Well, where do I start? Jim Halpert was the kind of guy that people could relate to. He had a charm about him that we up here like to refer to as a gift. I say was and had because Jim Halpert is dead. Ok, wait, before you freak out, let me explain. The old Jim Halpert has died (the kind we all like). And the reason for that is that Jim Halpert has lost his heart. I don’t mean it like he lost it, lost it. That is, it’s still inside his body, but because he was a goof, his heart is in about a million pieces inside of his chest.  The Big Guy and I…

How many times have I told you not to call me that, Clarence?

            Oh right, right, sorry, I always do that. God and I

Thank you

No problem, Big… God, yeah, we feel that Jim needs to have some direction. He’s a little lost right now. And it’s my fault. I am his guardian angel, and I kind of, well, how can I put this in terms you’d all understand. I slept on the job. I was there up until May, but after that I was sort of MIA. I never thought it would get this bad. So I am here to fix it. God wants me to go down for a visit to fix my mess. Oh and what a mess it is! I don’t know who Karen belongs to, angel-wise, because she and I need to have a talk. She wasn’t in the plan, and I sure don’t know how she slipped in.

            OK maybe I should have mentioned this before. Jim Halpert was made for Pam Beesley. Literally. The day he was about to go to Earth, God called me into his office and we had a talk. I was about to be assigned my new child to watch over when this stunning young angel walked into the room. Her name was Sophie. Well it still is! Sophie is Pam’s guardian angel. To make a long story short, God, Sophie and I sat down and went over the list of new babies being born that year. Anyway, we came to Pam. We read over her story and decided she and Sophie would be an amazing pair. I was getting a little nervous because everyone we read over didn’t seem like the right match for Pam. At first we were going to settle on a boy named Roy. But you all know how that turned out. So then God decided that he would just have to make someone specifically for Pam. And that is how Jim was made. He was actually made for Pam. Oh, and I want you to all know that this goes for everyone. Your guardian angel has a conference with God and the guardian angel of the person you are supposed to be with. So that whole soulmate thing; it really does exist. Of course, that is a whole other story that I could probably tell you some other time and…

Clarence!

            Yes, God?

Please get on with the story, you are wasting time.

            Ok, right, sorry. But now, because of me, and the little hiccup in the way things are supposed to be, I have to go down to Earth and knock some sense, and a heart, back into young Jim. 

            It was a surprisingly cold morning for Scranton in May. Jim was just about to start his normal routine: hit the snooze while cursing, toss in bed, hit snooze again, rationalize that it will be best to get up now before he sleeps in too late, hop in the shower, jump at the too cold water, sing… alone, he thought. Suddenly his rendition of “I Saw the Sign” was a duet. Jim wasn’t alone.

            “…and it opened up my eyes I saw the… hey you stopped singing,” said the unfamiliar voice that came from the other side of the shower curtain

            Jim yelled, like a girl. “This is it,” he thought, “I’ve finally lost my mind.”

            “No, you didn’t lose it; I’m just here to help you.” Jim knew he didn’t say anything out loud.  It finally dawned on him to look around the curtain.

            “Jesus…”

            “Nope, not him, I’m Clarence, your guardian angel.”

            “My what?”

            “You know, guardian angel, I make sure you don’t get into any real trouble. That’s why I’m here actually.”

            “Listen buddy, I don’t know who you are or how you got in my bathroom, or my head for that matter, but just, please leave now and I promise I won’t report you or anything.” This has got to be a dream…

            “No Jim, listen, I’m your guardian angel. My name is Clarence, and you’re not dreaming, I know that’s what you’re thinking.”

            “But how?”

            “Would you like me to prove it?”

            “Yes, actually I would.” It’s just a coincidence he knew that other stuff, those are very common thoughts to have when a strange man is in your bathroom with you.

