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"Pam a lama ding dong!" Michael’s annoyingly high-pitched voice rang out through the office and Pam winced and tried not to show her annoyance. Like her life wasn't awful enough right now, with Jim and Karen flaunting their relationship all over the office. Okay, so that was Pam being bitter. She knew that they were being professional - at least Jim was. Karen seemed ridiculously clingy lately, giving im awkward hugs in the middle of the day and questioning Pam about Jim. Pam snapped back to the present when Micheal banged loudly on her desk like a two year old.

"Earth to the Spamster!!"

"Yes, Michael?" Pam tried to keep the condescension out of her voice.

"So, I was trying to set up my TiVo and hurt my wrist. As you know, fresh yams put me in a good mood and make my boo-boos go away, soooo....yeah. Get on that, would you Pammy-Lammy?"

"Michael, you want me to leave the office in the middle of the day and drive all over the county looking for fresh yams in February when this branch still isn't performing well?"

All Pam got was a blank stare.

"Okay, Michael. How about gas money?"

Blank stare. Pam sighed heavily.

"Oh, and Pamera! How bout you drag someone else along with you in case you get lost? 'Cause, you know, girls and driving..." Michael glanced into the camera and caught himself "are great together! But...still...I really want those yams by the end of the day."

Pam prayed that she could go by herself so she wouldn't have to put up with Creed's inappropriate stares and comments, Angela's thinly veiled insults, or Kelly's incessant chatter.

"Jimbo! Hop in the car with Pammy and get me with those yammys! Hahahaha I rhymed."

Pam caught Karen giving her a look - not quite a dirty look, but not a happy one. Jim looked pleased, though, and spun around in his chair to shoot her one of their old familiar glances. Back before I ruined everything and...but Pam stopped her train of thought. Pam smiled back at Jim and was glad she had adopted her "Fancy New Beesly" hair for today and worn pink - she knew Jim loved - had loved? - her in pink.

"So, Beesly, how's the fancy new life going?" Jim asked.

"Well, you know my apartment is just soooo glamorous - that one kitchen and all. Actually, things are good. My classes are great, and the only thing that's missing is, you know...." Pam wanted to say 'you' but refrained.

"Someone to share the glory of that kitchen?" Jim teased, but she could sense an undercurrent of - jealousy? hope? frustration? She couldn't put her finger on it.

"Yep. Too bad Ben Franklin has syphilis!" Their laughter echoed throughout Pam's car and she found herself grinning with happiness that she could make Jim laugh like that again. When he had first came back from Stamford, things had been so awkward that their friendship had felt more like an acquaintance - like they hadn't spent three great years as friends together and that he hadn't confessed his love to her.

"Is it alright if I play some music? I have this great band I think you'd like." Jim asked casually, but he had been carrying the new Shins CD around in hope that he would have a chance to play it for her - and he quickly shoved the thought out of his head that he should want to play it for Karen - remember Halpert? He chided himself. The girl who moved across two states for you? Who wakes up next to you most mornings? Whose body you ravish nightly feverishly, and really thinking about a completely different body and person?

"Definitely! I've been craving some oh-so-hip indie music, and ever since you've moved my life has been empty."

Shitshitshit. Pam scrambled to cover.

"Without cool indie music, I mean" stumbling over her words.

Jim slipped the CD in and they both concentrated on the music for a long time, stopping at different stores along the way and finding, of course, most grocery stores in Pennsylvania in February were fresh out of fresh yams. Looking at the time, Pam was shocked to find it was almost 3 p.m. The CD and her happiness at being so close to Jim again had wiled away the hours.

"Well, we should probably head back..." Pam said reluctantly.

"You know, Pam, you never used to be a quitter" Jim said teasingly. "In fact, I remember many a time when you were willing to go way above and beyond the call of duty just to pull a prank on Dwight or annoy Angela and now you want to give up on Michael’s desperate need for yams. Tsk tsk tsk. Maybe I shouldn’t have deserted you for Stamford after all.”

“No, maybe you shouldn’t have” Pam had much more of a bite in her voice than she had meant to, so she recovered by unveiling an idea that had been in her head all day.

“Well, Halpert, if you’re up for it, I think I have the solution to Michael’s yam problem.”

“Is that a challenge Beesly? Oh, you know I’m game.”

“Okay then Halpert, our mission, should you choose to accept it, is to drive to New York in search for these elusive yams. After all, the city has every food ever.”

