Pam couldn't really articulate to her parents why she didn’t want to marry Roy. She just knew that the thought of it gave her a sick feeling in her gut. Not really the feeling you want to get about someone you promise to spend the rest of your life with.

She was at her parents for 5 nights. Each night, she had the most amazing dreams about a strange man. After the first night, the dream so moved her that she had to paint.

The blank canvas lay before her as she struggled to remember the details of the man's fingers. The next night, not knowing if it was even the same man, she took another blank canvas and painted his lips. Each night she recalled more and more vivid detail.

After the fifth night, she saw a whole face. It was clear that she was not dreaming about 5 different men, but was recalling parts of the same man. She assembled her canvases and combined the features to create a portrait of her dream man.

His eyes were kind and expressive with long lashes.

His hands were graceful yet manly with long fingers, capable and sturdy.

His lips were full and sensuous.

His hair was a bit wild and unruly.

When she finished, she stared at the painting long and hard. There was something about him that was so comforting, so familiar. The eyes of the painting seemed to burn into her soul. Looking at it made her inexplicably happy.

Her mother came into the room to tell her dinner was ready. She caught a glimpse of the painting and her jaw dropped.

"Pam, do you know who that is?" she asked cautiously.

"No mom, but I had a dream about him. I've been dreaming about him every night. Does he look familiar to you? I feel like I've seen him before..."

Her mother was mesmerized. How did Pam not remember Jim? What the hell had Roy done to her daughter?

After dinner, her mother made sure Pam was fully engaged in a movie with her father. She crept upstairs to her bedroom and started making some calls.

Even though he had recently moved and had an unlisted number, it was surprisingly easy to track him down.

And she never noticed the odd clicking on the phone line.

***********************************************************
Roy was quick.

He was also lucky Pam's mother was able to talk Jim into waiting until the weekend to make the long trip from Stamford.

He was there when Jim opened the door to leave for work the next day. He knew Jim wouldn't drink the powder willingly so he had an injection prepared.

Mr. X got right to work.

And the next day, Jim Halpert awoke with a slight headache and no memory of Pam Beesley.

Pam's mother was astonished when Jim didn't show up that Saturday. He had been ready to jump in the car five minutes after she called him. What the hell was going on?

Telling her husband and daughter she was going to visit her sister in Philadelphia, she headed for Stamford. When she got there, he didn't recognize her. When she explained, he seemed to have no recollection of speaking to her.

And he had no idea who Pam was.

Pam's mother wasn't about to give up. Not when her daughter's happiness was at stake. And not when that asshole Roy, who had come distressingly close to being part of her family, had clearly gone and done something foolish.

She was clever enough to leave Jim's apartment and knock on the door again 5 minutes later. Just as she suspected, he didn't recognize her at all. Like Pam, he acted somewhat like a child. It was easy for her to tell him she was a friend of his mother’s. He let her guide him to her car and went along for the ride without another question.

When they arrived home, she brought him into the living room.

Pam looked at Jim. Jim looked at Pam.

Pam's mother held her breath but they didn't recognize each other right away. Suddenly, Pam grabbed his hand and led him upstairs to the room that had become her makeshift studio. Silently, she led him around and he stared wide-eyed at her paintings.

After viewing them all, Pam turned to look at him, enchanted. When he gazed back at her, he felt caught up in a spell. Unseen forces seemed to push them towards each other.

When their lips touched, it opened a floodgate of memories. Suddenly she knew him and he knew her. They kissed and kissed and remembered everything.

Jim didn’t notice the faint clicking on the line when he called his mother. He was too caught up in telling her had found Pam again and they were in love and he was happy, happy, happy...

Roy was livid.

He threw things around the apartment, punched a wall, and drank a whole bottle of whiskey that night. When he woke up in the morning he had the worst headache. He knew Pam kept aspirin in her nightstand drawer so he barely had to move to reach it.

He opened the nearly empty drawer and fumbled around until he found the bottle of aspirin. His curiosity was aroused by the feel of something smooth underneath the bottle. He pulled it out. It was a photograph. One that Pam kept hidden but which made her happy to steal glances at every morning.

A photograph of Jim.

******************************************************

Mr. X had told him twice now not to ever call again. Roy made the grave mistake of ignoring that request.

"They're together! They're in love! You told me you never made a mistake!"

"Must be something you did. I don't make mistakes."

Roy didn’t tell him about the photograph. And he certainly couldn't have known that Jim kept his aspirin in the same spot in his apartment alongside a picture of Pam. That it was the first thing he looked at every morning upon waking and the last thing he gazed at before falling asleep.

Mr. X wasn't the type of person who liked to be questioned about his practices. He also appreciated prompt payment for services rendered.

"Mr. Anderson, I have not yet received my fee."

Roy was incredulous. "Your fee? You didn't even do what you said you were going to do! I told you if it didn't work I was NOT paying you."

"And I told you I expected payment."

"Not happening, buddy. Not ever. You ruined my life!"

Mr. X’s tone softened a bit. "I understand and I am not an unreasonable man. Perhaps I can give you something to assuage the situation?"

"Now you're talking! Let's fix this problem. You got another powder or something?"

"Yes, something like that. I'll meet you at your apartment. Say nine o'clock tonight?"

"You'd better make this right!"

"Of course, sir."

*******************************************************

Darryl didn't hang out with him at bars anymore. Nobody did really. He had developed an odd quirk that most folks found rather off-putting.

He couldn't stop himself from talking to any unaccompanied woman who walked into the bar. He was good at breaking the ice by buying them a drink. Skilled at making a little small talk. When the women showed an interest, then the problems began.

Pam and Jim didn't harbor any animosity towards him at all. In fact, they were quite generous in their forgiveness of Roy.

Mr. X, on the other hand, was not. And that's the real reason why Roy wasn't invited to their wedding.

Whenever a woman began to return Roy’s attention, he began clucking like a chicken. Then he felt compelled to do a little chicken dance.

True selfless love, like the kind that Pam and Jim shared, could have broken the spell.

But Roy was a selfish man who had gone to extraordinary lengths to keep Pam from her true love. And he wouldn’t find true love with another woman as most didn't get past their first encounter with the chicken man. Even the freaks didn’t make it past the second.

Pam and Jim lived happily ever after.

And Mr. X was never heard from again.