            “Well, you are James Michael Halpert, and you’ve recently started to tell people you don’t have a middle name because of your boss. You grew up in Wilkes-Barre, your mother and father still live there. You got that bruise of your left knee last Tuesday when you thought it would be a good idea to jump over the coffee table, rather than go around it. And you are in love with Pam Beesley; have been all your life actually, but I wouldn’t really expect you to know that last part.”

            “This doesn’t make any sense. Halpert, man, you gotta wake up,” Jim started to slap his cheek trying to snap himself out of crazy mode.

            “It’s not going to work. Now would you just put a towel on and let me tell you why I am here?” Clarence looked up to the ceiling and began speaking again. “These kids today, can you believe it?

            Jim looked over to Clarence with a raised brow as he pulled up his boxers. “Uh, who ya talking to there, um, Clarence?”

            “The Big Guy, The Head Honcho…”

            Jim just looked at him even more quizzically.

            “I’m talking to God, you knucklehead.”

            “Oh, right.”

            Jim followed Clarence in a daze down to his living room. Luckily Jim remembered that he kept a baseball bat in his closet for emergencies. Even luckier for Jim, the door was open.  This was emergency enough for Jim, so he grabbed for the…

            “I don’t think a bat will do much in this situation, Jim.”

            Oh, crap, how did he know?

            “I told you, I’m your guardian angel, this is what we do.”

            “Clarence, can you just tell me why you are here already, and why haven’t I seen you before?”

            “Well, first off, you have seen me before. Remember that time you lost control of your bike and that man was there to pick you up before the car would have hit you?” Jim nodded. “Yours truly.” Clarence said with a grin.

            “Wow, um, thanks I guess?”

            “No problem, I had to, it’s in our contract.” Jim looked at Clarence expecting more. “Oh, right, right, you want to know why I am here. Well you see,” Clarence looked back to the ceiling, “Do you think he’s ready? No? Well ok, you’re the boss.” He looked back a Jim with an even bigger grin than before, “Kidding, see, I’m a jokester too Jim. But yeah, I’m here because of Pam.”

            “That’s a joke again, right? You’re, you’re, you’re kidding right?” Jim’s stomach was in knots.

            “Absolutely not. I’m really here because of Pam.”

            “Well what is it, is she hurt?” For some reason Jim felt like his whole world was about to crash down on top of him. I swear to God, if anything happened to that girl, I’ll, I’ll...

            “You’ll do what? And don’t swear to God, he doesn’t like it much. And no, Pam is not hurt.”

            “Just please tell me what’s going on here.”

            “You’ll see.”

            Jim was infuriated.  “I’ll see? Come on Clarence, there’s got to be more to this.”

            “Oh shoot, look at the time, I have to go talk to Sophie about dinner.”

            “Would you just stop with the jokes? What about Pam?”

            “You’ll see. I really hope we have stuffed shells tonight.” And with that Clarence disappeared.

            “Clarence, no! What about Pam!” You’re kidding me, now, he leaves. Jim kept calling after Clarence with no luck. Who is this guy? Why me, why now? How does he know I love stuffed shells?

By the time Clarence left Jim was already 20 minutes late for work. He rushed to get everything together for work so that he could get into his car and forget everything that did or did not just happen. He refused to believe anything Clarence had to say (or not say) because he beat it into his mind that Clarence is not real. Nothing is wrong with Pam. You were just hallucinating the crazy man.

“I told you, Jim I am not crazy…” Clarence appeared in Jim’s passenger seat.

The voice startled Jim. “Why won’t you just leave me alone?!”

“Wow, that extra pay from your promotion really came in handy. Look how spacious this is compared to that junky old Corolla. But to tell you the truth, I liked that better; this is like you are trying to prove something Jim.”

Jim didn’t want to hear it, “Do you realize that showing up in a moving vehicle unannounced isn’t a very good idea?” Jim knew he was sounding crazy, “You could have killed me.”

“Relax Jim. I’m your guardian angel, I can’t kill you, and I keep you from dieing. You should be thanking me for being here.”

“What do you want from me?”

“I don’t want much; I am just here to help you out.”

