As the alarm blared Pam groggily opened her eyes and yawned, another day of helping clueless people find the correct supplies for whatever project they were working on and being behind the counter checking things out, asking the same questions over and over again. Pam hated working at a large chain art supply store, she dreamed of one day opening her little quaint shop with a few of her own paintings adorning the walls for sale. Pam finally conjured up enough momentum to get out of bed, she fumbled around, looking for her glasses for a bit, upon finding them and putting them on, she then padded to the kitchen. She stuck 2 pieces of bread in the toaster and turned on the coffee pot. She scrambled 2 eggs and as always just as she was plating the eggs the toast popped up, then the coffee pot beeped. Pam quickly buttered her toast, added milk and sugar to her coffee and sat down at the table to enjoy her breakfast. Her roommate Kelly walked into the kitchen with the usual bounce in her step, and said, “Good Morning!” as she poured herself a cup of coffee, adding a heaping teaspoon of sugar and quite a bit of milk, she also came to sit at the table. Kelly worked as a customer service representative for a clothing store, which got her deep discounts on clothes and she would occasionally take Pam shopping, especially if she had a date.

Pam finished her breakfast and went to brush her teeth and got dressed, a blouse, with a cardigan, and black slacks, with comfortable flats. She then quickly, called out a goodbye to Kelly as she put on her coat and grabbed her keys and purse. She walked to her little blue car and drove to the strip mall where the store was located. She walked to the employee entrance and punched in the code. She briskly walked through the break room and into the small room where the employee lockers were located, she opened her locker, placed her coat and purse inside and took out her apron, tied it carefully and made sure that her name tag was secured. She hated the fact that her full name was on it, PAMELA, and in caps no less. She walked out onto the floor and greeted a few other employees, and took her spot at the cash register. A few customers came and went. Soon it was her break time and she went back to the break room and fished out some left over change to buy a granola bar, she took her break, then headed back out to the floor. She had been walking about looking for people to help for about 10 minutes, when she noticed a tall, lanky confused man holding and looking at many types of colored pencils.

The slow day hum-drum of the office was quiet, phones ringing, quiet conversations between co-workers etc. This job meant nothing to Jim Halpert, it was just a job and a pretty boring one at that, selling paper. He decided that he would call his brother, he had nothing else to do and needed to find out what hobby his niece, Vanessa, was currently obsessed with so he could get her a birthday present. He absent-mindedly called his brother's house,in the middle of a workday, Marci, his sister-in-law, answered.

"Hello? Halpert residence, this is Marci speaking."
"Oh, hey Marci, it's Jim."
"Jim! It's so good to hear from you, you are coming to Vanessa's birthday party, right? It has been ages since we last saw you!"
"Yes. The reason I called was to check about what to get for her?"
"Good question. She is really enjoying her advanced art classes at school, so maybe some art supplies, you know colored pencils, nice pad of paper, or a painting set."
"Great, sounds good."
"Will you be bringing anyone along with you?"
"No, unless I meet someone in the next few days that could handle meeting my entire family so early."
"Alrighty then. Let me know if that happens. Good bye."
"See you Saturday. Bye!"
He hung up the phone and was immediately bombarded with questions from his desk mate, Dwight, all of which he ignored as he typed "art supply stores" into google, and found one fairly close to the office.

Jim had no work to do, so he decided to take an early lunch and get the birthday present shopping done. He took his coat from the coat rack and just left, his boss, Michael, would not notice, he did tell the receptionist, that he would be back in about an hour, just in case Michael did notice.
Inside the store he quickly found the section with colored pencils, but there were so many brands, and number of pencils, that he was immediately confused, he stood in the aisle, with a few options in his hands and staring at the wall, for almost 10 minutes when a sales associate walked up and asked, "Do you need some help?"
"Yes." He answered without shifting his gaze from the wall.
"Alright, why are you considering buying some colored pencils?"
"They are for my niece, she is turning 13 and a wonderfully talented artist, by my standards, I am no use when it comes to art and artistic projects."
"Okay, she will most likely appreciate a set with lots of colors and possibly watercolor, that's what I would have wanted at her age."
He broke his gaze from the wall, and noticed her name tag, Pamela, and nodded at her last comment.
"So, I'll take what you have, and find the perfect set." He handed her the sets he had been considering and set them on a shelf. She moved a little to the section of a nice brand and higher quantity, she picked up a set of 64 pencils and handed them to him.
"Would you like to buy paper, a paintbrush or any accessories, as well?"
"Ummm, whatever you think a blossoming artist would need." He trusted her to not sell him arbitrary items.

