Thanks for the reviews. Its nice having a response to stuff you take three hours writing while eating breakfast. And this chapter was upgraded for language.
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"Want to take the same car today?" Pam yelled across the kitchen to Jim's room, where he was still getting ready for work. They had recently taken to carpooling. It saved money on gas, and it wasn't like they had to drive out of their way to drop each other off.
Jim came shuffling out of his room, his tie hanging loosely around his neck and plopped down on one of the bar stools. Pam set a cup of coffee in front of him and he gave her a small smile in thanks and watched as she ducked down in the fridge for her orange juice.
"No, we should drive separately. I have some errands to run after work." He took a sip of coffee, forcing his eyes open. He never was a morning person.
Pam shut the fridge with her hip and walked over to where he sat. "That's fine. Are you going to the grocery store?"
He nodded and smiled. "Double fudge macadamia nut?"
She laughed. "You know me so well."
He smiled and set down his coffee cup, tightening his tie around his neck. Pam took his mug and placed it in the sink and looked at him as his clumsy fingers slipped around the fabric. She smiled and reached across the counter.
"Here, let me help. You are crooked."
He let out a dramatic sigh and dropped his hands, leaning forward so she could reach him. Her fingers slid around his neck, raising his collar. He felt goosebumps rise on his arms. She twisted the knot effortlessly and pulled down his collar. She ran her hand down the fabric, smoothing it down.
Her hand lingered on his chest and he was sure she could feel how fast his heart was beating.
She shook herself out of her stupor and looked up at him smiling, only a faint blush on her cheeks.
"There, good as new."
He forced a smile, swallowing back his heart.
-
She climbed into her car in the parking lot, watching as Jim pulled out in front of her. She let out a deep breath. When she was in the kitchen with him, straightening his tie, it seemed like an oddly intimate gesture. They had only been living together for about a week and had already set into a routine. There was no initial awkwardness between them. They coexisted and got along.
But they had also managed to stay far away from each other, physically. They sat on the couch together at night, watching whatever pointless television was on and sometimes they brushed past each other in the kitchen but she had never physically come in contact with him.
And she couldn't deny the electricity she felt when she ran her hand down his chest.
She pulled her car out of her parking space. "Oh boy."
-
Pam walked into the apartment, collapsing onto the couch. Jim had told her in the parking lot he shouldn't be long. Maybe an hour or two, depending on how crowded the supermarket and dry cleaners were.
She said she would order Chinese. He had smiled and let out a little 'yay'. It kept her smiling all the way home.
The menu was taped on the fridge. Jim had saw it sitting in a drawer when he had first used her kitchen and been horrified.
"This is no place for a fast food menu. It deserves a place of honor."
"Well, if you tape it to the fridge, we won't be able to read the back."
"Then I guess it's lucky we have two."
He had held up another menu that she had forgotten about and gone about taping them to the fridge. The only problem with the menus taped to the fridge is she had to sit on the floor to order from it.
She sat cross-legged on the floor and picked up the phone, dialing the number and ordering more than enough food for the both of them. She had no sooner hung up the phone than a knock came at the door.
She looked at it curiously, then the clock, and then back to the door. It was far too early for Jim to be back.
Maybe he had forgotten something.
She stood up and did a half-jog to the door and swung it open, smiling.
"What did you-"
She froze, the smile slipping from her lips, her hand gripping the door until her knuckles turned white.
"Roy." It came out in a strained whisper.
"Hey, Pam." He mustered a weak smile and awkwardly handed her the flowers he had brought. She looked at the in surprise for a second, her mouth forming a soft 'oh'.
"Take me back?"
No sorry. No apology. No begging or pleading. Just a question that didn't even sound like a question at all. It sounded like more of a statement. Like he had no other expectation that she would welcome him back with open arms.
She thrust the flowers back in his arms.
"I don't think so." She stepped back in the threshold of the apartment and crossed her arms over her chest. He let out a forced chuckle and took a step towards her, reaching for her arm. She recoiled from his touch, taking another step in the apartment.
He looked at her incredulously. "You aren't serious."
"I think you made it perfectly clear when you left you had no intention of coming back."
"Well, I changed my mind. I need you Pam."
She set her jaw and looked him straight in the eyes. "I don't need you."
He let his arm drop to the side, a couple of the flower petals falling gracefully to the floor. He mouthed something wordlessly, shocked, and then shut his mouth. He looked around the apartment, not knowing what to say.
His eyes came to rest on a shirt thrown across the back of a couch. His eyes squinted in confusion. It wasn't one of Pam's shirts. It was a man's shirt. And he was pretty sure he never owned a shirt like that. He walked over to it and picked it up.
Realization hit him with a sickening jolt.
