Pam watched in horror as the small blue jar of paint clattered to the floor, sending paint flying out in all directions.  Luckily, she had put down a newspaper cover over the hardwood floor of the tiny dining area in her apartment, so the damage was not too bad. 

Unfortunately however, the glass jar had shattered and the shards had mixed with the paint, ruining it.  She looked down at the blue mess for a second before bending down to pick up the ringing cell phone that had caused the accident in the first place.               

“Hello?” she answered.               

“Hi, um, this is Jim.”                

“Oh, hi.”  Pam suddenly forgetting about the blue disaster and walking over to her couch.             

“Hey, so yesterday when we talked, you failed to mention that picking out paint is perhaps one of the most difficult tasks I’ve ever encountered.”  He chuckled as he finished.               

Pam smiled knowingly, “What do you mean?”               

“What do I mean?  Well, let’s see.  First, there are the colors, as if that isn’t hard enough.  Then, there is the, um, well, I don’t even, what does eggshell even mean?” Pam interrupted with a short giggle before Jim continued, “and honestly, how am I supposed to know how much to get?  Should I buy brushes?  And what’s up with the blue masking tape?”

Even though he sounded all worked up, Pam could still hear the smile in his voice.  “Ok Halpert, slow down.  Let’s take this one step at a time.  Did you buy anything yet?”

“Not yet.  I can though, I’m still at the store.”

“What store are you at?”

“Scranton Hardware.”

“Oh.  Um, downtown?”

“No, the Scranton Hardware in Philly.”

“Ok, ok.  Well, actually I could come down there and help if you want.  I mean, well, I need to pick up some paint and the art store is like three stores over from the hardware store, so I mean, if you need help.”  She paused, “and it sounds like you do, I could …”

“Yeah,” Jim broke in, “I mean, if it’s not too much trouble, I could use all the help I can get.”

“Ok, yeah, ok, um I’ll be there in like ten minutes?”

“Ok, sure, I’ll be here.”

“Ok, see you soon then.”

“Yup, ok.”

“Bye Jim.”

“Bye Pam.” 

Pam closed her cell phone and set it on the couch next to her.  She couldn’t help but grin at the thought of seeing Jim again.  Even after the way he had treated her, confessing his love for her and then leaving the state the very next day, she just couldn’t hate him.  She stood up quickly and jogged down the hall to her bedroom.  She grabbed an old sweatshirt from her closet and pulled it on over her t-shirt and slipped into a pair of loafers.  In the bathroom, she regarded herself in the mirror and sighed.  She quickly twisted her hair and clipped it up in the back and rinsed her face in cold water.  After brushing her teeth, she grabbed her purse and jacket and made her way to her car. 

She pulled into a parking space in front of the Scranton Hardware store and checked her appearance in the reflection of the glass window of the door before entering the building.  She made her way to the paint section, which was in the back and found Jim sitting on the floor next to the wall, surrounded by a rainbow of paint chips.  His legs were crossed and his elbows rested on his knees.  His eyebrows were knotted in concentration and confusion and Pam couldn’t help but smile at how cute he looked.