Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters…they all belong to the writers of The Office.
Set after Casino Night.
PAM
A light breeze worked its way around her as she walked from her car to the front doors of Dunder-Mifflin Scranton. It carried the smell of lavender and sunshine with it and her hair moved gently across her face. It was the first day of June and the mornings still held a hint of coolness the air. A smile tugged at her lips as she walked into the lobby.
JIM
He sat on the couch gazing thoughtfully into his cup of green tea. It wasn't really his thing, tea drinking, but Pam had convinced him to work it into his morning routine. She insisted that it was good for him…but he only drank it because he knew she did. And he liked the thought of his mouth tasting like hers.
He put the cup down on the coffee table and turned his head to look out of the window. The tree in his front yard was swaying gently and he could see bright rays of sunshine between its giant leaves.
Nine more days.
PAM
She sat at his desk and lightly ran her fingers over his possessions. She had taken to arriving early so she could perform this little ritual before anyone else showed up for work. She liked the way his things felt in her hands. They were heavy and non-threatening. They were simple and, like him, they made her smile. He had an elephant paperweight covered with words like: jasmine, lemon, and mint. When she had first sat at his desk, a little less than two weeks ago, she pondered the reasons why he would write those particular words. It didn't matter though…she simply enjoyed looking at his handwriting. She would trace the letters with her fingernails and imagine him, sitting somewhere with a Sharpie marker making this little elephant his own. She stroked the paperweight's head and continued to lovingly examine his belongings.
She had been surprised the first time…there were so many pieces of her scattered in and around his desk. A quick sketch she had made of "Penguin Jim" on a Post-It was displayed on the bottom corner of his computer monitor. There was also a crumpled note tucked in the top desk drawer from one of last year's "Yo-Momma -Note-Throwing" Contests. She had read it countless times, and remembered how much fun they had had that day throwing a ball of paper across the office for a couple of hours. But it still enthralled her…the way their handwriting twisted together and covered the page.
JIM
He folded a pair of cargo shorts and placed them in his suitcase. He still had a week until he left for Australia, but packing took up time that would otherwise be spent brooding. He was becoming increasingly nervous at the thought of traveling across the world by himself, but it distracted him from the feeling of desperate helplessness that was threatening to overwhelm him. He knew she cared about him…knew there was something between them worth exploring. He had felt the fire in her when their lips met at the office almost two weeks ago. It tantalized him in his dreams and the way her hand had felt on his face was forever burned into his memory.
He placed a couple of T-shirts on top of the cargo shorts and glanced over at his clock. With a quick visual sweep around his room he turned to walk down the stairs and into the kitchen. He picked up a granola bar and his keys and walked out of the front door.
PAM
She sat at her own desk and greeted the cameramen as they trudged in the doors. A curious feeling of contentment washed over her and she took a sip of her morning tea.
JIM
His heart pounded painfully when he saw her sitting at the reception desk. She had taken the last three days off and he'd almost enjoyed not having a constant wall of tension smacking him in the face for 8 hours a day. Of course…as her eyes followed him he knew he'd deal with any amount of discomfort to just be in her presence.
"Hi, Jim." He gave her the warmest smile he could muster and waved his greeting back at her.
He sat at his desk and turned his chair to face her. "Did you have a good couple of days off?"
She gave him one of those unreadable looks…an almost blank stare with just a hint of a smile. "Yes."
He nodded and turned back to his monitor, "Excellent."
"Did anything interesting happen while I was gone?"
He shook his head and looked over his shoulder at her, "Nope. All was quiet at Dunder-Mifflin Scranton."
She nodded and turned towards the ringing phone on her desk, "Dunder-Mifflin, this is Pam."
PAM
It was noon and she was walking over to Jim's desk. She sat on the edge, facing the break room as she had done countless times before. She watched him for work a brief moment and was painfully aware of how uncomfotable she was making him.
"Have lunch with me?"
He looked up in surprise and then averted his eyes to the ceiling. "I don't know…I've got a lot of work to get done…and, uh…"
"Please?"
He leaned back in his chair and ran his hands over his face. He then stared down at his desk for a while, "Ok."
"Meet me on the roof in a couple of minutes."
Her heart was fluttering with excitement as she made her way back to her desk. She could see Michael and Dwight in the conference room talking animatedly…Dwisght seemed to be begging for something. She shot a quick glance over to the accountant's desks and saw Angela watching the two men with disdain on her face.
The smile that had slowly been building during her exchange with Jim finally broke out across her face. She reached underneath her chair to grab a plastic bag, shot a small smile in Jim's direction, and then headed on to the roof.
JIM
Huh…that was interesting…
They had avoided spending any time alone with one another. He wasn't sure he could take being in close proximity to her again without saying things she didn't want to hear…even if she really did want to hear them. He didn't think he could stand to see those waves framing her eyes and her cheeks without running his fingers through them. Her lips, void of lip gloss or lipstick, tempted him every time she spoke, or smiled, or made a face, or…well…they always seemed to tempt him.
"What am I doing?" He dropped his head to his desk and seriously considered not going up to the roof. He knew he would…there really was no question about that. He could never leave her waiting for him—especially if she had made the effort to ask for him. He let out a sigh and stood up.
He wondered what she wanted to talk about…if anything. Was she going to say goodbye to whatever it was that they had? Had she changed her mind about the wedding? He tried not to expect too much from their lunch as he climbed up the ladder that led to the roof. It was just as likely that she wanted to only have lunch and try to clear the air between them. He knew that she was just as miserable at work as he was…the paper business wasn't nearly as fun if you didn't have a friend to wallow in shame with.
