Jim and I were looking at landscapes when I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Pam, where have you been?" Jan stood behind me with her arms folded across her chest, her lips pursed. "You missed the opening announcement at the pavilion."

"Oh- Jan, I'm sorry," I hated when people were mad at me, especially when it was my boss. Granted, Jan was upset ninety percent of the time, but it didn't make it easier for me to take. She glared, waiting for my response. "I am doing an interview. Jim- Mr. Halpert is from the Scranton Times." I turned to Jim, "Jim, this is my boss, Jan Levinson, director of SIA."

Jim quickly offered his hand to diffuse the situation, "Ms. Levinson, I asked to talk with Ms. Beesly, I didn't intend to take up so much of her time."

Jan shook his hand lightly, but ignored his comment, "A newspaper, Pam? Channel 7 is at the pavilion right now, so if you wouldn't mind wrapping this up and heading over there, that would be great."

"Yes, Jan," I replied obediently.

"Oh, and when you're done, could you please set up one hundred chairs for the talk this afternoon?"

"Um, shouldn't Ryan or Kelly work on that?" I asked, tired of routinely being roped into tasks that weren't in my job description.

"Ryan and Kelly are helping with tonight's banquet to celebrate the opening of the festival," she informed me with a sigh, "apparently, Michael felt it would be funny to insult the head chef and he stormed off in a fit. We're scrambling at the moment, so if you could just take care of this for me…"

"Sure thing Jan," I backtracked, not wanting to add to her pressure.

"Wow," Jim said as she exited the tent, "She seems a little rough around the edges."

"She's just worried about her job," I replied, "Her contract is up this year and…" I stopped abruptly; realizing it probably wasn't my place to divulge private information about my boss to other people, especially a reporter. "She's just got a lot on her mind. And we all want this to go well. The museum is, um, hurting a bit."

"I'm sorry," he said, giving me half a smile, "I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

"No, I shouldn't have…yeah…"

"Yeah," Jim shifted uneasily, looking at his watch. "I probably should get going anyway. My editor, Josh, won't be happy if I'm not back soon."

"I'm glad you came out," I spit out quickly, feeling the strange unease stirring again, "I mean, to do the story. Actually, I had a lot of fun today, but you know, it's always great to get the publicity, no matter what Jan says. Yeah."

Jim smiled, "Yeah, I had a lot of fun too. Anyone willing to play a prank on Dwight is worth knowing."

"Yeah, Dwight, wow, he's right up there with Jan's assistant Michael when it comes to coworkers."

"I wonder what he did to set off that chef," Jim pondered.

"Oh, it could have been anything," I said, "This one time, we had some inner city students come in for a tour and Michael felt it appropriate to do a Chris Rock routine for them."

"Oh man."

"Yeah, the school said they weren't coming back to our museum," I said, remembering what a disaster that had been.

"Wow," he replied.

"Yeah, um, you know, you should totally come out tomorrow," I offered, changing the subject. I wanted to see him again and having the mask of the festival to hide behind made it easier for me to muster the courage to ask. "We, um, are having this really great breakfast buffet tomorrow for everyone who shows up early. It's being catered by the Waffle Shack, so it's supposed to be pretty good."

"I'd love to," Jim said, a little reservation in his voice, "But I can't come out tomorrow morning. A couple of guys and I play pick-up basketball in the morning and I have this huge meeting at work and…"

"Oh, that's a shame," I said, trying to hide my disappointment.

"Yeah," Jim said, "well, maybe I'll skip the basketball thing, I mean it's just a couple of friends from college. We only play once a month or so, but I mean it's no big deal."

"Well, if it's important to you," I used to twist my wedding ring when I nervous, but I didn't have it any more so instead I played with the cuff of my sleeve, "I mean, the art festival is going on all week and you can come out whenever."

"Yeah, I can… Actually, if you have a little time tomorrow, why don't you come down and check it out," He said, "We play in the park over on 7th and Main. I was a pretty good player in high school and I'd still like to think that I've got it. So, if you want to come out and see a great pick-up game of basketball…"

I smiled, "Oh, so you think you're good or something?" Why was it that joking around seemed so natural and yet I couldn't admit, out loud, that I wanted to see him again.

"Well, you're never going to know unless you come," he said.

"I don't know, I think that I'm going to be too busy eating the greatest waffles ever made," I teased.

"No, I think you're going to be watching me kick some crappy guys' asses on the court."

I laughed, "Really, I'd take you up on your offer, but I do have to be here tomorrow morning. But, yeah, if you have some free time please, come back. Check out local art. Have a good time."

"Yeah, I think I will," He said, "Though, I do really have to get going."

I agree, "Yeah, Jan will have my head if I don't get over there soon. So, um, if you don't mind, let me stop in the bathroom for a second and I'll walk you out to the parking lot. Are you sure you don't waffles?" I tried again.

"Only if you're going to come out and watch me," Jim retorted again. I knew that I couldn't, even though part of me really wanted, so I hoped that he would make the effort to come back tomorrow.

"I guess you have what you need, then," I said, growing more serious.

Jim looked deep in thought, "Actually, how would you feel if we did a feature story on the festival? I think that it'll be in the museum's best interests when, honestly, all that's going to be in tomorrow's paper is a small blurb."

"That would be really awesome," I said thinking of the publicity, "Thanks Jim."

