She turned back to Tessa and Brian, their faces beaming with joy. She couldn't pretend anymore. The tears were impossible to stop and so was the huge smile on her face. She could not have held back her emotions had her life depended on it. A thousand feelings flooded through her body. For a moment she was afraid of bursting from experiencing them all at once; joy, relief, surprise, questions, bafflement, anxiety, hope, suspense and an unbelievable sense of being alive. She felt connected to something bigger than herself and it felt spiritual. Her gamble had paid off. All was not lost. On the contrary, she felt like a million dollar lottery winner.

- I am sorry. What was the question?

Tessa and Brian just looked at each other. Their expression said it all. They had forgotten the question too. Tessa seemed to forget why she was there in the first place and stood up taking a few steps toward Pam dragging her out of her seat and into a warm embrace. At first Pam just stood there with her arms hanging down almost dumbfounded at Tessa's reaction, but after a few seconds she threw her arms around her and let the tears stream down her face. There was no point in pretending anymore. She was not going to fool anybody. This was a BIG DEAL. She held on to Tessa with all the strength in her arms. The feelings were so intense she had to have a physical outlet. Then she heard Tessa whispering in her ear.

- I am so proud of you. You deserve this.

Her hold tightened once more before she released her. Pam was not quite ready to let go but slowly loosened her grip and took a step back looking into Tessa's eyes while smiling.

- Thank you. That means a lot to me.

She shook her head in disbelief and mumbled.

- I cannot believe he did that.

Then both Tessa and Brian started to chuckle while they almost simultaneously erupted.

- You can't?

Pam just stared at them, unable to wipe the huge grin of her face, while she laughed and said in a warm voice.

- You guys are hopeless. Were you in on this all along? I cannot believe it.

- Hey….slow down there. We were just as surprised as you. We had no idea he was coming back. Or not like this anyway. Remind me to thank him for his perfect timing. It'll make fantastic television.

Brian continued to chuckle and look happy. For a moment Pam wasn't sure what he was happiest about; her getting Jim back or his perfect television moment. He washed away her suspicions quickly as he embraced her and said.

- It is finally your moment.

And it felt like it. It truly felt like her moment, no – like their moment had finally arrived. Pam felt the tears watering her eyes again and she swallowed hard. She was grateful Brian lingered in their embrace. It gave her a few seconds to compose herself. She couldn't go on weeping like that. What on earth would Jim think? She didn't want to scare him away.

Oh my God Jim!! Where was he? She felt an urge to see him, just to make sure she hadn't dreamt the whole thing.

She excused herself, wiped her cheeks free of tears and headed for the door. At first glance she couldn't se him. His desk was empty, he was not at reception and he did not seem to be in the kitchen. Then she heard Michael in a high pitched voice exclaim from behind his closed office door.

- You're back in Scranton for good? This is the greatest news of all the history in the world… of time. You are one of my many closests friends and I'm so happy that you never will leave me, ever ever.

- Well….ehh yeah. Good to be back man.

Pam could not help but burst into yet another huge grin at the exchange in Michael's office. Everything was as it always had been, only so much better. This afternoon she would not be going home to an empty apartment. She would be with the friend she had missed so much it sometimes physically ached. The memory made her smile disappear and her gut twitch. Dwight looked up at her, obviously forgetting their little allegiance earlier in the day as he in his insensitive Dwight way blurted out.

- God…you look dreadful. What's wrong with you? I guess you've heard Jim's coming back. When you finally think you're rid of that guy, there he is again. Like some super-hero enemy that never goes down, until that one day I'll vanquish him for good.

Dwight shook his head while ending his tirade in a decided position looking at Michael's closed door while forming God only knows what plans. Pam looked at him with an annoyed face while secretly smiling at how everything truly felt like it stayed the same. The stars were finally aligned. She could not help but give Dwight a wink and a firm nod to indicate that she believed in his abilities. He had been a source of joy for her during one of her worst Dunder Mifflin days ever, and she felt the need to give something back. Through Michael's office window she could see the other camera team capturing Jim's return, and she decided that she did not want to talk to him in front of them. She went back to her desk and wrote him a quick post-it note that she put on his desk. Not so obvious that everyone could see, but clear enough so he would not miss it.

It was almost five o'clock and she took her purse and went into the bathroom. A glance in the mirror confirmed that she had been crying and she splashed some water in her face to wipe away the signs. She brushed her wild curls and made sure her hair looked as good as it could. Her lip-gloss gave her a bit of a spark and accentuated the colours on her face. She usually did not wear a lot of make-up and today was no exception. She certainly did not want to overdue it. It struck her as ironic that Jim up until now had seemed so resistant to her efforts at dressing up this past year. At the same time she had to smile at the fact that he was the one who had seen the beauty in the boring way she used to dress. She took one last glance at herself in the mirror and saw the glow in her eye. She had never felt more beautiful and she strode out of the bathroom with her head up. As her eyes swept across the office she could see that most of her co-workers were leaving for the day. Jim was nowhere to be seen and she wondered if he was already up on the roof. She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and decided to go up and look for him.

