Blocked Up by Robert Dunder
Summary: What if Pam didn't hug Jim back? Set during S9: Paper Airplane and will continue from there.
Categories: Jim and Pam, Alternate Universe Characters: Cece Halpert, Ensemble, Jim/Pam
Genres: Angst, Drama, Kids/Family, Married
Warnings: Other Adult Theme
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 14 Completed: Yes Word count: 29143 Read: 15739 Published: January 13, 2021 Updated: February 07, 2021
Story Notes:

This is my take on the marriage of Jim and Pam in Season 9. Because I'm a fan of emotional torture, I came up with an idea on what would happen if Pam never hugged Jim back. 

This is my first time writing a story so I admit that this will be rough but I hope you enjoy. 

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.

In other words, I do not own The Office. Or Jim and Pam. Only a fan.  

1. Love Suffers Long by Robert Dunder

2. Love is Kind by Robert Dunder

3. Love is Not Proud by Robert Dunder

4. Love Bears All Things by Robert Dunder

5. Love Believes All Things by Robert Dunder

6. Love Hopes All Things by Robert Dunder

7. Love Endures All Things by Robert Dunder

8. Love Never Fails by Robert Dunder

9. And Now These Three Remain by Robert Dunder

10. Faith, Hope, and Love by Robert Dunder

11. And The Greatest of These Is Love by Robert Dunder

12. Not Enough for Me? by Robert Dunder

13. You Are Everything by Robert Dunder

14. Better Than A Fairytale by Robert Dunder

Love Suffers Long by Robert Dunder

“I know this was really weird, and it was really hard. But I think we’re making progress,” Jim said as he knelt beside his wife. “So I’m really sorry that I have to go but let’s keep at this. Ok?”


He was exhausted on their first day after they had started going to couple’s therapy. Things were going smoothly at first, despite going through the monotonous routine of speaking their truths and appreciating each other’s sacrifices. One phone call from Athlead however, sent them back to another round of arguments, followed by what seemed like an endless silence.


Ever since Pam confessed that she did not want to move to Philadelphia, the wall which had already started building between them became tougher to break. Just a few weeks back, Jim was amused when Pam was telling him over the phone that their daughter, Cece, had been calling her “Pamela”. However, he could not find the words to sustain their conversation for more than a minute. They have had off days when they were dating. But this was no longer just them being a little out-of-sync. Their marriage was in trouble, and Jim knew it.


As he waited for a response, he stared into Pam’s eyes. The same green eyes that he had been in love with from the first time she first introduced him to his new desk mate Dwight. The eyes that took a mental picture of him as he cut his tie to make her feel better at their wedding. The eyes that he wished could hold on for a little while longer.


————————————————————


“Ok,” Pam responded as she smiled weakly to her husband. She resumed working on her computer as Jim stood up to get his coat at reception.


Blocked up. Her heart felt like it was numb from any form of emotion the entire day. She had gained so much courage when she confessed her feelings to Jim at the beach. Fast forward six years and she felt like all of it had dissipated. 


She wished she had the courage to say something other than one word to him, similar to how she wished it did not take her months to finally confess that she did not want to move to Philadelphia. Ever since he started working part time for Athlead, she had felt their relationship crumbling. However, she could not muster up the strength speak up on how she was having a hard time dealing with work and their two kids alone. Similar to her engagement with Roy, she could not find it in herself to be more honest about how she could no longer accept the situation that Jim had put her in.

 

Fear slowly began to creep in as she wondered if it was all too late and if there was still hope for their marriage to be saved. 


She turned around to say goodbye, but Jim had already left. She stared longingly at his desk, the same desk that she would go to whenever she was bored or would want to goof around with her best friend. She looked at his telephone and reminisced about the time she had left him several messages during the situation with Michael’s carpet. Beside the phone, she noticed a small gray object and that was when she realized — Jim had forgotten his umbrella.

 

The weather was actually fine that day and there were no indications that it would change, but the thought never entered Pam's mind as she rushed to the elevator, hoping that she would still be able to catch him. She was not sure of what exactly she will do or say, but she knew that she had to see him before he left again.


————————————————————


Still unsure with how he left things with Pam, Jim walked to his taxi which was on the way to Philadelphia. He tried to say goodbye in the office, but she had gone back to work on her computer. 


Maybe I’ll call her at the bus station — he thought to himself.


As he prepared to go inside, he heard someone scream his name. He looked back and saw Pam running to him while holding out an umbrella.


“Thanks,” he said as he kissed her on the cheek while she wished him a safe trip.


As he watched her walk away, he had finally decided that he could no longer bear to see her in pain as he ran towards her and grabbed her arm. He held both her hands and studied every feature of the woman whom he had vowed to spend the rest of his life with.


“I—“ 


He could not figure out what to say to her. Jim usually has a way with words but in that instance, he was speechless. Out of desperation from not knowing what else he can do, he hugged her. With each passing moment, he continued to tighten his embrace as if he never wanted to let go.


After a few seconds, he realized that she had not yet reciprocated the hug. He closed his eyes and continued to wait, hoping that he had done enough to show her that he was willing to give everything up for her.


“Jim,” he heard her say. It was just one word but that was all it took for him to let go. He then remained motionless, still holding her arms, bracing himself for what was about to come. “I … I need time.” 


His heart shattered into a million pieces as she slowly let herself free from his grasp and headed towards the door.


“Pam, please…” he pleaded. She stopped at her tracks for what seemed like an eternity but then continued to go inside as she wiped a tear from her eye.


Jim remained in his position as he watched the love of his life walk away. He held back the tears that were starting to form in his eyes. He most likely would have started crying had he not been interrupted by the honking of the taxi driver, asking if he was still heading to Philadelphia.


End Notes:
This was torture for me to write. I was thinking of putting here how Pam felt but I'll save that for the next chapter.
Reviews are highly appreciated, like the way Pam appreciate Jim's sacrifice of bringing her tea.
Love is Kind by Robert Dunder
Author's Notes:

Thanks again for the reviews! 

What this chapter covers: A) How Pam felt after the hug, B) If Jim stayed. Still within the story of Paper Airplane but obviously, it's already canon divergent.

This chapter is a roller coaster and even harder to write than the first one.

 

“Why did I not hug Jim back? Oh, you saw that? Well, it’s just that I… I…” that was all Pam could utter out before she broke down in her interview with the documentary crew. “I’m sorry, can you just give me a minute?”

 

She left the conference in a hurry, feeling embarrassed over having cried in front of the cameras. “Hey, you okay?” Clark asked as she entered the kitchen but she just ignored his inquiries and continued walking.

 

“Great…just an hour ago, he thought I was high with all that counseling crap and now he just saw me sobbing my eyes out. Not a great day to be my desk mate, Clark,” she thought to herself as she continued walking.

 

It wasn’t Pam’s first time crying while doing an interview. She remembered the first time seven years ago. She had just come from a big argument with Roy over wanting to pursue an internship in graphic design which was offered to her by Jan. She was hurt by her ex-fiancee not wanting to support her dream. She had gotten used to Roy being unsupportive (or realistic as he so lovingly put it) that she would just shrug it off and move on with her day.

 

What truly made her cry was the conversation that she had with Jim later in the day. “You gotta take a chance on something sometime, Pam. I mean, do you want to be a receptionist here, always” She recalled his words. Her best friend had help up a mirror to her face, making her realize that her own happiness was being dangled in front of her but she constantly chose to stay put out of fear and uncertainty.

 

She finally stopped walking and ended up at the hallway outside the warehouse. She sat down on a bench as she tried to calm herself. Recollecting that particular memory made her think about Roy. She thought ending their engagement and marrying Jim was her fairytale which had finally come true. She thought that she had finally fallen in love with the man would always put her first and would never hurt her. Thinking about her marriage turning into one that she thought she had avoided was all it took to start tearing up again.

 

“Pam?” She heard someone say her name. At first, she thought it was Dwight who seemed to have a knack for accidentally running into her crying, but then she realized it was a woman’s voice.

 

“Oh, Nellie…hey,” she said as she quickly wiped her face, as her co-worker, still wearing a referee’s outfit sat beside her.

 

“Is everything alright?” Nellie asked, “I know two thousand dollars was a lot of money but I’m sure Jim makes a lot more than that”

 

“No it’s not that,” Pam replied, brushing away the thought the people would think she was crying over a paper airplane. “I just… Jim and I just have been doing an exercise that we learned from couple’s therapy. It wasn’t going well. He told me he wants to keep at it and I really wanted to make it work. I really did.”

 

“I…I chased after him because he forgot his umbrella and then before I went back inside, he hugged me,” Pam struggled to compose herself as she continued to tell Nellie what had occurred during the day. “It felt good to feel him again. His warmth. It felt really good. But I couldn’t find it in me to hug him back.”

 

“Why not?” Nellie asked.

 

“Because I…I’m just…I’m scared okay?” Her face collapsed on her hands as she finally let out the thoughts that had been driving her insane, “I’m scared that I’ll forgive him and nothing will change. I’m scared to let him back in. I’m scared that he’ll say that this is all he needs and then he’ll change his mind after.”

 

Nellie could only watch her friend continue bursting into tears. She continued stroking Pam’s back in an attempt to calm her down.

 

“You know my parents got divorced? Just three years ago,” Pam continued, “I always thought that would never happen to us because I love him. I have never stopped loving him. You know? But what if loving him isn’t enough?”

 

After a few minutes, she sat quietly, all cried out. Nellie, clearly uncomfortable with the silence, said “Well, if you get divorced, someone in this office would finally have something in common with Toby.”

 

She laughed for a bit at her own joke until she realized Pam was still quiet. “Sorry, was that too soon?” She asked. Seconds later, Pam started cracking up and the two of them broke into fits of laughter.

 

————————————————

 

When Pam left him after he hugged her, he contemplated whether he should continue straight to Philadelphia or follow her inside. After a few more seconds, he took his coat and messenger bag out of the taxi. He headed for the door but froze after a few steps.

 

“What will I say to her?”

 

He stood outside for what seemed like an eternity until Hank snapped him out of the state that he was in.

 

“How long was I standing there? Wait, not important. Okay, just tell her that you love her and you will do anything to make it work. I can’t lose her. I definitely can’t lose her.”

 

The adrenaline kicked in as he stepped out of the elevator. He kept convincing himself that this was only a rough patch and they can fight through it together. He then wondered if it was all too late but he immediately erased the thought from his head.

 

“Hey! Where’s Pam?” he asked Clark who was enjoying a cup of coffee. Jim realized he was using his favorite mug but decided not to bother with it.

 

“Oh hey. She went out of the conference room crying. I asked her if she was okay but she just ignored me. Hmm, maybe she really wasn’t high,” Clark spaced out for a bit until he realized Jim was just staring at him. “Anyway, she was heading to the warehouse. Why are you still here by the way? I thought —.”

 

“Okay thanks,” Jim interrupted as he began to walk faster to the warehouse. He was shattered upon Clark’s revelation that Pam had been crying again. He then remembered finding out from Brian that he just recently made Pam cry because of their argument from missing Cece’s recital. He knew he should have been there but he took the stress out on his wife instead.

 

“You’re so stupid. How many more times has she cried without you knowing? Okay, keep it together Halpert. You can’t lose her. You definitely can’t lose her.”

 

He finally reached the hallway, opened the door slightly and froze at the sight of Pam dissolving into tears. He was overcome with so much emotion at the sight of seeing the love of his life be hurt so much by everything that had happened.

 

He was about to inch his way further out the door when he heard Pam speak.

 

“You know my parents got divorced? Just three years ago. I always thought that would never happen to us because I love him. I have never stopped loving him. You know? But what if loving him isn’t enough?”

  

As Nellie continued consoling Pam, Jim quietly closed the door and stood in silence. The resolve that he had gathered on the way had disappeared and was gradually replaced by a feeling of resignation. The mention of the word divorce shocked him. They have had numerous arguments but no one had actually used the word which to him, meant that they were not down that road yet. 

 

“Divorce? Not enough? Since when was love not enough? He thought to himself as he headed back to the office.

 

He headed to the stairwell where he saw Dwight sitting, holding a paper airplane on his hand.

 

“Hey,” Jim sighed as he sat beside his brooding co-worker.

 

After a moment of silence, Dwight finally spoke up. “I won the paper airplane contest…I beat Angela. Two thousand dollars. Not much. I mean I own the building. Maybe I’ll invest in a carrot farm. You love carrots, right?”

 

Jim’s brain was too wrapped up to come up with a reply, the word divorce still lingering inside.

 

Dwight continued, “We still can’t get past making small talk, can—,”

 

“I think my marriage is over”, Jim finally spoke.

 

“What?” Dwight replied, shocked at his sudden revelation.

 

“Well, might be over. Might be definitely over. It’s just….” Jim felt a lump in his throat as he tried to composed himself, “I’m scared I might be losing her”

 

“Scared of losing someone. Hmm, what’s that like?” Dwight asked as he continued playing with his paper airplane.

 

Jim was astounded by how terrible Dwight was at making conversation but decided to humor him. “Well, remember that time you pelted me with snowballs—,”

 

“A war that I won”, Dwight interrupted

 

“Yeah, sure. A war that you won. Well, you scared the crap out of me during that day. But this…what’s happening right now…is so much worse—,” Tears were now streaming down his face. “So much worse.”

 

Jim tried his best to hold back everything that he was feeling but the tears just continued to flow. He tried looking down so Dwight couldn't see his face. He was unaware, however, that Dwight had already diverted his attention to the crying man beside him

 

“I can’t lose her. I—,” He started shaking and placed his head on his knees. He felt an arm come around him and it was in that moment that Jim completely loses it, sighing heavily and sobbing uncontrollably on Dwight’s shoulder. 

End Notes:

I initially decided to have Dwight comfort Pam similar to Season 3 but went for Jim instead since we have seen Jim console Dwight but not the other way around.

Writing two chapters of bumming Jim and Pam out is really draining. But reviews are highly appreciated, like the way Roy appreciates Pam's art.

Love is Not Proud by Robert Dunder
Author's Notes:
Thanks for all the reviews! This chapter will cover how the day ended for our favorite couple.

After seeing his wife cry in the hallway outside the warehouse, Jim had spent a good part of the day having an emotional breakdown at the stairwell with Dwight comforting him. Once he was all cried out, he stayed quiet, staring blankly into the wall.


“Well, I’m gonna go. Big day tomorrow,” Dwight spoke, finally breaking the long silence. “I’m finally getting my black belt in Goju-Ryu after twenty years of training. Can you believe it? I think it was $150,000 well spent.”


“Twenty years of training,” Jim thought to himself. “What’s that like? How were your classmates from twenty years ago? I wonder how they’re doing now. Probably not selling paper and getting a black belt in Goju-Ryu, that I can be sure of.” He did not have the energy to poke fun at Dwight. Instead, he smiled weakly at him and nodded. He then felt a strong pat on his shoulder as Dwight stood up and went up the stairs. 


Jim remained seated in silence as he continued to reflect on the events that had transpired. He checked his watch and realized that it had already been four hours since Pam left him at the parking lot.


Being exposed was one of his biggest fears. He had not problem taking risks with work and his career but it was a different story when it came to his feelings. Whenever he was feeling vulnerable, he would often mask it with an illusion of confidence and goofiness, which was probably why he thrived as a salesman. His mind wandered to seven years ago when he first confessed his love to her. He had put everything on the line and allowed himself to express how he truly felt. Getting rejected twice on that night was too much for him to handle that he left for Stamford the following day. 


Although the confession eventually led to a chain of events that would open the door to their love, vulnerability is something that he would try to avoid especially if he was unsure of its effect. When Pam did not hug him back, he was revisited by the feeling of dejection after taking a risk that did not pay off. It was a similar feeling as seven years ago, except this time, he had a wife and two kids so there was not a Stamford that he could rely on . 


After a few more minutes, he finally stood up, went downstairs and headed to the lobby. He gathered his belongings which he, in a rush to get to Pam, had haphazardly tossed at one of the chairs in the cafe lobby. He was initially surprised when he saw that his car was not in the parking lot and it occurred to him that Pam does not know that he stayed in Scranton. 


“Great, I’m probably the last person she probably wants to see right now and she doesn’t even know that I’m not in Philly,” he sighed as he tried calling for a cab.


He covered his eyes as a maroon 1987 Pontiac Trans Am headed to the entrance of the building. “Get in,” Dwight pointed to the passenger’s seat as he rolled up the window.


The car ride to Jim’s house was filled with silence. As much as he wanted to strike up a conversation with Dwight, he was too preoccupied with what exactly he will do when he sees Pam again. He was still unsure given that the last thing that she told him was she needed time. “I don’t know. How much time does she needed? Do I just go back to Philly and wait for her to come up with an answer? Do I just confront her now?” 


As they stopped outside at his front yard, Dwight told him, “Jim look—” He paused mid-sentence, sighed deeply and continued, “Don’t be an idiot. It’s probably hard for you to do since you are one and have always been one. But try not to be an idiot with this one.”


Jim gave him a confused look. “Okay, thanks Dwight,” he said as he stepped out of the car and headed to his house.


——————————————————————


Pam had already been home for nearly four hours. After saying goodbye to her mother who was babysitting for her and Jim, she started preparing dinner for herself and the kids. Helene had offered to help before leaving but she declined. “You already spent the entire day with them and they can be quite a handful so I know you’re tired. Don’t worry, I can handle it.”


