“Hey there Delilah, what's it like in New York City?” came blaring out of the ipod dock. Pam giggled.

“What?” asked Jim.

“Nothing…It’s just…seriously Jim?”

“What?” Jim asked again

“This song is so cheesy; I can’t believe you have it on your ipod!”

“It is not cheesy!” Jim protested. “Plus it was the free download of the week!”

“Excuses, excuses.”

“I’m not making excuses; there is no reason for me to be making excuses.” Jim replied as he flipped over the grilled cheese sandwich he was making.

Pam laughed a little and went back to concentrating on her sketches.

Jim had brought home the sketch book for her the day before and it was already half full.

She had drawn pictures of him (lots of pictures of him) and tons of landscapes. There were mountains, forests (pictured both in the fall and the spring), and beaches (some obviously in the Caribbean with their white sand and some with boardwalks and tons of people) . There were cityscapes, of places she’d been-like New York and places she hoped to go one day-like Paris.

She and Jim always talked about traveling.

“I’ll take you there one day-I promise,” he told her every time she brought up one of the many places she’d always wanted to go.

When she used to tell Roy about places she wanted to go he’d always say, “But Pammy, that’s so expensive, what about camping? That’s traveling.”

She’d always go with him even though she hated it more than she could explain.

For a little while she’d enjoy it. Setting the campsite up, building a fire, making s’mores, cuddling up in a sleeping bag. Then things went downhill. Roy always wanted to spend the entire day fishing. A little bit of fishing she could handle but sitting on a rock for 10 hours was not her idea of fun. At least it gave her time to draw everything around her. Then she’d feel gross and all she wanted was a shower, sweat pants, and her clean bed. Instead she had to take a shower with her flip-flops on and climb in a tiny tent.

Jim singing the end of the song snapped Pam out of the awful memory.

She looked over to see Jim starting at her.

“Huh?” she said, still thinking about how much she hated camping.

“Lunch’s ready.” Jim said. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She was still in a bit of a daze. “Jim?”

“Yeah?” he said, handing her a plate with her grilled cheese.

“You know how you always say one day we’ll travel, like to France and Italy and all that?”

“Yeah,” He smiled and took hold of her hand.

“Do you really mean that?” She almost looked like she was going to cry.

“Of course I do. I mean, when we have the money and the time and don’t have to worry about work…” He rubbed her hand. “Beasley, are you doubting me?” He chuckled at the thought.

“No, I was just thinking, that’s all.” She reached over and kissed him.

She took a bite of her sandwich and smiled at him. He gave her a confused look and started on his lunch.

The next song shuffled onto his ipod

“Ooh I hear laughter in the rain, walking hand in hand with the one I love”

Pam burst into laughter.

“What? That is a classic! Neil Sedaka is a genius!” Jim protested