A/N: I'm back! Yay! I have a bit of break between classes where I have nothing to do, so I figured I'll work on this again!
This is set on the same Wednesday in the last chapter.
As soon as he walked into the office that morning, Jim could since something was wrong with Pam. It was…her voice. And her smile. They were faked. Her normally cheerful voice was not there today. And her smile, her wonderful, beautiful smile was not as big and bright on normal days. No, something was definitely wrong with Pam.
He got up from his work, aka Solitaire and plotting the next prank on Dwight, and went up to Pam's desk.
"Good morning, Dunder-Mifflin, this is Pam, please hold" she said. It was the same thing she said everyday since she started. But it was definitely not the same.
"Hey Jim, what's up? Did you need something?"
"No, I was just wondering if you were okay, or if you needed anything, or if you wanted to talk about something…?" She was always caring and listening to everyone else, maybe she just needed someone to play that role for her.
"No, I'm fine. Just a little tired I guess."
"Okay, I was just wondering and making sure. If you need anything, you can always come and talk to me though, you know that right?"
"Yeah, I know Jim. Thanks."
"Alright, I guess I'll talk to you later."
Her face fell. Something about that line, something he just said, made her sad. It was small and quick, barely noticeable, but he noticed. Her face fell.
As he walked back to his desk, he thought about what could have happened in 24 short hours. Pam was happy and upbeat yesterday. As she left the office, she talked about making wedding plans. With Roy. Maybe it was something between them?
Later at lunch, Pam came up to him.
"Jim? You know that offer of you wanting to listen to me talk? I'd like to take you up on it."
"Ok, sure. You want to eat lunch outside?"
"Yeah, that sounds fine; just let me grab my stuff."
Outside, sitting on a blanket that happened to be in Jim's car, Jim waited for her to start talking.
"How did you know?"
"How did I know what…Pam?"
"That something was wrong with me today? 'Cause something is. I lied when I said that nothing was wrong. So I'm wondering how you knew?"
"Oh. It was…" He wanted to say what he was thinking. That her beautiful smile and her wonderful voice was not the same. That it was like the light was gone from her life. Like part of her whole being was gone.
But he didn't. He didn't want to tell Pam all of that. Well, he did. He wanted to tell her so much more too. How much he cared for her. How much he wanted to be with her. How much he…may even love her.
But he couldn't. She's engaged and planning a wedding.
"It was just something I noticed. You seemed…off today. Like something this morning or last night has thrown you off, and you haven't recovered."
"Well, you're right. Something did happen."
"Do you want to talk about it? I mean, we really don't have to if you…"
"No, it's okay. I guess I just need someone to listen to. So you're being really helpful right now. Thanks."
"No problem. You're always there for me when I need you."
"Anyways, last night, I wanted to work on the wedding with Roy. But he was out at some bar with Daryl and I guess some other guys from the warehouse. He didn't end up getting home until really late, and he was drunk. This morning, when I was getting up for work, he woke up slightly, and I asked him if he was going to be able to work on the wedding tonight. I mean, it's our wedding. He should be involved too right?
"But then he told me that Daryl planned some trip to Philadelphia, to see some game. They want to be gone by Friday morning or Thursday night, and they won't be back until Sunday afternoon. So tonight, he's going out again, to help plan the trip. I don't know…it just bothered me that he's not really helpful with the wedding stuff. I would like his opinion every now and then. But he's not really forth coming with the ideas."
"Did you talk to him about it?"
"Yeah, a bit. I asked him if he could look over ideas if I print them out and mark them in the book, stuff like that. He just tells me that anything I want would be fine with him."
"Pam, if this is really bothering you, you should talk to him again. This could possibly have an effect on your relationship with Roy. And in a good relationship, people talk about their feelings with each other."
"Yeah, I know. I'll talk to him again. Tonight, before he goes out with the guys. Thanks for listening to me Jim. You're a great friend."
"Your welcome, Pam. Anytime."
As they put the blanket back into Jim's car walked back into the office building, Jim couldn't help think about what Pam had just got done saying. That he's a great friend. But he didn't want that. He wanted more. He didn't want to be just her friend; he wanted to be in a relationship with her.
Why couldn't he and Pam have met before she started dating Roy? That would have made things less complicated. But he didn't have a time machine, so he was just going to have to find a way to deal with the fact that he was never going to get his chance with Pam.
