"What?" She could barely breathe. "I don't understand..."
Dwight shrugged. "I'm just reporting the facts. That someone by the name of Jim Halpert did at one point in time have an interview scheduled with Michael. So you didn't just make him up, even though you would have never have met him. Obviously the only logical conclusion is that either you're crazy, or you have been sucked into an alternate universe." He shrugged again. "Could go either way, really."
Pam stared at him for a moment, her mouth open. Dwight seriously seemed to consider both explanations as equally plausible. She would have laughed if it wasn't her own sanity that was at stake. Instead she desperately tried to process the information he had given her.
"2002 was the year Jim started at Dunder-Mifflin," she said, more to herself than to Dwight.
"No, weren't you listening?" Dwight said, exasperated. "He didn't start. He never even showed up to interview." He rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"What I meant," began Pam, slowly, "was that in my 'alternate universe,' Jim started working there in 2002."
"Oh, okay." Dwight seemed to accept that explanation, then added, "I have more."
"More what?"
"More information." He pulled another piece of paper out of the folder. "That same Jim Halpert currently works for a high tech consulting firm just outside of Philadelphia."
"Are you serious?" She glanced at the paper. It was a list of employees for a company called CTX. Jim Halpert was described as a senior sales associate.
"And one more thing," Dwight added, handing her something else.
Pam gasped. It was a picture of Jim, and except for his hairstyle it was just as she knew him, but it was...
"His mugshot," Dwight said. "He was arrested for DUI in 2003. Charges later dropped. I was unable to determine why." Dwight stood up. "I hope this information has been helpful to you."
"Oh... yes. Thanks Dwight," she replied, thinking that this must be the strangest conversation she had ever had. But suddenly, she knew what needed to be done.
"Dwight!"
He turned around as he was leaving.
"I need one more favor. I need you to help me get home."
"What?" He looked surprised.
"I'm checking myself out, and I need a ride home."
~
An hour later, Pam was back in her apartment, frantically shoving clothes into an overnight bag and trying to get out the door before her parents, or worse, Roy, stopped her. She hurried to get into the truck, when it suddenly struck her that taking Roy's truck may be a bad idea. He had left it for her to use until she got her own car, while he bummed rides off his brother Kenny. She wasn't sure why, but something told her she needed to find another way to get to Philly.
So she started walking. Seven blocks away there was a car rental place. She asked for the cheapest car they had available, and soon she was on the road, heading down the seemingly endless Pennsylvania Turnpike extension toward Philadelphia.
In the car she had some time to think about what had been going on the past few days, and the more she thought about it the more Dwight's crazy alternate universe theory seemed to make the most sense. It was crazy though, and she knew there had to be a better and more plausible explanation. But for all her efforts, she was unable to come up with one.
Her thoughts turned back to Jim himself. She missed him so badly it physically hurt. And she thought this must be some kind of punishment, for rejecting him even though she knew in her gut that she was in love with him too.
"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that." His voice is breathy, mesmerizing.
"Me too. ...I think we're just drunk." She isn't sure why she says it, probably just to give herself an excuse like the last time she kissed him.
"No, I'm not drunk. Are you drunk?" His mood has changed dramatically. There is a playfulness in his eyes that wasn't there a few minutes before.
"No..." He smiles and leans in to kiss her again. "Jim - " He stops, leans back.
"Are you really gonna marry him?" She nods slowly, not taking her eyes from his.
"Okay," he says, and his hands slip out of hers as he turns and walks away.
That was the last time she had seen him. When she had come in on Monday he was gone, transferred to Stamford. She had had no idea that he would be "gone" in a totally different way a few weeks later.
And now she was going to find him, to see if he remembered her, if he had any fucking idea what was going on here. If he didn't... well, she didn't want to think about that just yet.
When she reached the suburban town of King of Prussia, the home of CTX, she decided to check into a hotel and clean herself up before she decided on her next move. She used a debit card that was attached to an account that Roy didn't have access to, and her cell phone had been left behind. She wanted to make it difficult for her parents or Roy to figure out where she had gone. This was something she needed to do alone.
At 4:45, she drove to the address on the employee roster provided by Dwight, and she parked the car and waited.
At 5:00, employees started emerging from the building. She scanned their faces, looking for his familiar features, but minutes passed without any luck.
At 5:30, James Halpert walked out of the building, and Pam's heart nearly thumped out of her chest.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Pam takes a trip.
