“Are you okay? I heard about what happened at work today.”

Pam walked in to her room and threw her purse and jacket on her bed. She slowly lowered herself on her bed and crawled under the covers. Andrea stood patiently waiting for Pam to answer.

“I’m fine. I just got light headed.”

“Why did you pass out?”

“I don’t know.”

Andrea sat on the edge of Pam’s bed and looked at her in confusion. “Have you been sick? Oh my…are you pregnant?” Andrea slapped her hand over her mouth.

Pam giggled and responded, “No! That’s not even a possibility.”

“You never know. You and Ben are close.”

“Whatever. We’re friends.”

“Sure you are.” Andrea said as she taunted Pam. Pam stayed silent until she decided to tell Andrea about what had happened.

“I saw Jim today.”

“That guy from Scranton?”

“Yeah. He is a supervisor now. He replaced Jan.”

“Are you serious? Your Jim is James Halpert?”

“Yeah, how did you know that?”

“All the ladies in my department say he’s cute.”

Pam laughed and then felt herself get uncomfortable. She didn’t want to hear what the other ladies in the office were saying about him.

“This one lady says she wants to ask him out.”

“Stop. You’ve got to be kidding me? Already?”

“He’s been here for like two weeks. Isn’t that long enough?”

“I know Jim and he needs more time.”

“Well, a lot of the girls are crazy over him. You’re lucky.”

“No I’m not. We haven’t talked in a long time. Everything is different now. He seems different.”

“How so?”

“He looks it. The way he looks and the way he talks. I can’t explain it.”

“Wait, is that why you passed out?”

“Kind of. I don’t really know why. I just was… overwhelmed. Again, it’s really hard to explain.”

Pam and Andrea’s conversation was interrupted by a knock on their door. Ben opened it a crack.

“Hey, sorry to intrude. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Thanks Ben.”

“Okay. No problem.”

He gave a half smile and pulled the door shut as he left. Pam sighed and knew that Ben was upset with her. It was probably because she was gushing over Jim today. Right before seeing Jim, Ben had opened up to her and she dismissed it. She was taken back when Jim showed up in her life and Ben was there to see her weak. Literally.

----

The next day, Ben sat in silence as they worked. Pam noticed that he was avoiding eye contact with her and didn’t try to look up the whole morning.

“Ben, do you want some more coffee? I’m gonna get some.”

“No. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? I know how you like it.”

“It’s fine. I can get my own.”

Pam noticed that Ben was getting angry and his kept his eyes on his screen. Pam couldn’t take him being upset with her.

“What’s wrong Ben?”

“Nothing.”

He stayed in his position not even acknowledging that Pam still stood next to him. She finally decided to go into the break room for another dose of coffee. She needed it desperately. She hoped that she would see Jim leaning against the vending machine but her hopes were crushed when she realized that he worked in the main headquarters. They had a completely separate break room. She grabbed her coffee and went back to work.

When Pam got back to her desk and looked at Ben, he was still working away on his computer. He had a dissatisfied look on his face. Pam was going to ask him again what was wrong but her phone rang.

“Pamela Beesly’s desk.”

“Pamela. Could I have a word with you in my office.”

“Who is this?”

“Your superior, James Halpert,” Jim said mocking in a deeper voice.

Pam laughed. “You sound like Dwight.”

“Mr. Schrute is a valued employee at Dunder Mifflin. I believe he is stationed at the Scranton Branch.”

“Okay Jim, stop!”

Jim laughed over the phone and Pam knew he was smiling. She could tell by his laugh when he was smiling.

“Can you stop by sometime today? We should catch up.”

“It’s been way too long Jim. We definitely need to catch up. I’ll stop by later today. I’m swamped.”

“So, your art internship is keeping you busy huh?”

“Yes. It’s great. I’ve met some amazing people,” Pam said as she noticed that Ben was staring in her direction for the first time that day.

“Awesome. Well, I’ll let you get back to your duties. See you soon.”

“Yeah, soon.”

----

Jim hung up his phone and tapped his desk with a pen. He looked out of the window to see his secretary Stacy take another message down on a note pad. He was really happy to be in his position. He got a raise, a better job, and Pam was there too, momentarily.

The rest of the morning he spent his time doing his work and focusing on each branch’s performance. He had a meeting in twenty minutes and left word with Stacy that Pam might drop by.

