She walked out of the conference room with a smile on her face that she couldn't remove. It wasn't just dinner. Jim actually said "It's a date." He made that perfectly clear.

As she passed his desk, he glanced up and gave her a quick smile before looking down at the paperwork on his desk, his smile still firmly in place. She walked to her chair and opened a game of solitaire knowing that she wouldn't be able to pay much attention to it. Jim was sitting with his back to her and she could tell by the pink of the skin on his neck that he was either warm or happy. She watched him take his suit jacket off and drape it over the back of his chair, then roll up the sleeves of his shirt to expose his forearms underneath.

A phone rang and they both jumped a bit, startled out of their thoughts. Jim looked down at the caller ID on his cell phone, the smile quickly disappearing from his face.

He picked up the phone, saying a quiet "Hi," as Pam watched his neck get dark red. "Listen... I know, Karen, and I'm sorry. I just... Yeah... Yeah, I can pick you up... OK, just tell me where."

Pam's stomach was sinking fast and she willed herself to get up, grab some random change, and head to the break room. She didn't know what was being said on the other end of the line and she wasn't sure she wanted to. All her hopes for the past year -- well, it'd really been many years -- were encapsulated in that one "It's a date," and that was fading fast.

Pam dropped her money in the candy machine and stared at it, not able to focus on the bright wrappers inside. She heard movement behind her and knew it was Jim. There was just something about him that always made her recognize his presence without seeing his face.

"Pam?" he asked.

She decided on the M&Ms and pressed the buttons. "Hi," she said, trying to act casual as she watched the machine spit out her candy. Jim still wasn't saying anything so she leaned down and grabbed it before turning to face him. "What's up?" she asked, opening the bag.

"Um...about tonight...I'm going to have to postpone dinner."

She could feel her throat tighten and tried to swallow it down. "That's OK." She looked up into his eyes and gave him a sad smile. "Really, Jim, it's alright. I just want you to be happy."

"What?" he asked, a bit confused.

"I heard you talking to Karen on the phone about picking her up somewhere."

"Oh," he said. "Yeah, I just...her friend is driving her to Stoudsburg and I'm going to pick her up there since, you know...I was her ride to New York."

Her throat continued to tighten and she felt like she was about to pass out. "Oh, right. Well, maybe it just wasn't meant to be, you know?"

"Wasn't what?" he asked, once again confused.

"You and me," she said, willing herself to try and be strong through this. "Maybe we just weren't meant to work out."

His eyes softened a bit as he looked back at her. "Pam, you don't think I'm getting back together with Karen, do you?"

"Well, aren't you?"

He smiled. "No, it's not like that at all. I just... It's always been something between us, you know? A fiancé or a girlfriend or whatever and I... I want to make sure we start with a clean slate. Nothing between us. I just need to finish this before you and I..." He trailed off and looked at her pleadingly.

"Oh. Well, we can just do dinner another time then," she said, smiling up and him, the lump in her throat disappearing a little.

"Another time," he replied.

 

She nodded her head and started walking for the door, hoping she could finish the conversation some other time.

 

"Pam?"

"Yeah?"

She turned around to see him standing there with his hands in his pockets, looking just as vulnerable as he had when he barged into her interview with the camera crew. "What about tomorrow?"

"What about it?" she asked.

"Dinner tomorrow? Can you do it then?"

"Um..." She was trying to stall as best as she could, not wanting to explain that she had plans, that she had specific plans that she hadn't told anyone in the office about. Then she remembered she was a different Pam who didn't try to hide from things. "I actually have an art show tomorrow."

His eyes lit up as his smile widened. "Really? That's great! Did you just find out about it?"

"No."

His smile disappeared, realizing that there was probably a reason she hadn't said anything and that reason was probably him. "Oh. Well, OK. I guess we'll..."

"I didn't want you to know," she quickly explained. "I guess I didn't want to be disappointed again when no one showed up so..."

"Oh, yeah, sure, I underst..."

"And I'm going to be showing some more introspective stuff and I thought maybe it would be better to not..."

"What time is your show?"

"What?" Pam felt like she was falling through the floor. She was trying to come up with reasons for not inviting him. She never expected him to ask when it was. "Um...six o'clock? It starts at six...at the community center. But we can do dinner after that, like maybe eight or something if you don't mind waiting that late."

