Jim Halpert was suffering from the flu that day and decided to stay home from work. For the rest of his life, he would always regret that decision. He thought about going in, but Pam insisted that he stay and promised to visit him on lunch. They had been dating for almost a year now, and despite some rocky moments in the beginning, things were going very well. He even started the process of looking for a ring.

It was a couple hours later when Dwight called from the office because Pam hadn’t arrived yet. This immediately frightened Jim, who knew she wouldn’t just blow off work without telling him. Frantic calls to her cell phone went unanswered and driving around town resulted in nothing. It would be several more hours before he finally received that fateful phone call. Pam Beesley died that morning in a car accident.

It would be three months later before Jim returned to work. That would be one of the hardest days of his life. Everyone was kind and sympathetic, greeting him with hugs and affection, but that only served as a painful reminder of something he was trying to forget. The most difficult moment was meeting Valerie, the new receptionist. She seemed nice enough, but he couldn’t even bear to talk to her or even look to her.

It was a week before he could even answer the phone and a another week before he finally made another sale. Corporate was a little nervous, but backed off due to Michael and Ryan ‘s request for more time. It was a slow and painful process, but eventually Jim’s numbers started to improve. In fact, they soon surpassed his previous totals, as the renewed focus on his job was the only thing that helped him get through each day. It wasn’t long before Dwight started irritating him again, Kevin started telling him dirty jokes, and Michael included him in all the pointless meetings. Jim felt that things would never completely get back to normal, but now at least he was able to get through each day with minimal pain.

It was almost nine months later when Angela first noticed something was wrong with Jim. The office had to file their quarterly expense reports and she had come over to his desk to check on some of his figures that didn’t seem right. At first he seemed to be working on something, but he didn’t even budge when she walked over and greeted him. How rude, she thought. She had never thought highly of him, and suspected that he felt the same, but to outright ignore her? That was uncalled for.

She waved her hands in front of his face. “Hello!” she said, an irritated tone to her voice.

He finally snapped out of it. “What? Oh, I’m sorry. I was…” and then he seemed to drift again.

For a moment, Angela felt some concern creeping in, but that couldn’t be the case. She didn’t worry about other’s problems, especially not Jim’s. “Jim,” she said flatly.

“Oh, sorry. Um, can I help you with something?” he asked, but was clearly distracted.

“I was going over your expense forms and these two columns don’t add up correctly.” She pointed out the columns that didn’t match. “Also, we’re missing a date for this one.”

“My bad,” he said offhandedly. “I’ll go over my figures again and get back to you.”

It didn‘t seem like he took it seriously, which always bothered her about him. Accounting was serious business, and she couldn‘t just wait around for people who didn‘t care. “Well, I need them by four.”

He finally had enough of her and snapped, “Then you’ll get them by four, Angela!”

“OK…Thank you.” As she walked back to her desk, she closed her eyes with a horrific realization: It had been so long and things had returned to normal that she completely forgot what Jim had been through. Now she couldn’t believe she had spoken to him that way. Angela knew that most people in the office thought she was mean. Kevin had certainly mentioned that more than a few times. She normally played it off with an excuse, but this time she felt that maybe they were right.

It was a couple days later when Angela finally worked up the courage to apologize. She saw Jim make his way to the break room and decided to follow him in there. He noticed her enter, but immediately looked away. “Hello Jim.”

“Hey Angela,” he replied without looking at her.

She could tell he didn’t want to talk to her and almost left. Finally, she gathered up the nerve to speak. “I wanted to tell you that I feel I should not have spoken to you in that manner the other day.”

Having never seen Angela apologize before, this took him by surprise. “Really?”

“Yes. I seemed to have upset you but that was not my intent.”

“No offense, but you’re usually like that,” he replied. “I just normally don’t let it get to me.”

This wasn’t going the way she expected. She figured an apology wasn’t going to matter to him now. “Okay,” she replied. “Very well then.”

“Angela?” Jim said before she got to the door.

“Yes?”

Somehow, Jim could tell that she was making an honest effort. “I accept.”

She shook her head and said, “Thank you, Jim.”

It would be a rough week for Jim. His behavior started to become more erratic and he even snapped at Michael a couple of times, no longer having the patience for his foolishness. Each time, Michael retreated to his office and didn’t come out for hours. Finally, at Angela’s request, Toby held a meeting with Jim, trying to get him to open up about what was bothering him. Jim had known Toby for a long time and could tell that he was really trying to help, but it wasn’t really doing any good. Nobody could understand what he was going through and he just wished they would leave him alone.

Angela didn’t even know why she kept trying. If someone asked her, she wouldn’t be able to logically explain to them why she cared so much. It was a few days later when Angela decided to make another attempt. She spotted Jim in the kitchen, gathering something out of the fridge. Angela carefully walked over to him and said, “Hello, Jim.”

“Hi?” responded a confused Jim. He thought he’d already met his quota of Angela for the year.

“You always seem surprised when I talk to you.”

“Um, I guess because you hardly ever did that before?” replied a somewhat annoyed Jim.

“Yes, I guess that does make sense then.” Realizing this attempt had failed, she started to leave.

