The drive was endless. As the city became a fragment in the distant landscape and he drew closer to finally acknowledging the feeling that still struck his stomach every time she was in the same room, he wondered how things had managed to go so wrong between them.
It had been a year since he ran away, taking his heart as far away as he could go, no looking back, knowing that the only love he may ever have was left behind, wasted on what might have been. She had been there then.
She had been there on his first day in the new branch, unsure of his surroundings, mugging for the camera like nothing was wrong. She had been there when he ate lunch alone for the first time in years. She had been there during his first staff meeting, her silhouette noticeably absent from the chair next to him. She had been there every night he spent alone those first several weeks, softly crying into his pillow, gripping the sheets, wondering if he could ever recover. She had been there on his first date with Karen, silently the standard that he would hold all women to. She was there every time Karen wrapped her arms around him, him cursing her every curve, knowing they weren’t near as perfect as the ones he had taken pleasure in finally experiencing last May. She was there on the drive back to Scranton, a lingering regret he had hoped never to face. She was there every time he made desperate attempts to ignore the way her voice still stirred his heart. She was there as he dutifully played boyfriend to a girl that, on paper, should have been perfect. She was there every night he had laid awake since he’d returned. She would never be just a girl he knew.
Her voice, her smile, the way her eyes pored into him every time she looked in his direction, the way the air was sucked from the room when she brushed him in the elevator, stayed. Every word she spoke, every glance she gave, the way she brushed her hair from her face as she answered the phone… everything. Everything that he had so desperately tried to push aside was left welling inside him.
He closed the car door with a ferocity unmatched. The elevator inched its way upstairs, his heart thudding against his chest. He opened the door he had opened a hundred times before and glanced immediately at her empty desk. Panicking, his eyes flew to the conference room, where he saw a familiar head of soft, brown curls peeking out from behind the blinds. He walked purposefully, bursting open the door.
“Pam.”
She turned.
“Sorry,” acknowledging the producers and turning back to her. “Are you free for dinner tonight?”
“Yes”
“Alright. Then it’s a date”
She emerged from the conference room, expression blank, looking as though someone had hit her with a two by four. He was waiting. Her mouth opened, trying desperately to find words to fill this silence.
“I’m sorry,” he spoke, stopping her. It was all he could say.
She moved towards him, and without thought, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling every inch of her close, feeling her relax in his embrace. The smell of her hair wafted into his nostrils as his trembling hands grasped the small of her back. He closed his eyes, wishing to take every second of this moment in, as he buried his head in her neck. She was perfect. And here. Just as she always had been.
Wordlessly, he laced his fingers through hers and they started over. Together.
Story Notes:
Disclaimer: Not mine, not mine, not mine. That's what she said. Just a little procrastination.
Author's Chapter Notes:
I never claimed I was any good at this.
Chapter End Notes:
Thanks so much for all of the kind feedback! I went back and changed the thing about the cab ride... I don't know what I was thinking.
expiredyogurt is the author of 1 other stories.
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