Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

The tall lanky man looked confused for a moment.  In a gruff voice he asked,"Oh you want me to go first?"

I jotted more notes on my pad as the couple before me looked nervously at me. They had been doing that for a few minutes now, totally unaware I have been observing their body language and ability to communicate without speaking. They seemed very anxious, but being in marriage counseling can do that to a couple. The failure to understand why they were here in the first place was lack of communication. The young man seemed annoyed a bit by it, but he maintained a kind position, and the young wife seemed shy and a bit guarded. So I prompted the husband to start because he seemed more open to talk first.

"Yes, go ahead," I replied, looking up from my pad.

"So, we just...ummm....start talking? Just delve right into it? Okay, well, um, I'm Jim...hi."

"He knows our names, Jim." The young woman beside him mumbled and then looked down at her blouse sleeve. She fiddled nervously with it as Jim took a deep breath and tried to paste on a wide smile.

He seemed a bit put off by her correcting him in front of me, but I sensed it was more than that. He didn't want to be here, and was trying to just go along with it because it was probably what she wanted. I decided to step in here. "Yes I do have your names, James and you are Pamela."

"Yes, Pam for short. Pam and Jim. Simple to remember."

"Yep, good ole Jim. That's me." He said tapping his fingers. I noticed that about Jim. Nervous habit. I decided more notes are in order.

"Okay, well Jim, continue.  Tell me why you are here. And then Pam, we'll hear from you." I replied, watching them glance sideways at each other before he leaned back and pulled at his pant leg.

Jim chuckled nervously before continuing."Sorry, it's just that I guess I'm a bit...I don't know, what's the word I'm looking for?"

"Closed minded?" Pam offered and he shot her a look.

"No... That's definitely not it."

"Skeptical?" She tossed out and Jim gave her a flippant look. I took more notes.

"Noooo." He said more firmly. "Confused. Yes. Confused at how we got to the point we need counseling."

Pam sighed a bit and gave him a glare to which he contorted his face in some funny way and quirked an eyebrow. I watched quietly again and jotted down more notes. I am definitely going to need more paper for these two.  Interesting, that non verbal communication they have again.

Pam spoke up, "It's just that, we've been married for a year, and everything's good."

Jim agreed by nodding his head. "Yeah, I mean great wedding. Nice gifts-"

"We got two toasters."

"Two. Who doesn't love that?" He smiled a bright smile and it prompted Pam to smile a bit too.

"And we've been friends for years."

"A half of a decade at least."

"That's just five years Jim."

"I realize that Pam."

"So why didn't you just say five years?"

"Because I like the way ‘half of a decade ‘ sounds."

She rolled her eyes. "How old are you again?"

"It's not like I was asked for the roman numeric date or anything. I just gave  a figure of how long we've been friends."

"But it's really been about six years."

Jim went to say something and that's when I felt the need to interject my opinion.  I cleared my throat to steer the conversation in my direction. "It says here you're still newlyweds mostly.  This must be an exciting time for you. And most couples deal with adapting to this huge life change. So what were your reasons for coming to see me today?"

Jim shrugged and looked at Pam as if to defer the question to her. She exhaled heavily. "It's been weird lately. We're finally married and we are in love but, we argue a lot."

"Over little stuff." Jim added.

"Like who ate the last of the Count Chocula. Or how he keeps forgetting to put the toilet paper roll on the actual toilet paper roll dispenser."

"I just don't see the point of that. It's not a big deal. You can still reach the toilet paper. It's just sitting on the sink."

"But it's NOT supposed to be. It's just sitting there. Not in its rightful place."

"So?" Jim muttered and Pam gritted her teeth.

"And it bothers me."

"Well, that's just weird on your part."

She looked flustered and turned back to me. "See? It's like this all the time.  We go back and forth over nonsense. And I just don't want it to escalate into big blow outs and then divorce."

