"Encourage him?" Jim asked in surprise.  He couldn't believe that Karen was blaming him for Andy trying to reel him in like a fish.  "I'm the victim, ok?  He's fishing for me.  We've got to do something."

"Look, I've got like fifteen new clients I inherited from Dwight and each file is password protected with a different mythical creature. So, I'm sorry. I can't," she told him.  Jim shook his head.  Pam would still play along... she'd find a way... Stop that, Jim!  Stop comparing Pam to Karen!  They are not the same!  And maybe that's the problem...  Stop.  Dwight was drunk.  He didn't know what he was saying.

Jim looked at Ryan, and then at Pam.  He could stay "neutral" and safe with Karen and ask Ryan to pull the prank with him... But then, part of him was curious...  What if there was some truth to what Dwight said?  In a moment of distress, Pam just might say something without thinking about who she's saying it to... 

Jim walked up to the reception desk.  He took a jellybean and looked at Pam.  She was on the phone.  When she hung up, Jim asked, "Would you like to pull a prank on Andy?"

"Oh, I'm kind of in the middle of -- yes please," she said with excitement.

"Okay, good. Stay right here."  Jim walked back to his desk and made like he was going to grab a pencil.  He knocked over the pencil cup and in the midst of the "confusion" grabbed Andy's cell phone.  Ignoring a comment from Andy, Jim walked back over to Pam.  "Are there any messages?" he asked, handing Pam the phone very sly and discreetly.  She took it and shook her head.

"Nope," she replied.  As Jim walked away, Pam got Andy's number off of the phone and made sure the ringer was at the highest level.  Jim hadn't even explained his plan, but she could read his mind like no one else.  Smiling, she walked to the break room.  Jim walked in the same direction and she passed him the phone.  Pam paused at the water cooler and got some water as Jim went into the kitchen and threw the cell phone in the ceiling. 

As Jim walked out of the kitchen, he saw Pam keeping watch and had to smile to himself.  All pranks aside, the fact that she could read him so easily and know exactly what his plan was without having to be told--that just told him that she was a perfect match for him. Could any other woman be more perfect?

He walked past Karen's desk and glanced at how hard she was working at retrieving those clients from Dwight's computer.  He shook his head.  Work to do or not, she just... didn't get him.  He remembered Pam saying something similar about her and Roy.  They just weren't meant for each other--just like him and Karen.  There was nothing wrong with Karen--except that she wasn't Pam.

Jim took a seat at his desk and smiled, hearing the phone ringing in the ceiling.  He casually swiveled in his chair and looked at reception.  Pam was on the phone, a slight smile on her face.

***

After Andy's tantrum, Jim sat in the conference room, holding his drink with his elbows on his knees.  Karen entered and sat beside him.  She let out a sigh and galnced at him briefly.

"Do you still have feelings for her?" she asked.

Jim smiled.  "Yes."

Karen stood to walk away, but Jim called her back.  "Karen," he said.  She turned to face him.  "This isn't fair to you.  I think we should break up before it goes too far."

Karen bit her lip.  "You've got to be kidding me."

Jim shook his head.  "No, I'm completely serious.  You're great, but... I just... I have too much... baggage."

Karen crossed her arms angrily.  "You're an asshole."

Jim nodded.  "Absolutely.  I'm sorry."

Karen nodded slowly.  "Yeah, well...  you should be."

Jim didn't understand what the big deal was--they had only been dating for two months!  It wasn't like they had been together for a long time.  They weren't even really intimate...

Jim hung his head and hoped she would walk away and forget him.  Luckily, that's exactly what she did.  

***

When Jim had not come out of the conference room for a long time, and when Pam had noticed the look on Karen's face, Pam wondered if they had had another argument.  Pam walked in and resolved to be the good friend--the listening ear--the shoulder to cry on.

"Hey," she said as she stepped just inside the door.  "You alright?"

Jim looked up at her and grinned.  He was more than alright.  He had another chance with Pam, and he was taking it.  "Yeah, I'm great."

"Karen didn't look too happy," she observed.

"Um, that's because... I broke up with her."

Pam raised her eyebrows.  "Really?"

"Yup.  It wasn't working."

"You guys seem so... good for each other."

Jim shrugged.  "On the surface, maybe, but... she just doesn't get me like other people do.  Besides, it was getting kinda hard dating her when I'm still in love with someone else."

Pam saw the look in his eyes, and wasn't sure if she should jump up and down, act cool, pretend to be clueless, or to kiss him right then and there.  "That... would be kinda hard," she said, taking a seat nearby.  "I was in a similar situation."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," she confirmed.  "I was engaged to some guy when I was in love with someone else--someone who really got me." 

Jim beamed, overwhelmed by the look in her eyes, and amazed that Dwight was actually right.  He would have to owe Dwight a big favor.  He had been the one to help Jim to see that he did have another chance with Pam.  He would need to thank him later.  But for now, there was Pam.  She was sitting in front of him, telling him exactly what he had wanted to hear for three years: she loved him.

"So, Jim," Pam said coyly.  "Any big plans now that you're back on the market?"

Jim smiled and leaned back in his chair.  "Just one plan.  You wanna hear it?"

"Absolutely I do."