“I don’t need any help, thank you.”

“Jim, I know you. I’ve seen you grow into a fine young gentleman, and I don’t want you to get hurt. Some things need mended and I need to fix them.”

That’s not creepy “But why now?”

“Because if I don’t help you out, you’ll lose your heart forever. There’s not much I can tell you now, but overtime, you’ll see what I mean.”

Jim pulled into the parking lot. “OK, crazy man who is just a figment of my imagination, I’m at work now. So I have to go.”

“Can I at least try and get you to believe me.”

This has got to be good. “How is that even possible?” he said reaching to open his car door.

Clarence looked up to the sky, “How should we do it? I don’t want it to be… oh really? I think that will get his attention. Thanks, Big Guy, I mean God,” he looked back at Jim. “How about this, at 10:09 Pam will get up from reception, walk into the break room, buy some sour cream and onion chips, however instead of getting just one, the machine gives her two.”

“And that is supposed to be enough for me to believe you?”

“Yes, because she gives you the second bag.”

“Why would she do that? I haven’t spoken with Pam in a few weeks.”

“I have connections. If that happens, you must believe me. How else would I know?”

“Can I please just go to work?” It wasn’t really a question because at that moment Jim got up to go inside the building.

“Be my guest…”

All morning long Jim searched wikipedia for different mental cases to see which suited him best. No sane grown man believes in guardian angels. He was too busy too notice the time when he felt a light tap on his shoulder. Before looking up, he glanced at the time: 10:10. There’s no way…

“Jim, do you want these chips? I put in a dollar and got two. I know you like them; well I knew you liked them…” Pam looked timid; like she was afraid Jim was going to yell at her.

But he was looking at her in awe. Oh, God, I’m a grown man that believes in guardian angels. “Oh yea, of course. I can’t remember the last time I had sour cream and onion. Thanks, Pam.”

A smile crossed her face, “You’re welcome, Jim.” He couldn’t tell, but it looked as if she almost skipped back to her desk.

As soon as Jim saw that Pam was seated, he got up and ran to the bathroom. After making sure no one was there, he called out, “OK, Clarence, I believe you now! Happy?” I’m talking to a wall.

“No you’re not Jim. I’m right here. And yes, I am happy. I knew you’d come around.”

Two days later Jim was on his way to pick up Karen for their six month anniversary. He wasn’t very excited, considering this was supposed to be a “monumental” milestone in his relationship with Karen. Or so she said. Lately Jim had been feeling distant toward Karen, but was too chicken to do anything or say anything about it. It’s like a scab, he thought, it’s just not ready to be picked at.

“So, she’s a scab now, huh?” Clarence was back

“Oh dear Go...”

“…od? What am I going to do with this kid? He is so clearly not into Karen that he’s…” Clarence was interrupted.

“Excuse me? Not that into her? I am very much ‘into’ her; in fact I may even lo…”

“Love her? Try again. You can’t be in love with her because your heart is broken, Jim. A broken heart cannot fall for anyone but the original person from which the heart was originally broken… about? Is about the right choice there?”

“Clarence, you are making no sense. Just because I had my heart broken doesn’t mean I can’t be in love with Karen.”

“Well are you? Are you in love with Karen? Two minutes ago you called her a scab and now you are trying to tell me you are madly in love with her.”

Jim sighed, “Well, no, but, I could be.”

“But you’re not. Here’s the thing Jim. No matter how hard you try, you can never love Karen. It’s just not in the cards.”

“How do you know?” Jim was starting to realize that his crazy guardian angel was right, it had been six months. If Jim was going to fall in love with Karen, it would have happened already.

“I have connections,” Clarence said with a smile.

“So, what do you think I should do about it?”

“You break up with her. Tonight.”

“See, there you are with the jokes again. Seriously, though, what should I do?” Jim was laughing at the idea of breaking up with a woman on their anniversary.

“Trust me, Jim. You need to break this up tonight before you regret any more of it.”

