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Message in a Bottle

The dead giveaway was how he kissed her. It wasn’t the way he came stumbling in, not his distinctly slurred speech or the taste of tequila on his tongue. It was the uncharacteristically sloppy wet kiss he gave her when he came through her door.

Jim was usually an exceptionally good kisser. A natural. From the first time she’d felt his mouth on hers, she’d had a pretty good idea that he’d know what he was doing in other areas as well. When she’d at last allowed herself to verify that theory, she’d happily discovered that she’d been quite correct. In ways she’d never even imagined.

When they’d only been together a couple of weeks, she’d pointed this out to him. They’d rented a movie that evening, but had quickly become distracted by each other’s lips. And hands. And simple proximity.

‘You’re so good at this,’ Pam had breathed when she came up for air. ‘Seriously, hasn’t anyone ever told you that before?’

‘Yeah, sure. I get that a lot,’ he mumbled, as he attempted to otherwise re-capture her attention. But it was too late. She’d already seen him blush slightly.

‘I’m not kidding, Jim, you ought to think about going professional,’ she persisted. She’d always found something incredibly appealing about him when he got embarrassed.

‘Okay, fine. You can call the scouts in the morning. Now can we please get back to not watching the movie?’

Before she could say another word, Jim pulled her down on top of him, making sure she was too preoccupied to talk anymore. Or think. Or breathe with any regularity.

So, tonight when Jim came in late, plastered, it was his kiss that immediately betrayed him. Michael had insisted on taking him out for drinks to celebrate the six-month anniversary of his return to Scranton. Pam had been able to bow out because her sketch group was meeting that night. Apparently, however, Jim had consumed enough tequila for both of them.

‘Why’d you let Michael get you so drunk?’ she asked, as she walked him into the bedroom and began helping him undress. 

‘Dunno…he just kept ordering more spots.’

‘More spots?’

‘Shots, Pam. I said shots,’ he slurred, ‘and why didn’t you answer my messages?’

Actually, she’d accidentally left her phone at home. Picking it up off the nightstand, she saw she had two text messages:

 Help! Pls Call. Need excuse to leave. 

Then:  

Save me. Big reward 4 u later. 

‘Big reward, huh?’ she laughed. ‘Where is it?’

‘I’ve…got it right here,’ he smirked, as she undid his belt buckle. ‘C’mon to bed and I’ll show you…’

His blurred speech and the glazed-donut look in his eyes made this seem like a rather dubious proposition.

“Sorry, lover boy, but I think you’re a few spots beyond doling out any rewards tonight…let’s just get you to sleep.’

She’d managed to get everything off of him but his boxer shorts. It actually hadn’t been that easy. Sober, he was considerably more cooperative with her efforts to undress him. She took his hand, led him over to the bed, and pulled back the blankets.

As he climbed in, he looked down at himself and frowned. ‘Hey, where’d my clothes go?’ he asked, as if noticing for the first time.

Once she had him lying down, she brought him a tall glass of water and a couple of aspirin. Jim downed them and made a few more woozily amorous attempts to convince her to join him. Then passed out cold. He smiled slightly as she kissed his forehead and switched off the light.

Pam stood there for a moment, just taking him in. He was sprawled in abandon across the bed with one arm thrown over his head, the sheet pushed down low around his waist. Despite the end-of-day stubble, the body that was clearly, gloriously, a man’s, at that moment he somehow looked almost like a child to her. His features were soft-edged and delicate in the dim light. His expression completely relaxed.  Like a beautiful sleeping boy.

Pam had a flash of how very young Jim had looked just a few years ago, when they’d first met. She didn’t know if it was mostly her perception that had changed, but he seemed so much older now. Yet there were instants, like this, when he still appeared so heartbreakingly boyish. The only other time he consistently looked this vulnerable was when they made love, at the moment he climaxed. And there was nothing childlike about that. Nor about the effect the mere thought of it had on her.

She got ready for bed and slipped in beside him, resting her head in its usual position on his chest. She loved the way his warm skin and the soft tangle of hair there felt against her cheek. How she could feel his heart beating faintly beneath it. Without waking up, Jim’s arms instinctively closed around her. It didn’t take long before she was pulled deliciously under with him.

