I headed back into the park almost at a run. I could hardly contain myself, I was so eager to get back to Jim. Here I was, this bundle of anxiousness, nervousness, and excitement on a nonstop course to tell the guy I had fallen for my feelings. A few hours ago, I was afraid of doing so. But now I was afraid no longer and the thought of this made me grin.

I could see the light at the pavilion and hear the band playing, which made me step up my pace. The closer I got, the more frantically I scanned the crowd for Jim, but did not see him anywhere. I knew he couldn't have left because he would have passed me on the way to the parking lot so he had to be somewhere. I spotted Kelly and Ryan just outside the pavilion and thought asking would get me to my destination faster.

When I reached them, however, I could hear that they were in the middle of an argument.

"I can't believe you," Kelly was screaming. "I can't believe I have been with such a cowardly jerk for the last year."

"Oh, I'm a coward huh?" Ryan retorted. "I was protecting my best interests. And yes, that means saving myself over you…"

"Hey, guys," I interrupted, not caring when they both shot me glares. I had to rest my hands on my knees to catch my breath. "Where's Jim?"

They both stared at me blankly for a moment. "They took him to the medical tent," Kelly informed me. "But this loser couldn't be bothered to…"

I didn't hear what Ryan couldn't be bothered with because I quickly thanked them and continued on my way. I reached the medical tent in no time and my breath quickened the moment I entered. Jim sat on the cot holding an ice pack up to his eye. He said nothing upon my arrival and remained stone-faced as I took a seat next to him.

"Hey," I said giving him a smile. He stayed silent and I didn't blame him for being upset. I would have felt the same way in his position. "How is it?" I asked, wanting to make sure Roy hadn't hurt him too badly.

Jim brought down the ice pack to reveal a very purple eye that was swollen shut. "It's sore," he said simply. "Like my ego. I assume both will heal eventually."

"Jim, I'm so sorry," I said earnestly. "I had no idea that Roy was going to do that. I mean, I knew he was getting rough, I just didn't think--He doesn't usually get physical."

"Right," Jim said sarcastically. "He seems like he's usually a level-headed guy. It happens to the best of us."

He wasn't going to make this easy for me. "No, Jim, really," I continued. "I'm sorry. I wish none of this happened." I paused, not sure how to continue. "Were you out long?" I asked.

Jim grimaced. "No," he said, replacing the ice pack on his eye and stared at the ground. "I was conscious enough to see you go off with Roy."

I shook my head and said the first thing that popped in my mind. "That wasn't--I was just trying to make sure Roy got home alright."

"Oh, sure," Jim said, his good eye growing wide. "I can see why you'd want to make sure he was alright."

I realized how bad that sounded and started to correct myself. "No, Jim, look--" but I didn't get far because Kelly suddenly burst into the tent.

"Pam, you've got to come now," she said between breaths. As annoyed as I was that she interrupted, Kelly never did anything at a quick pace. "It's an emergency."

"Are you sure?" I asked. An emergency to Kelly could mean she was out of mascara. "This can't wait a little while?"

"No." Kelly was dead serious. "Michael's on top of the pavilion claiming he's going to kill himself."

"What?" I asked. That was definitely not what I was expecting to hear. "And you're sure this isn't some joke?"

"He said he's totally upset that Jan dumped him," Kelly explained quickly. "And that he's totally going to end his life because he's depressed and he can't stand Jan not paying him attention anymore. I know that you've helped him out before so I thought you might be able to talk him down. Isn't this the most romantic thing he's ever done?"

I ignored her absurd statement and shot a sheepish grin at Jim. "I'm sorry, I don't want to leave but I have to--"

"Go," he said, though I could tell he was unhappy about the turn of events. "I'll be fine."

I didn't want to leave Jim but I couldn't let Michael jump off a roof either. Reluctantly, I stood up and left with Kelly. As Kelly and I made our way back to the pavilion, I had hoped that this was some sick joke Michael was trying to pull but when we arrived, Michael was indeed on the roof looking extremely upset.

