When Jim arrived home from work, he kicked off his shoes and loosened his tie. His routine included turning on the television, getting something to drink, eventually changing from his work clothes, then relaxing for the rest of the evening. Ever since Pam and Scarlet had entered the picture, he was happy to go straight to their house after work to visit. He didn’t miss his old routine whatsoever. Now, he was back to his old ways. He sulked for most of the evening.

----

Pam held off on calling Jim. She wanted to give him plenty of time to cool off, think about things, and then maybe she would be able to talk to him. Pam needed him to move forward and she didn’t want to rush anything. She wanted it to be perfect.

“Mom, where’s Jim?” Scarlet asked as she played with her macaroni.

“He’s probably at home.”

“Did he go away like Daddy did?”

“No. We will see him again,” Pam said as she played with her dinner. “Eat your dinner baby.”

------

As Jim watched a movie on HBO, he thought about his many years at Dunder Mifflin. He thought about Pam and her engagement with Roy, then when he brought Karen back to Scranton, then Pam going back to Roy, and his feelings about Pam. Finally, Pam had broken it off with Roy, taken a gallery job on the other side of town, and moved on. He felt responsible for their falling out. He had never intended to totally exclude her from his life and he hadn’t expected her to marry Neil. In fact, Jim had never met Neil. His heart ached as he thought about all the mistakes that he had made.

A knock at the door roused Jim from his trance.

“What are you doing here?” Jim asked.

“I need to talk to you,” she said as she stepped into his living room.

Jim hung his head and followed her over to the couch. She pulled off her coat and then glanced into the kitchen where her eyes fell upon the love notes on the refrigerator.

“What are those?” she said as she nodded towards the kitchen.

“Oh, nothing. Just a little present from someone…”

“Your nephew?”

“It’s from Pam and her little girl.”

Karen broke her focus on the pictures and stood from the couch. “I guess it’s pointless that I’m here then. You seemed to have already moved on.”

“I’m sorry. I just…”

Karen put her hand on the door knob and turned to look at Jim. “I miss you.”

“It’s been different lately…”

“Why did we spend all those years in a relationship and get engaged if you didn’t even want to be with me?”

“I’m sorry. I made a lot of mistakes back then.”

“I’m sorry that I had to be one of those mistakes, Jim.”

“Me too.”

Karen deflected her eyes from Jim again and turned the door knob. Before she stepped out of the door she said one last thing.

“Is she the one?”

“I think so.”

“Goodbye Jim.”

“Bye Karen.”

-----

Saturday morning came around and Jim decided he needed to call Pam or go visit her. He didn’t know what he was going to say because he had left her house in a huff a few days ago. He hated that he had acted like a fool in front of her.

A little after noon, he pulled into Pam’s driveway. He sat in his car for a few moments to collect his thoughts, then stepped out of his car and knocked on the large wooden door.

Scarlet pulled the door open and screamed, “Jim!”

“Hey you!” Jim said as he picked her up into a hug. He bounced her up and down in his arms as he made his way into the living room.

“Where’s your Momma?” Jim asked.

“She’s cleaning.”

“Can you show me where she’s at?” Jim said as he set her back on the floor.

Scarlet led him into the study where Pam was putting papers and old books into boxes. When their eyes met, Pam froze. Scarlet went over to a box of papers and dug through it. Jim looked into Pam’s eyes and stood in the doorway. Pam eventually made her way around the desk sitting in the middle of the study and walked over to Jim. She put her arms around him and he pulled her in closer.

“Thank you for coming back.”

“I’m sorry for being stupid. I shouldn’t have left like I did.”

“No, I understand why you did.”

“Still, I was being a jerk…”

“Hey, it’s okay. I fixed everything.”

“What?” Jim asked as he looked down at Pam.

“I called his mother. I told her.”

“You told her what?”

“That I’m in love with someone else.”

“You didn’t have to do that….”

“Yes I did. It’s time I move on.”

“Thank you.“ Jim said as he leaned in to kiss Pam.

She blushed and then turned to look at Scarlet still messing with old papers and books. Pam decided that Scarlet needed to leave her and Jim alone for a few moments. She came up with an idea to preoccupy Scarlet.

“Scarlet go find Lindie. I haven’t seen her all day.”

“Okay Mom.”

Scarlet bounded out of the room to search for the missing cat. As soon as Scarlet rounded the corner, Pam pulled Jim into another kiss. Pam kissed his cheeks and down his neck. Jim felt like doing the same to Pam but couldn’t manage to since Pam was already taking the initiative. Jim just rested his hands on her lower back and waited for his turn to explore.

Pam abruptly stopped and held her head up at the sound of Scarlet’s scream. With both of them breathing hard and flushed, they looked at each other and quickly went to find Scarlet. Jim ran to the stair case and leapt up the stairs. He walked past every door to check for Scarlet. She wasn’t anywhere on the second story.

When he made his way back down the stairs he heard Pam calling for him. He followed Pam’s voice and found the back door open and Scarlet and Pam sitting on the deck. They were hunched over Lindie.

“What’s wrong?” Jim asked as he noticed Scarlet’s tears.

Scarlet looked up. “Lindie is sick.”

“She found her laying out here. Jim, I think she’s dead.”

Jim knelt down next to Scarlet and Pam. He put his hand on Lindie and felt the limp body. His heart sank when he turned to see Pam rubbing Scarlet’s back. Jim felt Scarlet’s world crush. She had already lost her father and now her favorite pet. Jim never had to bury a pet before and didn’t want to tell Pam that he knew that Lindie was dead. Scarlet let some more sobs.

