The next morning, Jim’s phone ringing wakes him up. He reaches for it, missing it twice before knocking it off the nightstand. He groans and finally forces himself up, picking up the phone just before it switches to voicemail. “Hello?”

“You awake?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Well, up and at ‘em!”

He looks at the clock, seeing a much earlier hour than he was accustomed to on a Saturday. Pam, however, sounded like she had been up for hours. 

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s the weekend! What do you have planned?”

“I did have sleeping in planned, but I’m guessing that’s not an option anymore?”

“Nope. Can you be ready in about an hour? I was going to bring Singer to the dog park and then I thought we could go to Nay Aug and hike around a bit. Does that sound good?”

“That sounds great.”

They spent a majority of the day walking around Nay Aug Park, hiking to the different waterfalls, and even spending some time in the Everhart Museum while Singer napped outside. When their stomachs were growling too much to ignore any longer, they ordered Chinese, which they ate in Jim’s truck in the parking lot, Jim sneaking Singer a few pieces of orange chicken, as if Pam couldn’t see him. 

They dropped Singer back at home before heading back out and going to see a movie. Jim let Pam pick, and although he didn’t necessarily enjoy the movie, Pam snuggling up to him halfway through it had him not uttering a single complaint. 

When he dropped her back off, she kissed him again. After their kiss last night, it was practically all she could think about. She had been a little worried about their first kiss, unsure how it would feel to kiss Jim after being friends with him for so long, but she found that she liked it. It didn’t hurt that he was a good kisser, too. 

On Sunday, they had spent the day at Pam’s house, Jim helping her fix all the little things she kept meaning to get to, but never did. He mowed the lawn, trimmed the bushes, and then moved inside to help her fix a creaky floorboard and get some locks to stop sticking. She watches as he replaces the bathroom light with a new one she had bought months ago, and finds herself appreciating his helping her but also how good he looked in just jeans and a t-shirt. 

She randomly kissed him while he was in the middle of testing the new light, and the look on his face when she pulled back told her exactly how he feels about her. She remembers how it used to scare her, but now she found herself craving it. 

***

She had only seen Jim for about ten minutes on Monday, and then none at all yet today. But, he promised to cook for her tonight if she could grab the ingredients. So, after a crazy day at work, Kelly had called out again leaving Pam with four additional students, she finds herself at the grocery store. She isn’t sure what Jim is planning to make tonight, but the combination of potato chips and dill pickles has her mildly concerned. 

She strolls down the spice aisle, trying to remember if Jim had asked for onion salt or onion powder, when her cart hits something. 

“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”

The man turns from his own browsing, saying, “Oh it’s fine.. Pam?”

“Oh, Roy! Hi.”

She hadn’t seen Roy since he left her house the morning after his breakdown, and he looks a little worse for the wear. Mostly tired, like he hadn’t slept much in the time since she last saw him. 

“How are you?”

“Fine. How are you?”

He shrugs, “Been better, but I’m alright. It’s just been hard, you know?”

“Yeah. How’s the hand, by the way?”

He lifts it up, looking at it as if he forgot anything had happened. “Oh, it’s fine. Still a little bruised, but it’s nothing.” He pauses. “About that night, I’m sorry for how I acted.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. I shouldn’t have gotten so angry, and I really shouldn’t have reached for your door like that. And then you were still being kind enough to listen to me go on about my troubles, I really appreciate it.”

This time she shrugs. “It wasn’t a big deal, I’m just glad you’re okay.”

A woman walks down the aisle and Roy moves closer to Pam to let her pass by. They stand there for a moment before he says, “Listen, I feel like I owe you for that night. Can I take you out for dinner? Coffee?”

She doesn’t answer right away, and even she can hear the hesitation in her voice when she says, “I don’t know.”

“Just dinner. Nothing more, I promise.”

She offers him a small smile. “I’m sorry, Roy. I don’t think I can do that.”