He walked over to her and gently brushed his shoulder up next to hers. "I'll see you at six," he whispered in her ear before sliding past her and out the door.

Despite the hectic day before, Pam was surprised by how quiet the office had been all morning. Jim gave her a slight nod when he walked in the door before heading to his desk, but that was pretty much the only excitement that morning.

And then the dam broke wide open. It started with some screaming from the annex that Pam distinctly recognized as coming from Kelly and it was definitely louder than usual.

"What the hell do you mean 'We're over'? Ryan Bailey Howard, you are an ass and I have no idea why I even loved you!"

Jim was able to turn around and give Pam a quick 'What the hell?' look just before Kelly came storming into the main office, tears streaming down her face as she continued to yell. "I hope you have a nice life, Ryan -- without me! You stupid jackass." Right as she got to Jim's desk, Kelly turned on her heel and yelled back toward the annex, "And you weren't very good in bed either!" Pam tried hard not to laugh as she looked over at Jim, who seemed to be doing the same thing.

On her way out, Kelly nearly knocked down Karen, who was walking into the office for the first time that day. Pam caught Karen's eye and gave her a slight smile, but Karen was having none of it. Instead, she walked right into Michael's office, closing the door behind her.

Everyone looked around at each other as if they were all checking to make sure someone else witnessed the craziness.

"What was all that about?" Kevin asked.

"Who cares?" Angela replied. "As long as Kelly doesn't come back, it'll be fine."

"But what about Karen in Michael's office?" Oscar asked.

Several people were now craning their necks to see what was going on with Michael and Karen so Pam quickly decided to play solitaire, figuring the meeting had something to do with her. Jim seemed to be doing the same thing.

A half hour later, Michael opened his door and asked Pam to call Toby, Kelly, and Ryan into the room. She didn't feel like asking why or explaining Kelly's absence, so she simply dialed.

"I have an announcement, Dunder Mifflin Scranton," Michael said once everyone arrived. "Karen has just informed me that she is taking over Jan's job at corporate so she'll be leaving us soon." A few quiet 'Congratulations' could be heard before he cleared his throat. "That means that she'll be our boss, but that doesn't mean we have to listen to her."

"Actually, I think it does," Kevin said.

"Shut it, Kevin," Michael said, a little too forcefully. "As I said, Karen's leaving us, which means we're finally back to our original Scranton family. Well, and Andy. So because we are a family again, we have to act as a family and forgive and forget. Ryan, I forgive your deceitful double crossing of me so you can have your old desk back!" Michael ended the last sentence with a dramatic flair of his arm toward the desk as if he was a showcase model for The Price is Right.

"Um...I can't take the desk back, Michael."

Michael gave him a menacing look. "What have you done now?"

Ryan shoved his hands in his pockets. "Karen asked me to be her number two in New York and I accepted."

"You have got to be...you know what, Ryan? Jim is the only number two in this office so go pack your stuff up now. Jim!"

"Um...yeah?"

Michael's eyes narrowed as he stared at Jim. "Move your stuff back to your old desk. Everyone else, back to work. And to you two traitors," he said, his head turning to face Karen and Ryan. "You are no longer welcome into the family home so it would be best if you left."

With that, he went back to his office, slamming the door behind him.

*** *** ***

And then it was eerily quiet again. Around two o'clock, Karen and Ryan walked out of the office together without anyone saying a word. It wasn't that people didn't want to say goodbye, it was just that Michael had been sitting at his desk, staring out at the office since his blow-up earlier in the day. That was two hours ago. He was creeping people out so everyone seemed to silently agree to just leave him alone and not do anything to piss him off further.

Meanwhile, Jim had moved his stuff back to his old desk -- all of it. After staring at his desk for all these months, Pam knew his family pictures were back where they belonged, but he had shoved his rubber band ball in a desk drawer after Karen made a disparaging remark about it. Pam now saw it perched on the edge of the desk by his computer monitor and she smiled.

A few hours later, Pam finally got up enough courage to talk to Jim -- something she still hadn't been able to do all day. She didn't want to be disappointed again after their botched date the day before.

"So you're officially moved in?" she asked, smiling as she leaned against his desk.

