Oh, I think you've done a great job of showing us why Emily and Jim work so well together. It's not just the lack of baggage, but the overall package.

Author's Response: Oh, good. I'm glad it works. I know we are so protective of our Jim and we want to make sure he's with the right girl (which in a perfect world might be Pam...), so it's so important in this fic for Emily to be likeable. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

oh my god i haven't been to the site in a few days and  i come to find not one update but 3! this is the best day ever.

Author's Response: Hee! Glad I brightened your day, jamband! ;-) Thanks for reading and reviewing!

I am going to keep going with this fic, but I do not believe what Jenna said about them maybe not being destined for each other... they better not screw with us lol. Well written!!!!!

Author's Response: Yeah, I don't really believe it either, but ... well ... it's kind of an exercise in "what ifs", I guess. Thanks for reading!

One more chapter!  One more chapter!  Hell--TWO more chapters!!!!  That was HOT and they're not even horizontal yet!  Whew!  I'm a fan of this: He kisses me back and we’re back to our cat and mouse game except I’m much more willing to be the cat tonight. Go, Emily!  Make him forget her!  (did I say that?!?!)  And that last sentence???  Good golly!  Love me some good steam : )

Author's Response: Yeah, I really thought I could avoid the steam in this story, but I can't seem to help myself. It's just too much fun. Thanks, Nan!

oh, wendolf, I'm definitely still reading.  There's just too much awesomeness to even begin to comment on each chapter!  But I will try to be a better reader and review more. I certainly want more (twss) so I'll review! Lovely chapter and can't wait for more ;)

Author's Response: Oh, no guilt WBJ -- I just wanted to make sure there were still SOME people still reading. I mean, I'm certainly writing this because I want to, but I wouldn't try to post so quickly if I thought no one was reading ;-) Glad you're sticking with me!

Hey, Miss Wen!  A big welcome back to you.  Hope you had a good vaca.  This chapter was a nice transition back into Philly Jim's world.  This, I think, was my favorite passage:  I sit with my legs stretched out in front of me, hoping my stomach isn’t too unsightly as I eat my sandwich. I should have left my shirt on for a bit longer. Now I’m stuck here, eating, all hunched over in a two piece. Ah well.  I know I can certainly relate to that (except I'm long past two-piece suits)  : )


Author's Response: Yeah, I'm long past two pieces, too . . . unless you count tankinis. Technically 2-pieces, right? Anyway, thanks so much for reading and reviewing! You're the best!

A week and a half?! You're going to kill me. Seriously.

-#1

Author's Response: Aw, you're sweet. As you can see, that week and a half flew by, didn't it? Thanks for sticking with me, #1!

A week and a friggen half?!?!?! Then I'll be on vacation!!! NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Author's Response: Whoops! Sorry, DS. Well, at least you'll have some reading to look forward to when you get back. And let me clue you in: it's the good, steamy stuff you like ;-)

Eeeeeeeeeeevil, wendolf!  Get us all hot and bothered and then go on vacation ; )  Have a wonderful time, my friend.  Looking forward to your next post, whenever that may be.   

Author's Response: Whoops, just responding to these old reviews now ;-) Yes, I like to leave people hanging a bit so they want to come back and read more. Thanks for sticking with me, NanReg!

Sorry...new at reviewing. guess this should be in the chapter 17 section.

And congratulations on earning a blue ribbon.!!!

Oooo.... But he doesn’t say he won’t change his mind. I never hear those words.  Man oh man--against my will--I love this story, really I do, and I'm feeling all kinds of guilty.  Wendolf, you are just soooo good at this! 

Author's Response: I'm really twising your arm, aren't I Nan? Making you beg for mercy (and for Pam's forgiveness for being swayed to like Emily). ;-) Thanks so much for the compliment and, as always, reading and reviewing!

10

I don't think this is unfair to Pam at all. It is how Jim felt, he even admits he was the one who couldn't let go of the past.
You are making me nervous with that last sentence "I never hear those words." Please tell me I'm reading too much into that.

