I love this convo with Katy! I kind of figured that Pam would have known more about Jim than she did, but this reminds me of his relationship with Karen as well: not telling her key pieces of his personality. Interesting take that I absolutely loved!

“There was one voice she knew could shut hers up so she asked him to take a walk with her, but instead of a diversion, she got silence. Silence so loud, she had to return to the rowdiness of the crowds to stop hearing it.” —Ugh this part was so good.

I love how you had her focusing on spinning her ring on occasion. It ties in wonderfully with the underpinnings of the true reason she does it and the time turner in this story.

And of course it’s always humorous when she has to essentially babysit Michael and now he is an errant child. Great job!

Author's Response:

Thank you - thank you - thank you - you know how much I love reviews and hearing the parts you enjoyed.

This was one of my favorite lines too.

Lots of spinning in this story, lots of circularity and much more symbolism to come. 

I've said before this story will be so much more than Jim and Pam's - Michael's a big part throughout - among other reasons because he is is so fun to include.

1

I like a lot of your Pam inner monologue in this chapter, it's like she knows something is wrong with her life but isn't actively facing it. It's a lot easier to swallow this way than a Pam who seems actually happy. I really hope you are doing Past Pam's inner mono when Roy sets the date next chapter because I always wonder about that Pam.

*There was nothing exciting about a wedding that wasn’t being planned or a fiancĂ© who after asking her to marry him three years ago, seemed to have forgotten he had.*

Ouch. See, I would love to see her thought process going from this to the next phase.

*Solitude, it was a treasure for some, not always for Pam. There were times when the subtle voices in her head that formed questions about her choices got a little too loud when there weren’t others around to drown them out. *

This is so good. Ignore, deny, look the other way. Now that she's being forced to watch some of this stuff it'll be interesting to see how those things might change...

Author's Response:

Pam is pretty complex in these early seasons - I think she believes that she is truly happy and she even has moments of true happiness - but it's pretty apparent she really isn't satisfied with where she is at in love or life. I'm just trying to bring that out a little more.

This episode actually showed it well - she went from 'not getting Roy' to one of those pure joy moments; even if it was misplaced/false happiness I saw it as real.

That's what she's been doing for so long she's become an expert at it - so it's going to take a whole lot of being forced to confront it to break the spell.

Thanks as always for your wonderful reviews.

Kinda love the Katy-Pam interaction here. Interesting to see how those two deal with each other and how Katy regards Pam. This feels true to Booze Cruise in the way that Katy treats her more as a potential ally than a threat. Poor Katy... you can really tell how much Jim's held her at arm's length here. On the other hand, the leap from "I know zero about my boyfriend" to "I'd like to be engaged" is a big one. Feels like she's more enamored with the idea of Jim than the real Jim here.

"There’d most surely be a major upheaval, a commotion that would bring everyone aboard to the site of convergence, creating confusion and panic, screaming and fainting, and quite possibly more people jumping out the windows into the freezing waters." That would be my exact response to discovering myself on a boat with two Michael Scotts.

This idea of the voices of doubt constantly crowding Pam's head and how Jim's voice is the only one that quiets them... I like that. I like that a lot. And you continue to make highly amusing use of Pam's hard-earned understanding of Michael here, too. I bet you he would at least have *tried* to get to the real command center of the boat.

Pam trying to apparate is hilarious. #JimIsPamsPatronus

Author's Response:

In this interest of getting back to writing will try to be brief - but always do want to let it be known how much I appreciate each and every review...

Filling in the early part of the Katy /Pam conversation felt like a good place to layer in some more of Pam's connection to Jim that she still doesn't quite understand the significance of.

Glad you are still digging on the Pam and Michael relationship - this story is as much about them as it is about Jam.

Thrilled you mentioned the apparating...I was a little worried it was a step to far from Pam's character but after time traveling I figured she'd have to be a little more open to stuff like this....and besides I promised there'd be Harry Potter stuff in the summary.

Jim absolutely is Pam's Patronus!!!!!!!! Kinda love that hashtag! Only she doesn't know it yet.