Four.

Three months after graduating, she had run into Roy at Target. She asked about his family while he asked about hers, and by the time she headed to the checkout, she had agreed to meet up for drinks on Friday. She truly only expected to catch up, but then he asked her out again and she agreed and before she knew it, he had asked her to be his girlfriend again. He promised to be more committed and supportive, and she was always a believer of second chances, so she says yes.

He gets her a job as a receptionist at Dunder Mifflin, promising that she can quit whenever she finds something that she likes better. She quickly finds out that her boss is insane and her coworkers are strange, but her paycheck is decent and the job is easy, so she sticks it out, even when she finds other opportunities. Roy insists that she’d make more money if she stayed here (she wouldn’t), they save so much time and money by carpooling (not that much, really), and that he loves working in the same building as her (she wants to believe this is true, so this is really what makes her stay).

She’s a little shocked when she unwraps the small velvet box on Christmas morning, opening it up to reveal the simple diamond ring. Roy gently takes it out of her hand before getting down on one knee and grinning up at her. She tells herself that she’s just taken aback by how soon he has proposed, that’s why she doesn’t feel as excited as she thought she would. She loves Roy, truly, really loves him. She says yes and he slips the ring onto her left hand before pulling her in for a kiss.

Her back is to Roy’s chest, his arm around her waist as he snores behind her. She looks down at her ring for what feels like the millionth time since this morning. Her sister had quietly called it plain during dinner at her parents’ house, and although she knew there was nothing striking about the ring, Pam actually really liked it. She felt like it suited her, and she was happy. Happy to be engaged, happy that Roy was now her fiancé, happy that she could actually start planning a wedding.

But, as she looks out her bedroom window, the snow outside piling on higher as the night goes on, she can’t shake the little nagging at her heart. She loves Roy, so why does she feel like something is missing?