Time raced by so quickly that being in L.A. seemed like one big blur. Jim flew in the afternoon of game three, along with Todd Packer and the rest of the team. They checked in to their hotel—thankfully, Jim wasn’t rooming with Packer—and were immediately shuttled off to the Staples Center for the game. The team barely had enough time to warm up, but they were confident that they would do well as long as they all got a high five from their personal good-luck charm.
Jim was escorted to his seat by a friendly, yet arrogant attendant, who told him he’d need a lot of luck to help the Sixers win. He shrugged off the comment, knowing where the attendant’s loyalties lied, and thanked him for showing him to his seat. The attendant gave him a curt nod in response, an air of superiority in his demeanor, and was on his way. Needing to stretch his legs from being on a plane all day, Jim was out of his seat as soon as the attendant was out of sight.
He made a lap around the arena, watching families in line at the concession stand and occasionally moving out of the way for large men with beers in their hands. He was recognized by a few Sixers fans, which helped him to feel more at home, but mostly he just felt alone in a sea of unfamiliar and unfriendly faces.
He almost wished he had listened to Michael’s harebrained scheme to bring Pam along. It certainly would’ve been nicer having her there to talk to, or even just to be there to people-watch with him; it was one of their favorite pastimes on their terrace. Jim had seemed to learn all kinds of new things about her with every comment she’d make about the people passing by on the street below.
He had learned that her family had owned a dog with one eye named Titan when she was little, that her favorite flavor of ice cream was rocky road, and she eventually wanted to move out to the suburbs to raise a family, but still wanted a house with a terrace to look out from at night. That detail was especially vivid to him, because even though he had never thought about having a house with that feature before, he felt like he could see himself wanting it because it was in her fantasy.
After circling the stadium a couple times, Jim ended up walking into the staging area, wanting to see how the players were doing. Instead, he ran into a mob of Laker Girls about to take to the court. He swiftly moved out of the way for them, embarrassedly averting his eyes as they passed, until he heard one call his name:
“Jim?”
“…Katy?”
“Oh my gosh, how good to see you!” she threw her arms around the startled sports writer and gave him a tight hug. All Jim could do was blush. “How have you been? I heard about your rise to fame.”
“Yeah…” he rubbed the back of his neck, sick of rehashing his stardom with acquaintances, so he quickly diverted the conversation off of himself. “How about you? I didn’t know you were a Laker Girl…”
She beamed at him, “Yep! It is a dream come true.”
“I’m glad,” he smiled genuinely at her, pleased to hear that she was happy.
“So, hey, you’re going to be here a couple days, wanna get a bite to eat sometime? Maybe tomorrow?”
He winced a little, remembering how dinner with his last ex had went, but he could tell by the look in Katy’s eyes that she wanted nothing more than to catch up. “Sure,” re replied, and her friendly smile grew wider.
“Great!” she cheered. “I don’t have my cell on me, but do you just want my number?”
“Uh, sure,” he said, getting out his cell phone and punching in the digits to her number as she recited them.
“I gotta get going,” she told him. “But just gimme a call tomorrow and we’ll meet somewhere. See ya later Jim, and good luck tonight!”
She gave him a small wave and ran off toward the stadium as Jim looked back down at his phone. He knew the game would be starting soon, but he had enough time for a phone call. He pressed two on his speed dial and sat down on a nearby bench.
“Hey stranger,” the voice on the other line greeted him. “I’m just sitting down to watch the game. I have a bowl of popcorn and everything.”
“Do you have a beer? Because you can’t watch sports without drinking beer. It’s a rule,” he joked.
“I think I have a Leinie in the fridge…” He heard Pam get up and walk across the floor and felt his heart wrench. He wished with everything he had that he could just be there watching the game with her instead of stuck here in L.A., but he knew he had to make some sacrifices for his job. At least she was able to go to all the home games with him. “Oh yes,” she said, “Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat—”
Jim shuddered, “Ugh. You have awful tastes in beers, Beesly. That stuff tastes like Fruity Pebbles.”
“Well I like it,” she told him defiantly. He could picture her sticking her tongue out at him, and it made him chuckle to himself. “Besides, not everyone enjoys dark beers like you.”
