Disclaimer: I do not own the Office or the characters depicted herein (except for Jane). I do not intend to profit from this posting. No copyright infringement is intended.

Jim could not believe how slow time seemed to be crawling, even more than usual for a Friday afternoon. He had tried to ignore his movie night with Pam in order to get through the week, but it was no use. He couldn’t get it out of his mind. He was nervous and he still wasn’t sure whether this was just a friend thing or whether it could be a date. He didn’t want to once again misinterpret her intentions, but all week they had been very friendly with each other. They had eaten lunch together everyday catching up on each other’s lives over the last year. He had tried to not hide anything from her, to be open and honest at all cost, and she seemed to be doing the same. They talked about Roy; they talked about Karen; she heard all about Stamford; he heard all about art class and her new apartment.

Wednesday night they lingered for an hour in the parking lot, neither one wanting to stop talking now that they had reconnected. He finally allowed himself to apologize for leaving her without an explanation. He hadn’t meant to broach such a heavy topic in the parking lot, but it felt oddly appropriate. Much like before, he hadn’t planned it, and she looked shocked that he had said it. It felt like a thousand pound weight being lifted from his chest when she looked at him, with such vulnerability, and explained that she also felt badly and wished she had done a few things differently. He had pulled her into a chaste hug, holding her tightly against his chest. There was no more pain or regret between them, just two people and endless possibility.

And now it was Friday and Jim was anxiously waiting to spend the evening alone with Pam. He had originally intended to get an invitation to her apartment, but as they discussed it in the break room Thursday, Pam suggested that she bring the movies to his place, since he was the assistant regional manager with the big TV. He reluctantly agreed, although he was disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to finally see her in her own surroundings. He had imagined her apartment so many times; he was looking forward to finding out what it really looked like, but that would have to wait.

Of course, he was probably setting himself up for disappointment by getting so excited about this evening; but it had to be a good sign that she intended for them to get through all three movies, no matter how long that took. She had pronounced that it was a universal rule that a movie night meant a movie marathon. This meant she would be in his apartment for at least 6 hours, maybe overnight. Could it get any better?

As the clock finally gave up its fight to prolong the work day and clicked over to five, Jim practically bolted out his chair and headed for the door. Dwight noticed his hasty departure and simply shook his head, continuing to look down at his pile of call sheets. Jim had spent the last few hours trying to decide what he should say to Pam on the way out, unsure of whether he should let her see his excitement or not.

He grabbed his messenger bag and put it across his body, draping his jacket over his arm. He casually leaned over the reception desk and waited for Pam to hang up the phone. He tried to distract her from what had to be the last call of the day by making silly faces to make her laugh. She smirked, trying hard to contain her laughter, and tapped her pencil on the desk impatiently. When she finally hung up, she stood up and smacked Jim hard on the upper arm. “Dork! That was someone from corporate and you’re over here trying to make me look like an idiot.” Jim could tell she wasn’t really mad, but he also knew she would probably return the favor one day. He should stay on his toes.

“So Beesly, big plans for the weekend?” He smiled at her, and she smiled back at him before noticing that Angela seemed to be close paying attention to their conversation.

She bit her lip to contain her smile, “Just watching some movies with a friend, you?”

Taking her lead, Jim responded just loudly enough for Angela to hear, “Just hanging out at home. Ready to walk out?”

“Not quite, I need to send a few faxes that Michael apparently forgot about, but you go on. Have a nice weekend!” She smiled at him and mouthed “I’ll see you later.”

He tapped on her counter and backed away toward the door, “Ok, well have a good one.”

Jim took the stairs needing to burn off a little of his nervous energy. He assumed that Pam just wanted to make everything look very normal to the prying eyes of the office, but he had hoped to establish what the plan was for the night on the way out to the car. Now, he wasn’t sure if he should make dinner, or order in, or buy lots of beer? And her playful tone had his hopes up again. Friends don’t flirt like that right? Had he never said anything to her, had he never been accused of misinterpreting, he would be certain that tonight he had a date with Pam. But now, his Pam compass was off and he couldn’t tell. Still, he felt drunk with the possibilities.

The evening was warm and sunny and even the Scranton Business Park smelled faintly sweet with blooming flowers. Jim took a moment to soak in the beautiful weather, relishing the feeling that he could not wait for his weekend to start. He hated to admit it, but it had been a while, a really long while, since he had left work excited about his weekend plans. There were good nights with Karen, and Katy, but this feeling? This felt like Sarah Wells. Sarah was Jim’s high school crush and this felt just like the night that he took her to Homecoming. He got in his car, throwing the messenger bag clumsily into the passenger side and he looked through his pockets for his cell phone.

He flipped open the phone, dialed, and waited for Jane to pick up.

“Hey, stranger, what’s going on?”

“Hey Jane, not much. How are you?”

“Good. Anything exciting happening?”

“Oh I don’t know if it’s exciting.”