-----

After lunch, Pam walked through the office headquarters doors and over to where his secretary sat. Pam was a little bit jealous of Stacy. She got to work with a great guy. Then again, so did Pam.

Stacy looked up at Pam.

“Is Jim available?”

“He’s in a meeting. You can wait though. He should be out soon.”

Stacy escorted Pam to the couch in Jim’s office. She sat there looking around the office at his walls and desk. He didn’t have anything personal up yet. Usually he would have a picture of his family and other mementos strategically placed around the office by now.

Stacy came in again to put a folder on Jim’s desk. She stopped to talk to Pam.

“How do you know Jim?”

“He’s an old friend. We worked together in Scranton.”

“Oh. He’s a great boss.”

“I’m sure he is.”

“He’s great.”

“Yeah, you said that.”

Pam felt herself getting defensive over Jim. She didn’t want any more women falling in love with him. He had a way about him that made girl’s swoon and Pam knew that he would give in if they pushed him.

“Tell me Pam, is he single?”

Pam was flustered. “I think he is now.”

“Oh.” Stacy said as she smiled and turned to leave the office.

Pam waited in the silence for him to show up. Finally, she heard the door open and he walked in with a bunch of paperwork in hand. He set them on his desk, undid the button on his coat, and grabbed Pam up in a hug. He held her tighter than usual and then released her. He was smiling and it made her feel like fainting again. They hadn’t said a word until he broke the silence.

“Pam, it’s so good to see you.” He grinned and leaned on his desk as she stood across from him.

“You’re telling me!” She returned the gesture and smiled.

“So, what’s new?”

“Everything. It’s been an adventure.”

“Yes it has.” Jim looked over to check his computer screen for any messages and then refocused his attention to Pam.

“Look at you!” she said. “You’re corporate now! And you look great.” Jim sheepishly looked down at his feet then back up at Pam with another smile. He was all smiles today.

“Thanks. You’re looking mighty fine too, Beesly.”

“Yeah. New York shopping can change a woman.” They laughed.

“Have a seat, you don’t have to stand.” Pam turned and went back to the couch she was sitting on before. She sat down and Jim came over to sit next to her.

“Hey, do you know that all the women in this office are hot for you?”

“It’s weird. That’s never happened before.”

“Don’t be so sure. I think Meredith had a thing for you. Oh and Kelly probably. And Creed.”

Jim laughed. Pam looked out his window to see Stacy glaring at them and then turn quickly back towards her computer at the sight of Pam. Pam laughed and looked at Jim.

“I think your secretary has at thing for you too.”

“Nah. Really?” Jim turned to look at Stacy and then leaned his head on his hand, which was propped up on the back of his couch.

“She asked me if you were single. I told her you were.”

“She’s not good enough anyways and how did you know I was single?”

Pam smiled and broke her eye contact with Jim to find something else to talk about. She wanted to hit herself for bringing it up. The phone rang and Pam let out a sigh of relief. Jim jumped up to answer it. She watched as he walked behind his desk. He even had new suits and shoes. She couldn’t pull her eyes away from the new Jim. Despite how much she wanted to lash out about how hurt she was, she wanted to grab him and kiss him. She decided that it wasn’t the best route to take since they haven’t seen each other in a few months.

Jim put the receiver down and walked back over to the couch.

“So, how has your life been?”

“I’ve been great Jim. What about you?”

“As you can tell, I was offered a new job. I left Scranton and I’m happy that I’ve left that behind. It’s awesome here. But, you don’t need me to tell you that.”

“It’s great here. I love it. I think I’m actually going to stay.”

“Really?” Jim’s face gave a look of excitement.

“Yeah. I was offered a position. Me and the other intern Ben.”

“Wow. Sounds like a great opportunity.”

“Yeah. Ben’s a nice guy.” Pam why did you say that, Pam mentally chastised herself.

“He seems nice. You two hit it off?”

“Yup. I think he might stay too.”

“Oh.” Jim glanced at the floor then got up to lean out his door and told Stacy to hold his calls. He turned back around and went back to his first position of leaning against his desk.

“Listen, can we talk over dinner tonight?”

“Jim, I don’t know. I mean, I guess we could do that.”

“It doesn’t have to be a date. Just maybe a good time out with your old pal, Jim Halpert.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“Whatever you want. I haven’t been around the city yet. Do you want to take a tour and then get a bite?”

“What time?”

“Seven.”

“Let’s meet up at Central Park. It’s gorgeous at night.”

“Deal.”