Larissa hugged her son tight, pulling his lean frame close and pressing him against her with everything she had. “It was so good to have you home.”

The crowded airport was noisy from chatter and the rush of holiday travel. Jim waited patiently until his mother unwrapped herself from him to give her his patented lopsided grin. “I’ll be home in three weeks for Christmas, Mom.”

“I know that,” she swatted him across the chest lovingly. “It’s just hard to see you go. I like knowing you’re only a phone call away.”

Jim smirked. “I’m still a phone call away. I’m not launching into space.”

“Always the jokester,” she said wryly to Karen, who was watching the two with amusement. “I don’t know where he gets it.”

“From you!” Jim exclaimed, indignant. “Or was I imagining you trying to convince Jonathon that he was adopted?” He turned to Karen in his defense. “She created the papers and everything. It was wonderfully evil. I was so proud.”

“You were five,” Larissa retorted. “And it wasn’t that evil. He had it coming.”

“He was seven! The only thing he had coming was naptime!”

“What time is your flight again?”

Jim laughed. “Did you see that, Karen? We went from hugs and her baby boy to shooing me back to Connecticut.”

His mother’s expression changed for a moment before she shook her head at him. “Karen, would you mind running and getting me coffee for the drive back? This early morning chauffeur business is taking it out of me.” She fished out some bills from her wallet, but Karen waved her off.

“Please, let me. After taking me in for the week, it’s the very least I could do.”

Karen gave Jim a warm smile before walking away.

“Subtle enough,” Jim said suspiciously. “I suspect a mother-son chat is coming.”

“Do you think she knew I was trying to get rid of her?” Larissa fretted. “I didn’t mean it to be that obvious.”

“It wasn’t,” Jim assured, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as he guided her to a bench. “I just know you.”

She pushed a scraggly lock of hair off his forehead and sighed. “Yes you do. And you know that I’m trying really hard not to say what you know I want to say right now.”

“I’m not sure I followed that,” Jim teased before clasping his hands together in his lap. “I know you want me to come back.”

“I do. You know I do. You’re my baby. It was always different with Jonathon, you know. He never needed me for much of anything. He was always on his way out the door. You…You talked to me. I always had a finger on what was going on with you. But ever since you took that transfer last May, you’ve been a closed book.”

“Not closed,” Jim countered. “Just…not open.”

“When you left, you told me that you needed to find a way to be happy. I accepted that.”

Jim snorted. “You did not. You called me for a week straight telling me that I could always quit and come back and live at home. If I recall your exact words, you said ‘there’s no shame in quitting’, which I think is a direct contradiction to what dad said when I quit cross country in the 9th grade.”

“That is neither here nor there,” Larissa dismissed breezily. She peered at him closely. “Did you find it, Jim? Are you happy in Connecticut?”

“I don’t know, Mom,” Jim looked at his hands, slightly embarrassed. “I just know it was something I had to do.”

“Okay. I’ll stop pushing. It just came as a surprise to me, you know. One day, you were here, and the next week, you were gone. If you’re going to New York, I’d just like a little warning first. That’s all.”

“It may not be New York. There was talk of opening up a Dunder Mifflin branch in London.”

Larissa was horrified. “London? Jim -“

“I’m kidding. I’m kidding. Come on, you know me. I can’t move to another continent. They call their French fries chips. It’d be chaos.”

She began to breathe steadier. “Not funny.”

“Yeah, well. Consider that payback for telling me that I was actually born a hermaphrodite, but the doctor made you and dad ‘choose’.”

“That’s reaching back.”

“I was traumatized!”

They shared a small laugh.

“This Karen girl. Do you like her? I saw you too all cuddly this morning. She did sleep in the guest bedroom, didn’t she? Jim?”

The stern expression on her face made Jim smile. “Yes, mother. We aren’t…I don’t know what we are, but we aren’t that.”

“Yet.”

“Wow.” Jim felt his ears start to heat up.

“I like her.”

“Yeah. I can tell.”

“She’s trying really hard to impress you. She must have picked up on the fact that I’m your favorite, because she skipped over your dad completely in sucking up.”

Jim let out a chuckle. “You noticed that too, huh?”

“After one taste of her cookies, I knew she wasn’t what she appeared to be. But she was trying. For you.”

He nodded. “I know.

“Just promise me one thing.”

“Anything.”

“Be happy, Jim. It’ll make your total abandonment of me much easier to deal with.”

“You’re so good at that.”

“At what?”

“Emotional manipulation. You’re a pro. What can I even say to that?”

