Karen dropped a box of books rather unceremoniously on the floor of the trailer with a thud. Pulling her sleeves of her sweatshirt over her cold hands, she glanced around the undersized transportable storage unit. She had only a few more boxes to load, all lined up inside her now-empty living room. She slowly walked back toward her small, soon to be vacant house.

Once inside, she turned on the entryway light, a dim light cascading over the cheap carpet in the rental property. Karen glanced at her watch, realizing that her guest would be arriving any moment. When Jan had called yesterday afternoon with the news that the transfer had gone through and she could move immediately to New York, the brunette had come home and started packing right away. Before she had left the office today, after her thrown-together going away party, she had stopped at only one person’s desk, inviting the co-worker over tonight. There were things that still needed to be discussed.

Right as if on cue, the doorbell sounded, startling Karen slightly. She opened the door to reveal Pam, dressed in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt. The receptionist looked completely unsure of herself, fidgeting non-stop.

“Hi,” Karen said, giving the redhead what she hoped was a warm smile.

“Hi,” Pam answered, returning her smile with a shy one of her own. After taking in the sparse living room, Pam’s eyebrows rose. “Wow, you’re almost done I guess.”

“Yeah, just about,” Karen responded, nodding amiably.

“So, you need a hand?” Pam asked, moving inward.

“Yeah, sure. Thanks.” The sales associate bent down to pick up the heaviest of the boxes that were left, lifting with her legs. Next to her, the other woman did the same. They walked in silence out of the house and up the ramp to the back of the small truck. After putting the boxes down, she looked up to see Pam watching her expectantly.

Karen gave her a smile that wasn’t really a smile at all.

“Listen, Pam. I just wanted to…I want to- to clear up some…” Karen crossed her arms over her chest, trying to ward off the unusual chill in the air for this time of year. “You want a cup of coffee or something?”

Pam nodded agreeably, following Karen back into her house and her kitchen. Karen looked around her bare kitchen for a moment. She then turned toward the Pam, looking sheepish. “Yeah, my coffee maker is already in a box somewhere.” Pam chuckled, thawing some of the ice that had been crusted over the top of their conversation.

“So, New York?” Pam asked, leaning against the counter opposite Karen. She nodded.

“Yeah. Jan found a position for me. I will be doing some more PR type stuff for the corporate level.” Karen smiled in spite of herself, letting the excitement fill her momentarily.

“Oh, wow. That’s great.” Pam seemed genuinely happy for her. “I didn’t know you did…that sort of thing.”

“Yeah, that’s actually what I went to college for. When I took the job in Stamford, it was for the purposes of being a PR rep, but downsizing happened, and then the merger, and…” Karen trailed off, shrugging. “You know how it is?”

“Um…yeah.” Pam pulled her lower lip into her mouth. “I…I started…I mean, I went to college for the first three semesters.” Karen smiled encouragingly. “I was really interested in art, and…and education.”

“Yeah, that painting of the building hanging outside Michael’s office is really good, Pam.” The redhead blushed. “Do you ever think about continuing with the education or anything?”

Karen watched as Pam almost imperceptibly froze up, and felt slightly bad for her. She had spent so much of the time since they’d met on edge. It was as if she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Karen didn’t know her well at all, but couldn’t imagine that this unsure girl was appealing enough to have two men fighting over her less than a week ago. It certainly wasn’t the person she’d spent the day planning a Christmas party with. That was the Pam Karen imagines Jim fell in love with, was still in love with. The girl she briefly glimpsed giggling with Jim during the fiesta.

“Oh, um. I…there was, is this internship thing for graphic arts, actually at corporate,” Pam answered, tucking her wild hair behind her ear nervously. “But the timing wasn’t right, I guess. There was the wedding, and…I guess I just never did it.”

“Well, there’s no reason not to now, right?” Karen meant for it to come out as supportive, but one look at the other woman’s face told her she’d made a misstep once again.

“No, I guess there’s not.” There was such an air of resignation and…sadness in her entire demeanor.

“Pam,” Karen confided, leaning toward her slightly. “Jim is…is really hard to read sometimes. Trust me, I spent the last six months trying to figure him out, only to have it collapse on me.” She let the painful tightening in her stomach subside before she continued. “But both of you,” she said, opening the fridge, “are being stupid.” She handed a startled Pam the last beer she would ever own in the town of Scranton. The other woman just stared at her for a minute.

“Whu…?” Pam croaked with raised eyebrows.