"Yeah, I'm back," he said, looking up at her with a grin on his face.

"I'm glad," she said, smiling back at him. "So listen, about tonight, I was thinking you only have to show up around 7:30 since it ends at eight. Then maybe I could drop off my work at my place and meet you somewhere for dinner."

Jim put on his mockingly thoughtful face. "Hm... How about I meet you there at six o'clock when it starts, follow you back to your place, and drive you to dinner?"

"You don't have to be there at six."

His mocking face continued. "I think I told you yesterday that I would be there at six soooo I'm pretty sure I'll be there at six."

"OK, but you're going to get bored."

He gave her that loopy grin that she always loved and leaned back in his chair. "I'm looking forward to it."

She rolled her eyes and pushed herself off his desk. "I'll see you tonight."

"It's a date."

"It's a date," she replied, still not believing it was actually going to happen.

"I'm pretty sure that's what I said." The loopy grin was still on his face.

"OK. Then I'll see you tonight. On our date." She took a nervous step forward before smiling at him and walking out the door.

She was trying not to get her hopes up, but every time the door to the community center's lobby opened, she instinctively looked over to see if Jim had walked in. That happened 23 times already -- she was keeping track.

The lobby started to get a bit crowded around 6:15 when she looked up to see Phyllis and Bob Vance walking in. Phyllis saw her, waved, and began heading over, dragging Bob by the hand behind her.

"You look so nice tonight," she said, giving Pam a hug. Pam felt a little better about her jeans, low-cut shirt, and black high heels after that reaction, which was good considering she took a half hour to pick them out.

"I didn't expect you to be here," Pam said, hugging Phyllis in return.

"Oh, well Jim sent me an email today about your show, and I figured since I missed the last one, I should come," she said. Phyllis looked up at the wall behind Pam where her work was hung. "These look wonderful!" she said, stepping closer for a better view.

Pam's hands began to sweat in the pockets of her jeans. "Thanks," she said quietly.

"I love this one with the fire in it. It's very symbolic," Phyllis said, a bit of a gleam in her eye.

Pam smiled back. "That's actually one of my favorites." The nervousness began to disappear as she started to describe her pieces to Phyllis and Bob before they went to look at the other artists' works.

Oscar showed up with his boyfriend, explaining that Jim had told him about the show earlier in the day. He told her he was much more impressed with her work this time around and Pam could tell he meant it. Kelly came in a few minutes later dressed in all black and only had time to say a quick hello before going over to talk to a guy who had drawn a bunch of charcoals inspired by Dante's Inferno.

It was during a brief conversation with Stanley and his wife that she finally saw him walk in. Jim was wearing a black sports jacket with a white button-down shirt underneath, jeans, and his work shoes. He looked casual and adorable, and Pam had to do everything in her power to look at Stanley's wife as she described an abstract piece she had done after her break-up with Roy.

Luckily, the couple left quickly and Pam stood by the wall, watching Jim get a drink from the make-shift bar in the corner before turning around and smiling at her. As he walked over, she noticed the top two buttons of his shirt were undone, showing off much more skin than she usually saw from him at work. She made a note to tell him later that she liked it.

"Hi," he said, wrapping his arms around her in a casual hug that she wished was much more than that.

"Hey, you made it! I was getting a bit worried Dwight would get her before you."

He pulled away and smiled down at her. "I slashed his tires on the way over here, so it may be a bit of a wait."

"Nice."

"Um, really though, I kind of changed outfits a few times before I finally settled on this one," he said, blushing a bit as he looked down at his feet.

"Oh."

"Yeah, like seven or eight or something."

She leaned in close to him and lowered her voice a little. "Why do you think I left work a half hour early?" she said, giving him a mischievous smile.

"Pamelama!" she heard from across the room, noticing several heads swiveling in the same direction as hers towards the loud voice.

"Michael, I didn't know you were coming."

Michael threw his arm around Jim's shoulder. "Well, when my numbero two-o told me about the show, I had to come. After all, I bought a piece from your last one. Art is an investment, you know."

"I guess so," Pam muttered.

She watched Jim give her a silent 'Yikes' before backing away quietly as Michael grilled her on her pictures. "Is that the coal walk stuff? Man, you were so much better at that than Ryan."

