Pam set the hot pan of cookies on top of the stove to cool. Snickerdoodles—Jim’s favorite. It had been two days since the fire alarm and the discovery that Jim lived down the hall, but for some reason she still couldn’t will herself to knock on his door. Their interactions at work had been fine—slightly awkward and forced, sure—but fine. They had also passed each other once as Pam was coming home from the grocery store and Jim was headed to the Y to play basketball, but other than that it had been radio silence outside of work and she wasn’t sure how to break the ice. Knocking on his door and saying, “Hey, sorry I shut you down when you proclaimed your love for me and kissed me like I hadn’t been kissed in a good long while, but here are some cookies for you and I hope we can be best friends again! Welcome to the building!”...was perhaps not the way to go. But she could do the cookie part.
She took the 21 steps to the front of Jim’s door, feeling the warmth of the cookies through the plate. Her heart quickened slightly as she held her fist inches from the door. Finally, she connected knuckles to wood. The door creaked open.
It wasn’t Jim.
She looked at the tall, slender girl who answered the door and her heart sank a little. This must be the “someone” Jim had referred to. Suddenly she felt like retreating, blood rushed to her cheeks, and she instantly regretted not texting him first. Maybe she could pretend she had the wrong door. The girl smiled.
“Hi! Can I help you?”
Something about her was familiar but Pam couldn’t quite place it.
“Hi...uh, sorry. I’m looking for Jim?” She waved her hand, as if swatting an invisible fly. “I can just come back.”
“He’s in the shower, but I’m sure he’ll be out any minute! You can wait for him in here.”
The color of Pam’s face deepened at the mention of Jim in the shower.
“No, it’s fine. I can just leave these with you. I’m his neighbor...friend. Friend that happens to also be his neighbor.”
“Wait, you’re Pam, aren’t you?”
As much as she tried to hide it, the shock and confusion was blatantly visible on Pam’s face.
“Yeah! I’m sorry...do I know you?”
“No, and honestly Jim will probably kill me for not pretending that I don’t know who you are. I’m Larissa. Jim’s little sister.”
She felt her shoulders relax and let out an audible breath of relief. She could see the resemblance now, in the eyes especially. Larissa invited her in, setting the plate of cookies on the coffee table and they both took a seat on Jim’s couch.
“So,” Pam started, “do you live nearby?”
“Yeah, just a couple of blocks, actually. Thought I would be an amazing sister and come help Jimbo get settled in. He also promised me dinner, so I guess there’s that.”
Pam glanced up as she heard the bathroom door unlock and open. Jim stepped out, just a towel around his waist. Her cheeks might permanently stay red at this rate. She found her eyes lingering on his slender frame just a moment too long before averting them with a timid smile, raising her hand.
“Uh, hey Halpert.”
He jumped and put his arms instinctively over his chest.
“Pam! Hey…” he lowered his voice and glared at Larissa. “Thanks for the heads up, ‘Ris,” he pushed through his teeth.
The girls looked at each other and broke into giggles.
“Pam brought cookies!” Larissa yelled after him as he ducked into his bedroom. They snickered again.
“Hey,” Larissa turned to Pam, “come to dinner with us!”
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to intrude.”
“Nonsense! I know Jim won’t mind and from what he’s told me about you, we need to be friends like, yesterday.”
Her face betrayed her again as a bashful smile escaped with the thought of Jim telling his little sister about her. But how much did Larissa know? Before she could wonder much longer, Jim walked into the room fully clothed, much to Pam’s dismay.
“Jimmy, Pam’s coming to dinner with us and before you can say no, she’s already seen you half-naked, so the least you can do is buy her dinner.”
He glared at her playfully and then smiled at Pam, perhaps a little tentatively, his cheeks still flushed.
“You sure you want to put up with more of my annoying little sister, Beesly?”
Pam looked at Larissa and grinned. “I think we’ll get along just fine.”
———
Their dinner was filled with laughter and amazing stories about childhood in the Halpert home. Pam couldn’t help but smile watching Jim and Larissa joke—it was apparent how much he adored his little sister and it was incredibly endearing. She felt her heart pinch, wondering how things might have been different if she would have let Jim in that night in the parking lot instead of shutting him out. Would she have met Larissa sooner? Would she know the other Halperts and listen to their stories, perched under Jim’s long arm instead of watching TV every night alone on an old futon in a bare apartment?
It didn’t matter. She couldn’t reel that night back in, as much as she wished she could, and Jim was moving on with some mystery girl. As much as it hurt, she promised herself while watching the two youngest Halperts fight over who was the best at Scrabble, that she would not lose him as a friend. She may have blown her chance of having more with him, but she would not lose his friendship.
Larissa had driven separately to the restaurant, so they said their goodbyes in the parking lot.
“I’m so happy I got to meet the famous Pam!” Larissa exclaimed, not caring an ounce that her brother looked thoroughly embarrassed. She pulled Pam into a warm hug and quietly whispered in her ear, too quietly for Jim to hear.
“Don’t give up on him, Pam.”
——————
“Leftovers!” Pam pointed to Jim’s backseat where he had left his to-go box.
“Oh, yeah. Thanks,” he smiled. “My car would have smelled like curry for days.”
They walked into the apartment complex together, stopping at Jim’s front door. Over the course of the night, Pam saw him begin to settle back into himself, the cold exterior he brought back from Stamford dripping away.
“Thanks for letting me tag along with you and your sister. I really had a good time. Your sister is great.”
“No problem! I had a good time too, even if Larissa told one too many embarrassing stories about young, innocent Jim.”
“I thought it was cute.” She glanced up at him, meeting his eyes. “I’m really glad you’re back, Halpert.”
He smiled his famous half-smile that made her heart skip.
“Me too.”
They looked at each other, Jim’s gaze burning into her. He cocked his head and slowly lifted his hand, softly brushing the side of her cheek with his thumb, when his phone rang, snapping him out of whatever state he was in. Pam looked down and folded her arms against her rapidly beating chest as Jim answered his phone.
“Hey, can I call you back? Okay. Bye.”
He hung up, but now couldn’t meet Pam’s eyes. Just like that, she knew.
“Who was that?” she prodded, not sure she wanted the answer.
Jim fixed his eyes on the floor.
“Uh...Karen, actually. From the office. She’s...we’re kind of...together, I guess.” Finally he met her eyes, his own filled with an emotion she couldn’t quite read. Apologetic, maybe? He rubbed the back of his head, the way he does when he’s uncomfortable—she knew him well enough to recognize it—and once again fixed his gaze at his feet.
“It’s pretty new and I just feel like...I need to give it a shot, you know? I just don’t want it to be weird. For us—you and me.”
Pam wasn’t sure how to respond. They had already had the conversation his first day back about him seeing someone. But now “someone” had a face—a face she had to see every weekday, 9 to 5. Remembering the promise she made to herself, she touched his arm gently and felt him tense slightly under her touch.
“I said we will always be friends and I meant it, Jim.”
He nodded and solemnly looked at her.
“Thanks, neighbor.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“See you tomorrow, Beesly.”
She walked the hall toward her apartment, touching the side of her face that Jim had electrified before his phone snapped them back to reality. How would she ever convince herself that friendship was enough? She remembered what Larissa had whispered in her ear after dinner and feeling a small surge of “Fancy New Beesly” courage, she pulled out her phone and texted Jim.
Karen’s a very lucky girl. Don’t forget it.
Chapter End Notes:
Oh, how I wanted to give a little more JAM there, but the chapter calls for at least six chapters, so I can’t give it up all at once. ;)