Pam lead him to the pencil cases and suggested one that had a lock, he picked one with a cute pattern, she admired that he knew exactly the kind of pattern his niece would like. She quickly grabbed a couple different sized paint brushes and a pencil sharpener on the way to the paper aisle.
“Picking paper is the second most complicated step in this process, there are many sizes and weight options.” she said, “I know, I sell paper for a living.” He replied dryly, “But my company only sells copier paper, nothing special.” He continued as she picked out a large pad, and a smaller size for on the go drawing, and some watercolor paper blank cards that his niece could draw on.
“I think that’s all you might need.”
“Okay”
“I’ll ring you up.”
She carried the basket of items to the front and starts to scan the items. She hadn’t really had the chance to look at him before. God, he was cute, his slightly shaggy hair falling over his forehead, his shy smile. He handed her his credit card when she was done scanning and announced the total. She took it from him, swiped it, and while she waited for the receipt to print she glanced at the name, James D. Halpert, it suited him. “Thanks for coming in today, James. Hope your niece likes the gift!” Pam said. “Thanks for your help, Pamela. I think she will!” As she watched him leave the store, she had a feeling that would not be the last time they would meet.
While she was on her lunch break, Pam received a text:
To: Pam Beesly
From: Kelly Kapoor
Hey! Ryan and I are going out to a bar tonight, and you should totally come along, I already have a cute top for you to wear!

To:Kelly Kapoor
From: Pam Beesly
I don’t really want to be a third-wheel. I’ll enjoy a quiet night at home, with a glass of wine and catching up on tv shows. You guys go out and have fun.

To: Pam Beesly
From: Kelly Kapoor
You neeeeed to get out Pam. I’ll help you find a cute guy. You haven't dated anyone since you broke it off with Roy, for no reason!

To:Kelly Kapoor
From:Pam Beesly
I had plenty of very valid reasons to break it off with Roy. Anyway we are not talking about this again. And I guess you are right, I’ll come with you guys.

To:Pam Beesly
From: Kelly Kapoor
OMG! Yayayayayay!

The rest of the workday was pretty boring and mundane. When Pam arrived at home, Kelly was in her room waiting to help her get ready for their night out. Kelly shoved a blouse, that was actually, quite surprisingly, Pam’s style, into Pam’s arms then immediately went to the closet to find one of Pam’s pencil skirts. Once she was dressed Kelly helped her put on just a bit of make-up and tame her hair.
Ryan came to pick up the two ladies and the trio headed to Poor Richard’s Pub. While they sat in their booth, Pam heard stories of Ryan’s days at Business school and weird stories from the customer service desk and helpline. Then the dreaded question came, from Ryan, “So, anything interesting happen at the store today, Pam?” She thought to herself, “I could just lie, how would they know if I met some cute guy I will never meet again today?”
“Pam?” Kelly said with some insistence, “She’s hesitating, something totally happened! What happened?”
“Oh, sorry. I'm just tired. Nothing happened today, I swear.”
Just as she finished speaking the pub door opened, and a group of people walked in. “Omg!” she thought, “It’s him." she whispered.

Jim walked back into the office and nothing had changed since he had left about 1 hour ago.  Dwight was away from his desk at the moment, so Jim took this opportunity to add another nickel to Dwight’s phone, the plan was to occasionally add a nickel, and once the receiver was full, Jim would empty out all the nickels at once and Dwight would then hit himself in the head. Pulling semi-funny pranks on his very annoying desk mate. But for some reason he stayed. Week after week, month after month, year after year, for 8 years. He made some sales calls and did some paper work. Then his mind wandered to the girl at the art supply stores, “Dammit, I should have asked for her number.  I could go there tomorrow and see if she is working. No. That’s bordering creepy and stalkerish. I have to see her again and actually talk to her, not just about things related to work. Oh, god, what if she’s in  a relationship, or she could be married.” He hated his anxious tendencies, “ Even if that is  the case you could still be friends with her.”  He thought optimistically. He went to the vending machines in the break room and got a grape soda and sat to clear his head. When he finished his soda, he headed back to his desk. He checked his email, even though it was 4:30 on a Friday, and he knew there wouldn’t be anything in his inbox. Nothing happened for the rest of the day. As Jim was shutting down his computer, Meredith walked by and announced, “ A group of us are going to Poor Richard’s, who else wants to come?” Jim pondered for a few seconds, then replied, “I’ll come for a drink or two.”