“What’s going on with Pam? How was your lunch?”

“It was good, the restaurant was really good. You and Mark should go.”

“JIM!”

“What?” He feigned innocence, like he didn’t know that she was desperate for information.

“Alright, you’re teasing me to get me back for calling her. I can see it. Come over tonight and watch baseball with me and Mark. I’ll get the low down eventually.”

“Oh I’d love to but I have plans…”

“Really?” Jane drew out the word like Jim had heard Kelly do a million times.

“Yep.”

“With who? Anyone I know?”

“Well I don’t think you’ve met.”

“Jim…”

“Yeah…”

“Say it.”

“It’s Pam.”

“Shut. Up.” He thought that she might come through the phone she sounded so excited.

“Well it’s not a date. Well maybe it is. I don’t know.”

“How do you not know?”

“Well, we’re just hanging out, like friends; we’re watching movies at my house.”

“So it’s not a date?”

“But we have been hanging out a lot, and really …talking…for a change… and”

“So it could be a date?”

“I hope so.”

“Why don’t you go get something yummy for dinner, buy a bottle of wine, and surprise her?”

“Because if she thinks this isn’t a date….. that would be so…awful.”

“You think you’ll die of embarrassment or something?”

“Maybe.”

“Not possible, I’ve never died and I’ve had to sit next to Mark at countless family reunions where he tells the pig joke.”

“Ouch.” Jim smiled into the phone thankful that Jane knew just how to lighten a mood when necessary.

“Look, it doesn’t matter whether it is or isn’t a date, just enjoy it. Stop being so afraid. After all, it is a night to spend with the woman you wuv.”

“Wuv?”

“Yep.”

“Ok I’m hanging up now.”

“Call me tomorrow and tell me if it was a date.”

“What if I still don’t know?”

“Then you did it wrong.”

“Ha, ha, very funny.”

“Jim, seriously, have a great night.”

“Thanks, you too.”

He hung up and started to turn the key in the ignition when he heard a tapping at his window. He visibly jumped, having not expected to see Pam standing there. He got out of the car while she giggled, “Sorry I didn’t mean to scare you. What are you still doing here?”

“Sorry, a friend of mine called and I was just hanging up. You were fast.”

“I’m a pro with the fax machine. Besides, I just didn’t want to endure the looks from Angela all next week if we left together. I mean she’s suspicious enough from all the lunches.”

“Right,” Jim looked at his shoes. He didn’t really care what Angela thought, but he didn’t want to put Pam in a weird spot. “So do I need to provide food for this movie marathon in my living room?”

“How do you feel about Chinese? I could pick it up on my way over.”

“Sounds good. Um, do I need to do anything?” Jim felt at a total loss, he had never felt so incapable of figuring out how to act with a woman. There were rules. First, you knew if it was a date. Second, you picked the girl up and you bought her dinner. Third, you took her home and kissed her on her doorstep. Kissing Pam. The memory of the feel of her lips had haunted him for a year. Just then, he noticed that Pam was looking at him like he had a second head, “What?”

“I said that you are responsible for drinks, popcorn and ice cream. And then you just stood there like a statue, are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he almost swallowed the word because he wasn’t sure he was. “Yeah, you did mention ice cream before. So is this a wine kind of night or a beer sort of night?”

“Hmmmm,” she looked like she was weighing the question carefully, “What’s the difference?”

“Well,” he leaned back against his car and decided to just ask the question that had been bothering him all day, “Beer is better for the ‘hey my friend and I are hanging out in my semi messy apartment watching movies since we have nothing better to do’ kind of night. Wine is more like…I don’t know…a date.” His voice cracked on the word date, but he fought the urge to dive into his car out of humiliation. He probably shouldn’t have asked; it wasn’t time yet. He begged her with his eyes to just answer the question and put him out of his misery. “You know, maybe I shouldn’t have asked that, I’m sorry.”

“Well,” her voice was quiet but calm, then she cleared her throat and raising her eyes to his she said, “I like white wine.” She gave him an uneasy smile that he knew he would never forget.

He smiled back and felt his fingers itch to touch her, but he knew that she probably didn’t want him to kiss her in this parking lot while people filed out of the warehouse and the office. Besides, there was time for that later. “Okay, I can take care of that.”

“Okay.” She said as if it were a breath not a word.

“Okay.” His head was spinning at the implication of her answer; he had no idea what to do now, “So you have the directions?”

“Yep.”

“So I’ll see you in an hour?” He reached out for her hand and gently squeezed her fingers. He was relieved when she threaded her fingers with his.

“Yeah, looking forward to it.”

“Me too.”

Jim drove home definitely pushing most traffic safety laws. First, he stopped at the grocery store for a pint of mint chip, a pint of chocolate chip cookie dough, and a package of microwave popcorn. Next, he stopped to get wine and spent almost thirty minutes trying to pick something she would like. Sweet, dry? She didn’t say. He ended up buying a Chardonnay and a Pinot Grigio, figuring it was better to be prepared. By the time he was on his way to his apartment, she was supposed to be there in ten minutes.