She kept her eye on Jim for the rest of the show. He hadn't come back to look at her stuff up close, but whenever she found him in the crowd, she noticed him looking at it -- or her -- from across the room. By the time eight o'clock rolled around, she received some final congratulations from her boss and began to take her stuff down from the wall.

She felt his hand on the small of her back and had a quick flash of their office, the desk, his lips on hers. She closed her eyes slightly and felt herself get a little dizzy.

"What?" she asked, snapping back to reality. She knew he had said something to her, but didn't remember what.

"I asked how you got some of these hung this high."

"Oh," she said. "I had to steal a chair from the conference room down the hall."

"I see," he replied, reaching up and easily pulling the tacks from her fire walk piece, the reds and oranges standing out even more against the black of his jacket. "I think this was my favorite of yours tonight."

She looked up at him. "Really?" she asked, a bit shocked he would pick that one considering the subject matter.

"Yeah, the colors just remind me of you. Well, the new you, I guess," he said, his voice trailing off a bit at the end.

"And you like the new me?" she asked apprehensively.

He looked down at her and smiled. "Yeah, but I liked the old you, too."

She could feel her face getting warm and quickly got back to working on the tacks in the wall. But as she picked her pieces up from the floor to get them to her car, a few slid back off the top of the pile and landed near Jim's feet.

"Hold on there, Beesly," he said, reaching for the ones that fell before grabbing for the rest of them from her arms. "Let me take these for you."

"Thanks," she said quietly as she walked towards the door, holding it open so he could follow her out.

He followed her to her car and gently slid the pieces into the back without damaging any of them. "How's that?"

"Perfect."

"Watch your fingers!" Jim said, grabbing the hatchback and pulling it shut for her. "So after trying on my fifth outfit tonight, I realized I forgot to get your new address."

Pam was starting to get nervous about the whole date thing again and quickly looked down at her feet. "Um...well, if you want I can just meet you somewhere or something."

"I know I was late, which may lose me a few points, but I'm pretty sure I decided I would follow you home and then drive us to dinner." Jim's mocking tone was back and Pam was trying very hard to not tell him how adorable it was.

"You really don't quit, do you?"

He laughed a bit. "I guess I'm making up for lost time."

"Alright, I'll wait for you to follow me out, but no tailgating!" Pam yelled out as he started walking toward his car.

"Thanks, Officer Pam!" he yelled back.

As she got in the car, her hands were shaking so bad it took her four times to get the key in the ignition.

When she turned into the parking spot at her apartment, Pam assumed Jim was going to wait in his car as she took her stuff in really quick. Instead, she saw him jogging up to her as she opened the hatch back.

"Those are heavy!" he yelled out to her. "I think you need a man to carry them in for you."

She gave him a sarcastic smile in return. "Unfortunately, all I have is you."

"You wound me greatly, but I'll let that slide for tonight," he replied, reaching for her light-weight paintings.

Pam opened the door for him and told him to just put everything down in the corner of her living room where she had set up a drop cloth and a table to put her art supplies.

"I'm going to run to the bathroom real quick and then I'll be ready to go," she told him.

"OK, no problem." She realized he was trying to sound casual with his answer, but wasn't doing a good job.

She wasn't doing a good job trying to be calm either. The whole reason she was in the bathroom was just an excuse to touch up her lipstick and make sure her hair still looked nice. She looked at her outfit in the mirror again, checking that her shirt wasn't too tight, but tight enough, and her jeans weren't making her look fat.

Pam walked back out to find Jim standing in living room, his hands in his pockets and his back to her as he looked at the pictures hanging above her work space.

"Are you ready?" she said, coming up behind him.

"What?" he replied, his head turning quickly to look at her. "Oh, yeah. I was just looking at these. Very...colory?"

"Colory? I don't think that's a word."

"Probably isn't," he said, turning back to look at the pieces she had taped to the wall. "This is a Warhol, right?"

She smiled. Roy wouldn't have known that. "Yeah. My assignment for class this week is do a pop art piece so I've printed out a few. I like this one the best," she said, reaching past him to pull a Roy Lichtenstein picture off the wall.

"Seems a bit bold for your style."

"Yeah, but that's what makes it challenging."