“Oh so true,” he leaned back on the bench, enjoying that they could keep up the easy conversation over the phone thousands of miles away from each other.
“So how are things there? Todd Packer driving you crazy already?”
He shrugged, “He’s alright I guess. I certainly don’t plan on hanging around him the whole time I’m here.”
“Good call.”
“Yeah… Um, I actually, randomly, ran into an ex-girlfriend of mine though. She wants to go out with me to eat or something…”
“Oh,” Pam said, and then the line fell silent. “Well that’s… fun…”
“Oh, no, I mean—it’s completely platonic. I just haven’t seen her in years, and we were completely wrong for each other anyway, so there’s no need to worry. At all.”
“Okay…” Pam replied, her tone apprehensive. “Sure.”
“I mean it,” he told her, adamant. “Hey. I mean—you know you’re like… the only woman I’d ever want to be with, right?” He could hear her stifling a self-conscious laugh on the other end of the line, and decided to bring out her laughter even more, “Really, I’m serious. I don’t know why you’re laughing when I’m just trying to tell you my feelings. I mean, that’s pretty insensitive, Pam.”
Once she had regained control of her giggles, she told him, “No, I mean—I know, I know, this is serious. It’s just—no one’s ever said anything like that to me before. It’s a little…”
“Scary?”
“Kinda!” she told him through a fresh batch of laughs. “Is that weird?”
“No… not weird. That’s the first time I’ve said that to anyone, so…”
“Really?” she asked, her laughter suddenly subsiding.
This time it was his turn to chuckle nervously, “Well… yeah. But, I have a good feeling about it.”
“And if I should trust anyone about good feelings, it’s a good luck charm.”
“Absolutely,” he told her, a stupid grin plastered to his face. “Hey, I have to go, but enjoy the game and your disgusting beer.”
“Oh I will,” she replied. “Love you. Bye!”
“Love you too—” he said softly into the phone, the line now silent on the other end, as a comforting warmth bubbled up inside him. He shut the phone and sat there for a long moment, replaying their conversation over in his mind.
Although they had said ‘I love you’ before, this was the first time she had used it while saying goodbye. And the way she said it, so casually as she hung up, took him completely by surprise. He never expected that one simple action could make him so happy.
An announcer over the loudspeakers reminded him how late it was getting, and so he quickly made his way back to his seat next to Todd Packer and a couple other businessmen. Not even they could spoil his good mood though, no matter how much they berated him. And as the Sixers took the court, he made sure to pass out especially enthusiastic high-fives, his mood noticeably happier.
They won that night by a landslide.
… … …
“So you’re a home wrecker,” Katy giggled as they walked along the streets of L.A., enjoying a pair of frozen yogurts.
“Essentially,” he admitted and gave a small shrug. They had been talking about Pam for the last half hour, since he had met Katy at the frozen yogurt shop. He wanted to make sure she knew he was unavailable, and just as he predicted, she couldn’t have been happier for him. “I don’t know though. It didn’t seem like she was too happy with her boyfriend though. By the end, the two of us were spending more time together than they did.”
“Maybe that’s because you lived across the hall from each other,” she speculated, taking a large bite of her yogurt.
Jim shrugged again, “Maybe. But I feel like… regardless of if we were neighbors, or friends of friends, or coworkers, I would’ve still… Something about her would’ve still… I don’t know.”
“Kismet,” Katy responded, matter-of-factly.
“Yeah.”
“Well I think that’s great. I mean, I know I was certainly not the best girlfriend, so I’m glad you found someone who makes you so happy,” she told him with a sincere smile, and then pointed to a small shop. “This is the place! The boys get their championship rings done here.”
“So what you’re telling me is, it’s expensive,” he said with a smirk.
“Yes. But it’ll be totally worth it,” she replied, giving him a friendly push into the store. “She won’t suspect a thing.”
… … …
In game five, back home in Philly, the Sixers won the championship, and the whole city took part in the revelry afterward. As soon as the timer buzzed, the entire court was swallowed in a sea of fans and press, and it seemed as though all of them wanted to talk to Jim. It was overwhelming, considering he felt like he hadn’t done anything and was also part of the press himself, but he accepted the attention in stride and politely answered questions.