Pam had not yet confided to anyone in her family about the troubles that were occurring in her marriage. The last thing she needed was a lecture from her mother about how men cannot be trusted and they will always leave when the going gets tough. She shuddered at the idea of her grandmother hearing the news and blaming everything on her accidental pregnancy.


“It’s not like I’m divorced so there’s nothing to tell. Besides, she dated Michael without telling me so maybe there are things we just don’t have to tell each other,” she chuckled at the thought of her being furious when she found out. She was also furious with Jim for not telling her but it was only for a short time as he took her back to memories of their honeymoon in Puerto Rico

 

After dinner, she then went on to wash the dishes while humming to the tune of Y.M.C.A. She remembered Cafe Disco and how she and Jim danced their way through the afternoon with the rest of their officemates. She always considered herself to be a dorky and uncoordinated dancer but watching Jim smile and dance just as awkwardly as her made her embarrassment fade away. 


“Frank and Beans,” she said in a low growly voice and she laughed as remembered an inside joke of theirs. She was then overcome with sadness at the thought of her husband. She began to wonder how he was doing given how they left things before he left for Philadelphia. She wiped her hands with a cloth, grabbed her phone which was on the table, and started typing.


“Hey Jim, hope you got to Philly safely. Kids are asleep. Listen, about today. I just want you to know that….”


She paused for a moment then deleted her progress. She thought about something else to say but eventually closed her phone. “Maybe later…” she thought to herself.


She was startled upon hearing the door to their home open. She quickly went to check who it was and how they were able to enter without a key.


“Oh, Jim. I thought you were in Philly, I wasn’t able to—,” she was interrupted when her husband walked to her and pressed his lips against hers. She was initially shocked by the sudden rush of emotion but she allowed herself to indulge in the pleasure of kissing her husband. He kissed her two more times before he pulled away.


“Pam, listen. I know you said you need time. And if that’s what you need…then okay." Jim gave out a half smile as he held her hands.

 

Pam was silent as she studied Jim’s eyes. She could see how tired he was just by looking at them. She wondered how much of an emotional toll this day took on him. She also asked herself what he was doing in Scranton if he didn’t leave for Philly and if he was just in the office the entire time.


She snapped out of her own thoughts and realized that Jim had been staring at her for quite some time, waiting for a response. Struggling to find the right words, she decided to just nod back, “Okay.”


“Okay,” she could hear tiny glimmer of hope in Jim’s voice as he replied.

 

 ---------------------------------------

 

Jim stayed in the guest bedroom for the night. He thought about staying in the same room as Pam, but then decided it would be for the best to give her some space.


“Don’t be an idiot” was the last thing Dwight told him before he left. He wondered if the reason why Pam didn’t hug him back was because she was not looking for a grand declaration of love. He then decided before entering the house to listen and give her what she wanted: time. He continued to ponder if he did the right thing.

 

His body, already worn out from the day's events, forced him into a slumber before he could think further on the matter.

End Notes:

I originally had another idea on how to end this chapter but it was hard for me to make it sound sensible. So I'll attempt it again in the next chapter.

I'm already transitioning to the next episode, which is why I mentioned Dwight's blackbelt since it happens the day after.

Comments are highly appreciated, like Kelly's customer survey feedback (Just don't hold a grudge if I forgot it was your birthday)

Love Bears All Things by Robert Dunder
Author's Notes:

This section covers the events of S9: Livin' the Dream

No warnings except it's going to be a tough read. 

It was seven thirty in the morning. Jim and Pam were on their way to work. The two of them waited for Helene to arrive to take care of Philip before they dropped off Cece at preschool. Seeing his daughter wave goodbye to them with a huge smile on her face was a good start to Jim’s day. Despite being almost three years old, Jim still saw her as the same little bundle of joy that inspired him to want to be a better person in life and always strive for the best. 


“She seemed to be in a good mood today,” he told Pam in an attempt to break the silence between them. Yesterday was the first time that he had not slept beside his wife from the moment they had gotten engaged. He was glad, hopeful even, that she seemed to be responsive when he said he would give her time. However, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the journey to saving their marriage would not be easy. 


“Yeah, she’s been making a lot of friends at school,” Pam responded. “She can’t stop talking about them a home. I remember meeting some of them during her dance recital. I—,”


She suddenly paused and Jim realized that they hadn’t fully talked about what had happened during the recital. They had just briefly touched on it during Valentine’s when he found out that she cried in front of Brian. He hadn’t even watched the video that Pam was able to procure from one of the parents. 


His train of thought was interrupted when his phone started ringing. It was Wade, one of his colleagues from Athlead. He remembered dropping the call on him the day before as it almost caused him to have argument with Pam. He had not picked up any his calls afterwards as he was too focused on fixing his marital problems. He also knew that picking up this particular call would erase any progress that he had just made with his wife.


“So uhh…so did you see Dwight’s email?” he quickly asked as he rejected the call.


“Oh yeah, ‘You are formally invited to Dwight K. Schrute’s black belt ceremony’. I wonder what’s that gonna be like?”


“Well, let’s hope he doesn’t use anyone was a practice dummy. He’ll probably use Clark though,” Jim laughed at his own response. “Oh, we’re here.” 

Jim parked the car and smiled to himself on the way out. 


“So Dwight’s getting his black belt today. There will probably be ninjas that will pop out of nowhere and there will probably be a rock and roll training montage,” he told the camera crew. “I don’t know, I have a feeling today will be good day.” 


—————————————————————————


Pam was in a relatively better mood compared to yesterday. Watching Dwight’s ceremony was able to take her mind off of things. She smiled at Jim who was clearly amused at everything that was happening especially when Dwight kept thrusting his hip at his sensei who was trying to change his belt. She missed seeing his husband be his goofy self.

 

She did not have a lot of time to process the events of last night. When Jim unexpectedly came home, she was unsure of how to react. While she was happy to see and kiss him, she was also afraid that he will be in a rush to fix their problems. She was shocked, but thankful at the same time, that he told her that he will give her time.


After Dwight had performed his final kata forms and almost hitting Pam in the process, almost everyone in the office applauded and went to the break room for a quick celebration. David had called Jim to his office for a quick meeting so she waited for him with Angela standing beside her.

Pam noticed that her coworker was not her usual self. Her hair was unruly, dark circles were forming on her eyes, and she was carrying a giant cup similar to the one Meredith has at her desk. She did not reek of alcohol but she was certain that she had slipped in something in her drink.


Hey, are you okay? You don’t look so good,” she asked.


“Let’s see Pam. The senator left me, the county took all of my cats and I’m left with nothing. I mean look at me, I look even worse than Meredith and she looks homeless. Does that answer your question, does it?” 


Pam was shocked, not by Angela’s snark but by how her life seemed to have made a 180-degree turn in a span of two days. Angela sighed, “Look I’m sorry. It’s just… I’m having a rough time. I’m surprised you’re holding up well.”


“What do you mean?”


“Clark told us everything that happened yesterday. He said he saw you crying and walking away. Then he saw Jim going inside looking for you. Then he went to the same direction you did. He assumed you guys just came from a fight.”


“Wait, Jim was looking for me?”


“Yes. Also, I normally don’t gossip but word on the street is you two might be getting a divorce. And if I wasn’t a complete mess right now, I would be judging you.”


“Umm, okay thanks,” Pam said as she walked away. She was surprised to learn that Jim was looking for her yesterday. She began to wonder if he had found her crying in the hallway and if so, how much of her conversation with Nellie did he hear.


—————————————————————

“So Jim, how’s Athlead doing?” David asked.


“Uhh yeah, we’re doing fine. Starting a business is tougher than I thought and I don’t get to see Pam and the kids as much as I want to,” Jim replied.


“Okay, and just to clear the air, you do understand why I had to cut your pay right? And why I didn’t hear out your investment spiel. But I am sorry that you had to that while you were on speaker, that was not my intention.”


“Yeah, it’s fine. I knew it was a bad idea to begin with but I just needed to do it so I can tell the guys that I tried and it didn’t work.”


“Okay, so before I get to what I actually wanted to talk to you about. I just have to ask, are you okay? You seem pretty off today.”


Jim look down at the conference table, contemplating if he should tell David what was really going on. “Hey David, you’ve been married for a long time right?”


“Yeah, I guess. Why’d you ask?”


“I’m sorry if it seems intrusive. But did you and wife ever have problems that you thought you couldn’t fix?”


He looked down on the table again. He didn’t want to know how David reacted to his question.


“Yeah, of course. Jim, when I got fired, it was brutal. It was the lowest point of my life. My wife and I would get into a lot of arguments. I actually thought at some point, that she would leave me. But we eventually got past it, and here we are, stronger than ever. I’m assuming you’re having marriage troubles of your own?”


Jim nodded his head silently.


“Okay, I don’t want to get into it especially if it’s uncomfortable for you, but I know you love Pam. You turned down a job at corporate so you can be with her. Not many people give up their professional goals for love, I can tell you that much. You may be feeling like you’ve lost her but you just have to continue reaching out to her.”


“Ok…thanks David,” Jim replied. “So what is it that you wanted to talk about?”


“So the reason that I called you in here is because Andy is moving on.” David went on as he consulted Jim about his plan to promote Dwight to Regional Manager of Scranton.


As Jim headed out the conference room, Pam went to him and asked, “So what did you guys talk about?”


“Uhh, just some stuff,” Jim looked at Pam whom he could tell looked unconvinced with his answer. “Oh but he asked me how I felt about Dwight being regional manager and I recommended him. So that’ll be fun.” 


For the first time in two days, the two of them burst into laughter.

————————————————————


Pam was fixing herself up in the women’s bathroom. It was almost the end of the day and she was waiting for Jim to finish up with work so they can head home. She did not want to be late as they promised Cece that they would be the ones to pick her up from school.


Just a few minutes ago, Dwight had been promoted to regional manager. She was genuinely excited to see her friend finally get what he has always wanted. She was also glad to see Jim not only come through for him and at the same time, have something to look forward to as Dwight offered him to be the assistant-to-the-regional manager. Knowing Jim, she knows this would mean a lot more pranks on Dwight. “Maybe,” she thought to herself, “he’ll have fun when he’s here. Maybe we’ll have fun.”


Before she could step out, she overheard two voices outside in the kitchen.


“We got an offer on the table”


“What kind of offer?”


“A buyout?”


The conversation between Jim and Darryl went on as Pam continued to listen from inside the bathroom.


“Wade said we could do the whole country in three months.”


“Oh man. Yeah, I can’t do it.”


“Can’t do what?”


“This, man. I can’t do this to Pam. I’m on the brink of losing her. I just, I can’t afford to lose my family Darryl.”


“No, no, Jim. This is different. This is everything.”


“I know. And I can’t do it.”


Pam slowly opened the door and saw Jim walking out of the kitchen. She felt dejected. She knew she was supposed to be happy that Jim is choosing her over his dream but she can’t help but feel like he got forced into the situation because of her.

———————————————————


The car ride home was filled with uncomfortable silence. They had just picked up Cece from school and she had fallen asleep as soon as she was seated. Although, his eyes were on the road, Jim could tell that Pam was deep in thought. He would ask her about it he wasn’t preoccupied between driving and thinking about the conversation he just had with Darryl. While he was happy that his effort had finally paid off, he remained in his resolve that his family was more important and he needed to do whatever it takes to keep them together.


As they arrived at their house, they saw Helene waiting for them outside. As she approached them, Pam opened her window seat and said, “Mom, can you get Cece first? I just need to discuss something with Jim.” 


As Helene left with their sleeping child, Jim sat quietly, waiting for Pam to start the conversation.


He looked at Pam and he saw her fidgeting her fingers. After a few seconds, she finally spoke, “Jim, I heard you and Darryl talking. I was in the bathroom,”


“Oh…so you know?” Jim asked. He was relieved that he didn’t have to keep it a secret to her but at the same time, unsure of how the conversation will go.


“Yes, Athlead has an offer and there will be a three-month tour across the country.”


“And you also probably heard me say that I can’t do it?”


“Yes.”


“And?”


“I don’t know, Jim. What do you want me to say?”


“Seriously Pam?” Jim was already getting frustrated at her indifference, “I’m telling you I’m giving up this opportunity for you, to save our family, and all I get is ‘What do you want me to say?’”


“Well, I really don’t know. What do you want from me Jim?”


“I want you to talk to me. I’m really trying here, Pam. But I don’t know how to solve it if I don’t know what the hell your problem is”


“My problem?” Pam finally raised her voice. “My problem Jim is I want you to stay!”


“And I said I was staying for you!”


“But I know you want to do this but you’ve decided to make this huge sacrifice so you get to be the good husband! So congratulations Jim, you win 

because apparently I’m the one who’s holding you back!”


“I win?” Jim said as he hung his head avoiding the urge to cry, “Is that really what you think? That I’m playing a game with you…that I’m doing all of this to feel like I’m a good person?”


“Jim, I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant, I—,”


“Pam, I don’t know what else I can do to make you believe me. I… I heard you tell Nellie that loving me might not be enough to save us, is that really 

how you feel?”


“You heard that…”


“Yeah, I did” Jim braced himself for her answer. He was internally praying that she would say it was just something that was said at the spur-of-the-moment


“Jim, I love you … but I really feel like you’ll resent me if you choose to stay. Which is why I can’t bring myself to open up myself to you again. I just… I can’t—,” Pam pause mid-sentence as she covered her face with her hands and started sobbing.


“I don’t know, I have a feeling today will be good day.” Jim remembered telling the camera crew as tears started streaming down his face.

——————————————————


It was eight in the evening. Jim sat on his bed as he prepared his overnight bag. The two of them agreed that it would be best if Jim stayed in Philadelphia for the rest of the week while they continue to figure things out. 


Misery took over him as all the progress they had made in the past two days seem to have been obliterated. “Back to square one I guess,” he thought to himself. He did not want to think that this will end in divorce as he cannot imagine a future without Pam by his side.


He felt his phone ring in his pocket. He grabbed it and answered.


“Hello? Oh hey—how are you doing…."

 

"Oh yeah, I left you a message because… umm is it okay if I come….I’m just having some…."

 

Jim had a smile on his face as the call progressed, "Oh okay, yeah sure I can get there tomorrow morning. Alright, see you then.” 


“Daddy?” Cece said as she peaked inside the guest bedroom after Jim had finished his call.


“Hey sweetie, what is it?” As he approached her daughter.


“Why sad Daddy?”


“Oh no…I’m not sad,” Jim said as he hugged Cece and wiped the tears forming in his eyes. “It’s just, I haven’t seen your dance yet”


“Mommy has the video!” Cece grabbed at his arm and led him to Pam who was sitting on the couch.


“Hey, what’s up?” She asked.


“Oh, Cece wants me to see her dance recital”


“Oh okay, come on sweetie let’s all sit on the couch,” Pam grabbed the DVD containing the recital from the shelf, inserted it in the player and opened the television.


As the video started playing, they all waited in anticipation for Cece until it was her turn.


“Hey, you did the move. Cece Spin and Kiss! I’m so proud of you! Let’s watch it again,” Jim said as he hit the rewind button.


On their fourth rewatch, Cece had already fallen asleep. Jim was still as excited as the first time he watched the video. He could not get over seeing her daughter twirl around onstage. He then felt Pam’s head on his shoulder. A few seconds later, he felt his shirt getting wet. He gave her a kiss on her head and rubbed her back. As he continued comforting her, he whispered in her ear, "Hey, it's going to be okay."


“God, please let this be okay,” he thought to himself as he pressed the rewind button once again, finding solace in his daughter’s joy.


End Notes:

I knew the moment that there was going to be a scene about Athlead being successful, that it will lead to their biggest fight yet. Which is why I added the scene with Cece to end on a good note.

I apologize in advance for anyone who was feeling hopeful after the previous chapter.

 Also, with the phone call at the end, no I am not writing Jim having an affair. 

 Edit: I made tweaks to the ending of this chapter. I didn't realize that it looked incomplete (I finished at 5am). Also changed the font size, I'm not a fan of reading in big letters.

 Reviews are highly appreciated. It will make my heart soar with the eagle's nest.

Love Believes All Things by Robert Dunder
Author's Notes:

Pam deals with Jim's first day of absence. This is in between Livin' the Dream and A.A.R.M because there were six days of no-nonsense before the events of A.A.R.M.

I also added Pam's POV from the day of their argument.  


Pam felt emotionally worn out from the events of the previous day. She was not expecting her conversation with Jim to turn into a full-blown argument. She was relieved to have finally let her thoughts out, but she was not ecstatic that it was done at the expense of her husband’s feelings.. 


“Maybe it’s for the best if I won’t be here for a few days,” she recalled a dejected teary-eyed Jim telling her in the car.


“You’ll be in Philly?” She asked.


“Yeah, I guess. Maybe some time apart will be good for us. Isn’t that what our therapist said?”


Pam did not want Jim to leave, especially after just having told him that she cannot find it in her heart to open herself up to him. She was even more worried that going to Philly might push him to go through with the tour. She wanted to tell him all of these but eventually backed and nodded in agreement, “Yeah, maybe it will be for the best.”


Later that night, she sat herself on the couch and looked at a picture of her and Jim at their wedding.

