“Remind me again why I’m sitting in your car on a three hour drive to Connecticut?” Pam shifted herself uncomfortably, trying to swing one leg over another. Their two suitcases were in the back of the Subaru pushed right up against Pam’s seat.
“Because this is a bonding time for us girls. We’re going to go to the health spa-“
Pam interrupted her with a grumble, “I don’t like yoga.”
“And then we’re going to eat junk food, and stay in a hotel, and go to the ocean,” Emma continued to babble on.
“But it’s November, there’s not going to be anyone at the beach. Besides… I hate Stamford.” Pam felt childish as she pressed her arms against her chest, a pout starting to form.
“You’ve never even been to Stamford,” Emma glanced in the rearview. ‘Besides, you’re the only person who has absolutely no commitments to anything right now and I can take you away for a weekend,” she giggled.
“Not funny,” Pam sighed. “I’ve got to get a job…and you’re taking away precious hours of-“
“Pam, please. You’re not going to find a job on a Saturday...just relax. What’s got your panties in a bunch?”
“That’s disgusting.” Pam scrunched up her eyebrows. “Nothing..I’m just tired,” she lied, biting her lip.
Pressing the knob on the radio she turned it on so she could think for a while; when it was silent in the car, Emma always wanted to talk. Truth be told, the paper she’d found on Emma’s table was stuffed deep into her purse, and all she could think about was that on this little excursion for Emma’s job offer, she might run into Jim Halpert—and that was the last thing she wanted to happen.
Emma reached over and shut the radio off, pushing strands of her unruly hair out of her eyes.
"C'mon Pam...let's talk, I want to know why you're all upset over going away this weekend. I thought you would be excited to do this?"
Pam let her head rest against the back of the seat, groaning as the "Welcome to Connecticut" sign flashed past her eyes, and it was as though her throat began to tighten as she crossed into the state.
"There's just some people here, that I really don't want to run into...that's all." Pam pulled her hair back into a pony tail, securing it with an elastic.
"Like family?" Emma asked, shifting the car into a lower gear as they slowed down on the interstate. They were nearing the ocean, and the traffic was starting to build up. Pam started to feel a bit claustrophobic thinking about how long she might be stuck in this car for.
"Yes," Pam nodded, trying to convince Emma.
"Huh." There was a moment of silent before Emma started in again. "I think I'm going senile Pam," she laughed, rubbing her thumb against the green gecko steering wheel cover, the rubber smooth under Emma's finger.
Pam laughed uncomfortably. "Why's that?" she asked.
"Oh, I just had this man's number on my kitchen table for this job here in Stamford, and one minute it was there, and the next it was gone. It was so strange." she shook her head as though trying to think back to where it could have gone to.
"Did you retrace your steps and try to figure out where it went off to?" Pam's voice faltered, she didn't want Emma to get suspicious.
"Yeah, yeah," she waved her hand casually in the air. "He ended up calling me back anyway, no biggie."
Pam nodded, and lifted her legs up under her.
"So, you have any ideas of what you might do for a job?" Emma asked, flicking the warm air off, as the traffic started moving again.
"I don't know...I've only had a few jobs in my entire life, I haven't really had any networking connections..." Pam bit down on her lip. "I was thinking about giving my Mom a call and see if there's anything open up her way-"
"I was thinking Pam- if things ended up working out for me here in Stamford- you could always move in with me...there's a ton of work up here." Pam stared straight ahead listening. "I know it's even early to talk about this, but you never know--I could land this job today."
"I'll think about it," Pam replied, looking over at the GPS. There was only a half hour left before they got there. "Are we checking into the hotel first?" she asked.
Emma nodded. "Yup. And then I'm going to shower and change and get ready for my interview. And if you want you can come along, maybe go look around while I'm at the job?" Pam looked over with a smile.
"Sure," she replied.
Emma clicked on the radio again, some upbeat song from the sixties came on. Pam grinned, bobbing her ahead along to the music as Emma sang along loudly, missing over every other word. Maybe there would be hope in Stamford. Maybe.
Claire pulled the large pink comforter over her and Christine’s heads. The television light flickered off their faces, popcorn kernels scattered throughout the bed as the two of them watched the movie. The eerie glow of the November moonlight cast across the room, shadows dancing off Claire’s desk. Both girls' hair pulled back into matching French braids; Claire’s brown, Christine’s red.
“I can’t believe your Dad lets you eat all this junk food,” Christine giggled, grabbing a Twizzler out of the bag and plopping an end into her mouth.
Claire smiled, the cookies, chips, and candy were all spread out about them on the bed, half eaten- crumbs everywhere. “Yeah..he’s pretty cool about that I guess,” Claire gave a half smile and then looked back to the movie. “His only rule is, don’t throw up.”
Christine laughed aloud.
