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Author's Chapter Notes:
A short chapter to get them moving.

Jim wasn’t sure exactly how he managed to recover from that morning. It wasn’t that it was a bad thing to wake up underneath Pam Beesly. It was just difficult to focus on anything else for the rest of the day. After getting dressed (unfortunately, Pam chose to go back to her own room to do that, but maybe it was for the best since it meant he got up off the floor) they wandered out in search of food before the rugby game in the afternoon.

 

They strolled down Darlinghurst Rd in search of a place to have breakfast. Pam pointed out the same McDonald’s he’d discounted earlier in the week, and they shared a laugh about their common inclinations. They passed by the Friggitoria and, to his delight, he was able to maneuver things so that she saw the sign without realizing he was leading her toward it.

 

“Jim.” She tugged on his arm. “Jim!”

 

“What?” He was pretty sure he knew what, but he made sure to keep his eyes directly on her face so that she had no idea he knew what she was looking at. Not that that was a hardship; looking at Pam’s face had been an indulgence for years, and the opportunity to do it freely was intoxicating.

 

“The restaurant.” She pointed and he deliberately chose to pretend to misunderstand.

 

“The Thirsty Bird? Yeah, it’s pretty good, I went there a couple days ago.”

 

“No, the…” her face got a bit redder and he realized to his delight that she was actually going to work through her embarrassment and say it. “The Friggitoria,” she whispered.

 

“The Friggitoria?” he asked as loud as he could, and she smacked his arm. “What about it?”

 

“The Friggitoria, Jim.” She cocked an eyebrow and he was surprised to see her switch over from embarrassment to challenge so quickly. Apparently making fun of him was a trigger. “Do I need to explain the word to you?”

 

“Do you think you could? Will there be pictures?” He expected her to splutter, but she brazed it out.

 

“If you’re good, there might be an interactive tutorial.” She clearly had decided she had the last word there, and she turned them up the next street and pulled him along behind.

 

**

 

Had she really just said that? Had she just had a conversation about…that…with Jim in public? She’d imagined, at some lonely points in the last few years and especially the last few weeks, having a conversation about that—and more than that—in person, in private, maybe in a nicely positioned bed larger than a single. But in public? Even surrounded by strange Australians, it was still an audience. An audience that had not seemed interested in what she had said at all—they’d probably heard all the jokes before anyway—but still.

 

She pulled Jim up the street, not really paying attention to where they were headed, but looking for something to distract her from the conversation they’d just had. What were they doing? Oh right, looking for food.

 

They could have eaten at the Friggitoria, she supposed, but now that was behind them and she was definitely not heading back.

 

She might, however, be heading forward. As if the Friggitoria wasn’t enough, there was another restaurant sign right in front of her with almost as embarrassing a name. But she was a new Pam and she was not going to let herself be cowed by mere words.

 

“Let’s eat there.” She pointed and watched Jim react to the sign.

 

“The Silly Tart?” He glanced down at her. “Really?”

 

“Problem, Halpert?”

 

“None in the world.”

 

It turned out, somewhat to her disappointment, that the Silly Tart Kitchen was actually a really normal place. But the “toastie” sandwiches were delicious, and hit the spot precisely, and Jim seemed to be enjoying his as well.

 

“Where to next?” He paid the bill—she was going to have to do something about that—and held the door for her as the stepped out into the street.

 

“Well, we did kangaroos…” she tapped her chin. “And you have those rugby tickets for later…what else is particularly Australian?”

 

“Hm.” He shrugged. “You’d think I’d know, but I have to admit I don’t.”

 

“Didn’t you do any research before you headed out here?”

 

“Did you?”

 

“I already knew everything I needed to know about Australia before I came here, Jim.”

 

“And what was that?”

 

“You were here.”

Chapter End Notes:
Thank you to all who've read and reviewed! This was short, but I figured it was good to get them moving a bit.

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