“…we should try to take mental pictures of the high points”


Looking at the photo made her reminisce about the time her veil got torn during her wedding. She called Jim for comfort and he did the sweetest gesture by cutting his own tie.


“I miss him, I really miss him.”


Her nostalgia was interrupted by Cece jumping on her lap. She was followed by Jim who said that Cece wanted him to see her dance recital. They had multiple rewatches of the video and each time, she glanced at his cheerful eyes, clearly brought about by seeing their daughter on stage.


As Cece fell asleep, Pam laid her head on Jim. Strangely, even when their marriage seemed it was at the brink of collapse, she could still find comfort in him. She was overcome by the feeling of safety in Jim’s shoulder that she started falling apart, as if it was her way of begging him to stay.


As she continued to cry, she felt a kiss her on her head and Jim’s hand rubbing her back to console her. “Hey, it’s going to be okay,” she heard him say. She felt guilty over the thought that Jim, despite the pain that she had caused him prior, was still concerned about her. As her weeping came to a stop, she remained on Jim’s shoulder and drifted off to sleep.


She had been awoken by the sound of Phillip crying. She checked the clock and realized that she snoozed her way through her alarm and was about to be late for work. Cece who was also about to be late for school, was also asleep on the couch.


She checked the guest bedroom to see if Jim was there and was saddened to see it empty. “Of course he left, that’s what I agreed to,” she thought to herself. She then saw a piece of paper on the bed and picked it up.


She teared up upon seeing the words “Pam”, “Cece”, and “New Baby” on the left side and “Everything Else” on the right side. It was the same list that Jim gave to her when she was bummed out over being on the “Loser” column in Robert California’s list. She then read the note at the back of it.


Beesly,


I know it’s been a rough few days but I have never given up on us. And I hope you haven’t too. I know spending time apart will be difficult but I hope this will work and you can finally trust me again. I love you and I’ll see you soon.


She placed the note on her chest before setting it on a nearby drawer. She then obtained her phone and texted Jim: “Have a safe trip. Love you.” then went on to get ready.


After bringing Phillip to daycare and Cece to school, Pam arrived at the office with only minutes to spare. She did not want to be late on Dwight’s first day as regional manager. 


“Pam, good to see you on-time and at work,” Dwight said. “I can’t say the same for your husband. His first day as assistant to the regional manager he says ‘He has to take care of something’. I mean what is he taking care of, disposing a dead body in Phila-whatever?”


“Probably not,” Pam replied. “But he’ll be back soon”


“Well, I hope so. I can’t run an office without my number two. I mean, I’d get a replacement but let’s face it, there’s not really much to choose from.”


“Maybe I can do it Dwight,” Kevin said as he approached him.


“Okay, Kevin,” Dwight said. “If you can finally tell me where paper comes from, I’ll consider it. You have ten seconds,”


Kevin stared at him, unsure of what to say, and then walked away.


“I thought so. Anyway, back to work everyone. Any form of nonsense will not be tolerated.”


The rest of the day went off without a hitch. Pam was actually impressed that the office had gotten so much work done under Dwight’s leadership. She then gazed at the desk beside her and wished Jim were with her. She wondered what amazing pranks he had in store when he came back.

 

“If he comes back...”


“Hey Pam,” Phyllis said as she walked up to her. “I heard you and Jim might be getting a divorce and just know that if you ask us to pick sides, Bob and I will choose you. Well, probably not Bob. He likes Jim.”


“Thank you Phyllis. I… wait what?” Pam suddenly realized what she was thanking Phyllis for. “Wait, you think we’re getting a divorce?”


“Well yeah, I mean isn’t this why he isn’t here now, because you can’t stand being with each other. Plus, with what Clark told us the other day, it made sense.”


“Okay, that is not why… okay, can I have everyone’s attention,” Pam said as she stood up. “Can I just have a show of hands: Who thinks Jim and I are getting a divorce”


Pam was annoyed that everyone except Creed raised their hand, and that the only reason Creed didn’t raise his hand was he didn’t know Pam was married to the “tall guy”


“Okay, thank you,” she sarcastically said as she went back to her seat. She tried to keep her focus on work when she received a phone call from an unknown number.


“Hello?”
“Hey Pam, this is Wade from Athlead, I’m just wondering if you know if Jim has already decided on what to do with the tour. We’ve been trying to reach him but he’s not answering our calls.”
“Oh, ok. Well, he should be there in a while. Why don’t you just ask him when he gets there?”
“Wait, Pam. Jim texted us just a while ago that he’s taking a leave of absence for the next three days. Didn’t he tell you?”


Pam was shocked upon hearing that Jim was not in Philadelphia. “Where is he? Is he with someone else? Why didn’t he tell me he wasn’t going to Philly?”


She was snapped out of her thoughts when she realized that Wade was still on the other line.


“Hello?”

“Wade, sorry I’ll have to call you back.”
“Ok, let me know when if he says something”


Pam hung up the phone and went inside Dwight’s office, “Hey Dwight, did Jim tell you why he wasn’t coming to work?”


“Yeah, I told you,” he replied. “He said he needed to take care of some things and will be gone for three days”


“Did he tell you where?”


“He didn’t. I just thought he meant he’ll be going to Philly. I mean, he does go there a lot so I thought…wait, so he’s not in Philly?”


“No, he’s not,” she said as she grabbed her phone upon getting a text message, “He—oh my God! That’s Jim!”


——————————————————


Jim arrived at baggage claim to get his belongings. Upon getting his bag, he started walking towards the arrival bay. He looks awkwardly at the camera crew as they continue to film him.


“So I am not in Philly,” he said. “I’m sorry you guys had to pay last minute flights for this. I mean, you didn’t have to follow me so that’s not really on me. Anyway, no one knows I’m here and I didn’t really tell anyone because well… It’s just...”


“Jimbo!”


Jim turned around and saw Michael Scott coming towards him. He was holding up a sign that said “James Halpert — Best Friend to Michael Scott”


“Michael!” he went to give his former boss and old friend a hug, “I haven't seen you in so long. I missed you, man.”


“Right back at you. Okay, then. Let’s go and get you settled in. You are going to have a blast here. Boulder City! You will be taken for a ride my friend. That’s what she said.”


The two of them chuckled as Jim loaded his bag into Michael’s minivan.

End Notes:

Note: So the main reason why I had the fight from the last chapter be so intense was because I needed a reason for Jim to go to Colorado because that was always how I wanted the story to progress. I'll need time to update this since I need to know what can be done in Boulder to make it realistic and what exactly Michael and Jim will do there.

Reviews are highly appreciated, like the way Kelly appreciated that Ryan gave a baby an allergic reaction just so he could talk to her.

Love Hopes All Things by Robert Dunder
Author's Notes:
Michael Scott does the most Michael Scott things

“He—oh my God! That’s Jim!”, Pam exclaimed as she looked at the message that Michael Scott had sent to her.


Pam-orama! Guess who just arived here at the airport. Probably going to his mistres. Kiddin, he’d nevr do that. So exited! Wish you were her too, send my luv to the offic.


Pam did not have time to process how many spelling errors there were in the message as it was followed a photo of the right side of Michael’s face with Jim far away in the background, talking to the camera crew. It would be hard to distinguish his features given the distance of the shot but if she had any doubt that it was Jim, Michael’s message confirmed that her husband was indeed in Colorado.


“Dwight, Jim is in Colorado. Michael just sent me a text. Look!” she said as she showed her phone to Dwight.


“Wait, that’s impossible. Why would Michael invite Jim to a three-day stay in the office? I’m the regional manager here, if anything, he should be — wait a second, I’m getting a text,” Dwight said as he took out his phone. “Guess who’s here in Colorado. Suck on that Toby!”


Dwight slammed his fist on the table, “Damn it! Suck on that Toby? That’s all I get? Where’s my invite? I swear, if Michael actually needed help to bury a body and he called Jim, I’ll—”


“Wait, suck on that Toby? Who else is he texting?” Pam turned around and saw everyone except Nellie and Clark were checking their phones. She stepped out and heard Erin say from reception, “Hey Pam! Look! I got a text from Michael! Isn’t that sweet, he’s spending time with Jim. Or maybe Jim went there to get him on his side if you do get divorced. Not cool, Jim.”


“Yeah, I need some air,” Pam then headed towards the exit and headed to the elevator.


She paced around the parking lot, trying to make sense of everything that had happened. She did not expect that Jim would tell both Athlead and Dwight that he would be taking a leave of absence. She thought that he was already in Philadelphia possibly being goaded by his peers to join the three-month tour. She was almost certain that by the time Jim came back, he would say that he changed his mind and took the job which would lead to another round of fights and would culminate in divorce papers. 


When she received the call from Wade saying that Jim was not in Philadelphia, her mind then began to worry. She did not know Jim’s whereabouts, who he was with, and what he was doing. “I swear to God if he’s having affair on top of what we’ve already been fighting about…” Pam quickly pushed the thought away knowing Jim would not be sadistic enough to try saving his marriage and at the same time, have another woman on the side.


When she received Michael’s text, she was initially shocked but a feeling of relief came to her. She was oddly reassured by the fact that it was a familiar face that he was with. 


“No, I don’t know what Jim is doing in Colorado,” Pam told the camera crew who had followed her outside, “maybe he wanted to see Michael? I don’t know what he’ll exactly do there, but I don’t know. Maybe he’ll find some answers there? I’m not sure, I normally won’t go to see my old boss to do some soul searching but he’s there so…” she finished her interview with a shrug


Pam then took her phone out, dialed Jim’s number but was left with a voice message.


——————————————————————————


Jim realized that his phone was dead as the car they were in exited the airport, “Hey Michael, do you have a charger in here?”


“Yep! Of course, gotta keep my batteries fresh for the ladies,” Michael laughed as Jim gave him a confused look “I meant my daughters, Jim. I don’t know why I tried to sound cool. I mean I’m married…to Holly, you remember her right?”


“No not really? Can you describe her for me?” Jim asked as he plugged his phone.


“You really can’t remember her? HR rep, blonde, perfectly sized --”


“Alright, I’m messing with you Michael, of course I know her” Jim smirked, “So how long’s the trip from Denver to Boulder?”


“Around fifty minutes? It depends on the traffic. It’s a good thing you’re dressed up because let me tell you, I did not expect it to be freezing when I first got here.”


“You didn’t ask Holly what the weather was?”


“No, I just assumed since it was three hour flight that it wouldn’t be that different from Scranton. It’s not like I switched countries. Anyway, so how’ve you been? I heard David Wallace bought back the company so that’s good.”


“Yeah, he did. So things are good back there. Dwight actually just got promoted to regional manager.”


“No way! Dwight? Oh, I gotta congratulate him. That is great news. But to be honest, I always thought it was going to be you after me.”


“Well, I started my own sports marketing company with my friends so I had to work part-time between Scranton and Philly.”


“Oh wow, that’s awesome. Good on you! It must be tough for Pam though, with you being away a lot.”


“Well, not a lot, I mean it’s just two to three days a week and I’m home on weekends,” Jim paused for a bit, knowing he was about to tell Michael the real reason he visited, “But yeah, we’ve actually been having a rough patch lately.”


“What? You and Pam?” Michael sounded concerned as he started prying, “Oh my God, are you getting divorced? Are you having an affair? I knew it, Jim. I knew Stanley would just lead you on a path to destruction when I left you.”


“What? No, Michael, I am not having an affair,” Jim watched as Michael sighed with relief, “It’s just we’ve been having a lot of fights lately and I’ve been trying to fix it but nothing I’m doing seemed to be working. I just… I had to get away for a while.”


Jim remained silent for a while. He felt a weight lifted off his shoulders after confiding in him. 


“Well, for what it’s worth, I think you guys will be fine.”


“Well, thanks. By the way, she doesn’t know I’m here in Colorado so don’t tell her anything yet. I was gonna do it as soon as I arrived but my phone died so…”


Michael had a guilty look on his face as he continued driving, “Yeah, of course. But you know Jim, I have learned in marriage that women can be very intuitive. Maybe you didn’t tell her in person but you may have told telephonically


Jim was startled at first but immediately comprehended what he was trying to say, “Oh my God, you told her.”


“What?! What would make you think that? Do you think I would tell other people’s secrets?”


“Yes.”


“Well, Jim I did not okay?” Michael could feel Jim looked at him skeptically, “Except I did.”

“Oh, Michael…” Jim sighed


“And I may have joked that you were visiting your mistress.”


“Michael!”


“And I may have texted everyone in the office”


Jim kept a straight face and gave Michael a disappointed “Okay then, is there anything else you’d like to add?”


“No…that’s it. But in my defense Jim, you should have told Pam you were gonna be here.”


“That’s… fair. I just didn’t know what to say,” Jim said as he tried turning on his phone, “Well, cat’s out of the bag so let’s get this over with.”


His phone finally opened and he was met with a flurry of pings which he could only assume were from Pam but instead was surprised with messages from his coworkers.


Dwight: Hey idiot, tell Michael he can suck it. I could’ve totally hidden a body better than you.


Darryl: You’re in Colorado?? Dude, people here are looking for you. Call me.


Kelly: Oh my God, Jim. You visited Michael in Colorado when I asked you multiple times to see me here in Ohio?


Stanley: Careful Jim, don’t try juggling three women. Believe me I’ve tried.


“God Michael, what did you tell them? Oh wait, Pam’s calling, do you think we can pull over?”


—————————————————


“Hello?”, Pam said as she was finally able to reach Jim.

“Hey, Pam”

“Hey, so what’re you doing in Colorado?”

“Pam! Pam!” she heard Michael’s voice in the background, “If it makes you feel any better, I had nothing to do with this. Jim completely took me by surprise. And he’s not having an affair! I guarantee it!”


“Ok, thanks Michael. Umm, yeah so I’m in Colorado.”

“Yeah, I think we already established that. Why didn’t you just tell me?”

I just…I felt like I needed to get away for a bit, and clear my head. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I just didn’t know what to say.”

“No, yeah it’s okay.”

You’re not mad?”

“Oddly enough, no. I mean I thought you were having an affair at first so maybe that helped.”
An affair? Beesly, come on, we’re not even divorced yet and you’re already picturing me with…” She could feel Jim pause realizing the awkwardness of the joke, Sorry was that too soon?”

“No, it’s okay. Apparently, we’re on the rumor mill. People are taking sides already. Like Phyllis said she’ll take my side, but Bob will probably take yours.”

“Wow, factions are forming already. You know, as a prank on Dwight you could convince him that people are actually deciding between him and me as manager.”

“Yeah, maybe I will.”

“Alright, oh Pam, I actually have to go. Michael’s done buying food.”
Alright, I should also head back inside,” she paused for a bit, “Jim?”

“Yeah?”
“I’m really glad you’re there. Tell Michael I said hi. Don’t do anything stupid, Halpert.”
She heard Jim laugh, ….Okay”

“Alright, bye”


After ending the call, Pam couldn't help but smile and headed back to the lobby.

End Notes:

Is Pam-orama a good nickname? I spent a good 30 minutes thinking of what Michael would call her.

I also had to add him butchering a word.

Reviews are highly appreciated, like how Stanley appreciated Florida. 

Love Endures All Things by Robert Dunder
Author's Notes:

Jim: Holly and Michael's House

Pam:  Pulling a Prank

After a fifty minute drive, they had finally arrived at the Michael’s house or the “Michael and Holly 24/7 All-Day Love Shack” as he would call it. Despite having the image of his former boss and his wife doing only God knows what in the place that he was about to stay in, he was amazed at how quaint the house was. It was two-storied, painted a light shade of green with a brick roof and had a picket fence. Michael had always talked about dreaming of having a wife and kids, and enjoying life in the suburbs. Jim smiled, happy for Michael for achieving something that he had been longing for.


“So here we are! Make yourself at home! Mi casa es tu… uhh,” Michael went on a long pause. “Hey Jim, what’s house in Spanish?”


“…casa”, Jim replied with an amused look on his face.


“Right. Okay, so everyone’s inside. Holly is preparing the best lunch ever. Fettuccine Alfredo. It’s so good, I got over my fear of throwing it up. You’ll never guess what the secret ingredient is.”


“What?” Jim asked as Michael rang the doorbell.


“You know, I don’t really know. She doesn’t want to tell me. Maybe you could ask her for me.”


Before Jim could react, Holly opened the door and gave him a hug, “James Halpert, it’s so nice to see you. I see you’ve gotten a haircut, you look so handsome.”


“Hey, hey, hey now,” Michael said as he laughed, “He’s married you know, you wouldn’t want people in the neighborhood to get the wrong idea.”


“Now we wouldn’t that would we?” Holly replied as she kissed Michael.


The kiss went on for what felt like a minute and and uncomfortable Jim coughed to catch their attention, “So I’m really sorry to drop by last minute Holly. I know this was really unexpected so just let me know if you need anything.”


“Oh nonsense, Jim,” Holly said as she messes up his hair. “We had to clean the guest bedroom at some point anyway. You would not believe how tired we got in there.”


“That’s what she said,” Michael smirked, as they headed towards the living room.


Realizing her mistake, she then said, “From yoga, Jim. The guest bedroom is clean, I promise,” Holly laughed awkwardly and quickly thought of something else to talk about. “Okay, so lunch won’t be ready for another 15 minutes so just make yourself comfortable. The kids are watching TV so Michael can introduce you to them.”


