Nostalgia gets easier with time and eventually Jim Halpert is like a war hero, or distant ancestors.  Years later and there are scraps of him tucked in boxes and folded into photo albums and I remember is kind of a lie.

***

She hadn’t expected anything after their meeting.  But an email and “It was nice seeing you” brought back memories of notepaper under fluorescent lights and confused expressions.

She tilts her head sadly, looking for meaning in those casual words, (it’s too late isn’t it?) and it takes her half an hour to work out the proper response.  She carefully types, hoping to convey the tender ache (she can almost see him waiting except he isn’t anymore)

“yeah”