The entire festival, including all of the band members, had gathered around to witness Michael's display. "I just want to kill myself," Michael was moaning as we approached. "This is the end for me," he cried dramatically.

"Where's Jan?" I asked.

"We aren't sure," Kelly replied. "The bathroom?"

"Yeah, some how I don't believe that," I said. "You don't think she's avoiding dealing with this, do you?" Kelly and I pushed our way through the crowd so we were directly below where Michael wanted to jump.

"How could she miss this?" Kelly was strangely excited about the situation. "Ryan would never jump off a building for me."

Angela, who was standing near us, spoke up. "This is gross and disturbing behavior. You shouldn't encourage it."

"I saw on Grey's Anatomy once," Kelly recalled fondly, "that this guy fell, like, six-hundred feet and still survived."

"This isn't a Grey's Anatomy episode," Angela reminded her. "This is a real situation. A man's life is at stake."

Kelly scoffed. "You're just saying that because you don't like Grey's Anatomy. You never want to watch it. If you did, like I suggested, you would have a solution to this situation."

"Hey, Michael," I called up to him, worried that with his taste for the dramatic flair that he might actually jump. "Why are you doing this?"

Michael looked down at me sadly. "I'm like that bird we buried," Michael called down to me. "I'm going to die alone. No one loves me. Jan doesn't love me anymore." He was getting choked up.

"Michael, you aren't like that bird," I tried to assure him. "Look at all the people here around you. None of them want you to kill yourself."

"How do you know that?" he asked in disbelief. "Did you take a poll?"

I looked at him strangely. "Yes, Michael, I took a poll and no one wants you to die."

"You're just saying that, Pam," he shot back. "If I die, I want to be buried next to that bird."

Oscar came forward to give it a try. "Michael, this is a very bad idea," Oscar started, concerned. "This pavilion is only twelve feet high. If you jumped from here you probably wouldn't die but you would break every bone in your body. It would hurt very much."

"Oscar, why are you trying to scare me?" Michael asked, not completely understanding what Oscar was getting at. "Don't you want me to do this?"

The statement shocked Oscar. "Michael, no, I don't want you to do this," he replied. We were all now very concerned that he was going to jump. Michael inched forward and the entire crowd gasped.

Phyllis, with Bob Vance at her side, came forward. "Michael," she shouted up to him. "Bob Vance is going to make you an offer if you don't jump."

"What's that?" Michael asked, suddenly sounding curious.

"I'll give you a brand new fridge," Bob offered, "if you come down right now."

"Could I get it in cream instead of white?" Michael asked.

"Any color you want buddy," Bob replied.

"What about blue with rhinestones?" Michael asked.

Bob gaped, his mouth hanging wide, unsure of what to say to that. But before he could offer anything else, Jim emerged from the crowd, eye still purple, and the ice pack at his side. I smiled, pleased to see him there but he avoided eye contact with me. Instead, he focused his attention on Michael.

"Hey, Michael, remember me?" he called. "It's Jim from the Scranton Times. Remember we talked yesterday? And you said I should never give up? Maybe you should use your own advice. Killing yourself would just be giving up. I didn't give up."

"And you got punched in the face," Michael reminded him.

Jim grimaced. "Michael, believe me, Jan's probably not worth the pain of jumping off this roof. I know it seems hard now, but if you come down, you'll eventually be fine, move on. If a woman is pushing you to kill yourself then she's too much trouble. You're probably better off." He looked at me hard and I couldn't help but wonder if that was some passive-aggressive slight towards me and hoped that wasn't how he truly felt.

Michael contemplated Jim's words. "But it hurts so much," Michael cried.

"I know, I know," Jim said reassuring him.

Finally, Jan, appearing from nowhere, arrived looking frantic. "Michael, what are you doing up there? You have to come down, you'll hurt yourself and you're embarrassing yourself in front of the entire festival."