“So here they are, my little rays of sunshine,” Michael said as they approached the two babies in a crib looking at a TV playing Sesame Street, “Hey pickles! So Jim, this is Helene, and this is Betsy.”

“Wait, what now?” Jim said with a shocked look on his eyes.


“You named your children after my mom and Pam’s mom? Wait, correction. You named your children after my mom and your former l-o-v-e-r?”


“What are you—, oh my God,” Michael stared at him for a very long time with a straight face, then started bursting into laughter. “Oh my God, I totally got you there. I’m just messing with you, so this is Haley and this is Michelle. They’re twins so we have to dress them up in different colors because I honestly can’t tell who is which. Oh, oh! Do a Cookie Monster impression, they love Sesame Street.”


“Oh I don’t think I shou— hi Haley, hi Michelle,” Jim quickly switched to his Cookie Monster, “me like cookies, do you want a cookie?” the twins suddenly burst into laughter at Jim’s antics. His heart melted at seeing their joy and made him think of his own kids back at Scranton.


———————————————————


“You know what, maybe I will have some fun today. I’ve been feeling stressed out lately, especially with everyone getting involved with my marriage. Plus with Jim gone, all that power might go into Dwight’s head, so...” she told the camera crew before heading back to the office.


She tried to keep a disappointed look on her face as she entered Dwight’s room, “Dwight, you were right, I think Jim and Michael are up to something in Colorado.”


Dwight immediately stopped signing papers on his desk and looked at Pam, “What are they doing?”


“I can’t believer I’m telling you this, but Jim is trying to convince Michael to talk to David Wallace and promote him to manager.”


“No way. Jim would never do that, he’s my assistant to the regional manager.”


“I mean yeah, but didn’t you go behind Michael’s back when you were assistant to the regional manager?”


“That is a totally different situation…although it does involve a lot of the same people.”


“You see, and it’s not just Michael, Jim has been trying to get everyone on his side. Factions are starting to form.”


“Isn’t that because people are deciding between you and Jim if you get divorced?”


“No, that’s a ruse Dwight, ‘Divorce’ is code ‘Manager’ and ‘Pam’ is code for ‘Dwight’”


“No… well it does make sense a lot of people said they’d said with you… meaning they’d side with me”


“Yes, you are totally right. But you have to strike while Jim’s in Colorado. You have to convince everyone here that you are the right position for the job.”


“You know what, you’re right. I will call Jim Halpert in front of everyone and fire him. That’ll show everyone.”


“No!” Pam quickly rejected the idea, “Don’t do that. Jim’s still your top salesman. Maybe just have a conference and explain to everyone why you’re better than Jim?”


“Hmm,” Dwight put his arms together and leaned back on his chair, “You’re right. Then I’ll just punish Jim by making him do my laundry for the month, wait no, for the year.”


Dwight smiled sinisterly as Pam stared at him, “… Yeah, okay do that.”


“Okay, I want you to print pictures of me and of Jim and stick them to the conference wall. Make sure you get my good angles. Jim… get pictures of him like when he’s on the toilet or something, I’m sure you have that somewhere in your phone. Tell everyone to go the conference room in fifteen minutes.”


“Alright,” Pam finished their conversation with a salute and Dwight returned it as well. She exited the room and winked at the camera crew.


————————————————————


“Holly, I have to admit, this fettuccine alfredo is really good,” Jim said as the he, Michael and Holly continued eating lunch. “I’m tasting something really unique, what is it?”


“Nice try, Jim,” she said and turned to Michael and gave him a kiss, “Also you, nice try. So, Jim. Not that we’re not excited to see you, but what brings you here in Boulder?”


“Oh,” Jim said as he swallowed his food. “Well, there’s just been a lot of stress from my two jobs. Oh, I forgot to mention, so I started my own company in Philly. We’re actually doing great, we found out there’s an offer for a buyout and they wanted us to go on a three month tour. I just came here to clear my head and get some answers”


“Oh wow, answers eh? I didn't know you were such a trivia geek," Holly replied and Michael laughed at her joke, "But, that’s great! I mean this is great for you and Pam and the kids. You know, Michael told me that you always had so much potential to do something great and you’ve already done so much. Pam must be really proud of you.”


“Well…I guess” Jim smirked and was unconsciously playing with his food.


“Hmmm, speaking of Pam, you haven’t met our dog yet haven’t you?” Holly noticed Jim getting uncomfortable and switched to another topic.


“Oh yeah, Michael told us about her. Pam Beagsley, right?” Jim laughed at the thought of having a dog named after his wife.


“Yes, and she is a boy and before you ask, yes I was aware but Michael wanted to name him after Pam. Sweetie, can you go get him?”


“You want to bring the dog in?” Michael asked. “But you never allow me to that.”


“Yeah, but I bet Jim could use Pam right about now"


"Okay, just give me a few minutes, he likes to run around a lot."


"Alright, see you in half an hour. Kidding."


As Michael left, Holly turned to Jim and said, "She doesn't want you to go, doesn't she?"


Jim looked at her, and looking down at the table again, he nodded his head, "The worst part is I told her I'm not going and she doesn't believe me. She also doesn't believe our love can sustain our marriage."


"Do you believe that? That loving each other isn't enough?"


"I don't, but I feel like she's convinced herself that I'll eventually give up on her. Because she feels like she's holding me back, and I keep reassuring her that it's not the case but it's really wearing me out. I haven't had a good night's sleep in two days. And I've never felt so lost."


"Jim," Holly said as she gives her a reassuring touch on his hand. "I know you're looking for answers so let me tell you this. Michael would probably never admit this to you because well, you know him. But he's always looked up to you. He thinks that without you, he would have probably messed up things with me. I haven't known you for long, but from the stories he told me, you're a great husband and father. I'm sure you'll find your way again. I pray that you do."


"Thank you," Jim said as he smiled at Holly.


"Okay, I couldn't get him," Jim turned around and was shocked to see Michael panting and covered in mud. "I'll just grab a change of clothes and bring you to him, Jim"


————————————————————————————


"No way, he made a presentation of why he is a better manager than me?"

"Yeah, the best part of it was I posted pictures of the two of you in your Halloween costumes. So there's a picture of you in as Chris Bosh beside him as that Jamaican Zombie Woman"

"You mean Kerrigan from Starcraft"
"Yeah, the one with the bra. So everyone just piled on him for wasting everyone's time since he wanted to have no nonsense in the office. You might be getting some traction to become regional manager"

"And my plan has worked. Thank you everyone, you're too kind"

"So how are things there?
"It's good. I met Michael's daughters, Helene and Betsy"

"What??"

"Yeah, I had that same reaction but then he revealed that their real names are Haley and Bridgette. I also finally met Pam Beagsley!"

"No way! You finally met her in the flesh?"
"Yeah, and the funny thing is she's not even a female dog. But Michael insisted on naming him Pam."

"That is so crazy!"

"Jimbo!" "Wait, Michael—" "Pam!! Pamela Halpert not Anderson!"

"Hey Michael, I—"

"Listen, as much as I'd hate to interrupt your love fest, Jim and I have some Entourage to catch up on. So he will talk to you soon. Bye!" "Wait, no Michael I—"

"Hello?"


"Yeah, he probably won't call back for another two hours"


Pam laughed while staring at Jim's desk. She had a lot of fun today goofing around with Dwight and was also glad to learn Jim was enjoying himself in Colorado. She thought that this could possibly be what they needed to fix their relationship.


"Darryl?" She noticed Darryl entering from the kitchen


"Oh, hey Pam! Why are you still here?" He said as he sat on Jim's desk.


"I just needed to get catch up on some work. Why aren't you in Philly?"


"I forgot my iPod in my office, so I figured I'd stay here tomorrow. Hey by the way, have you heard from Jim?"


"Yeah, I just came off the phone with him, he seems to be having fun at Michael's."


"That's cool. Do you think he'll go on the tour?"


"Oh, I don't know yet, he hasn't said anything about it."


"Alright," Darryl paused as if he hesitating on what to say next, "hey I know it's none of my business, but…I really think starting Athlead means a lot to Jim and it's a shame if he doesn't see it through."


Darryl then stands up and heads to his office to look for his iPod. Self doubt began to creep up Pam's face as Dwight watched from his office, having witnessed the exchange between her and Darryl.

 

He then stood up, walked up to her and said, "Hey, Pam. Just so you know, if you made me choose between 'Dwight' and Jim, the choice is easy. I'd choose neither. Why would I choose sides when I can have 'Dwight' and Jim together? Jim would probably annoy the hell out of 'Dwight' and 'Dwight' probably whines too much, probably from PMS-ing…but they seem great together. Just thought you should know that."


Dwight then patted her on the shoulder and headed back to the office. Pam looked at him and went back to work with a smile on her face.


——————————————————


"So Pam seemed like she had a lot of fun today," Jim told the camera crew, "She spent the whole day pranking Dwight and I heard the whole office was mad at him for wasting their time. Of course, the prank wasn't real. Dwight immediately saw through it and called me, and I had to beg him to go along with it. And since I am officially the one who used up valuable company time for this prank, I now have to do Dwight's laundry for three months. Hmmm, was it worth it? Yeah., I think so"


He smirked at the camera as Michael approached him, "You ready?"

"Yeah, are you?"


"Alright then, get ready to have some fun in Boulder-lantic City! Bye, Holly! Love you!"

End Notes:

I have so much fun writing Michael Scott. He really did name his dog Pam Beagsley in a deleted scene but I just thought it would be funny if he didn't bother checking the gender. 

 Reviews are highly appreciated, probably like the value of Athlead since they got an investor 

Love Never Fails by Robert Dunder
Author's Notes:
Jim and Michael have a fun night out. Pam finally confides.


"Get ready for a taste of the nightlife at Boulder, Jimbag, it's gonna rock your world…" Michael told Jim as their cab dropped them off at the Hotel Boulderado, "Get it? Rock because we're in Boulder?"


"Yeah, great one," Jim replied with a hint of sarcasm that mostly went unnoticed, "But this place actually looks amazing…and really expensive. Are you sure you wanna get drinks here?"


They entered a bar called License No 1. It was a dimly lit place with evenly spaced tables and music just loud enough to enjoy but not too overpowering that people would not be able to hear each. They situated themselves at the counter.


"James, I took a three day vacation to show my best friend around the city and he deserves nothing but the best," Michael said, "Also, the margarita here reminds me of the ones at Chili's."


"You know we passed by a Chili's on the way here, right?" Jim asked


"Yes, Jim I know that. But I've hosted like a million Dundies at Chili's back in Scranton. It just won't feel the same being there without the old gang, you know?" Michael laughed as he started reminiscing, "Has Pam been allowed back there since she fell off a stool and almost broke her neck?"

"Nope, funny story, we actually tried going back there a year ago, just after Phillip was born, her face was still on the wall. The staff probably wouldn't have noticed her but she was too embarrassed so we left," Jim remained deep in thought as he looked through the bar menu, "You know? That night of the Dundies was the first time we actually kissed?"


"No way? Really?" Michael was astonished at the revelation, "I never knew that. While she was with Roy?"


"Yeah, I mean well it was just a peck on the lips and she was really drunk. But yeah, it happened there. She doesn't consider it as the first one but that day always meant something special to me," Jim had a huge grin on his face as he asked, "Remember how I told you to stop giving Pam the 'Longest Engagement' award?"


"Yeah, I remember that, you called my jokes lazy. I had to order another trophy last minute thanks to you."


"Well, she was feeling bummed about it, so I just wanted to cheer her up, you know?" Jim fiddled with his menu as his thoughts went back to that night. 


"What?"

"Nothing."

"Okay."

"What?"

"I don't know, what? Oh my God! You are so drunk! Did you get that? Please tell me you got that"


"Wow, you must have been really in love with her," Jim was transported back to reality as he heard Michael's voice.


"Yeah, I mean, I think we pretty much established that seven years ago. I think it says a lot that we're married."


"I mean, yeah, I know you told me that. Hi, excuse me," Michael raised his hand as he called for the bartender, "But I just didn't realize you did those things for her because of love."


"Yeah…I guess I did, didn't I?"


"So why'd you leave her?"


"What?" Jim gave Michael a peculiar look upon hearing the question, "Michael, I didn't leave her. I'm coming back to Scranton in two days."


"Eh, you did just impulsively book a flight on a work day, while your wife is back there taking care of two kids. The Jim I know would probably never do that in a million years. So, there must be something up, if you felt like you needed to do this."


Jim fell silent as Michael signaled for the attention of the bartender once again, "Is it because she started wearing glasses again? I mean God you should tell her to throw those things away."


 "I…Michael,' Jim almost choked up trying to let the words out but calmed himself as realized he was in a public place, "I just don't know how to talk to her anymore. I mean, we had to end up going to couples' therapy to try to fix our marriage. I usually know what to say to her but now…I don't know what she wants to hear. I told her I'm giving up my dream job to be with her but she doesn't believe me, man. How do you respond to that?"


"Why doesn't she believe you?"


"She thinks I'll have regrets, if I leave the job."


"And you won't?"


"I won't."


"Really? You won't?"


"I really won't, Michael."


"… You are a hundred percent sure you won't?" Michael could see Jim covering his face, clearly getting frustrated with his questions, "Look Jim, I think we've been best friends for a long time, right?


"Yeah, sure."


"Ok, so I know you also love this job. And you don't share my love for paper. And that's why I don't believe you when you say you won't have any regrets leaving it. And maybe that's why Pam doesn't? And maybe that's why I think even you don't completely believe it?"


Jim looked at Michael with his mouth agape, speechless at the brutal honesty that Michael was showing to him, "Michael, I—"


"Excuse me?"


Both Michael and Jim looked to the booth and realized that the bartender was standing in front of them, "Are you going to order anything?"


"Oh my God, I'm so sorry. Wait how long have you been standing there?" Jim asked.


"About five minutes," the bartender replied, "but you looked like you were in the middle of something. I was gonna come back but I thought to myself, why not just listen in? Anyway, are you going to order anything?"


"Okay, Danielle? That's a pretty name," Michael said as he looked as the bartender's name tag, "Okay, we will have your finest bottle of tequila."


"Really, Michael? Tequila?" Jim laughed as the tension that he was feeling in their earlier conversation was beginning to ease away.


"Well, you know what they say Slim Jim, ninety-nine problems and a drink ain't one of them. We are going to get you so plastered that you won't even remember you have a wife," Michael laughed for a while but stopped when he saw Jim with a stoic look on his face. "Okay, that came out wrong. That's what she said. No, no. You have a wife Jim, he has a wife Danielle and her name is Pam and she is—"


"Okay," Jim interrupted to stop the conversation from getting any more awkward, "just the bottle of tequila please."


As the bartender left, Michael and Jim started snickering, "I miss this, Michael. Really."


"I know," he replied, "okay, Jim. I'm not saying you don't love Pam and I'm definitely not saying that you don't love Pam more than you love that job, but…just cut the crap and be more honest with yourself. And be honest to Pam."


"…Okay, maybe I will" Jim replied. He was at a loss for words as he was half-expecting Michael to come up with a hundred cliched ways to win Pam back. He was taken by surprise at the tough love that he was getting.


"Alright then," Michael smiled as he gave Jim a strong pat on the back, "let's get this shindig started. All aboard the S.S. Partay!"


——————————————————


Pam spent the night having dinner with her mom. When she arrived home, Helene had insisted that they have a conversation because in her words, "I just miss getting to talk to people who are older than Phillip," but Pam knew of the underlying reason behind the request


As they put Cece to bed, they sat down together on the couch, each carrying a glass of wine. They remained in silence for what seemed like five minuted before Helene finally spoke, "So Phillip has been a bit fussy lately, but he seems to really enjoy it when—,"


"Okay, mom," Pam interrupted her, "you know I love you, but we both know why you wanted to talk. So what do you want to know?"

"Sweetie, it's just, I see you and Jim every time you come home. There's obviously something going on that neither of you want to tell me. I thought to myself, 'Maybe it's none of my business', but I just can't keep quiet it about anymore. And now, he's in Colorado with Michael Scott? I mean what the hell is that? Is he having an affair Pam?"


"God, no. Mom, he is not having an affair…why does everyone keep thinking that?" Pam wondered, "We've just hit a rough patch. We got into a huge fight before he left for Colorado actually. I said things that I really shouldn't have said and yeah, we're working on it?"

Helene glared at her, "You're working on it? In different time zones? Pam, what's the problem?"

Pam contemplated on how much she would confide in her mom, "Okay, Jim told me that he was giving it all up for me. Everything mom, his dream job."


"Isn't that what you wanted him to do?"


"Yeah, I want him to stay but… I just feel like he's on this road to success, and I've been playing catch up to him. He can say he's willing to give it all up now, but what about in the future? I'll always be the one who forced him into this decision. I don't want to think it, I've been trying hard not to think it, but maybe…" she hesitated to say the next few words, "Maybe mom, this is the end for us. He's too far ahead and I'll just be better off being left behind."


Pam took a chug out of her entire drink, realizing that she had just admitted to herself that divorce might actually be an option. Tears started flowing down her face as she refilled her glass and took another sip.


"You know Pam," Helene said at a loss for words as she comforted her daughter. “Hey, do you remember when you called me after Jim told you he loved you?”


