Jim sat looking out the window of the bus, wishing he could find some clarity on what to do next. He'd always considered himself to be a pretty decent guy. A loyal friend, and a caring boyfriend. Recently he felt like he was failing miserably at all of those things... after he and Pam had talked in the break room he felt terrible for having cold shouldered her when he returned from Stanford. He'd started making an effort to act more normal around her and they'd begun to occasionally joke and laugh together as they used to. Karen took quick notice of this, and made it clear she felt it was inappropriate, insensitive and disrespectful to her. Jim understood where she was coming from and why it made her uncomfortable. It only seemed fair for him to do what he could to respect that, so he'd attempted to gently distance himself from Pam again, without being cold or unkind. He could tell Pam felt a bit hurt by it. She had put on a brave front and pretended like she hadn't noticed, but he knew her to well not to see that it bothered her, and Karen still maintained that she thought he was being "overly friendly" to Pam considering the feelings he had had for her. He felt like he was walking on a very thin tight rope, with no way to get off... how had he managed to get himself in this position?

He'd made so many mistakes in how he'd handled things with Pam. He cared very deeply for her as a person, and what she'd needed and wanted was for him to be her friend. He had, and still was, failing miserable at that.

He looked down for a moment at his hand, his fingers were intertwined with Karen's and they were resting on his knee. He asked himself for about the billionth time if he'd done the right thing in telling her she should come to Scranton with him... would he ever be able to care about her the way she deserved?

He was relieved when Micheal offered him a distraction from his own thoughts in the form of announcing that everyone was required to participate in the road trip sing alone.

The rest of the morning passed in a similar fashion. It was sunny and warm at the beach, and Michael's antics gave him ample opportunity to distract himself from toiling over the impossible dilemmas that plagued him.

He did his best to stop his eyes from wondering over to Pam, sitting cross legged in the sand, brunet curls pulled through the back of her baseball cap, diligently taking notes, but when Micheal blurted our that the purpose of the whole ridiculous competition was to decide who might replace him as manager, he couldn't stop himself from catching her eyes to share one of their "what the hell is going on?" Looks.

As the sun began to set Karen grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the group towards the lake edge. "I want to talk to you." She said

His heart sank. Had she seen him exchange that look with Pam during the hot dog eating contest? Was she upset with him?

She stopped walking and turned to face him. He waited for her to speak.

"I'm gonna apply for the corporate job" she said smiling.

He smiled back, relieved. "Oh! Good for you Filipelli!"

"I think you should apply too!" She continued excitedly.

"Really?" He asked

"Yes!" She pushed "Come on, We both know your capable of way more than just a sales job. I think you'd do great at corporate! And if Micheal actually has a shot at getting the job, then surly you could to. Plus, we both know you didn't really want to be here in Scranton anyway... This could be a great opportunity for you!"

He thought about it for a minute. He couldn't argue with her reasoning, although he felt sure he knew her underlying agenda. But what harm could come from applying? "Ok." He said finally. "Should we give David Wallace a call?"

He did not regret his decision to apply for the job when Micheal announced that the next part of the competition would be a coal walk. He was more than happy to bow out of that one. However, he had been Impressed when Pam had boldly stated that she wanted to try the coal walk herself. He felt that she had really been coming into her own lately. Breaking her way out of the meek box Roy had tried to keep her in for so long.

After Dwights outrageous attempt to get Micheal to award him the manager position, they all settled into a circle at the edge of the beach Jim noticed that Pam had not followed them. She was standing, staring at the coal walk. He watched her for a moment, wondering if she was actually going to do it. Then he became distracted by Dwight, who was attempting to tell, what seemed to be, a very disturbing joke.

Suddenly Pam dashed into the middle of the circle. "Hey! I want to say something!" She exclaimed.

Jim glanced at her feet and smiled. She wasn't wearing any shoes.

"I've been trying to be more honest lately, and I just need to say a few things. I just did the coal walk. I Just... I did it. Michael, you couldn't even do that. Maybe I should be your boss. Wow, I feel really good right now."

Jim was watching her intently. He couldn't stop himself from thinking how amazing she was. How brave.

"Why didn't any of you come to my art show? I invited all of you. That really sucked. It's like sometimes some of you act like I don't even exist."

Then she turned to Jim and looked him right in the eye. He felt his heart skip a beat. "Jim, I called off my wedding because of you."

He stared at her unblinking. His mind was going haywire. What did that mean?

"And now we're not even friends. And things are just, like, weird between us, and that sucks. And I miss you. You were my best friend before you went to Stamford. And I really miss you."

The words "I miss you" rung in his ears and he had forgotten how to breath.

"I shouldn't have been with Roy. And there were a lot of reasons to call off my wedding. But the truth is, I didn't care about any of those reasons until I met you. And now you're with someone else. And that's fine. It's... Whatever. That's not what I'm... I'm not..."

He wanted her to keep going. He needed to know what she meant. exactly what she meant by: "I didn't care about any of those reasons until I met you."

"Okay, my feet really hurt. The thing that I'm just trying to say to you, Jim, and to everyone else in the circle, I guess, is that I miss having fun with you. Just you, not everyone in the circle. Okay, I am gonna go walk in the water now. Yeah... It's a good day."

Jim sat frozen. He could feel eyes on him, and his thoughts were racing at a hundred miles a minute.

What exactly was that look in her eyes when she turned to face him in the circle? Was he imagining meaning behind some of the things she had said? Could it be possible that she had feeling for him that were more than strictly platonic?

He felt someone walk passed him and sit down on his right side. He looked over and saw Karen sitting beside him. He began to come back to earth and made a conscious effort to slow his mind. The answers didn't matter... they couldn't matter... He was with Karen now. She had moved here to be with him, and he owed it to her to at least give them a shot...