“How do I know she won’t try to strangle me?”

“Because I have a feeling that after you and her talk, things will be OK. Listen, Jim. Karen hasn’t told you yet, but she put in for a transfer. She was waiting to tell you until tonight.”

“So isn’t that a good thing? She’ll be gone, right? And it’ll be OK. I mean if she’s leaving, won’t she be breaking up with me?” There was a little too much excitement in his voice.

“Not so fast. Karen actually put in for two transfers.” Jim was definitely confused. “She put in a recommended transfer for you. Your boss lady, Jan, took it as if you sent it. She’s going to call and ‘congratulate’ you tomorrow. You see why you need to break up with Karen as soon as possible?”

Jim and Clarence had actually been sitting in Karen’s driveway for the past 5 minutes. The news came as a shock (naturally), so he didn’t notice Karen walking toward the car. Jim panicked.

“What do I do, Clarence? What do I do?” Jim was almost yelling.

“OK, Jim, you just have to be strong, and whatever you do, do not tell her I told you, she’ll think you are crazy.”

“I’m crazy, Clarence? You really do love those jokes.” Like clockwork Karen tapped on the door at just the right moment to see him talking to, presumably, himself.

“Jim, sweetie, who are you talking to?” Jim looked over to Clarence who was putting his pointer finger up to his mouth while hissing ‘shhhh’.

“Oh, um, no. I wasn’t talking to anyone.” Smooth.

“Huh, weird. So do you want to go inside? I made your favorite; roast beef.”

Jim made a face. Wow, that is so not my favorite. He had to force out a “Yummm.” Get a grip Halpert.

As Karen and Jim walked up the path to Karen’s door she said, “I am so excited for tonight. I have a surprise for you; I just know you’ll love it.”

Yeah, I’m sure I will. He put on his best smile, “Can’t wait.”

Walking into Karen’s apartment, he never realized how much he could hate white walls. Pam would never have white walls. Pam probably has different colors in each room. Pam? Where did that come from? OK, focus. Karen grabbed onto Jim’s hand and led him into the kitchen. Oh great, candles. Something for her to burn me with.

            “Jim, you OK? You haven’t said much this evening. Want some wine?”

I’d rather have hard liquor or a…

            “Sweetie, wine?”

Why does it sound so fake when she calls me sweetie? “Um yes, wine would be perfect.”

            “Say when.”

Can I just have the whole bottle? “When.”

            “So do you want the news now, or should we wait until after dinner?”

            “Yeah, about that. Maybe now would be a good time.” Oh, crap. Clarence, where are you?

Jim and Karen sat down on the couch in the next room. Jim had no idea what he was going to do. By now he trusted Clarence, and knew that Clarence wouldn’t steer him wrong.

            “Last week I called Jan and…”

            “You had no right to tell them that I wanted to transfer.” There, I said it. Real mature.

            “Excuse me?”

            “I know about the transfers, Karen. You had no right to say anything to them about me.”

            “Who told you about the transfer?” Karen looked as if she was going to explode.

            “Cla... I have my connections, but that’s beside the point. Why did you do it?”

            “I thought we wanted the same things, Jim. I thought you were itching to get out of Scranton, out of sales. Is this what you want to do for the rest of your life?  Sell paper, in Scranton, of all places?”

            “I don’t know, Karen. I just know that it’s not your place to be making these decisions for me. You know, I happen to like Scranton. I grew up in this area.”

            “But you left before, why can’t you do it again? For us?”

            For us? “For us? Karen, there can’t be an ‘us’ if you don’t let me have a say in anything. It doesn’t work that way. Do you realize that in all the talks we’ve had, not once have you asked me what I wanted. Why did you think we wanted the same things?”

            Panic crossed Karen’s face. “Jim, I’m sorry. You’re right. I shouldn’t have told Jan you wanted this. I’ll call her in the morning and let her know to take off the transfers.”

            Wait, did she say transfers? Plural? As in two? “Wait, so you’re not going to take it?”