He took a deep breath as he emerged from the building and a very typical Jim look graced his face as he took in the scene Pam had set up for him. She hadn't noticed him yet, so he was able to watch her open a plastic container full of something mushy looking and place it at the center of a large red blanket. It was breezy on the roof and her hair kept whipping across her face while she struggled to get everything in place. He cleared his throat and her eyes jerked to where he was standing.
"Hi."
A small smile managed to twist his lips. He looked pointedly at the little picnic she had set up, "What is all of this?"
She motioned for him to have a seat on the blanket next to her. He noticed that she brought the teapot he'd given her for Christmas and his smile widened just a bit. He was pretty sure it was a little warm outside for tea…but if Pam Beesly wanted to have hot tea with him, he'd go with it.
"I just wanted to get away from everyone for lunch today." She opened another container, and as he took his place next to her, he saw that it held some kind of chicken. He peered at the white mushy stuff and discovered that it was rice. He could feel her watching him and he let his eyes slide to the empty field across the street from their building.
"Why?"
PAM
She sighed and looked down at the red blanket. It was her favorite…her grandmother had knit it for her when she'd graduated from high school. It was a little frayed at the corners and there were a few stains on it, but it always brought her a sense comfort. She looked over at Jim, and his eyes held hers. She cocked her head to the side and dropped her gaze to the blanket again.
"I left Roy."
She lifted her eyes to his once again and couldn't help but smile a little at the look on his face. His eyes had gotten wide and his eyebrows were doing that furrowing thing that they did so often. She looked over at the field that had held his attention just moments before.
"After we…kissed, I um, I had to think about some things." She looked up at him and continued, "What I said that night…I was caught off guard. All of a sudden my best friend was…more. And my fiancé became less. It was really weird and it seemed like it happened instantly." She laughed here, "Even though I know it didn't. Kisses…first kisses anyway…they're not supposed to be like that."
She could see that he was working on what he should say and she held her hand up, "Wait…just…let me get all of this out. Please?" At his nod she continued, "I mean, you were there and it was…it felt right. And then I left you and went to Roy and I know that you don't want to hear this…but I kissed him. I tried so hard to feel with him what I felt with you." She looked up at the sky for a moment and closed her eyes, "I tried so hard to just feel something." She opened her eyes and focused on his hands. "But I couldn't. There was nothing there. When you were kissing…when we were kissing…I felt…everything. And not just butterflies and all that…but…everything."
She had begun wringing her hands in her lap—this was the part that was the hardest to say. "I understand if you changed your mind…if I hurt you too bad. You never misinterpreted anything, Jim…our friendship was everything that you thought it was…that it is." She forced herself to lay her hands quietly on her knees. "It's just…I'm pretty sure that I'm totally in love with you…too." She met his gaze full on for the first time since she started talking, "Even if it did take me a couple of weeks to say it back."
She took a deep breath and let it out with a nervous smile. Then she waited.
JIM
He could feel his mouth getting dry…it had been hanging slightly open for pretty much the duration of her speech. A million things were running through his mind as he stared into her big hazel eyes and the only thing he could thing to say was, "The wedding?"
"It's off. I um, I started making calls about a week ago…but I didn't tell Roy until Friday. I knew that he would try to convince me to stay…so I made sure that it was impossible for the wedding to still happen." She started squeezing her fingertips, "I don't want you to feel responsible though…this is something that I needed to do for myself. I never realized that he wasn't making me happy…until you started to. You know, make me happy."
He dragged his hand through his hair and turned so that he was fully facing her, "And this is what you want? You know it for sure?"
Her eyes were starting to look a little glassy and her cheeks were flushed, "I'm so insanely positive that it's scary."
A wide smile spread across his face and he looked a little bewildered. "Wow…this is…something." He scooted closer to her and took her hands into his own. "Do you need time? I mean, you guys were together for a really long time and I don't want…I don't want to be…"
She shook her head and wiped the corner of her eye, "There hasn't been much between Roy and me for a long time." She looked like she was at a loss for what to say, "If you want to…I'm, I mean, I'm ready…to try."
He scooted up until their knees were touching and just looked at her for a moment. It was almost too much to take in…and they hadn't even eaten lunch yet. He reached up with his hands and cupped her face. "Well…just in case you need to hear it again—I'm in love with you." Her smile made his heart flip. "Completely, head-over-heels in love with you."
PAM
He was touching her face and they were both wearing goofy smiles and she kissed him. She let her lips do what her mind had been begging her to do for longer than she'd care to admit. He tasted like grape soda and maybe even pretzels…or chips? She didn't know and didn't care. His hands had worked their way into her hair and she wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him as close as their bent knees would allow.
She could feel laughter bubbling up inside of her and making her giddy. She pulled away from his mouth and covered his face with kisses and just listened to him laugh. She thought she felt him inhaling while his face was tucked in the crook of her neck and that made her smile as she looked up into the sky. He pulled back and let his eyes roam all over her face and hair. He held a couple of curls between his fingers and she continued to stroke his sides.
"How about some of that chicken?"
She just laughed and leaned in for another kiss.
RYAN
He watched as Pam and Jim made their way back into the office. They both looked flushed and had wide grins on their faces. Even a total idiot could guess what had just happened.
"Ohmigod, Ryan…do you think they finally got together? That would be sooo amazing! We could go out on double dates and compare relationship stories and oh! we could start a Bridge club or a Pictionary club or something. How awesome would that be? Who do you think will stay together longer? Us or them? I think we'll all end up together forever. I mean, they're best friends and we're soul mates. You know? Hey…did you get the email I sent you about going out with my family next weekend? We've got a cabin in the family and…"
He tried desperately to ignore Kelly, although that was made harder to do when she sat on his lap and started running her fingers through his hair. It didn't feel so bad though….
Suddenly, Michael's voice interrupted his temporary enjoyment. "Ryan! I need you do run a very important errand for me…"
Jesus…