“Where do you see yourself in 10 years?”
It was the question he couldn’t escape. Jim was sitting in the same chair where he sat three years ago, when he was applying for the corporate position that eventually went to Ryan. Jim was certain he would have got the job, but it was this question that did him in. It revealed his true insecurities about leaving Scranton. He didn’t want to be without Pam. When David Wallace called him about this interview, he expected that this question would come up once again. A month ago, the answer would have been easy, as it was exactly the same as before. He was planning on marrying Angela, and he would once again turn down the job offer for a woman he loved.
Unfortunately, the last month did not go according to plan. Things had been rocky for Jim and Angela, mostly due to a nasty argument that led to a poor choice of words on Angela’s part. They hadn’t necessarily broken up yet, but they were in a confusing area of their relationship where neither person really knew where things were headed. Jim was all too familiar with this feeling, and wanted nothing more than to move on with his life. However, something stopped him from breaking it off completely. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was completely in love with her, and still had not returned the engagement ring he bought for her.
This new potential job was an excellent opportunity. He’d be a sales trainer, in charge of running meetings to improve the sales efficiency of all Dunder-Mifflin branches. He certainly felt more suited for that than the corporate job that Ryan got. However, with the state that his relationship with Angela was in, he’d almost certainly be ending things if he moved. There was no way she would move to New York with him now.
“In 10 years, I see myself in your chair,” Jim blurted out. Wallace smiled in response. It was exactly the answer he was looking for. A week later, he called Jim with the offer.
“So, is it another night of the silent treatment?” Angela asked, as she sat at a dinner table in her apartment. Jim, who had been intently staring at his food, looked up with great annoyance. “I guess so,” she said.
“You say that like it’s a one way street,” Jim accused.
“Isn’t it, though?” she asked pointedly. “I’ve been trying, Jim. I’ve been making an effort.”
“No you haven’t,” he said angrily. “All you do is hide behind this shell of a person who doesn’t care about others and doesn’t show her emotions. It’s very convenient. It allows you not to apologize.”
“It’s who I am, Jim! How long have you known me? How long have we been dating? Suddenly, this is a surprise to you? You want me to change the way I am and become someone completely different?”
“It’s not that.”
“Then what is it?”
Jim had no answer. All he could do was stare at the food on his plate even more intently. Angela got up and immediately went to her bedroom, slamming the door shut before Jim could tell she was crying. After a few excruciating minutes, he walked over to her bedroom door and knocked.
“Angela?”
“Please leave!”
“Angela, I’m sorry,” Jim replied, mentally noting the irony of apologizing for being mad about her lack of apologies. “Please open up.”
“I said leave!” a defiant Angela shouted.
“There’s something I really need to talk to you about,” he said pleadingly.
She still didn‘t want to hear it. “I think you’ve said it all.”
“David Wallace offered me a job,” he abruptly said.
It was quiet for a few moments, but then suddenly the door opened, revealing an Angela was still clearly upset, but obviously curious about this latest development. “He did what?”
“Yeah, it’s a sales training position,” he said. “It’s based in New York. Obviously, there will be some travel involved, but I…”
“New York,” she said, as if beckoning him back to that important fact that he steamrolled through.
“Yeah.”
“Well, good luck then,” trying to hide her discomfort.
“What does that mean?” a confused Jim asked.
“It means you’ve obviously moved on,” Angela said, having a difficult time hiding her emotions. “Congratulations.”
“I haven’t moved on. I’m here, aren’t I? I wanted to talk to you about this.”
Angela folded her arms and said, “So talk.”
“I do want the job,” Jim said, and Angela made a move to shut the door. “Wait! Hear me out. I want the job, but I also want you. I want you to come with me.”
“What?” a startled Angela replied. This wasn’t what she expected.
“Come with me to New York,” Jim said as he pulled a black box out of his pocket and got down on one knee.
“What are you doing?” a terrified Angela asked.
“Angela…”
“Don’t,” she tried to interrupt, still frightened.
He held the ring out for her. “Will you marry me?”
Angela tried her best to remain dignified, but she began to shake as she looked at the ring that Jim had presented her. It looked like she might take it as she began to reach out for it, but the journey her hands had to make was a long one and they would not quite make it. Angela looked at Jim with an apologetic face and shut the door, leaving him kneeling there all by himself. After staying there for a few moments, he gathered himself together, placed the ring back in the box and put it on her dining room table. He then made his way for the front door, daring one glance back at her bedroom door before finally leaving.
For Jim, it was another boring day at work. This time he just sat there in a daze, ignoring Dwight’s insults and ignoring the ringing phone. He looked to the reception desk and there she was, as if nothing had ever changed. Pam always had a beautiful smile and she was flashing it at him right now, an unfair tactic she had always used to get him to come to her. She knew he couldn’t say no to that smile. Jim made his way to her desk to ‘get his messages’ as usual, but this time she really did have something for him. Her face turned into a more serious gaze as she handed him a post-it. Jim looked at the note, which only contained one word: Angela. Jim looked back to Pam, but she was no longer there. As he turned to his left, he saw Angela walking to him.
“Jim!” she shouted, and it finally woke him up. Her voice was coming from the other side of the bedroom door. Jim quickly got up and opened the door, revealing a breathless Angela. She held up her hand to show that she was wearing the engagement ring.
“It will have to be resized, but that shouldn’t be much of a problem. But if you think I’m going to Vegas or Disney or some other tacky place for the honeymoon, you’ve got another thing coming.”
“Actually, I was just looking for ‘yes’, but that also works,” a brightly smiling Jim said.
Angela wasn’t paying attention to his comment, though. She was too busy looking him over. “You’re not wearing anything,” she stated.
