tried so hard not to even think it.

Michael doesn't have to repeat it, though, Holly has heard the commotion and walks in from the HR area. Michael tries very hard not to give AJ a look all through this, but he is a bit disappointed that AJ hasn't been struck by lighting like Michael has been hoping.

Holly stands a few feet away from him, giving Michael an odd, shocked look. Michael doesn't even try to decipher what that look means, because if it's not a look of “oh, Michael, you are the man of my life, let's run away together” then Michael is not interested in knowing just yet. He is not really thinking about anything beyond the fact that she looks, of course, beautiful.

`I just drove all the way from New York,´ Michael says, high-pitched and with muffled laughter, like he can hardly believe what he's just done.

`Michael, what happened?´

It takes him a moment to actually process the question because man, it feels so good to hear her voice again.

`I quit. I just quit. There's some new *jerk* at corporate and David Wallace didn't get my calls and he broke us up and he ruined my anniversary party and was disrespectful and I've been fifteen years in the company, fifteen years -can you imagine?- and then he tried to bribe me so I quit. They ruined my party. And then I drove here.´

`Oh, but Michael. Dunder Mifflin and you, you are- What are you going to do now?´

Holly doesn't seem to give a second thought to the fact that they are having this conversation in the middle of the office and everyone is looking at them with a bewildered look on their faces. She seems genuinely worried for him.

`I don't know,´ he says, realizing. He starts giggling. `I don't know. I have no idea what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. I was just hoping you were going to have something to do with it. That's the story of me standing here talking to you.´

He knows the moment he's said it and hey, he is not expecting anything here, probably Holly is still dating that idiot of AJ and probably they have like seven children already and none looks like Michael and, probably, of all the stupid ideas Michael knows he has ever had (and he knows only a part of the total of stupid ideas) this is the worst. But he's got to say it. And he's got to try it. Right now he is just happy here, standing in the middle of an office of the small-time paper company he is no longer a part of, tired from the long drive, cold, dry sweat clinging to his clothes. Happier than he's been in months.

`Michael...´ Holly starts but he knows that tone.

`It's okay,´ he cuts her, burying his hands in his pockets. `You know what? It's okay. I didn't come here to complicate your life. If you don't feel the same that's cool, if you are totally, one-hundred-per-cent happy here, with whoever you are dating, that's fine, I'll just, you know, leave. But if you are less than one-hundred-per-cent happy, even if you are just ninety-nine-per-cent, then I've just come to ask if I could buy you lunch.´

Holly says nothing and Michael gets it, he should walk away ASAP, retain a little bit of dignity.

But in the very last moment, just before Michael turns around to leave, Holly breaks into a tiny, tentative smile.

`I know a great Italian down the street,´ she says.



[4]

It becomes sort of a tradition, Sunday brunch after Kat's soccer practice. Truth be told, Michael doesn't get all the fuss about brunch but it's a fun way to re-charge after hour and a half of shouting at the referee – the other parents have complained about Michael and Holly but they refuse to stop pestering, on the grounds of freedom of expression and also that the referee is a moron.

Kat overindulges with the syrup; she doesn't so much like eating it as she enjoys drawing faces on everybody's pancakes; Kat is six years old and has her mother's nose and her father's black hair. If she had been a boy she would have been called Ryan. Actually Michael wanted to name her Ryan even after they knew the sex - It's one of those boy-girl names, isn't it? Like Cameron, or Alex. Holly refused vehemently.

What Michael also likes about brunch is that Holly always eats ice creams so the next time Michael kisses her she tastes of vanilla. Michael likes that.

`That was some mean leftie you scored today,´ Michael says to his daughter.

She is too busy trying to cut the pancakes into little triangles. Holly is helping with her own fork and knife. Kat is left-handed, which makes Michael believe, for some reason, that she is going to be a famous soccer player and have him rich and retired.

`You can order as many pancakes as you like,´ he tells her. `You can order twelve different syrups if you want.´

`Wow, twelve?´ The girl repeats.

`Big bucks,´ Holly teases and pulls the hood of his pullover until Michael can't see.