He looked thoughtfully at the picture for several moments before handing it back to her, a hint of sadness on his face. She wondered what was wrong until she looked down at the piece of paper in her hand and remembered what it said. It was a painting of a woman, tears in her eyes. The little thought bubble above her head read, "That's the way it should have begun. But it's hopeless!"

"Pam?" His voice was almost at a whisper.

"What?" she asked, looking up at him in anticipation.

"This thing between us. It isn't hopeless, right?"

She gently laid the paper back on her desk. "Not anymore," she said, looking up at him.

There was just a moment, a quiet little one between them, when Pam felt like it was just the two of them on Earth and everything else ceased to exist. It was comfortable again, friends back together after so long, just the two of them.

Jim broke the silence first. "Um...you still up for dinner?"

"Yeah, I am. You still up for being my date?"

"Definitely."

She smiled and turned to grab her purse from the counter, feeling his hand graze her shoulder blade as she led him out of the apartment. Pam hoped he didn't see her face because she knew she had the biggest, goofiest smile and she couldn't hide it no matter how hard she tried.

When they got to his car, he opened the door for her first before getting in on his side and turning on the stereo. She was expecting one of the many cool bands he had tried to make her listen to, but instead, The Beatles' White Album came through the speakers.

"Wow, old school."

"Yeah," Jim replied as he pulled out of his spot. "I figured I would go with a classic tonight."

Pam had no idea where he was taking her, but she really didn't care. They were talking in Jim's car like friends again and that was all that mattered to her.

"Oh crap!" Jim said suddenly. "I forgot something at the office that I need this weekend. Do you mind if we swing by?" His question was punctuated by a very apologetic look.

"You want me to go with you to our office on a Friday night?" she asked skeptically.

"Yeah, crazy, right? But I just need to get something."

"OK, but you owe me."

He laughed a little. "No problem. I'll make you dinner."

"Make me dinner?"

"I meant buy. I'll buy you dinner," he replied a little too quickly.

He pulled into the lot and parked the car near the door. "Do you just want me to wait out here for you?" she asked.

"You're really going to make me face the office alone? On a Friday night?" he asked in a pleading tone.

"I guess not," she replied. "Where is this something you need to get?"

"Just on my desk. I promise we don't have to go too far in."

She got out of the car and stood next to him as he unlocked the front door of the building. The elevator was already on the first floor and the doors opened as soon as Jim pressed the "Up" button.

As they shut behind them, Pam couldn't take it anymore. She took her hand and gently turned his face toward her, then kissed him lightly on the lips. It wasn't the intense kiss he gave her a year earlier while she stood at his desk, but it felt just as powerful.

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open on their floor. "We're here," Jim said breathlessly as he reached out to hold the door open, gesturing for her to walk out first. He unlocked the doors leading to their space on the floor and grabbed her hand as the last one closed behind them. He led them toward his desk, and then kept walking.

"Um...Jim?"

"Yeah?" he said, leading her toward the kitchen door.

"We just walked past your desk," she replied, sounding a bit confused.

"I know."

She didn't know what he was up to, but she liked this determined version of Jim and decided to go along with it without any more questions.

He opened the door to the kitchen and led her in, grabbing an empty box off the top of the fridge. "I kind of lied about being late tonight."

"What do you mean?"

He handed the box to her and smiled. "I wasn't late because I was trying on a bunch of outfits. I had decided what I was going to wear on my drive to wherever the hell in Pennsylvania I went last night to pick up...you know." He pulled out two cold Cokes from the refrigerator door and put them in the box Pam was holding. "I actually was late for other reasons," he said, opening up the toaster and pulling out two square packages wrapped in tin foil. "Nice! Still warm." Then he opened the cupboard door above the coffee maker, took a bag of Sun Chips and some paper plates from the second shelf, and dropped them in the box.

"What other reasons?" Pam asked.

He took the box from her hands and simply said "Follow me."

She walked with him through the other kitchen door until they got to the ladder that went to the roof. "Ladies first," he told her.

"I'm glad I decided not to wear my skirt tonight."

"Don't tease me, Beesly. Just be careful with those heels on the steps."

She climbed up to the roof and looked out toward downtown Scranton. That's when she noticed the blanket laid out in front of her with four candles anchoring the corners.

