III. Force

Jim continued up the aisles, pointing at random things. Pam rose to the challenge, telling Jim exactly how the items had reminded her of Jim while he was away. Eggs made her think of the time Michael had sent them out for breakfast burritos for the office; moisturizer made her think of his skin. Even when he pointed to the men’s underwear aisle, she didn’t back down. "What can I say?" she giggled, blushing but looking right into his eyes. "I have a vivid imagination."

"Pam! I’m shocked!" Jim exclaimed mockingly. Although he was teasing her, he actually was shocked, just a little. Not that he was surprised that she thought of him in that way (she’d demonstrated that in wonderfully passionate and creative ways that had surprised him), but that she’d been thinking of him that way for so long.

They continued through the labyrinthine store, but Jim didn’t resume the game. Instead, he drifted into a thoughtful silence as he watched Pam shop. Again and again she surprised him with the depth and intensity of her feelings for him. It was hard to believe that this was the same person who had turned him away all those months ago.

He was lost in these thoughts when Pam looked back to find out why he was lagging behind. "You OK?" she asked.

"Yep. I was just thinking about you being here, being reminded of me, while I was away, being reminded of you." He caught up with her and reached for her hand. It was soft and warm in his, and he thought about how many times he’d wanted to do that, that simple thing, and what a wonderful gift it was to be able to.

Pam smiled thoughtfully. "Hmm. Maybe we were thinking about each other at the exact same time," she said mildly.

Jim could tell that Pam was concerned about his shift in mood, and he deliberately lightened his tone as he replied. "That’s entirely possible. Maybe we both saw a table at the same time, and it was just…like magic. A psychic bond, even."

"I prefer to think of it as us both having the Force with us, actually," Pam said.

"Ooh, nice one." Jim stopped, and leaned down close to Pam’s ear. "Maybe you can lure me to the ‘dark side’ when we’re done here," he said softly.

"Jim, I’m shocked!" Pam laughed, echoing his earlier tone, but Jim could see in her eyes that she liked his train of thought. She absently ran her fingers along the edge of the can of soup she was holding she held his gaze. He was sure he’d be reminded of how beautiful she was every time he saw chicken noodle soup for the rest of his life.