He nods, looking a little disappointed but hiding it quickly with a smile. “No problem, just thought I’d offer. No hard feelings, then?”

“No hard feelings.”

“Great. Um, well, I still have a few things to grab, so I’ll see you around?”

“Sure.”

He takes a couple of steps backwards. “See ya, Pam.”

She gives a small wave as he disappears around the corner.

***

Roy sat on his bed in his darkened bedroom, thinking about his run in with Pam. She had tried to hide it, but he could easily see that she was disappointed to run into him. She was uncomfortable, wanted to be nice but also get away. He knew her so well, and she didn’t even know it.

For instance, he knows that she’s with Jim right now. She was still stuck in that feeling of comfort, of familiarity. She was afraid to try anything new, to step out of her comfort zone. Why should she take a risk, when Jim can provide the same mundane, but safe lifestyle she had always known?

But she had so much potential, and she would be wasting it if she stayed with Jim. He would only hold her back. She may be content, but she would miss out on so much. So much that he could give her if she just gave him another chance. 

It would take more than an offer of a friendly dinner to get her back. But he will. He just needed to get Jim out of the picture first. Nothing he hasn’t done before. 

He thinks back to one of his first foster homes. He lived in a house with two older boys, though he never interacted with them much. He wanted nothing more than a place to eat and sleep, so he focused more on his photography, having stolen a new camera from an old neighbor. Two months after he moved in, though, his camera had gone missing. It didn’t take him long to figure out who took it, and when he found out the two boys had sold it at a pawn shop in order to find cigarettes, he went looking for them. 

He found them smoking a few houses over, and when he picked up the baseball bat laying in the yard, they had just laughed at him. They were each taller and heavier than Roy, but it only took a couple of minutes for him to beat them unrecognizable. His social worker wanted to send him to a juvenile detention center after she found out, and brought the police with her as she went to pick him up. He was handcuffed and brought down to the station, but he was prepared for this. 

He was led into a back room with an officer who reminded him a little of his dad, but bigger and balder. All the easier to lie to. 

“You almost killed those boys, do you realize that?”

Roy held his head down and nodded solemnly.

The officer sighs, “You’re going to be spending the next several years locked up, son.”

That’s when he puts on the waterworks. He hides his face in his hands and apologizes, over and over again. 

“I didn’t want to do it,” Roy said through sobs. “But they were going to kill me. They stole my camera and I told them I was gonna report them, and they threatened me. They attacked me,” he lifted his shirt to reveal a large gash on his side, “so I had to fight back. I was so scared.”

Roy went to the hospital as well, and once they were cleared, the other boys ended up in the detention center. They tried to plead innocent, but the pawn shop owner confirmed it was them who sold him the camera, and the knife that cut Roy was found on the roof of a neighbor’s house; exactly where Roy had told the police the boys had thrown it. 

Cutting himself with the knife was easy, Roy remembered. Deep enough to have his story seem realistic, but not too deep to where he would actually injure himself. 

And then, a few years later when he was in high school, he met Miss Daniels, the school counselor. He had been required to see her at first, but she had taken a special interest in Roy, and he knew he could use it to his advantage. 

She was nice, pretty enough, and, most importantly, thought Roy was a victim. Of course he was troubled, she would say. He grew up with awful, abusive parents, and then had to be sent off to different foster homes, in which he would get bullied endlessly there too. He would tell her stories, some true, some made up, as he sat in her office each week. 

She had bonded to him. Gifted him a new camera, a 35-millimeter with a better lens than he had ever had, which he still has to this day. He gave her a card for her birthday, a small ornament at Christmas, a random thank you letter, if only to make her believe that he cared for her as much as she did for him. 

She helped him create a portfolio for his photographs, paying for all of the materials and giving him passes to miss class so they could work on it. She wrote him recommendation letters to colleges, and even went with him to a couple to help persuade them to give him a chance. She did everything she could for him, and was so proud when she learned that all of her hard work had paid off, even if Roy wasn’t the one who told her. 