"Oh good. I was a little worried it was going to blow away," she heard Jim say from behind her. "C'mon." He walked past her and put the box down in the middle of it.

She knew he told her to move, but she was frozen in place.

"Pam?"

"This was where we had our first date."

He gave her a skeptic look. "Our what?"

"Our first date," she repeated. "The night Michael made us stay late and you made me grilled cheese and there were some crappy fireworks and we danced."

"I thought you said it wasn't a date and swaying isn't dancing."

"I lied."

He smiled at her from the blanket. "Well, then I guess we'll just have to make this our second first date." He gestured his head toward the blanket. "Come sit down."

She walked over and did as she was told, folding her legs underneath her as Jim handed her a plate and a napkin. Then he unwrapped one of the tin foil squares and put a warm grilled cheese sandwich on her plate. "I forgot to get some ham for these," he said.

"That's OK," she whispered.

He gave her a handful of chips, then opened the can of Coke and placed it next to her on the blanket. "Thanks," she said nervously. She didn't know why she was nervous all of a sudden, but it seemed to suddenly dawn on her that she was sitting on the roof with Jim -- again -- and she really liked the way it felt.

She watched Jim prepare his own plate and noticed his hands were shaking a bit. He must have been just as nervous so she figured it would be good to reassure him. "You did a really great job on this," she told him.

"Thanks," he said. "Oh wait, totally forgot!" He got up and pulled a book of matches out of his jacket pocket as he walked over to light the first candle. "I bought these at that candle store at the mall we always make fun of," he explained, putting the lit candle back on the blanket. "I know most of the people who buy stuff there are soccer moms, but I figured if I bought the candles there, they would smell nice and be inside glass jaws so I didn't light the blanket on fire."

"Gotcha," she said. "Yeah, you don't want to be like Ryan, do you?"

"No, I don't for so many reasons," he said, picking up another candle.

Pam took a bite out of her grilled cheese sandwich. "Your grilled cheese is very good," she told him with her mouth half-full.

"Thanks," he said, lighting the last candle before sitting down across from her.

"So about Ryan...well, I guess Karen. When...um...I mean, what happened yesterday? In New York?"

He took a huge bite of his sandwich and Pam could tell he was stalling. "I just..." He took a deep breath and swallowed before looking up at her. "I thought that's what I wanted, you know? Promotion, New York, girlfriend, and I...I realized that it was all really a lie. The whole transfer to Stamford and Karen and trying to get this job at corporate."

"So what changed?"

"Your yogurt lid."

She smiled. "Really?"

"Really," he said, smiling back. "It fell out of my paperwork as David was asking me what I liked about Scranton."

"You like Scranton's yogurt? Because you know they do have yogurt in New York, too," Pam replied jokingly.

"New York does indeed have yogurt," Jim said, "but it just doesn't have you and really...I wanted you more than anything." He looked down at his plate and started poking at his chips. "It's always been that way."

Pam could feel a lump forming in her throat. "Me too," she said before taking a sip of Coke to try and calm her down. "You know, if it was the yogurt lid that did you in, you'll have to thank Karen for that."

"Why is that?" Jim asked surprisingly.

"She asked me to make copies of your sales reports for the interviews. I just kind of slipped it in."

Jim looked back down at his plate. "Oh," he said. "She told me she would take care of those copies to help me out."

"Yeah, well, she did, sort of." Pam tried not to sound too bitter about it.

"Yeah, I guess so," he said, his voice nearly at a whisper.

Pam took another bite of her sandwich and looked over at him. "Listen, that's behind us now, OK?"

"I guess," he replied. "I just feel like we've wasted so much time though."

"We're not wasting time now, are we?"

His smile was big and broad and lit us his eyes when he looked back at her. "No, we are not."

"Good," she answered matter-of-factly. "Now start eating your grilled cheese before it gets cold. I know the chef and I can assure you he's the best grilled cheese guy in Scranton."

"Just Scranton?"

"Well, I haven't tried it much outside of the city," she said, smiling at him.

"Well, I have and believe me, this is still the best," he said, taking another bite of his culinary concoction.

She looked at him, her smile fading a bit. "You're definitely the best," she said.

"You, too."

What the hell?

Pam woke up and realized she was lying down on a blanket trying to get her bearings. There was sunlight coming through a window and she was wearing a men's blazer with the sleeves rolled up to fit her small arms. And there was a body next to her. She could tell by the scent that it was Jim.

