A/N: I've never actually written for The Office before and I know I'm a little late to this party but this is where all of my ideas have been centered. This particular one shot is set towards the end of season nine, probably somewhere around "Paper Airplanes" Enjoy and review!
If Jim from seven years ago could see him right now, he'd be kicking his own ass. Seriously, after everything he'd been through to show her that he was the one for her and that she and their family, their family, would take priority over everything he's pulling this crap?
Of course he doesn't want to be working at Dunder Mifflin for all of eternity, and he knows that she wants to be supportive of him, but the timing is all wrong. The timing always seems to be wrong with them. They discussed it, now was the wrong time to be starting up a business that would require him to be a few hours away from his family for the majority of the week.
They discussed it, as a team, equal partners, not just him making choices for himself. What the hell was he thinking?
Truthfully, he knew what he was thinking. It was even something that Jim from seven years ago would understand. He didn't want to just some paper salesman for the rest of his life, he wanted to be someone who was good enough for her.
She deserved so much more than a little life in Scranton could give her, she deserved the big house with the terrace in some super artsy place where she could thrive. He was just dying to give that to her.
If there was one thing he couldn't handle it would be her ever saying to him that she regretted her choice, that she shouldn't have married him, or should have stayed in New York to work on her art, or that she shouldn't have ever left Roy.
He knew that last one would never happen, at this point both participants of that failed relationship recognized how wrong they were for each other, but ever since his wedding, where they saw Roy's huge house, and how successful he was, and how dedicated he was to his wife. Could Pam honestly say that she didn't want that? Not even a little bit?
At the start of their relationship it had all been about not being Roy, not being the one to hold her back, or make her cry and feel like she couldn't do anything right. How the tables have turned.
Who was the reason she didn't stay in New York to work on her art? Who has caused her more heartache and pain than anyone else in the last few months? Who has lied to her and not given her a say in really anything in the last few months? Oh yeah, it was himself.
He had dreams and aspirations, and he would never apologize for wanting to be more than a salesman, but it wasn't just about him now was it? He had a family, everything he had ever wanted and more, it was about them.
He knew she loved Cece and Philip more than anything in this world, but did really she need him?
The answer to that was no. No she did not need him, she didn't need a man at all really. Pam was strong, brilliant, and a force of nature who would fight like hell to get her kids anything they needed, she didn't need anybody. But he sure as hell needed her. He knew what life without her was like, what wanting so desperately to just be able to hold her, and make her smile, and be the highlight of her day was like. Jim from seven years ago knew that better than anybody.
He was done being selfish, he had Pam, he had a family with Pam, and that's all he ever really wanted to be honest.
So what if he was just some paper salesman, working for a paper company that nobody has ever heard of? He had everything he could ever need in life and he was on the verge of losing it all.
Jim from six years ago, the one who ran out of an interview for a corporate job at just the sight of a gold foil yogurt lid, had it right. He wanted to be that Jim. Not the Jim who takes jobs without asking his wife, or who yells at her over the phone for making an honest mistake while filming their daughter's dance recital that he should have been there for in the first place, or the one who gets mad at her for finding comfort from a friend while she was crying tears that he caused in the first place.
Although, to be fair on that last point, he was almost positive that Brian had a thing for his wife.
Whatever the reason, he was done making her cry. He was done making her be an essentially a single mother to their two young children.
They would go to couples counseling or anything else that might save their marriage. Screw anyone who thinks they can't make it because they can and they will.
Taking a glance to his right and seeing his wife very determinedly not looking his way as she focuses on her computer screen only makes him feel stronger about this. He's losing her, he knows it. But she's not gone yet.
If Jim from seven years ago could see him right now he would most assuredly punch him in the face, and then yell at him to go fix this before it's completely screwed up and all of his hard work was gone.
Jim from seven years ago had the right idea.
A/N: Kinda super drabbly I know but I imagine that these thoughts eventually went through Jim's head before they made up. Truthfully I love Jim but I was totally team Pam during this season. Might do a companion piece to this one but with Pam's thoughts rather than Jim's, anyone interested?