"So, long haul…"
Jim was lost. Gone from David, from New York, from Dunder-Mifflin…the yogurt lid and the memo tranquilized him, locking him in…
The chair he was sitting in, in this cushy Midtown office, didn't feel real. The fabric underneath him shifted, and it became his slightly squeaky desk chair, facing…
Her. Pam was smiling at him. He smiled back. That smile…the one he had chased for years…let her slip away…
Suddenly he looked up. David was saying something. Startled, he quickly moved the memo under the chair and tried to pretend he was paying attention.
"Where do you see yourself in ten years?"
Ten years…he saw himself, in ten years, hearing that voice, the voice that…
"Dunder-Mifflin, this is Grace".
Jim was silent. That wasn't right. None of this was right. Pam. Dunder-Mifflin, this is Pam. It had always been Pam, sitting behind that reception desk, not Grace…waiting for him…
"Jim?"
Smiling at him, waiting for him, she had always been right there waiting for him…
"Jim."
Jim looked back up.
"I asked you a question." David looked impatient.
"I'm sorry, I just…"
He looked through the glass door at the receptionist sitting there. He wasn't thinking about the black woman sitting there, but the one he would never see again…
He couldn't deal with this.
"David…I…can't do this." Wallace looked confused. "I don't belong here. David, I'm sorry…"
David looked at him questioningly. "What are you saying?"
Jim tried to hold his breath, hold himself back, but it was a feeble attempt. The words came flowing out, the ones that needed to be said.
"Scranton. I see myself in Scranton, David….that's all I ever wanted. And…I don't belong here. Give the job to Karen, or…" His voice trailed off as he realized he was now standing behind the chair, his hands planted on it firmly. He quickly removed his hands, scared of the hypnotizing hold thoughts of her had on him.
"I have to leave. Remove my name from consideration…"
"Are you sure about this, Jim?"
David's voice pierced the room's silence. Jim now realized the magnitude of what he was about to do-give it all up.
"Yes."
"Good luck". David said. He seemed to understand what was happening, that Jim had something to do, that this was a risk he had to take or he would regret it forever…Jim nodded and rushed out, his head still spinning, swimming…his footsteps were heavy on the carpet. Everyone stared at him as he stalked out that door, the light ahead of him, facing the unknown but yet so sure of what he was about to do.