Pam came back from lunch with Kelly on a normal summer Tuesday. Kelly was a surprisingly fun companion, and her only friend in the office. After Jim had left, she'd noticed things about her office-mates that she never really had before.
Pam and Kelly often had lunch together or went shopping during their break. Shopping with Kelly was like running a marathon you'd never trained for. But it was an unforgettably fun experience.
Pam placed her purse in the bottom drawer of her desk and then nudged the mouse to wake up her monitor. The little yellow envelope in the system tray informed her of new e-mails. When she maximized the e-mail window, the force of her exhale at what she saw pushed her down into her chair. The screen swam before her when she saw her mailbox overflowing with e-mails from Jim.
From: Jim Halpert james.halpert@dunder-mifflin.com
To: Pam Beesly pam.beesly@dunder-mifflin.com
Date: Tuesday, July 8, 2007 12:05 P.M.
Subject: [No Subject]
Hey, Beesly,
Next time you send me an important e-mail like this one, make sure there's a subject, and that the body has more than two words, okay? I just got this now when I was cleaning out my bulk folder. :o/
I don't really know what to say. I guess the most important questions are did you really mean it, and do you still feel the same?
-Jim
------
From: Jim Halpert james.halpert@dunder-mifflin.com
To: Pam Beesly pam.beesly@dunder-mifflin.com
Date: Tuesday, July 8, 2007 12:08 P.M.
Subject: You there?
Hi again,
For all I know, you don't even work at Dunder Mifflin anymore, which would be really awesome for you, but totally sad right now for me. So um, I hope you see this.
-Jim
------
From: Jim Halpert james.halpert@dunder-mifflin.com
To: Pam Beesly pam.beesly@dunder-mifflin.com
Date: Tuesday, July 8, 2007 12:15 P.M.
Subject: Let me tell you about Andy.
So I just realized you're at lunch, I kind of called your desk and your voicemail is still your voice, so... I hope you're eating something good. I miss the smell of mixed berry yogurt, by the way.
Wow, that was kind of creepy.
Anyway, I have to tell you about the "Dwight" of our office. His name is Andy, and he's just as weird and creepy as Dwight, except he sings and doesn't take pranks very well. I put his calculator in Jello, and he totally went off and kicked the garbage can across the office. Yeah, scary.
Talk to you soon, I hope.
-Me
------
From: Jim Halpert james.halpert@dunder-mifflin.com
To: Pam Beesly pam.beesly@dunder-mifflin.com
Date: Tuesday, July 8, 2007 12:35 P.M.
Subject: Back yet?
Hey, you should see the view out my window. It's the ocean and in the morning there are sailboats in the distance. You would love to paint this, Pam.
Just for the record, though, it's not as good as my view was back in Scranton.
-Me
------
From: Jim Halpert james.halpert@dunder-mifflin.com
To: Pam Beesly pam.beesly@dunder-mifflin.com
Date: Tuesday, July 8, 2007 12:55 P.M.
Subject: lunch is over
Ok, if you couldn't tell, I'm kind of impatient right now. Lunch is over. So seriously, come back... to your desk. ;o)
-Jim
------
Pam overflowed with joy and disbelief as she read Jim's e-mails. So he still cared for her after all- he'd just never seen her e-mail. She blinked more tears away with every line she read.
"Pam? Are you okay?"
Kelly stood in front of her looking concerned. She was sure she probably looked like a mess hiding behind her computer monitor with tears streaming down her face.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Pam said. "I'm great, actually. It's just," she pointed at the computer. "Wow. Yeah, I'm good. I'll tell you about it later." She smiled to assure Kelly that her tears were of joy, not of sadness.
"What are you so happy about?" She leaned in and asked in a stage whisper.
"I'll tell you later, okay?" she said in a hushed voice as to not draw the attention of everyone else in the office.
"You promise?"
"Yeah."
"Pinkie swear?"
Pam rolled her eyes and stuck out her pinkie for a pinkie swear.
"Okay, good, Come over to my desk as soon as you can!"
"I will," Pam said, and Kelly retreated back towards her desk.
Pam clicked the mouse button to compose a new mail:
From: Pam Beesly pam.beesly@dunder-mifflin.com
To: Jim Halpert james.halpert@dunder-mifflin.com
Date: Tuesday, July 8, 2007 1:30 P.M.
