I think you've written the others perfectly. I was actually waiting to see Dwight in action to protect her much like his actions in s03 when Roy went after Jim. And unfortunately Phyllis was spot on; something about the casual cruelty and judgment is so much worse than Angela's holier than thou routine. You nailed it, hope they'll be put in their places soon though.

I understand that Pam needs to give them the full story but I will never be above believing your own flesh and blood FIRST especially since Pam and her mom here have such a deep connection already that's just heartbreaking.

YAY 😭

My heart omfg...at least she got out? 😭😭😭 Jesus

1

Oh god please let this be the start of her healing 😭😭😭

1

I’ve been wanting to start your latest story every time I see you update but before I did I felt I needed to read this one. (Which as you can see from this review I have begun.)

I was planning on leaving a review sooner to cover the story so far and this chapter seemed the right place.

The description of her nightmares was so vivid and haunting. At times I wasn’t even sure they weren’t just in her head.

There is such devastating realism throughout so far from the abuse to the Stockholm syndrome she seems to be suffering. Glad to know there is also Jim there for her throughout all of this.

I’m so intrigued to see where the rest of this goes in both this story and the next.

1

I want to thank you for your time and care in this story. It is a delicate and deeply personal subject; one so easily prone to a romanticism that it doesn’t deserve. Your honest and direct painting of the humiliation and various pitfalls experienced by victims of physical and emotional abuse was apt and respectfully done. I completely agree that the length you noted in ch. 39 was not only worthwhile, but an appreciated necessity. It’s part of what allowed your narrative, demonstrative of a maturity in premise and characters, to really shine. So often we become too eager to arrive at the destination or resolve of Pam’s awakening and healing, but the journey there is so important, especially under these circumstances.

I also loved your balance of altruism and grappling with human selfishness in both Pam and Jim. And to sporadically tap into the hallmark humor of the ensemble characters without shattering the serious setting was excellent!

Your prose is beautiful and poetic while not being superfluous; something I personally struggle with and always find impressive. I’m so eager to read the sequel and looking forward to any future works you might share!

Okay, now that this one is all up and posted here on MTT, I'm going to do a kind of quick wrap up with it all.

Throughout everything this has been a hugely powerful story. The very real feelings of loathing for this Roy, the pride in Pam as she finally gets away from that, the admiration for Jim in standing by her side and everything in between.

Really glad the judge didn't buy any of Roy's BS there in the courtroom. Especially there at the end as the sentance was handed down and Roy starts screaming again. Roy showed his true colors there and it showed.

Moving onto other things, the kiss in the art gallery was all sorts of lovely, but then it comes kind of crashing down due to the remergence of Casino Night lines.

However I did apprciate that Pam showed back up to explain a few things. Sad she still left, but it's also understandable. She needs some time away to process things. That was a lot of trauma she was dealing with so getting some distance makes sense.

Glad there's a sequel already in the works because this ending just begs for a resolution. Great writing with everything here.

So when I read this on FFN I was genuinely gutted by the idea of it ending there. SO happy you elected to give this journey another volume.

Ugh. I'm glad this chapter ended well, but I *really* wanted the judge or counsel to just flat out trash Roy.

Author's Response: Oh... now that is something I definitely should have added. I might even sneak in a new paragraph adding the judge's thoughts. Thank you for mentioning that - definitely had I thought of it I would have done it. !!!

Again, very in-character with Michael here, and some very sweet Jim-Pam moments.

One thing I'm curious about is the flow of information in the office - it seems like people really don't find out Roy's been fired because Pam has a restraining order on him until he actually shows up and attacks Jim. Did you have a reason in mind how that keeps from getting out to people like Darryl?

I was really struck on first read by how comforted Pam is by sleeping in Jim's bed, which is both sweet and on point as well as being a solid nod to canon and Pam being so comfortable in Jim's space in Email Surveillance. I'm struck by it again now.