"Redact that."

"No."

"I'm serious Pam, redact it right now."

"No."

I watched them go back and forth again, the second time in the span of 10 minutes. But it wasn't an argument yet. It was a stand off of the mind, Jim not approving of Pam's list, and Pam not caring. She clutched the list in her small hands and raised her chin in defiance.

"I stand by my statement. I hate the fact that you have poor taste in teams such as the Phillies and the Eagles."

Jim shook his head, his mouth agape. "I don't even know you anymore. Why didn't you tell me this before I made a lifetime commitment to you?"

Pam snorted and turned back to me. "Can I continue?"

I nodded. "Yes, please. And Jim, remember, I asked that you both be honest."

Jim snapped his mouth shut and sat back in his chair as Pam went on. "I hate the way he chews gum. Its like , a factory in his mouth. He chomps on it like it's the last piece of gum he'll ever get to chew. I hate the way he leaves his sweaty basketball clothes in the floor after a game, instead of putting them in the hamper as soon as he peels them off his body. I hate the way he always catches me off guard with his humor. How I'm angry at him and he says something so damn stupid I can't help but laugh but I'm so freaking angry and I don't want to be disarmed like that because it isn't fair. I hate how he becomes all obsessed with Fantasy Football to the point where I have to literally sit him down and explain that it's not a threat to national security. I hate that he can still be so damn friendly with his exes-"

"Here we go," Jim muttered.  "Um Doc, why don't we talk about the glaring insecurity in this relationship?"

I perked up. "Well Pam why do you feel insecure?"

Pam dropped her head down and then narrowed her eyes at Jim. "I'm not. Not really. It's just, okay well a few weeks ago, we were at Super Walmart. And um...Jim was walking in the frozen food section-"

"No I wasn't. I was on the snack food aisle."

Pam gave him a nasty look. "It was frozen foods."

"Uh, no. I distinctly remember looking for some Cheezits when this happened."  Jim snapped.

I decided to step in. These two could go off on tangents sometimes. "Well what happened?"

"Well, frozen foods or whatever, he runs into his ex girlfriend Katy."

Jim sighed heavily. "I'm such an unimaginable bastard. Accidently running into a girl who I broke up with because I couldn't have you...in the only Super Walmart in Scranton. How could I do such a thing?"

I watched as Pam jerked her head towards Jim as if she was going to say something very mean, so instead I interjected. "And what happened next?"

She frowned. "They just... they were all friendly when I walked up on them. She was smiling and flirting. Her clothes were all tight and she was just all over him."

"No....she wasn't. Look Doc, she stopped me and I spoke, asked her how she was, explained how I was now married to Pam, and we were laughing about how life works itself out. Pam came up just as Katy smacked my arm because I told her a joke, and she was ready to spit fire."

"He looked like he was enjoying her attention."

"Because I was smiling? I haven't thought of Katy at all. I mean, being in love with you is a full time job Pam."

"Right and I'm supposed to believe you weren't looking at her perky breasts that were almost popping out of her shirt," Pam replied venomously. "I'm not supposed to believe that you were oogling at her while she was draping herself all over you in the middle of the frozen food section in Walmart?"

Jim glared hard at her and gave a bitter chuckle. "Yes Pam, I was going to fuck Katy right there in Super Walmart with you in the baking section only 3 aisles away. Ya caught me. I'm a monster."

He breathed deeply and ran a hand over his face. "I'm sorry Doc, can I say fuck? Is that not okay? I'm just..."

I look at him and nod. "It's fine, we're all adults. This is good, we're getting into some real emotions.But let's hear Pam out."

"I shouldn't have brought it up."

I can see she's one who seems to shy away from confrontation. I watched Jim stew in the corner as Pam looked as if she wanted to crawl into her own skin."No. This is good.  Now...Pam, from what I gather, Jim harbored feeling for you through out his relationships with several women. Why would you feel like they are competition  if he always been longing to be with you?"

"Thank you! I've been saying that all along." Jim said frustrated.

Pam shook her head. "It's not like that. Look can I just finish my list?"

"Sure but we should explore this again. Go ahead. Finish the list."

"I hate that he knows me so well. I hate it because...because then I have to see how difficult I can be sometimes. I hate that he feels like sometimes he has to be strong for me, never giving me room to return the favor. He's always so busy being supportive to me, that there sometimes isn't any room for me to do the same for him. I hate the feeling I get when I look at him. How much time I wasted not being with him. Denying my own feelings because I was scared. I hate how much I changed him, made him a bit more skeptical about things, when he used to be carefree-"

Jim sat up a bit. He looked intensely at her and reached out a hand as she read her list, her emotions coming forth. "Pam, it's not-"

But Pam did not let him comfort her, she pushed onward. "I hate how much he can show me he loves me, and that I don't ever feel like I can prove it to him. He's so good at it...and I am...not."

He looked punched in the gut. A few minutes ago he was angry at her, now she had laid so much in front of him, she actually bared her feelings to him. I could see how this revelation made him feel.

So I wanted to continue. "And what do you love about Jim?"

Pam smiled. "Everything."

Jim leaned forward and kissed her gently to which Pam cleared her throat, clearly embarrassed to almost make out in front of me.

"Jim, what about your list?"

"Maybe I shouldn't-"

"I did mine, do yours." Pam replied.

"But-"

"Trust Bubble Jim." She smiled.

"Fine," Jim cleared his throat and pulled out his list. "I hate the way she eats soggy cereal. It shouldn't take anyone a half an hour to eat Cocoa Puffs. But she likes it soggy, no matter how gross it is. I hate the way she puts her glacier cold feet on my at night, because she thinks I can ‘warm' them. I hate the fact that she snores when she's exhausted. And mind you, this isn't some human snore. No this is like a grizzly bear snore. Half the time, I have dreams I'm in the forest because of her snoring. I hate when she rips through a whole pad of sketch paper because she starts a drawing, but hates it, rips it out, and then balls it up...when nothing was wrong with it. I hate how she sometimes doubts herself. I hate-"

"Whoa, how long is your list Jim?" Pam asked facetiously.

"I hate that she doesn't seem to understand how amazing she is. I hate that she thinks I don't love her, when honestly it's no way I can love anyone on this planet as much as I love her. I also hate that despite the fact she saw me purchase Happy Feet: The special edition, she went ahead and downloaded it to both our IPods.  Because...and I quote...'what if I leave my IPod at home and I really want to watch Happy Feet. So I put it on yours.' End quote."

"Anything else?" Pam smiled.

"I hate that you hid your feelings sometimes. I hate that I couldn't have been with you sooner. I hate that you feel insecure."

I eyed the young man who looked choked up over his list. "And what do you love about Pam?"

"Like she said, everything."Jim replied simply.

"Lazy Halpert, stealing  answers."

"  Her hair, her smile, her lips, her wit, her beauty, her humor...everything."

I nodded and jotted down so more noted.  "Today was good. Next week, I want us to discuss what kind of life goals do you have. Sound good?"

Pam nodded and Jim did as well. As they were leaving I watched their interactions, him helping her stand out of her chair. Helping her slip on her jacket.

And I realized, they are making progress.