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Author's Chapter Notes:

Again, not my fault. The idea got lodged in my brain. I love Jam but there's something so intriguing about exploring an Alternate Universe and this way I can write it, explore it, dismiss it, and MOVE ON!!!! For those of you in a long-term relationship, you know that no matter how much you love someone, sometimes they do things that just annoy the ever loving crap out of you...

Disclaimer: These characters own me, not the other way around.

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Pam sighed and rolled her eyes. Jim had forgotten to take the trash out. Again.

It didn’t matter that he was usually quite proactive about household chores. It didn’t matter that it had probably slipped his mind due to the fact that he was doing her laundry or making her dinner. All she knew was that in the summertime, the heat and garbage combined to make a smell that permeated the kitchen and made her slightly nauseous and he had promised to take it out last night.

“Good morning, beautiful!” he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Jesus, Jim,” she muttered as she wriggled away.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, puzzled.

She didn’t really know. She just knew that she didn’t want to be touched. He always had his hands all over her and it had been so cute and endearing in high school but lately she had found it quite annoying. She wondered if he would ever grow up.

“It’s just so hot this morning. I’m all dressed for work and the air conditioning isn’t working that well. Don’t make me sticky!”

His head dropped and he got that look. That look that for some reason had begun to irritate her. The sad puppy dog look that used to cut her to the quick.

“Whatever, Jim, I don’t have time for this now. I have to be in early this morning. I’ll see you at work.”

“Pam – “

But she was already out the door. She adjusted the mirror as she pulled out of the driveway and caught a glimpse of her face. Her mouth was set in a hard line. A lot of things about Jim had been bugging her lately. She didn’t know why. Maybe it was that they had been together for so long. Maybe it was that he had been pushing her to set a date for their wedding and she was just beginning to feel trapped.

She was in her mid twenties now and most of her girlfriends were still out there dating. A few had moved to the big city after graduation. They told her stories of dates with eligible bachelors with fast cars and fat wallets. Men who spent more on suits than Pam had spent on the old clunker she was currently negotiating through the streets of Scranton.

She wondered sometimes what it would be like to kiss somebody new. It had been a long time since she’d had a first date and she’d only had two of those in her entire life. Sometimes, after she read a tawdry romance novel and Jim was sleeping soundly next to her, she fantasized about a one night stand with a man of few words who swept her off to his bachelor pad and made hot, sweet love to her all night. When she woke the next morning, the mystery man would gone to his high-powered job but there would be a single red rose on the pillow next to her. Instead, she awoke to the sound of the alarm that Jim had slept through yet again, his hair sticking up in all directions, his arm thrown across her and forcing her into a position that made her back ache.

She felt a little flushed as she stepped out of her car and grabbed her bag. She looked over towards the warehouse door and she saw one of the workers – Roy, she thought his name was – leaning against the door. He was broader than Jim, a little beefy, and Pam felt a little tingle as an unbidden thought of him hovering over her in bed flashed in her mind. He caught her eye and smiled, gave her a little wave. Pam waved back and then averted her eyes quickly. She knew instantly that her cheeks were bright red. She put her head down and made a beeline for the front door.

She settled in at her desk and glanced over at the picture of her and Jim at the beach on vacation a couple of years ago. Jim was looking at her and she was looking at the camera. She remembered being happy then. She wondered why she hadn’t felt that way in a while. She wondered why her wedding binder had been gathering dust in her bottom drawer and why when Jim pushed her to set a date she kept putting him off. Then she wondered if Roy would be eating lunch in the break room today as he seemed to be doing more frequently.

She turned on her computer and downloaded her email. She sighed as she saw that Jim had forwarded her, yet again, the application for the Dunder Mifflin graphic arts internship. His not-so-subtle hints were growing tiresome. She would do it when she was good and ready and besides, they couldn’t afford it when her car was on the verge of dying and they still owed four years of payments on his. Sometimes he was so impractical. She moved the email to the trash folder. Then she opened a web page she had saved as a favorite a few months ago.

Maybe today would be the day she would find an affordable apartment for herself. Maybe someday soon she would finally have her third first date. She closed her eyes and fantasized yet again about her one night stand with a man of few words who made hot, sweet love to her all night. This time, it was Roy’s face that she saw.



Par5 is the author of 29 other stories.



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