Author's Response: Isn't it funny that now I'm making people nervous with the idea of Jim and Emily breaking up??? Hell has officially frozen over, folks! Anyway thanks so much, justme! We'll have to wait and see if your nervousness is justified. ;-) (I'm such a tease...)

Wendolf, again, thanks for reading and responding to my comments. From this chapter I think I understand a bit more about where you’re coming from with Jim. It still doesn’t quite come together for me, though. Jim resented Pam for not taking more risks when it came to the two of them (i.e. Pam not calling Jim after she called off the wedding), I get that. What I don’t get, though, is why did this Jim come back to be with Pam after “The Job”? Did this just not bother him that much at the time, then he let this (and other instances where he felt that she didn’t take enough risks) fester through the relationship?

I get what you’re saying about Pam/Jim not addressing all of their issues after only being together a year. I’m still going to have to disagree with this, though. I find it hard to believe that after a year some situation hasn’t happened that wouldn’t bring up *something* contentious from their past. I also think the “glow” has dimmed from their relationship. At the beginning of Season 4 (“Fun Run”), they glowed, but by GT I thought that they seemed happy together, not necessarily glowing. I don’t think they were issue-free, but I don’t think that they appeared to be in a new “glowy” relationship, either.

I understand where you’re coming from with your thoughts about things being all or nothing with Jim sometimes. However, I think Jim’s departure to Stamford after Casino Night and Pam going to Pratt are two very different situations. I saw Casino Night like this –Jim never had Pam, he wanted Pam and took a big risk to try to get her. He left because there was nothing left for him in Scranton. With Pam going to Pratt, I’m not sure “all or nothing” fits here. Jim already had Pam, they’d been in a relationship for just about a year. On the show Jim encouraged Pam to go to Pratt. Would Jim (or anyone else for that matter) really expect or think that Pam wouldn’t change just a little bit after her experiences there? By “all or nothing” do you mean that Jim thought or expected that Pam wouldn’t or shouldn’t change after her experience? I think Jim’s “extreme” reaction to Pam’s changes was OOC, I think you might as well call him Roy here.

About the Karen/Emily/rebound point, let me put it this way. I view a rebound relationship as one where someone just gets out of a serious relationship, then jumps into a new relationship (not necessarily serious) relatively soon afterward without resolving the effects/feelings from the previous relationship. I think that Jim still seems bitter after his break-up with Pam. You said yourself that Jim is “still relatively fresh from the break up – would probably have a tendency to justify, make excuses, try to make himself feel better about how he handled things.” So, yeah, I think that Emily is a rebound after his relationship with Pam. He wanted to feel better about himself. I don’t think Emily is a replacement for Pam, nor do I think that Emily is the only woman that Jim could have a loving relationship with after Pam. I don’t think Jim/Emily’s relationship will necessarily be temporary (although that’s up to you, right?) ;) I think rebound relationships could work out. I hope I explained this a bit more clearly this time.

Again, thanks for reading and responding to my comments. If you find them helpful, that’s great. At this point, though, I think we’re trying to convince each other of things that I don’t think we will agree on. Can we just “agree to disagree”? :)

Author's Response: Yep, let's agree to disagree. I see your points and respect them, but we obviously are looking at this a bit differently. I'm just going to answer the questions you asked directly.

RE: why Jim got together with Pam at all when he clearly still had issues-- this to me is sort of a no-brainer. I mean, I think he was overwhelmed by the chance of having what he'd wanted for so long. I can't imagine him saying at that point "No thanks. You had your chance." He was thrilled. But once they were together, and especially after he started to see the changes in Pam, his feelings of insecurity came back. I could give personal examples here ... but I won't ;-)

RE: Jim's extreme reaction -- I meant extreme in the way he handled things after Pam went to Pratt, not extreme in that he didn't expect her to change at all. I think (again, just in my fic) when he felt things changing (whether they really were or whether that was just his perception), that's when he got a little all or nothing. All his fears and issues kind of started to rear their ugly heads and ... well... things unraveled.

Lastly, again, I'm not saying that they couldn't have dealt with their issues during their first year -- just that we didn't see any hard evidence that they had. So... it begs the question that sort of planted the seed for this fic: What if they hadn't?

Thanks again!