Subject: Yes!
Jim,
Yes! I still mean it! I miss you so much, and I wish you would come back.
How did you ever find my e-mail after all this time?
Write back!
~Pam
------
From: Jim Halpert james.halpert@dunder-mifflin.com
To: Pam Beesly pam.beesly@dunder-mifflin.com
Date: Tuesday, July 8, 2007 1:35 P.M.
Subject: Re: Yes!
Pam,
That is so great to hear. I want to come back, too. It's not the same here for a lot of reasons. Just so we're not misunderstanding each other, I can't be just your friend anymore, Pam. I meant what I said that night. I want it to be more.
We're having kind of a delete-your-spam day because the server is all plugged up, so I decided to check mine first before I deleted it all, and there was your e-mail. Wow.
-Jim
------
From: Pam Beesly pam.beesly@dunder-mifflin.com
To: Jim Halpert james.halpert@dunder-mifflin.com
Date: Tuesday, July 8, 2007 1:40 P.M.
Subject: Re: Re: Yes!
Yes, we are definitely on the same page, Jim. I couldn't go back to being just friends either.
Hooray for Delete-your-spam Day! :oD
Love,
Pam
------
From: Jim Halpert james.halpert@dunder-mifflin.com
To: Pam Beesly pam.beesly@dunder-mifflin.com
Date: Tuesday, July 8, 2007 1:43 P.M.
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Yes!
Wow, this is really happening.
Can I call you?
Love,
Jim
------
From: Pam Beesly pam.beesly@dunder-mifflin.com
To: Jim Halpert james.halpert@dunder-mifflin.com
Date: Tuesday, July 8, 2007 1:51 P.M.
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Yes!
Yes, call me!
------
Pam's desk phone rang, and the butterflies, which barely had a chance to settle since she sent off her latest e-mail, fluttered around in her ribcage. She answered with her usual greeting, but took note of the tremor in her voice.
"Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam."
"Dunder Mifflin, this is Jim."
She could hear the smile in his voice, and she just about melted at the deep melodious tones which she hadn't heard in so long.
"Hey."
"Hey," he said, his voice cracking in that way that was just Jim.
"Okay, we can stop repeating each other now."
"Okay, we can stop repeating each other now," he parroted.
Pam giggled. "Stop!"
Jim laughed. "So..."
"Yeah."
"This is..."
"Wow."
"Yeah."
It was awkward in a delicious way, and Pam never wanted that feeling to end.
"So, how's Connecticut?"
"Sucks."
Pam burst out with an unexpected laugh, and looked up to find all eyes in the office on her. She shrank back behind her monitor and spoke more quietly.
"Really? Is it that bad?"
"Nah, it's not that bad. I mean, certain people are kind of amusing to mess with, and certain others are pretty cool..." It was awkward sitting at his desk talking about people who were only a few feet away. "And the view out my window is awesome..."
"You mentioned that."
"But it's different, you know? It's not home, and I really miss... certain people."
"Dwight?"
"Oh yeah, I totally wrote him secret, un-sent love notes for the past eight months."
"Um, Michael?"
"Beesly, come on!" he laughed.
"I know," she said shyly.
"Hey, I hate to do this, but I have to go. Josh is giving me a death glare from his office. I think it's obvious I'm not on a business-related call."
"No problem. I'm getting looks on my side, too. Plus, there are like, four calls waiting on the other lines."
"Okay, Beesly, I'll talk to you in... two hours and fifty-two minutes."
"I'm looking forward to it."
"Bye, Pam."
"Bye, Jim." She waited on the line for him to hang up until she heard him say in an exaggeratedly high voice, "You hang up first! No, you hang up first!"
She sighed dramatically and laughed. "Okay, bye!" and hung up the phone.
Within thirty seconds, Pam had an e-mail from Jim. She smiled at the screen, wondering if the wings of the butterflies in her stomach would ever get tired from all that flying around they were doing in there.
They sent e-mails back and forth for the rest of the afternoon. They avoided getting into more serious topics through e-mail- it would be better to address those in person. But they exchanged stories, caught up with each other, and basically slipped back into their old back-and-forth rhythm again.
To Be Continued...
