Jim walked into his house and sat his groceries on the counter. He rummaged through the sacks and put most the items away. For a brief moment, he rested his hands on the counter top and leaned over to take a few deep breaths.

His mind was racing. They hadn’t seen each other since she left Dunder Mifflin about eight years before. She had met some guy, moved away, got married, and apparently had had a child. Jim couldn’t believe that it had been that long since he had seen her. At the first sight of her today, his heart had quickened and his palm’s had become drenched in sweat. She had looked just as good as she did when she had sat behind the reception desk. Now she had a maternal quality to her and more curves to her figure. Her pregnancy had given her more than just a beautiful little girl--Pam now had assets.

Jim stood up and put the rest of his groceries away. He picked up his bag of jelly beans and smiled. He remembered Scarlet grabbing for the candies and trying hard to pry the bag open. Kid after my own heart, he thought.

Pam had invited him over and he seriously considered looking through the phone book and finding her phone number and address. He pondered whether it would be better to call first or just drop by. He couldn’t wait for another Sunday grocery run so he could see her. It had been way too long.

---

“Neil, here are some daisies that Scarlet picked out in the grocery store. She thought you might like them. She ran off today and I almost lost it. A very nice man found her.”

Pam sat next to the headstone as Scarlet was playing with a stray cat that always seemed to find her when she came to visit Neil. Scarlet would carry that cat around until they were finished in the cemetery and left.

Pam remembered back to their first visit to the cemetery after Neil’s death. She had carried Scarlet over to the headstone and told her that her daddy now lived where the headstone stood. Scarlet hadn’t understood all that well, but had become accustomed to their weekly visits.

Scarlet still talked about Neil like he was alive. She would even try to write him letters and sometimes would leave them at his headstone. Her teacher at school would call Pam when Scarlet would draw pictures of her father lying in a coffin. Pam didn’t know whether to talk to Scarlet about her drawing pictures that made other people uncomfortable, but she knew that Scarlet would soon forget about her father and move on. Pam feared that day.

Pam pulled the dead roses off the grave and plucked a few weeds from around the headstone. Scarlet soon skipped over and put her little hand on the stone.

“Hi Dad. I miss you.”

Scarlet would say that every time they came to visit. Pam knew she meant it but was surprised that Scarlet still remembered what life was with him around. He had been gone for almost a year and Scarlet had changed so much since then.

“Dad, do you think mom will ever let me bring this kitty home? She always tells me no but I really want a kitty,” Scarlet said as she petted the gray cat that was hanging in her hands.

Pam pulled two of the daises from the bouquet and walked a few yards from where Neil was buried. Every weekend when they would come and visit Neil, Pam always stopped by two other graves. One was a little boy and the other, a mother. When Neil died, had taken two other’s with him-- he had hit an unsuspecting family. Kathy, a new mother and her newborn, Kyle were both killed. Ted, Kathy’s husband, had survived the crash with minor injuries. Pam would always take some flowers and leave them on their graves and say her apologies. Many times, Pam would break down and pour her heart out. She felt like Kathy was a good listener and would enjoy talking to her. So, she talked and Kathy listened.

They said their goodbyes and pulled out of the cemetery until next weekend. On the drive home, Pam thought about Jim. He had looked great. He had looked like he did eight years ago except he had shorter hair now. He didn’t really look that different at all. Pam found herself thinking about what her life wold have been like if they had ended up together. She said a silent ‘thank you’ to the Lord that it wasn’t Jim that had run that red light.

----

“Scarlet! Why is the gray kitty in the car?” Pam asked as she pulled the grocery sacks from the backseat. The cat jumped out of the car and found Scarlet who was standing in the front yard holding an open bag of jelly beans.

“Mom, she wanted to be with me. She needs a place to live!”

Pam rolled her eyes and knew that she couldn’t get out of this one. She pulled the sacks out of the car and opened the front door. Scarlet ran into the house with the cat loyally following behind her. Pam knew that the cat would probably run away in a few days and it wouldn’t be her problem anymore.

After getting Scarlet in bed, Pam sat on her couch and watched the news. That was her time to be alone, even though she wished that she had someone there to cuddle with. Pam hadn’t been out with a man since one of her neighbors had set her up on a blind date. She hadn’t really liked the guy so she never had called him back. Pam knew that if a man was supposed to replace Neil, he had to be the best. She didn’t need someone that was just like him, because she hadn’t liked the way Neil was most of the time. He had been a drunk and inconsiderate to his family. Pam wanted a family man that adored Scarlet and her as well.

In the midst of the weather report, the phone rang.

“Hi Mom.”

“Hey Pam. How are you doing babe?”

“Good. I’m tired, but good.”

“You better get some sleep then. You know you have to be rested up to be a good single mom.”

“I’m trying my best Mom. I’m really trying…” Pam said as she felt her eyes wellwith tears. She sucked back her tears before her mother could hear her.

“How’s my grandbaby?”