"You never cared about me," Michael accused in a whiney voice. "I mean, look at all I've done for you. I let you stay at my place when they kicked you out of your condo because you couldn't make rent. I took care of you after you got food poisoning at that restaurant where you threw up everywhere. I held your hair back, remember? And I know that you have low self-esteem about your breasts but I encouraged you to get the boob job. And I know you say it's uncomfortable now but they feel almost like real ones…"

Jan looked humiliated but was able to keep her composure. "Michael, I do care," she said almost soothingly. "Look, I know I've been rough on you and have treated you like dirt for nearly our whole relationship. But I've just been tired and frustrated lately. And you have been great to let me take it all out on you, but that doesn't mean I don't care. I do care, Michael, and I don't want you to jump."

Michael hesitated. "Does this mean we can get back together?"

Jan pursed her lips. "We can definitely talk about it but not until you come down."

Michael paused for a little bit longer while the rest of us held our breath, waiting for Michael to come to a decision. "Alright then, Jan, I'm coming down," he said finally. The entire crowd burst into applause and Michael grinned broadly, loving that he was getting all the attention. "I want that blue rhinestone fridge," he called out to Bob Vance as he made his way to the ladder.

I clapped along with the rest of the crowd and let out a relieved laugh. I couldn't help but give Jim a grateful smile but he only gave a forced half-smile back, a gesture that worried me.

* * *

"Hey, uh, I think I'm going to get going," Jim told me. Michael was down, the dance had started up again, and Jim looked as though he was anxious to get out of there.

"No, wait," I said frantically. He couldn't leave, not yet. I had finally mustered enough courage to tell him how I felt and I wasn't going to just let it slip away.

"I really can't," Jim said. "I've got some work stuff to get done and--yeah, I should probably go." I was unsure if he was telling the truth or not. He started to move past me but I quickly grabbed his hand to signify I wasn't done with him yet. He gave me an odd look.

"Jim, I just have something I've gotta say," I told him, raising my eyes to meet his good one. "Please, just hear me out and if you still want to leave after that, you can."

Jim's jaw clenched but he nodded his head. "Alright," he stated simply. It was apparent that he was done talking and all forward movement had been placed in my hands.

"Look, about—" I started but couldn't get very far because of the yelling occurring next to me.

"I want to talk to the director or person in charge," a middle-aged brunette woman was shouting. I noticed it was Angela who she was shouting to.

Angela looked fierce. "I already told you, Mrs. Allen, our director is currently busy and the stance of the museum is apologetic to your trouble. We can assure you that there will be no future…"

Mrs. Allen cut her off. "That's not good enough. I want someone in charge."

Angela looked directly at me. "Pam, you are the PR person. Can you spare your personal time and actually do some work?"

My cheeks flushed as I realized I had been so lax on my job lately. I shot Jim an embarrassed smile because I knew this had to be dealt with now as much as I didn't want to deal with it at all. "Can you wait just a minute?" I asked him. He gave me an annoyed look. "Please," I said, almost sounding like I was begging. "This should only take a few minutes."

There was a pause before he spoke and I almost thought he was going to say he couldn't wait. "Sure," he said finally with little enthusiasm. "I can wait a few more minutes."

Despite that I hated turning my back on Jim, I faced Angela and Mrs. Allen. "What's going on?" I asked.

Kelly seemed to pop up out of nowhere and came up to my side. "Angela's lack of social skills is going to get the museum sued," she explained snidely. Angela scowled at her.

I felt that Angela and Kelly fighting wasn't going to help the situation any better. Instead of waiting for some sort of explanation from Angela, I addressed Mrs. Allen directly. "Hi, ma'am, I'm Pam Beesly, I work in PR for the museum." I held my hand out for her to shake it but she declined. "What seems to be the problem?"

"My name is Barbara Allen," she started, sounding very aggravated. "And besides the complete lack of cooperation I've received from your staff, I want to say that I am appalled by the display here tonight. Was the suicide scare an attempt at a bad joke? If so, I can not tell you how much in bad taste that was."

