Friday, November 30th

Jim pulled open the steel and glass door and stepped into the diner. The inviting smell of grilling burgers caused his stomach to gurgle, a not-so-subtle reminder that it was already a little past lunch. He scanned the room from right to left, finally spotting the woman he was there to meet in a booth toward the back. She looked up from her menu as he approached, and they greeted each other with affectionate smiles.

“Hey, Parma,” Jim said, sliding in the bench opposite her.

“I wondered if you were going to show up,” she teased.

“Of course I would. I'm the one who did the inviting, as I recall.”

“You did, but I wondered how you'd manage to escape the clutches of your girlfriend.”

“Yeah, right,” Jim laughed. “Nice talk from someone who claims to be her best friend.”

“I am her best friend. That's how I know how hard it must be for you to get five minutes to yourself.” Parma winked to assure him she was just giving him a hard time, but Jim pretended not to notice.

“Oh, it is. Pam's nothing if not a possessive, manipulative shrew of a woman.”

Parma took a sip of her coffee as the waitress approached. “Well she worked pretty hard to possess you, as I recall. You know, I can't believe it was only a year ago we planned all that.”

After ordering some coffee and one of the heavenly smelling burgers, Jim agreed with Parma's last statement. “Tell me about it. It seems like it all happened ages ago. Sometimes I can almost forget how much it took for us to finally get things right.”

“Well it took a lot of work, Halpert,” she replied. “And I'm pretty sure you are still in my debt for it.”

“That's kinda why I asked you to meet me here today,” he said slowly, pausing while the waitress appeared with his coffee and refilled Parma's cup as well. “I think I need your help.”

Parma stirred more milk into her hot drink, an amused grin growing. “Think you need my help?”

Jim nodded. “I know I don't have a chance in hell of coming up with something that could top what Pam did for me last year, but I want to do something, you know?”

“That's so sweet,” she replied, her smile genuine. “What do you want me to do?”

Jim shrugged. “I wish I knew,” he sighed. “But there's got to be something I can come up with.”

“Do you want to do the Twelve Days of Christmas surprise on her this year?”

“I thought about it, but I don't see how that would even work. To come up with twelve days of gifts to match the song would be difficult enough, but when I think how much work she put into my gifts....there's just no way I could top it.”

“You don't have to top it, Jim,” Parma said. “Granted, I know how competitive the two of you can be....”

Jim laughed as their food arrived. “No, I know. I just want it to wow her. She deserves that much.”

They tossed around gift ideas and surprise plans as they ate, but nothing struck Jim as being just want he wanted. “You'd think after a year together I'd know exactly what to do,” he complained.

His comment sparked an idea in Parma. “You guys have been together a year, right?”

“Just about.”

“What date do you consider your anniversary then?”

Jim thought a moment. “We've never actually spelled out a specific date as some sort of anniversary, but I remember we did once agree that things finally started looking up for us on New Year's Eve.”

 “Hmm,” was all she said as she finished her french fries.

“Hmm?” Jim prompted.

“Oh, I was just thinking that this New Year's Eve will be one year for you, right? And how many months are in a year?”

“Twelve,” he replied, not quite sure where the conversation was leading.

“Right, twelve!” She suddenly leaned forward excitedly. “Like the twelve days of Christmas!”

“Oh-kay,” Jim nodded. “And that means what exactly?”

“What if,” Parma paused for dramatic effect. “You do a twelve days of Christmas thing for Pam, but it's not really about the twelve days of Christmas?”

“Um, I'm not sure I follow you,” he said, his eyebrows scrunched up in confusion.

“Make it more like an anniversary present. Twelve days of presents to represent the twelve months you've been together!”

Jim leaned back in the booth, considering the idea. “Like the first day could be a gift representing our first month together, then the next day is for the second month...?”

Parma nodded vigorously. “And you could plan it so the twelfth day is New Year's Eve.”

A slow smile spread across Jim's face as the possibilities for different gifts kept popping into his head. “Yeah,” he said slowly, “yeah, that could work nicely.”