Then she remembered the night before. After getting a bit chilly on the roof, Jim had given her his jacket, but even that couldn't hold off the cold spring night. So they had packed up their picnic, blown out the candles, and headed inside.

"Hey, what constitutes a picnic?" Jim had asked her.

"I dunno. A blanket?"

"That's what I thought," he replied, laying the blanket down on the floor of the annex by the door to the break room.

They ended up talking for several hours, with a little more mixed in along the way, before Pam finally snuggled in next to Jim and fell asleep. She didn't care that she was sleeping on the floor of the office; she just cared about being with him.

Which is why she was slowly waking up next to Jim right now. Just the two of them alone in the office.

"Morning, Jack. Morning, Patty," Creed said as he walked by them toward the break room.

"Morning, Creed," replied the warm body next to her.

She felt Jim sit up behind her and realized that their date was probably coming to an end at this point. On a positive note, Pam realized Jim's voice was sexy and scratchy in the morning. She would have to remember that for later.

"Um, Creed?" Jim said as he helped Pam up. "Why are you here this early?"

"Oh, I slept under Dwayne's desk last night," he replied. "You want some coffee?"

"Um, no thanks. We were just leaving."

He quickly picked up the blanket and grabbed Pam's hand. They walked as fast as they could, barely slowing down to drop the blanket on Jim's desk, before getting to the elevator and waiting. It wasn't until the doors closed that they both started laughing uncontrollably.

"What was that?" Jim asked.

"I don't...I can't even explain it." Pam looked over at him. Her laughter died and was replaced by a shy smile. "I had a great time with you."

"I did, too," he said, pulling their entwined hands up and pressing the back of hers against his warm lips.

They walked out of the building and into the parking lot, hand in hand and squinting at the bright morning sun.

"Hey, I have a question for you," Jim said as they got close to his car.

"A question, huh?" Pam asked. "Does it have to do with Creed?"

"No, it doesn't. It um...you ever go on a date that you didn't want to end?"

"The last time I did that was in high school."

"Oh, Roy, right," he said, shifting his gaze from her face to his shoes.

"Actually, it was before him, but...whatever. I had a curfew back then so I couldn't stay out late even if I had wanted to."

He looked back up at her. "So...um...you don't have a curfew now, do you?"

Pam gave him a flirtatious smile. "No. Are you suggesting something, Mr. Halpert?"

"I was just wondering if you want to have me take you home or if you wanted to go get some breakfast."

"Breakfast sounds good," she replied sweetly.

*** *** ***

"So Dwight thanked me for my service as the secret whatever while Michael was gone!"

"Wow. I can't believe Dwight took such control like that," Jim replied.

"He's actually really a good guy to have around when the chips are down, though."

Jim gave her a skeptical look. "And how would you know that?"

She didn't want to mention sitting in the hallway crying. "Oh. Um...no reason, really."

"Uh...OK. So this is your door?"

"Yeah," she said, motioning towards it with the keys in her hand. "This is me."

Without warning, Jim grabbed her by the waist and pulled her towards him, kissing her long and deliberately. It was almost 12 o'clock in the afternoon and Pam thought this would surely cause a scandal with her neighbors. Then she remembered it wasn't just some guy she was kissing -- it was Jim so she really didn't care about the neighbors. He pulled away slightly and looked at her, his eyes dilated as he tried to regain his breath.

"Um...sorry, I just um..."

"Don't...don't ever be sorry for that," she told him.

His eyebrows shot up a bit, conveying his surprise at this new Beesly standing before him. He chuckled a little, then gave her a shy smile as she returned the same to him. "So, I'll call you later, OK?"

"OK."

He grabbed her hand and wove his fingers through his. "I really have a great time with you."

"Me too."

He smiled. "OK, then, I'll call you?"

"I think you said that already," she said, using Jim's trademark sarcasm against him.

He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss, which she happily returned.

"Alright, I'll see you later."

"Yeah," she said as she watched him bound down the steps to her apartment.

As Pam closed the door behind her, her legs gave out and she slid down the the back of the door, her head dizzy from the past 48 hours with Jim. Finally, she thought, things are looking up.