It was her six-month anniversary of working at Dunder-Mifflin. Quite an accomplishment, since most of the receptionists had quit after three or four weeks of Michael. Pam probably had no idea it was her anniversary. But Jim did. Jim remembered the day she started working here. He remembered that he had instantly had the biggest crush he could remember. And he remembered finding out that she was engaged. To Roy.

It wasn’t that he hated Roy. It was just that he knew what a jerk Roy could be, and he always thought Pam deserved better than that. She was so sweet, and funny, and easy to talk to and…he stopped. He was over his crush. Really.

That day, Pam came in quietly, sat down at her desk, and avoided conversation whenever possible. He knew something was wrong. “Hey,” he said as he sauntered over to her desk. “How was your weekend?”

“Oh, hey. Um…it was fine. Well, not really…”

“What?”

“Oh, Roy just postponed the wedding. Again. We couldn’t get the reception hall he wanted, and…” her voice dropped away.

“That sucks. But, I guess he just doesn’t want to settle for less than perfect, right?”

“…yeah…” she sounded unsure, but he decided to let it pass. He was too torn. Even though he was sad for Pam, he couldn’t tell himself he was terribly upset that the wedding had been postponed. Even though he was totally over his crush.

“Hey,” he said at last, “Hang on a second. I have something for you.” Jim ran over to his desk and pulled out a carefully wrapped present he had picked up over the weekend. He took it over to Pam and placed it in front of her. “Happy Anniversary.”

“What?” So she didn’t remember. Well, that makes things a little awkward. Oh well. It could be worse, if he wasn’t completely over his crush.

“It was six months ago today that you started working here. You may not realize it, but that is very impressive. Many lesser receptionists have folded under the pressure of the Dunder-Mifflin corporation.”

Pam laughed the laugh that made Jim’s stomach flip. “Wow,” she said, “that is…weird. That you remembered. But sweet. Thanks.” She took off the wrapping paper, careful not to rip it; folded it up; set it aside. What was left was a coffee mug. “World’s Best Receptionist. Wow, I can’t believe it. This is…such an honor.” They both laughed, thinking of Michael’s self-proclaimed “World’s Best Boss” status.

“I didn’t want you to have to buy it yourself.”

“Thank you, Jim.” She got up and gave him a quick hug; suddenly, Jim felt very awkward.

“Um, well, yeah…congrats. I should probably…” he motioned back to his desk.

“Yeah. See you at lunch, in the break room?”

“Definitely.” He was definitely not over his crush.