Pam heard him coming up behind her, and looked up towards him with a huge smile on her face. But when she saw his expression, she began to get concerned.
“Hey…hey, what’s wrong?”
“I don’t know Pam.” He said, his voice quiet, but filled with hurt.
“What do you mean?” She stood up to look at him. She was scared now. Where was the grinning guy that had left her fifteen minutes ago?
He looked down at the ground, his arms hugged against his chest, and stood silently for a minute. “I heard what you said.”
Pam’s mind raced. What did he mean? He must have heard her conversation with Roy. What had she said to him? She couldn’t even remember.
“Jim—whatever you think I said, just tell me and I’ll explain.” She was trying to remain calm, but a panic was rising in her voice. “Don’t blow this, don’t blow this,” she repeated to herself.
She put her hand on his arm, but he still would not look in her eyes.
“Just tell me what’s going on here, Pam. I’m not here to help you get back at Roy. I can’t do that. “
Pam began to protest, but he cut her off. “I know this is partly my fault. I shouldn’t have invited you here. It was too soon. And I know I’ve probably misinterpreted a few things. I know that. I mean come on—I actually expected you to jump into my arms after you haven’t said three words to me in two months? God, I’m an idiot.” He swallowed hard and looked out into the ocean. “What do you want from me?”
Pam was stunned. She was still wracking her brain, wondering what she had said to Roy. Why had she even picked up the phone? Jim’s words had cemented her full-blown panic.
“Jim, please, listen to me. I have no idea what you just heard. I can tell you that it didn’t mean whatever you thought it meant. There is nothing left between Roy and I, and I would never use you like that." Could he really think that she would have so little regard for his feelings? "I told him that I was here with you, but not because I was trying to make him jealous. I was trying to be honest. And I didn’t accept your invitation to make him jealous. You know me better than that.”
With that, he turned towards her again, his voice still hard. “You’re right. I never would’ve thought you would do something like that. But, you know, this has been a rough couple of months for me, too. My best friend Pam disappeared sometime around May, and I haven’t seen much of her until this weekend. What am I supposed to think?”
Now it was her time to stare at the sand and avoid his eyes. She couldn’t blame him for being confused. She had pulled a 180 on him a while back, and completely shut him out. Now, in one weekend, she thought she could just win him back, and he wouldn’t be suspicious of her motivations? She knew it was time to be honest with him.
“Jim, I’m sorry for the way I’ve been acting. I know I’ve been…erratic. It’s just...” Fuck, this was hard. “Jim, do you know why I have been so awful to you?”
He sighed. “Lately, I have no idea why you do anything.”
Tears started to form for the second time that night. She pressed her palms against her eyes, hoping the pressure would stop the inevitable. “I…I needed to get away from you. I knew I should try to work things out with Roy, and that wasn’t possible with you around.” She felt his eyes on her, but she couldn’t look at him. Not yet. Not until she got everything out.
“I was trying to get over you.” There, she said it. There was no immediate reaction from Jim. Silence. She began to fidget, and finally, with a deep breath, she looked up into his eyes. “It didn’t work.”
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Jim blinked hard, twice, the shock of her words still reverberating through him. Of all of the explanations of their rift that he had gone through in his mind, this was not one of them. He suddenly felt very foolish for being so wrong about a woman he thought he knew so well.
Pam was still looking at him with those green eyes, trying to read his expression. He put his hands in his pockets, looked down, and let out a small laugh. “I’m a dick.”
He could tell this wasn’t what she was expecting to hear. “What?”
“I’m sorry I jumped to a million conclusions. I can’t believe I accused you of something like that. Its just--my ego hit an all-time low when we were fighting,and I guess it was hard for me to believe that things turned around so quickly, and that you actually wanted to be with me. So I assumed the worse."
He let out another small laugh. It was too ironic. He had thought she hated him, and all that time, she had had feelings for him? Another small laugh came. He had no idea what was happening, but suddenly, he was laughing in earnest. He glanced at her, and she began to giggle. It was contagious. Then she was truly laughing. She let out a snort, and it got them going even harder. Nothing about the situation was funny, but it was a cathartic kind of laughter. The rollercoaster of emotions they had both just been through was too much—they needed a release.
Soon, they were both doubled over, holding onto one another for support. Pam was holding Jim’s hand, and finally the stitch in her side from the laughter got the best of her, and she stumbled down on the ground, bringing Jim with her.
They both flopped their backs down on the sand, and small fits of laughter kept on escaping from their mouths. As they eased into silence, they looked at the stars, both wondering how to start their conversation back up.
“Forget about Henry. Now I’m the one with sand in my hair.” Jim said, laughter still present in his voice.
Pam smiled, thinking about the little boy who had interrupted them earlier. If only neither of them had chickened out, the whole ugly scene could’ve been avoided. Whatever happened to the “new” Pam? Wasn’t she supposed to throw caution to the wind and take some risks? She looked over at the man lying next to her, his breath still heavy from their marathon of laughter.
She rolled over onto her side, moving right up next to him, so that their bodies touched at every point from her shoulders to her toes. He looked at her with surprise, but a confident smile formed on his lips.
Without a word, she leaned down, and kissed him. It was a short, cautious kiss—all that she had the guts for, really. His lips were soft and warm. He tasted like mint chocolate chip ice cream, and everything about him felt so right. She was starting to lean back, surprised at her own assertiveness, when he reached up and placed a strong arm on her waist and drew her back in. If the first kiss was hesitant, the second kiss was filled with emotions that had been repressed for so long that when they finally escaped, there was no holding anything back.
They stayed out there until the sun rose and the surfers took over their beach. They fell asleep using their sweaters as pillows, and each other as blankets.
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Nick decided it was time to head back to Scranton. He wanted to give Jim some privacy, and traffic was going to be murder tomorrow anyways. He hated traffic more than anything, so he woke his family up at six in the morning to get an early start. He glanced at the empty couch, and then at Pam’s closed door. “Nice one, Jimbo.” He thought to himself, gathering the kid’s toys. George was moping around, still half-asleep, but Henry was his typical high-energy self, even at six in the morning. He was running around, “helping” his mother straighten out the kitchen, but in actuality he was just making a racket.
“Why don’t you go play in the yard for a while until its time to leave, okay?” Annie’s exhaustion was apparent in her voice.
“Okie Dokie.” With that, Henry was out the door, letting it slam behind him. He was running towards the shed to get his soccer ball, when he noticed the wet ground. He looked over and noticed that the outdoor shower was running.
“That’s funny,” he thought to himself, “I thought everyone was sleeping.” He walked over and heard two voices, giggling. Then he looked down, and saw four sandy feet in the shower. “How silly,” he thought, “there’s not enough room in there for two people!”
He ran over and knocked loudly on the door. “Uncle Jim? Hey Uncle Jim, what’re you doing? Why are you in there with Pam? What’s going on? Aren’t you crowded?”
There was an explosion of laughter from within the shower. “Hey, why don’t you go ask your dad to explain it to you, okay Chief? I’m kind of busy.” With that, Jim and Pam started laughing again, and Henry rolled his eyes. Silly grown-ups. He just didn’t get them sometimes.
The End.
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veryangrymidget is the author of 2 other stories.
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