Summary: Ryan finds an assortment of junk in Jim's desk. He lets Pam decide what to do with it.1. Chapter 1 by time4moxie
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
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On Ryan's first day as Junior Sales Associate, he stopped at the reception desk and dropped a small carrier bag of stuff in front of Pam.
"Here's some junk that I found in Jim's desk. I didn't know if I should throw it out or not."
Pam said thanks and took the bag. She looked inside, but then decided it was something she could deal with later. The pain was still too intense. She opened the bottom drawer of her desk and shoved the bag in there.
Weeks passed, and every morning Pam saw the bag as she put her purse away. Every day she grew a little less angry when she saw it. Every day she grew a little more sad. One day near the beginning of August, she came into work and saw the bag again as she put her purse away. She reached down, pulled the bag out, and emptied the contents onto her desk.
She carefully sifted through the items. She could see how Ryan had thought it was junk. Touching each item gingerly, she saw nothing but memories. Tears filled her eyes, but she carefully wiped each one away as it began to roll down her cheek. She didn't want anyone to come over and bother her. She lined each item up on her desk, wondering what in the world to do with it all. She couldn't bear to throw any of it away. It represented everything that she was missing.
She spent most of the morning trying ignore the junk on her desk, but it was impossible. Jim might as well been sitting right there, she felt his presence so keenly. She was angry at herself for the emotions such useless trinkets were causing; she was angry at him for what he'd done to her. But more than all that, she missed Jim. She knew underneath it all she could forgive him anything if he was just there.
Pam had an idea. She knew it was insane, and would probably back-fire horribly, but it needed to be done. She'd never be able to live with herself if she didn't grasp at this one last straw.
She turned to her computer and typed the following letter:
Dear Jim,
Hope things are going well for you in your new position in Stamford.
Ryan took over your desk, and in the process found these items that he said belonged to you. I took the liberty of looking them over and thought you might like the chance to reclaim them. It's not unusual to accidently leave things behind in the midst of such change and confusion.
Enclosed is a packing list detailing each item. Seven of the items were small enough to fit in this envelope, one was not. I've included the seven small ones for your convenience in case you did still want them. Please advise as to what you want me to do with the one thing you left behind that was too large to ship.
Take care, and don't forget about all of us in Scranton.
Pam
Page two read:
Reclaimation List for Jim Halpert:
Pam found a large envelope and carefully folded the letter, the packing list, and seven of the eight items listed into it. She sealed it carefully, applied a neatly typed label and then postage. It was addressed to Jim in care of the Stamford branch, and she had written 'Personal' in clear letters along the bottom.
At two o'clock, the mailman came in for his usual afternoon pick-up. She made certain that Jim's envelope was on the top of the pile.
She could only hope he wanted all of the things he'd left behind.