“Jim, how does it feel to have helped the Sixers win their first championship in twenty-five years?”
“Uh, it feels good. It really was the players that did all the work, but I’m just glad I could help motivate them.”
“Jim! Are you looking to get a permanent position with Comcast-Spectacor?”
“Um, I don’t think so. I really enjoy writing, so I’m going to stick with that.”
“Do you know if your columns are going to be nationally syndicated now?”
“Not sure, really. I hope maybe one day, but for now I’m happy writing about my favorite teams. And baseball season is just heating up, so you can expect to see me there.”
“Jim, what are you going to do now?”
“Uh, I’m looking to make some pretty big long-term plans in my personal life at the moment, so I’m going to maybe put sports on the back-burner for a bit while I… do that.”
“Thanks Jim. Congratulations again!”
“Thanks guys.”
With a small wave, he made his way out of the sea of people and out the doors of the VIP exit, where he had told Pam to wait for him. Just as they had planned, she was there with a big smile on her face.
“You escaped the mob, huh?” she asked as they linked arms.
“I thought I’d never get out of there,” he smiled at her as they made their way to his car.
“So Jim, just one more question,” she said as she held an imaginary microphone to his face.
He chuckled to her, “What’s that?”
“How are you going to spend the rest of the evening?”
“Oh, I was thinking about a quiet celebration with my girlfriend out on our terrace. Maybe think up a plan to annoy our super…”
“Sounds like a good plan,” she told him, her smile beaming as she got into the car.
“I thought so,” he agreed, buckling himself in and pulling out of the lot.
… … …
Pam couldn’t believe how calm Jim was being as they sat outside on the terrace that night, watching the celebration all around them in the streets. Even she had eventually bought into the good luck hype, and was definitely feeling the same electric excitement the fans seemed to have. But something about his disposition made her think that he was feeling almost detached from the commotion, lost in thought.
“So, I was thinking about our apartments,” he said out of the blue.
She looked over at him thoughtfully, “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, I mean… we’re pretty serious now, right?”
“Right,” she told him with an ecstatic grin.
“So I was thinking, that since we’re ‘pretty serious,’ we should be taking some more… serious steps in our relationship, you know?”
“Okay…” she said curiously.
“I was thinking about seeing if Dwight could make the third floor a penthouse suite,” he told her matter-of-factly, to which he received a swat on the arm.
“Yeah right!” she told him trough fits of laughter.
Jim smiled at her, “You’re right, he’d never go for that. But… you have to agree that it’s silly for both of us to be paying rent when we basically live at each other’s places anyway. So maybe… instead of a penthouse, we could just move in together?”
“Oh,” she said, taken aback by his suggestion. She had of course thought about their future. She had even started to daydream about making long-term plans with him, but she just didn’t think he’d be the one to bring it up first. Then again, he had always been the one to lead their relationship forward.
“Or maybe it’s too soon for that,” he said, brushing off his idea. “Forget I even said it. I know how much you love your own apartment and your independence…”
“Oh, no! No,” she quickly corrected him. “I mean, yeah, I love those things, but I also… you know… love you, and I guess I’ve been thinking the same thing.”
His lips formed a delighted smirk, “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, although… I don’t know. I wouldn’t feel right about it unless…”
“Unless…”
“Unless the two of us were engaged,” she finished quickly and almost embarrassedly.
“Oh,” Jim sat back in his chair and watched a couple of drunken men sing ‘We Are The Champions’ at the tops of their lungs down on the street below. “Well… that’s good to know I guess.” He smiled at her and got up from his chair, heading for the door.
“Where are you going?”
He shrugged, “It’s getting cold. I was gonna grab a blanket or something…”
“Oh, we can go in,” she stood quickly, feeling awkward for having brought up the subject of marriage at all. She should’ve known it would be too soon to discuss it, especially since he was only talking about moving in together. But she did feel pride in sticking to her morals, which helped redeem her self-confidence a bit. “It is getting cold out here,” she added with a smile.