“Well,” Karen answered, sipping from her own bottle. “You did tell me you had feelings for him, Pam. And, that was like the seventeenth clue I got.” Pam had the good grace to blush, cringing slightly. It amazed Karen that all this time Pam really didn’t think she’d been obvious. Of course, from the reaction Jim was having to her, it wasn’t hard to understand why she was under the impression that she was invisible.

“I need to apologize, Karen.” Pam said it so softly, nervously. She bit her lower lip.

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Karen volleyed back easily. “My problem is with Jim, not you. He’s the one who put me in the middle of this whole thing.” She paused, thinking for a moment before adding, “But you can go ahead and continue feeling bad about stealing my boyfriend out from under me.” She took another sip of her beer, watching Pam for a reaction. Even though it wasn’t completely true, Karen found she didn’t mind Pam feeling bad. She walked back to her living room, where the last of her boxes sat, the last signs of her life in this town. Pam followed silently, lifting the last box that was sitting on the well-worn carpet. In the spot where it had sat, Karen noticed a small yellow stain, still vivid after two months time. She stopped dead, staring at it.

It had been a Thursday night, and Toby had to go to New York for a meeting with corporate. He’d dropped Sasha off, Jim having volunteered to watch the child. Karen had been immediately taken, watching the two bond over The Wiggles and Chutes and Ladders. They had decided to eat hotdogs on the living room floor, pretending to have a picnic. In the midst of goofing around, Jim had dripped mustard on her carpet, earning a scolding from Sasha. Karen had felt a ridiculous sense of jealousy wash over her, knowing the two of them had such a special connection, wondering why he would open up to this little girl and never to her.

“What?” Pam asked, glancing down at the carpet.

“Nothing,” Karen answered, shaking off the happy memory. She still hadn’t managed to bring up the subject she needed to talk about. Something wasn’t sitting right. Since the morning Roy had come in and quit, Pam had been very careful to never look at Jim. Ever. Unlike the previous five or so months, now when Karen would look up at reception, Pam would be looking pointedly at her computer, sadness on her face. Sometimes Karen wished she would catch Pam looking at the back of his head, just so she could be sure that everything that had happened had a reason. Before she left this town without another look back, she wanted to hear the truth, even if it wasn’t from the person who owed it to her.

They walked to the truck again, depositing the last of the boxes. When they straightened back up, Pam blew out a slow breath, vapor appearing in the oddly cold evening air. “Y’ know,” Karen said, glancing around her full trailer. “When I met Jim, I didn’t really like him.” Pam looked at her as if she’d grown a third head, as if it was the strangest in thing in the world for someone not to like him. “He was quiet, surly. I thought that he was uptight, but I think he just was making sure to keep distance between himself and anyone who could hurt him again." She swallowed the pain in stomach. It was something that she needed to say, to acknowledge out loud, even if it was to someone who didn’t really deserve to hear it. “He…Jim didn’t really show any real interest in me until he accepted the position here.” It felt strangely freeing, to be this open and honest. “I was apparently too stupid to realize what was happening, that it wasn’t ever really about me.” The receptionist looked as if she might be sick right there, on the floor of her rented hauling unit.

“He…he-I know how he feels about you, Pam.” There was a subtle shift in her eyes, and Karen saw a sliver of disbelief appear. “And I know that you didn’t mean to hurt him, but you did.” One tear slipped down the redhead’s cheek and Karen had to swallow hard over the tightness in her throat. “I just…I need to- no, you need to know if you actually do love him.” Pam’s eyes widened. “I know that I care about him, and spent the last six months trying to get him out of the walking coma you put him in. If-if you don’t love him, you need to tell him. Because as much as he would love to believe he’s moving on, has been moving on, it’s just not the case.” Pam crossed her arms over her chest defensively, looking at the ceiling of the trailer. “It’s just going to be that much harder for the next girl.”

Pam covertly attempted to wipe her eyes on her sweatshirt sleeve, still not making eye contact with Karen. The brunette knew that saying this was good for her, cathartic even. Nonetheless, she could tell that the cold hard truth was taking its toll on Pam. Neither one of them said anything for a while, each lost in their own thoughts.

In time, they went back inside, finished their beers, and managed to slip back into polite conversation. Karen really did like this woman a lot, almost wished circumstances could have been different from the start. They parted with an awkward hug, an empty promise of e-mailing each other.

Staring around the vacant house, Karen’s eyes once again landed on the yellow stain, the best memory she probably had of her relationship with Jim Halpert.

Yes, it was time to go now.

She pulled out of her driveway at nine in the evening, glancing only once in the rearview mirror at the life she was pulling away from. Karen drove past Jim’s house, noticing Pam’s small car parked in his driveway next to his. The last thing Pam had said to her echoed in her head. She could only hope the receptionist was right.