"I can assure you, Mrs. Allen," I said as kindly as possible. "That was no joke. Unfortunately, one of our employees is going through some emotional times right now and is going to be seeking help." I thought to myself that no matter how much help Michael could get, it would never stop him from doing crazy things. "I am sorry for the distress it has caused you—"

Mrs. Allen interrupted me. "My children were with me," she said growing even more upset. "My husband has taken them home, but I stayed so that I could see some sort of action being done."

I was unsure of how to handle this. "Uh, is there anything I can do for your? We could refund your money or give you free tickets to one of our upcoming events."

"Do you really think that I will be attending one of your events ever again?" she snarled. "No, like I was telling this woman," she pointed at Angela, "I want to speak to your director."

I let out a little sigh. "Alright, let's find her." As we started to leave, I shot Jim an apologetic look. He didn't look too happy about it but there was nothing I could do. I couldn't afford to lose my job.

Jan and Michael weren't too far away, they were still at the base of the ladder Michael had used to climb up onto the roof. She and Michael both looked somewhat happy and I regretted having to bring Mrs. Allen to them.

"How can I help you?" Jan asked after I had explained the situation and introduced Mrs. Allen to Jan. Kelly and Angela had come with me as we were all interested to see what kind of demands this woman would make.

Mrs. Allen gave Michael a hard look. "I want that employee to be terminated until his emotional outbursts have been reigned in. I want the museum to pay damages for my children's traumatic experience. And I want a public apology to be issued in one of the newspapers."

Jan scrunched her nose. "What?" she asked in disbelief. "That is a little much, don't you think? I'm sure we can come to some other kind of resolution."

"I am not emotional," Michael interjected much to Jan's dismay. "You're emotional," he accused Mrs. Allen.

Mrs. Allen looked at him in shock. "See what I mean?" she said to Jan. "Clearly this man is unstable and unfit for a public job."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Allen," Jan said, "But you have no jurisdiction over who I employ in my museum."

Michael looked as though he wanted to say something else, possibly that Mrs. Allen was unstable, but Jan shushed him before he could say too much.

Mrs. Allen continued her rant. "And to be honest ma'am, I think that you are unstable too and should resign. Any woman that causes a man to try to commit suicide is not someone I want as a director of a museum my children visit."

"Wait, what?" Jan said clearly insulted.

Even I had thought Mrs. Allen was taking this all too far. "Mrs. Allen, don't you believe we can work out a more reasonable bargain?" I asked trying to keep both parties calm.

"No, Pam," Jan said curtly. "I'm sorry Mrs. Allen, what you're proposing is clearly unreasonable and I suggest we schedule an appointment where we can talk this through."

"They are not unreasonable," Mrs. Allen persisted, obviously insulted that we weren't listening to her demands. "If this matter isn't taken care of now, I will see you in court."

"We're not going to do this here," Jan said, her temper rising. Usually she was able to keep her cool, but after all that happened, she was finally becoming short tempered with guests as well as her own staff. "We will see you in court Mrs. Allen."

"Jan, are you sure—" I started, but Jan cut me off with a glare.

"Alright then," Mrs. Allen said. "I will talk to my lawyer tonight and will see you tomorrow morning." She sneered at Jan before turning around and walking away. Jan was seething while the rest of us stood in shock.

"Excuse me, Ms. Beesly," it was Gordon Franklin, the TV reporter. I groaned as I realized he had probably heard that whole thing. "Would you like to comment on the current legal situation concerning the outraged Mrs. Barbara Allen?"

"No comment," I said knowing that the museum's situation just worsened. We couldn't afford to be sued and I was annoyed with Jan for losing her tempter with the woman, even if she was off kilter. And I knew that Mr. Franklin, after not getting a statement from us, would side with Mrs. Allen because she would talk.

But at that moment, I didn't care about any of this. I just wanted to get back to Jim. I stood on my toes and craned my neck in attempt to spot him in the crowd. A strong fear swept over me as I couldn't find him. He had no obligation to stay and I was very worried he left until I spotted him on the other side of the pavilion, pacing back and forth. I couldn't see his expression but I knew if I wasted any more time he would leave.

Just when I thought all the drama for the day was over, I saw Phyllis run out of the crowd and heard her scream.