“Hey, how about we eat breakfast out here tomorrow?” Jim suggested. “I’ll make pancakes.”
“Sounds like a plan,” she replied as he held the door open for her. “So does that mean we’re sleeping in the apartment with the griddle?”
“Hey, if you would like to learn how to cook one of these days, you are more than welcome,” he retorted with a smile, unlocking his apartment door and seeing her inside.
… … …
The next morning, Pam woke up to find Jim’s side of the bed curiously empty, but she could tell by the sweet smells coming from the kitchen that he was already up and making pancakes. Unable to conceal a wide smile, she made herself decent and left the bedroom, but was surprised when she didn’t see him standing in the kitchen making breakfast.
“Jim?”
All the answer she received in return was the creek of a loose floorboard.
“Jim?” she asked again, this time a little more anxious, but again there was no reply. Then she saw on the counter that he had left a note for her:
Went out for orange juice. Go ahead and head out to the terrace. Your breakfast is waiting for you.
She smiled slightly, wondering what kind of elaborate setup he had prepared for her outside, so she didn’t make any haste in getting herself out to the terrace. Sure enough, there was a place of pancakes piled high and covered with a dishtowel to keep them warm. She approached the plate, her smile bright, and pulled the towel off the plate. Then she gasped.
Tucked onto the plate was a small velvet box, and inside it, a ring.
“So?” she heard him ask from the doorway to the terrace, and when she turned to see him standing there grinning at her, she couldn’t believe how big she was smiling.
“Yes,” she nodded, and leapt into his arms.
… … …
“Dwight, you’re really going to just stand there and watch?” Jim asked as he and Pam moved boxes from Pam’s apartment into Jim’s.
“I’m not watching, Jim. I’m supervising. Part of a superintendent’s duty.”
“Fair enough,” Jim said with a shrug as he pushed a large box across the hall.
Dwight peaked his head into Pam’s now empty apartment, “Pam? I need to perform a formal inspection. I’m entering the premises.”
“Okay!” she yelled from the bedroom. “Just move boxes out of the way if you have to. But be careful of the ones in the kitchen marked ‘heavy’.”
Dwight scoffed as he got out his checklist, “Probably heavy for a woman. Your kind has notoriously weak arms.”
Jim stopped what he was doing for a moment at the front door to curiously watch what was about to unfold, and was immediately joined by his fiancée, who handed him a stack of books. They stood and watched Dwight examine the biggest of the boxes marked ‘heavy’, and then position himself under the box to get the best leverage.
Neither could contain their laughter when they saw the empty box hit Dwight square in the face with a loud thwack, and had to look away as he toppled over himself, and all the other empty boxes marked ‘heavy’. As the couple exchanged an amused glance, they both could tell this was only the beginning of a lifetime of laughter to come.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Oh my gosh you guys, has it really been a month since I last updated?? That is awful. I am so sorry I made you (those of you who are faithfully still reading) wait so long for this chapter; school started and work started piling up, and I know that's not really a good excuse. But the good news is that we'll get to wrap this whole thing up now.
Yep, this is that last chapter! I was originally going to have there be more, but I just don't have as much time to write, and I hate making you guys wait so long for updates. Better to wrap it up now I think. And what a conclusion it is you guys! EmilyHalpert has been so encouraging with this ending, so I feel very confident posting it. She is truly the best beta a girl could hope for.
Please remember to read, review, and enjoy!
Chapter End Notes:
I'm not going to lie, that proposal last week really gave me inspiration to get this thing done. Thanks so much to my faithful chapter-by-chapter reviewers: NanReg, iwantphillyjim, EmilyHalpert, Elle, Alamos, Beeswax, malaz85, Italianfood, untherapy, Vampiric Blood, albie_, iheartstanley, khand3stooges, UrkelGrue, JinxCoke, LuxTenebrae, dunder mifflin this is pam, and Little Comment! Whew! I am so excited that you guys liked my story so much to review more than once (or every chapter for some of you!), and I hope the ending didn't disappoint. Finally, as my customary goodbye on my multi-chapter fics, "peace and joy be with you, harmony and wisdom." Later skaters!
Dundie All-Star is the author of 6 other stories.
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