"We're friends. We'll always be friends."

Pam put an emphasis on the "always" but all Jim heard was "friends"...again.

"Friends," he repeated to her.

"Yea," she said. "And Karen is really nice. I like her."

"What?"

"Karen? She's nice."

He didn't remember mentioning Karen to Pam. In fact, he was sure he hadn't mentioned Karen to Pam because he was being very cautious about not doing that. But he couldn't figure out why he didn't want to mention Karen's name in front of her.

"Yea," he said, staring at his feet. "Yea. So...um...I better get going."

"Oh yea...I didn't mean to hold you up. I'm sure you have some more unpacking to do tonight," Pam said.

There was something in her voice -- some little thing -- that made it sound like more than just a statement. He realized immediately what it was -- just enough bitterness to make it noticeable. It was a classic guilt trip. She knew he wasn't going home and that whole settling in thing was an excuse. The last time he got a guilt trip laid on him like that, it was his Mom bitching because he hadn't done the dishes. He just needed to get out of here and get out of this fast. He was going to have dinner with Karen and he was going to like it and not think about anyone else.
He looked down again at his feet. "Ok, well, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yea, tomorrow."

He turned to go back to his car and heard Pam's car door slam behind him. He did the same thing with his, pulling it closed with more force than usual. He took a deep breath to calm down as he watched Pam's car in his rear view mirror pull out of her spot. He put his car in reverse and pulled out of his.

As she drove in front of him past Michael's Sebring, Jim looked out at that spot in the parking lot where he stood that night. Where he put it all out there. He wondered if Pam even remembered that.

She remembered. He figured as much when Pam's car stopped in front of him, right in front of that spot. He watched her car's brake lights go bright red and then off as she shut her car down and opened her door. He rolled down his window as she walked over to the Toyota.

"Can you get out of the car for a second?" she asked him.

"What?"

"Please?"

Why did she keep stringing him along like this? He left months ago and nothing had changed. But Karen was still at the grocery store so she probably was going to be late to Cooper's. He needed to just get this done with -- whatever he and Pam had to work through, they just needed to work through it and get it over with so he could move on.

She looked at him with an accusatory stare. "Why didn't you want to have coffee with me?"

If that was the worst Pam was going to throw at him, this wouldn't be so bad. "I told you. I still have some boxes that I need to unpack."

"It's really because you already have plans tonight with Karen. Right?"

The stomach gave a sudden lurch. He had walked right into that without even realizing it. "I um..." He was trying to think of an excuse, any excuse to give Pam, and couldn't come up with one. "I have plans with Karen tonight," he said, hoping it was in a way that would soften any pain that would cause Pam. He shouldn't care about hurting her anymore after what she did to him, but he felt he should at least try and be cordial about it all.

She nodded her head and wouldn't look at him. He barely heard her whisper "I screwed all of this up." She turned and started to walk away from him back to her car.

That was it. He couldn't do this anymore. "Pam?" She stopped, but didn't turn around. "What are you talking about?"

She turned only half way back to him, her eyes still not meeting his. Her voice broke through the silence, a bit choked. "Jim, my life is a bit of a mess right now, but I thought I would at least be able to have us again. I would at least have you to talk to again. You were always the stable one that would be there for me no matter what." He heard her take a deep breath in, realizing this whole thing was harder on her than he thought it would be. "I just...It was only natural for you to move on with your life. I know that. I know I should have told you about the wedding. I should have called you. I'm sorry about all of it. Just promise me you're happy. That's all I need."

He couldn't promise her that because he wasn't. He just wanted to run up and hold her and tell her it was all going to be ok. The only problem was the nagging feeling in his heart that he had already done that, had already held her, and she let him walk away.

They stood there in a silence that seemed like an eternity, not moving at all. It was like that night on that booze cruise, standing on the deck in complete silence with so much passing between them. Finally, Pam broke the tension as she turned and started walking back to her car. He couldn't take his eyes off her.

"Pam?" He saw her hand pause on the handle of the car door. "What about tomorrow night?"

"What about it?" she said, turning her head to look at him.

"Kelly was telling me there's a new coffee shop down by Poor Richard's."

She smiled that smile that always melted his heart. He didn't realize how much he missed it until this morning when he saw it again after being gone for so long. "Tomorrow sounds good."

He nodded. "Ok, tomorrow."

They looked at each other and everything seemed to start clicking back in place. "Good night, Jim."

"Night, Pam."

They got in their cars and Pam turned left out of the parking lot to her new apartment. Jim turned right and headed to Cooper's for dinner.

He liked Karen, he really did. She was smart and funny and so easy to get along with. There was no baggage between them. But sitting at that table with her that night, he realized she just wasn't the person for him. He could never make her happy and she would never make him happy because he was in love with someone else.

Things would start getting better tomorrow.