Pamela Morgan Beesly had been driven to the edge. Not the suicidal edge, fortunately enough, but an edge of some kind. She was so sick of watching Jim and Karen smile and simper at each other across the office, eating lunch together, kissing each other. She missed Jim's friendship so much— he would barely even look at her unless he had to. She had no friends in Scranton, and her relationship with Roy was far too toxic, even she realised that.

So one day, rather like a fraying rubber band, she snapped.

"Pamalama-ding-dong!" Michael's annoying voice crept into her ears. She looked up, jaw clenched. "Yes, Michael?" She muttered.

"I'm just surprised that you haven't given me my expense reports yet, you know, since I am so desperate to fill them out for the company." He said. Pam blinked, shaking her head. She had forgotten to hand them over to him first thing this morning. "Sorry, Michael, it slipped my mind."

"That was very unprofessional of you, Pam." Angela chimes in, in the background. Pam swivels to look at her sharply. "I don't think this is any of your concern." Pam snaps loud enough for most of the office to hear. All eyes turn to them, including Jim and Karen. 

Angela scowls deeply. "Pam, I really don't think-"

"You know what?" Pam rose from her chair, staring daggers at the rest of the office. "I quit. That's fucking it. I quit!"

Michael's eyes widen. "Pam, you can't quit without handing in a 2-week notice-"

"I just did." She said fiercely. Pam slammed her hand on her desk, then began to gather up her things. Jim rose from his chair, looking worried. Karen scowled at him, clearly warning him. Jim didn't look at Karen, though. Pam looked at him, and for a moment, her heart stopped. It had been ages since he had looked at her like that. It was only then that she remembered that he wasn't hers, and he never would be.

Pam glared at him, then at the cameras, before continuing to gather her things. The whole office was silent. She slid her coat over herself, trembling, though she attempted to hide it. She knew the cameras would probably follow her all the way to the parking lot, but she didn't care. She began to walk to the door, but before she left, she turned to look at the office. "Goodbye." She just said, and walked out, tears in her eyes.

***

Pam sobbed for a few hours when she got home. What had she done?! She had just quit her job for such a small reason!

But slowly, she realised that it wasn't a small reason. It was many huge reasons, such as her terrible boss, her strange coworkers, the boring work, and most importantly, having to watch her ex-best friend and the man that she loved be with another woman. Pam closed her eyes and collapsed onto her bed. What would she do now?

Pam racked her brains. She thought of nothing. After a while, she decided to pick up her phone. She switched it on and saw a 10 missed calls from Jim, and 14 messages from him. Reluctantly, she read through them.

JamesHalpert😊: Pam where r u???

JamesHalpert😊: Pam!!!!!!

JamesHalpert😊: PAM ANSWER YOUR PHONE!!!

JamesHalpert😊: Are you okay????? Where are you??????!??!?!?!?! Pls message me!

JamesHalpert😊: BEESLY THIS ISN'T FUNNY

JamesHalpert😊: Pam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JamesHalpert😊: You don't have to come back but pls tell me you're okay!!!!!!!!!

JamesHalpert😊: ANSWER YOUR PHONE! I need to talk to you!

JamesHalpert😊: Pam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JamesHalpert😊: I'm calling the police if you don't answer me!

JamesHalpert😊: okay that might be a bit excessive sorry

JamesHalpert😊: BUT PLEASE CALL ME BACK!

JamesHalpert😊: Pam where are you?!?!?!?

JamesHalpert😊: PAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!

She sighed, and turned her phone off. It was sad how this was the most attention he had shown her in months, and that was only because she was leaving. Pam paused, her brain whirring, before she switched her phone on again, and she started to look for cheap plane flights to elsewhere.

***

It had been a week since Pam had stormed out of Dunder Mifflin Scranton, and gossip was travelling very easily. Jim was in the breakroom when he heard his coworkers whispering to each other.

"I think it's because of Jim and Karen."

"I thought it was just because of Roy, honestly."

"I heard she's in love with Jim and she hates Karen."

"I think these are all true!"

"Kelly, shut up!" Oscar hushed his coworker when he saw Jim staring daggers at the gaggle of gossipers. "It's none of our business why Pam left," Jim said gruffly. His heart was aching sorely. Karen had barely spoken to him since. Jim had never felt this much pain before in his life. He still didn't know where she was- none of the office did. He just hoped that she was okay, because everyone including Karen knew that Jim was still in love with Pam Beesly, no matter where she was.