* * *

"STREAKER!" Phyllis yelled, pointing to the left of me. I whirled around to see an older man, completely nude, walking along the side of the pavilion. Phyllis kept repeating 'streaker', catching the attention of everyone at the festival, but the man didn't seem to notice. Instead, he was casually walking along, as if it were not a big deal, snacking on a banana.

"Oh my god," I whispered to myself as the old man approached Phyllis. How much more insane could this day get?

"Hey-ya," he said, smiling broadly. Phyllis paled as she took one long look up and down. "Want a bite?" he asked offering the banana. Phyllis looked like she was going to be ill. When she didn't take the banana, the old man shoved the rest of it into his mouth and grinned.

"Oh, that's disgusting," I heard Angela mutter from behind me.

Bob Vance had pushed his way through the crowd to be with Phyllis. "What are you doing flashing everyone?" he yelled at the old man.

The old man looked confused. "I'm naked?" He glanced down and looked pleasantly surprised. "Oh, look at that. I noticed it was a little chilly."

Bob Vance shook off his jacket and handed it to the man. "Here, take it, so at least you can cover yourself up and, uh, I think I'll let you keep it."

The old man happily put the jacket on. 'Oh, free stuff," he said as he wrapped it around him. Unfortunately, it didn't hide everything. "I love free stuff."

Jan stormed forward. "This day couldn't get any worse," I heard her say as she whizzed by me. "Excuse me, Mr-"

"Creed Bratton," the old man said, holding out his hand so Jan could shake it. She grimaced and declined. "Just call me Creed. There's no Mr. on the front of that."

Jan eyed him suspiciously. "Ok, I don't know what you think you're trying to prove but you can not walk around here without any clothes on."

"Really?" Creed asked interested. "Well, back in the sixties, we used to have festivals all the time in the nude and no one thought anything of it."

"Well, it's not the sixties anymore," Jan said firmly. "And it's inappropriate to be nude at this festival."

"Oh, huh?" Creed said looking confused again. "Can you tell me what year it is?"

Jan was stunned. "Look, if you leave now, I will not press charges for indecent exposure."

Creed shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not pressing charges for you guys holding this festival on my front lawn."

"What?" Jan asked in disbelief.

"Oh, he's homeless," Angela moaned.

"No, I have a home," Creed said. "It's over there." He pointed to the clumping of trees near the north end of the pavilion.

Bob Vance showed some concern. "You know what man, lets get you to a shelter. I can take you," he offered.

"Oh lovely," Creed said cheerfully. "There's a delightful one over on Maple. They make a great stroganoff." Bob Vance nodded and began to escort him out, Phyllis trialing behind.

"So, that was nuts," I commented as they left.

"Alright," Jan yelled. "I've had enough of this, everyone on my staff, meeting, now!"

"No—" I began to protest. Jim was waiting for me and I knew he wasn't going to wait much longer.

Jan raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?" she said.

"I just--I've got to—"

"Staff meeting!" She snapped, her tone implying that if I weren't there, she would fire me.

I let out a frustrated breath. Jim, thankfully, was still there but he was now all the way at the back of the pavilion talking with Darryl. There was no way I could get his attention and I hoped that whatever they were conversing about would last until this stupid meeting was over.

It didn't take long to gather everyone since we were all relatively in the same place. Thankfully, Jan only motioned for us to come a yard or so away from the pavilion and crowd. We gathered in a small circle. Jan looked angrier than I had been at Roy only a short while ago. She searched her pockets and quickly found what she was looking for; her cigarette pack and lighter. She pulled one out, lit the cigarette and took one grateful drag off it before she proceeded to chew us all out.

"A streaker!" she screamed before taking another drag. "How did we not catch that there was a homeless man living in our park and apparently likes to live in the nude?" She looked directly at me but I had no answer. "Do you people realize just how badly this day has been? Ed Truck has died. Pam cannot seem to get her personal life straightened out. Michael is making freaking suicide attempts and the museum is going to get sued. Of course, the press is in on all of this. And to top it all off, we have a streaker." She looked as though she was about to hit someone and we all took a step back.

