12:13 AM
Pam's eyes open suddenly. For a moment she forgets where she is, but then she feels the slow rhythm of Jim's chest expanding and contracting against her cheek. The TV is still on but the volume had been muted. He must have turned it down before he fell asleep. He looks so uncomfortable right now, his head back at an unnatural angle on the arm of the couch. But she can't bear to wake him and she snuggles closer into the crook of his arm, sighing as she recalls their conversation earlier.
"So I guess maybe we should... slow down," she had said after a lengthy silence.
"I guess. I mean, if that's what you want," he had replied, with the slightest trace of disappointment in his voice.
"I mean... it wouldn't be..." She wasn't sure exactly what it wouldn't be, but she suddenly felt embarrassed, and exposed. Jim obviously did too, and at first he thought maybe he should leave, but she convinced him to stay and watch a movie. She just couldn't bring herself to part with him yet.
Then they had a good time making fun of a dreadful and not at all scary horror movie over popcorn, but Pam was really tired and fell asleep snuggled next to him.
Now she needs to go to the bathroom, so she gingerly tries to escape from the cuddle. He stirs, but stays asleep.
When she comes back from the bathroom she looks him over, wondering if she should leave him sleeping uncomfortably on the couch, or -
"Hey." He's awake.
"Hey sleepyhead. I was just - um, you looked uncomfortable." His previously slicked back hair had fallen into his eyes, and she lightly touched it with her fingers. "I liked your hair longer," she admits.
He grins. "Me too." He takes her hand and softly kisses it.
She leans over and brushes her lips against his, ever so slightly. Their noses are touching.
"Should I.. go?" he whispers.
"No," she says. "Come to bed." She stands up, still holding his hand, and tugs on his arm.
He says nothing, and follows her.
12:26 AM
"Put it on."
"You sure?" He is already out of breath.
She nods and looks at the clock. "Besides, it's tomorrow now."
6:30 AM
The buzzer is loud and annoying. Jim flails his arm wildly in its direction, but it is Pam who is able to silence it be leaning over him.
"Good morning," she says, close to his ear.
"Don't wanna get up," he mumbles, covering his eyes with the crook of his elbow.
"We have work, remember?"
He makes a sound that is something like a moan but not quite. She laughs. "I guess you're not a morning person."
"No, it's your fault," he says. "Keeping me up."
"I did do that, didn't I?" she giggles.
He mutters, "Naughty," and wraps his arms around her, kissing her neck.
"So much for taking it slow, I guess," Pam says quietly. "Sorry about that."
He pulls back when he senses a change in her tone. "Don't be. Please don't be."
She smiles shyly. "I'm not really. Are you?" For some reason she feels nervous again, uneasy, like he's going to suddenly think it was a mistake.
"Of course not." He goes to kiss her but she balks.
"Maybe I have an extra toothbrush in the bathroom," she says as she puts her fingers to his lips.
7:08 AM
"Okay, I really have to go," he says. They've been kissing at her front door for five minutes. He still needs to go home and change before work. "I'll see you there?"
She nods and lets him go. She's anxious about work - whether Karen will be there, whether people will know what happened just by looking at her. She feels like it's the first day of school, albeit a school in some bizarro universe. She watches him leave, then goes inside to get ready herself.
8:32 AM
She's sitting at her desk, checking the voicemail. Nothing from Karen. She wonders how she's going to face her, if she comes in today.
8:57 AM
Jim walks in, toting his messenger bag and a smile.
"Good morning, Pam. How are you today?" he says, a little too cheerfully. He internally reprimands himself for being too obvious, and makes a note to dial it back a notch.
"Great. How about yourself?" She's just as cheerful, however.
"I'm fine. Beautiful day today." He walks over to his desk, and has an epiphany. He hates this desk, and adds "move back to old desk" to his mental to-do list for today.
9:48 AM
Karen still hasn't shown up. Pam is on edge every time the office door opens.
But then Michael comes out to get his messages, and she nonchalantly mentions that she wonders where Karen is today since she didn't call. Michael says, "Oh, there was a voicemail, didn't you get it? I thought you forwarded it to me." Pam shakes her head no, and he distractedly says, "Said she was taking a personal day, whatever that means" and wanders back into his office.
Jim turns around to share a quick look with Pam, who shrugs ever so slightly, and then he goes back to moving his stuff to the other desk.
12:14 PM
They eat lunch at separate tables in the breakroom. It sucks. She is sitting with Kelly, and he's sitting with Stanley and Phyllis. He tries to make idle conversation but he keeps finding himself staring at her profile, having flashbacks to the night before.
He's not sure he can make it through the rest of the day.
2:43 PM
It's risky but he sends her an IM asking her to meet him on the roof. They make out like teenagers for eight minutes, then reluctantly head back to their desks, five minutes apart. Dwight interrogates him about his whereabouts, but doesn't seem to notice Pam was missing too.
Jim realizes that was a close call. They will have to be more careful in the future.
4:22 PM
Michael comes out to make an announcement. Seems Ryan got the corporate job.
They catch each other's eye (easier now that Jim is back at his old desk) and know that they are thinking the same thing.
5:01 PM
He leaves first.
"Goodnight, Pam."
"Goodnight, Jim," she replies politely, not even making eye contact. She waits until she knows he must be downstairs by now, and slowly walks to the elevator. While she's in it, her phone buzzes.
Dinner?
She texts back: sure, how bout takeout, my place?
He sends back a smiley face emoticon almost instantly, and she feels so... happy. There is something else as well, but she doesn't want to think about it too much, because damn it, she's happy.
6:10 PM
She opens the door and there he is, holding a bag of Chinese food. He drops it on the floor once he's inside, and she grabs his shirt and stands on her tiptoes to kiss him deeply. He responds immediately by backing her up against the door, slamming it shut.
"We have to stop meeting like this," he breathes in her ear.
"Isn't that something a cliche movie character would say?" she says, threading her fingers through his hair.
"Yep," he returns, unapologetically.
6:38 PM
The Chinese food is cold now, so she puts it in the microwave. She's starving. She looks over to where Jim has settled onto the couch, flipping channels.
"You know," he says, "you seem to like the volume way too loud."
"Oh really?"
"Yes, really. I never knew that about you, Beesly. Learn something new every day."
It is the first time he has called her Beesly in forever, and she gets that nice fluttering sensation in her stomach.
9:13 PM
He is looking through one of her photo albums. She's a teenager in most of the pictures. He is in the middle of making fun of her fashion choices when he sees Roy and gets really quiet.
She lets out a weak chuckle. "That was before we were dating. He was actually going out with my friend at the time."
"Oh yeah?" He's not sure how much of the story he wants to hear.
"Yeah, but she was a year older and she went away to college. They broke up and he asked me out like two weeks later. I never even thought he knew I existed."
He's still quiet, but now he's looking at her.
"Nine years of my life, sucked out from under me." She means it as a joke but she realizes how it sounds. "It wasn't all bad. He's not a bad person, Jim. He just... wasn't the right person."
Jim nods. "I know."
10:45 PM
"Are you staying?" she whispers. "Please stay."
They're in bed, naked, tangled up in damp sheets.
"Sounds like a plan," he says sleepily, and drifts off, holding her tightly.