“She’s fine. She scared me today. When we were in the grocery store, she ran off and I couldn’t find her at first. Then,” Pam’s heart fluttered when she remembered Jim saving her little girl, “when I found her, I ran into an old friend from Dunder Mifflin.”

“Was she okay?”

“Yeah, Jim had found her and did a good job of keeping her calm.”

“Jim found her?”

“Yeah, it was pretty cool Mom.”

“How’s he doing?”

“I think he is doing good. We didn’t talk for very long.”

“Why not?”

“We were on our way to the cemetery.”

“You need to keep in touch with him. He was so nice to you at Dunder Mifflin.”

“I know. He was my best friend back then.”

“I think this might be a sign Pam. Is he still single?”

Pam thought about his hand grasping the basket and she couldn’t remember if he had a ring on his finger or not. The last she had heard he was engaged. She wasn’t sure if that had worked out or not.

“I think he’s married, Mom.”

“Well, you should show him what divorce papers look like.”

“Mom! I will not break up a marriage so I don’t have to be lonely. There are more fish out in the sea.”

“I know babe, you just need to get out more and start looking. You don’t have much longer until you won’t want to date anymore.”

“That’s okay. I’m pretty busy with Scarlet these days. She’s all I need to be happy.”

“She is special.”

“Well sorry to rush but, I think I might hit the sack.”

“I love you Pam.”

“Mom, I love you too.”

Pam put the receiver down and then realized that she hadn’t heard those words from a man in years. She wanted to hear those three simple words whispered in her ear so that she was the only one to hear them and savor them. She missed those three precious little words. When she turned off the television the phone rang again and Pam picked it up.

“I said I love you too, Mom.”

“I didn’t know that I was your mother.”

Pam pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at the caller ID. James Halpert.

“Oh, sorry, I thought it was my mother. She usually calls me back when I don’t tell her I love her.”

“Well, I’ll have to inform her that you are giving away all her ‘I love you’s to other people.”

“She would be okay with that. She thinks I need to date again.”

“Oh really?”

“Well, since my husband passed, I haven’t…Well, you might of not known that.”

“I kind of assumed that today in the grocery store. I heard your daughter ask you a question about it and I realized that he was probably….”

“Yeah, it’s been hard but we're doing great. Sunday’s are our days to go visit him.”

“That’s a nice thing.”

“I think it’s a good thing for now.”

“So….I was just going to call and see if you wanted to catch up sometime.”

“Well, I don’t know. I can usually only have peace and quiet when Scarlet’s at pre-k.”

“Scarlet. That’s a beautiful name Pam. She’s a very pretty girl. She looks just like you.”

“She takes after me in a lot of ways,” Pam said as she heard Scarlet’s little voice from her bedroom. “Speak of the devil.”

Pam walked down the hallway and into her daughter’s room. Scarlet was sitting up in her bed, motioning for the cat to come lay down by her.

“Mom, Lindie won’t sleep with me.”

“Yeah, like grandma. I like that name.”

“Get some sleep baby.”

“Night Mom.”

“Night Scarlet.”

Pam watched Scarlet lay back down and the cat, now known as Lindie, crawl up next to her and snuggle up at her side.

“Sorry about that, we have a cat now.”

“You do?”

“Lindie.”

“Nice name.”

“Scarlet named her. She said she named it after her great grandmother.”

“That’s sweet.”

“Yeah. She’s a sweetie.”

“She really seems like it.”

“We don’t have to talk about kids or cats now. Sorry, tell me what’s been happening in your life these past eight years.”

“Nothing much.”

“Whoa. You have got to be kidding me. I mean, I haven’t spoke to you in almost a decade and you have nothing to tell me? I don’t believe that.”

“Well, nothing has changed really.”

“So, there isn’t a Mrs. Halpert?”

“Nope,” Jim said with a sigh.

“Why not? I thought you were engaged at one point.”

“I was. Then…I wasn’t.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s for the best.”

“So, do you want to come over tomorrow sometime? I can make lunch after I get Scarlet off to school.”

“I would really like that.”

“So, how about noon? I live in the Harbor Creek Edition on the north side of town. Are you familiar with it?”

“Yeah, I know it well. So, you are living in a nice place then huh?”

“Neil was a lawyer. He wanted a big house and so, he bought one. I love the house, don’t get me wrong, but all of it reminds me of him. Even when I get his inheritance check every month in the mail, I have to think about him and I don’t like to do that often.”

“I’m sorry. I know it must be tough for you.”

“It is some days. Not for me, but for Scarlet. She won’t know her dad when she grows up. It’s sad. I’m fine now. Things are much better.”

“Good to hear.”

“So, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow. When you get into the edition, call me up and I'll direct you to the house.”

“I can’t wait.”

“I’ve missed you.”

“Oh, you don’t even know.”

“I do know,” Pam said as she let out a girlish giggle.

“Have a nice night Pam.”

“You too, Jim.”

With that, Pam clicked the off button and sank back into the fluffy sofa.