“I’m sorry,” Jim said sincerely. “I don’t mean to be rude. I just wish people would treat me the same as before. All of the attention, well, it just brings up bad memories, so…”

Angela walked up to him and gently said, “I know I can be … short with some people.” He gave her a quick glance. “Okay, most people. However, I am a Christian and we are taught to help those that are suffering.”

“Thanks Angela, but the only help I need right now is a steady diet of liquor, so unless you’re a bartender, I don’t think there’s much you can do.” With that, he went back to his desk. Angela was now more concerned than ever. She really wished that unusual feeling would go away.

At Poor Richard’s, the usual Friday night crowd was swarming throughout the place. Jim was sitting at the bar without a thought in the world except downing that next shot. He had several women sit down next to him, seemingly to strike up a conversation or maybe even proposition him, but he wasn’t having any of that. The only thing he was having was a refill. After a few hours he was clearly wasted and the bartender stopped serving him, much to Jim’s chagrin. The bartender called a cab for him, but an irritated Jim got up and left, vowing to find another establishment that would serve him.

Angela hated bars, but here she was spending her Friday night at one. She didn’t even understand why she was really there. Why did she care so much? It didn’t make any sense. She’d tried to offer support and he rejected that. Now she was looking for him in a crowded bar with smelly drunk perverted men that would love to take advantage of a 90 pound woman. Finally she spotted Jim and he did not appear to be in a good mood. He was arguing with the bartender over something and eventually stormed off. Angela followed him out of the front of the bar.

“Jim!” she called out to get his attention.

He almost stumbled trying to turn around. “Oh, it’s you again. Isn’t that great?” he slurred.

“You’re not driving. Give me your keys.” She held her hand out.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re drunk. I‘m not going to let you drive drunk.”

Jim laughed derisively. “Oh right, this is the all new Angela Martin who actually cares about people. I think I liked the old version.”

“Please give me your keys.”

”And why should I do that?”

“Because you are drunk and I’m not letting you drive,” she said, but he still wasn’t responding. “You could get into an accident!” That really struck a personal blow for him. He stopped and looked at her for a moment, and Angela was briefly worried that she’d gone too far. Jim finally gave in and handed over his keys. He then started walking back towards the bar, having great difficulty going in the right direction.

“Where are you going?” she called after him.

“Back inside. They called me a cab.”

“No. I’ll drive you home. I trust the average cab driver only slightly more than I trust a drunk driver.” She motioned for him to follow her.

“I don’t understand what’s gotten into you lately.”

“I don’t quite understand it either,” Angela said as she pointed him to where her car was parked.

I hope this isn’t like a ‘Pay it Forward’ thing, because that movie sucked.”

It took some time to get to his apartment because in his state he was not giving the best directions. When they finally arrived, he was no longer conscious. Angela eventually got his attention, at least enough to get him out of the car. She helped guide him to his front door, but it wasn’t easy given the huge disparities in weight involved. Eventually, she managed to get him inside and he immediately crashed on the couch. His apartment was a mess, but she was able to locate a blanket, which she then draped over him.

It was the next Monday, and this time he approached her. She was sitting at her desk when he came over. “Hey, can I talk to you for a second?“

“Of course,” Angela flatly replied.

Jim looked at Oscar and Kevin and then tried to signal Angela towards the break room.

A confused Kevin asked, “What are you guys doing?”

“Nothing, Kev, I just need to talk to Angela.” This explanation did nothing to end Kevin’s confusion. Angela got up and followed Jim to the break room.

“I‘m not sure whether I should say thanks or if I should apologize.”

“You don’t need to do either.”

“I’m sorry you had to see me like that. It wasn’t my finest moment.”

“It’s quite alright,” she replied, not wanting to get into a long conversation about it. She’d done her good deed, and now it was time for someone else to help.

Jim could tell something was different, but not unfamiliar, about her reaction. He sighed for a moment and then said, “It’s just that…Friday was one year.”

“Oh.” It was all she could think of to say. That unfamiliar feeling of concern began creeping up on her again.

“Yeah. It‘s just been really hard. I got to a point where I could pretend that it didn‘t happen and then this brought it all back.” Angela was nodding at him sympathetically. “You know, I haven’t even been to visit … you know.”

“Maybe that would be good for you,” she suggested. She couldn’t believe what she was about to suggest, but it just seemed like the right thing to do. “You know, I could go if you needed someone to go with you. If you think that would help.”

Jim decided to go ahead with it that afternoon, figuring that if he didn’t go right away, then it might not ever happen. He caught Angela after work ended for the day and said he was ready. They took her car because he was shaking way too much to drive safely. Also, he didn’t want to chicken out at the last minute. This was something he needed to do.

As they arrived at the cemetery, all Jim could think about were the hundreds of people buried there. All of them had loved ones, most of whom were probably grieving as much as he was. While he got out of the car and made his way through the cemetery, Angela said a silent prayer and then followed him a few yards behind.

Angela could tell he had found her headstone because he stopped and sank to his knees. There it read:

Pam Beesley
1979-2008

Jim had always made a habit of repressing his feelings, especially around those he still didn’t completely trust, but he couldn’t do so any longer. He lost control of his emotions and suddenly found himself weeping. In that moment, his only conscious thought was to be glad that Angela was there because he appreciated the tender way she was holding his head in her arms as he cried the night away.