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Author's Chapter Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. The first two sentences are paraphrased from Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst.

June 10, 2006

Jim was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Some days are like that… even in Australia. She was getting married today and he was halfway around the world. It’s for the best, he reminded himself. He gave her his heart and she wouldn’t take it. Watching her accept the love of another man would have been more than he could bear. So he had flown halfway around the world and he was still miserable.

It would be early Saturday morning at home. She’s probably just getting up and starting to prepare for the day. Her wedding day. To someone who was not him. Michael had said engaged ain’t married. Well, Michael, married is married. It was time for him to give up. He had another week and a half in Australia, then he would head back… home. Stamford didn’t feel like home yet, but he knew that would come with time. He’d been in Scranton for a long time. It had been his comfortable place, but that was all changed now. He couldn’t go back. So Stamford was his fresh start. A new job with a raise. A new apartment in a new town. New friends. New… girls. He didn’t really want to think about dating or falling in love right now. He just needed some time to figure himself out. And he still needed to fall out of love with a married woman.

He had big plans for the rest of his time in Australia and he was going to make the most of it. He wouldn’t let himself mope. He had six more days in Sydney, then he was going snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef before it was time to go back to the US. Today he had climbed the Pylon Lookout and gone to a comedy in the Drama Theatre of the Sydney Opera House. He’d stopped in the bar at his hotel to drown his sorrows. It hadn’t worked. No matter how drunk he got, Pam would still get married. So he decided to head to bed and get ready for tomorrow.

As he entered the Art Deco lobby of the Royal Sovereign Hotel, he stopped short. He had to be hallucinating. Pam. What was she doing sitting on a couch in his hotel mostly asleep? It wasn’t her. He just wanted it to be her so bad that he was making every brown haired girl into her. He walked towards the stairs and started up them.

“Jim.”

He turned around slowly. NotPam had stood up and was looking at him. Talking to him. She knew his name. It wasn’t Pam. It couldn’t be Pam. It was Pam. She walked over and stopped a couple stairs below him.

“Jim? Hi.”

“What are you doing here?” He knew it was blunt, but he couldn’t think of anything else to say. His brain was working too fast to get words out his mouth.

“I… I came to see you. I wanted to talk to you.”

“You’re getting married in Scranton in seven hours. You’re going to be late for your wedding.”

“I’m not getting married, Jim.”

“Why not?”

All the courage she had built up to bring her to this moment began to fade away. She was stupid. In his own way, Roy loved her and she should have stuck with him. It would have been easier that way. Instead, she had thrown it all away. She had cancelled the wedding, returned the shower gifts, and got a loan from her dad to buy a plane ticket to Australia. Now that she was here, staring this man who she had turned down a few weeks ago in the face, she had no idea what she wanted to say.

“I couldn’t marry Roy. I couldn’t give him my whole heart, and it wouldn’t be fair to him to start a life with him while I was in love with someone else.”

She expected him to say something, but he didn’t. He just stared at her. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what to think. She was really standing in front of him. She looked even smaller than usual standing a couple stairs below him. She looked nervous and scared. She looked like she was about to cry. He didn’t think he could handle her crying.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come. You’re on vacation and I’m ruining it. After you left, I knew I had made the wrong decision. I said all the wrong things. I should have told you how I feel. I should have known then that I couldn’t marry Roy. I should have told you that I love you too. But I didn’t and I guess I’ve missed my chance. I’m sorry.”

“Say that again.”

“What? I’m sorry.”

“Not that. Do you really love me?”

“What? Yes, of course I do. I love you, Jim. I’m sorry I took so long to realize it. Goodbye.”

“Wait. Where are you staying tonight?”

“Um… I’m not sure. My mom found a hostel downtown, so I guess I’ll go see if they have a bed.”

“Would you like to come upstairs?”

She was mostly blinded by the tears. The buzzing in her head made it hard to hear her thoughts. He wasn’t pushing her away. He wasn’t stupid like she was. She looked up at him and met his eyes. His expression was hopeful and there were tears in his eyes too.

She grinned. “Absolutely.”

Jim grinned back at her. Not a bad day after all.



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