It was a surprisingly cold morning for Scranton in May. Jim was just about to start his normal routine: hit the snooze while cursing, toss in bed, hit snooze again, rationalize that it will be best to get up now before he sleeps in too late, hop in the shower, jump at the too cold water, sing… alone, he thought. Suddenly his rendition of “I Saw the Sign” was a duet. Jim wasn’t alone.

            “…and it opened up my eyes I saw the… hey you stopped singing,” said the unfamiliar voice that came from the other side of the shower curtain

            Jim yelled, like a girl. “This is it,” he thought, “I’ve finally lost my mind.”

            “No, you didn’t lose it; I’m just here to help you.” Jim knew he didn’t say anything out loud.  It finally dawned on him to look around the curtain.

            “Jesus…”

            “Nope, not him, I’m Clarence, your guardian angel.”

            “My what?”

            “You know, guardian angel, I make sure you don’t get into any real trouble. That’s why I’m here actually.”

            “Listen buddy, I don’t know who you are or how you got in my bathroom, or my head for that matter, but just, please leave now and I promise I won’t report you or anything.” This has got to be a dream…

            “No Jim, listen, I’m your guardian angel. My name is Clarence, and you’re not dreaming, I know that’s what you’re thinking.”

            “But how?”

            “Would you like me to prove it?”

            “Yes, actually I would.” It’s just a coincidence he knew that other stuff, those are very common thoughts to have when a strange man is in your bathroom with you.

            “Well, you are James Michael Halpert, and you’ve recently started to tell people you don’t have a middle name because of your boss. You grew up in Wilkes-Barre, your mother and father still live there. You got that bruise of your left knee last Tuesday when you thought it would be a good idea to jump over the coffee table, rather than go around it. And you are in love with Pam Beesley; have been all your life actually, but I wouldn’t really expect you to know that last part.”

            “This doesn’t make any sense. Halpert, man, you gotta wake up,” Jim started to slap his cheek trying to snap himself out of crazy mode.

            “It’s not going to work. Now would you just put a towel on and let me tell you why I am here?” Clarence looked up to the ceiling and began speaking again. “These kids today, can you believe it?

            Jim looked over to Clarence with a raised brow as he pulled up his boxers. “Uh, who ya talking to there, um, Clarence?”

            “The Big Guy, The Head Honcho…”

            Jim just looked at him even more quizzically.

            “I’m talking to God, you knucklehead.”

            “Oh, right.”

            Jim followed Clarence in a daze down to his living room. Luckily Jim remembered that he kept a baseball bat in his closet for emergencies. Even luckier for Jim, the door was open.  This was emergency enough for Jim, so he grabbed for the…

            “I don’t think a bat will do much in this situation, Jim.”

            Oh, crap, how did he know?

            “I told you, I’m your guardian angel, this is what we do.”

            “Clarence, can you just tell me why you are here already, and why haven’t I seen you before?”

            “Well, first off, you have seen me before. Remember that time you lost control of your bike and that man was there to pick you up before the car would have hit you?” Jim nodded. “Yours truly.” Clarence said with a grin.

            “Wow, um, thanks I guess?”

            “No problem, I had to, it’s in our contract.” Jim looked at Clarence expecting more. “Oh, right, right, you want to know why I am here. Well you see,” Clarence looked back to the ceiling, “Do you think he’s ready? No? Well ok, you’re the boss.” He looked back a Jim with an even bigger grin than before, “Kidding, see, I’m a jokester too Jim. But yeah, I’m here because of Pam.”

            “That’s a joke again, right? You’re, you’re, you’re kidding right?” Jim’s stomach was in knots.

            “Absolutely not. I’m really here because of Pam.”

            “Well what is it, is she hurt?” For some reason Jim felt like his whole world was about to crash down on top of him. I swear to God, if anything happened to that girl, I’ll, I’ll...

            “You’ll do what? And don’t swear to God, he doesn’t like it much. And no, Pam is not hurt.”

            “Just please tell me what’s going on here.”

            “You’ll see.”

            Jim was infuriated.  “I’ll see? Come on Clarence, there’s got to be more to this.”

            “Oh shoot, look at the time, I have to go talk to Sophie about dinner.”

            “Would you just stop with the jokes? What about Pam?”

            “You’ll see. I really hope we have stuffed shells tonight.” And with that Clarence disappeared.

            “Clarence, no! What about Pam!” You’re kidding me, now, he leaves. Jim kept calling after Clarence with no luck. Who is this guy? Why me, why now? How does he know I love stuffed shells?