"No problem. I just have to talk to my boss about it."

* * *

I studied my reflection in the bathroom mirror, my hands clutched tightly on the sides of the sink. Normally, I felt I looked fine, never bothering to spend much time getting ready for work, but today I felt plain. I was wearing my usual button down pink striped blouse, cream colored cardigan, and dark skirt, the same thing I wore pretty much every day, but when I looked at myself now, I felt as if I were dressed as someone's grandmother in a play and wondered how I got to the point where I didn't care any more.

I played with my hair a bit. It becomes frizzy easily and a long time ago, I found a simple solution in pinning it back with a barrette. Roy had also liked it when it was up so it became habit. I took the barrette out for a moment and let my hair swirl around my face. It was unkempt, but I liked how it fell around my cheeks and over my shoulders. I toyed with leaving it down, but I would have to brush it out and I left my brush in the car, so I used the barrette to push it back up.

After my hair was up, I concentrated on my face. I stopped bothering with make-up a while ago and was never big on it in the first place, but as I stared at my own face, washed out because of the green florescent lighting in the bathroom, I felt that I needed something. I dug in my purse and found a tube of lip-gloss that had probably been buried for ages. I pulled out the top, the gloss sticking to the end of it and applied a little. It was a very light pink and barely noticeable, but I thought it added some sparkle to my lips. I smiled, satisfied.

I took a step back realizing that this scenario felt rather familiar.

"You like him, don't you, Pam?" My friend Marcie had asked at lunch one day back in high school. I had blushed a little, not knowing how long I had been staring at the popular kid's table where all the jocks were sitting. Although I stuck to my solid colored turtlenecks, I had recently begun doing my hair and using make-up, which didn't go unnoticed by the few girls that I normally sat with. I usually ignored their constant teasing over my crush on the hotshot quarterback, burying myself into whatever drawing I was working on, but I had a hard time ignoring the voices in my head.

I shook my head attempting to rid it of those old memories. I was twenty-nine not seventeen and this was probably just a little crush on the first guy that had given me any attention since I had gotten a divorce. There was no need to push it, especially since just making a new friend was nice.

Friendship, I felt, was a real thing, a true thing, something that I don't believe Roy and I ever had. My previous relationship was built on youthful attraction and tenacious loyalty. I didn't know how to flirt or date or how to even tell if Jim was interested, but I did know that I feared screwing up the newfound friendship we had started and that quashed any romantic feelings from my mind. Besides, friendship was the safe road, one that wouldn't hurt, and one that I was committed to when I walked out of the bathroom.

Jim had waited for me like he said he would, but he was no longer alone. A beautiful woman stood next to him talking, no, laughing with him. She had shiny red hair that curled a lot nicer than mine and flowed down her shoulders gracefully. Her clothing, a simple purple sweater and black skirt didn't look old fashioned and in fact hugged her nicely in the right places. Her skin was creamy and flawless, her make-up perfect. I touched a hand to my lips, realizing how hokey simple lip-gloss now seemed.

I came up to them, feeling a little self-conscious, like I did when I was younger and approaching the 'cool' girl in school. I shook my head, again, to get rid of the old insecurities.

"Hey Pam," Jim said cheerfully, "This is Katy. We went to college together and, yeah, just bumped into each other."

Katy shook my hand. I got a warm and kind vibe from her, which gave me an unfamiliar queasy feeling in my stomach. "Hey Pam," she said with a smile, her voice a bit too sweet, "Jim says you're the PR person. That's awesome. I'm actually here selling purses at the festival." She held up a small, black, sparkly bag, "my mom makes them and I told her I'd help her out this week. And yeah, I saw Jim standing here and it's been so long. Not since…"

"Billy Johnson's birthday party, what, three years ago?" Jim recollected affectionately. There was an easy familiarity between them that I couldn't help but notice.

"Yeah, it's been a while," Katy said reflectively, "Hey, do you want to go out and get some coffee later tonight or something?" she asked. She was fond of him, I could tell and I really felt like the third wheel.

"Um, sure," Jim responded, faltering slightly, "We can do something after I get out of work."

"Great," she replied, "I'm done for the day, are you guys done here? I can walk with you back to your car."

"Yeah, I should get back to work," I said taking the opportunity to exit the conversation, not really wanting to witness any more of their reunion. "Jan will have my head if I don't get those chairs soon."

"Oh," Jim said, frowning a bit. "Well, alright," he shifted uneasily, "I had a great time with you this morning, Pam." He said kindly.

"Yeah, it was fun, Jim," I replied. We stood for a second, not knowing what to do. I held out a hand and we shook, though there was a strange, awkward sensation about it.

"Hey Pam," Jim said, right as he was about to leave with Katy, a grin climbed over his lips, "You know, my offer still stands about tomorrow."

I gave him a meek smile in return, "I'm gonna be eating waffles," I tried to joke, but my voice wavered and it didn't come off that well.

We stared at each other, a silent wall of unspoken words between us. Then he broke away so he could head to his car, Katy at his side. She immediately began chatting happily as they walked, but he kept his head to the ground. I watched them for a moment before deciding I had work to do and it would get my mind off the handsome journalist and the nagging voices in my head. I took a breath and headed to the storage facility that housed enough chairs for one hundred people, reminding myself that the Spitoto exhibit should be checked just in case.

(End of Day 1, tbc…)