She grinned. “Say I love you too, Mom.”

“I love you too, Mom.”

“Good.” She kissed him on the forehead and then rubbed her lipstick off his skin. “Now go. Call me when you get there.”

“I will. And I’ll call you as soon as I decide where I’m going, okay?”

“You better. Or else I’ll give you back to that couple that left you on our doorstep.”

***

They were waiting for their luggage in Stamford when Jim’s cell phone began to ring, softly at first, then louder and louder until Karen poked at his pocket. His eyes widened at her brazen gesture.

“What?”

“Your phone. It’s going off. You don’t hear that?”

Jim took the I-pod bud out of his ear and shrugged with a smile. “Guess not. Thanks.”

He walked away to take the call, leaving Karen to watch the colorful luggage as it rounded terminal.

“Hello?”

“Jim? It’s Jan. From corporate.”

“Hi Jan. What’s up? How were your holidays?”

“Holidays? Oh yes. Thanksgiving. It was... I really wanted to call and give you an update on the situation with the branch closing and everything.”

Jim adjusted his messenger bag and waited. “I’m listening.”

“We’d like to offer you the position of Assistant Regional Manager in Scranton. You’ll be, of course, getting a pay raise for the promotion and a living allowance for the first few months while you get situated. You’ll be Michael’s number two in the office, so when he’s out on sales calls or on business, you’ll become acting regional manager of the branch. We’ve spoken to him about it and he’s on board. All we have to have is your okay to get the paper work started…Jim?”

“I’m here. Yeah, um…Hypothetically, if I were to look elsewhere. What else would be available to me?”

Jan sighed deeply, frustrated but trying to remain professional. “Uh, let’s see. The Albany branch is hiring in sales, which would be a step down for you. And the Camden branch is opening up to allow for some transfers, but it’s the same situation. No other branch can offer you what Scranton is, Jim. Salary increase, higher position, benefits and an extra bonus to start out and get you on your feet. I mean, it’s really a no brainer here. But its still up to you. We’d appreciate if we could get your decision by the end of the week so we could start the paperwork get you settled somewhere before Christmas. Can you do that?”

“Yeah. I can let you know by the end of the week.”

“Or sooner?”

“Yep. As soon as I decide.”

They said terse goodbyes and Jim snapped his phone shut. He turned back towards Karen, who was waiting with eyebrows raised. Her luggage was stacked neatly by her feet, ready to go.

“Ready to get out of here?” Jim asked, ignoring her questioning eyes as he picked up most of her luggage and started for the doors.

“Sure.” She waited a few seconds before clearing her throat. “Was that Jan?”

“Yeah. She offered me the Assistant Regional Manager job in Scranton.”

“That’s great! Do you think you’ll take it?”

“I don’t know yet. Still kind of up in the air. What about you?”

Karen bit her lip as they walked to Jim’s car, nestled in the center of the parking garage. “It kind of depends.”

Jim didn’t have to ask on what.

“You could really see yourself living in Scranton?” He asked suddenly.

“Yeah. I could. If I had to.”

“Yeah, but I mean…you don’t have to.” Jim opened the trunk and started piling her bags inside. “Jan told me earlier that Albany is accepting transfers for sales. Wouldn’t you be happier in New York?”

Karen stood her ground. “I could be happy in Scranton. Happiness doesn’t come from a job. A job is something you do. Happiness is what you make of everything else.”

“You could sew that on a decorative pillow and make millions,” Jim joked.

Karen boldly reached up and stroked his cheek. His body froze under her touch and his heart nearly stopped. Her eyes searched his for meaning and he hoped he was showing her what she wanted because he was too exhausted to conjure up answers he didn’t have.

“I like you, Jim. I think I could make you happy, if you let me.”

Jim swallowed hard. Her bluntness both scared him and exhilarated him. There was no way to misinterpret honesty and directness. There was no way to read her wrong when she was telling him what she wanted. The least he owed her was the truth in return.

“I don’t know what I can offer you right now, Karen.”

She smiled sweetly at him, her fingers drifting across his brow and into his hair, stroking his head gently. “All I’m asking is for a chance.”

“You’d follow me to Scranton for nothing more than a chance?”

“If I think you’re worth it, why not?”

Jim licked his lips. “There was someone else.”

She nodded. “I figured that. Is she still in the picture?”

He shook his head slowly.

Her lips turned up and her eyes closed, waiting for him, taking a chance that he would choose her. He leaned down and kissed her softly once, twice. Her eyes opened and she smiled.

Jim smiled too.