It was the middle of March, and Jim Halpert was feeling pretty miserable. He just arrived home after another long day at Dunder Mifflin, dealing with Dwight and then Pam’s wedding plans. He really didn’t know what to do with himself, he felt more desperate everyday. He was barely sleeping and couldn’t even enjoy food anymore. It was completely depressing. He plopped on the couch with a beer and loosened his tie. At least it was Friday he thought. He turned on the tv and tried to zone out.

His roommate Mark came in around 6:30 and told Jim to stop moping and get changed. They were going to his friend Ted’s party. He was graduating from the fire academy and was ready to party. Jim didn’t really feel like going, but Mark convinced him to go, some of their old college friends would be there too. Jim got changed and they left just after 7:00. Mark’s girlfriend Melissa was there when they walked in, she was talking to Lisa, a girl Jim was friends with in college, but he had not seen her for some time.

They greeted each other and made small talk. They both started drinking many beers, and at one point they found themselves in the back yard commiserating about love and how much it sucks sometimes. Lisa and her boyfriend Joe were fighting a lot and had broken up about 2 weeks before. Jim listened to her go on about how much of an ass he could be, and then he’d be sweet at other times. Jim kind of scoffed at her at one point so she asked him what that was about. He started to tell her about Pam and Roy, how Joe sounded a lot like Roy. Mark interrupted them for a moment when he came out and gave them both a couple of shots of rum and then went back inside. After about 15 minutes of more Joe talk Lisa suddenly feeling a stronger buzz, decided that she had enough Joe for one night.

She started asking Jim why he was so angry about Roy, he was feeling really drunk and decided that he could tell her, she didn’t know Pam after all, and he needed to get it out somehow, he suffered a long time, silently. He started telling her all about Pam and how much he hated Roy for the way he treated her, and hated himself for not owning up to it sooner. He told her about Katy and the booze cruise. He was drowning in his feelings and could barely take it anymore. Lisa listened intently and told him how sorry she was. He was no where near done his story when Mark came out and said he wanted to leave. They all had too much to drink, so he called a cab. Lisa decided she would go home with them and Melissa and comeback tomorrow for their cars. She knew Jim still needed to get some stuff out, she could just tell by the pained look on his face.

When they got back to Jim and Marks place, Melissa and Mark disappeared into his room. Jim and Lisa were on the couch talking for about an hour when they both started yawning. They were still feeling pretty good from the alcohol, but decided it was time for bed. Jim was going to stay on the couch, he walked Lisa to his room and showed her in, he grabbed a t-shirt for her to sleep in. As he was turning around from the bed after grabbing a pillow, Lisa pushed him back on the bed and straddled him, she started to kiss him, and he was too drunk to fight her.

They rolled over on their sides and just kissed for a while, it felt nice and it was comforting. One thing ended up leading to the other and the next morning Jim woke up in his bed naked under the comforter with a note on the pillow next to him. He almost thought it was just a dream until he saw the note. He picked it up to read it.

Jim,

Thank you for a great night, I don’t normally do that kind of thing, but I’ve known you a long time, so I can live with it. Please don’t feel bad, we both had a lot to drink, and I’m not sorry. I think we both needed it. I hope things work out for you and Pam, you really should tell her.

Take care
Lisa

He was surprised, he didn’t feel bad and it was oddly comforting. He felt a bit lighter after getting a lot of his feelings out, and hearing someone else’s perspective on the situation. He cleaned up his room, tossed out the condom wrapper he found on the floor and changed his sheets. After his laundry was done he went to the mall to pick up a few things. He decided that day that he would try to tell Pam soon, in someway, just so she knew. That thought made him feel sick to his stomach and excited at the same time.

A few weeks after that night with Lisa, he had gotten a message from her, she was trying to work it out with Joe and she actually sounded happy. She asked Jim to keep that night a secret, which he had. She had taken a cab early that morning that she slipped out of his room leaving just a note. Mark wasn’t even up yet, so no one knew.

A month later changed Jim’s life, casino night, being rejected and then his transfer to Stamford. He did not think about Lisa again until he had come back to Scranton with the merger. 2 weeks after he got back he had gotten a call from her at work, Melissa and Mark had broken up and she didn’t have his contact info but she knew where Jim worked. She called him up and asked him to lunch to catch up. She was going to meet him at the office on Friday she had an appointment nearby and was taking the rest of the day off from work. Little did Jim know, his life was about to change again.