Jim looked down at the pages of driving directions Pam was holding out to him. He felt the corners of his mouth quirk up in a smile when he got to the end. A quick laugh also escaped him.

“Oh wow! You’re not kidding! We’re really going to Santa’s Workshop!

“It’s even in the North Pole!” Pam beamed back at him and pointed to the end point on the map. “North Pole, New York that is.”

“Well then!” Jim turned to grab a small suitcase and then back to her. “Let’s get going. According to your directions it’ll take us about five hours to get there. Do you want to drive first, or would you like me to?”

Pam stifled a yawn while Jim closed and locked his front door, and they started walking back to her car. “If you could take at least the first shift, that would be great.”

“Not a problem,” he replied with a smile.

It didn’t take long to reach the interstate and for Jim to settle into long distance driving. The highway was mostly empty given the late hour. Looking over, Jim saw Pam staring out the window as the lights of the city flashed past. Her early enthusiasm had waned, and it was clear she was starting to fade.

“Doing okay over there?” he asked. “You sounded kind of upset earlier when you called.”

“I just have a lot going through my mind right now,” Pam said through another yawn. “I don’t know how long Roy is going to be in jail, and frankly I don’t really care either. I am a little worried about your roommate though. What happens if Roy shows up and doesn’t find you there and tries to go after him instead?”

“Considering Mark is a cop; I think he’ll be able to handle himself.” Jim smirked.

Pam looked over at him. “I never knew that! Why didn’t you guys say anything during when you had everyone over last month?”

Jim shrugged and kept his eyes on the road. “He doesn’t like to advertise it all that much. Says it tends to make people nervous. Can’t say I blame him. From what he’s told me about some of the stuff he’s had to deal with, I think he’d rather try to leave work at work when he can.”

“That’s fair.” Pam yawned again. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Jim reassured her. “It’s been a long day for sure. Go ahead and get some sleep if you can.”

“Yeah, good call. Though I do want to tell you this before I nod off.” Pam took off the gloves she’d been wearing and held up her now bare left hand. “I don’t want to marry him anymore. This isn’t the first time Roy has acted like this. Not violently mind you, but like really overprotective and aggressive to anyone who might be friendly to me. Not only that but I looked around our apartment and there was nothing of me there. I realized I don’t want to be with a man who won’t let me be with friends or who won’t let me be me. Does that make sense?”

It took every measure of Jim’s self-control to maintain a neutral expression. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

“Also, I, uh, read the note you put in with the teapot,” Pam went on. “I, um, I’m not trying to avoid it or anything, because it was very sweet, but I’m also exhausted, and that discussion feels like it should happen when we’re both ready for it, you know.”

A measure of relief calmed the nerves that had been rising in Jim’s chest. “Yeah, no, totally. That’s totally fine. Smart even.”

Pam reached over and put a hand on his arm. “Thanks Jim. I’m really not trying to avoid what you said. I think I’ve done enough avoiding. I just want to make sure we get it right, you know?”

Jim looked over and gave her soft smile. “Me too.”

She hummed a smile at him before tilting her seat back to a more comfortable position. She reached into the backseat and grabbed a small pillow, clearly meant to be used for just this purpose, and closed her eyes once she had it set. A few minutes later the steady rise and fall of her breathing told Jim she’d nodded off.

He took a large breath through his nose and blew it out. His thoughts started to race. Holy crap! She broke it off with Roy! This is big! Huge! And she wants to talk about the note! I mean this is the chance I’ve been hoping for! She says she’s done with him and now she’s here with me! Don’t mess this up. Don’t mess this up. Don’t mess this up. You pushed her with the note, but this is Pam we’re talking about. She rarely does big and bold. Slow, steady, and predictable are more her pace. Just be there for her as a friend right now. A friend who told her that you were in love with her. Maybe she is ready for a big type of gesture. She’s the one who started all this after all. But she was with Roy for years. Since high school. She’s going to need time to get over that. I don’t want this to just be a rebound for her. Crap! I don’t know what to do! Okay, chill out. Stay calm. Focus on the road. You can do that. Just focus on the road. She said she wants to talk about everything. That’s good. That’s more than good. That’s great! Start there. Start with the good. We’ll get through this. She’ll probably have to really take the time to break everything off with Roy at some point. I’m sure she’ll want to call her family too. This is a big thing after all, and I know her family is really important to her. You’ve been waiting for years; you can wait a little longer if you need to. There we go, starting to calm down. Easy does it. Focus on the road. Downshift now, stupid truck getting in the way. The left lane is the passing lane! Stay on the right! And upshift again, good.