            “Well, Jim, if you’re not going, what’s the point?”

            “Karen, you need to take this transfer. We both know how much you hate it here.”

            “So do you think we can do it?”

            Jim didn’t know what she was getting at. “Do what?”

            “The whole long distance thing.”

            How did I not see this coming? “Um, Karen, I didn’t mean for it to sound like that’s what I was heading for. You need to take this transfer because you have nothing left here. Can you honestly say that you thought this would really work out? I mean, we want different things. I don’t see how it can work.” OK, so now is about the time I should prepare for objects colliding with my head.

            Karen wasn’t upset, she wasn’t angry. She actually looked happy. Relieved even. Two seconds ago she was gung-ho about a long distance relationship. Now this? “Wow. So this is really it, huh?”

            What? This can’t be that easy. “I guess.”

            “What do we do now?”

            “Well, considering I was expecting head trauma, I don’t know.”

            “How crazy did you think I was, Jim?” Jim just chuckled. She continued, “Maybe it’s just best we call it a night.”

            “Yeah, maybe. Listen, Karen, I’m really sorry I couldn’t be who you wanted. You are really amazing, I know you have someone waiting for you in New York.”

            “Thanks Jim.” There was a long pause before she spoke again. “So are we supposed to hug, or?”

            “I think a hug would be OK.” He leaned in and hugged her, taking in his last whiff of coconut hair gel and citrus-y perfume. Before they parted, he kissed her right temple. “Bye, Karen.”

            “Bye, Jim.”

After leaving Karen’s apartment that night, Jim felt as if a huge weight was lifted. He couldn’t believe how painless it was to break it off. Clarence must have been right, I guess Karen and I really aren’t good for each other

            “Of course I was right!” Clarence appeared in the bush next to Jim’s car.

            Up until the last week or so, Jim wasn’t a screamer, and he definitely wasn’t a screamer who screamed like a girl. But at this moment Jim did exactly that, yet again. Jim grabbed his chest as he backed up into his car. “Clarence, man, you’ve got to stop showing up unannounced like that.”

            “I’m sorry Jim; I really have no other way to show up.” Jim gave him a weird look before Clarence spoke again, “I told you everything would be OK with Karen if you broke up with her.”

            “Yes, you were right about that. So what do I do next?”

            Clarence noticed Karen peaking out her window, “Well first we get into your car and leave before Karen thinks you are out here changing your mind.”

            Jim looked up to see the light coming from Karen’s window, “Oh shoot, OK, just get in the car.” Before Jim got around to his side, he noticed that Clarence was already in the passenger seat. He had gone through the door. “Show off,” Jim chuckled as he sat down.

            “We have our perks”

            Jim started the ignition and drove off, “What happens next, with Karen I mean?”

            “Oh Jim, you don’t have to worry about a thing. When Karen calls Jan to let her know about you not transferring, Jan will offer Karen an express transfer. Karen will be gone tomorrow.”

            “This is all happening so fast. It almost isn’t real. I mean this stuff can’t possibly happen this fast. You saw how long it took my transfer to take affect. And did you see how fast and easy she took the break up? It was almost unbelievable.”

            “There are reasons for that. You were never supposed to take that transfer. And this transfer is happening so fast because, lets just say that I had a little chat with Penelope. And that’s also why she took the break up so easily.”

            “What? Who is Penelope?”

            “Oh right, um Penelope is Karen’s guardian angel, and boy is she stubborn. I don’t know where she came from, because Karen wasn’t supposed to show up here.”

            “So talking to her is the reason this is all happening so fast?”

            “Do you think I should tell him now?” There he was again looking up to the sky. “OK, fine.” He looked back to Jim. “Before everyone is born, God, their guardian angel, and their soulmate’s guardian angel get together and have a meeting.”

            “Soulmate?”