Because as soon as he heard he had gotten accepted to college, he stopped talking to Miss Daniels. She had served her purpose, and now he was done with her. 

The same was with Jim. He had served his purpose to Pam, and now it was time for her to be done with him. He would help her get rid of him, so that they can both move on with their lives. 

***

Jim had made her Creole burgers Tuesday night, though Pam thought they were more like sloppy joes than burgers. Pam cooked for Jim Wednesday night, serving salmon, roasted asparagus, and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc on the side. 

“It’s no Creole burgers,” Jim had teased, “but I guess it’ll do.”

On Thursday, they went out to lunch together, and then Jim said he had a surprise for her after work that night.

“Putt-putt?”

Jim had just pulled into the parking lot of the local mini golf place, which was the last place Pam had expected. At least now she understood why he said to not bother getting changed after work. 

“There’s also arcade games and batting cages.”

She raised an eyebrow at him, a smile playing on her lips. “Exciting.”

“What? Scared you won’t win?”

“Oh, no, you don’t stand a chance.”

He laughs, “Bring it on.”

They get their clubs and balls and make their way to the first hole. Pam lets Jim go first, and he manages to get it through the windmill and only a few inches away from the hole.

“Not bad, Halpert.”

Pam lines up her shot, and on her first try, knocks it off the wooden blades and it comes right back to her. Jim chuckles and she glares at him before putting the ball back in place. This time it makes it through, and she watches it slowly go towards the hole until it drops down. 

“Lucky shot,” Jim says, gently elbowing her as he walks past to hit his in. 

“I feel like I’m getting hustled.”

They were almost done, currently lining up at the second to last hole. Jim was behind by one, though he held onto the little scoreboard, and he wouldn’t tell her who was winning. He hit his ball and it bounced off the edge, landing behind a rock. He groans as she lines up, hitting it no more than a foot away from the hole. 

She shrugs. “It just took me a little bit to warm up.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Are you mad that a girl’s beating you?”

“Hey, you don’t know who’s winning! Besides, you’re just getting really lucky.”

She watches him hit the ball from behind the rock, though he’s still a few feet away. She taps hers in next and does a curtsey, and he rolls his eyes in response, though she can see the smile he’s trying to hide. 

She follows him to the last hole after he knocks his ball in with two more shots, and he lines it up. He’s getting ready to swing when she quickly steps over, lifts his chin up with her fingers, and kisses him gently. 

“Good luck,” she says as she takes a couple of steps backwards so she’s out of the way. 

He stares at her for a moment before remembering what they were doing and he laughs. “Okay, that was just mean.”

She giggles as the blush on his cheeks grows redder. He shakes his head and sets up to hit his ball again. Miraculously, he gets a hole in one. 

He smirks at her, “All skill, baby.”

She laughs, “Don’t count your chickens yet.”

She sinks it in two and watches him tally up the final score. “So?”

He clears his throat. “It doesn’t matter. It was really close.”

“Who won??”

“I think we’re both winners here, really.”

“C’mon, who won? Just tell me.”

“I did.”

She squints at him, watches his mouth twitch and the top of his ears get red. “Liar.”

“No I’m not!”

“Let me see it.”

“You don’t trust me?”

“Nope. Hand it over.”

He groans and finally hands it to her and she sees she beat him by one. “Ha!” She throws the mini pencil at his chest. “You are a liar! I won!”

“You may have won mini golf, but I won the better prize.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

He holds her waist and leans down to kiss her. 

Jim drops her off about an hour later, and she goes inside just as the phone starts to ring. She glances at the clock on the wall. It’s getting late, so it’s probably Karen calling. She had been trying to call more often lately to talk about Pam and Jim, and if Pam was being honest, she loved it. It was nice to share what was going on with someone else. 

She quickly discards her purse and shoes before making her way to the phone. 

“Hello?”

There was no reply, though the line was still open. 