He arrived just as most everyone was getting out of their cars and he rushed a bit so he could join the group. They all walked in and sat at the tables near the front, ordered drinks and everyone began to discuss plans for the weekend and complaining about their boss’ antics. After 10 minutes of this Jim’s attention turned to looking around the bar, looking at the decor, which had not changed in the time that Jim had started to join this outing with his co-workers, so he already knew every little detail of it, as he was looking at the signs behind the bar, he noticed a girl there, sitting, clearly waiting for a drink, with hair just like Pamela’s, “That can’t be her, can it? That would just be so weird.”  “I am going to get another beer, anyone else want something?” Jim asked, mostly just to be polite, Angela replied “ I will have another water. Thank you.” Jim stood up, walked to the bar and ordered the items, and sat to wait, there was just one stool between them now, but she was looking away, signaling to her friends in the back. She then turned back to the bartender and asked how much longer it would be. “That is her, how weird is this.”

“It’s you.”

“Well, weird coincidence running into you here, James.”

“I actually go by Jim, nice to see you again Pamela.”

“That does suit you better, and I really must have that nametag changed, I don’t particularly like my full name, I prefer Pam.”

They were interrupted by Angela ,” Jim,would you stop flirting, like you do with any girl that will look at you, I would like my water.”

“I am sorry Angela, here is your water, and an extra coaster.” She takes it from him and stiffly walks back to the group table.

“I’m sorry about her, she is just a bit judgemental.”

“A bit?”

“Alright, a lot”

“Seems like quite the cast of characters for a paper company.”

“Trust me, one of the only things keeping me at this job is the antics that happen because of them. That’s not even all of them. It’s weirder and more fun when we are all together. I feel like I am one of the only rational ones there at times, even though I pull pranks on my deskmate.”

“Which one is that?”

“The one with the glasses and the parted bangs, sitting across from Angela. Get this he has a 60 acre beet farm, that he owns and runs with his cousin.”

“That is very interesting.”

“One of the most annoying people.”

Their conversation went on and on, discussing coworkers, Jim always beat Pam at weird work stories. They didn’t even notice when their respective groups left the bar, they just kept talking.

“OMG, whats happening? Who is “him” ??” Kelly rushed, “Something totally happened at work today! Spill it!”

“ Okay, fine. Do you see that tall guy with the sorta shaggy hair?” Kelly nods, “He came into the store today, and I think he is cute, but I didn’t really have a moment to say anything to him, except about what kind of pencils and paper to buy.” Pam sighed.

“You should totally go up to the bar and see if he notices it’s you.”

“The chances he noticed me the same way are so low. You really think that might work?”

“Totally, I mean what are the chances you guys go to the same bar, on the same night, you have to at least try!”

“I won’t stay there for too long.” Pam replied as she stood up to walk to the bar.

She ordered another drink and after about 5 minutes when she suddenly felt another presence at the bar, Kelly smiled really big and clapped her hands together, and Pam turned around and found James sitting one stool over.

“Could I get another white wine?”

“It’s you.”

“Well, weird coincidence running into you here, James.”

“I actually go by Jim, nice to see you again Pamela.”

“That does suit you better, and I really must have that nametag changed, I don’t particularly like my full name, I prefer Pam.”

They were interrupted by Angela ,” Jim,would you stop flirting, like you do with any girl that will look at you, I would like my water.”

“I am sorry Angela, here is your water, and an extra coaster.” She takes it from him and stiffly walks back to the group table.

“I’m sorry about her, she is just a bit judgemental.”