The highway went on and on as Jim drove through the night. Eventually he felt the pull of sleep start to tug at his eyes. He pulled into a rest stop somewhere in New York and nudged Pam once he had the car safely in a parking space.

“Hey, Beesly.”

“Hmmmm, what is it?” she asked groggily.

“My turn to catch a nap if you don’t mind,” Jim yawned.

Pam sat up and pulled her glasses back on. “Yeah, sure. Where are we?”

Jim pointed out their location on the map she’d printed off. They switched seats and it was now Jim’s turn to throw his coat over his shoulder as a blanket. He had one last pleasant thought before he drifted off.

The pillow smells like her.

_____________________________________________________________________________

I’m glad Jim let me take a nap, Pam thought to herself as they got back on the highway. Of course, that’s just Jim. Always being so wonderful to me. But of course, he’s been nice, he’s been in love with me. Holy crap! Jim loves me? I’ve seen the kind of girls Jim’s gone out with in the past. Girls like Katy. He’s dated girls like that, but he wants plain old me? I mean what’s so special about me? I’m not like saleswoman Katy. Starting her own business and not afraid to go to other businesses to sell things. Perfect hair, perfect make up, perfect outfit. I’m just ordinary Pam. Jim’s the best guy friend I’ve ever had. Really the only guy friend I’ve ever had. Does that mean I was never really friends with Roy? Maybe. Think Pam, did Roy ever really express any interest in anything you’ve ever done like Jim has? Hmmm, maybe back in high school when I was on the volleyball team. But then again, Roy never really said anything good about my playing. Just how good my ass looked in volleyball shorts and how much he wanted to take them off me.

Pam shook her head at some of the more embarrassing moments of her high school career. Roy’s comments had been said in front of the rest of the team and they’d teased her about it for the rest of the season.

Just another reason to break things off with Roy. The only thing he gets excited about with me is what I can do for him. Not like Jim. I don’t know if Jim even knows I used to play volleyball. He just knows me as the receptionist who likes to draw. Considering I was drawing back then and still draw now, but I’m not playing any kind of volleyball anymore, which one is really more important to me? Of the two guys in my life which one has paid attention to the thing that’s more important to me? Jim.

She spared a glance over at Jim’s sleeping figure. A feeling of warmth and safety came over her.

Jim’s never embarrassed me like Roy always has. Jim wants to be with me for me, not just in bed. We always get along so great together. I can just be me with him and he just gets me. It’s easy to be with Jim. We laugh, we prank, we have fun, we talk about everything. Could there be something more than friendship?

Pam looked over at Jim again and she felt her mouth curl up at the edges.

Maybe, and I kind of hope so.

_____________________________________________________________________________

“Jim wake up! We’re here.” Pam reached over and gently nudged his shoulder.

“Hmmm, what?” Jim’s voice was deep and gravelly as he woke up.

“I hope you’ve been good, because we made it to Santa’s workshop!” Pam beamed. “Come on!”

While Jim was untangling himself from the car, Pam hopped out and walked around to his door. He climbed out of the car and wrapped a scarf around his neck before buttoning up his coat over top. Pam had put on a pair of big fluffy earmuffs, but snow was gently falling into her hair. Jim dug a hat and pair of black leather gloves out of his pocket and stood to stretch. The clean air of the Adirondak mountains filled his lungs. Across the parking lot he saw the wooden welcome building of Santa’s Workshop. A sign advertising the real US Post Office for North Pole, New York was prominently displayed near the entrance. Beyond the fence a carefully built fantasy village spread out. Tourists and families were already making their way along the paths between the buildings.

“My family came up here once just before Christmas when I was in elementary school,” Pam told Jim as she led him by the hand to the entrance to the village. “I’ve always wanted to come back.”

Jim paid their entrance fee and they walked into the village. The station for the Christmas train was directly in front of them. Jim unfolded the map they’d grabbed and led Pam off to one side to look through it.

“Where to first? The reindeer barn? St. Nicholas’ Chapel? Santa’s house? The toy shop?”

“Oh, let’s just meander a bit,” Pam suggested. “It’s not like we have anywhere pressing to be.”

“Sounds great.” Jim tucked the map away and they set off down the nearest path. “I hope I’m not intruding, but have you called your family at all?”