Jim looked at himself, as if realizing this for the first time. “Yeah, I was sleeping. Is that okay?”
“Of course. It just means you’ve got a head start,” Angela said as she began undress herself. “Are you going to help, or do I have to do all the work myself?”
“Is this Angela?” a bewildered Jim asked. “Did someone capture you?”
“Yes, someone did, but if they don’t quit with the jokes and take me right now, I may have to escape.”
“No escape for you,” Jim said, wrapping her in a tight embrace. He picked her up and carried her over to the wall as she wrapped her legs around him. As she felt him enter her, she couldn’t help but look at the ring on her finger.
Jim immediately knew something was wrong when he woke up the next morning. He had distant memories of someone crying throughout the night, but it felt like it could have been a dream. However, when he looked to the spot beside him on the bed, Angela was not there. His immediate hope that she was in the kitchen or in the shower was dashed when he saw the black box with the engagement ring lying there with a note underneath. He didn’t need to read the note. He already knew what it said.
Jim picked up his phone and began dialing. Someone answered on the other end. “This is Jim Halpert, calling for David Wallace…. Yeah, just let him know that I’m accepting the offer. Thank you.”
As he hung up the phone, he could see the picture sitting right next to it. It was a picture of him and Angela during a Christmas charity event, looking extremely happy. The picture just sat there, silently mocking him. He turned itface down and got up to begin the long, arduous task of packing for his eventual move to New York.
“Hello, Pam,” Angela said. She was standing before Pam’s grave, in the same spot where she had comforted Jim so long ago, setting this seemingly crazy chain of events in place. “I never allowed myself to get emotional, and so when you died it may have seemed like I didn’t care. That’s not true at all. We were definitely very different people, but actually seemed to be not hate each other for a little bit. It even seemed like we could be… friends, as preposterous as that sounds. I never knew if you were a believed, but I hope you did, and I hope you’re in heaven right now. If so, then I guess we still can be friends some day. That would be nice.”
Angela gathered herself for a moment before continuing, “I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt Jim. I wanted to marry him, but got scared. Maybe it seemed like he’d never think of me the same way he thought about you. Saying that out loud makes it sound stupid. And then I kept changing my mind, confusing him about what I wanted. This is why you deserved to be with him. You would have never done something like that. I guess I should say goodbye now. Jim is leaving for New York and I don’t know what I’m doing. Again, I’m sorry. Sorry that you had to die and sorry that I hurt Jim. Goodbye.”
As Angela started to walk away, she noticed storm clouds approaching, and thunder sounding off in the distance. She looked up for a moment before running back to her car.
The Scranton branch threw a big party for Jim on his last day. It was one of the biggest they’d had in a long time. The whole office was decorated with pictures of Jim and words of encouragement for him. There was a huge buffet of food, which was catered by Hooter’s of course. Dwight held a Jim Halpert trivia contest. Kevin was furious that he lost to Phyllis. Jim kept glancing at the hallway, hoping that Angela would show up, but she didn’t. It wasn’t like her to miss a day of work, especially when there was a party that she obviously had to help plan.
As the day began to wind down, Jim sat down on the couch to catch his breath and Michael came over to join him.
“So, you’re really leaving for good this time?” Michael asked.
“Yeah, it looks like it.”
“Well, good luck buddy,” Michael said sincerely.
Jim let out a small laugh. “Thanks, buddy.”
After an awkward moment of silence, Michael tried to change the subject. “So, you and Angela.”
This instantly made Jim feel very uncomfortable. “Yeah, I really don’t want to talk about it.”
“No, I understand,” Michael said apologetically. “Painful memories. Like all the stuff I went through with Jan and our therapist. When I walked in on them, it was ups…”
Jim had to interrupt him this time. “Michael, I really don’t need to hear that story again.”
“No problemo,” a conciliatory Michael said. “It’s just, remember what I said on that booze cruise a few years back?” Jim looked over to him. Michael was actually being serious. “Never, ever give up.”
Jim thought about this. “Yeah.”
Michael continued, “I’ve said a lot of stupid things, but that wasn’t one of them. Think about it.”
Then it was time for goodbye. As his coworkers walked up to say goodbye one last time, Jim felt a wave of regret. He really liked these people and was definitely going to miss them. Oscar, Stanley, Toby, and Andy all shook his hand and wished him the best. A teary Phyllis hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. Following her was a confused Kevin, who awkwardly hugged Jim but made sure to remind him they were still on for fantasy football. Valerie, Meredith, and a weeping Kelly also hugged Jim. However, it was Michael and Dwight who hugged him the tightest. Jim felt a post-it being stuck on his back when he hugged Dwight, but he didn’t say anything. It was as good a time as any to let Dwight have one. Jim waved to everyone before the elevator doors shut on him for good.
It was departure day, but Jim had one more stop to make. There wasn’t much left to say. “Goodbye, Pam,” he said, standing in front of her grave. He then shed his last few tears for her before walking back to his car.
Jim was now on the highway and was determined to resist the temptation to go back. He didn’t even want to look in his rearview mirror. Just a little bit ahead, he saw a sign that read: You are Leaving Scranton. As he passed the sign, he knew there was no turning back. His life was finally starting over. This was not how Jim had ever expected it to go, but he realized there was still a bright future ahead and he was going to make the best of it.
"You're driving much too fast," Angela said.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here is the final chapter of In Her Arms. Sorry for the long delay, but I really wanted to get it right. Hopefully, I didn't disappoint.
Chapter End Notes:
Thanks for those who have been such big sipporters of this story.This was really difficult to write and took alot out of me, but the response I got from you guys made it more than worthwhile. Thanks again!
larrymcg is the author of 20 other stories.
This story is a favorite of 4 members. Members who liked In Her Arms also liked 379 other stories.