Pam nodded as she continued as staring at her wine glass, trying to avoid looking at her mother.


“I was worried when you said you thought you were also in love him. I was even more worried when you told me you broke off your engagement with Roy. You were with the guy for God knows how long,” Helene paused as she took a drink, “but you know, when I got to know Jim, and this is not me as your mom speaking to make you feel better, I don’t think I can meet anyone else who could be more in love you.”

“It hasn’t felt that way lately.”


“I know. I know that, but maybe it’s because you have stopped believing in how much he truly loves you. And I think he does. More than anything. You just have to believe that you are capable of being loved. I honestly think you’ve stopped. Just…” she tried to formulating the right words in her head as she was close to finishing her wine, “have faith in him, in his love for you. Okay?”


“…Okay,” Pam had finished her second drink and she leaned her head on Helene’s shoulder. She had always avoided talking to her mother about her marriage problems, but at that moment, she was grateful for her presence.


—————————————


“So….we finished an…entire bottle of tequila,” Jim chuckled as he told the cameraman on the cab ride home. He had a glossy look on his eyes and could barely form a sentence without laughing. Michael was leaning on his shoulder sleeping heavily. “Yeah, we definitely uhhh… we got wasted. Like really, wasted. The funniest thing was like uhhh…three different women hit on me tonight. I'd flash my ring on them but... I uhhh … wasn't wearing it."


Jim paused with a sad look on his face then started giggling again, "No I'm totally kidding," he said as he flashed both his hands in front of the camera, "see… married! But yeah, I was going to tell them but all Michael had to do was say a few words and an Adam Sandler impression and *poof* they just disappear….Hmm, maybe I didn't need to wear the ring…maybe I just needed Michael…"


Before Jim could continue, Michael's head slipped from his shoulder and went to his lap, sending him into another laughing fit, "You have got to send me a copy of this night"


As they reached Michael's house, Jim woke him up and after paying for the ride, they clumsily walked to the front door and rang the doorbell. Holly then opened the door and was amused at what she saw, "Wow, midlife crisis much?" 


She then kissed him and Michael hugged her heavily, almost putting them off-balance. "Honey, Jim's watching us"


"I know…." Michael replied, "Jim just needs to see what a happy marriage looks like. This is happy."


"Thanks, Michael," Jim laughed as Michael made fake kissing noises to his wife, "Okay, Holly why don't you bring him in and I just need some air. Might throw up a bit…kidding"


"Okay, if you throw up, just don't do it on Pam Beagsley. I know it's an absurd warning but, Michael...it's weird that the dog still loves him…Anyway, good night Jim."


As Holly and Michael entered the house, Jim sat down on the steps and took out his phone. He then dialed Pam's number and waited for her to pick up but was met with a, "Hey this is Pam. Leave a message."


"Hey Pam…are you awake? Well, I'm talking to your voicemail so…probably not. As you can hear, I….am….drunk," Jim laughed as he continued his message, "Michael and I finished an entire bottle of tequila and….it's a miracle I'm still standing…well sitting, I'm sitting right now….We got talk to for a bit and… I just…I miss you Pam…I really do."


Jim started sniffling and wiped the tears from his eyes, "I miss you everyday … and I've missed you for the past few months… I just love you so much… so please don't give up on me… don't give up on us. I'm begging you…" he stopped to compose himself but he could no longer control his sobbing, "Oh man, I'm a mess…sorry about that. Uhh, hey could you do me a favor… can you make sure Cece sleeps with her stuffed giraffe tomorrow night, you know.. Jimmy the Giraffe? I know I'm coming back in two days, but I just don't want her to miss me too much. It sounds stupid… Ok, I will hang up now before I say anything stupid…I love you"


Jim then took a deep breath, calmed himself down and vomited on the  grass beside him.

End Notes:

I was initially planning to have a conversation between Jim and Pam but thought a voice message will be better.

The past two days were hectic so I didn't get to update. Reviews are highly appreciated, like Professor Copperfield's Miracle Legumes. 

And Now These Three Remain by Robert Dunder
Author's Notes:
Michael takes a hungover Jim hiking. Pam after Jim drunk dialled her.

"Really, Pam? A giraffe? Isn't Jimmy Halpert supposed to be a bear?" Jim asked Pam as she held out a stuffed blue giraffe in front of him.


"Yeah, but we've gone to three stores already. No teddy bear, it's kinda ironic if you think about…besides, it has a long neck so it's kind of like you in a way."


"Hmmm, a long neck? That's kind of a stretch. Pun intended."


"C'mon Jim," Pam said as he whacked the giraffe on his head. "I think he's perfect. Plus, he's blue so we have that radioactive—,"


"Wait, hold on one second," Jim interrupted as his phone started to ring, "Hello? Hey Wade, what's up? Yeah, I have time…."


As Jim continued his discussion, Pam walked away disappointed and headed to the cashier to make the purchase.


After finishing his call, he realized Pam was already ahead and quickly rushed to her side, "Oh wait…Pam, wait up! Pam!"


"Pam? Earth to Pam?"

 

Pam was then startled by Erin waving her hand in front of her. "Oh Erin, yes? Do you need anything?"

 

"Yeah, I'm just out of jellybeans, Pete keeps on finishing them. Sometimes I wonder if he's really in love with me or is just in it for the jellybeans? Anyway, I can I get another bag?"


"Yes of course, I keep 'em right here," Pam obtained a pack of multi-colored jellybeans from under her desk. "And for the record, I don't think he's in it for the jellybeans"


"Oh, cool. Maybe he’s more of a gummy bears type of guy, maybe you shouldn’t purchase them,”


“…Okay, I will take a mental note of that,” Pam said in a sarcastic manner. She didn’t mean to sound rude, but it didn’t seem to phase Erin. Pam then wondered if Erin had ever been aware in almost eight years of being a receptionist.


“Alright then, thanks Pam!” As Erin moved back to the kitchen, Pam immediately saw Pete coming out of the kitchen and headed straight to reception.


“Man, he just keeps going there everyday,” Clark spoke as he looked at Pete and Erin having on their regular conversation, “I mean, I know they're dating and all but don't they get sick of each other?"


"I think it's really sweet," Pam looked at the happy couple and was brought back to the days when she and Jim would spend countless hours, goofing off at reception. She remembered getting conscious of how everyone in the perceived them when Angela revealed that she played a game called "Pam Pong", tallying how many times Jim would get up from his desk to talk to her. Now thinking about it, she realized how much time she wasted not being honest about her true feelings to Jim.


Although it had been a few hours, she couldn't erase from her mind the voicemail that she listened to upon waking up.


“I just love you so much… so please don't give up on me… don't give up on us"


Jim had been somewhat consistent in reassuring her that everything will be okay. Even when thing would take a turn for the worse, he always seemed to know what to say. But hearing him that morning at his most vulnerable made her realize that maybe he was just as scared at the possibility of their family being torn apart.


"Have faith in him, in his love for you. Okay?"

She then recalled her mom saying the night before that Jim had always and will always love her no matter what. Him calling her that night made her hopeful that the cracks will heal and they will come out of this situation stronger as a couple.


"Hey I know it's none of my business, but…I really think starting Athlead means a lot to Jim and it's a shame if he doesn't see it through."


Darryl's words then reentered her head. She began to wonder where she stood in the grand scheme of things. She pondered on how his trip to Colorado would affect his perspective and what exactly he would tell her when comes back.


The rest of the day went by as normal. Dwight continued to keep her company by engaging in small talk. While she was appreciative of his efforts, she was understandably frustrated as after three days, she could still not get him to say Cece's name correctly.


"I don't know Pam, it always goes back to Peepee for me. Maybe it's because your name starts with a P…" Dwight said as he fiddled with his pen while reclining on his chair, "Hey, Jim is coming back tomorrow right?"

 

"Yes, he is. You also asked that this morning. My answer hasn't changed," It was clear to Pam that Dwight also missed having his assistant to the regional manager in the office.


"Okay, good," he replied, "You know, you're lucky I haven't fired him. I've had to run this office by myself with him being absent, do you know how much nonsense I had to eliminate without his help?"


"Dwight, doesn't this conversation technically fall under nonsense?" Pam asked.


Dwight paused for a bit and answered, "Yes, you're right. Get out of my office."

 

"No problem," Pam turned around and smiled at the camera as she exited the room. She then saw Angela by her desk, standing as if she was waiting for her to return.


"Hey, Angela. What's up—,"


"The girls and I are hanging out at Poor Richard's tonight," she quickly interrupted her question, "and we want you to be there since Jim is coming back tomorrow so this might be the only time we get to do this since Bob will also be late at work. They told me to ask you since I would be the least likely one to look like I feel sorry for you and your failing marriage. Plus, they said I could cry about my failed marriage if you said no."


Pam stared at her, not knowing whether to be amused or offended by her invite, "Alright, I'll just tell my mom that I'll be out for a bit."


"Okay then."


"Wait, Angela. I have a question," Pam asked before Angela got a chance to head back to her desk, "Do you still have a tally on Pam Pong?"


"No, I stopped tallying after you guys started dating, for obvious reasons. I already threw my notepad."


"Oh…alright then, thanks"


"But if you're looking for an estimate, Jim would go up to reception around three times a day, four times a week for two years, even when he was dating Karen, funnily enough, no wonder they broke up. Anyway, do the math."


————————————————————


Jim was exhausted from hiking up the Wonderland Lake Trail in Colorado. Although it was still snowy and the weather was cold, he felt his insides burning as an effect of their decision to finish an entire bottle of tequila. Had he known that Michael's plan for his journey in getting Jim to find answers would involve walking after a night of drinking, he would not have boarded on the plane from Pennsylvania. 


He was also embarrassed at drunk dialing Pam the night before, and thought about how she still had not replied to him. He began to wonder what was going through her head and why she was taking long to make her presence known to him.


"C'mon Jim, you party animal, we're almost there, just a few more steps." Michael shouted at him. 


"How do you still have so much energy today?" Jim remembered how drunk Michael was the night before and he was still somehow upbeat.


"I was a lot more sober than you thought," he replied as they continued walking, "…Okay, no, I really thought I would not remember a thing but I still do. And I threw everything up the night before so I feel good now. Alright, we're here"


They arrived in what seemed to be an isolated spot in the trail. Jim felt at peace upon staring at the view i front of them. The frozen lake surrounded by nothing but white gave off a serene atmosphere. If he had all the time in the world, he would spend a long time in this very spot in deep reflection. In that moment, he was happy to have been able to get away from everything that was happening.


"Here, you might need this," Michael said as he handed him a big bottle of energy drink.


"You had this the whole time and you didn't tell me?" Jim quickly grabbed the bottle and drank slowly, pacing himself so as to not vomit if all back out.


“Yeah, I thought it wouldn't be for your body you know? You needed to sweat it out, having hydration would not help," Michael smiled innocently as he stared at the lake, "It's beautiful isn't it?"


"Yeah, it's actually great Michael. Thanks for bringing me here, I can just... look at it all day,"


"Okay, it's time to continue your journey to self-discovery my young Chewbacca, I want you to close your eyes."


"I think you mean—,"


"Nope, Jim. Just close your eyes,"


Jim relented and closed his eyes. He concentrated on his own breathing and felt calm throughout the entire duration of Michael's request.


"Okay, now open them? Do you feel different?"


"Uhh, no. I'm still seeing this very beautiful lake in front of me. I think I already told you how nice it was,"


"Hmm, I thought that would work. Okay, let's try this. I want you to close your eyes,"


"Michael, I swear, you better not have a bat or a—,"


“Jim, just do it…okay?” 


Jim closed his eyes for a second time, he tried to go back to the same headspace that he was in before, “Okay, good. Now Jim, I want you to imagine your perfect scenario, let's say five years for now. Where are you? What do you see yourself doing? Who are you with?”


“Thank you everyone for coming here tonight. I hope you’re enjoying the food and the champagne because those are insanely expensive,” Jim imagined himself onstage giving the introductory speech to Athlead’s five year anniversary. “Five years ago, I was still working as a paper salesman in Scranton. I didn’t know where my life was head but then my friends and I took a leap of faith from an idea that we had in college. Granted, we had no idea what we were doing when we first launched our business. Wade? Is Wade here? There he is, I still remember that day we lost a huge investor. I really thought it was over, but we persevered and never gave up, and now… We’re growing stronger than ever. Thank you so much to my source of inspiration, my wife, Pamela Morgan Halpert who believed in me every step of the way."


His eyes connect with Pam who looked as beautiful as the first day he had laid his eyes on her, "Without her and our two children, who unfortunately can't be here tonight because they have homework, none of this would be possible. Thank you everyone," he stepped down from stage and immediately went to his wife. She wrapped her arms around his and laid her on his shoulder as they headed to the balcony to get some fresh air.


"How is it?" Michael's voice pulled Jim away from his running imagination.


"It's beautiful, Michael"


"Is Pam there?"


"Yeah, definitely."


"How old would she be in five years? Thirty five? Man, I hope she doesn't drop from a seven—,"


"Michael..."


"Okay, not the point. Now I want you to close your eyes again."


"My eyes are still closed,"


"Oh right, I didn't really get a good look. Okay, open them first," Michael said as Jim as opened his eyes, facing the frozen lake once again, "And now close them again."


Jim said "God…" under his breath, as he closed his eyes for a third time. "Okay, are they closed? Let me take a look. Can you see my hand? No? Okay, good. Now Jim, imagine the same scenario without Pam.


“Thank you everyone for coming here tonight. I hope you’re enjoying the food and the champagne because those are insanely expensive,” Jim imagined himself onstage giving the introductory speech to Athlead’s five year anniversary. “Five years ago, I was still working as a paper salesman in Scranton. I didn’t know where my life was head but then my friends and I took a leap of faith from an idea that we had in college. Granted, we had no idea what we were doing when we first launched our business. Wade? Is Wade here? There he is, I still remember that day we lost a huge investor. I really thought it was over, but we persevered and never gave up…" 


Jim paused for a bit and looked at his bare finger. He could still the mark from where his wedding ring used to be, and mumbled the next part of his speech. "And now… We’re growing stronger than ever. Thank you so much to my source of inspiration, uhh, Darryl, Darryl Philbin. Is he here? We left Scranton together and now, we're here, living the life am I right? Alright, thank you everyone, enjoy your night."  Jim stepped down from the stage and as people are crowding and congratulating him, he was smiling but his eyes were absent-mindedly looking for that one person whom he knew was not present at a momentous occasion in his life.


Jim quickly opened his eyes and although it was only in his head, he was saddened by the thought of being successful in his career but without his wife beside him.


"You know Jim," he looked beside him and saw Michael staring nonchalantly at the lake, "my dream was always to grow old in Scranton with you guys. Probably go on a lot of double dates with you and Pam. You'd probably be the one burying me. Or Ryan, it was always between you two."


Jim remained in silence as Michael continued, "When I was on the cab ride to the airport, I still had second thoughts about going. It was just, it was crazy, everything I thought I knew, I'd be leaving it for good. But then I thought about Holly, she became everything to me, Jim. I just love her so much and nothing in my life would make sense without her in it."


They remained quiet for a minute or two, before Jim finally smiled and spoke, "Thank you, Michael. Really, you're… the best."


"I know, best boss ever right?", Michael look at Jim gave him a pat on the shoulder and stood up, "Alright, let's go. I'm freezing. Let's get you something to eat,"


———————————————————


"So girls night out was fun," Pam told the camera crew as she waited outside of Meredith's van, "God, where do I begin. Nellie was going on and on about how creepy Toby would get. Erin was so hammered, she started conversing in Dothraki to every guy that would come to us. They just smiled politely and left. Angela, well Angela's in the van right now like she took a lot of shots. I thoughts she didn't drink? And she kept calling out some girl named Esther's name. Who is that?"


"It's Dwight's new girlfriend, and Angela has been quite a mess since that whole thing started," Meredith said as she unlocked her car.


"What happened to your wig?" Pam said upon noticing that Meredith was sporting her bald look.


"I really don't know, I was hooking up with this guy in the toilet and the next thing I know, it's gone."


The drive to Pam's house was a quiet one. Meredith's radio was broken so they couldn't play any music to break the silence. Occasionally, Angela would move around in her seat and screech out her frustrations, either about Esther or the non-existent conversations that Pam and Meredith were having.


Pam was thinking of how to start the conversation but then heard Meredith say, "Jim's coming back tomorrow, huh?"


"Yeah, he is,"


"Have you thought about what you'll do?"

"No, not really. I'm just glad he's coming back. It's been a while," Pam had been trying to avoid thinking about Jim's return. While she was glad she was finally going to see Jim's face, she was not entirely sure what the day would bring.


"Word of advice," Meredith spoke again, "don't get divorced."


Pam was shocked at the sudden mention of the topic. At Poor Richards, they seemed to avoid the topic of her marriage and concentrated instead on letting her have fun. Pam could not think of what else to say and asked, "How come?"

"Well, for one, Jim is total eye candy. I mean, he had that goofy charming look seven years ago. But now, wow, I would scoop that up if I had the chance," Pam noticed Meredith seeming lost in her thoughts before she continued, "And let's face it, we cannot have two single redheads in the office again. Remember when Jim was dating Karen, I got hit by a car during that time."