“Yeah,” Pam answered. “You were still asleep in the car when we got here, and we had some time before the park opened.  My parents are a little disappointed that the wedding is off. They also wondered why I drove all the way up here when I could have crashed with them. My sister Penny was really supportive. She told me, that she never really liked Roy, but never really said anything to keep the peace.”

Jim grimaced. “I think I know how she feels.”

Pam looked up at him as they passed a playground. “It seems obvious now that you don’t like Roy. Is that because of what you wrote in the note or was there some other reason?”

Taking a moment, Jim collected his thoughts. “It’s both. It’s the fact that he got to be with you. So that part was just straight up green-eyed jealousy. But also, I would see how he would treat you from time to time. Blowing you off so he could be with his buddies. Calling you a nickname you don’t like. Saying crude or private things where anyone could hear them. I never liked the way your face would fall when he would do all those things. I know I’m biased, but that doesn’t sound like the way a guy should treat the lady he’s with.”

“Oh,” Pam reflected for a moment on Jim’s words. “I think I’ve got some soul searching to do. When I hear you or Penny say things like that, it makes it all so obvious. I guess there were a lot of reasons to call off this wedding, huh?”

“Hey, don’t go beating yourself up,” Jim told her. Taking a calculated risk, he reached over to hold her hand, but refrained from twining his fingers with hers. He gave her hand what he intended to be a comforting squeeze. He was relieved when she tightened her grip in return. “It took a lot of courage to break things off.”

“Thanks. I had to wade through more angry voicemails from him though. Now that my family knows where I am and that I’m safe from any of that, I turned my phone off again. I just don’t want to hear him screaming at me or anything. Same for when his family finds out I broke things off. They tend to be loud and vocal.”

“That’s smart,” Jim assured her. “You’re handling things on your own terms rather than letting someone else dictate your actions.”

Pam smiled back up at him. “Thank you. How is it you always seem to know the right thing to say?”

“Just that awesome I suppose,” Jim grinned with faux bravado which made Pam erupt in a giggle fit. He grinned down at her for a moment before looking around. He pointed with their combined hands at large building. “But enough of that. Fancy meeting Rudolf?”

“Rudolf’s overrated,” Pam fired back. “He’s not even in the original Night Before Christmas poem. Blitzen though, I’m a big fan of Blitzen.”

Jim just laughed at her as they walked in the direction of the barn holding the famous team of reindeer. They kept the rest of their conversations light and Christmas themed as they walked around the village. After visiting all nine reindeer, they worked their way over to a blacksmith shop that forged the magical reindeer shoes that granted the animals their ability to fly and land on rooftops without any noise. A walk across a large common area took them to St. Nicholas’ Chapel where a pipe organist was playing various Christmas carols. In the Toy Shop, Pam gave Jim a polite golf clap when he managed to stay inside all the lines of his coloring page. They hung up their pictures alongside other pre-school masterpieces. In the Candy Maker shop, they loaded up on sweet treats.

“I know how much you love jellybeans,” Pam teased as she shook a few bags of bulk Christmas candies, “But I think we can change things up.”

“No objection from me in the slightest,” Jim told her while sliding the candies into the bag he was carrying along with some homemade cookies and cream fudge.

They skipped past Santa’s house after agreeing it would be the place to visit before they left. At the Bake Shop they again loaded up on Christmas cookies and a few other treats. In the World of Christmas shop they saw various items for sale from traditions from around the world. Together they explored the wide range of items until one shelf caught their eye.

“What do you think Pam?” Jim asked as she came around a corner to where he was standing. “Think he’d lighten up the mood in the office?”

Pam stifled a laugh at the Christmas gnome figure Jim was holding up. Her face lit up with an idea as she saw the chubby character. “Oh, without a doubt. But we have to have some fun with him. What if he steals one of Dwight’s bobble-heads and every day before Christmas Dwight gets a picture of the bobble head traveling around with our new friend.”

“Beesly, you’re a genius! I love it!” Jim exclaimed. “Or we could do that after Christmas and go for the whole Twelve Day of Christmas theme, but a work version. Four calling phones, three pointless meetings, two Olympic doves.” He softly sang along to the tune while bobbing the gnome figure back and forth.

Pam took up the tune with a huge grin on her face. “And a Dundie in a paper tree!”

It was Jim’s turn to laugh as the memory. “I’ll hand it to Micheal, setting up a tree of paper reams and one of his Dundies as the tree topper was actually kind of fun last year.”

“Says you,” Pam shot back with good natured banter. “You didn’t have your workspace taken up by that tree. I had to move everything around the back counter to get it to fit.”

