Author's Note: Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews! They're the reason I got this chapter up so fast. Keep being nice and I just might tell you what went down after Casino Night :. I apologize in advance for the rough language in this chapter. There are a few F-bombs, but I think they fit. Well, here is chapter two. Hope you like it.
Six Weeks
Chapter Two
Pam was finished packing her things by the time Roy got home from work. All of the things she wanted to keep from this place fit into the luggage set she'd bought for their honeymoon. She left her ticket to Cancun on the kitchen counter. Maybe Roy could take Kenny or trade it for first class or something. Pam honestly didn't care much about it at the moment.
Pam's priorities had shifted dramatically the second she saw the strip on the pregnancy test had turned pink. If she was going to be a mother, she had to do things right by her baby. She couldn't enter into a safe but relatively loveless marriage with Roy because it wouldn't be fair to bring any baby, let alone Jim's, into a home without love. She could no longer justify settling for what was safe and comfortable, because this baby deserved better. If she wanted a happy baby, she'd have to be happy herself.
From now on, she thought, Ol' Pammy's going to get what she wants.
Suddenly she realized how much she hated the name 'Pammy.'
When Roy came home, he didn't immediately notice that anything had changed. He didn't notice the absence of Pam's artwork on the walls, or that the pillows on their couch had disappeared. He didn't notice that there were no books in their bookshelves. He didn't even see Pam's luggage set by their door.
What he did see, however, was Pam's small form sitting on the edge of their bed staring at a small black velvet box in her hands. She looked up when he flung his work shirt onto the floor, startled out of her own thoughts. He walked over to the bed and placed a kiss on top of her head and an arm around her shoulders.
"What's the matter, Pammy?" Pam winced.
She looked up at him with tears in her eyes and handed him the small box.
"I can't marry you, Roy."
He dropped his arm to his side and stared at her, incredulous. "Why?"
Pam thought for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to put it into words.
"What's my favorite yogurt flavor? Do you know?"
"I don't know, vanilla? Is that what's wrong, you need yogurt?"
She shook her head. "Mixed berry. Mixed berry is my favorite."
"So? What's it got to do with anything?"
"It's the only flavor I've bought for the last ten years. What's my favorite book?"
"Somethin' about art? Pam, I don't know."
"Favorite chips? Come on, that's an easy one."
"Yeah. KC Masterpiece."
"Those are your favorite chips. I like French Onion Sun Chips. Do you know me at all, Roy? When's my birthday?"
"February."
"My birthday is ten days from today, Roy."
"Really?"
Pam nodded. Roy looked stunned.
"I don't love you anymore, Roy. I haven't for a long time."
"Pam, I'm sorry," he pleaded. "I can change, come on-"
She put up a hand to stop him. "It's too late, Roy."
He had tears in his eyes and Pam's heart broke for him. She didn't love him anymore, but she didn't enjoy this.
"Why, Pam? Is there someone else?" His voice was tinged with anger now, but Pam wasn't going to lie to him. After ten years, no matter now neglectful, Roy deserved the truth.
"Yeah. Well, there was. He left."
"Halpert?!" He yelled. "You're leaving me for Halpert?"
"I'm leaving you because I don't love you!"
"Do you love him?"
"Roy, I don't know if that's a good-"
He cut her off. "Do. You. Love. Him?"
Tears welled in Pam's eyes again. "Yeah, I do."
"I knew it! I fucking knew it!"
He threw the velvet box, narrowly missing Pam's head. Pam had honestly never seen him this angry. In the ten years she'd known him, she'd never actually been afraid of him before.
"Well, did you fuck him?"
"Roy!"
"Did you?!" He was so close to her face that she could smell his breath, feel the moisture of his exhalation against her skin.
"Yes," she whispered. Before either of them knew what was happening, Roy slapped her across the face. Pam fell to the ground and Roy was immediately remorseful for what he'd done. He'd never hit a woman before, ever.
"Oh my God, Pam, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to-" He offered her his hand and she ignored it, opting instead to stand on her own. She'd never been so angry in her entire life. To hell with sparing Roy's feelings.
"I'm pregnant, Roy. It's not yours, and I'm leaving. I was going to find a nicer way to tell you but, well, fuck you, Roy. I never want to see you again."
… … …
Pam checked in to her room at the Scranton Inn at 7:30 that evening, feeling for the first time in ten years like she was doing something right. She set the apartment rental application she'd picked up earlier that day on the small desk and began to fill it out. If all went well, she could move in the next day. There was only one thing Pam had to do before starting her new life. Of everything she'd done today, this would require the most courage.
She had to tell Jim.
Telling someone that they're going to be a father sounded more like in-person news to Pam, but she knew he was going to Australia and he had to know before he left. At the very least she could tell him that she called the wedding off. His words after Casino Night still rang in her ears.
"Don't call me, Pam. Unless it's to tell me you aren't getting married."
Pam's nervous hands were shaking as she dialed.
She couldn't help but smile.
… … …
Jim was waiting until the absolute last second to board his plane to Australia, cell phone in hand, desperately hoping, praying to anything and everything holy that Pam would call and tell him to come back. She'd tell him the wedding was off and that he was the reason. She'd tell him she loved him just like she had at Casino Night, only now the tears they'd shed would be happy ones, and Pam wouldn't leave him cold and alone right after, with the knowledge that she fully intended to marry someone else.
The final boarding call sounded and Jim slowly made his way to the plane, resigned to the fact that by the time he got back Pam would be someone else's wife; she would never, ever be his. The thought filled him with a surprising burst of anger that made him quicken his pace. He didn't want to be anywhere else but on that plane, far away from all things Pam. He found his seat, shoved his carry-on bag into the overhead bin and stowed his ever-present brown messenger bag under the seat in front of him. The pilot announced they'd taxi briefly and be on their way as soon as everyone was seated with their seatbelts securely fastened. The flight attendants gave their safety presentation as the low rumble of the engines vibrated his seat.
The rumble grew steadily into a roar and the front wheels of the plane lifted off the ground. Jim felt a different kind of vibration from his pocket and remembered that he hadn't turned off his phone. His breath caught in his throat when he saw whose name showed up on his caller ID.
Incoming call from Pam Beesly.
