It was Pam’s last day at Dunder Mifflin for the summer. Today was Friday, and on Monday she would be in New York starting classes.

Of course the morning was dragging on at it’s usual pace, only today it was interspersed with Michael repeatedly visiting reception and crying. She didn’t even have Jim to keep her company as he was out on a sales call and wouldn’t be back until after lunch, just in time for her goodbye party.

She was deeply immersed in a game of solitaire when she heard an unapproving “ahem” to her right. She looked over to see Angela peering over the divider between reception and accounting.

“Looks like you’ve already given up on working, huh?”

Pam rolled her eyes and went to turn back to her game, but she could feel Angela’s stare burning a hole in her head. God I am not going to miss this place.

“Angela? Was there something else you wanted?”

“Well, now that you asked, yes, Pam, there is. I would like to know if you want to have lunch today. In honor of your last day.”

Huh?

Pam thought she was dreaming, or that Angela was kidding (and if Angela was joking, well then she had to be dreaming). But the expectant, annoyed look on Angela’s face told her that she wasn’t joking. Of course, before Pam could answer her patience had run out.

“Pam? Can you do lunch or not?”

“Um, yeah sure.” She tried to regroup, “That sounds nice.”

“Okay then. See you at noon.”

“Okay sure.”

Pam took notice of the time - it was already 11:54am.  Yeah.  This should be fun.

The ride to the restaurant was quiet. The few attempts that Pam had made at small talk barely made a chink in the armor that was Angela’s daily façade. Lord if five minutes in the car were this painful Pam didn’t want to think of what lunch would be like. She and Angela had their nice moments in the past, but they were normally very short lived, and they often ended with Angela making some sort of sarcastic comment about her clothes or her relationships.

They were walking though Cugino’s and Angela made a disapproving sound and a show of waving smoke out of her face as they passed through the bar to the back of the dining room.

“Such a disgusting habit, really.” She mumbled as they each took a seat across the table from one another. She looked up at Pam and must have realized her tone, and attempted a half hearted smile. It was like it pained her to do it.

Just lunch. It’s only an hour, Pam. It won’t be that bad.

They were quiet at first, looking over their menus and trying to decide what to eat. Pam actually already knew what she was having, but it was easier to look down at the menu rather than try to make conversation with Angela.

Their waiter took their order, which was nearly painful to sit through. Angela’s order consisted of “don’t put this on there” and “can you, this one time, manage to get my order right?” Pam tried to apologize at the waiter with her eyes, but his glazed look told her that he was used to dealing with people like this all the time. Finally he scooped up their menus and they were alone.

“So, Angela. This is nice. Us having lunch and…” Pam trailed off. She honestly didn’t have much to say.

“Yes. It is Pam.”

The silence was nearly deafening. The Phillies had an afternoon game today so Pam kept sneaking glances over Angela’s shoulder at the television in the bar. She hated when she was with Roy and he would do that to her while they were out eating, but even she and Roy had more things to talk about when they went out to eat.

Pam was fiddling with her straw wrapper while trying to think of something to say, “So, Angela…how are things with Andy? Having fun with the wedding planning?”

Angela shook her head quickly – it was almost imperceptible, but it oozed with annoyance. Pam sighed and looked down at her hands, then again at the television. She repeated the pattern a few times before Angela started to speak.

“Well. I should be honest with you. I asked you to lunch because I wanted your advice about something.”

Pam nodded. She should be annoyed that Angela didn’t ask her to lunch simply because she was her friend, but at this point she was thankful for the lapse in the awkward silence. She looked at Angela expectantly, urging her to continue. For some reason this seemed to annoy her more, pursing her lips together and looking at Pam with barely veiled frustration. But then she continued.

“Well, the truth is. I need to call off my wedding. And since you seem to have a lot experience with this sort of thing, I thought I should talk to you about how to best approach it.”

Pam winced, “Well, really it was only the one wedding…”

"Honestly, Pam. Let’s not split hairs.” Then her expression softened a little, “Really. What should I do?”

Pam sighed heavily and considered the question, “So, you don’t want to marry Andy, or you want to break it off all together?”

“Is it necessary to pry?”

“Angela, I’m just trying to help you. What do you want? Do you love him?”

Angela scoffed at the question, as if love had nothing to do with whom you spend your life with. But then she seemed to think about her answer for a moment, “I don’t think so. He’s a nice man. And over the course of our courtship he has managed to…annoy me less. But I don’t think I love him like I-” She stopped abruptly, clearly not wanting to finish the thought.

Pam thought for a minute before answering. She thought about planning her wedding while she spent her nights thinking about someone else. She thought about sitting across from Roy at their kitchen table, and the pain in his eyes when she told him that the wedding was off. She thought about starting over, and being truly happy. Everyone deserved that, even Angela.

She chose her words carefully, “Angela, whatever the reason. If you don’t want to marry Andy, then you need to tell him. It’s only fair.”

For a minute the wall seemed to crumble a little bit, as Angela bit her lip and her forehead creased, “But how? I said yes, but I don’t want to. So what do I say? Maybe I should write him a letter.”

“Angela, I think this sort of thing is better in person, you know? He’s going to be hurt, and I know it may not…come easily to you, but you need to try and understand how he’s going to feel. You just need to sit him down and tell him – gently. And the sooner the better. For all of you.” She looked at Angela pointedly, hoping she got the hint.

The other woman nodded curtly, seemingly deep in thought over what she said. Pam felt almost victorious, and she started to feel a little bolder, “You know, I don’t know much about Andy or your relationship, but I do know that when you get married it should be to someone you love. Not someone you are with so you can forget about another person.”

Their eyes met for a minute, and Angela seemed to soften briefly. In fact, Pam almost thought she saw the makings of a tear. Or it could have been the way the light was hitting her eye.

Angela recovered quickly though, rolling her eyes, “Pam. We can’t all live in some fairy tale like you, where people marry for love and flaunt their relationship whenever they can.”

And just like that, the conversation was over.

Their food came and they ate in silence, for the most part. The ride back to the office was even quieter. As Pam went to step into the elevator to head back to work, Angela grabbed her arm and managed a smile that seemed to be nearly sincere.

“Thank you Pam. You are very easy to talk to.”

Pam nodded once and gestured for Angela to step into the elevator first. The door closed and Angela eyed Pam up and down for a minute before saying, “Really Pam, your top two buttons are open on your sweater. A little decency when you are at work isn't too much to ask.”

Pam smiled. Okay, maybe I’ll miss this place a little bit.