“A bit?”

“Alright, a lot”

“Seems like quite the cast of characters for a paper company.”

“Trust me, one of the only things keeping me at this job is the antics that happen because of them. That’s not even all of them. It’s weirder and more fun when we are all together. I feel like I am one of the only rational ones there at times, even though I pull pranks on my desk mate.”

“Which one is that?”

“The one with the glasses and the parted bangs, sitting across from Angela. Get this he has a 60 acre beet farm, that he owns and runs with his cousin.”

“That is very interesting.”

“One of the most annoying people.”

"He looks like he deserves it" Pam thought, “None of my coworkers are that interesting, nothing interesting happens at North Eastern Pennsylvania Art Supplies.”

“Our boss holds an awards show annually, called the Dundies. Most of the Awards are extremely offensive.”

Hours, but what seemed like minutes for the two of them, later, Pam glanced at her watch.

“It’s already 11! I should get home.”

“I should too, I have a birthday party to be at tomorrow.”

To: Pam Beesly

From: Jim Halpert

Vanessa really likes all the supplies you picked out. She was really excited when she saw the pencils were Prismacolor! I had no idea how important it is to have the right brand of pencils.

To: Jim Halpert

From: Pam Beesly

Of course it matters! I was not just going to recommend kiddy pencils because just because she’s a young artist. Anyway, are you enjoying spending the whole day with kids? :/

To: Pam

From: Jim

I actually happen to really like kids! I even babysit for one of my coworkers every once in awhile. And I love going to my niece and nephew’s t-ball games, recitals and plays.

To:Jim

From: Pam

All right then. I’ll stop distracting you now, keep having fun.

Later the same day

To: Pam

From: Jim

Well that was exhausting. V is now making as many thank you cards as possible for everyone she can think of.

As Jim looked up from his phone, Vanessa came bounding in, and asked,”What was the name of the person that helped you at the store?

“How do you know someone helped me?”

“Well, you don’t really know anything about art.”

“That is true, you are quite smart. Her name was Pam.”

“Awesome. Thanks!” Vanessa replied as she ran off.

To: Jim

From: Pam

That’s really sweet.

To: Pam

From: Jim

She is having fun. Anyway, I am having a BBQ at my house next weekend, do you want to come?

To:Jim

From: Pam

Sure. Just let me know the time and the place.

Pam arrived at Jim’s apartment around 7, even though he had told her it would start at 6:30, she didn’t want to be the first one there. She rung the doorbell and a man answered, and introduced himself as Jim’s roommate, Matt. She walked in, hung her jacket on the coatrack as instructed. She was shown the drink table, she poured herself a glass of wine and surveyed the few faces in the room, her eyes landing on Jim, he waved, ended the conversation he was having and walked over to Pam.

“Welcome to my humble abode.”

“ Thank you. It is quite nice.”

“Hold on a second, I have something for you. Let me go get it, before I forget.”

Jim walked to the hallway and ducked into a room, a few seconds later he came back and handed her an envelope, with “Pam” carefully written in the middle.

“It’s from my niece.”
“Oh, wow!”

She carefully opened the envelope, pulled out a card with “Thank you!” written in careful calligraphy across the front, and plenty of artfully placed color. She opened the card and read what was inside:

Dear Pam,

I wanted to thank the person who helped my clueless uncle find the perfect gift

as soon as I opened it I knew he had to have had help. So thank you so much for respecting me as a young artist and instructing him to buy the perfect pencils, and

Paper.

Many thanks,

Vanessa

Pam was very impressed by the neat cursive writing from a 13 year old.

A man, that Pam recognized as Dwight from the night at the bar, interjected on their conversation.

“When is Michael getting here?”

“Any minute now.” Jim stated after quickly glancing at his watch.

Dwight walked away without noticing Pam.

“How did Vanessa know you would see me again?”

“I actually have no idea….Maybe she has some strong intuition.”

“She does seem like a smart and sophisticated person for a 13 year old. Well I don't want to hog you all night, go socialize with your other guests.”

“I see these people everyday, I want to talk to you.”

“Well at least introduce me to people so it doesn't seem like you just had this party so you could talk to me again.” Pam giggled.

