He scanned his closet looking for something to wear.  It briefly crossed his mind to dress up for Pam, but his fingers glossed right over his small contingency of suits.  Jim never liked wearing them as they never really fit him quite right nor were they very comfortable.  He had started wearing them in Stamford as almost a disguise to hide from the pain and start over as someone different.  His suits now seemed like Halloween costumes rather than work attire.  They weren’t him and they never would be.  A comfortable pair of favorite jeans caught his eye and he gravitated towards them.  A white t-shirt and a lightweight gray vee-neck sweater finished off his casual ensemble. He planned on taking Pam to Russell’s Restaurant down on Ash Street.  It was a little bit of a drive, but Pam once said she wanted to go there a few years ago.  He never forgot a word she said.  Not even the painful ones, but that didn’t matter now.   Russell’s was nice but it wasn’t anything too fancy, so jeans should be acceptable.  He pushed up the sleeves of his sweater and took a deep breath.  He was anxious and nervous, but at the same time he hadn’t felt this comfortable in ages. 

Jim didn’t usually pay this much attention to his appearance, but Pam was strong motivation to take a longer look in the mirror.   An oversight in his outward appearance was too risky to comprehend as his nerves began to get the best of him.  He still hadn’t adjusted to his new haircut.  It felt odd to have cold air hitting his forehead.  His hair had never been of much concern to him, but now it felt like an outright conundrum.  Pam had told him yesterday that he looked nice with his clean cut short hair combed neatly off to the side.  He wanted to make a good impression on Pam, but his new hair reminded him of Karen and her “suggestion” to get a haircut.  He had hurt Karen badly this afternoon.  She didn’t deserve it, but Jim knew in the long run she didn’t deserve a man who loved someone else.  He did the right thing and he could find solace in that fact.  Karen was a good person, but Pam was the one.  His thoughts returned to Pam and his impending hair decision.  Pam may have liked it, but he didn’t.  Like the suits, it just wasn’t him.  He gave his hair a quick tousle and let his shag playfully return home across his forehead.  It was still short, but it was another step towards normal.  A small grin escaped his lips as he peered at himself.  The man he felt return in Wallace’s office was staring back at him in the mirror.  It felt good to be back.

**** 

A few stoplights and 15 minutes away, Pam stood in front of her closet.  Everything looked old and worn out.  Her fingers danced across the hangers as she rejected every outfit she passed over.  Pam’s limited experience with dating didn’t help, nor did the nagging question of Karen.  Jim had said it was a date, but he didn’t say anything about Karen.  Pam wants to give Jim the benefit of the doubt and assume they had broken up, but she knew she’d have to find out sooner rather than later.  Pam wouldn’t date another woman’s boyfriend even if it was Jim.  She respected herself too much.   Adding to her dilemma, Jim had been playfully coy about where they were going for dinner.  She couldn’t help but pause and smile at the thought of Jim’s elusive plans.  All the giddy butterflies in her stomach sprung to life and pushed out her doubts.  He really came back and he really asked her out.  Something so new and unexpected surely deserved an outfit Jim had never seen her wear.  That ruled out all her skirts, button down shirts, and cardigan sweaters.  Not much else remained.  Pam didn’t go out a lot and she wasn’t one to dress up all that often.   Her eyes wandered to the corner of her closet where rarely or never worn clothes eventually migrated.  She continued to flip through hangers until she came across a top she hadn’t been brave enough to wear since she modeled it for Kelly’s “fashion show at lunch.”  Kelly and Phyllis both gave positive feedback, as did Roy.  Pam stared at it, unsure if she should take the risk of wearing something so unfamiliar for something so special.  She tried it on along with a pair of flattering dark blue jeans and was surprised at how good she looked.  It could’ve been the way the red color complimented her skin tone or her new accessory of confidence that changed her opinion about wearing something so different. 

Pam decided to take the extra time to style her hair into soft curls.  She usually saved her smoothed out do for special occasions.  Jim was definitely worth the effort.  She had worn her hair that way when he told her he loved her.  She could still feel his kiss on her lips.  There are so many things she wished she’d done differently that night, but her hair was not one of them.   After a little fiddling she managed to recreate the style including a few tendrils framing her face.  A little more make up than usual finished off her look.  She wanted to look her best and hide the effects of a long day at work.  Pam took one last look in the mirror and hoped Jim would see the person she knew she had become.  A vibrant and confident woman stared back at her, a woman who was courageous enough to wear red.