He turned towards Pam who was staring intently at the shirt, her eyes slightly wider than usual. "Roy, that's-"
"It's what Pam?" His voice was low and shaking. The anger was bubbling over. He dropped the flowers and picked up the shirt, fisting it with his hands. "What the fuck is it Pam?"
She took a step towards the kitchen, searching for what to say. He was too impatient to wait.
"I'll tell you what it is. It is a fucking man's shirt. And I'm pretty confident it isn't mine. You've been seeing other men?"
He threw the shirt on the ground. Pam's fear morphed into anger. "So what if I was? You left me Roy! You. Left. Me." She pointed her finger to her chest for emphasis. She couldn't help the tears that welled up in her eyes, more out of rage and anger than anything else. "You left me two months before our wedding. I'm sorry if I took that as a sign that things were over between us."
"We were together ten years Pam!"
"I know that Roy. I was under the impression that you didn't understand that."
"I did understand that!"
"But you still left!" Pam couldn't remember the last time she had yelled so much, or let her anger get the best of her, or even show so much emotion. But the walls of her heart were breaking down and all the pain he caused her, all the sorrow, was pouring out.
"So you hopped on the nearest guy you find? How many guys did you do, Pam, when I left?"
That comment stung. It hit her hard in the chest. "How many girls did you do, Roy, when we were together?"
"This isn't about me, it's about you and how you are sleeping with men in our home."
She slammed her hand down on the counter. "This is about you. It is about you and me and the choices you decided to make. You! And this isn't our home, it is my home. It stopped being your home, when you fucking left! You left Roy! You left me. You left me here alone. So you can't come back and judge me and the choices I make. Which, are perfectly respectable and in my right by the way, unlike you who went behind my back with other women."
She stopped, her chest heaving. They stood across from each other, Pam's hand on the counter and Roy still gripping Jim's shirt.
"You have no-"
Roy was interrupted by the door swinging open and Jim striding in with two grocery bags balanced in his arms. Jim stopped immediately, looking between the couple standing in the middle of the apartment.
"Uh, hello."
He walked over to where Pam was standing and put the groceries down. Roy followed him with his eyes, like an animal stalking his prey. Pam's anger changed to one of panic when Jim entered the apartment.
"Seriously, Pam? This. This is what you choose?"
Pam fixed Roy with a look. "Don't you bring him into this. This is between us."
"Bullshit! He's living with you. I think this means he's involved."
"Roy-" She took a step towards him, a pleading tone in her voice. Jim was thoroughly confused, his forehead knotting in the center and eyes quickly moving between Pam and Roy.
"Does he know what a fucking slut you are?"
Everything in the apartment went completely still. Pam stopped stock still, her hand on her mouth. Jim felt his blood run cold, and hands grip the counter tighter than necessary.
"Get out." Pam said quietly.
Roy made no hint of movement.
"Get out of my house or I am calling the cops." Roy held her gaze for a moment, before turning and walking towards the door. He slammed it violently shut behind him.
Jim and Pam stood in silence in the apartment. Jim watched as Pam's shoulders slumped and she let out a shuddering breath. She didn't even seem to notice he was in the same room as her.
She wiped a hand across her face and shuffled over to where her room was, shutting the door quietly behind her.
Jim stood in the middle of the kitchen, staring at her door for a long while. He had no idea what was going on. He had no idea who Roy was or why him and Pam were arguing. It was obvious they had a relationship at some point but why he was there, he didn't know. Pam had made no mention of any Roy.
What Jim did know was that when Roy called Pam a slut, he had the urge to leap over the countertop and punch his face in. No one deserved that. Especially Pam, who thought of everyone before herself. Pam who was caring and loving and-
He sighed and walked over to her bedroom door. He knocked softly.
"Pam?"
No answer.
He tried again. Still no answer. He eased open the door and saw Pam lying across the bed on her back, staring up at the ceiling. He sat down carefully on the edge, the bed sinking down slightly.
They sat in silence for a moment, just listening to each other breathing when Pam spoke, her voice small. "I'm sorry I dragged you into my fight."
She turned her head on the bed to look at him. He could see her eyes were slightly blood shot from crying. He gave her a cheeky grin.
"You didn't drag me into anything. Now come on, I seem to remember some one promising Chinese and Princess Bride tonight."
He stood up from the bed and held out his hands for her to take. She looked up at him, smiling softly. She took his hands and he easily pulled her up so she was on her feet. She brushed her hair out of her eyes.
"You aren't mad?" She couldn't shake the feeling from her system that she was somehow disappointing him or causing him to have doubts about moving in.
"Mad? Me?" He slung his arm over her shoulders. "Not at my favorite slut."
She let out a loud laugh and let him lead her to the kitchen.
