Jim's musing about Mephistopheles and the sirens calling to him may be the most beautiful section of writing you have ever done.

And, yes, Randall DOES look like a younger version of Dumbledore.

Author's Response:

Wow - what a compliment. Thanks ever so much.

I'm really putting my guts into this story so it means a lot you think it's coming through.

Poor Jim, right. Bet he wishes he had a Time Turner so he could go back and do that 27 seconds differently.

Right - really made this bit work.

Glad you are reading this one - I know you'll pick up a lot of the easter eggs throughout.

  

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I love the format that you used here counting down the seconds and how painfully aware she was that is was that long.

What surprised me about this chapter was the complete heartbreak of Jim standing there long after she had left and her murmured ‘Oh Jim’ that echoed into his soul. SO good!!

“ In less than an hour she would once more have an actual wedding date set. Her dreams of becoming a bride would be closer than they’d ever been, so close that she had an appointment booked to try on gowns with her mom and Penny.

In no more than 60 minutes, both versions of herself would be experiencing happiness she’d been waiting so long for.

Right now, she couldn’t worry that a second look at the incident that preceded that pure joy, was causing conflicting feelings to form around that happiness.” —Yep. That’s Pam all right. Completely circumventing her true feelings for the ‘idea’ of love and holding on to a manufacturered dream built with nothing false promises and wishful thinking.

Love the Randall reveal and the calm all knowing vibe he has.

This was a GREAT chapter!

Author's Response:

Thanks so much -as you know I was afraid this chapter might be hard to "buy" but it seems I've sold it well. And that bit with Jim standing there after she went downstairs - broke my heart a little to write it so thanks for mentioning it. 

Glad you're all in agreement about what Pam we are dealing with- even with the chance to see it all again she still is rooted in who she is - and I blame a lot of that on the evil brute doing snorkel shots down below. It will take a little more that 27, err 54 seconds, to crack that shell.

Again many thanks for always sharing your thoughts. They mean a lot.

Loved all the Harry Potter metaphors with this one. Future Pam watching the 27 seconds of silence as if looking through a pensive. Randall quoting and acting as the proverbial Dumbledore. All great.

Yes it would have been nice for Pam to have her wake up moment here. But you're right there's a very thick layer of denial she's living under right now. However there's also still a bit more of the Booze Cruise to unfold as well as two more weeks of perspective to get before Future Pam catches up with her own timeline. Also she now knows Randall is aware of Future Pam. Another outside observer which could also add some insights.

She may be living under denial but it felt as if the thoughts and feelings under that denial are getting just a bit stronger. Not strong enough to break through yet, but pushing harder. Wearing things down just a bit more. Nice work.

Author's Response:

The HP stuff was really fun to throw in and I felt I owed it to my readers with the original story description. 

You are right, it's too soon and Pam too closed off now to see clearly but you are also right maybe the experience defogged her windshield if only just a smidge. And once more - there's a while to go on the boat and in the past.

Thanks as always for a review that let's me know I'm doing my job with this one. And let's me know you are enjoying it. Always a thrill to get them. 

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This chapter was so good! I was anxious to see how you'd handle this one, since you're adhering to canon and Pam obviously can't have some sort of wakeup call here. But her thought process felt very true, and I love that she was able to watch Jim afterwards like that.

*Being here reminded Pam of another Harry Potter phenomenon, that of the swirling blue liquid in the pensive which, upon the addition of a fluid thread pulled from out of his brain with his wand, allowed Dumbledore to see the things he’d seen before. Pam wondered if what she was feeling now was similar to how it felt when Harry fell into the eddy in the large silver urn to relive a time from the past. She had the slight sensation of being underwater, as if floating, but that she could attribute to the motion of the boat.*

Love all the HP references but this one especially hit me.

RANDALL! How brilliant that he's seen this before but no one will believe him because he's a great editor? HA! My husband the editor would appreciate this.

*All the thoughts, all the feelings bubbling up from way down below, both times she was on this cruise—the ones that had been fighting so hard to make their way up through the depths, that nearly rose to the height where they might break through the surface, they were drowned once more. Her rejection of transformation of any kind causing them to sink way back to where they came from, almost as if they never existed.*

And that, ladies in gentlemen, is Pam in a nutshell.

Great work on this one! Can't wait to see what Michael thinks of Randall seeing them and the effect this will all have on the rest of the series...

Author's Response:

Here I was worried that everyone would be like 'come on...what are you trying to pull?' and you all seem with me that it will take a lot longer than 27 seconds (or 54 since it's the second time around for Pam 2) to get her to make a change...

Glad you liked the HP stuff too. Lots of great stuff there when it comes to time bending and the mystical.

Randall kinda snuck into this story when I was writing - glad it's also working out.

Thanks for the review. Always highly appreciated!