The roof was empty and she started walking while she waited for him to join her. Her stomach had started to twist again. As much as she wanted this she was also scared of the conversations ahead. There were so many things that had happened over the last year and none of it had been addressed before. She had no idea where to start. From this distance she could understand and even defend her actions that night in the parking lot, she just did not want to. She was embarrassed she had been that girl and although she understood her, she didn't really want to recognize that she had been that stupid. For God sake, she had almost married Roy. She shook her head at the idea of what life with him would have been like. She was so thankful for the things Jim revealed that night. Even though things had turned out the way they did, she had never regretted not marrying Roy. Lost in thoughts she stood and watched one car after the other leave the parking lot. The air was hot and she took a sip of her water, waiting.

- Don't jump.

She turned around to find Jim standing there with a crocked smile. He had shed his jacket and his shirt was rolled up. He was Jim. She wanted to laugh but the bigness of the moment just took the better of her and she said.

- No chance.

She starred at him hoping he would take the lead in the conversation. After all he was the one with the most explaining to do. He just shook his head and smiled dumbfounded.

- You want some water, it's hot up here.

She offered him her bottle.

- Yeah sure, that sounds good.

She turned away as he lifted the bottle to his mouth. Her eyes caught Michael as he got into his car and drove off. There seemed to be no one left but them. Jim stepped up beside her and put the bottle of water on the ledge while looking into the air. None of them spoke for a minute.

- So I heard Michael was happy to have you back.

She went for a safe subject as he did not seem to want to say anything.

- Hehe….yeah. He even hugged me. Said we would be best buds forever. I am pretty sure he thinks I came back out of loyalty to him.

- Hehe, why would he think that?

- Well, you know. Because of what happened with Jan.

- What happened with Jan?

- Michael didn't say? David fired her. It was quite a scene.

- What?? She was fired. Why?

- Ehhh…..I'm not really sure, but I got the impression it was personal. We shouldn't be surprised considering the woman got a boob job to tempt Michael back. I mean who would do that? For Brad Pitt maybe, but for Michael?? Just sick.

His voice was full of joyful banter and she could not help but burst into laughter. He was so easy to be with.

- Hehe, so you would condone if Jennifer Aniston did it then?

- Huh?

- To lure Brad Pitt back.

He looked at her confused.

- I don't think I follow, why are you bringing her up?

- I am just trying to follow your logic.

She tried to hide her smile.

- Hehehe….ahh..sure. Sorry, don't know why I didn't get that.

He sounded a bit embarrassed. Not so much for the missed Pitt-Aniston link but more for the reason he missed it. He was obviously nervous. He stood up and waved his hands in the air to truly emphasize his next statement.

- Just for the record. I would find it quite ridicules to do that no matter who you are.

She looked up at him and smiled with her head tilted.

- I know you would.

The warmth in her voice seemed to reassure him and his face relaxed into yet another smile.

- Yeah… guess you do.

In the silence that followed they both shifted a bit uneasily.

- So where do you want to go for dinner? Any preferences?

He kept staring into thin air as he asked her.

- Yeah I do.

He turned towards her and met her eyes for the first time since the "don't jump" comment. Something stirred in her stomach.

- Yeah….I would really like to go back to Cuginis.

After she said it she realised the double meaning. It sounded like she not only wanted to go back to the restaurant, but also back to those happy memories of their first lunch together; when her engagement had not been an issue between them, before moments of stolen time had made her guilty to be around him, before all the hurt and confusion. He looked at her swallowing before letting out a moved.

- Yeah.

She held his eyes for a couple of seconds before she said.

- Okey then. We should get going. It's getting late.

- Oh…. Do you want to go right away?

- Yeah, don't you?

- Oh…sure. I just thought you might want to go home first.

- Nah….not really. Unless you need to go home first.

- You know what. I would love to just go and eat right away. I am starving

- Okey, glad we settled that. I'm just gonna grab my coat and then we can go. Should we just meet there?

- No, absolutely not. We are not taking separate cars. This is a date for crying out loud.

She looked at him. Surprised at the firmness in his voice and the way he said date! He caught her eyes again and quickly said.

- Well, you know what I mean. We should go there together. I don't know. It just feels like the thing to do.

- Hehehe….I'd never pegged you for such a romantic Halpert. You're right though. We should definitely go together.

- Hehe…yeah. Mr Romantic. That's me. You know what. I actually got teased a bit about that back in college.

He laughed at the memory as she felt a surge of love flowing through her body. She could not believe she was so lucky as to have captured this amazing guy's attention. In a soft voice she said.

- Well okay then Mr. Romantic. Let's go.

- You're never gonna let me live that down one are you?

- Probably not.