Sneaky
Jim exited his car and looked around to see if anyone had followed him. The parking lot seemed safe so he walked into the cozy Italian restaurant and asked for a booth for two.
The booth was lite by a candle in a Chianti bottle and nothing else thus providing for a perfect romantic rendezvous. There was lattice on either side of the booth so you could not see the occupants of the booths on either side.
As he started to look at his menu, he heard a familiar, “Hey,” followed by, “have you been waiting long?”
Pam slid into the booth and leaned over to kiss him on the lips. “I’ve been wanting to do that all day.”
“I have too but we both agreed it was too soon for the cameras and the office staff to know we’re together.”
Pam rubbed her neck and looked lovingly at Jim. “Yeah but it’s just so frustrating to have to hold back and look over my shoulder every time we talk.”
Jim looked at his menu and wondered if he was being too protective. As much as he wanted everyone to know about them, he was scared to bring it all out in the open. If it was out there for everyone to see then they would have opinions. And no matter how much he said he didn’t care what others thought, he was concerned what they would say about Pam leaving Roy and being with him.
Pam looked up from her menu with a smile on her face. “I don’t mind sneaking off to restaurants out of town like this or even spending the whole weekend at one of our apartments. In fact, that’s kind of fun.” She wiggled her eyebrows at Jim. “But I’d also like to let people know how happy we are, especially our families.”
The waiter came and took their order for dinner and two classes of Chianti. As they sipped their wine and held hands, they both felt a wave of calm wash over them, as if their frustrations would disappear soon. As they leaned into each other to kiss, Steve, the cameraman walked by their table with his girlfriend.
“Hey guys, we were in the booth next to you and wanted to say hi. Don’t worry, no cameras with me but I personally am glad you two got together. Don’t take this the wrong way Pam, Roy did not deserve you.”
Jim was a bit shocked that the cameraman had picked up on what he had been feeling all along. Pam was being stifled by Roy and she needed someone who would let her grow into her own person. Just as he was going to thank Steve for his comments, Steve’s girlfriend spoke up.
“Hi. I’m Steve’s girlfriend, Kim, and from the tapes I’ve seen and what he’s told me about you two, I think it would make a wonderful side story to the show. You just look so happy together. I really think the audience would love it if you were a couple.”
“Think about it and let me know. I will respect your wishes on this one,” and he and his girlfriend walked out.
Pam looked at Jim with a huge grin on her face and said, “Well...”
Jim thought about Steve’s remarks and said, “Fine. Monday morning we come out of the closet but let’s be sneaky for just one more weekend.”
They both hurried through dinner so they could get to Pam’s apartment and celebrate their love, in hiding, for one more weekend.
