"Oh. My. God. If I take one more bite, I will surely explode. Bits of me everywhere – it won't be pretty, Jim," Pam said, her eyes wide while she leaned back to accommodate her overstuffed stomach.
"But it would be the prettiest explosion ever if it was yoooou," he said in the barfiest cute tone he could muster. Pam responded by sticking her tongue out at him.
"You gonna eat that last bit of shrimp?"
"You're cut off, Beesly," he told her with a flick of his finger. Pam made a pout, but quickly upturned it to a grin.
"Jim Halpert," she began, leaning forward on the table again, "if I may remark on this day that we have been dating for one whole year, that it should be considered illegal for anyone to be able to have not only a best friend, but possibly the best boyfriend on the planet all in the same tall, thin package," she fidgeted with her wineglass, trying to focus the anxiety that came with being earnest.
"And that's not just the Cabernet talking, is it?"
"Hm, possible," she said, eyeing the nearly emptied bottle set near the almost-burnt out tealight in the middle of their simple table, "but it just so happens that the wine and I share the same opinion." She crept her hand forward and took hold of his, stroking the tops of his long fingers.
"I've just had so much on my heart as I've been thinking about us – who would have ever thought we'd have made it, you know? After all that it took to even tell each other our feelings, all the dumb things I did, that now we've actually been together a whole year."
"Don't forget the dumb things I did – you're not alone in that little deception dance we kept going around and 'round in," Jim added, remembering the times he had been cruel and spiteful with her before they reconciled and found each other again.
"But none of that matters now, Jim, it really doesn't. Those years of awkwardness and heartache have made what we have now all the more precious and wonderful. You've done so much for me through your love, even before I knew you loved me! You encouraged me, you protected me – I know you were trying to show me that I deserved better, that there was more to being loved than being controlled, overlooked, and disappointed. I only wish I had seen it sooner," she grasped his hand tighter, tears sparkling in her green eyes.
"I really feel like you've given so much to me – you've really given me myself back, if that makes any sense. There are so many parts of myself that I never felt free to explore with Roy… he just wanted me to stay the same little Pam, who saw him as the sun and the moon, and nothing else. I know all of the potential I have now, and I don't know if I ever would have looked for it if you hadn't seen it first.
"I guess what I'm trying to say, is that you've done more for me than I can say, and I love you."
Jim's eyes were as tear-rimmed as hers as he cupped her hands with his, "Crap, you're making me cry too…" he began, laughing, wiping an eye with the back of his hand, "I want you to shine as bright as you can, because you've been my sun and moon since the day I met you. There was something about you and I haven't been the same since."
They were interrupted by the waiter arriving at the table again. But instead of offering them more water, he produced a flat, wrapped item from behind his back and offered it to Jim. "From the lady sir," he said, and turned on his heel and went back to his other tables when Jim had taken the package. Jim glanced up at Pam, who was beaming with excitement.
"I guess you did more than watch Oprah with your four hours then," he murmured to her; she giggled. "Can I?" he asked after he had nearly begun to lift a seam of the shiny blue wrapping paper.
"Of course, it's for you," she said, still beaming.
Jim slid his fingers under the taped seams, being careful to try and keep the paper intact as he could; Pam rolled her eyes a little – she had discovered his little wrapping 'problem' during Christmas. He had preserved every scrap of paper and taken the longest time unwrapping that Pam had ever seen, though he had been thoroughly horrified by her manic tearing and shearing of her presents' paper. Within a couple of minutes, he had successfully taken the paper off and his mouth opened into an impressed 'O'.
"Pam, this is awesome," he said, still examining his gift: It was a professionally-matted pencil drawing of a person playing an acoustic guitar with a music stand in front. He realized after a moment, that it was a drawing of himself with his guitar – he could make out the headstock and recognized his own face, concentrating on the music in front of him.
"I wasn't sure if you'd think it was weird that I gave you a drawing of yourself," Pam began, "but I thought it was fitting – me using my art showing you pursuing your own artistic expression. I'm really proud of you for branching out and doing things that you want to as well. I watched you so long a few weeks ago that I had this image stuck in my head."
"Thanks," he said, still feeling very impressed, "I've never had anyone draw a picture of me, let alone such a nice picture. You know, this just shows that you've brought out my potential as well. I never would have even taken the time to try and learn to play the guitar if you hadn't prodded me on. And I really did want to do it for the longest time, I just thought I'd suck and it was a stupid idea. You subject yourself to my poor playing now on a weekly basis, and I don't know where you get the patience to listen to all of that, but… it means a lot to me when you do."
"And so," he began after a moment, placing the picture next to his chair, "I suppose it's time for me to give you your gift," he looked up at the waiter walking over again, "you totally stole my idea, by the way."
The waiter handed Pam a box wrapped in silver paper, the edges meticulously straight, the bow placed exactly in the center, "Definitely a Jim wrap job," she quipped right before she began to rip the paper apart with vigor, glancing up now and then to watch Jim squirm at watching his beautiful wrapping paper get turned into so much confetti. She revealed a cardboard box, which she opened to reveal an ornately painted teapot. Instinctually, she opened the top of the teapot and there inside was another box. A ring box. She looked up at Jim incredulously. He nodded at her, his face leaned into his hand as he watched her open it up, her expression becoming even more and more emotional. She looked back up at him, speechless.
"We've really already talked so much about how much we mean to each other," he said as he watched her take the ring from the velvet-lined box and study the details of it. "I was hoping that you'd consider staying together permanently."
Jim then stooped down out of his chair, positioned himself onto one knee, and took her hand.
"Pam, I don't care if it's tomorrow, or if it's ten years from now, but, will you marry me?"