That’s why it didn’t seem too crazy to buy an engagement ring after the first week of dating.
Still, he knew that it was too early to actually give her the ring. So he would wait until the moment came. He locked the ring away and just enjoyed being with Pam. But as the months went by, he started thinking about how he would propose. It was the most important question he would ever ask and he wanted to do it right.
“When it happens, it’s going to kick your ass, Beesly. So stay sharp.”
What had made him say that?! He hadn’t decided how to propose yet and now he had put even more pressure on himself. She was expecting something awesome, but he wasn’t quite sure how to achieve that.
Taking her to Cugino’s, where they had lunch on his first day of work, was too common place. They ate there at least once a week.
Carmen’s was nicer, more of an occasion, but getting down on his knee in a restaurant in front of strangers made him uncomfortable. And putting the ring in a champagne glass or a piece of chocolate cake seemed trite.
He liked the idea of taking a long weekend to New York or Philadelphia. But it would have to be planned and then she would start to suspect something. He really wanted to surprise her so he ruled that out.
Mark’s brother had proposed to his girlfriend in a hot air balloon. But even though he wanted something outstanding, that seemed too over the top and so unlike them.
So it had to be special, original, surprising, fitting their relationship and pretty much perfect in every way. Realizing how he had screwed himself, Jim groaned, dropping his head against his keyboard. The action caused Pam to look up from her game of Freecell and smile sympathetically. She obviously thought it was just another soul-sucking day at Dunder Mifflin.
A little ding alerted him to a new email – from pbeesly@dundermifflin.com. He opened the email attachment to see a picture of a kitten in a hammock with the caption “hang in there, baby.” He shot her a look and she gave him her best innocent doe eyes.
Hitting ‘reply’, he typed “thanks, ANGELA” and clicked send. He was treated to a giggle from Pam.
Five minutes, he glanced back at reception, over the well-worn track of carpet he had traveled so many times over the years. Studying his beloved receptionist, he started coming up with a plan.
On a Friday afternoon a few weeks later, Randall approached Pam at reception, asking to film a talking head. Jim smiled as she surreptitiously trailed a finger over his shoulder as she headed into the conference room. Moment later, Michael came out of his office, bragging about a hot date and left for the day. The others followed shortly after and Jim headed to the kitchen.
It didn’t take him too long to get everything ready, so now he just had to wait for Pam. He wiped sweaty palms against his pants and tried not to fidget.
