Pam wanted to drive to her apartment, but she remembered that Jim had the car.  So she grabbed her lunch and walked down the stairs.  Thankfully, she wasn’t followed by a cameraman.  She pulled her coat tight around her and walked to a nearby park.  She found a table in the sun and scrolled through the iPod play list Jim had simply labeled, Pam.

She scanned the list, knowing some of the songs.  The titles of some of the others left little room to the imagination.  Here, in order of oldest to most recent, were Jim’s thoughts of her: 

Here, There, and Everywhere – the Beatles

You Don’t Know Me – Ray Charles

There She Goes Again – Sixpence, None the Richer

Babylon – David Gray

Tiny Dancer – Ben Folds

If She Wants Me – Belle & Sebastian

Barricades and Brickwalls – Kasey Chambers

Please Break My Heart – Caitlin Cary

After You, Who? – Jodie Watley

Mad About You - Hooverphonic

Hallelujah – Tim Buckley

La Tenatacion – the Iguanas

Layla – Derek and the Dominoes

Wild Horses – the Sundays

Pam sighed as she hit these titles.  She could only imagine that Jim added them around Casino night.  The next few songs were even darker:

I Can’t Make You Love Me – Bonnie Raitt

Love Hurts – Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons

Dance Away – Roxy Music

Busby Berkley Dreams – the Magnetic Fields

However, the mood changed again, and Pam had to smile as she flicked past:

Wraith Pinned to the Mist – Of Montreal

Let’s Do it Again – the Staples Sisters

Let’s Pretend We’re Bunny Rabbits – the Magnetic Fields (Pam was glad she had left the office, she knew she was blushing just reading the title).

Lloyd, I’m Ready to be Heartbroken – Camera Obscura

Handle Me with Care – Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins

Central Reservation- Beth Orton

Your Love is King – Sade

I’m Still in Love with You – Al Green

I’m Your Man – Leonard Cohen

Turn Your Light Down Low – Bob Marley and Lauren Hill

Then finally, Pam reached the last title on the list, Grow Old with Me, by John Lennon.  She almost dropped the iPod.  She knew that both of them were serious about the relationship, but to see what Jim was thinking, and then to remember how things must have seemed to him this morning, made Pam feel the need to reassure her boyfriend.  She had to let him know how she felt about him.

---

Jim and Dwight had just finished with the client and were about to leave the office park.  Dwight looked at the next office.  “Morris Accounting,” was painted on the glass.  Dwight took out a notebook.  “According to my records, we haven’t made contact with this client before, which makes him my sale.”

Jim shrugged.  “Sure.” 

They entered the suite and were greeted with the smell of drying paint.  Dwight noticed a bell at the front desk and pinged once.

“Oh, hi,” a man said as he entered the reception area.  “I’m Tom Morris.  Sorry things are a little unorganized.  I’m just setting things up.”

“So, is this your company?” Jim asked.

“Yeah,” the man said, unable to stop the grin from showing.  “Been working on this for ten years.”

Dwight leaned in.  “Well, my name is Dwight Schrute and I work for Dunder Miflin Paper Products.  We can help you grow your company?”

The man’s smile dimmed.  “Look, I can barely afford a printer and paper.  I can get what I need from Staples.”

“True,” Jim said, assuming his customary role when working with Dwight.  “But we can help you in ways that big companies can’t.  You’re a one-man show now, right?”

“For now.”

“Well, we can help you with direct mailings to your old clients, forms for invoicing and taxes, we can even help you with web page design if you like.”

Dwight looked over at Jim, but remained silent.

“Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to listen to what you guys have to say.”

---

Pam had listened to Jim’s iPod during lunch.  Afterwards, she started on her assignment for Michael; she had to make a sound track that he could use around the office.  With a smile, she started two lists of tunes.

---

Dwight was pensive as they returned to Jim’s car.  “About the sale…”

“Yeah, I think it went pretty well,” Jim replied.

Dwight knew he had to voice his concern, “Do you really think Pam can design a web page?”

“Yeah, I do.  She showed me what she worked up for the Dunder Miflin web site.  It was better than most I’ve seen.  We can develop it cheaply and use it as a template for other clients.  Pam is overhead staff, so anything billable she produces is a bonus.”

“So this wasn’t just because she’s your girlfriend?” Dwight persisted.

“No, this was because I know what she can do.”

“Interesting.”  The beet farmer thought for a minute.  “Shotgun,”he called as they reached the car.

“I thought you always wanted the back seat for safety reasons.”

“Well, I’m willing to risk it till we get to Scranton,” Dwight replied.

Jim wasn’t sure, but he thought he saw a smile on Dwight’s face.