“But Pam,” Jim adopted his best puppy dog pleading look and repeated Michael’s arguments for having the decoration from the previous year. “Don’t you remember how important it was for us to get real tree for the office last year? Since paper comes from wood the paper tree counts as a real tree and it was pre-cycling since the paper hadn’t been used yet, boom, win-win.”

“A paper tree is not a real tree,” Pam said with authority as they started walking to the register.

“So, what’s wrong with an artificial tree?” Jim asked. “After all, you can use them year after year, you don’t have to keep them watered, no pine needles to clean up, less of a fire hazard. They even make them nowadays that are pre-strung with lights so all you have to do is plug them in.”

Pam started ticking off points on her fingers in rebuttal. “You don’t get the fun of going to a tree farm to pick one out, real trees make the house smell like Christmas, if you put the lights away properly, they don’t get tangled up in the first place and it’s easy to wrap them around the tree. A real tree adds character since it’s always a little different each year. You’re going to be picking up tinsel off the floor anyway so what’s a few pine needles to go with it? Keeping the tree stand filled with water teaches responsibility and also adds good deed points for kiddos looking to make sure they’re on Santa’s Nice list. Face it, Jim, real trees are just better.”

Bringing a hand up to his chin, he pretended to ponder her rationale. “Hmmmm, yes, I see. All good points, true.”

“See!” Pam fluttered her eyes at him, “You should never doubt me.”

Jim couldn’t help it. He dropped the playful expression on his face for a tender one. Reaching forward he gently took her hand not holding the gnome in his and held it up so he could place a delicate kiss on her knuckles. “As you wish.”

The blush and smile that filled Pam’s face made them both temporarily forget where they were. Until the person standing behind them called out.

“Hey! Lovebirds! You’re holding up the line!”

Both Jim and Pam found themselves blushing for a different reason before taking the few steps forward to the counter to pay for the Christmas gnome. They ducked out of the market shop and walked back down the slight hill in the direction of Santa’s house. Joining the line filled with families, they waited until it was their turn to see Santa.

The Jolly Old Elf, shook with laughter as they walked up to him. “Ho ho ho! A couple of big kids to visit!”

“I hope you don’t mind if we ask to not sit on your lap,” Jim smiled back as they walked up.

“Oh, not at all,” Santa replied. He stood up from his chair and beckoned them forward to whisper to them. “Between you and me, it’s nice to have a little break from time to time, but you didn’t hear that from me?”

Pam grinned back. “Your secret’s safe with us, right Jim?”

Jim zipped his lips closed and held up his right hand in a promise.

“I knew I could count on you,” Santa smiled at them. “Now, what would you like for Christmas?”

“Well,” Pam put on a playful look and clasped her hands in front of her. “When I was a little girl, I always wanted a pony, but nowadays I’d really love some new watercolors and paintbrushes.”

“Oh!” Santa’s eyes grew wide. “Looks like we have an artist on our hands. Though I also remember you asking for those ponies. I'm sure my elves would love to work on something unique like paintbrushes. I think I can work something out. What about you Jim?”

Unzipping his lips, Jim thought for a second. “I think the Power Wheels firetruck I always wanted as a kid would be too big for your sled. But I would love a new basketball.”

Santa’s laughter rang out again. “You're right, the firetruck would be a bit much. Thank you on behalf of my reindeer. I’m sure we have a stock of basketballs. I’ll make sure to pick out a good one for you.”

Thanking Santa profusely, they held up the candy canes an elf gave them while posing for a picture. Pam sprung for two copies of the print when they ceded their time with Santa to the next family in line.

“All set,” she said. “Coming?”

“Yeah, in a sec.” Jim replied.

Pam looked over and saw Jim smiling at the family of four now talking to Santa. She stepped over to stand next to him and grabbed his hand.

“You okay?” she asked kindly.

“Yeah,” he said looking back at her. “Just a stroll down memory lane. Thinking about times my family would go see Santa. Kinda makes me look forward to doing that with my own kids someday.”

“Yeah,” Pam’s voice was rich with warmth. “Me too.

They walked back to the exit of the village but not before stopping at the Post Office. They wrote replies to children’s letters to Santa which would have an official North Pole postmark. Matching stockings bought from the gift shop completed their trip to Santa’s Village.

Jim checked his watch as they stored their purchases in Pam’s car and got back on the road. “It’s a little late for lunch, but still a little early for dinner. I don’t know about you though, but I’m hungry.”