"Oh, well, we actually—," Pam contemplated on whether to tell Meredith that she and Jim were already dating when the incident occurred, "Never mind, I'll think about it."


"Okay, good. And really, everyone in the office would just be devastated if that happened. We love you guys, even if we don't show it a lot."


As they stopped in front of her house, Pam gave Meredith a hug, "Thanks Meredith. See you tomorrow, bye Angela!"


Pam entered the door and after saying goodbye to her mom, she entered Cece's room. She was on her bed, soundly asleep with her night light on. Pam then opened her drawer and took out a blue giraffe. She then lightly grabbed her daughter's arm and quietly placed the stuffed animal on her. After taking a picture of Cece with her phone, she kissed her goodnight and closed the door.


As she lied on her bed, she reopened her phone, sent the photo to Jim and typed, "To keep her company tonight. See you tomorrow."


After she had sent the message, she placed her phone on her side table and went to sleep.

End Notes:

I was contemplating having a full scene about the party but I just skipped it to Pam talking about what happened because I didn't want for the chapter to be too long. 

I'm at the last stretch of Jim's trip in Colorado, which means he and Pam will finally reunite. No, I don't know how it will end.

Faith, Hope, and Love by Robert Dunder
Author's Notes:

Jim says goodbye to Michael

Pam gets annoyed with her officemates 


"A toast, better make it good," Jim thought of what to say as he and Pam sat on the rooftop. It was their second time spending the alone in that very place. It was just as intimate as the time they took a break from reading 'Threat Level Midnight', but this moment was more special by the fact that after many years of hypotheticals and pining for each other, they were finally together. "To avoiding a class two felony charge." 


Pam laughed at Jim's joke about the pizza guy that was help captive in the conference room, "Just imagine, we finally start dating and we end up in prison. What's that gonna be like?"


"Well, maybe we finally get to see if Prison Mike is real," Jim said as he took a look at his watch, "Okay, I think we have to go, we might still have time to escape before the police arrive."


"Do we really have to go?"


"Jim? Jimbo?"


"What?" Jim was interrupted from his daydream and looked at Michael. They were on the car ride back to the airport. In just a few hours, he will be back in Scranton and will be reunited with his wife. He was not completely sure about what he will be coming back to as it had been three days since he left after having the biggest argument of his marriage. However, he continued to remain positive as woke up to a picture of a sleeping Cece with a blue giraffe in her arm, and a message from Pam saying, "To keep her company. See you tomorrow." He did not know what the day would bring, but he couldn't help but smile at the thought of his family being excited to see him.


"I said, do you really have to go? What're you smiling about? Don't seem so excited about leaving" Jim looked at Michael and could see that he was genuinely upset about him having to leave Colorado.


"C'mon Michael, you knew I had to leave right? And I'm pretty sure you just wasted three vacation days, do you really want to use more of them up?"


"Yeah, I guess," Michael replied, "But I don't know when I'll get to see you again and if you do visit again, it's probably because you're gonna end up getting a divorce, so—"


"Okay, first. I don't plan on getting a divorce," Jim quickly erased the possibility from his head, "and second, I'll always have a reason to visit. We still haven't had that lunch yet, you know?"


Michael quickly smiled as he continued driving, "Yeah, you're right. We still haven't had that lunch. Okay, I will hold you to that."


The rest of the drive went on with Jim and Michael reminiscing about the shenanigans that they pulled while they were both drunk from two nights before. As they parked and walked to the entrance of the airport, Jim spoke "Hey Michael, so thank you so much again for—"


"No, no, no. Nope, just stop it," Michael interrupted, "You are not doing this."


"God Michael, I'm trying to give a proper goodbye."


"That's the point. Because James Halpert, this is not a goodbye. I am going to see you for lunch…soon," the two of them laughed and gave each other a tight embrace.


"I will see you for lunch," Jim couldn't help but get choked up at the thought of leaving his friend again.


"Yes, and bring Pam and the kids with you," Michael said, "We can have a double date."


"Alright, I definitely will" Jim was about to turn around for the entrance when he heard Michael's voice again.


"Jim."


"Yeah?"


"Never give up," Michael said as he smiled and nudged his head towards the entrance. Jim smiled back, nodded and walked towards the airport without looking back. He then reached for his cellphone. He tried calling Pam before boarding the plane but was once again met with an automated message.


"Hey Pam, I—," he thought about what to say, "I'll see you soon. I miss you. We'll talk soon, okay?"


———————————————————————————


"I remember Jim telling me about that time I was came back from New York," Pam said to the camera crew, "Apparently, everyone was so invested about the fact that I was coming home. I just thought it was so funny. Now that he's coming back from Colorado, everyone's just…so excited for me…I just really, really…want them to stop."


As she left the conference room, she was immediately approached by Kevin, "Hey Pam"


"Hey, Kevin"


"So Jim's coming back today, huh?


"Yeah. Yeah he is," Pam forced herself into a smile as she was already sick from hearing the question for the fourth time


Kevin remained silent for about ten seconds before finally speaking, "Do you think you'll finally do it?"


"Okay… I am just going to ignore you for the rest of the day," she said as she headed towards kitchen


Kevin watched her walk away and softly said, "I bet they're gonna do it."


Pam spent a few minutes in silence, drinking her grape soda in the break room. She was both anxious and excited about Jim finally coming back. She felt a knot in her stomach about the thought of getting to see his face again. Even though it was only three days, this was the longest that she had not seem him ever since he took a three week trip to Florida. Despite the circumstances that brought him to go to Colorado, she knew deep inside that she missed him. 


However, she was also terrified at the thought that this would be the first time they would be talking face to face since they had their fight. She did not know what the day would bring when Jim comes back, but she felt ready. "No matter what happens, I'm going to say how I really feel," she thought to herself as she continued to enjoy her alone time.


Her isolation was short-lived as Toby approached her from his desk, "Hey Pam."


"Hey Toby"


"So Jim's coming back today, huh?"

Pam sighed as soon as she figured what he was going to say, "Yeah, I didn't even notice," she said with an obvious hint of sarcasm.


"So did you ever figure out why he went to see Michael in Colorado?"


“Well, if you need someone to talk to, just know I’m here for you.”


“Aww,” Pam sincerely smiled at him and touched his hand, “Thank you Toby. You know, I always appreciated how you’ve been supportive of me and Jim.”


Toby fell quiet with a straight look on his face. He then replied, “Yeah… no problem.”


“Okay, I need to head back now," she grabbed her grape soda as she stood up and started walking back to the bullpen.


She walked past Nellie in the kitchen and she heard her call her attention, "Hi Pam, wait up."


"Oh c'mon Nellie, not you too," Pam sighed as she turned around to her.


"What?" Nellie asked with a confused look on her face.


"Look, I know Jim's coming back today. Can everyone just get back to work?"


"Oh honey, no. I was gonna ask you about your mural. Do you want to work on it today? You haven't really touched it since it got defaced. You should at least cover up the butts. It's just really disturbing that people are still working in the warehouse and don't seem to mind"


Pam's face lit up at the opportunity to get away from everyone, "Yes, I am on it. I'll just change to my sweats and I will be in the warehouse for the rest of the day."


—————————————————————


Jim arrived at the Scranton Business Park at seven in the evening. He saw his car parked and realized that Pam was still in the office. He suddenly became very nervous. He wanted to spend some time in the office to collect himself and figure out what to say before heading home. He wanted to think about it on the plane ride but ended up distracting himself with the in-flight magazine.


He entered inside the bullpen to find that everyone had already left except for Dwight who was in his office. He knocked on the door and entered. He then saw Dwight look up from his desk.


"Hey Dwight, I——", before he could finished his sentence, Dwight immediately stood up from his desk and gave him a hug, "Okay, you have got to stop doing this whenever I come back. I— Oww!"


Dwight removed himself and proceeded to smack Jim on the head, "Where the hell were you?!"


"Okay, you knew where I was, it's not like Michael kept it hidden."


"You know, I'd forgive you if you were in Philly doing your sports crap, but you visited Michael and didn't invite me?"


"I'm sorry, I just needed to figure some stuff out,"


"Well, I hope you did because you were gone for three days. It just wasn't the same without you."


"I'm really, really sorry. I'll make it up to you, I promise. But not tonight, have you seen Pam? Our car's still here so…"


"Yeah, she's working on the mural. You should go see her."


"Alright then, I'll see you on Monday,"


"And Jim," Dwight said as Jim was about to turn around.


"Yeah?"


"I expect paperwork with your ideas on how to turn this place into a no-nonsense office. Do you think you're smart enough to do that?"


Jim smiled at him and said, "Absolutely, I do" before heading out.


———————————————————


Pam was tired. She had just finished covering her mural with gray paint and was back to square one. She wanted to be annoyed at the guy who defaced her artwork but she was also relieved. She was not completely happy with the progress she had made, so she accepted the challenge of starting over again.


She dipped her paintbrush on a can of green paint in an attempt to begin but she stopped before the tip touched the wall. While she wanted a fresh start, she did not exactly know how to do it. After a few minutes of thinking, she gave up and proceeded to activate the lift to bring her down.


Once she was on the ground, she turned around and saw Jim standing a few feet away from her with a plastic bag on his hand. "Hi," she heard him say.


She remained in silence and continued to stare at him. "So…shocker. I'm back," she saw Jim shrug and give his signature smirk. "I didn't think you were gonna be here. I just wanted to drop by here and get some stuff before heading home."


She wanted to say something but the words would not come out, she remained frozen in her place and continued to look at his face which was beginning to look nervous at the intensity of the situation, "Uhh…" he stretched out his hand in front of her further revealing the plastic bag, "So I made some grilled cheese sandwiches. I figured you'd be hungry. Well, the food in the plane sucked so I'm definitely hungry."


She continued to focus her attention on Jim, without uttering a single word.


"Look….Pam, I....I just wanted to—" she then quickly walked to him before he could finish his sentence and wrapped her arms around him. She felt a surge of emotion go through her as she felt the warmth of his body.


Jim was stunned by Pam's sudden approach. After a few seconds, he realized what was happening and proceeded to embrace her.


They held each other for a long time, both knowing that they do not need to do anything else to express their love for one another. They then faced each other without letting go and proceeded to passionately kiss.


"I love you," the two of them said to each other in unison before proceeding to kiss for a second time.



End Notes:

Ok, I think it's safe to say it won't end in divorce. Story's not done though as I'm now moving to the A.A.R.M portion.

 Reviews are highly appreciated, like Jim's love for Pam. 

And The Greatest of These Is Love by Robert Dunder
Author's Notes:

The hug aftermath.

They finally go to the lake. 

A.A.R.M. Pt 1 


"No way? Pam Beagsley is a boy?" Pam said as she took a bite out of Jim's grilled cheese sandwich. They were seated together on the rooftop with a freshly lit candle on the floor. It had already been two hours  since they were reunited back in the warehouse. They had spent their time catching up on what had happened from the time Jim left for Colorado.


"Yes," Jim replied. "and that's not even the worst part. Apparently Michael got so drunk one night and he ended up throwing up on him."


"Oh my God!" Pam said as she bursted into laughter over stories of her former boss, "I've never actually seen Michael drunk, you know? That must've been a sight."


"Well, I would have enjoyed it if I didn't get so insanely wasted," Jim took a sip from his grape soda before continuing, "I was really out of it. Michael actually took care of me. He did a lot of impressions of Adam Sandler to keep women away from me. And which even in my inebriated state, they sounded so awful. So just imagine what it was like for someone more sober."


"I'd probably give him an 'I'm judging you' look like" Pam proceeded to squint her eyes in a joking manner and stared directly into Jim's eyes.


"That's your 'I'm judging you' face?" Jim tried his best to hold his giggle as he spoke, "You look like you're holding in a very long fart"


"Oh come on!" Pam said as she playfully hit him on the shoulder. "It couldn't have been that bad. You're totally exaggerating about how I really looked."


"No, it was really bad," Jim said while leaning back on his chair, "You thought you were looking all serious but I swear your face went like..." Jim leaned forward to face her, squinted his eyes and gave a half-smirk. Even with Jim making a ridiculous goofy face, Pam felt enamored at the sight of him in a lighter, more comfortable mood. She leaned forward and proceeded to give him a kiss on the lips. They continued making out under the night sky, both missing feeling each other after three days of no physical interaction, when a fly landed on Jim's cheek causing him to involuntarily slap himself.


Pam was startled at what had happened and stared at him. She then snickered and eventually broke off into a fit laughter saying, "Well, that certainly killed the mood."


"Oh Beesly, I missed you…" Jim smiled at her, wrapped his arm around her and kissed her on the forehead. 


"I missed you too," Pam said as she leaned on his shoulder, "this will always be my favorite part of the building, you know?"


"Yeah, mine too," Jim continued to grin and said, "… and that supply closet."


"Jim!" Pam pretended to shove him before putting her back on his shoulder, "We're sleeping on the same bed tonight right?"


"Eh," he gave her a smirk as he continued teasing her, "I kinda liked my personal space. But sure, if that's what you really want."


They both laughed as he continued caressing her hair. A few minutes have passed and they both remained still in their positions, neither of them wanting to let go, still enjoying each other's company even in silence.


Pam eventually looked up at him and spoke, "Hey… Jim"


"Yeah?"


"I want you to stay," she said as she slowly let go to face him directly. This was the first time either had spoken about what they wanted to do moving forward. Being away from each other for three days seemed like a blessing in disguise as they had a lot to catch up on, but the night had already gone on to a point where the inevitable conversation would happen.


Jim looked at the sky as if he were pretending to think and quickly looked back at her, "Done."


"Jim, come on," Pam couldn't help but giggle at him acting like he was ticking off an item on his imaginary checklist, 'I'm being serious."


"But I am being serious. Pam. I'm calling them to—"


"Wait, let me finish," Pam interrupted before he could say anything further, "I guess what I want to say is I'm sorry if I hadn't been completely honest with you. With how I felt. So, I'll really be more open to you from now on because really want this…us to work. I know you love your new job and I know it's nice to see it taking off but I just feel like things are changing so fast. It feels like our life's been going a million miles per hour and I really want to catch up to where you are, I really do Jim. But I don't think I'm there yet. And I really wish I've told you this before but I guess I didn't want to because I didn't want you to feel like I'm holding you back. So there, that's how I feel."


Pam looked down, almost embarrassed at her own honesty. She was waiting for Jim to say something and closed her eyes as if bracing herself for the worst, "Oh God, this is it, we're done, who gets custody of the kids, who—"


"Pam…" she felt Jim hold her hands and kissed her on the lips, "You say I love this job so much but I love you even more. I tried imagining my life without you and all the success in the world felt meaningless without you in it. You think staying here means I'm giving up an opportunity of a lifetime? No, staying here means I'm choosing you. It means I'm choosing our children. Our family, Pam. And I choose you everyday. And I'll continue to choose you until the day I die. My future is wherever you are. Never ever ever…forget that. I love you."


Pam immediately teared up and wrapped her arms around him, "I love you."


Jim couldn't help but get choked up with Pam getting emotional. He embraced her as tight as he could and proceeded to kiss her with urgency, as if the world around them would collapse at any point.


———————————————————


"So it's the weekend and we decided to take the kids to the lake. I wanted to take them here before but we ended up in Dwight's work bus. Pam and I are doing great, we had a really nice morning…" Jim smirked in front of the camera crew, as Pam stared at her while holding their two children.


"Really Jim? In front of the kids?"


"It's not like they can understand us."


"There's a camera…"


Jim shrugged as he continued speaking to the camera crew, "Speaking of, I don't really know why you followed us. I guess it's fine as long as you're not in our hotel room…"


"Okay, Cece. Why don't you help mommy set up the picnic while daddy keeps talking to the cameras?"


Cece ran behind them as Pam flicked Jim on the head before following her.


"She's fine. Oh, also I left Athlead. We just had a long phone call when we got back home. They're still trying to convince me to see it through since I contributed so much into getting an investor but I just…I almost lost Pam over this and I can't let it happen again. We both agreed to still invest and…"


"Jim! Look at Cece!" Pam screamed as she frantically at him from afar. He looked behind and saw Cece was blowing bubbles at the sky.


"Okay, I gotta go," Jim went to their picnic mat, grabbed Cece from behind and lifted her. "Hey there, Princess!"


"Daddy, I'm flying!" Cece giggled as he continued playing with her.


"Okay, baby. I gotta stop before I throw my back. You're not getting any lighter," he joked as he sat her down. He then hugged Pam from behind and gave her a kiss on the cheek before positioning himself beside her.


"Ham and cheese?" Pam smiled as she handed him his usual lunch.


"Why, thank you, how could I ever live without you?" he said as he took a huge bite off the sandwich instead of taking it from her.


"You are such a dork," she laughed as she threw the sandwich at him.


"Oh, it is on…." Jim immediately grabbed a handful of baby carrots and began chucking them at her.


"Okay, no Jim. Jim, stop!" Pam then took Phillip and pretended to use him as a shield.


"Really, Pam? You would use our own child as protection? So disappointing…"


"Hey, all is fair in this mat," Pam then proceeded to grab a handful of grapes and threw them directly at his face.


"Hey! I caught one!" Jim excitedly told her as he continued chewing on the grape that he managed to catch with his mouth.


"I've never been more in love," Pam sarcastically replied, "So…what do you wanna do today?"