Jim mouthed to Pam while Scarlet’s head was nestled on Pam’s shoulder. “She’s gone.”

Pam mouthed back. “How?”

“No clue,” Jim mouthed again.

Pam looked down at Scarlet and patted her head. Pam then shrugged her shoulders as she looked over to Jim. Jim shrugged back. Neither one knew what to do next. Pam picked Scarlet up off the ground and took her inside. Jim stood and looked over the precious feline that was lying on the deck. He didn’t usually get attached to animal’s but for some reason he felt sympathy for this cat and for Scarlet. Pam came back to the door with a box and knelt back down to the cat’s side.

“Let me do this Pam,” Jim said as he took the box from her.

When he pulled the box out of her hands, he noticed Pam’s tears. He put one arm around her and pulled her to his side.

“My daughter’s heart is breaking.”

Jim pulled her in closer and ran his hands along her back to comfort her.

“I didn’t ever want her to experience it. She didn’t understand when Neil died but now it seems she understands better than anyone. How does that happen?”

“I don’t know, Pam. Remember she has to experience life just like you did. You can’t shield her from it.”

Pam looked up and placed a kiss gently on Jim’s cheek.

“You’re too good to me, you know that?”

“I would be here for anything, even if it was a splinter stuck in your finger.”

“I know. Thank you for everything.”

Pam held open the box and Jim placed Lindie inside. After they closed the box, Pam went to the shed, got a shovel and found a proper burial place. Scarlet came out holding on to the stuffed kitty that Jim had bought her for her birthday. Jim dug a box shaped hole in the ground. Pam held Scarlet as she cried. Jim set the box carefully into the ground and then covered the box with dirt.

“Pam do you want to say anything?” Jim asked.

“Lindie was the best cat we’ve ever had. She made Scarlet happy. She will be missed.”

Scarlet pulled her head off of Pam’s shoulder and looked down at the dirt pile. She wiggled out of Pam’s arms and walked over to Lindie’s resting spot.

“I miss you Lindie.”

Pam immediately burst into tears. That was the same thing she said to Neil when they visited him. Jim put his hand on her shoulder and ran it over her back. Scarlet eventually turned her gaze from the dirt and reached up for Jim to hold her. He dropped the shovel and held on tight to the crying child. His heart broke with hers.

Once they finally made their way back into the quiet house, Pam made dinner. Scarlet hardly ate and when she was through, she went to the couch and fell asleep while watching cartoons. Jim and Pam felt remorseful towards her and knew that her heart was breaking for losing her best friend.

“What should we do?” Jim asked.

“I don’t know. Even though it was a cat, she loved her and cared for her more than anything. I don’t know what to do.”

“I feel so bad.”

“I just don’t understand what happened. How did she die?”

“It could have been worms, or she hadn’t had her shots, or she could have had some disease you didn’t know about.”

“I was really stupid for bringing her into the house. I should’ve had her looked over before letting Scarlet touch her.”

“Hey, don’t say that. You provided momentary happiness for the kid. Bad things happen to good people.”

“You’re telling me,” Pam said with a slightly sarcastic laugh.

Jim took Pam’s hands and held them and said, “You’re a good mother Pam. Stop blaming yourself for all the bad things that happen to her.”

“I know,” she said sheepishly.

Pam laid her head on his shoulder. Jim took in Pam’s scent. Her shampoo aroma intoxicated him as he let it wrap him. He looked down and into her eyes and knew that she was thinking hard about something.

“What?” he asked.

“I have a great idea.”

“Really?”

“I don’t know if you want to, but would you want to go on a vacation with me?”

He hesitated then smiled. “Are you trying to get fresh with me?”

“It’s just we haven’t had the chance to have actual adult conversation when we’re with Scarlet. I want to spend time with you and plus, I need a break.”

“I would love that but what are you going to do with Scarlet?”

“My mom could always take her for a weekend.”

“Well, then I would love to join you.”

“Then we need to decide where and when we will go.”

“I honestly don’t care, as long as it’s just you and me…alone,” Jim said as he kissing her cheek.

“Ooohh. Anywhere huh? Let’s think. Can we make it to Paris and back before you have to work on Monday?”

“Maybe not this time.”

“Okay, well…scratch that,” Pam said, distracted by Jim’s light kisses on her cheek and neck.

“Let’s just get out of town. Maybe to a bed and breakfast somewhere.”

“Great. I will look up some places tomorrow.”

“You can pick the place but I’m buying.”

“Whatever, I can pay my own way.”

Jim pulled his head up from kissing Pam’s neck. “Let me do this. You can decide what we’ll do, and I will pay.”

“No Jim. I can pay for myself. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Are you serious? I can afford to pay for this trip. I am a manager now, you know.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot. You have a lot of money now.”

“Not really, but I can splurge every now and then and I think this deserves a splurge.”

“So, I pick, you pay.”

“Yup,” he said as he went back to kissing on her neck.

“I can’t wait.”

“Neither can I.”

“Do you know what this means?”

“Um…I’m pretty sure it will involve a little wine, a couple games of desert island, and just you and me….”

“..Alone. No interruptions whatsoever.”

“Not that I don’t love Scarlet to death but it’s been a stretch for us to be…”

“Uh, intimate?”

“Bingo,” he said as he pulled her into a deep kiss.