“Well aren't you smart. You figured it out my plan.” Jim said jokingly, to not let on that she had in fact just joked about his plan.

Just then Dwight shouted “Surprise!” and Jim doubled over in giggles.

“I told him it was a surprise party for Michael.”

“Well this will make him upset.”
Dwight came up to Jim, this time he nodded at Pam, and said, “ This wasn't a surprise party for Michael!”

“No it wasn't. Anyway, this is Pam.”

Dwight shook her hand firmly. “Dwight K.Schrute, assistant regional manager of Dunder Mifflin Scranton, and Beet Farmer.”

“To the” Jim said. And Dwight walked away.

“Well that was Dwight, who else should you meet.”

“So you boinkin him?” A red-haired lady asked Pam

“Umm”

“Meredith, what was that? This is Pam.”

“Hey, it was a valid question.”

“Surprisingly I have friends outside of work.”

“Well it was a pleasure to meet you Meredith.” Meredith left to get another drink.

“You handled that with such grace.”

“One of my many good qualities.”

Jim saw Michael walking toward them, and he said, “ Here we go, my boss, big moment.”

“JIMBO, awesome party, and who is this pretty little lady?”

“ This is Pam.”

“Well, nice to meet you.” Michael said.

“ Nice to meet you to.”

Michael left to talk to (annoy) some other people.

“I am in awe.”

“What?”

“How are you so good at this?”

“Retail. My personality?” She shrugged.

“I have to go grab some ice for the drinks, wait here.”

“Ok”

Jim left her standing in the living room by the window. She glanced out the window and gasped at what she saw, Dwight and Angela talking, then kissing. She looked away and composed herself. She looked around and noticed that Jim had been pulled into a conversation with a few people that she hadn't met yet, so she started to look around. She went down the hallway and found Jim’s room. It was semi-neat, a few pictures of family, and a basketball poster. She sat down in his desk chair, and looked at his small bookshelf. She spotted a yearbook, and thought to herself, “This will be gold”. She opened it and flipped through the pages, and she reached the page with Jim’s class pictures, immediately found his and giggled.

“Oh no. no,non no.”

Pam looked up in surprise, “Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I got overwhelmed by all the people and needed to just take a minute.” She said as she closed the yearbook and stood up.

“That’s totally fine. So you found out how dorky looking I was in High School.”

“You were cute, I mean you still are, but you haven't known dorky until you know what I was like in High School. I wore paint stained clothes everyday, and spent every lunch break in the art room, painting.”

“That’s not dorky, that’s dedication.”

Pam smiled and giggled, “I’m glad you think that.”

In that moment Jim knew that she was it, she was his destiny, she was the only one he could imagine having the house with a white picket fence with.

Another boring day at the office for Jim, yielded him to call Pam for lunch, he knew it was her day off. He dialed her number on his desk phone as usual, over the past few months he had memorized her number. The only drama in the office today was that the higher ups at corporate had found out about Michael and Jan’s, Michael’s boss, relationship, which would probably end up badly, but Jim did not care, to say the least. Pam answered the phone and agreed to come by, and they would go to lunch, she seemed excited to tell him something.

“Dunder Mifflin, this is Caitlyn, how can I help you? I’ll transfer you.”

Jim’s phone rang, he picked up.

“Hey, Jim, it’s David Wallace from Corporate.”

“Hi, David.”

As soon as he said that, Michael came out of his office and started bugging Jim about why the CFO of the company was calling him.

“There will be an opening at corporate soon, and I suggested that you come interview, the rest of the hiring committee agreed. So would you be interested in interviewing?”

“Sure, when?”

“Next Monday morning.”

“Works for me.”

“Alright, I’ll see you then. Bye Jim.”

“Bye David.” He hung up the phone and addressed Michael’s questions.

At the news that there was a job at corporate, Michael practically sprinted the 4 feet to his office while calling out, “Caitlyn, get David Wallace on the phone!”

“This won’t end well.” Jim thought.

Pam entered the office, and Jim immediately hopped up and greeted her, and they headed out.

They went to the normal place, Cooper’s. Ordered and then Jim mused, “What did you want to tell me?”