“I have an idea for a place for Linner,” Pam told him. “We passed a place on the way in that looks cute.

It only took a few minutes before Pam was pulling into the parking lot of a chalet style restaurant. Snow was starting to fall harder as they stepped out of the car.

“The Wilderness Inn and Restaurant,” Jim read the sign. “You’re right, looks cute.”

The dining room was sparsely occupied when they walked inside. A hostess brought them to a booth and gave them menus before departing. They chatted over the menu before placing their order. As soon as the waitress left with the menus Pam took a deep breath to steady herself. She looked across the table to Jim and held his gaze.

“You have no idea how much your friendship means to me. After everything that happened yesterday you were right there when I needed you and then dropped everything to come up here.” She reached across the table to hold his hands. “Thank you for the teapot and for the note. I’ll admit it was a shock to be sure. I want you to know that I thought it was very brave of you to say what you did in that note. I’m sure it wasn’t easy. That’s why I hope you know that right now is not a very easy time for me.
“I was with Roy for years. That was a big part of my life and regardless of anything it’s going to take some time to adjust to not having that part of me. I know how you feel, and I think I know how I feel, but, well, change is always hard for me. Can you wait for things to settle down for me?”

Jim took a deep breath before he replied. “You said you think you know how you feel. What do you mean by that?”

Pam took her own breath in return. “It means that I have feelings for you too. Not just friendship feelings. They’re more than that. But it also scares me a little.”

“Why?” he asked gently.

“Because what I feel for you is so not like anything I’ve ever felt before. It feels like it’s this fragile little flower. Beautiful and growing, but delicate. I’m scared that if I do the wrong thing or say the wrong thing that it’ll get crushed. Especially when I look back and realize just how long these feelings for you have been growing. Ever since you stopped me from eating that expired yogurt because I know you’re wondering by the way. I told you earlier that I’m done avoiding things. That includes being done with avoiding how I really feel about the people in my life.”

“Look out world, Fancy New Beesly is out to make it her own!” They both laughted for a beat until Jim started to gently rub the tops of her hands with his thumbs. “It makes me very glad to hear that. You have no idea really. I mean what I said in the note. I’m in love with you. I know you’re going through a hard time right now. It was all I was thinking about after I left the office yesterday. How I just put this huge, big thing on you and how you might be reacting. Then everything with the cops happened and it all seemed so messed up. More so for you, I’m sure. Breaking things off with Roy and everything that means. I don’t want to put any undue pressure on you. Not to say anything. Not to do anything you’re not ready for. Now that I know we have something more than friendship, I promise, I can wait as long as it takes. You’re worth waiting for.”

Tension visibly left Pam’s face and shoulders. “Thank you. I want to explore these feelings I have for you. I just want to make sure we do it right, you know?”

“Yeah,” Jim smiled. “Me too.”

They kept talking about lighter topics through their meal. As the waitress handed Jim back his credit card he peaked around her. “Seems kind of slow in here for getting close to dinner.”

“Yeah,” she replied. “Forecast says there’s a big storm coming in from the south. The news said the state cops are already starting to advise against driving on the interstate let alone back roads.”

“Thanks for the tip.”

Jim and Pam grabbed their coats and walked back to the front desk. “Any chance of getting a cabin?” he asked.

“Boy are you lucky,” the host told him. “We just had a cancellation. I’ve got one cabin open. It’s just up the hill there. We’ll try and keep things plowed but I can’t promise anything. The cabin is open through the weekend though. It has a kitchen in it and there’s a store in town if you want to get some stuff and make your own meals. I’d recommend it if this storm is even half as bad as they’re saying. If the roads become impassable, we’re not going to have our kitchen staff try and make it in.”

“That’s fine. Hopefully we won’t need it for that long though.” Jim replied and looked at Pam. “You okay splitting a cabin and groceries till the storm blows over?”

“Fine by me.”

They checked in and got the cabin key. It took less than a minute to move their car from the parking lot to the cabin.

“Hemlock,” Pam read on a sign as they walked up to the porch with their bags. “Looks cozy.”

Jim let them in, and they stepped inside. One large room met their eyes. To the right a couch and armchair rested in front of a small fireplace. On the far wall was a small kitchen with what was clearly a bathroom leading off to the side. Directly in front of them was the cabin’s single queen-sized bed. A small Christmas tree rested on the counter next to the cabin’s sink.

“Cozy is right,” Jim said as he felt suddenly warm under the collar with equal parts nervousness and excitement starting to flood his chest.