Summary: It's 1995 and 16 year old Pam thinks she has everything figured out. All she wants is to be an artist, find a nice boy to fall in love with, and continue to think that everything happens for a reason.
The summer after her 16th birthday everything comes crashing down. Pam's life as she knew it begins to change. The perfect cocoon of a life she had originally had begins to crumble.
Categories: Jim and Pam,
Present,
Past,
Future,
Alternate Universe Characters: Jim/Pam, Pam, Pam/Other, Pam/Roy
Genres: Childhood, Fluff, Inner Monologue
Warnings: No Warnings Apply
Challenges: Another Decade
Challenges: Another Decade Series: None
Chapters: 31
Completed: Yes
Word count: 21168
Read: 26011
Published: February 05, 2020
Updated: June 09, 2023
Today would have been considered unremarkable by most, but it was everything to me. It was one of those days where you romanticize your life and what you're experiencing in that moment. The world seems a tad bit brighter and has more life in it, if you will.
The weather couldn’t make up its mind today switching between rain, sleet, and snow. To some it was probably nightmarish, but I found the solution to it! It was an accident, but I found this cafe while going on a walk (my mother would probably kill me knowing I went out in this kind of weather for no reason. “You’ll get sick and miss important classes” she’d probably say).
When I walked in, the room was filled with warm-hued lighting, soft, inviting jazz music, and had these incredible floor to ceiling windows that made you feel like you were outside without the temperature. I had a book in my bag that I always carry just in case I find the time to read. I felt so posh sitting in this cafe with my cappuccino, book, and jazz music.
There are times when I still feel like a child, but today was one of those days where I felt as if I were an adult, living my adult life, and wow, I might as well have felt the Earth move because I feel something different in me as I write this.
What made the moment even sweeter though was seeing Jim walk by and do a double take seeing me in the window. His face lit up like a kid on Christmas and that was incredibly heartwarming for the frigid day. Even after months of dating, I still have this effect on him. I hope it never ends.
Once he came in, taking off his coat that is much too large for him, he sat with me and read one of his books. It was a romantic, non-romantic date. I suppose it was the simplicity of it that made it so unremarkably perfect. Just two people enjoying coffee with no place to be, but able to enjoy this one thing together.
I always thought that in order to be with someone you needed to be talking, always filling in the silence, but I realized today that love is the perfection of being with someone and the silent air between you two is comfortable. It’s not awkward or unfulfilling.
I told Jim how much I enjoyed this time together and he suggested we make it a more permanent addition to our date routine.
He’s absolutely perfect.