`Well,´ he explains. `I got a big bonus this week.´

`The Lancaster account?´ she asks. `You got it?´

Michael looks ever so smug.

`Nailed it,´ he comments.

Holly takes his head in her hands and gives him a big kiss on the cheek. She runs her hand through his hair.

`Hey, Holly, stop it, you are ruining my Sunday casual hairstyle.´

She smiles mischievously and gives him a little peck on the lips. She looks so proud. She makes more money than Michael usually but Michael is happy about it; he is still in the paper business, only recycled paper now (he still calls it not-really-real-paper). He is in sales, which is basically phoning people up and convincing them that they should change to recycled paper or we will all die from climate change. As Holly put it, it's ecologically awesome. Most people would say that he is too old to be still in sales and Michael is no longer the boss of anyone anymore but he is surprisingly happy about it.

He feels specially happy on Soccer Sundays, even if he doesn't really get why brunches are so in right now.

`I don't think there are twelve kinds of syrup, dad,´ Kat comments thoughtfully – she really looks like her mother right now.

`Well, we'd better find out how many then,´ Michael suggests.

The waitress seems understandably confused by the question. Holly squeezes Michael's leg under the table and she leaves her hand there, on his knee, for the rest of the meal.





[1]

It's their third date and they go to the mall. Michael finally chooses some Chinese as the least risky option from the food court. Michael jokes about taking out the company Amex (although, amazingly enough, he knows better than to try that on dates; also corporate cut down his limit, again) and Holly messes with him and gives him a horrified look and says I'm the female Toby. Remember? before breaking out in giggles.

As a conciliatory gesture Holly pays for the food. Michael protests, of course, but it makes him feel sort of glow-y.

`Hey, have you been here? Check this out?´ He takes her hand and drags her to the second floor. There's this amazing view of the Steamtown NHS.

`Wow,´ Holly says.

Wow, Michael thinks. He didn't know dates were supposed to be this fun. Michael's track record includes dates full of tense silences and spilled food and normally they end before time, but they have never been much fun.

But this is fun. Holly goes for the Cajun Grill, which Michael just finds so uninhibited that it makes him feel less nervous about the outcome of the night. Holly doesn't seem nervous, just... excited. Wow again, Michael thinks.

Hours later, after sex, he discovers Holly is a cuddler like him, Michael thinks this is the best news he's ever had since well, since the mere existence of Holly. Usually Michael just likes to snuggle up against the woman he's with and fall asleep pretty soon – Jan never let him do that, of course, Michael almost starts crying when Holly not only let him put his arm around her waist but she slides her own under Michael and starts stroking his back. And for some reason Michael doesn't feel like sleeping just yet. He doesn't feel restless either.

`Well, that was-´ he starts.

`Mmm-uh,´ Holly nods and her smile is ever so smug, it lights up her whole face.

`It wasn't just great, it's a whole new category of greatness, it was this new category called Hollyness and whenever people have really great sex, they are going to call it Holly,´ Michael realizes that doesn't sound so good mid-way the sentence but by then he can't stop himself. Holly just seems very amused. `I mean, did you like it? Was it good for-?´

`It was Michaellicius,´ she replies.

He cracks up and gives Holly a little encouraging hug.

`I don't know why I was so worried, I should have eaten more. Now I'm hungry.´

`Well, we could go eat something?´ she offers.

`Now?´

`Breakfast.´

`But it's not, it's not midnight.´ It's actually eleven-thirty. They were in quite a rush to leave the mall and get to Michael's.

`Scrambled eggs, and bacon, and ice cream,´ Holly is way too into the idea to attend to reason now.

`Oh, we could swing by the gas station, they have ice cream.´

`Mmm,´ she agrees. Michael likes the way her nose wrinkles when she is thoughtful.

`And I can make bacon. I have- I have a George Foreman grill.´

`Great!´ Holly exclaims, genuinely excited. `Or should I say...Holly?´

Michael laughs against her shoulder. Holly's hand is ruffling his hair, suddenly she is everywhere.

Okay, so he really wants some bacon, but that can wait a bit longer.