            “Yes, now please listen to me. The year you were born I sat down with God and Sophie. We made a deal that you and Sophie’s choice would be soulmates. But well actually, no I’ll tell you later.” Jim was looking even more impatient than ever, so Clarence tried to get to a point. “I was by your side every moment up until that night last May. I mean you were doing so well up until that point, I thought my job was done for awhile.”

            Jim’s heart began to race at the mention of last May, “Clarence, what do you mean?”

            “I mean you were never supposed to leave. But because I wasn’t there to stop you, you went anyway. Oh!” Clarence had a realization. “So that’s why Karen slipped in. Wow, I’m a little slow.”

            “Focus.”

            “OK, calm down. Had I stayed, things would have been different. You know in the original plan you are actually scheduled to be getting ready to propose right now.”

            “Wait, wait, wait, what? Who would I have been proposing to?”

            “Oh, Jim, I know you aren’t that dense. Look.” Clarence pointed to a small house on a street that wasn’t Jim’s, “You were made for her, Jim. Now go and get her.”  And with that Clarence was gone.

            “Made for whom? How did we end up here? You have to stop leaving me like this. Clarence!”

            Just a few moments passed and then, “You rang?” his voice echoed in the car

            “Where are you? Why can’t I see you?” Jim was frantically looking around.

            “I dropped a jelly bean in the back seat. I told you this car was too spacious, you couldn’t even see me.”

            “Yea, yea. Why are we here, who lives here?”

            “You silly boy. Pam. Pam lives here. You were made for her, Jim.”

            “That’s not…”

            “No, Jim you don’t understand. You were actually made for her. When Sophie, Pam’s guardian angel, chose Pam, we had a really hard time finding someone perfect enough for her. So God made you, specifically for Pam. Last May I was certain that was it. And I took an early vacation. I never would have thought you’d actually leave. I mean what were you thinking?”

            “I didn’t want to wait around like an idiot. I put my heart out there and she rejected me. Plain and simple.”

            “You are so stubborn. Had you stayed, well actually, had I stayed, you would have only had to wait about a week. Pam did what she was supposed to do, but since we left everything got messed up.”

            “This is just so, why did you have to leave?” Knowing what would have happened if he stayed was bringing Jim close to tears.

            “I’m here now, and I am going to fix everything. But you have to trust me.”

            “What do I do?”

            “You go talk to Pam, and tell her everything. She’ll understand. She’s very good at that, just like Sophie.”

            “But I have nothing to say to her. I mean I’ve moved on, Clarence. I can’t just show up in the middle of the night.” He was sure Clarence wouldn’t expect him to go talk to her now.

            “You can and you just did.” Suddenly Jim was no longer in his car. He and Clarence were now in front of the door of Pam’s tiny little house. Before Jim could do anything to stop him, Clarence knocked on the door.

“You’ve got to stop doing this to me, man.” A nervous ache attacked his stomach with an all too familiar feeling of wanting to vomit. But it slowly faded as a minute or so dragged on, and the door was never answered.

   “Oh that’s right; she’s at her parent’s house tonight, how silly of me to forget. You know my minds not as sharp as it once was, oh to be 200 again…” Clarence lightly joked.

   “Are you serious? So you are telling me I am standing on Pam’s front porch at eleven o’clock at night for no reason.” Jim was a little more perturbed with Clarence.

   “Oh, get over it. We’ll get you here tomorrow. No harm no foul.”

   “Yea, that’s what you think…”

_______________________________________

   The next day Jim tried to shake the feeling that he might just be plain old crazy. If it weren’t for the fact that Karen’s desk was completely bare, or that it literally only took five minutes to break up with her, he was certain Clarence was merely a figment of his imagination.

  He set everything down near his desk as normal, but fidgeted about, as he typically did, until Pam walked through the door. Today was different. Maybe it was the fact that he hadn’t been letting himself really look at her, but Pam seemed different. She looked sad, as if she was constantly trying with all her might not to cry. It took everything inside of him not to run over to her at that very moment to save her. To tell her he was done being a jackass. To make her stop hurting. Clarence, where are you?