I heard Jim mutter, "Which is ridiculous because every married couple fights."

"Fifty one percent end in divorce, Jim."

"Whoa," I interjected. "Let's not discuss divorce. Let's discuss goals. What do you hope to achieve with these sessions? Pam you go first."

She sighed heavily, "I just...we've worked so hard to get here. Our relationship was like a rollercoaster ride. I don't want our marriage to go into a bad direction."

I nodded, adding more notes. "It is healthy to argue, Pam. Differences can be settled that way and it doesn't mean you will be divorcing tomorrow."

Jim chuckled slightly. "I mean, or we could have a dance off. Since arguing scares her."

"I'm not scared, I just don't like when we argue. We should be getting along, we always have."

"Not always."

I probed more. "And when was that  period, Jim?"

"When I told her I loved her while she was engaged to someone else. And then I transfered....it's a long story."

Pam interjected. "But its well documented and on DVD right now from a show that was filming our office."

"Interesting. So I have two celebrities in my midst."I remarked, chuckling.

"I'm still humble, it's Pam who's a diva." Jim joked. I am beginning to notice he deflects with humor.

 "And you Jim? What do you want out of this counseling?"

"I just want to make Pam happy," He said resolutely.

I watched as she looked lovingly at him. I notated this as well and continued, "So, you don't find this necessary? You're doing this for Pam?"

Jim exhaled and avoided the look Pam was giving him. "No, it's just, I mean...I think we're normal. I don't think we're headed for Divorce Court at all, we just got married. My parents don't ever agree on anything except that they hate my Great Uncle Larry, and they've been married for 33 years now.  I plan on being married to Pam forever god willing, and if I annoy her sometimes, it's just....ya know...life to me.  If you ask me, we have a pretty healthy relationship, despite the fact Pam might, let's say, blow things out of proportion-"

"I do not!" she squeaked loudly.

"See, I rest my case." Jim replied, folding his arms and tossing her a smirk.

"So do you think counseling works, Jim?"

He frowned. "I work with a few people who could benefit from some, but as for my marriage, I think its fine."

I noted his response before asking, "What I'm hearing from Jim is he thinks that you guys are doing fine, while you Pam, feel you can do a bit better. Well let me ask you, how is your sex life?"

Pam blushed into a deep red and Jim cleared his throat and gave a wry smile.

I felt the need to probe (no pun intended) more. "Don't be shy Pam. Sexual health in a marriage is very important. Besides, I want you two to feel like this is a trusting environment where you can share intimate details. A bubble from the outside world.  This way there are no secrets in here, you can trust your partner and I certainly won't judge you."

Pam looked sheepishly at Jim and then back at me. "It's...it's really good."

Jim gave a cough. "Just good? "

She looked over to him. "I might be exaggerating slightly."

They were bantering back and forth I see. I smiled as I listened.

He scowled. "No cookie for you then! And honestly Doc, I think our sex life is fine. For the first few months, we barely were able to stand most mornings. I think our neighbors thought we were having illegal boxing matches in our apartment because we can get pretty creative."

I nodded. "So you get creative?"

"Jim..." Pam hissed, embarrassed.

Jim looked confused. "What?!  I thought we were in some sort of trust bubble in here. Am I not in the bubble? Is there no bubble?"

I wave my hands. "Yes, there is a trust bubble. No need to be embarrassed Pam. It's good to have a healthy sexual appetite. You are young after all."

Jim nodded. "I mean, we don't get too kinky but my hope is Pam feels good about it. Do you?"

He looked over to her. She opened and shut her jaw a few times before responding. "Sometimes...I feel...inadequate."

"Why?" I asked before Jim could respond.

"He's been with several other women before me. I had only been with my ex Roy."

"That's not fair! Half of those girls I got involved with to get over you!"

Pam frowned. "I'm just saying, you are more experienced then I am."

"You're making me sound like some sort of horn dog Pam."

