It was a crisp autumn Saturday in Scranton. The leaves had all changed to their brilliant shades of oranges and reds, and Jim and Pam had been dating for almost 6 months. Currently, Pam sat at Jim's kitchen counter, not bothering to try and flatten her frizzy hair as she ate a bowl of mixed berry yogurt and granola for breakfast.
"Jim," she said, smiling happily.
"Hm?" Jim responded, pulling his attention away from the coffee maker.
"Let's go apple picking today." She requested after pulling the spoon out of her mouth again, smearing a bit of yogurt on her cheek.
Smirking, he chuckled as he crossed the kitchen to be face to face with her. "Sounds like a plan," he said, leaning in and wiping the yogurt from her cheek before pecking her nose. "Do you need to go home and get clean clothes?"
"Yeah, and doing something about my hair might be nice."
"I think it looks cute. Let me get dressed and we'll go.' Jim said, kissing her forehead before heading back to his bedroom. Although they spent the night together most nights, neither had moved into the other's apartment, as Pam didn't want to move in with anyone before being engaged to him. She rinsed her bowl and put it in the dishwasher, grabbing her jacket when Jim emerged from his bedroom, wearing a form-fitted gray sweater and a pair of jeans.
"You ready to go?" He asked, opening the door for her. She nodded, heading towards his car so he could drive her the short distance to her apartment.
"Do you want to come up? I'll try and be quick." Pam asked.
"I'll be fine, but still try to be quick." Jim teased, kissing her quickly before she went up. She came back down a few minutes later with her hair considerably smoother, and her outfit considerably more appropriate than the clothes she'd been wearing that morning, which consisted of her work blouse and a pair of Jim's sweatpants. Now she wore a cute red sweater and a pair of black leggings, with brown combat boots. She was carrying her makeup case, and plopped it in her lap as she got in the car.
"You look nice," Jim said, not sounding surprised in any way.
"Thanks," she smiled, pulling out her eyeliner.
"You're going to do that while I'm driving?" Jim asked.
"Yeah, I was going to, why?"
"I don't know if that's safe." Jim said, trying to make it sound like it wasn't really an option without being rude."Plus, I think you look great without it."
Pam smiled and tucked her makeup case away in Jim's glove compartment. She had never left the apartment without makeup when she was with Roy. Jim put the radio on, letting soft music fill the comfortable silence. The drive to the apple-picking farm was only about 10 minutes long. Pam climbed out of the car, tucking her phone into her clutch as she walked with Jim into the country store that was part of the farm. Given the crowd on the Saturday, it was a bit of a hike from the parking lot to the old-timey store. They purchased a half-peck bag and went to the apple trees, walking happily hand in hand as the cool fall air tickled their skin. When their bag was about halfway full, Jim felt a tug on the leg of his jeans. Looking down, he was greeted by the smiling face of a blonde 8 year old girl.
"Excuse me, mister," she asked sweetly. "Can you get that apple for me? I'm too little."
Smiling at Pam, he obliged. "Sweetheart, where are your parents?" Jim asked, bending at the knee to talk to her.
"Over there," she said, pointing to a couple with several other children a few yards away from them.
"Okay, why don't you head back over there so your parents aren't wondering where you are?"
"Alright. Thank you, mister!" She called over her shoulder as she skipped enthusiastically back to her family.
"She's precious." Pam said, watching her return to her family.
"Yeah," Jim agreed, smiling.
"You think you'd want any? Kids, I mean?" Pam tried to ask casually, but Jim knew better.
"Yeah, two or three." He answered just as casually. "You?"
"I feel the same way."
He turned to look at her, and her smile nearly made him weak in the knees. He almost wished he had a camera, even though he knew how much Pam hated pictures, because the sunlight was filtering through Pam's curls and her eyes were shining like the sunlight beaming off the apples and he was going to do it. He felt around in his pocket. The ring was there, as it always was. Come on, Halpert, man up and do it. He'd bought the right a week after they started dating, it was time it sat on her finger.
"Hey Pam," Jim started, right at the same time as Pam asked if he was ready to go. "Um, yeah. Totally, let's go."
Happily, Pam took Jim's hand as they headed out of the orchard, neither of them needing to speak for the moment to be appreciated.
"Sweetheart, do you remember where we parked?" Jim asked, looking left and right once they left the orchard.
"Um, no. Sorry." Pam said, looking around.
"Not your fault," Jim said, still craning his neck.
At this point, Pam began to get a little nervous. This parking lot was massive, and crowded. As Pam was trying to calm down, Jim's exclamation startled her.
"Oh, the car's over here!" He yelled.
"Great," she smiled, walking with him there. He secured the apples in the back seat before sitting behind the wheel and turning the key in the ignition. As the car roared to life, a favorite song of Pam's came on the radio, an old New Kids on the Block song. She rarely sang, as painting and drawing were where her true artistic talents lay, but Jim could hear her softly singing along in her gentle voice. Not all of the notes were right, but her voice had a quality that Jim couldn't quite put a finger on that made it beautiful.
"Perfect end to a perfect day," he thought to himself.