She always hated this time of year. It was bone-chilling cold, but there was no snow on the ground. At the very least, if it had to be five degrees above zero, a little snow would look pretty outside while she sat on her couch in the warmth.
When Jim left tonight, he smiled at her. Of course, he didn't say anthing, but it was to be assumed since she hadn't said anything to him in three weeks. Three whole weeks and the only words uttered by either of them were from Jim talking about coffee filters. Even the other day when Karen walked out the door with her box headed for New York, he sat there without making a peep to Pam.
She got on the elevator a few minutes after he left and braced herself for the cold outside. Oh, warm coffee! She thought about stopping at that coffee shop on her way home and grabbing a mocha before getting back to lonely apartment again and crawling under her covers.
All those warm thoughts left her head as soon as she opened the door to the whipping wind. The whole "wind chill factor" was no joke. She started walking towards her car when she heard an engine in the parking lot turning over and over without starting. She turned to see Jim sitting in his car looking like an icicle, trying to get it going.
Dammit, she thought. She couldn't leave him there to freeze to death. As Pam walked over to his car, she couldn't decide what was making her colder -- the wind chill or the fact that she was going to have stop being so stubborn about this and suck it up.
She knocked on his window and saw him jump a bit at the sound. "You ok?" she yelled through the glass.
He opened the door. "No," he said. "I'm an idiot."
Pam could have told him that already, but it was nice to see he was acknowledging it.
"I turned the light on in my car this morning to find my iPod under the seat and I forgot to turn it off. Battery's dead."
Oh, he was an idiot about the car. Nevermind.
But she finally broke down enough to show some mercy on him. "C'mon. I'll give you a ride home."
"That's ok, I'll just call Triple A."
She sighed. "Jim, it's literally freezing out here and it'll take them ages to show up. Just get in the car."
"Thanks," he said, smiling sheepishly down at his feet before grabbing his bag and walking to her car.
The drive to his place was filled with a weird uncomfortable silence between the two of them. Pam had so much she wanted to let out and no idea where to start, especially considering Jim was sitting there without making a sound in the passenger seat next to her.
She finally made it to his apartment and pulled off on the side of the road to drop him off.
"Thanks again, Pam," he said, reaching for the door handle.
"No problem." She hoped her response didn't sound too icy.
He stopped himself before opening the door. She watched his hand slip from the handle into his lap, his head hanging low. She turned and stared at the little horn button on her steering wheel as the silence engulfed them again. Then he took a deep breath and finally said what she had been waiting to hear.
"It wasn't just a kiss."
"I know," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
Jim nodded his head slightly. "Ok," he said before turning back to the door.
But she couldn't let him go though without saying what she needed to. "Jim."
He turned to look at her, his eyes catching the light from the street lamp outside.
"You didn't misinterpret anything."
"Yeah," he said, his voice low and sounding more like an affirmation than a question.
It wasn't a big declaration of love, but it was the only thing she could articulate after all the months of missing him in Stamford and all the months she missed him when he was back in Scranton.
Pam looked at him and quickly reached up, running her fingers along his jaw line. He leaned into her hand, the scruff from his cheek rubbing against her palm, before kissing it while bracing her wrist with his long fingers. His lips felt rough and chapped on her opened hand, but so warm against her cold skin.
He finally pulled away, his fingers sliding from her arm to her hand. But unlike the night he kissed her, she held on rather than letting go.
They gave each other nervous smiles and Pam looked down at their entwined fingers. The silence between them was much warmer than it had been earlier and the two of them sat there, Jim's thumb lightly brushing hers.
Pam's brain finally started working enough to remember how they ended up in her car together in the first place. "Um...do you need me to pick you up tomorrow morning?"
That's when she got the laugh out of Jim that she had missed so much. "Right, I'm an idiot. How's 7:30?"
"I'll be here with donuts and jumper cables."
Jim gave her a lop-sided smile. "Wow. Jumper cables? Fancy schmancy."
"They're not diamond-encrusted jumper cables, Jim. Just the regular kind."
He shook his head a bit. "You're never going to let me forget this, are you?"
"I'm never going to let you forget alot of things," she said, smiling back at him.
"I hope you don't," he said quietly with a warmth back in his voice that she hadn't heard for a long time.
He turned to get out of the car, his hand slipping slowly from hers.
"I'll see you tomorrow," she called to him as he climbed out of the car.
"Ok." He closed the door behind him and waved to her from the sidewalk. She watched him unlock the front door before finally driving away.
She couldn't be mad at him anymore.
Author's Chapter Notes:
This is it kids! Thanks again to fwf for the beta and U2 for the inspiration for this final chapter title.
Chapter End Notes:
Thanks for all the reviews!
sharky is the author of 26 other stories.
This story is a favorite of 14 members. Members who liked Electricity also liked 2343 other stories.