   But as it usually did, something broke the spell. This time it was Pam’s phone. From listening, Jim gathered it was her mom, because of the brief smile she let escape. It was weird, but that smile actually made Jim smile. That is until he heard the next thing to slip from her lips.

   “Yea I know, Mom. But Michael is still making stay ‘til five. I mean it’s my last day, you’d think he’d just finally leave me alone... I’ll try to be there early tomorrow. I’m glad I was able to move most of my stuff out last night… I can’t wait to get out of here and move back home with you guys for a while…. Love you.”

    Looking back, Jim could remember the feeling of his heart plummeting to his feet and a just-been-punched feeling in his gut. At that moment, he felt like he’d been betrayed by Clarence. He even called out to him, but got no response. All Jim could do was stare at Pam. How the hell am I supposed to deal with this? But shecaught his eye.

  “Jim, is there something wrong?” she said as if nothing were off.

  “Oh, no, it’s just I couldn’t help but over hear. You’re, uh, you’re moving.” He replied in disbelief that he actually had to say those words.

  “Yea, I thought you knew. I would have said something to you earlier, but I didn’t want to bother you. I just figured with Michael’s big mouth you’d of heard…”

  “Pam, why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I don’t know Jim; I just didn’t really think you’d care.”

  Pam was more poised than Jim had ever seen. On some level he was proud she was holding her ground, but he was still crushed. “Of course, I’d care, Pam. How could I not?”

  “I don’t know.”

  The rest of the day felt like it was in fast forward. I was like the last day of summer, where you tried everything in your power to savor any last moment before the inevitable happened. The next thing Jim knew, the clock on the wall read five. He could hear Michael’s breathless sobs as he watched Pam put one last item from her desk into her box. For the first time in his life he wished he could be like Michael, because deep down he was sobbing just as hard.

  He watched her timidly wave to him as she slid out the office door. But he felt glued to the spot his was sitting in, like he couldn’t believe was he was actually seeing. It wasn’t until he heard Michael’s office door slam that he was waken from his daze. Before he realized what was happening, his feet were taking him out the door and down the steps, where he could see Pam walking to her car. He felt a tear fall down his cheek, but was able to brush it away as he summed up enough courage to open one more door to get to her.

  “Pam!” he called out. She swiftly turned to see Jim. “I just wanted to say goodbye.”

  “Oh, yea. Sorry, I had to get out of there before Michael found a way to attach himself to me forever.” She tried to make it easy.

  “Yea, it was pretty intense in there…” the awkward silence between the two of them broke Jim’s heart more than the fact that she was leaving. How did we get to this point? He wondered before he was able to speak up. “Listen, I just wanted to let you know that I’m glad you are going to be able to finally live the life you want. I mean, I really wish you all the luck in the world, because you deserve it, and I… I’m” Jim was trying his hardest not to shed a tear. “I’m really going to miss you.” Idiot.

  Pam looked as if she was about to break, but Jim thought she never looked more beautiful. “I’m going to miss you too, Jim.”

  “Hey, listen, do you have to go now, or can you hang out for a little bit. Maybe grab a cup of coffee?” Jim was somehow able to be courageous enough to extend the offer.

  “Oh, no. It’s just that I have a few more boxes that aren’t going to pack themselves.”

  “Of course. I guess, uh, I’ll be seeing you then, huh?”

  “Yea. Goodbye Jim.”

  “Goodbye, Pam.”

  Jim went home that night with every intention to drink away the pain, in hopes that maybe he could drink himself into a comma. Clarence, where are you man? This can’t be the end.

  “Geez, I left you alone for one day, must you be so dramatic.” Clarence jokingly chimed in, despite Jim’s clear disgust.

  “Excuse me? You were the one who screwed up. You were the one that told me everything would work out. And you left again. Why am I being punished? You are the one who is screwing this up, not me.” He was nearly yelling at Clarence.

  “OK, OK. I’m sorry. I’m not perfect either you know. Just take it slow; we will fix this I promise you.”