“Shhh, ” Claire slapped her hand against Christine’s mouth, beckoning her to be quiet. “His second rule is that it doesn’t sound like wildebeests are coming through the walls.”
Christine nodded, pulling her feet up in the air and crossing her fuzzy socking feet.
“Man…my Mom is crazy about stuff like this. All we have to eat in our house is healthy food. You’re so lucky…”
Claire looked over at Christine, wondering what she meant. Living without her mother was not lucky- it sucked. Claire was quiet for a moment before ripping the covers off her and jumping out of the bed heading to the door, and shutting it behind her before Christine could even get out of bed. She looked down the hall, her father’s door was cracked open and a light was shining into the hall.
“Dad?” she pushed open his door, seeing her father sitting up in the center of the bed reading, the covers pulled up to his waist.
“Hey kiddo, what’s going on? Why aren’t you with Christine eating that crap I bought for you guys at the store?” He winked at her, but Claire scowled getting up onto the bed, and curling next to him. She grabbed his arm, and wrapped her own around it. Jim looked down at her, and then set his book down, doggy-tagging the page.
“You okay?” He pulled his glasses off his face, and set them on the comforter.
“Christine’s a bitch.”
“Oh.” Jim swallowed. “Um, well…” he raised an eyebrow cocking his head, “I don’t think that’s a very nice thing to-“
“She’s a bitch Dad,” Claire shook her head. “She said I was lucky because I didn’t have a Mom, and that her Mom wouldn’t let her eat junk food.”
Jim sat up in bed, surprised.
“Oh?” He looked down at Claire, his eyes bulging. “She said that?”
“Well..yeah sort of.”
“What do you mean, ‘sort of’ ?” Jim asked sniffing.
“Well she didn’t say that exactly…” Claire rolled her eyes, “but she made me upset.” She folded her arms across her chest.
“What’d she say Claire?”
“That I was lucky because I have you,” She paused, playing with the frayed edges of the comforter. The two were quiet for a moment.
“Well…” he reached down rubbing his hand along the back of her hair, “would you like it if people didn’t talk about their Mom’s in front of you?”
She waited a moment.
“No, I guess that’s silly,” she looked up at him. He smiled at her.
“Well Christine was right about something at least."
“What’s that?” Claire asked.
“That you’re pretty lucky. I mean, I’m obviously awesome,” Jim raised his arms with a grin. She grinned up at him.
“I still miss mom, though.” She swung an arm around his waist, and sunk down into the bed, laying her head on his belly.
He let her stay there for a few moments, knowing she needed this; rubbing his thumb along the soft skin under her shirt, he felt her breathing even out; her skin was still as soft as it was the day she was born.
“Christie’s probably wondering where you ran off to. You should go finish your movie,” she looked up at him, and nodded. She slowly got up, kissed his cheek and headed back out the door, glancing back at him once more.
“Thanks,” she smiled, shutting the door.
Emma walked out of the bathroom, her hair pulled up into a white towel , glancing around the room for her clothes.
“Have you seen my pants?” Emma began throwing things around the room, a towel landing on Pam’s head.
“Watch it!” Pam called, pulling the towel off her head and glancing back down at the folder in her hand that held the numbers to various restaurants in town.
“Sorry…I just,” Emma pulled various items out of her suitcase, “I can’t find them.” Emma frantically swept the other side of the room.
“They’re hanging up in the bathroom Em,” Pam replied without glancing up from her reading.
“Oh. Thanks Pam,” Emma smiled sheepishly and went back into the bathroom to change.
Pam starred a couple spots she’d check out while Emma was having her interview. One place to grab a coffee, and the other a small bookstore in town. Both of which would kill the time she’d have to wait during the interview.
“Almost ready!” Emma called from the bathroom. Pam grabbed her purse and keys,
“I’m going to go warm up your car, meet me in there,” Pam hollered back, and headed out of the hotel.
Jim gathered the notes in front of him, and glanced over Emma’s information. He had her cover letter and resume, but he’d learned you couldn’t really learn much from reading a resume about a person. It was all about how they acted when you met them. First impressions were everything, just like they’d said.
“You all set Halpert?” Devon Smith stuck his head in the conference door, a beaming smile on his face. Jim could never figure out why he was so happy about these interviews, as the superintendent, that man had witnessed a lot of crap, and yet he was still happy. All the time.
“Sure am,” Jim nodded, as a few other employees joined him at the circular table he was sitting at. He looked out the window, the water lapping up on the shore not far from the school, and was mesmerized for a moment. He thought about Sarah, wondered if he’d ever want to find someone else. If there was anyone else in this planet that was as perfect as she was-
“The applicant’s here Jim…if you’re ready?” Devon asked, from the doorway. Jim glanced at the two women next to him, both looking equally bored. He nodded.
“Send her in.”