"I don't know, swim at the lake with the kids? Watch 28 Days in the hotel? Pretty sure they labelled it right this time."


"Ha ha, so funny Halpert," she nudged him in weakly in the arm, "Okay, I'll just get ready. I already applied sunscreen on the kids so I guess you can already head on out with them."


"Alright, that's what I'm talking about!" Jim quickly dressed Phillip and Cece up in life vests. He then took off his shirt and kissed Pam on the cheek, "See you later!" He carried Phillip and grabbed Cece by the hand while walking towards the lake.


Pam looked on and watched as her husband played with their children on the lake. She enjoyed seeing Jim having a lot of fun with the people that matter to him the most, but she kept replaying the conversation that she overheard the night before. 


It was late in the evening and Pam woke up by herself in the bedroom. She rose up to look for Jim and found him standing in the guest bedroom, with his phone in his ear. He told her beforehand that he was going to inform his colleagues that he was leaving Athlead so she deduced that it was the reason he was still awake.


"Yeah, I'm sure… we agreed to still invest but…"

"I know it's huge, but I can't do this to my family anymore. It's too much for them. I told you about the time I missed my daughter's recital right?"

"I thought not making a name for myself was my biggest fear, but no. It's losing her Wade…I can't lose her. It would destroy me."

"She's not ready and I don't know if she ever will be, but that doesn't matter…"


"...Did I force him to do this?"


"Pam!" Her train of thought was derailed upon hearing Jim's voice, "Come on in! The water's awesome!"


"Coming!"


———————————————————


Jim looked frantically for Pam outside the office. It was his first day back from Colorado and after spending the weekend with his family, he felt ready to go full-time with Dunder Mifflin and be with his wife. The day initially was going really fine as he and Dwight firmly established their no-nonsense policy.


Of course, it wouldn't be a normal day in the office for him if he was not messing with his new manager so he set it upon himself to make sure that Dwight would hire an Assistant to the Assistant to the Regional Manager. He elaborately set up challenges to ensure that Dwight would see that the only person capable of being in that position would be himself which would mean Dwight would end up being his own assistant. He also enjoyed watching Pam having fun as she quickly deduced that this was another one of his pranks. However, it all came to a halt when at the crowning ceremony, she ran away looking upset.


"I don't know what I did. I thought we were having fun," He thought to himself as he scanned his surroundings, not knowing where to search first. "I can't believe this is happening again."


He turned to the side of the warehouse and saw her standing alone, clearly deep in thought.


"Hey," he said as he walked towards her.


She turned around and it upset Jim when she looked like she was about to cry, "Hey."


"You all right?" He asked and his heart sank as she light shook her head, "What's going on?"


"Are you happy?" Pam asked


"Yes, I'm happy," he tried to reassure her.


"No, I know you're like, happy and like you had fun today, and that was fun. But what about a year from now?"


"What?"


"What about five years from now? Because I'm so glad you're back, baby, and I'm happy we've spend so much time together since you came back, but I'm just…I was talking to Darryl, and he was talking about the trip, and I heard your call with Wade, and I just feel like you're giving up so much."


"This was my decision, not yours. You didn't force me."


"I kind of forced you to do it."

 

"You did not force me to do this. I don't know how else to tell you."


"I'm afraid that you're gonna resent me and I'm afraid that this is not enough for you—"


"Resent you?" 


"I'm afraid that I'm not enough for you."


Jim was in disbelief at the words coming out of Pam's mouth. He began to feel afraid that he may have done enough to convince her he was happy with her. He stared into her eyes which were already beginning to well up, "Is that really what you think?" 


Pam hesitated to say anything else and merely looked at him, helpless at how she was feeling and agonizing over having Jim feel like he wasn't doing enough. She did not intend to hurt him as she knew he was doing his best in keeping her happy. 


Just as she could no longer hold back the tears, Jim immediately wrapped his arms around her and whispered, "Hey, hey, hey, hey" as he tried to calm her down.


End Notes:

Michael Scott: [sighs] Oh, Pam. [Rrrrrr] I can't stay mad at you.

Okay, but seriously this is the last chapter...of me having Pam be a downer because A.A.R.M. is next.

 Reviews are appreciated like Jan's love for her candles

 

 

Not Enough for Me? by Robert Dunder
Author's Notes:
Jim talking head.


"Are you happy?" Jim recalled his conversation with Pam as he sat restlessly on his chair. He had not spoken to her since he found her near tears outside the warehouse. After trying to comfort her, he went back inside as she wished to have a moment alone. As he reclined further on his chair, he could not help but feel defeated. He thought it was going to be a good day for him, a fresh start from the emotional roller coaster that had taken place from the moment they started taking couple's therapy. He believed that by leaving his other job, they would be able to finally leave all the pain and worry in the past.


"So congratulations Jim, you win because apparently I’m the one who’s holding you back!" He thought of their argument in the car before he left for Colorado. He grew increasingly frustrated over the idea that everything that he had done so far to make things right with his wife had gone to waste. He began to wonder where it all went wrong and if he fooled himself into thinking that Pam would eventually trust him again.


“Jim, I love you … but I really feel like you’ll resent me if you choose to stay," he then recalled the latter part of the conversation. He realized today was the second time that Pam mentioned that he might resent her for staying. He thought he finally made her realize that choosing to love her would never be a hard decision. 


His eyes then wandered over to a picture on his desk. It was a candid picture of him feeding Cece mushed carrots. He grabbed the frame and looked at it intently.


"You're framing that? Really?" Pam laughed as he was printing the picture behind reception hoping no one would see him.


"Yeah, why not?" he shrugged as he looked cautiously at his surroundings. He didn't want to get into trouble for using company property to print a colored personal photo. Only Stanley seemed to look at him but he just rolled his eyes and went back to work.


"Jim, it's just a picture of you feeding Cece. What's the big deal?"


"I don't know Pam. I just like looking at it. I mean…we made that Pam. We made that happen," he smiled as he wrapped an arm around her and kissed her on the side of her forehead.


"I guess we did, didn't we?"


"Yeah, plus she now seems to like my carrots better than your boobs so…" he shrugged and looked amusingly at her. She tried to look unimpressed at his joke but she couldn't help but break into a fit of laughter as she whacked him with the paper she was holding.


Jim could not believe how fast his daughter had grown up. To him, it felt like yesterday when he was holding her in his arms in the hospital. He recalled how much fun he had spending time with her and Phillip at the lake. He was not able to tell Pam how much he cherished that particular weekend because playing and goofing around with their children was not something that he was able to do a lot of while he was away in Philly.


"Daddy?" He mind went back to the night after their argument when Cece went to his room.


"Hey sweetie, what is it?"


"Why sad, Daddy?"


"Oh no, I'm not sad. It’s just, I haven’t seen your dance yet”


He then remembered watching Cece's recital numerous times with Pam before he felt her crying on his shoulder. He contemplated whether he should have already told Pam that night. He wondered if everything would be better if he had tried to get to her earlier.


"Hey Jim?" he turned around as he heard the cameraman call out his name from the conference room, "Got a second?"


"Sure thing, man," Jim replied as he stood up and went inside. He did not feel like doing an interview but figured he needed to be distracted while waiting for Pam.


"So…what's up with you? How was your day?" the cameraman started his questions.


"I don't know," Jim replied while fidgeting with his wedding ring, "I've definitely had better days."


"You want to talk about it?"


"You know…not really but I'm already here, right?" he looked behind him and saw that Pam was still not back at her desk. "I mean, I thought it was going to be a good day today. It's my first day back and I left my other job. I messed around with Dwight today. Like old times right?" 


He paused for a few seconds, stared at the camera, and let out a huge sigh before continuing, "I just… I really thought I was doing what was making her happy. I let her know time and again that nothing else matters besides her and the kids. And it's really driving me insane because I thought I finally got through to her, you know? I really thought the time away would make us stronger."


"Why do you think she feels that way?" the cameraman asked.


“I really don’t know, you tell me man, I mean…" Jim replied as looked down on the floor for a moment before looking into the camera again, "Not enough? I don't know how else to explain it to her, so…"


He looked outside the window and an idea suddenly popped into his head. He contemplated whether he should push through with his decision but before he could contemplate any further, he told the cameraman, "You know what, I know it's against the rules but I'm gonna need a favor from you guys."


Jim waited for a reply, hoping that the documentary crew who had spent years of filming them while completely invading their privacy would grant his one simple wish. 


"Okay, you got it man," the cameraman finally spoke, "What do you need?"


"Alright, I need you to make a video of our moments together, like from when you first started filming us. Start it with a message from me, I'll write it down. Give me a second," he said as he stood up and exited the conference room. He grabbed a piece of paper from his desk and started writing.


Beesly—


You think I'll have regrets.

I asked the doc crew to help me show you why I won't…


He went beck inside the room and handed over the note to the cameraman. "Here you go. Okay, I'll leave it up to you on how to fill in the video with footage since you probably have more than I am aware of. But, I need you to start it with the time we had our diversity training and she fell asleep on my shoulder."


"Alright, let me just take note of that"


"I know it's a weird memory to start with but she does that a lot with me. When we got married on the boat, when we went on Dwight's bus to get her pies. You know, even when we had that huge fight in our car, she still leaned on my shoulder after. And it all goes back to that first time so…"


"Yeah, no worries, it's actually really sweet. We were secretly rooting for you when she was still engaged to Roy. I mean, we couldn't tell you that before but we're about to wrap up filming so just… thought you should know."


"Thanks," Jim smiled at the thought that a documentary crew followed him on his entire journey of falling in love with Pam, "Alright, next just show a ton of footage of us goofing off and having fun."


"Alright, no problem on that. We have countless footage, we could actually make a movie."


"Okay, so next…" Jim thought of what else he could include in what could possibly be his grandest gesture to his wife, "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have footage of us when we did that casino night thing, would you?"


"Oh, the one where you told her you loved her? Yup, we have that. The tension was just… you could hear a pin drop. Do you also want use to include the time you kissed after?"


"Oh you have that? Sure, throw that in," Jim was excited but at the same time wondering about how much of their private moments were captured on film, "Okay, then I don't know what else you have…"


"We have footage of you proposing to her…"


"How do you have that? You weren't even there."

"We have our ways, you would not believe how much footage we have of Dwight and Angela having—,"


"Okay, moving on," Jim interrupted, "You probably know which clips to select but I need all of our big moments. Finding out she's pregnant, getting married, becoming parents all that."


"Done, done, and done."


Jim let out a small chuckle before continuing, "You know, I'd be really creeped out by all this but wow, I cannot tell you how much you guys are helping me right now."


"It's an honor, Jim. So how do you want it to end?"


"Okay, I need you to end it at Christmas seven years ago, when I gave her the teapot?"


"Really, you're ending with that? Doesn't it seem a bit anit-climac—" the cameraman paused and looked at Jim, who had a big smile on his face, "No way… you're finally gonna give it?"


"Yeah, seven years and I still never gave it to her. Crazy, right?"


"What's in the letter?"


"Nope, not gonna happen," he replied, "So is there any way this can be done this afternoon?"


"Yeah, sure no problem."


"Alright, thank you so much man," Jim said but before he could stand up, the cameraman spoke, "Hey, Jim"


"Yeah?"


"You don't know my name, do you?"


Jim froze for a few seconds and laughed nervously, "What? Of course I do….it's Cam right?"


"Cam? Really? Because I'm carrying a camera?"


"Alright then," Jim stood up and awkwardly smiled at the cameraman, "I will see you… later. Thanks…champ."


He closed the door and saw that Pam was already at her desk, "Hey, how are you?"


"I'm good," she replied, "You were in there for a long time"


"Yeah, they had a lot of questions about how it felt to have a new assistant," he smiled goofily at her before continuing, "So…I actually have to grab something from the house. Do you need anything?"


"Nope, just come back soon because I don't know how many excuses I can come up with for Dwight,"


"Alright then, I am heading off," he then kneeled in front of Pam and whispered, "Hey… I love you. You know?"


He kissed her on the cheek before standing up and walking towards reception. Pam looked at the camera with a smile on her face.  She wondered why the cameraman was smiling back at her. Embarrassed, she focused her attention on her monitor and went back to work.




End Notes:

I pretty much made this Chapter Jim-centric because we already know where Pam's head is at.

We're about to see the end of the tunnel. I really had fun writing my first fic. 

Reviews are highly appreciated, like John Krasinski singing The Office Theme Song 

 EDIT: I removed the last paragraph, that was a draft. I don't know how that got in there. 

You Are Everything by Robert Dunder
Author's Notes:
A.A.R.M. - Possibly the penultimate chapter in this story. I think it's about time we put this thing to rest.


It had been thirty minutes since Jim left the office. Pam felt guilty about how the day had gone. She thought she was going to be over the moon about having her husband be his usual goofy self, the stress of having to win her over finally behind him. She knew that despite the no nonsense policy that had been established, he would still concoct some elaborate scheme to mess with Dwight.


She spent the day happily watching him conduct challenges to see who would be the best fit to being the assistant to the assistant to the regional manager. Although he did not tell her exactly what he was planning, she quickly deduced that he was trying to trick Dwight into awarding himself the title which would make him Jim's assistant. 


The two of them would glance occasionally and she saw how much his eyes lit up whenever he would see her smiling. It was as if they were telepathically saying to each other how everything seemed perfect again.


However, she felt everything crumbling again when she had a conversation with Darryl at the cafe.


"Jim really doesn't want to come?"


"He said he doesn't want to"


"Man, I hope he doesn't regret it."


"Well, he seems really happy being back here at Dunder Mifflin."


"Jim is happy here, selling paper at Dunder Mifflin?"


As she watched Jim continue with his prank, she tried to avoid being in his line of sight so he would not see the obvious mood change in her face. She did not want to upset him after they had just gotten through a huge hurdle in their marriage. He had been nothing short of being the perfect husband to her when he came back from Colorado and she did not want to make him feel like he had failed.


She tried her best to put on the best smile that she could for him. However, before the crowning ceremony for Dwight, she saw Jim's phone ring and what looked like a frustrated expression from him before rejecting the call. He did not need to say who it was but it was obvious to her that it was his peers from Athlead once again, trying to convince him to come back. She recalled his phone conversation with Wade the night before they went to the lake.


"She's not ready and I don't know if she ever will be, but that doesn't matter…"


She wondered how many times she had been selfish with him. She began to question if everything that had happened in the past week was entirely on her. 


"I'm the one who didn't hug Jim back. I instigated the fight in the car. He flew to Colorado on a whim because of me. He quit his job because of me," she thought to herself, "How much more will he have to put up with because of me?"


As she watched Jim crown Dwight, she wondered if he was truly happy with where he was. She felt overwhelmed by her surroundings and briskly walked to the elevator.


She knew Jim saw her pained expression and knew that he would find her soon enough as she paced back and forth outside the warehouse. Once he caught up to her, she knew she could no longer escape and had to tell her how she truly felt.


"Is that really what you think?"


She remembered how defeated Jim looked when she told him she was afraid he might resent her. She could not believe that she had managed to hurt him again because of the insecurities lingering inside her.


“Hey Pam!”


She was snapped out of her thoughts and saw the cameraman standing beside her.


“Hey, what’s up?”


"Is it okay if we do an interview?"


"Yeah sure. No problem, I need a distraction anyway," she them stood up and headed towards the conference room.


As the cameraman followed her, he discreetly placed an enveloped labelled "Jim" on the desk beside her.


"So what do you want to talk about?" Pam asked as she sat herself on one of the chairs.


"We just wanted to check how you were doing, you seem a bit distracted lately. How's Jim's first day back?"


"Oh, it was going great I guess. He seemed to be having fun with the whole A.A.R.M project," she paused and wondered how much information she should divulge, "Well, I guess he had fun and then he saw me walk away."


"Yeah, what was that about? What did you talk about outside the warehouse?"

"Oh, you saw that? Well, you know, I'm really happy Jim's back. I really am, but I just… I just can't help but feel like I forced him into coming back. He's told me time and again that it was his choice but he's made really huge sacrifices… and I feel like…does he have to keep making sacrifices just for me?"


"Just for you?"


"I mean, he left his job to be with me. And this was like, the real deal for him, who knows when that opportunity will come again? And what if I'm still not ready? Will he make another sacrifice again? I don't know, I just feel like there will come a point where I won't be enough for him anymore."


"Do you want to talk to him about it? Do you feel ready to talk to him about it again?" 


"Am I ready? No, I don't think I'm ever ready when it comes to expressing myself. I wasn't ready at the beach and I'm definitely not ready now. But I will do it, because I learned that  we really have to be honest with each other. I don't know what he's going to say but I have to believe we can make it work. So yeah, I'm just waiting for him to come back."


The cameraman smiled, "Well, he's waving at me right now and it looks like he wants to cut this interview short."


She looked behind and saw him smiling at her. 


"Hey!" he said as he opened the door of the conference room, "You got a minute?"

"Yeah," she replied "I do."


She stoop up and followed him outside. Before they could continued, she stopped and spoked, "Hey Jim, I—"


"Yeah?"


"I'm really sorry about how this day went. I don't know how—"


"Hey, no need for that," he interrupted, "Just follow me."


She noticed how excited he was getting as they headed towards the break room. She then saw a laptop on one of the tables with an envelope labeled "Jim" beside it.


