1

Lovely dose of both coffeeshop cuteness and angst. Well done!

Author's Response: Thank you so much!!!

1

So Roy is in typical Roy form. The fact we don't even know what he does for a living seems telling. Almost as if Pam doesn't seem to care anymore either. He's just...there. Stable, maybe. Familiar, yes. But really that's it.

Unlike how things with Jim evolved. How Jim kept track of what she liked. How Jim encouraged her, believed in her, made her feel more than she could be. The build-up to everything feels very much like how things happened in canon. Pam living behind a huge wall of denial and fear of the unknown. A lot of it put in place by Roy. "Don't shake the boat."

But then Jim shakes the boat in a big way. First by his absence, then not replying to her, then the barely there comment he does offer. No wonder she tracks him down.

Then it's Casino Night all over again. The same feelings and emotions building up through the confession, kiss, and them breaking apart. Great job getting all those feelings out in this new setting.

Don't know if you're planning on another follow up, but I'd love to see more. It feels like the Pam in this story is craving someone else to talk to. To give her some perspective. With your writing style I'd love to read it and see how it would all pan out.

Author's Response:

Hello again! Yes! That was one of the main things I wanted to convey. Roy wasn't a horrible person, he was just a horrible boyfriend for Pam in particular. Honestly, I didn't even come up with a job for Roy, it didn't seem necessary, he just exists. I wanted to show how with the proper encouragement and support, Pam could begin to grow past her need for a comfort blanket like Roy. It was also an interesting dynamic, because in this story, they had just gotten engaged, so it wasn't like Pam was getting tired of the engagement, she was excited and planning a wedding, with no idea that they would probably just end up waiting and waiting and waiting.

Pam tracking him down in this story was also very important, because this was all her idea. She could've just let it go, but his friendship became too important to her, so she had to take the first step. 

And finally, yes you nailed it. Originally, I had planned to do more with this, to expand it, to let Pam continue to grow and try to figure out what she actually wanted (it was obviously Jim, but it might've taken her a while to get there) but I ended up just in a whirlwind at the end of the year, and it never actually happened. That being said, I am not opposed to another sequel to this story, it'll just have to wait and see if I get a burst of inspiration. I think it would be fun to do another completely different type (first was imagery, this was a list), so we'll see. Thank you for reviewing!! It really does make me super happy. :)