i'm going to thank you. as i was reviewing, i began to write my first fanfic, a short, passionate oneshot. right here in the review box! so thank you. and i'll get back to your story in a little while. gotta post my first story!!! (great job, yet again, though. this really inspired me!)

Author's Response: Thanks, pamelamorganhalpert - glad to hear you were inspired.

10

Really lovely ending =)

Author's Response: Glad it worked for you! Thanks for all the comments, Hannah!

10

I freaking love it :)

Author's Response: Thanks!

10

It's horrible that I am just now reviewing this, Colette.  I had read it and loved it, and then real life has been crazy lately and I'm just now getting back to review the stories I've really enjoyed - and this one is certainly one of my favorites.  

I can't put my finger on what it is about your writing.  You capture the mood and feeling so well.  I swear I could smell the restaurant when they went inside and I could practically feel the rain as they got caught in it.   Your stories always manage an almost tangible quality.  You are truly gifted. 

Also, the thought of Jim in a wet shirt?  Extra points for THAT, my friend :)

10

Ok, besides the fact that your writing is perfect and beautiful, you manage to work in lychee (LOVE that stuff! But hated it as a kid) and Georgia O'Keefe, my favorite artist since I was a wee pre-teen--and had not a clue how... suggestive her paintings were, i just liked the pretty, interesting take on flowers. (Fun fact: I've done a couple of paintings of flowers in that style. The biggest one may or may not be hanging above my living room couch.)

On topic? I love this story. I truly do. 

10

So I've been on vacation with the family for the past two weeks and was able to check my e-mail a couple times while away (with my husband and son lurking nearby).  It killed me not to read this, but it was a treat to read it all in one shot today (we got home last night).  I knew I would be in for a treat.  You didn't disappoint, Colette; you never do.  This was absolutely beautiful.  I loved every bit of it.  Your work is consistently beautiful.  Your dialog is spot on, and your imagery is lovely.  Thanks for this.  It seems that a little bit of fantasy was just want I needed to help ease me back into the real world.

Author's Response: So flattering that you even thought of this story while on vacation! (And nothing worse than lurking spouses and offspring when a girl is trying to get her fanfic fix, lol.) Especially glad you think the dialogue works - it's always hard to know if what sounds right in your own head translates for others. And I know as a reader, one dissonant line (sometimes even one klunky word) and the illusion can be deflated. So, yeah, I worry about that, lol. Anyway...thanks for the generous comments - and for always being such a smart and encouraging audience, NanReg!! (And happy 4th, btw!)

Gah, so many amazing things about this chapter!  Loved the description of the little girls, particularly given that I have twin nieces around that age, and they would totally react the same way in that situation.  If I so much as kiss my husband on the cheek, it elicits squeals and giggles.  ...Um, from them, not him, lol.

And as usual, you write the heated stuff such that it radiates a frisson, yet never breaks the illusion that this is Jim & Pam -- recognizable characters, not two people who bear little resemblence to those we know so well. 

The e.e. cummings poem was like a little dollop of whipped cream on the top of a totally delectable dessert.

Thanks for writing this -- such a treat to read!

Big contented sigh.

This was simply lovely; you capture here the essence of why I have no worries about season 5.  Love the fact that they're enjoying exploring the city together; love it even more that they sometimes don't leave her apartment for the entire weekend. :o)

Off to the next chapter....

I would love to go to the chinatown you have described.  I avoid that place like the plague.  I can't take any more than 2 blocks of "goochi goochi chah-nel!!" and "hanbag? hanbag?" 

hot chapter.  that's what I meant to say 

10

Seriously, I always love how intimate your writing is. You write these little quiet moments between them so perfectly. They just make me smile and feel warm =)

Author's Response: 'Intimate' and 'warm' are music to my ears. Thanks so much, flonkerton!

10

I may have squeed, just a bit, when I saw this was updated.  Once again, you managed to take me completely into this little world in which Jim and Pam found themselves.  I feel like I'm repeating myself here,  from my other reviews, but it all still holds true.

I love the way Jim is quick to support her in what she loves and that Pam has to coax it out of Jim in order to do the same.  That seems so true to character to me.  Jim has long been supporting Pam's desires and I can see him having trouble adjusting to being on the receiving end of that, simply because he is no more used to it than she was before Jim came along.

Okay, now I'm rambling.  I'll just end with very well done, as always.  Beautiful job from beginning to end.

So gorgeous! Your details and imagery are so vibrant and real. I loved the little girls and their mother on the subway:

Pam can’t understand the words, but the woman’s expression and tone are easily recognizable as universal mother-speak for stop staring and mind your own business.

Oh, there's too much of this that's perfect to even pick out particular lines. Their whole interchange back at the apartment and sleepy Jim saying 'mm hmm'... guh. But your dialogue with them was so real and true--like pulling teeth, indeed! Awesome. As always, a pleasure to read. Thanks for sharing your city with us. :)

Author's Response: You know, I actually did see twin girls like those - and obviously they made an impression - so I love that they came across in this story.And I'm so glad the dialogue seemed real to you - always something I fret over. Thanks, so much, callisto. This one was a joy to write. ;-)

"‘What, your mom never made you bear testicle tea when you were sick?’"  No, but I bet Dwight's mom did. And I bet she shot the bear herself.

Considering how big his hands are, he’s surprisingly adept with chopsticks.

Yeah, I would completely believe that. And I would believe that Pam, whom Jim called a klutz, would not be. :)

leaving him exposed, vulnerable, impossibly beautiful.

What a lovely, lovely word picture. 

at the rate she’s going, she’s thinking he might get laid right here on the table...she runs her foot up to his inner thigh, letting her toes linger for a moment at the point where the inseams of his jeans converge. It elicits a satisfying gasp from him.

Where is this restaurant and how do I get a reservation? :)

Ah, Colette, you never disappoint. However, I hope you've remembered that you always get, er, hungry again two hours after you've eaten Chinese food...Maybe Jim and Pam will go out for dessert? Or stay in. Whatever. :) I look forward to this lovely culinary exploration of each other New York.