Chapter Text
Dwight had been on the phone for the past hour. He had never had to convince a client this badly before, it usually came so easy to him. By the second, he increasingly grew more exasperated by the customer, especially because of the attitude he was receiving.
“Look man, I don’t know what you’re not understanding. We’re dropping you.”
“But why?” he asked curiously. “Is there another supplier? From what I know, our prices are perfect for you. They’ve barely increased.”
“Okay, that’s none of your business. Just deal with it. We don’t need paper that badly. We’re a school, not a paper company.”
Dwight frowned at the woman’s comment. “Well, yeah. We’re the paper company.”
“Exactly,” she said. “Now you’re getting it. I don’t know why you got me up in here wasting my time. I have a school to run. Goodbye.”
“Wait, Miss Coleman—“
Defeat. Dwight slammed the phone down in exasperation. His burning sales streak had been broken by this stupid client, or ex-client, and he was mad. It didn’t matter that no one cared about this streak apart from him, he had a right to be pissed. He had justified it in his mind.
From his adjacent desk, Jim raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t completely sure he wanted to know what had just happened, but curiosity had gotten the better of him. “Woah. What’s your problem?”
“None of your business, Jim.”
Jim ignored the bespectacled man’s request for confidentiality. “Was that Abbott?”
Dwight glanced up, raising his head slowly. “How did you know?”
“We were scheduled for a call with them today. I’m guessing it went well?”
“If it went well, I’d have said that, idiot.” he said. Jim nodded in accepted agreement as he turned to look at the camera lens, whilst his fellow salesman continued to rant. “It’s that stupid new principal that replaced Mr Gorman. She’s incompetent.”
Jim winced at the wording. “Woah, easy.”
“No, he’s right.” Phyllis chimed in, pointing to Dwight in agreement. “Principal Coleman’s a real piece of work. I was on the phone with her all day last year trying to renew their order. She kept saying she needed a break.”
Dwight turned around to face her. “But you got through to her?”
She nodded. “Yeah, after I told her I had to go home because it was after five.”
“…Maybe I just need to try harder then.” he deduced. “Yes, that’s it.”
“Abbott’s not even that big of a client, Dwight.” Jim interjected. “It won’t affect your commission that much.”
The salesman rolled his eyes. “Not everyone’s like you, Jim. We don’t just lounge about at work because we’re too busy flirting with our girlfriends. No offence, Pam.”
Sat directly opposite from him, Pam raised her arms in confusion before sharing an amused glance with Jim. “Why am I involved?”
Unfazed, Dwight continued. “I don’t settle for a lousy ‘alright’ commission. I secure every single client thrown my way.”
“Inspiring speech.” Jim deadpanned. “But what are you going to do about it?”
“Oh, I’ll tell you what I’m going to do.” And with that, Dwight got up from his desk, and stormed to Michael’s office, leaving the others in confusion. He didn’t expand on what he was going to do at all.
He knocked on Michael’s door, before opening it up anyway. “Michael. Permission to drive to Philadelphia?”
“What for?” Michael asked, shifting his gaze from the video on his computer to his employee. It seemed the singing cat would just have to wait.
“Retrieving a client.”
“We lost another client?” The boss exclaimed. Since his return to Dunder Mifflin after a brief side project, corporate was already breathing down his neck. Currently, the Scranton branch wasn’t living up to its usual high numbers, mainly because of the confusion between Michael Scott Paper Company and Dunder Mifflin becoming too common. If they saw Michael slipping up at all, who knew what could have happened?
Dwight nodded, disappointed in himself. “Unfortunately.” he said, like it was the worst thing in the world.
“Oh, God.” Michael buried his head in his hands dramatically, muffling his words. “This is bad, Dwight. This is really bad.”
“I know.”
The older man arose suddenly, resulting in his chair thudding backwards into the wall behind him. “We can’t let this happen. Do you have any idea— Where’s this client again?”
“Philadelphia.”
“Philly.” he repeated, mulling it over. “Alright. It’s settled, I’m coming too. You’ll need me to come with you.”
Dwight agreed instantly. “Obviously.”
“Come on, let’s go. We can’t have this. Let’s get movin’. Grab your coat, we’re leaving now.” Whilst he gathered his belongings, he ushered Dwight to do the same as they went through to the bullpen.
Jim saw the pair headed for the door, and although he had an idea of what was happening, he had wanted some clarification. “Where are you guys going?”
Michael stopped in his tracks, because he had completely forgotten to consult the rest of his employees in what he had planned. “We, Jim, are going to get business back. When we return later today, we will have one more client than we did yesterday.”
“Actually, we had Abbott yesterday—“
“Zip it, Jim.” Dwight hushed hurriedly. “Stop trying to undercut our achievements.”
Pam, eager to diffuse the situation so she could get back to work, jumped in with a smile. “Well, good luck you guys.”
“Thank you, Pam.” Dwight smiled, nodding briefly.
“Hold on… hold it!” It seemed at if there was an imaginary lightbulb hanging over Michael’s head as his eyes lit up with bright, childlike wonder— which could only suggest he had experienced an epiphany. “We need to win over the whole school. We have to prove ourselves to them so they never make this mistake again. Pam, Jim, Stanley, Andy, and Phyllis— you, too, are required to join us in this venture. Grab your coats.”
This was ridiculous. The seven of them did not need to storm this miniature school several miles away just to extend their services for another year, maximum. What a waste of time.
That was the consensus shared between them, which they had then expressed to Michael. Unfortunately, he was too fired up. This month had been difficult for him in terms of performance, so this could really save his job. “No, we are going and that is final.”
“But why do we all need to go?” Phyllis asked. “This doesn’t need more than two people.”
“Nothing is ever a two person job, Phyllis. There is no maximum of people that can help make a difference here.” He was not making sense at all, but in his brain his words were a mix of logical and inspirational quote worthy.
Stanley sighed. “We have calls to make, Michael. Do you have any idea how many we’d be missing?”
“Uh, that’s why cellphones were invented. Duh.” Dwight replied sassily.
“Yeah,” Michael agreed. “You can take any calls there, but this is all about the salesmen building connections with this school so they are with us for the long run. Then this could contribute to all of your commissions.”
Andy, who had been confused from the get-go, frowned. “How would that work?”
“It just… would, okay? I need you guys to get on board here. Come on.” He was met with a murmur of perfectly valid excuses from each salesman, but unfortunately, they weren’t good enough for him. “Okay, you know what? None of you are allowed to refuse, because I am your boss, and this is an order. So come on.”
Dramatically, he exited the room first, before signalling to Dwight to make sure they were following through the blinds of the door. Sure enough, the group followed. Begrudgingly, but still.