Pam held her breath. She was hoping against hope that a long drive and jaunt around the city with Jim would be just what they needed to repair their relationship…whatever it was.

“Oh, you are so on Beesly! Let me just make a call or two and we are hitting the road.”

Pam grinned quickly and dialed the office to let Michael know that they would be making a home delivery of fresh yams later on tonight. After putting up with him for ten excrutating minutes, Pam shut the phone with a satisfying click and turned to Jim, who was casually driving and chatting at the same time.

“Yeah, I know we had plans but come on! Fresh yams for Michael! Yeah, I’m still with Pam. Yeah, I know. I know. Karen…I know. I’ll call you later.”

Jim had a disgruntled look on his face, so Pam ventured a tentative “Is everything okay?”

“Oh, you know. Your species is so annoying.”

“My species??”

“Womenfolk.”

“Okay, now you sound scarily like Dwight. What is going on?”

And Pam settled back comfortably in her passenger seat as Jim regaled her with tales of Karen’s late night talks and insecurity. She had a nagging feeling that Karen was quite aware of the entire situation and Jim was merely holding onto Karen to run away from getting hurt again by her. This upset Pam, because now she knew how much she loved Jim she would never, ever do anything to hurt him ever again. But she knew she needed time to prove it, so she played the role of friend and listener and advice giver.

Time flew by yet again and it seemed just like the old days. Pam found herself drifting off to the soothing music and the fading daylight and was prodded awake by Jim asking about her love life. Pam giggled.

“Love life? You mean other than getting leered at by Kevin, Creed and the Ben Franklin impersonator?

“Well, you’re very leer-able.”

Yet another awkward pause.

Jim, like Pam, scrambled to cover his tracks.

“I mean, it is the era of the Fancy New Beesly. You won’t have any trouble fitting in at NYC.”

“Well, it’s a fancy new Jim too! You even have new suits. I don’t think you bought a new suit your entire three years at Scranton.”

“Times change Beesly. Times change.”

‘Indeed, Halpert. I mean, just think about it” and Pam took a deep breath to urge herself to go and say how she truly felt when Jim quickly shushed her and turned up the radio.

“Weather Bulletin! Weather Bulletin! All areas in and around New York City are under weather advisement. A large snowstorm is heading quickly our way and if you are on the road, please pull over and find a place to wait it out” the monotonous radio warning declared. A secret thrill ran through Pam at the thought of sharing a room with Jim.

“Goddamn!” Jim exclaimed and whipped out his cell phone, pressing speed dial. Pam tried not to eavesdrop, but it was a little hard seeing that she was about six inches away and stared out the window. Jim argued with Karen for about fifteen minutes as he looked for a motel, finally finding a slightly shady one by the name of “Paradise Lost” with chipped paint and a creaky ‘Vacant’ sign flapping in the breeze. Pam could hear how tense Jim was and knew the argument was about him spending the night in a room with her. Jim clicked the phone shut and stalked up to the front desk, asking for two rooms.

“Sorry” drawled the paunchy clerk “only one room left.”

“Fine.” Jim remarked coldly and swiped the emergency corporate credit card. They walked silently to their room, a dingy room with faded yellow wallpaper and a frightening smell. Closing the door, Jim sighed heavily and ran his hands through his gorgeous hair.

“Soooo” Pam trailed.

“Yeah, Karen dumped me.” Jim stated grimly and walked over to the mini-bar and grabbed some whisky. Pam felt sorry that Jim was so obviously upset, but deep down was thrilled.

“I’m sorry, Jim. It’s all my fault, isn’t it?”

“Well, Beesly, unless you’re responsible for the weather, nah.” And she was so glad to hear the joking tone in his voice again. “Actually, Karen has been jealous of our friendship since she got here and this was the final straw.”

Pam murmured again how sorry she was and talked with Jim for quite a while, curled up on the bed passing whisky back and forth. Looking at the clock, and seeing the blurry numbers, she realized that it was later than she thought and she was drunker than she thought. Jumping up, Pam told Jim she was going to hop in the shower quickly.

Closing the door behind her and sighing heavily, Pam wished with all her heart she was brave or drunk enough to go out there and tell him her true feelings. But Pam had never been a brave girl and it had taken every ounce of strength in her body to call off her wedding. Peeling off her clothes, Pam looked askance at the dirty shower and tried to shrug it off. Stepping under the shower, she tried to shake her head clear of all Jim-related thoughts but failed miserably. She thought about his long, tall limbs and his gentle touch and almost before she knew what she was doing, Pam reached between her legs.