I decided to interject as Pam began to get flustered. I also jotted down how defensive the pair could get. Must probe about insecurities in this relationship. "Pam, you don't think you can please Jim sexually?"

"What? I...I don't know."

I continued. " Do you feel threatened by Jim's experience?"

Jim frowned. "Can I say something? See I don't like the way that sounds. My ‘experience'... like I slept with a bunch of women before Pam. Mind you I am sure Pam was aware I was not a virgin when we met."

Pam stepped in. "I knew that. It's just when we first got together, I made him wait for a while, because I just didn't think I could please him. He was with this girl Karen before me-"

"My god, please don't start about Karen."

"I'm not I'm just saying she looked ‘experienced' too-"

"Wow, are you implying I was dating a whore?"

"No! I'm just saying Karen had more experience that me. I was intimidated."

Jim seemed to be unraveled by her mention of feeling inadequate about her standing with him in comparison to this Karen individual. "Pam... Karen doesn't hold a torch to you."

"Who's Karen?" I interjected.

"Nobody important." Jim answered annoyed.

"He dated her before me. We all worked together."

"But I wasn't over Pam, so I had to break up with her. But Pam forgets that I loved her so much everyone else had paled in comparison."

"Who's Roy?" I asked.

"Nobody...much like Karen." Jim answered sharply.

"My ex fiancé." Pam said with a harsh tone.

Jim exhaled and ran a hand on his face. "Basically two people we need to stop bringing up in conversation."

I stepped in with that. "I sense some issues with exes. Want to discuss that?"

"No. It's no need. I love Pam. I just wish she would realize I love her and only her."

I nodded and watched Pam get sheepish again. " Good Jim. Positive feedback. You're using caring words and phrases. Good. Now, Jim, do you give Pam positive feedback during sex?"

He looked at me in shock. "What do you mean? Like tell her she's doing a bang up job or something? She gets a gold star?"

"No, I mean do you give her compliments or gestures while you are having sex?"

"I guess, I do what every guy does when having sex with the woman he loves."

"Which is?" I pushed forward.

I watched him get flustered now. Obviously these two do not share intimate knowledge of their carnal selves with others.

"Is it not good Pam?" he asked a bit hurt.

Pam frantically shook her head. "No, Jim, I mean...yes it's fabulous, I love when we-"

She glanced over at me and then back at him, a bit timid. He urged her on. "We're in the trust bubble Pam, it's okay to say it."

She gave him an indignant glare and continued. "-When we make love. I just feel like I wish I could give you more."

I watched as he took her hand and kissed her knuckles. "I have enough Pam. I'm more than satisfied. I swear."

I nodded, noticing my pad was very full.  "See that's good. We're getting a dialogue going. I think what I want you to do for this next week-"

"We're meeting every week?" Jim asked puzzled.

"Yes, " I replied. "Will that be an issue?"

"It's just I have that pick up game with Mark and I thought-" He looked to see Pam drop her head slightly and suddenly he changed his train of thought. "Nnnnnot that that should matter. I'll be here."

"Good," I proceeded. "So your assignment is to write down things you love and hate about each other. Don't share with each other until our next session. Then we'll work on those. Sound good?"

Jim glanced at his wife to see how she felt about that.

"It's do-able for me."

"We certainly will." She said and I scheduled their next session.

"Good, I think we will make some progress here. I think counseling will help you understand each other's expectations. It's going to hard, but you will get used to it Jim."

Pam snorted. "That's what she said." 

"Stop Beesley, just...stop." He retorted playfully.

"It's Halpert dammit."

Jim nodded. "I stand corrected. See you next week Doc."

As they left I glanced at my notes and saw that I had written so much about the interaction of this young couple. One quote I scribbled reminded me of what they symbolized.  That "silence may be golden, but a look is work so much it's beyond value."  They had a connection of mind that was rare amongst couples. I would silently root for them, though I was sure, they didn't need very much help.