To start, I loved Michael bringing up Elvis. Nice little callback to our friends in Part II! Also, Michael bringing up Pam's artwork?! Ugh, I love their friendship in this so so much!

Poor Pam, a lot on her mind. I hope she makes the right decision!

1

So...........that was a lot to take in. Now I'll also admit it's been a few days since I read this chapter and writing this review, so I may have forgotten some of my initial feelings and thoughts. That being said lots to unpack here.

Big forward movement in the plot. Just when Pam is feeling discombobulated from seeing how Roy treats her art, the Time Turner breaks and she sees how Roy has been treating Past Pam. The rage and anger he's shown. First with the road rage, the arguments over the missing money, him saying she ruined the vacation after said vacation was over about something he never paid attention to anyway in regards to the earing. Kind of tears apart her thoughts from last chapter that Roy picking on her is "just in jest." Roy isn't joking around, he means what he says even when he is misguided.

Then she finds Jim's hidden treasures. Oh wow, does that set off a host of everything. As you wrote, he doesn't just like her. He cherishes her. I loved the use of the Pensive imagery. I've often thought that had Pam really had some objective outside perspective, she might have realized sooner how wrong Roy was for her and how right Jim was for her. She's clearly gotten that perspective over these past two weeks. All the discussions with Randall and Gabby. The overheard conversations on the Booze Cruise. It feels like it's been leading her to the moment where she finally understands just how deep Jim's feelings are for her and how deep hers are for him. Thing is, you've written this latest revelation with subtly. After all, they're just doodles. At least that's what Roy would say. But clearly Jim's not Roy. He cares about her and that one thing that makes her so special. Michael has already set up how important her artwork is. So, she's already got it in her mind that her creativity is important. With Roy, it's a hobby that lets him break away for a bar night and a scrap of paper to write down notes. For Jim her artwork, is worth their weight in gold. Until now she might have just said, "oh they're just doodles I do when I'm bored." I doubt she'll ever draw another doodle again with that mentality. Now that she knows what they mean to Jim and all the implications that go with them. Loved seeing that play out.

Pam's journey with Michael is another great piece that's really starting to come together. It feels like she's really seeing the core of who Michael is. A guy who wants desperately to belong and to surround himself with those who want him around too. In that regard it makes sense why he clings so hard to Packer. Packer might have been one of the few people in Michael's early professional career that not only tolerated him,but wanted him around. I have no doubt that for Packer the only reason he wanted Michael around was for a host of selfish reasons rather than a healthy friendship. For attention and affection starved Michael that means attaching himself to someone who is clearly a toxic personality. Pam rightly calls him out on it. When Michael refuses to let go. I mean who hear doesn't want to scream at Pam right then to look in the mirror for herself. Now, granted she's tired with all this mental and physical wrangling she's had to do. Yet I also get the feeling that these thoughts will stick with her.

But where do we go from here. Now we're REALLY in uncharted waters. Packer's deposit wasn't left. So now Roy upstairs all day and no Michael to steal Jim's chair. Future Pam also has all of Past Pam's memories and two weeks of soul searching under her belt. Really feels like the pace is picking up. I mentioned a while ago an allusion of a snowball rolling downhill to create an avalanche. Well, the avalanche is here and it's only getting bigger and sucking more snow and debris into it. I get the feeling that before long Pam might need to reach out a hand to help her get above the cascade. But who will be there to grab it? Who will she want to have grab it? Roy? Jim? Michael? Randall? Gabby? Or will she be able to fight her way to the side of the slide herself and in so doing realize she's has the strength all along to chart her own course in life?

Great job for what feels like a hugely important chapter for her.

Author's Response:

All I can really say is YES! So much coming to focus for Pam - and yet she is still stuck in the past both literally and figuratively.  Even canon Pam was still stuck when he professed his love and then kissed her like he did. SHe needed time (in my head it was always about two weeks before she came to her senses and then it was too late)...hhmmm, how long have they been back now?

I love your insights about Packer too. And I had always contended this would be a Pam/Michael relationship growth story too so I love you are picking up on that.

Your avalanche theory is spot on. One chapter of the calm before the ----actually I'll say no more. I hope to have it up soon.

THANK YOU so much for your review and your support as I start the process of bringing this full circle. As you know, the reviews are so encouraging and ones like these are a huge boost.

*“In the words of the King…” he went on…

“A little less conversation, a little more action. Seriously, I could carve out a space for you in my Caf? Disco where you can paint and put up a little gallery. We could host some pancake breakfasts with the artist.”

Once again, Michael’s words turned her insides to mush causing her to blink back tears from her lashes.

“Serve them up with a little espresso,” he said the word both correct and with a slurred southern drawl.

Despite her attempts to keep them contained, the droplets fell from out of the corners of her eyes as she began to laugh and cry simultaneously.

For once Michael stayed serious, as serious as he could while doing a poor impersonation of the famous pompadour-coiffed entertainer.

“Mark my words little lady, you keep at it and you’ll do very well. I see it very clearly. You have a future to go after if you just never ever, ever give up.”*

*Never before had she had the opportunity to witness his vulnerability, or feel his loneliness, or get a sense of the genuinely kind heart he had. It was only through this experience she was able to observe how he saw the best in his people and wanted to inspire them to achieve greatness all while still showing them a fun time while doing it. It was only through the intimate moments they had on the boat, at the library, the ice-skating rink and during their lunches, out and at her home, that she came to see more than just the immaturity and idiocy that until now she’d thought were his most defining traits. She knew now, he was so much more than he seemed.*

It's not necessarily a Jim/Pam story... it's a Pam/Michael story, and the lessons she's learning are working their way into her subconscious regardless of what she's going to end up changing/ remembering. Yet again, I really adore the way you write Pam and Michael together.

*Despite reflexively thumbing the scale, which she realized she'd been doing for years, it wasn't enough to keep all the weight of the recent days from tipping the other side down. And yet, she still felt paralyzed, locked into the life she had settled on when she put on Roy's jersey and posed for the photo that still hung in his locker.*

This is beautiful.

I love the idea that she is/ has been actively ignoring her feelings for Jim and she's deciding to pay more attention to them now, letting them take over. It remains my contention that S2 Pam is very much aware of how she feels about Jim, her self-confidence level (and the fact that he tells her he's completely over his crush) are what allow her to convince herself he doesn't feel the same way, and never even entertain the possibility of actually being with him. Then CN shoots all of that to shit. (This isn't a direct commentary on your chapter, just my own personal musings.)

*What fell from her eyes was the joy of knowing she was cherished, not by Roy but by Jim, but with that joy came the fear that her whole life was meant to change, had to change, and she still didn’t know if she had the strength to make it happen no matter how much she wanted it to.*

UGH UGH this is painfully beautiful! I'm ready for the home stretch here, Max! Please don't keep us waiting long!

Author's Response:

I did say at some point this story was not just about Jam but about the Michael/Pam relationship (which I have a soft spot for) and Pam's growth in general. 

I agree - a lot of what she knew and felt got buried until CN unearthed it - but even then she couldn't act immediately. She still needed time- I figure she needed about 2 weeks, so that's what I gave her here.

Thank you for all your support with this story. Reviews and beans have meant the world to me as I put this out there. 

It should be long now - the final chapters I hope to post faster now that the whole tale is mapped out.

Thanks again.