Rocking under the water, thinking of Jim, Pam’s left hand caressed her dusty pink nipples and groaned. Circling her clit, thoughts of what Jim’s hand could do so much better than her own – or Roy’s, if she was honest – overcame her and she slunk down the shower wall and sped up her hand moments. She became dimly aware of a knock on the bathroom door and peeked her head out of the shower curtain and called out to come in.

Jim stumbled in and said something about room service. Pam nodded that she would be right out.

Jim swayed back to the motel bed and flopped across it, his long legs dangling off the edges. Just the thought of Pam in the shower….goddamn. And in this dingy motel room, drunk, right after his rebound had dumped him, all Jim Halpert wanted to do was to stalk in there and rip his clothes and the shower curtain off and take her right there and then like he had wanted to do for the past three or so years. But Jim had never been a brave man, and it had taken every ounce of his strength to confess his true feelings, and look where it had gotten him. So Jim shook his head and tipped the last of the whisky bottle down his throat. He wasn’t a heavy drinker, but he definitely needed it tonight. Digging into his practically raw steak, Pam emerged from the steamy bathroom, looking adorably young and beautiful. Her hair was wet and back to her natural curls (which, honestly, he preferred to the Fancy New Beesly ‘do) and she smelled like lilacs. Curling up on the foot of the bed, she joked about the disgusting food and she dug out a half bottle of rum from the mini bar.

Pam had decided to get drunk, after all. Her interrupted orgasm and the tension of being around Jim and not spilling her guts was getting to her, so she washed down her crummy food with rum and Jim did the same.

The digital clock read 2 a.m. by the time they were done trading stories about what had gone on at the Dunder-Mifflin branches when the other was absent and Pam found herself telling Jim that she had missed him the most when Michael had called a gay awareness conference about Oscar and Jim confessed that when Andy had gone haywire about the jello covered calculator, he kept looking for her to share the victory with. There was yet another awkward pause between the two and Pam cleared her throat.

“Well, Halpert, I guess we had better hunker down for the night.”

“You are right Ms. Beesly.” Jim slurred slightly. “I, as the gentleman, will take the floor, if you would be so kind as to lend me a blanket.”

“Jim, don’t be stupid. We’re adults, we can share a bed together without being immature.”

“Pam…” and Jim drifted off.

“Jim.” And Pam’s voice was defiant and clear and had a ring of authority Jim wasn’t used to hearing from his favorite secretary.

“Alrighty then, I guess this is it.” And Jim crawled awkwardly underneath the covers as Pam did the same. After another silence that lasted way too long, Pam and Jim both realized one thing: the thermostat was going crazy and the heat was cranked to maximum.

“Jim, is it just me or is it hotter than hell in here?” Pam asked tentatively to the dark.

“You are completely right, and I for one am dying.”

“Well, I’m going to be an adult and do the mature thing.”

“Water gun fight?”

“If only! I’m just going to, um,” and Pam’s voice drifted off as the rustling of clothes was heard.

“Pam, are you…naked?”

“Why, Jim Halpert! Are you trying to take advantage of me?”

“God no! I was just, um, and” Jim stumbled endearingly over his words and Pam giggled.

“I’m just down to my ‘unmentionables’ as my Nana would say.”

“Naughty Ms. Beesly, naughty indeed” and Jim’s breath caught in his throat as the thought of Pam…his Pam…practically naked next to him in a dark motel room when they were both tipsy. “I think I may do the same” and Jim shucked off his uncomfortable work clothes and settled back into bed in his boxer briefs.

Silence, yet again.

Finally Pam cleared her throat.

“I don’t know if it’s the heat or the rum or what, but I am not getting any sleep.”

“Me either.”

“So of course you know what that means.”

“Truth or Dare?”

“Of course.”

Both smiled.

“As my senior, Mr. Halpert, and second in command at Dunder-Mifflin Scranton, you must go first.”

“Obviously, Ms. Beesly. Which would you prefer?”

“Let’s start off easy…truth!”

Jim inhaled and gathered his strength.

“Why didn’t you call me after you broke it off with Roy?”

Pam gasped quietly. “I guess not too easy, after all. Well, you moved away. I thought you needed space and time and I didn’t know how to strike our friendship up again. You seemed so far away.”

Jim was eerily silent and Pam feared he had fallen asleep and tried to inject a joking tone back into her voice.

“Alright Halpert, truth or dare?”