Thankfully, the next morning was Saturday. Pam opened her eyes far too early and saw that Jim was still fast asleep. It felt indescribably wonderful, almost luxurious, to have him so intimately near. Sleeping with Jim had become one of Pam’s favorite things…and not just in that sense. Actually sleeping with him. It was like escaping to a private universe, where all that existed was the warm protective comfort of his body and the lulling sound of his breathing in her ear. It was as close to perfect as anyplace she’d ever been. She curled up next to him and drifted back there.

A couple of hours later, light was streaming in the room when Pam was awoken again. She felt an arm snake around her from behind as Jim moved closer, only half-awake himself.

‘Hey,’ Pam said dreamily. ‘Are you hung over?’

‘Mmmmm, no…’ he managed, his voice husky with sleep. ‘I actually feel pretty good.’

‘Well, you were pretty sloshed last night.’

‘Really? It’s all a blur,’ he replied drowsily, nuzzling the back of her neck. ‘Did I get lucky?’

‘You were in no condition, believe me,’ she laughed, glancing back over her shoulder at him for emphasis.

She ran her hand along Jim’s forearm where it encircled her, intertwining her fingers with his. They settled in and he held her like that for a while, neither one quite ready to be fully conscious.

After what seemed like a long time, Pam could feel Jim start to stir behind her, his hand absently running up and down her side. That gave way to his fingers gradually wandering over her stomach, glancing across her hips, lazily circling her navel. They lingered there, barely moving, until she made a tiny contented noise. Seeming encouraged, he worked his hand effortlessly under her thin camisole to cup her breast, caressing her. As his thumb rubbed gently over her hardening nipple, she heard him moan faintly, just as she did (but this was no time for a jinx.) That intoxicating sound, and the way he was touching her, conspired to send a warm liquid wave to low in her belly.

Jim kissed her softly on her neck, behind her ear, on her shoulders, languidly running his hand down her body, to her thighs. She yielded easily to him and he slid his fingers between them. Then upwards until he reached silky fabric. The soft smooth shock of it, warm and already damp, made his breath catch tremulously in his throat. He pressed his palm against her.

‘Oh, god, Jim…’ Pam whimpered, barely audibly, involuntarily pressing back.

The wave began moving all through her, over her, around her. She needed him to know. This was his. She reached her hand up behind her, into his hair and turned her face as far as she could back towards him. His mouth was waiting for hers. He already knew.

Still embracing her from behind, he quickly pushed her panties down, and Pam caught them with her foot and slid them the rest of the way off. She took his hand and put it back where she was hot and ready and wanting him. Just wanting him. He pulled her even closer, pushing his hips forward so she could feel him too, hard against the small of her back. For her. Only for her.

Pam turned over to face him and Jim leaned in to kiss her hungrily, wordlessly telling her everything she needed to hear.  Inching her camisole over her head, he lowered his lips to her breasts, making her writhe beneath him. Somehow his boxers got pushed off and she reached down to take him in her hand. As often as she’d touched him like this, she’d never gotten used to it. Somehow knowing that she was the only one with permission made it even sweeter. He felt heavy and thick in her hand, throbbing as she stroked him. His breathing was increasingly ragged, each exhalation like a muted sob.

‘Does that feel good?’ she whispered close to his ear, as she continued to move her hand lovingly over him, again and again.

‘So good,’ he breathed back, eyes closed, hardly able to form words.

As if not able to take anymore, he stilled her hand with his own, holding it there against him as he began to explore her too. She melted into the exquisite lushness of his tongue, his fingers, gliding over her, into her. Missing nothing. Making her want everything.

‘Please, Jim …’

That was all she had to say. He rose back up, and in the same fluid motion entered her directly, perfectly, without hesitation. They moaned against each other’s mouths as he filled her completely. He didn’t move for a few seconds while she adjusted to him, and a quieter, but insistent pulse took hold between them. She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him in even deeper as they found the rhythmic motion that was innately theirs. And he felt so good, like he always did, so good. A beautiful ache inside her. Jim.

They were in their own time and space. All Pam saw was him, looking back down at her, giving her exactly what she wanted. Exactly how she wanted it. Before long, the pressure built to an almost unbearable intensity. The mounting urgency of Jim’s pace signaled that he was also growing desperate for the release only she could provide. He pulled back enough to meet her eyes. His were dark and intent, almost pleading.

‘Let go, Pam,’ he panted. ‘I’ve got you…I love you…please let go for me.’