"Well, I for one, didn't have anything to do with any of this," Angela commented. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Oh, yeah," Kelly sneered. "You're completely innocent in all of this. Maybe if you did your job and didn't spend all your time trying to make money off those tacky things you call figurines we wouldn't have had all these problems."

"They are not tacky," Angela said defensively. "And at least I'm not whoring myself out during work hours or being pathetic by trying to kill myself."

"Hey," Michael said a little hurt.

"Oh, have a heart, Angela," Kelly snapped. "He was trying to do something romantic."

"Thank you," Michael responded sincerely.

"Get a brain, Kelly," Angela retorted. "We're all going to lose our jobs after that women sues the museum."

"Hey, you guys, I don't think this is the time." I interjected trying to convey the seriousness of the situation.

"Yeah, I think we need to not turn on each other," said Oscar, who had been silent this whole time.

"Well, at least we got a lot of revenue from the dance," Ryan observed. "There are a ton of people here tonight."

Oscar looked grim. "Actually, most of the money from tonight will have to be used to pay the bands. "Unfortunately, Darryl is asking for quite a lot of money…"

"You've got to be kidding me," Ryan groaned. "Pam, you really screwed this up."

"What?" I said, shocked that he would blame me for anything. "What were we supposed to do, not have a band for tonight?"

"Oh right," Ryan said snidely. "Actually, I should blame Kelly because she's the one that picked out such a crappy band in the first place."

"Where do you get off blaming me for anything," Kelly argued. "You're the one who said it would be a great idea to invite them."

"I said no such thing," Ryan shot back.

"Oh, you so did," Kelly responded. "And just for the record, I lied earlier. That streaker's penis? So much bigger than yours."

"You're just saying that because you're mad at me…"

"I am mad at you…"

"You know what Kelly," Ryan said finally fed up. "I'm sick of arguing about everything. You and I are done."

"You can't break up with me," insisted Kelly.

"Oh really?" Ryan said throwing his hands up in the air. "Kelly, I am no longer dating you. There, I just did."

"ENOUGH!" Jan yelled. We had all heard Kelly and Ryan have this same argument a million times and although we were all tired of hearing it, their bickering had pushed Jan over the edge. "We're done tonight," she said in a very forced calm voice. "I'm pulling the plug before anything else can happen. The dance is over."

"Um, Jan," Michael started. "Is this an okay time to ask if we're still planning on having sex tonight?" Jan dropped her cigarette on the ground and stomped it out, giving Michael the evil eye as she did so. Michael got the message and did not say another word.

"Pam," she said turning to me. "Go announce the closing of the festival."

"But—" I started, thinking that anyone else was capable of doing so.

"Do it!"

I sighed.

* * *

The circle of staff members broke. While I was to go make the closing announcements, everyone else was supposed to make sure everyone left the park as soon as the announcement was made. As I headed back to the pavilion, I saw Jim still talking with Darryl though it looked like they were wrapping up because I saw Darryl shake Jim's hand. I didn't have a whole lot of time. I started to head in their direction but Jan caught my attention and pointed a demanding finger at the platform where Scrantonicity was wailing away.

I took a deep breath in and hurried over to the platform, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible. I pushed through the crowd, a sea of sweaty and hot bodies, which made it difficult to reach the platform. Once arriving, I climbed up the steps and motioned the band to stop playing. After a few failed attempts, I waved my arms widely, signaling them to finish up. Kevin cut the band off abruptly and stared stupidly at me.

"We're done," I gave as an explanation. "The festival's over." The band members didn't seem to understand but made no complaints. I walked over to the mike and grabbed it. "Hello, everyone," I said into the mike. It squeaked loudly and I had everyone's attention even though my voice barely registered. "Hi." All eyes were on me and it made me nervous to stand up in front of everyone. The crowd was silent, waiting for me to speak again. "The festival is closing now," I said finally. "I want to thank everyone for coming and hope you will join us tomorrow for our other festivities and fireworks show." There were groans as they realized the dance had been cut short. "Please drive safely tonight and thank you again for coming. I hope you all had an enjoyable time."