***

"I've never seen you around here before," the man said, grinning at her. "Are you new around these parts?"

It had now been a month since Pam's departure from Dunder Mifflin, as well as Scranton. She had packed up, sold her place, and moved to Riverside, California. It wasn't the safest place, but the houses were fairly cheap, and Pam always had her wits about her. She had managed to pick up a stable job as a waitress in the day times at a quaint little cafe just outside the main city, and on the weekends she had started to attend art classes. She bought an art tablet and a stylus with the excess money she had picked up from selling her old apartment, as well as some new watercolours. 

Pam had decided to go for a whole new look. She started to wear a lot more makeup and had cut her hair shoulder-length, which suited her nicely. She wore slightly skimpier clothing too, but nothing extremely daring, unless she was going out for the evening- which she happened to be this evening.

The club was not Pam's usual scene, but perhaps it was time to prove that she really was Fancy New Beesly. 'I'm evolving, Pam,' Jim had said to her on his first day back from Stamford. 

'Well, maybe I'm evolving too. Suck on that, James Duncan Halpert.'

She turned to look at the stranger, smiling. She was sat at the bar, working her way through her second martini. "What a coincidence, yes I am new." She slid her drink away from the man. He watched her with an amused expression. "Worried I'm going to slip you something?" He offered.

Pam smiled wisely. "You never know around these parts. I might be a rookie, but I still know a thing or two."

The man smiled back, taking a seat beside her. "Very smart. What's your name?"

"Pam. You?"

"Lorenzo," He offered her his easy smile again. Pam found herself turning red under the club's thumping, blaring lights. His pearly white smile reminded her of another man, though she ignored the thought. "That's a nice name," Pam says, crossing her legs. She was wearing a black dress that stopped just below the knees. Slightly adventurous, she was willing to admit.

"Thanks. You too. So," Lorenzo began, "Where are you from?" 

"Well up until about a month ago I lived in Scranton, Pennsylvania."

Lorenzo's eyes widen a little, and he looks somewhat amused. "That's quite a while away. Did you come by plane?"

"Yes. And what about you? How long have you lived here?" She asks, allowing herself a quick sip of alcohol.

Lorenzo asks the bartender for a gin and tonic before looking back at her.

'Jim liked gin.' Pam thinks to herself.

"Me? Oh, I've lived here my entire life." Lorenzo responds. "Yeah, I was born and raised in Riverside. I love it here." He receives his drink and sips it, hardly wincing. Pam grins. "Impressive stuff."

"What?" He asks innocently.

"Oh, don't give me that. You know what you just did." She says. She subtly shifts slightly so that a little more cleavage shows. He notices, but doesn't let his eyes linger for too long. "I don't. Do you mean the thing with the gin? Oh, that's just a skill I've acquired along the way."

Pam laughs. "Wow, charming and talented. Don't always see both of those things in a guy," she sips her drink. She manages to pick up on her phone buzzing in her purse, and she reaches in to take it out, turning it on. Lorenzo watches, feeling somewhat lackadaisical as he watches her on her phone. He wonders if she has a boyfriend. You'd have to be crazy to pass her up, he thinks.

JamesHalpert😊: Where are you these days?

She tenses, before deciding to be honest with him.

PamBeesly🎨: I've moved to California. Currently in a club. How is Karen?

She obviously doesn't want to know how Karen is. She wants to know how he is. She wants to know if he thinks about her like she thinks about him, late at night. But, Goddammit, she's not going to ask him that.

JamesHalpert😊: Doesn't sound like my Beesly.

PamBeesly🎨: I'm not yours anymore. I stopped being yours when you left me all alone in Scranton. And besides, like you said, I'm evolving.

JamesHalpert😊: Did you just steal my line?!

PamBeesly🎨: Maybe. So what if I did? You stole my heart and now you don't want it. I think that's only fair.

Pam turned off her phone. She didn't want to hear anything else from him tonight. She looked up at Lorenzo, who was staring at her expectantly. She knitted her eyebrows. "Hey. Do you want to come back to my place?"

Lorenzo grinned. "That sounds great."

***

Later that night, a naked Pam sat up and looked at the man asleep beside her. She liked Lorenzo, she really did- but he wasn't her Jim. She picked up the phone and switched it on, seeing one unread message from him.

JamesHalpert😊: I love you. I love you so much. I can't breathe when I think about you. I want you.

She closed her eyes, and held the phone close to her chest.

"I love you too." She whispered, but no one heard her.