“Dare.” Said quietly and defiantly.

“I dare you to…tell me one fantasy you have of me.”

Another deep breath.

“Now, Ms. Beesly, doesn’t that count as a truth?”

“Never, Mr. Halpert! Now share.”

Jim inhaled deeply and began. “Well, my most popular one is of you with your hair down and in that pink cardigan and we’re laughing about our latest prank and you and I are both single. Slowly everyone leaves the office, but we’re so busy talking we don’t even notice. Soon you and I are the only ones left and I reach down to play with a loose curl and you grab my hand and kiss it and….”

“And?” Pam pressured.

“Pam, I don’t know if this is a good idea.”

“Are you backing out, Halpert?”

“Never, Beesly. I shall continue. So we end up kissing, me leaning awkwardly over your desk, and I finally pick you right up and place you on your counter, knocking over everything.”

“Even the jellybeans?”

“Even the jellybeans. So things continue and voila!”

“Voila? That’s your fantasy? Voila?”

“I don’t know, Pam.”

“Jim. Please.” Pam stated with a yearning tone Jim had never quite heard before but had imagined many, many times.

“Okay, you asked for it. I slowly work your panties off – black and lacy, of course – and slide them down over your legs. Your shirt and skirt fall to the floor until suddenly you’re naked before me, and God you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I kiss you all over and trail my way down. Happy yet?”

“Jim…keep going.”

“Why, Pam? Why?”

“Because I’m wet.”

And with those three words Jim’s heart stopped beating.

“Pam?”

“Dammit, Jim, keep going.”

Jim hears the sliding of a hand down a curvy body and imagines a slender, graceful hand dipping under the elastic of her panties and begins to grow hard.

“I trail kisses along her breasts, biting down on her nipples until you groan my name and I make my way down to your thighs, where I kiss you until you come in my mouth, shaking.”

Jim hears a sharp intake of breath and his own hands starts wandering south.

“And that’s it. So, Beesly” and Jim tries to make the tone more light-hearted “truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

“I dare you….to kiss me.”

Pam takes a deep breath and slides closer to Jim. He can feel her practically naked beside him, and it almost kills him. She rakes a hand through his hair, reaches up, and gives him the most passionate kiss he’s ever had. A kiss laced with promise and intentions and hope and passion and he groans her name into her mouth and she smiles against his lips and lays back down.

“Let’s say we give up the game for now and concentrate on other matters at hand, Ms. Beesly.”

“Whatever you say, Mr. Halpert.”

And he rolls over on his side to kiss her as hard as he can, his hands trailing all across her beautiful body. He unclips her bra with ease and finally, finally touches those glorious breasts and kisses and bites and caresses until she pants heavily and whispers his name into the night. She slides a petite hand into his boxers and begins to massage him slowly and he does the same for her. They rock against each other, moaning and whispering the other’s name until the come simultaneously. Breathing hard, they break apart.

“Well, Ms. Beesly…” and he’s interrupted by yet another kiss.

She slides her small body on top of him and, fishing a condom out of her purse, rolls it onto him easily and positions just so and eases onto him and they both gasp and slow down to enjoy the moment. Jim can’t believe he’s finally inside the woman of his dreams and she’s rocking slowly, her breasts luminous in the moonlight, and he reaches up to play in her hair and kiss her rosy lips and it’s not long at all before they come yet again. He’s so hard, Pam thinks blushingly and now they’re ready for a slow lovemaking session. He eases on top of her, careful not to rest his full weight on her slight little body, and runs his hands all over her body, reaching down to tap her clit oh so lightly and delicately. She shivers and scratches his back. He waits until her lips open in delight and enters her again, thrusting slowly to let her enjoy his full length. Now that’s he already come (twice) he knows he can concentrate on her coming first. He lazily scrapes the underside of her breasts with tongue and teeth and kisses the hollow of her neck, her eyelids, her jaw line, the inside of her ear, anything he can get a hold of. He continues to make circles on her clit and she’s shaking hard and moaning against him. He looks down lovingly at Pam, beautiful, loving, funny Pam and he can’t believe he’s finally doing this. She comes with a loud cry and he’s soon to follow and gently leaves her. She curls up in the crook of his arm contentedly and falls asleep, a smile playing across her flushed face.

Strolling into the office the next morning, Pam casually hands Michael his fresh yams and smiles softly at Jim, who had bribed Ryan with a month of paying off his bar tab at Poor Richard’s for his old desk back.