I think one of my favorite things about this story is the close calls. Super clever using Dwight’s concussion for one in this chapter. You also did a great job at writing what that day might seem like inside a concussed Dwight’s mind.

You also use these fabulous little Freudian slips of thinking about Jim instead of Roy. That is such a spot on interpretation of season 2 Pam especially the one at the end about her missing Jim. Oh, Pam…

Author's Response:

The near misses are fun - as are the ways things done while traveling in time - will shift the original timeline. Time travel stories are fascinating in this way - so glad you are enjoying these elements.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

"without Pam to keep an eye on him the likelihood he might get caught or do something that could wreak havoc on the future was as high as the probability of him kicking Toby out of any given meeting." Lol. Also, that's high. I share her concern. Randall's got his work cut out for him here.

Oh, Pam. Have you noticed that every time you consider a potential change in your life, you go *directly* to how it will impact your time with Jim? Or how as soon as Gabby suggests you're missing someone, you assume it *must* be Jim? Or how you literally have nothing nice to say about Roy? No, of course you don't. Because you're Season 2 Pam, and this has to be difficult for everyone. *grumbles at Season 2 Pam*

The near miss with concussed Dwight is a nice touch. Makes you wonder what else just got by him that day. And of course the no toilet paper issue ended up coming back to haunt Michael. Lol.

Delight with just a touch of sinister is a good way to describe Jim's messing with Dwight face.

"That got her thinking, she’d taken this challenge before so shouldn’t she have been able to get a better time this go around and now she wondered why she hadn’t. Weren’t you supposed to learn from your earlier mistakes?" Hmmmmmm. Interesting, Pam. Maybe something to ruminate on.

Mildly alarmed to see that Pam is now actively changing the past, even as she and Michael fail to change the things that they'd *like* to change. I guess Matt going to the hospital instead of Randall still falls within a relatively immutable timeline, but it's something to keep an eye on.

(Not going to lie, I was expecting Pitbull and not Huey Lewis in that link, in spite of the fact that it was clearly set up to be Huey Lewis.)

Author's Response:

You and Pam aren't wrong about Michael's impact but it also really all depends which time travel model we are in - right? Randall can only do so much - get him out of the office on time and hope he can stay out of trouble the rest - remember there's only one Randall running around.

Yes, season 2 Pam is, well we want to shake her a lot of the time - and this is season 2 Pam on steroids (is that okay to say Ryan?). She seems to be having trouble adjusting to her new vision.

Glad you enjoyed the Dwight stuff and hope it wasn't too much to read as much as Pam heard about his BMs.

Thanks - and how'd you like the prank? Always a challenge to come up with something we haven't seen before (or maybe we saw that and I forgot). 

The more things change, the more things stay the same - or maybe not. Once more, time will tell.

Ha- I used the Pitbull version in my son's Bar Mitzvah Montage. But remember 1) Pitbull version is from Men in Black not BTTF and 2) Randall's age makes him more Huey Lewis than Pitbull (in fact more a fan of even older musical artists) - stay tuned.

Thanks as always for the review. 

“Not just that”, she refuted. “I thought it sounded so romantic and indicated you could change your destiny. In fact, he even says this to her, the science guy. Change your destiny and marry me."

That along with the "Weren't you supposed to learn from your earlier mistakes?" seem to be some of the key lines in this chapter. Along with some more things that are telling. Pam has a sketch of Jim that she treasures. Not one of Roy, the man she supposedly wants to spend the rest of her life with. She admits to missing spending time with Jim, not with Roy. When she gets a high score in Sudoku she wants to go and talk to Jim. What's more is she seems to be becoming more and more aware of these tendencies (feelings?) she has for Jim.

The times she does focus on Roy it's annoyance because he's left their room a mess. No wondering about how he's doing. No wondering about how he would react to her time travel adventure. Just annoyed he can't get his clothes in the hamper. Jim is life, color, and something new and exciting all the time. Roy is dull routine. Feels more and more like she's tired of dull routine that doesn't go anywhere.

Dwight trying to figure out why there were two Michael's while concussed was great fun as well to be sure.

Author's Response:

Yup, yup and there may be a few others but you caught 2 important lines. One with a little more to it than just what you may think now...

lot of satisfaction in writing this in the way I am in that I can really heighten the foreshadowing and round out the circularity since I've already drafted the story almost up to the end, in fact just starting 1 of 2 of the climax chapters TWSS (but really I mean literary climax - you know I don't write steam)

Now, let's not forget Jim is a slob too. Chances are that would be the same but certain things are more forgivable when like you said the rest is new and exciting - a colorful mess, let's say.

But also could it be fear that she's been down the road where new and exciting turns to routine - that's holding her back or just that she'd still adjusting to not wearing contacts.

Glad you enjoyed the Dwight part. I'm having fun with all the near misses. 

Thanks friend for the review.