It was finished. After what felt like forever, it was finished. And it was perfect.

The book was called P.S. I Love You and Pam had been writing it for the past two years. She wasn’t really planning on getting it published or anything, but it was just a little someth ing she thought up one morning and decided to write as a short story or something, just for her own enjoyment. In the end, she got really into it and now she had a completed novel.

She clicked “save” on the Microsoft Word document and leaned back in her chair with a smile on her face. Her back was sore from slaving over the Mac Book all night, bags were laying under her eyes, and about 5 cups of tea were empty or cold on her desk. Her hair was a mess and the mascara on her eyes was lightly smudged. She had been up the last two for 2 nights straight finishing it. She had Remember the Titans playing over and over on the TV. The door to the bedroom opened and in came Jim in his flashy work clothes.

Two years ago, right before she started writing this novel, they were working at Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. Pam got offered an internship at Pratt School of Design. That summer was filled with brutal work, sleepless nights, insane heat, and missing Jim. This is when she started writing. The emptiness she felt without Jim had inspired it. She wrote bits and pieces of it whenever she had free time. She didn’t have a plan where each chapter was going to lead, she just wrote. As soon as the summer was over, he proposed with a sparkling Tiffany and Co. engagement ring. She said yes, of course, and that January, they got married in a beautiful church in New York City. Jim got a job as an ESPN Broadcaster. He was quite famous and they had much more money than they did when they worked at Dunder Mifflin. Their apartment was on Fifth Avenue and it was as if they were living the dream life. Pam owned a private gallery for local artists. A few of her own works were included as well. Recently, she had become more and more obsessed with finishing the story. In the past few weeks, it was almost all she did. During work she would be slaving over the computer just to get a page in, in the mornings before work and the afternoons after, she would be adding a new chapter. On the weekends she spent full nights and days at a time writing and writing. Jim wasn’t angry that she wasn’t spending as much time with him because of it, but instead he supported it as long she would read it to him as soon as she finished. He claimed that hearing the author speak the words for herself would be better than reading it to his own liking. But there was one thing did upset him and it was that she refused to try and get it published because she claimed that it wasn’t good enough material to be open to the public. “How’s the book going?” Jim asked as he gave her a peck on the lips.

She smiled brightly and said, “It’s done!” He smiled and picked her up out of the chair and spun her aro und. He put her back down and kissed her. “I’m so proud of you, Beesly!” (Yes, he still called her Beesly even though they were married and she was now Pam Halpert). “Will you read it to me?”

“It’s really not that good, Jim…"

“Aw, come on, you promised!”

"Just promise me you will be a nice critic."

"I promise! I'm sure it will be great anyway."

She smiled and clicked Print on the computer.

“Ok, fine. But just let me shower first.”

“I’ll run to the store and buy popcorn and those little quarts of Ben and Jerry’s that you love. We have to celebrate!”

“Phish Food?”

“Of course.” She gave him a peck on the lips.

“Do you have any clue how much I love you?” she said as she ran her hand through his hair.

Page after page was coming out of the printer and a huge stack of typed paper was forming.

“Hmm... You know, I think I just might.”

They plopped down on the couch and threw a blanket over themselves. Pam’s back was resting on one armrest and Jim’s was on the other.

“I’m warning you, Jim, this story is not very well written.”

“I don’t believe it. Now can you please start the story?”

“Ok, ok, I will!”

She put on her glasses and began reading.

****

Chapter 1

“Just answer me! Why are you so ticked off?” Jim Halpert asked as he tried to keep pace his wife, Pam down the streets of New York. “You're not going to talk to me, are you?”

She marched into the small apartment building, down the narrow hallway, and up the steep stairs that led to their room.

“Come on, just tell me what’s wrong!” he pleaded. She slammed the door to their apartment causing a picture to fall off the wall and she marched into the bathroom where she started taking off her pearl earrings. Jim walked in right after her and leaned against the sink.

“Seriously, talk to me!”

“Why do you tell my mom that I didn’t want a baby?” She finally yelled as she stormed out of the bathroom.

“Oh, so that’s what this all is about!”

“You know she doesn’t like you and now she must hate you more!”

“What are you talking about? Your mom loves me!”

Pam just glared at him and he caught on that it wasn’t the time to joke.

“Ok… maybe not,” he continued.

“How could you say something like that? I said before that I didn’t want a baby yet but it doesn’t mean I won’t want one!” SheÊyelled as she pulled off her shirt and threw it in the closet. She was furious.

“Excuse me, but you told me you didn’t want one because money is tight and you wanted to wait until you find a job you like and stick with it! In only 2 months you’ve quit five jobs!”

“All of the bosses were jerks! And excuse me, but at least I’m not working at a job that I don’t like, Mr. I-Work-As-A-Kindergarten-Gym-Teacher!”

“How much you wanna bet that you’ll quit your current job within the next week?”