“Hello??”

Still nothing, so she hangs up and puts the phone back down. 

Probably a wrong number, she thought as she went to the back door to let Singer out. As soon as she opened the door, the phone rang again, and she hurried back to answer it again. 

Still no answer. 

This time, though, she swore she heard a quiet exhale just before the line dropped. 

***

“How are things going with Pam?”

It was Friday morning and Danny stood next to Jim as he worked on a car. The weather was slowly getting colder, so more and more people were coming in to get their heaters replaced or tuned up. He had three cars come in yesterday and already has four scheduled for today, but he liked being busy, especially when Danny was trying to get information out of him. 

“Good.”

“You guys have been going out a lot, I would hope it’s going better than that.”

Jim shrugs, trying to look more interested in the car than Danny’s questions. Things with Pam have been great, even better than Jim had ever thought it could be, but he liked having the upper hand over Danny for once.

“I heard you made her dinner a few nights ago.”

“Yup.”

“How’d that go?”

“Good.”

Danny sighs and Jim has to put his head further into the car to hide his smile. 

“Well,” Danny says after a minute, “Karen and I were gonna borrow Uncle Johnny’s boat and go to the lake next weekend, did you guys wanna join?”

“I’ll have to check with Pam, but yeah, that sounds like fun.”

“Alright.” Danny turns and starts walking back to his office. “Better not ditch us, Karen is bringing her homemade macaroni salad.”

***

“You’re glowing.”

“Shut up, I am not. I’ve just been getting more sun.”

Friday also brought on a busy day for Pam, but she was in between students when Jo started asking about Jim. 

“Whatever you say, darlin’. Y’all are tied to the hip these days.”

She wasn’t wrong. Pam had found a new rhythm with Jim. She stopped by the garage in the morning with coffee for them, he stopped by the studio in the afternoon to pick her up for lunch, and then they spent most evenings going out somewhere. She had never been so busy, but she loved it. 

Pam blushes, though. She knew she had been spending a lot of time with Jim, but for some reason she hadn’t really expected anyone else to notice. She should have known better than to think Jo wouldn’t, though. 

“Yeah. We’re having fun.”

Jo smirks and raises an eyebrow. “Having fun, huh? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”

“Jo!”

“I ain’t judgin’, honey. You guys have been going out for what? Two weeks now? It's about time you two—“

“Shh!”

Kelly was walking out of the back room with some of her students just then, and she gave Pam her own small smirk. 

Pam’s face is now crimson as she whispers, “No. We haven’t— I haven’t— no.”

“Well, then, what are you waiting for?”

Pam had thought about when they would take the next step. When the magical third date with Jim came and went, she realized that neither one of them had made any notion about going forward physically. 

After Mark had died, she had basically accepted a life of abstinence. The thought of kissing someone else, let alone sleeping with them, was so far from her mind for so long that by the time she did start dating again, she got startled when Toby had leaned in. 

But she’s gotten a little more warmed up in the dating game, and now that she was actually with someone, the thought of going further with Jim had crossed her mind a couple of times. It was really just a matter of time before it happened, and she wasn’t entirely upset at the idea. 

Pam about to reply when Kelly says, “Oh, hi Roy!”

Both Pam and Jo turn to the door at the same time, and sure enough, there’s Roy. Singer had stood up as soon as he walked in, and now he walks over and sits right next to Pam. Roy greets Kelly as he removes his sunglasses but then looks right at Pam and smiles. “Hey.”

“Hi.”

“How are you?”

“Fine.” She was trying to be polite, but this was the second time this week she had run into him, and this time he had obviously known she would be here. “What did you need?”

“Oh, uh, you remember that job I told you about? The one we’re trying to get down in Austin? Turns out the client is a huge fan of local artists. I thought maybe you could show me around so I could pick something out for him? You know, so I can butter him up and all that.”

“Sorry, I have a student coming in any minute.”

“I could wait? Or come back after?”