The crowd started to slowly disperse, in much lower spirits. Scrantonicity looked as though they were about to start playing again. I motioned for them not to because Jan had wanted everyone out of the park as soon as possible to avoid any other ridiculous incident. As soon as they understood what I wanted, I jumped off the platform to head towards Jim.

I couldn't see over the crowd so I jumped up to see if Jim was still at the back of the pavilion. I thought I saw the back of his head but wasn't sure. "Jim!" I called. My voice was drowned out by all the commotion and even the people that surrounded me could barely hear me. "Jim!" I tried louder to no avail.

It was nearly impossible to get through the crowd as it had become so dense with activity. A couple of teenagers whizzed by me, pushing into my back and nearly causing me to topple over. Then, without ever seeing it coming, a large bald guy knocked into my side and because I was off balance already, I fell and landed with a thud on my hip and right hand. The cement stung and I pulled my hand to my chest, rubbing it to make the pain go away.

As I sat on the ground, looking up at the people trying to work around me, I thought maybe it was a sign that I was trying too hard. Maybe I wasn't supposed to ever reach Jim. Maybe our chance meeting was supposed to be just one moment in time and we were both to move on with our lives. But three days together was more than one mere moment. Three days held a bunch of moments and I wanted more of them.

No, I thought, as I pushed myself up, finding a renewed energy flowing through me. It wasn't a sign at all. Yes, this day had sucked but it was mostly my fault. I had said and done some stupid things throughout the course of this whole day and I only had myself to blame for my actions. And maybe I wasn't ready last night to give Jim what he had wanted but I was ready now. I was definitely ready now.

There was no way I was going to make it through the crowd to get to Jim so I had another idea. I pushed my way back up to the platform and ran up the stairs. I looked out into the crowd but I couldn't see Jim. I couldn't tell if he was still there but I had to try anyway at least for myself.

I grabbed the mike and at that moment, all the nervousness vanished. It didn't bother me that although this was a private message for Jim that everyone would be able to hear it. I felt like I could do anything. I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins. I could walk over coals if I had to, I could swim across the sea, I could even endure hours of Jan's wrath. I was ready.

"Jim," I started into the mike. My voice cracked and I cleared my throat. "Jim Halpert!" I said much more confidently. I still couldn't see him but I didn't care, I had to say what was on my mind. "Jim, you're a good kisser." I smiled into the microphone. I didn't care that the group closest to the platform looked at me oddly. The experience was such a rush. "In fact, you're a great kisser and I didn't get the chance to tell you that last night but I've wanted to tell you all day. I know I pushed you away. I was scared. Scared of how you felt, of how I felt but I'm not scared now. Jim, I really care about you. And I know I haven't done my best to convey my feelings. In fact, I've done and said some very dumb things lately but I'm trying to make up for it now. And I'm sorry about Roy. I'm sorry about that whole mess and that you ended up in the middle of it and that he hit you because that was all my fault. I could have prevented that whole thing and I let it build up. But you have to know that that's finished now. It's done--it's over--it--you know what, none of that really matters now. The truth is Jim--I have been standing still for a long time. Maybe my whole life. But I never cared about moving forward until I met you. You mean so much to me and you have no idea how much you've changed my life in just a few days. I can't imagine never meeting you. So, I am going to go over to the fountain now. Meet me over there, Jim, if you're even still out there somewhere. Please?"

I backed away from the mike, thrilled at what I had just accomplished. It felt like a giant weight had been lifted. I didn't care that nearly everyone at the festival was staring or later I would get yelled at for taking off. When I jumped off the platform and exited the pavilion from the back I didn't care that I wouldn't hear the end of it from my coworkers for weeks. For once in my life, I was completely honest. For once in my life, I was straightforward. And if anything, even if Jim didn't meet me at the fountain, I should be proud that I was able to do that.

I made it to the fountain in record time, turned towards the pavilion and waited.