She did as he said. And with one more deep thrust she was there, a white-hot current passing wildly through her. Making her dig her fingernails into his back as she cried out his name. Jim. She heard his throaty gasp as she seized uncontrollably around him and suddenly felt him being swept along with her. He closed his eyes and his entire body tensed for a suspended moment, as a deep shuddering groan preceded his surrender. He collapsed, depleted, his face buried in her neck. Pam tightened her arms around him and held him until she felt his, her, their very last spasms gradually subside. The tenderness that now filled her was a different kind of ache, replacing the one that had owned her just moments earlier. Both belonged to him.

They stayed like that, connected, for a long time. Finally, she felt him slip away. Jim kissed her gently and rolled onto his back. They lie side by side, exhausted. He reached down and took Pam’s hand, holding it tightly between them.

Pam turned her head towards him. Jim’s face was still flushed and his hair was pointing in all directions. He had the unfocused look he got when he was completely sated. She couldn’t help grinning at him.

‘That was incredible,’ she said, ‘Especially considering your condition last night.’

 ‘Well, that should teach you never to underestimate my superpowers,’ he smirked, shifting slightly to look at her.

‘But, Christ,’ he continued,  ‘I haven’t been drunk like that since I did those disgusting Jagermeister shots with Andy and Karen in Stamford…at least this time I didn’t fall of my bicycle.’

“I’m pretty sure if you’d had a bike last night, you would have fallen off of it.’

Jim laughed and tilted his head so he could see her eyes. She adored the soulful way he sometimes looked at her, especially after they’d made love. Like she was the most remarkable thing he’d ever seen.

‘That actually was an important night,’ he said.

‘Oh yeah? Because that’s when you and Andy bonded for life?’

‘Exactly,’ Jim rolled his eyes and chuckled. ‘God, Beesly, how do you do that? It’s almost like you’re time-sharing my brain.’

He paused for a second, then his voice became a little more serious as he added, ‘You know, I still have the text message you sent me that night.’

Pam looked at him incredulously.

‘Would I make that up?’ he asked. ‘I’ll show you.’

Jim got up and walked over to his pants, which were still in a pile on the floor where Pam had wrestled him out of them last night. She loved that he was so comfortable with her that he didn’t think twice about walking across the room naked. She also loved watching him.

He retrieved the phone and came back to bed, handing her the displayed saved message:

Michael just proposed to Carol. In public. Wish u were here to share this special moment.

‘Wow,’ Pam said, truly taken aback. ‘I can’t believe you saved that.’  

She was suddenly struck by a pang of sadness, remembering how much she’d missed him in those days. How hopeless she’d felt about ever having…this. She pulled him back down with her, wrapping herself around him, trying to get as close as possible. 

‘You have no idea how disappointed I was when I didn’t hear back from you that night,’ she told him quietly. ‘When you answered me the next morning, I was practically delirious.’ 

‘Yeah,’ Jim said pensively.  

With that one simple word, he sounded happy and sad and hopeful and wistful and full of forgiveness. As only Jim could. She hugged him even tighter. He ran his fingers gently through her hair and they were just quiet for a while.

Finally, he broke the laden silence. ‘When you were a kid, did you ever look for bottles on the beach…you know, with messages in them?’ he asked.

‘Mmmm. No, I don’t think so,’ Pam answered. 

‘Well, I used to. My brother told me that if I ever found one, it would contain life-altering information. Or predict my future…or something really cool like that. So every summer when we went to Cape Cod, I’d scour the beach looking for one.’  

‘And?’ 

‘And nothing. I never found one. Duh.’  

Pam sighed, not sure if that was the end of the story. Or what the point was. 

After a few seconds, he continued, ‘That’s kind of what it was like when I saw your message that morning…like finally finding the message in the bottle.’ 

Pam raised her head and looked up at him, amazed. ‘It was?’ 

‘Well, keep in mind that I had the hangover from hell at the time,’ he chuckled softly.  

‘But it just felt like it might be a sign,’ he went on. ‘I mean, by that point I’d pretty much given up on you contacting me…what with us being in different time zones and all.’ 

'I know,’ she said, taking his face in her hands and kissing him hard on the mouth. ‘I was such a fucking idiot to wait so long.’  

‘Nah, you weren’t an idiot…just idiotically slow,’ Jim smiled, as he rolled them over, kissing her more deeply. Making sure she knew that he wanted her all over again. Always had.