She shakes her head. “I’m booked all day.”

Roy frowns a little. “No breaks?” 

“Nope.”

“I can show you around, Roy.”

Kelly had appeared beside them, giving her sweetest smile. 

Roy glanced back at Pam once more before saying, “Yeah, okay. Thanks, Kelly.”

Pam waited until they walked away before breathing out a small sigh of relief. Jo looks at her questioningly, but doesn’t ask. 

At five o’clock, Pam’s last student had just walked out. She locks the door behind them, and then starts straightening up. 

She’s putting some pens and brushes away at reception when she glances over and spots a pair of sunglasses. She immediately recognizes them as Roy’s, and she frowns. For a second she considers calling him to let him know he forgot them, but then decides against it. It’s probably better if Jo or Kelly calls him. 

Pam was hurrying home about an hour later, after having to run to the store for a few things she forgot to grab for dinner. Jim was supposed to be there soon, and she wanted to have dinner at least almost done before he arrived. 

As she stumbles inside, her arms full of grocery bags and a bag of Singer’s food, her phone starts ringing. She drops the bag of dog food on the floor just inside the door and places the bags on the counter before picking up the phone. 

“Hello?”

“Hey, Pam.”

Pam closed her eyes, holding in the sigh of frustration she wanted so bad to let out. She really had no real reason to be rude, but she was getting the feeling that he wasn’t moving on, and she really didn’t want to talk to him anymore. 

“Hi, Roy.”

“How are you?”

“You know, same as earlier.”

“Right. Um, well, you’re probably wondering why I’m calling.”

“Kind of.” 

“I was wondering if you had happened to see a pair of sunglasses? I think I left them at the studio, near the register. I’d lose my head if it wasn’t attached,” he chuckles.

“Yeah, I saw them before I left. They’re on the desk, you can pick them up on Monday.”

“You’re not open tomorrow?”

“No, Jo doesn’t believe in working weekends.”

“Hmm. Okay. Well, I’m going out of town this weekend and was really hoping I could get them before I left. Any chance you could let me in to grab them real quick? Two minutes of your time, I swear.”

Pam rolled her eyes. She knew he had left them there on purpose in order to have an excuse to call her, but now he wanted her to drive back into town for some sunglasses? This time she does sigh, not caring that he can hear her. 

“I’m sorry, but this is enough.”

“What do you mean?”

“I know what you’re doing, and it has to stop. I’m seeing someone else.”

“I just wanted my glasses back.”

“You can get them on Monday. Goodbye, Roy.”

She heard him say, “Wait, Pam—“ before she hung up the phone, but she didn’t care. If he didn’t get the hint before, he must have now. 

Singer looks at her and she glares at him.

“Alright, maybe you were right not to like him, okay? Stop looking so smug.”

She swore he smirked before trotting along to the kitchen. 

***

He pulls into her driveway and grabs the small bouquet he had picked up for her on the way over. He knocks twice before opening the door and peeking in. 

“Hello?”

“Hey!” Her voice comes from upstairs. “Come on up, I’m just finishing getting ready.”

He slips off his shoes and then heads upstairs, greeting Singer at the top. He finds her in the bathroom, putting some makeup on. 

She’s in jeans and a flowy blouse, her hair curled a little neater than usual, and she’s putting on some pink lip gloss as he watches her from the doorway. They’re staying in tonight, so the effort she’s putting into her appearance is all for him, and he almost feels the need to pinch himself. 

He had fallen in love with Pam a while ago, but it felt different now. Now she wasn’t just a fantasy, but she’s real, and she likes him, and she gets dressed up just for him. He still gets a little nervous that this could all disappear, but then she’s smiling at him and his nerves vanish. 

“You look beautiful.”

“Thank you.”

“Oh, these are for you.” He hands her the flowers and she smells them before leaning in to kiss him quickly. 

“These are beautiful. I’ll go find a vase. The potatoes and carrots are almost done, but the steak has a little bit longer to go. Do you want a beer?”