She grunted and threw the shoe that she just took off at him with this remark.

“I hope you know that people with no money whatsoever have babies all the time!” he added as dodged the shoe.

“Will you just shut up?”

“No, I won’t! I’m not finished yet! You know, if you didn’t blow off all of your money on designer clothes then maybe we would be able to have a baby without having to worry about the cost!”

“I buy those clothes on Ebay so you can’t call them real designer labels! And again, money is not why I don’t want a baby! I’m not even sure what I want right now! I can’t think with you yelling at me like this!”

“Pam, I want what you want. If you want a baby, then let’s have a baby. If you don’t, then I understand. If you would just tell me then maybe we could work something out!”

“What if I do want to have a baby but I just don’t want you to be the father!”

“Well I wouldn’t believe you!”

“For the last time, just shut up and let me be!”

Are you telling me that you want me to leave?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying!”

“Fine!” he shouted as he went through the apartment door and Pam stormed into the bathroom. They both slammed the doors. Then, the reality of the situation hit her. Her stomach felt uneasy and she closed her eyes, regretting everything she had said.

About thirty seconds later, both the door to the bathroom and the apartment flew open.

“Can I come home now?” he asked. She ran across the apartment, jumped over the couch, and jumped into his arms with tears running down her face. They kissed over and over.

“I’m sorry for what I said.” Another kiss. “I didn’t mean any of it.” Another kiss. “Forgive me?”

“Without question.” Another kiss.

“I was just scared… I want to start a life and a family but I’m just not sure how…”

“Pam, we’re already in our life. You and me… We’re in it together.”

They kissed again, this time slower and gentler but still meaningful because they both knew that they had all the time in the world to share unbreakable love.

Later that night, Pam was pulling the covers down to get into bed. Then, she heard heavy metal music blasting from the stereo and in came Jim. He was wearing boxers on that had royal British guards on them (which represented his home country) and his beloved leather jacket he had since the day she met him. He also attempted to wear a belt with it that had a British flag belt buckle. He was shaking his hips to the music and she laughed in delight. He did a weird stomach roll and undid his belt. He waved it in the air cowboy style, but then the belt buckle flew off and hit him square in the head.

“Shit!” he exclaimed as Pam hurried out of bed and up to him. She was trying not to laugh as she pulled his hands away from his face to see if the belt buckle had left an injury. Luckily, there wasn’t one. The feeling from her stomach was creeping into her throat, you know, the feeling that you get when you’re trying so hard to hold in laughter that it actually hurts.

“Are you okay?” she asked with a little baby voice.

“It stings,” he replied, his British accent sounding precious with his whiney tone.

“Poor baby,” she mocked.

“That isn’t funny. Why are you laughing? Really, this is a serious situation where you should be pampering me and making me feel better.”

She giggled as she got back in bed.

“Oh, just shut up,” she said with a mock-serious tone. Her stomach felt tight from laughing so hard and her cheeks were flushed. He went to go brush his teeth and soon joined her.

“Wait, the light! You were up last so you have to go turn it off,” she said.

“Yeah, but I got it last night. It’s your turn.”

“Fine…” She got out of bed and flicked off the light. On her way back, she slammed her big toe on the bedpost.

“Ow! Oh, shit!” she cursed as she hopped back to the bed, the pulsing pain making her wince. It was Jim’s turn to try not to laugh. He pulled her close and said, “Let me kiss it.” He pulled her foot closer and kissed the injury.

“God, we really need to get a bedside lamp,” she said. “Why don’t we have one, anyway?”

“Because you’re too lazy to go to the store.”

“Hey!” she said, laughing. They lay down and he pulled her close, the sound of their giggles filling the air of their little apartment.ÊPam couldn’t help but suddenly feel thankful for the love that they shared. It was the kind that everyone envied and would picture for themselves. She had always dreamed of a love like this and now she was living in her own fairytale.

“You know I love you,” he said. “I know,” she replied as she kissed him, her heart full like it had always been from the moment she met him. “And I know you always will.”

It was quiet for a few moments until she spoke in a soft whisper.

“Jim?”

“Mmm?”

“Promise me that you’ll never leave me.”

“I promise.”

****
“Ok, so that’s the first chapter. Do you want me to read on or is it too pitiful?”

“Actually, Pam, it’s really good and I’m not just saying that because I’m your husband.”

“Thanks…” she said as they leaned toward each other and shared a quick kiss.

“I also love how you based the characters off of us. If this becomes a national best seller, then I will be famous.”

“I told you that I’m not going to try to get it published… And anyway, you’re pretty famous already!”

“Yeah, but I could be more famous.”

She laughed, “Whatever.”

“I still think you should at least try to get it published. You never know what could happen!”

“I don’t know…”

“Come on, pleeeease?” he begged.

“How about you hear the rest of the story and then you decide if it’s publisher worthy? You might change your mind.”

“I say, continue on.”