  “How?”

  “Right now Pam is at her apartment, finishing packing. Just go over there and tell her how you are feeling.”

  “And that’s it?”

  “And that’s it.”

  “Clarence, I really hope you are right.”

  “Have I steered you wrong yet?” Clarence sensed Jim’s skepticism. “OK, fine, but I guarantee this one.”

  Jim quickly grabbed his coat and rushed out the door.

KnockKnockKnockKnockKnock

  Pam opened the door, “Jim?! What are you doing here?”

  “Don’t go!”

  “Jim, I have to go. You’re too late, everything is ready to go. I think it’s best, I really do.”

  “No Pam, it’s not. Don’t go.” He was on the verge of crying.

  “Why Jim? Give me a good reason to stay.”

  “Because… because…” And at that moment something inside of Jim snapped. The past year of pain clouded his mind all at once, and he knew that if he didn’t do something drastic, Pam would walk out that door and he’d never see her again. Clarence must have really been helping him out because Jim grabbed Pam and kissed her like there was no tomorrow. He grabbed the sides of her arms in the kind of desperation you get when you know the world is going to end tomorrow. The world itself may not have actually ended, but Jim’s world would have had he not kissed Pam.

  Pam pulled away, “Jim, you can’t just do that. You can’t come here and kiss me like that and expect me to just change my mind.” There was strength in her voice he had never heard from her before, and it scared him.

  Jim felt a wetness on his cheek that was becoming all too familiar to him in regards to Pam. Oh God, where’s Clarence. “Pam…”

  “Jim, I’m sorry. But too much has happened in the past year. It’s not the same. We,” she motioned to the space between them, “are not the same.” A single tear fell down her cheek.

  “This can’t be it,” Jim cried with tears running down his cheek Clarence, where are you, you said this would be OK. Then Jim heard Clarence’s voice saying “Fight for her.”

  “Then how come it is? I think you should go.” She reached for his arm to lead him out the door.

  “Pam I’m in love with you,” and then it dawned on him, he really had been in love with her his whole life. Even before he knew her, he loved her. Clarence’s voice spoke to him again, “Tell her Jim”. So Jim told her, “I’ve loved you all my life Pam. And I knew it the second I saw you. I was made for you. This past year has just been a huge mistake. You have to believe me.” He was desperately hoping she wasn’t going to throw him out the window.

  “Jim, have you been drinking? Do you even know what you are saying?

  “Pam I’ve never been surer of anything in my whole life.”

  Pam saw the same look he gave her that fateful night in May. And it broke her heart all over again to see him so serious. “Jim, it’s getting late, I really have to…” She was interrupted by Jim’s gentle kiss. Before she could stop it, she felt her hands move up to his face to pull him closer to her.

  He pulled back, still holding her, “Don’t go.”

  She looked into the eyes that were pleading her to stay, “I won’t,” she breathed.

  Jim definitely wasn’t expecting to hear that from her so soon, but he wasn’t complaining. Next thing he knew, Clarence chimed back in, “Now ask her to marry you.” What, Clarence, that’s insane, I got her to stay, isn’t that enough? “Ask her to marry you Jim!”OK, but if you screw this up for me. “Trust me Jim.”

  Jim bent his head down and whispered into Pam’s ear, “Marry me.” It wasn’t a question.

  The two seconds it took Pam to respond felt like an eternity to Jim. He could feel his heart beating out of his chest and was bracing himself for what he thought was the inevitable. But it never came.

  “OK”

So that’s my story. It had a good ending, didn’t it? Boy that Jim was a hard one to knock some sense into. It’s like pulling teeth; you know I always say…

Clarence! Please don’t bore these people any longer; you know they got what they wanted.

But, Sophie, I was just getting to the best part.

What’s better than Jim and Pam getting married?

I guess you’re right, dear.

Of course I am.

Hey, Sophie?

Yea, Clarence?

I love you.

I love you too.