“Sure.”

They make their way downstairs and Pam gets a wine glass down from the cabinet before going into the fridge for a beer. Jim pours her some wine, while she fills a vase with water and takes the vegetables out of the oven, and then they go out to the deck, Singer walking past them to go to the woods.

They sit in the lawn chairs Pam had set up earlier, and for a moment they just enjoy the night. Jim looks at Pam and he wonders how he had gotten so lucky. 

They fell into easy conversation. Jim said he had seen Roy at the studio that afternoon and asked what he had wanted, so Pam told him about that and then the phone call she received from him once she got home. Jim was frustrated that Roy clearly couldn’t take a hint, but Pam assured him it was nothing. 

They talked about going on the boat with Danny and Karen next weekend, about how Pam thinks Kelly has a crush on Roy, and whether or not they think their plans to go to Philly this weekend will get canceled because of a storm coming in.

Pam eventually went inside to make a salad while Jim finished up the steaks on the grill. He plated them and then headed inside, pausing in the doorway as he admires her work. 

She had dimmed the lights and added the vase of flowers as well as two candles that were now flickering in the middle of the table. 

“What do you think?”

He looks at her, and if he wasn’t in love with her before, he certainly was now. The way her eyes almost glittered in the candlelight, her bottom lip between her teeth as she waited for his response, how she toyed with her fingers like she always does when she’s nervous, as if he could think anything she did was anything less than wonderful. 

“This is amazing.”

He kept his gaze on her as he said it, and he saw that she noticed. He set the steaks down on the table before walking towards her. Her eyes never left his as he made his way around the table, and the only time they did leave was when he was in front of her, and then it was only to glance down at his lips. 

He brought his hand up and held her cheek, his thumb gently rubbing against it. She leaned into his touch, and then after a moment he finally leaned down and kissed her. 

***

She had seen the way he was looking at her all night. He was respectful and tried not to stare, but she had seen it. So, she set out the flowers and the candle, hoping it would give him the final nudge. 

She was glad it worked. 

He had led her upstairs and they undressed each other quickly. She was nervous, and could tell that he was too, but she was ready. 

Their first time wasn’t earth-shattering, both of them too concerned about making sure the other was okay and satisfied, but it was way better than she had anticipated. The second time was perfect, now that the awkwardness and nerves had mostly been pushed aside. 

They lay next to each other now, Jim playing with one of her curls as she lays against his chest. After a moment she lifts her head up and looks at him, and when he kisses her forehead, that is the moment she realizes she has fallen in love with him. 

She lifts her hand and runs the tip of her thumb across his lip and then she kisses him gently. When she pulls back she whispers, “I love you.”

His eyes widen just a little before a smile spreads across his lips. “You have no idea how long I have wanted to hear that.” 

She smiles too and kisses him again. “You know what else I love?”

“Hmm?”

“The frozen burritos I have in my freezer.”

He laughs, his head falling back onto the pillows. “Alright, I get the hint.” 

He sits up and leans over to grab his pants when the phone on her nightstand rings. He lets it ring a couple of times before picking up. “Hello?”

A pause.

“Hello?”

She closes her eyes, a pit growing in her stomach. She prays that he doesn’t say it a third time.

“Hello??”

She hears the phone go back into the receiver and she looks over at him. 

“Probably a wrong number.”

That’s what she had thought too. 

The phone starts to ring again and this time she sits up when he answers it, only to be met with silence again.

It probably meant nothing, she told herself, but even Jim was looking at her confused. She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to keep her nerves in check. 

Probably some kids prank calling her.

Or an elderly woman who doesn’t know how to work the phone. 

It’s nothing.

Right?

Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling of deja vu as the same feeling she had when she visited Mark’s grave washed over her. 

Jim kisses the top of her head before disappearing from the bedroom, and now that she was alone, she glances out of the open window. 

Someone is watching her.