"What is this?" She asked as she sat in front of the laptop.


"Well, I've been trying to tell you how I feel, and you wouldn't believe me, so…" he said as he opened the envelope, revealing a DVD, "I needed a little help."


Before they could continued, Dwight suddenly appeared, "Jim! I need my assistant to the regional manager. Code red."


"Ok, I don't have my pocket chart on me, right now, so…"


Dwight then threw a beanbag his head, "Now!"


She could see Jim getting frustrated who then joked, "I have an assistant now, who can help you with whatever you need. He is lazy, so crack the whip."


"Jim, I'm not kidding. I need you," Dwight then hurriedly left the room. She could see Jim going back and forth on what to do first. She then said, "Go ahead"


He still hesitated for a while but finally relented, "Ok, this is…" he handed her the DVD as kissed her on the forehead, "I'll be right back."


As Pam held the DVD, a million thoughts began to enter her head as to what it could possible contain. She pondered on whether she should wait for Jim to come back but given that it's a meeting with Dwight, she knew it would take longer than expected.

After a few seconds, she took the DVD out of its case and inserted it in the laptop. She played it and prepared herself as she read the message that was displayed.


Beesly—


You think I'll have regrets.

I asked the doc crew to help me show you why


"What is this?" she thought to herself. She wondered what Jim had been up to after their talk and why he left to get something from the house.


Music started playing and the video began with a scene of Pam falling asleep on Pam's shoulder followed by video clips of them from nine years ago.


She began to feel overcome with emotion as she realized Jim had the documentary crew compile a video of their story together. She smiled upon seeing herself, a twenty-six year old receptionist, fall in love with her best friend. 


When she saw them doing their traditional air high fives, she was amazed to see how they had all these small moments in their friendship. Many people like Kelly would think their romance lacked the heated passion that was normally seen in movies, but it was these kinds of events that had the most impact on her.


Upon seeing the clip of them staring at each other on the booze cruise, she wondered if she always knew that Jim was in love with her and that she just denied it to fulfill her commitment to Roy.


"I'm in love with you," She was surprised to see that the camera crew was able to catch moments of Jim confessing his love to her and the kiss that they shared in the office afterwards. This was followed by a series of kisses that they shared as they started dating. She was then shocked to see a clip of them getting engaged at the gas station. The sudden influx of memories made her remember how lucky she was that their journey did not end at the casino night. She was thankful for they eventually found their way back to each other after Jim had moved to Stamford.


She then saw a clip of them finding out she was pregnant. She recalled how Jim was excited over becoming a father. They did not have the perfect marriage but they always found strength through their children.


She had the biggest smile on her face as she watched Jim looking at the camera at Niagara Falls. At that moment, she felt like he was looking at her directly from the monitor with his eyes saying, "You are the greatest thing to happen in my life. Everything I have, and everything I am is because of you."


She was almost near tears as she continued to watch the video.


————————————————


"I don't know what you want me to tell you, man." Jim told Dwight who was holding an engagement ring. The regional manager had just confided in him of his plans to marry Esther. However, he was having second thoughts because of Angela, "All I know is that every time I've been faced with a tough decision, there's only one thing that outweighs every other concern. One thing that will make you give up on everything you thought you knew, every instinct, every rational calculation."


"Some sort of virus?" Dwight asked.


"Love"


"Oh."


As he looked at Dwight, he thought about the time he had breakfast with Pam's father while he was staying at their place.


"I don't know how to explain it. It's like whenever she walks in a room, I'm just instantly in love with her, you know. I just can't imagine spending my life with anyone else. She's the one."


"Have I told you why I dropped out of the corporate job in New York?

Dwight just looked at him and slowly shook his head.


"I didn't think I did. David Wallace asked me where I saw myself in ten years. And, all I could think about was Pam, and how I wanted to spend those ten years and more than that with her by my side. It wasn't supposed to be an easy decision but it felt easy to let go of everything I had because she was the one I wanted to marry and have kids with. I may not have the successes that I yearned for when I was a kid but she makes this incredibly boring journey worth going through because I'm happiest when I'm with her. And I am forever grateful for that."


He continued staring at Dwight who seemed to be deep in contemplation. He continued, "Dwight, listen. No matter what happens, you gotta forget about all the other stuff. You gotta forget about logic and fear and doubt. You just gotta do everything you can to get to the one woman who’s gonna make all this worth it. At the end of the day, you gotta jump. You love Angela, Dwight. I think you always have."


Dwight continued to remain silent. A few seconds later, he finally spoke "You're a good assistant Jim"


"Not as good as you," he replied.


"That's very true. Get the hell outta here."


"You got it." 


Jim stepped out of Dwight's office and headed back to the break room. He saw Pam watching the clip where he revealed that the teapot he gave her contained bonus gifts. He could imagine her face looking surprised upon seeing a letter being taken away from her desk.


She turned around and he saw her wipe a tear from her eye. He said, "You watched it." 


"Yeah."


"Well, then I guess you're ready for this," he replied as he took out an envelope labeled "Pam" from his pocket.


"What's that?" She asked.


"It's from the teapot," He them proceeded to hand her the envelope, "Everything you'll ever need to know is in that note."


He waited for Pam to finish reading the note, hoping that its contents would finally erase all her doubts about him. She then placed the letter on her chest and looked at him gratefully with tears on her eyes.


"Not enough for me?" Jim said, "You are everything."


She then stood up and they wrapped their arms on each other into a tight embrace.


"Thank you," was all Pam could say as they became lost in the moment, hugging each other for what seemed like an eternity to them.


—————————————


"What did the letter say?" Jim smiled as he shrugged at the camera crew.


"Let's just keep that between me and Jim," Pam told them in a separate interview.


End Notes:

"I'll never say exactly what John wrote, but just know it was perfect." - Jenna Fischer

I had to rewatch A.A.R.M. for this. That video montage just gets to me everytime. 

Your reviews are everything to me. 

Better Than A Fairytale by Robert Dunder
Author's Notes:
FIN.

2014, one year after she opened her eyes


"You actually did it," Jim told Pam as they stared at her mural in the warehouse. It had been a month since its grand unveiling at the DVD release party of PBS. On that same day, he found out that Pam had been secretly showing their house to potential buyers and that it had been sold. Not only was he he appreciative of her effort to make a grand gesture to him, he was excited to know that Pam was finally ready to embark on a new journey in Austin. Dwight immediately fired them upon their revelation, not as a sign of spite, but as a last gesture of friendship so they could get their severance packages. 


Pam help his hand and gently squeezed them. She gazed at her masterpiece and focused on the shaggy haired paper salesman. She noticed how sophisticated he looked now but it was still the same face that she had fallen in love with. "Can you believe we just sat five from each other for ten years, and we've only been together for seven of them?"


"Well…" he looked at her with a smirk on his face, "you were engaged."


"Then you dated someone else," she laughed as she replied.


"I know," Jim kissed her forehead before continuing, "How crazy would it have been if I got engaged to Karen? Would you have stopped me?"


"I don't know," Pam looked at him intently, "It took a fire pit to confess to you. Maybe if I walked three more times, I might have just done that."


They both laughed and remained in silence as they continued looking at the painting.


"Are you really ready for this?" Jim asked.


"Jim, it's our last day in Dunder Mifflin. We're here to say goodbye to Dwight and everyone else. Well, mostly Dwight because he still looked upset this week. Another family is already living in our home. We're basically homeless. If we're not ready now, then we're screwed."


"We could always stay in Schrute Farms."

"Is that really what you want Jim? Because Dwight will be more than happy to have you digging manure every day."


"Alright then. So I guess we are ready," Jim joked as he wrapped his arm around her, "Wow, we're really doing it."


"Yes, we are Halpert. No backing out now," Pam paused for a while before she spoke again, "Hey Jim…"


"Yeah?"


"I know I've said this before but you have been so amazing this past year. And I'm sorry it took me so long get there."


"Hey, come on. We've already been through this, there were things we could've done better. Both of us, but we're here now and that's all that matters, right?"


"Yeah, I guess you're right," she replied as they shared a long passionate kiss, "I love you."


"Love you too. Alright, let's do this," he said as they headed up the stairs for the last time.


2016, three years after she opened her eyes


"My children! They have arrived!" Michael opened the door and he gave the two of them an awkward and uncomfortable group hug


"Hey Michael, we're so happy to see you too," Pam said as she tried to squeeze her way out. "This is such a lovely place. I can see why Jim wanted to go here."


"No Pam, he did not want to stay because our house is nice," Michael said as he took their coats and led them inside, "He obviously wanted to go here because of the entertainment."


"So…"


"Me. I'm the entertainment in case you didn't catch that Pam," Michael interrupted before Jim could finish his sentence. "You would not believe how much effort I went through to make this guy happy. That's what she said. But seriously, you should've seen him. He was literally crying over you for an entire night."


Jim's eyes widened at Michael's revelation. He could bring himself to meet Pam's face, but he could tell she that she had a smug expression as she said, "Really now?"


"Okay, Michael…" Jim finally spoke, "We were drunk and I only cried when I called her, which she was fully aware of."


"Oh, Jim," Michael said as he walked up to him and ruffled his hair, "Jim, Jim, Jim. You probably don't remember this. But you took a bottle of wine from our stash after we got home."


"What? No I didn't," Jim had a confused look on his face as he tried to remember the events of that night.


"Yes you did. We didn't think you were gonna continue drinking since you just threw up, but you finished the entire bottle. Why did you think you were so hungover the following day?"


"Okay, I think I'd remember downing another bottle of— Oh my God," Jim suddenly paused upon realizing what had truly happened that night, "Oh my God. Oh my God."


"Yeah, and that's not even the worst part. You thought you were in your room but you actually crawled up beside me and started crying on my shoulders saying how much you miss 'me'. I mean it was just—"


"Okay, Michael. I think you should stop talking," Jim interrupted before Michael could continue embarrassing him.


"Wow, this is so amazing," Pam laughed as she clapped her hands, "Jim, I'm never gonna let you live this down. You know that, right?"

"Great," he said with a sarcastic grin on his face, "Michael, why didn't you tell me any of this before?"


"Well, you were feeling down when you came here. I just figured I'll tell you when the time is right. Which is now. With Pam. Your lover.


"Okay, Michael she is not—"


"There he is, you little party animal," Holly appeared from the kitchen and gave Jim a hug while ruffling his hair, "Hey Pam. It's good to see you."


"It's good to see you too, Holly," she said as they shared a warm embrace.


"You would not believe this husband of yours. He downed a bottle of wine and—"


"Yes, Holly," Jim continued with his interruptions, "Michael already told the story about how I crawled into your bed and cried. It's amazing."


"Oh no, he didn't get to the best part. Pam, he was so hammered, I told Michael to bring him to the bathroom in case he needed to throw up again. They didn't make it to the toilet. You should have seen Michael, he was covered in vomit. It was such a sight."


"What?" Michael looked at her and continued speaking, "I don't remember any of that."


"Of course you didn't, you were just as plastered as him," Holly replied, "I'm guessing he also failed to mention that when Jim was crying about how much he missed Pam, he was also crying with him saying how much he missed him too."


"Okay, Holly, as if that really happened," he smiled as he kissed her on the cheek, "Hey Pam, why don't you see how she's doing in the kitchen? Maybe get some expert advice on her chicken pot pie?"

"Alright then," Pam said as she gently tapped Jim's shoulder before walking to the kitchen, "I will leave you two because you have clearly so much to catch up on."


"Okay, let's just both agree that the night went out of hand for both of us," Michael said.


"Yeah, I think that's for the best. I don't want to recall actually throwing up on someone. Sorry about that."


"It's fine. Water over the bridge,"


"Actually, it's water un—"


"So how are you and Pam doing? I take it things are going better?"


"Yeah, things have been going great actually. She's been enjoying Austin and well… I'll explain it when we go to lunch."


"Alright, we'll have that lunch then. How about tomorrow?"


"Alright, tomorrow at lunch."


"Okay. Jim…I'm really proud of you." Jim could see Michael's eyes genuinely beaming with pride. He could see Michael offering his hand but he instinctively went to hug his former boss.


They hugged for a while in silence until Michael spoke, "Hey Jim…"


"Yeah?"


"Maybe we shouldn't be this close to each other for a while? I'm still trying to get over you throwing up one me."


"You got it," Jim replied as he let go.


2017, four years after she opened her eyes


"I don't know, Mr. Schnoot. It just makes a really loud crumply noise whenever I fold the paper," Jim said over the phone as he pretended to be an old man, "Well, I know you mentioned you were trying to fix the problem but I don't see anything changing. Staples just has more quiet paper, maybe I'll buy from them instead."


He listened on to Dwight's attempts to win him back until he realized that the cameraman was already in his office, "Ok sir. I'm going to have to call you back"

He then hung up his call and started talking, "Sorry about that, man. I was not expecting you to come in early."


"I can't believe it's been four years since I last spoke to a camera. So as you can see, I have my own office," he continued as held up his nameplate in front of the camera, "James Duncan Halpert, VP for New Acquisitions. I really wish we could change the name 'Athleap' but there's no going back from it. Wait, I have a call. Hold on one second."


"James Halpert," he said as he picked up his phone, "Yeah? Alright, yes we would like to take you up on your offer. Alright, talk to you soon."

"Sorry, potential new client. Where were we? Oh yeah, so everything's going great, the kids are packing up because we are heading to Scranton for the weekend. Dwight and Angela's second child turned one today. They have this grand ceremony in the Schrute family for when a child turns one. They call it Gebertstag, which is birthday in German. You know, when he described it to me, it sounded exactly like a birthday party, but he said it's not so I guess I'll just have to see it when I get there."


"How's Pam? Well…" He raised his hands to show that he was not wearing his wedding ring, "we are getting divorced. Last I heard, she was making a name for herself in the mural business but… we just wanted different things. It's crazy right? We wanted to make it work so bad, especially for the kids."


He looked at the camera, trying not to tear up in front of them, "I guess…I just thought we were growing stronger and now that it's all about to end…I don't know. I really wanted to—"


"Jim?"


He fell silent as Pam opened the door with a smile on her face. She went to his desk and kissed him on the lips.


Jim worriedly look at the camera and said, "Hey….what's up? I was not expecting you today."


"I was done for the day and I wanted to surprise you. I just thought before we fly to Scranton, we could have lunch and—," Pam suspiciously looked at him, "What's wrong with your face?"

"What? Nothing's wrong with my face."


"You have that weird look that you give when you're trying to hide something. We've been married for eight years, you really think I'd—" Pam paused and held out his hand, "Where's your wedding ring?"


"I… uhhh…." Jim took out the ring from his pocket with his free hand as he gave a sheepish look to the camera and mumbled softly as if he did not want the camera to hear him, "I just thought you know, it would be funny to…"


Pam looked at the camera then quickly diverted her attention back to Jim, "Jim, my parents did not find this funny. Your parents did not find this funny. Even your brothers think you took it too far. You have got to stop doing that."


"Alright, I'm sorry," he smiled as he put his wedding ring back on and kissed Pam. He then looked at the camera again, "Not divorced. Happily married. I just wanted to be funny."


"Okay then…so lunch?" Pam asked.


"Alright, let me grab my coat"


"By the way, when we get to Scranton, try not to mention anything about Dunder Mifflin paper. Dwight's still upset about some customer complaint. Apparently, some customer was complaining about how loud their paper is?"


"Oh wow," Jim smiled at the camera, "I cannot wait to hear that story."


————————


2018, five years after she opened her eyes


“Thank you everyone for coming here tonight. I hope you’re enjoying the food and the champagne because those are insanely expensive,” Jim was onstage giving the introductory speech to Athleap’s five year anniversary. “Five years ago, I was still working as a paper salesman in Scranton. I didn’t know where my life was head but then my friends and I took a leap of faith from an idea that we had in college. Granted, we had no idea what we were doing when we first launched our business. Wade? Is Wade here? There he is, I still remember that day we lost a huge investor. I really thought it was over, but we persevered and never gave up, and now… We’re growing stronger than ever. Thank you so much to my source of inspiration, my wife, Pamela Morgan Halpert who believed in me every step of the way."


His eyes connect with Pam who looked as beautiful as the first day he had laid his eyes on her, "Without her and our two children, who unfortunately can't be here tonight because they have homework, none of this would be possible. Thank you everyone," he stepped down from stage and immediately went to his wife. She wrapped her arms around his and laid her on his shoulder as they headed to the balcony to get some fresh air.


"Congratulations," Pam said as she pulled him close and gently pressed her lips to his. Their kisses grew more fervent as each second passed and neither of them wanted the moment to end. Pam eventually let go, realizing they were still in public.


"Wow," Jim said, "That was amazing. Do you want to skip this and have a romantic dinner. Just us?"

"Are you sure we can skip this? Seems really important."

"Well…they already know I showed up. They're not gonna notice."


"Alright, then. What are we gonna have?"


"How about some Italian food?"


"Never expected anything else," Pam said as the two of them held hands while heading towards the exit.


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End Notes:

And that is it. I hope you all enjoyed.

I never had the courage to write before and I'm sure it's not even close to being perfect but I hope I made someone's day with this story.

Reviews are highly appreciated, like Jim and Pam Halpert. 

This story archived at http://mtt.just-once.net/fanfiction/viewstory.php?sid=5977