“Well, when we first met, I was applying to art school, I mean I only applied to Pratt, it’s something I have always wanted to do and my ex-fiance, never really supported me, because it meant that I would be living in New York for 2 years. That’s beside the point, the point is that I got in, and I’m pretty sure I am going to go.”

“That’s awesome!” Jim stood up to hug her in congratulations.

“The only thing left to do is go for an interview next week.”

“I have an interview at corporate, on Monday.”

“My interview is on Tuesday, you want to go together?”

“Sure. We could leave Sunday Morning so we could have a day in the city. I haven’t been to just see the city since middle school.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

They ate their lunch and headed back to the office.

Jim hugged Pam goodbye and sat down at his desk, and was greeted with Michael, “Heya Jimbo, when you goin in for the interview?”

“My interview is Monday.”

“Hey, how about that, mine too! You wanna drive together, I could pick you up in the Sebring.”

“No thanks, I am heading up on Sunday with a friend.”

“A girlfriend? Why don’t you keep me updated on your love life Jim?”

“She is just a friend, and I think it would be inappropriate for me to keep you updated on my personal life.” Jim ended the conversation, and returned to making calls.  

A little later on he headed back to the annex to HR, to talk to Toby about taking Tuesday off. He seemed to think it was fine and gave Jim a form to fill out. Back at his desk he texted Pam, asking her about a hotel, he suggested that he book two rooms, and she pay him back for it. He booked a reasonably priced hotel, not too far from Pratt and the Corporate office.

Pam walked out of the building and spotted Jim sitting on a bench in the park across the street. She sat next to him, “Your note really helped me get through that. So thanks.”

“No problem. Let’s head to the car.”

“Okay.”

About 10 minutes into the care ride Jim asked, “ So, I have been wondering how a very talented young artist, who was able to get into Pratt, got stuck as an employee at a midsized art supply store?”

“That’s a long story.”

“We have a 2.5 hour car ride, fill me in.”

“First you have to tell me about your most recent relationship.” She said hoping it would buy her some time.

“Other than a few unreciprocated flirtations from my co-worker, Karen, my last somewhat serious relationship was this handbag sales girl named Katie.”

That wasn't quite as much as she thought but, oh well.

“Okay, I think I have mentioned this once, but I was engaged for nearly 3 years to my high school sweetheart. And lets just say he is not the ambitious type. We both went to Scranton Community College while living at home for a year, then he proposed and we moved in together. We finished school and I got a job at the art supply store and he found work as a warehouse worker. We had been dating for almost 6 years at this point. Over the 3 years that we were engaged, I mentioned going to Pratt or some sort of art school a few times, his response was always something to the tune of ‘why bother you’ll just be my little housewife anyway?’ The last time I mentioned it, we had set a date, and it was two days away. I asked him again, because now that we are married financial aid would actually be better, and it would give him an excuse to visit New York City more often, and plus there was a 12 week break between sessions. He exploded, and I will never forget what he said to me, ‘Jesus Christ Pammy, would you just drop this hole art school program thing, and just be my damn wife? I need you to cook and clean. What kind of job an even get with that degree? You just end up at home with the kids anyway.’ I didn’t even say anything back, I just pulled the ring of my finger and slammed it on the counter, went to our room and packed a bag and left. That was 6 months ago.”

“Wow. Sounds like a total asshole, who didn’t deserve you at all. We are about halfway, pull into the next gas station and we’ll switch places.”

“I’ll fill, you run in and get some drinks.”

Jim jogged into the am/pm and found a grape soda and a coke, made his purchase and jogged back to the car.

Pam was still pumping the gas when he came back, so he stood with her.

She had taken note of the jogging and carefully flicked the top and sides of the can and opened it slowly.

Jim on the other hand just went for it. He cracked the lid, and there was grape soda everywhere.

“What the hell happened?”

“I don’t know” He looked at her with a grin

“You are such an idiot.”

She looked at him covered in grape soda, and thought, Kelly was right, I’m so smitten with him.

“ Hey come here, you know that note and you being able to handle what I just dumped on you, and that you still want to be friends with me..”

“Who wouldn’t want to be friends with you?” Jim asked as he inched closer. 

"Lot's of people, but here's the thing, I want more than that with you."

"I do too."