One more in the "I wish things had turned out differently," category. The show runners had a great chance after this episode to have Jim and Pam re-connect a lot more than they did. Yet we had to endure the rest of S3 as it played out. Ah well gotta get ratings somehow.

I like Pam here. She's growing and the changes she's made are great to see. However she's not quite there yet. Granted she's only been recently dubbed Fancy New Beesly in this conversation so getting used to that idea, I'm sure will take some time. However I really like that she's hopeful here. That things are starting to bloom as you described. Yes there are still some rough times ahead, but at least the hope that things will get better has started to make an appearance.

Author's Response: I agree wholeheartedly. This was a missed opportunity,  albeit fertile ground for me here. I think Pam is naturally cautious: decisions she makes may not manifest in the world for some time after being made. Thanks for the review!

Ouch my heart again!

Confession, I skipped most of season 3 the first time I saw The Office because I couldn't stand these two being apart. And afterwards I read about this phonecall on a fic and I had to go all the way back, which was good but also painful.

Thanks so much!

Author's Response: S3 is really painful, I agree. I disagree with a lot of the writers' choices, which makes AUs fruitful and of course makes something like this that is canon-adjacent harder. Thanks for reading!