He literally burst into his apartment, put the wine in the fridge and the ice cream in the freezer, and started putting the dirty dishes from his sink into the dishwasher. He was in the midst of cleaning up his living room when he heard the knock on his door.

“Damn.” He had no idea why it didn’t seem like a good idea to clean up last night, but somehow a beer and an episode of the Daily Show seemed like a better plan at the time. He picked up all the rest of the dress shirts and ties that still lay discarded on his table, plus the junk mail he kept meaning to throw away, and threw them in the back of his hall closet on the way to open the door for Pam.

“Hi…uh Pam?” It came out as a question, because he had never seen Pam look as beautiful as she did standing on his doorstep holding dinner. She had on dark jeans that fit her perfectly and a pink sheer sweater that tied on the side with a v-neck that showed off a white camisole underneath. Her hair was in the soft curls that he remembered so fondly and she smelled faintly of some kind of perfume. He had to remind himself to breathe. “C-Come in.”

“Thank you. Um, dressing up are we?” She nodded toward him, “You’re still in your work clothes.”

“Oh…um, I was running behind.” He took the bag of take-out from her and sat it on the counter.

“If you tell me where your plates and stuff are, I can work on this if you want to… change.” She smiled as she sat her keys on the counter.

He smiled back at her as the tension in his chest eased a little. After all, the beautiful woman in front of him was still Pam, his best friend. Over the last week she slowly, but surely, had been showing him that he could trust her again, and it seemed that he was also re-earning her trust. “Well, the plates are in that cabinet and the utensils are in this drawer. And I would love to change, so …I’ll be right back.” He watched her over his shoulder making herself at home in his kitchen. His heart swelled with the realization that this was a date. She said she wanted wine and she dressed in that sexy shirt. This was a date. With Pam.

He had played this scene in his head a million times, but now that it was here he felt like he had never been on a date before in his life. He felt for certain that his brain was not working any longer, and he just stared into his closet as if he had no idea what he was supposed to do with the clothes hanging there. He was stirred out of his stupor by Pam’s voice coming from the kitchen, “Is it ok if we eat on the coffee table?”

“Yeah, that’s cool, good view of the TV that way.” He grabbed his jeans and a blue striped polo shirt. He decided to go with socks but no shoes, since they were in his house and this was supposed to be a casual night.

He padded around the corner to find Pam arranging dinner on the coffee table. There were several cartons spread out with two place settings next to each other. She had put pillows on the floor to mark out where they were supposed to sit leaning against the couch. “Wow, that looks so good.”

“Yeah I may have gone a little crazy, but I was hungry when I called.”

“No, that’s good, I’m starved …and we do have three movies.” He rounded the corner into the kitchen to get the wine and took a deep breath once he was out of her sight. He bounced a little on his toes while he took out the two bottles of wine and sat them on the counter. “I didn’t know what kind of wine you liked,” he said loudly as he dug through the drawer looking for the wine opener, “so I got two kinds.”

“So I see.” Pam said softly, startling him for the second time in one day.

“Wow, I’m gonna have to get you a bell or something.”

“Looking for something?” Pam smiled as she dangled the wine opener in front of him.

“Thinking ahead huh?” As he reached out for the opener, their fingers touched and lingered. He felt his body respond to her touch immediately and he swallowed hard trying to will the dryness from his mouth. Touching Pam felt like the most amazing miracle, especially after the last few months. He noticed that she seemed to be blushing, and Jim found himself wanting to forget all about the movie night. He reluctantly decided that it was best not to push things too fast, and he turned his attention back to the wine.

He heard her take a deep breath as he released her hand; he wondered if that heavy breath meant that she was as overwhelmed as he was. For years he had wondered what it would be like if Pam really loved him, if she were as attracted to him as he was to her. Now that it seemed she actually might return his feelings, it was almost more than he could handle. “So… which kind…of wine?”

“Oh, um, the Pinot Grigio sounds good.”

“Let’s see if I can remember how to open a wine bottle.” Jim tried to concentrate on the bottle, but once again his mind didn’t seem to want to focus on anything but her. She giggled watching him struggle; he couldn’t help but laugh himself.

“Problems?”

He smirked at her, trying to hide his embarrassment, “Yes, apparently.”

When he finally got the bottle open, she applauded and grabbed the two glasses she had taken out of his cabinet earlier, “Ready for the first movie?”

Jim picked up the bottle and followed her out to the living room, “Of course, my dear Beesly, which one first?”

“How about Talladega Nights?” He put the wine bottle down on the table and offered Pam his hand to help her down to the picnic on his living room floor. He had touched her more in the last five minutes than he had in a year. To his great delight, she didn’t seem to mind.

“Sounds good.” He settled in next to her, and he couldn’t control the goofy grin on his face as she scooted over closer to him.