Birthday Cake

Jim’s parents had always allowed him to stay home from school on his birthdays when he was a kid. He knew, of course, that the expiration date on being entitled to spend the day goofing-off like that had long since passed. Unfortunately, once you’d had twenty-eight of them, birthdays just weren’t that big a deal. He had to admit, however, that the grown-up variety did offer certain advantages. For instance, he’d enjoyed the creative way Pam had woken him up that morning far more than anything he remembered from his childhood festivities.

Still, Jim couldn’t help feeling it was a little unfair when he had to spend most of the day held hostage in the conference room, reviewing sales figures with the accounting department. Being ‘Ranking Number Two’ had some distinct drawbacks. Especially on days when ‘Number One’ wasn’t inclined to do anything he was supposed to. When the meeting had run through lunch, Jim felt doubly cheated. He’d hoped that he and Pam could at least sneak away for an hour alone. Instead, he wound up eating lukewarm take-out pizza, while Angela harangued him about using outdated forms and tallying something or other in some precise but obscure way.

After enduring several hours of this torture, Jim had returned to his desk to find himself rewarded with an endless series of phone messages and emails. Almost all from indignant clients with problems that needed to be solved. Now. Late delivery. Wrong quantity, color, finish. Invoices for higher prices than he’d supposedly quoted. By the time Pam collected him to leave at the end of the day, he was in a foul mood, to say the least.

‘Come on, birthday boy. Let’s go cheer you up,’ she said, kissing him on his cheek as she handed him his coat.

‘You have your work cut out for you,’ he warned her.

Jim should have known better than to underestimate Pam’s magical restorative powers. As soon as her fingers closed around his as they walked to his car, he could feel the day’s aggravations already beginning to recede. She took him to their favorite Thai restaurant and insisted on ordering all the really spicy stuff he usually couldn’t persuade her to try. She even claimed to like it.

As they ate, she described an idea she’d been devising as an antidote to the accounting hell that had consumed his day. It involved convincing Dwight that Michael had been abducted and replaced by his evil twin.

‘And, of course, Dwight is the only one who can expose the deception and rescue Michael,’ Jim finished her thought.

‘Naturally,’ she smiled.

“Stolen identities, bizzaro Michael…breaking new ground, Beesly.’

Between the sound of Pam’s laughter, and two beers, he felt like a new man. Spreadsheets were but a distant memory.

As they finished, Pam announced she had something for him at home.

‘Intriguing,’ he replied.

‘I’ll give you a hint: it involves something edible.’

‘I thought you’d taken care of that this morning,’ he grinned at her.

‘Oh, I have a few more tricks up my sleeve,’ she replied, cryptically.

Jim raised his eyebrows and stared at her. A couple of possibilities came to mind. All good.

‘Check, please!’ he immediately called to the waiter.

When they got back to her apartment, Pam went directly into the kitchen, sending Jim to wait in the living room. He pulled off his tie and jacket, opened the top buttons of his shirt and flopped down, exhausted, on the sofa.

‘Okay, close your eyes,’ she finally called giddily.

He did as he was told. Without even seeing her, he could sense her excitement just by the sound of her approaching footsteps.

‘Ta-da!’

Jim opened his eyes to see her standing in front of him, beaming at him and holding a cake. It was obviously homemade, a little lopsided with a lit candle at its center. She proceeded to sing Happy Birthday. Badly. Perfectly.

‘Wow. When did you do this?’ he asked, laughing in amazement as he blew out the candle.

‘Last night while you were out playing basketball. I was actually kind of worried you were going to find it when you got back here,’ she said, running back to get plates and utensils.

Pam cut him a ridiculously large piece. He responded by taking a ridiculously huge bite. He was ridiculously in love.

‘So that’s why you jumped up out of bed and got me something to drink when I said I was thirsty,’ he said, finally managing to swallow.

‘Exactly. I didn’t want you looking in the fridge.’

‘Damn. And I thought you’d suddenly gone subservient,’ he smirked at her. ‘Or were just looking for an excuse to parade around in that skimpy thing you were wearing – which you should feel free to do anytime, by the way.’

‘Oh really,’ she countered, breaking off a piece of cake with her fingers and nibbling off a bit before placing it in Jim’s mouth. ‘What would you say you like more, skimpy…or nothing?’

‘I like it all,’ he replied, licking the chocolate off his lips. ‘But tonight is obviously a birthday suit kind of night.’

‘Hey, it’s your birthday, not mine.’

‘Okay, fine. I’ve been thinking we ought to start wearing matching outfits anyway,’ he grinned at her. ‘In fact, that’s what I wished for when I blew out the candle.’

‘Well, your wish is my command…how’s that for subservient?’

‘Nice…hey, this is a great cake, Pam,’ he continued enthusiastically, taking another big bite for emphasis. ‘Weird thing is, it’s just like the one my mom used to make me.’

‘I know,’ Pam exclaimed, clearly pleased he’d noticed. ‘She told me she always made you a devil’s food cake for your birthday because you were such a sweet little demon,’ she paused long enough for him to cringe on cue.

‘So I called her for the recipe,’ she finished.

Despite his requisite embarrassment at his mother’s comments, Jim was immediately struck by what Pam had just casually told him. Calling his mother, like it was the most unremarkable thing in the world; assuming he’d come back to her place at night, after his basketball game. It was as if these seemingly insignificant details suddenly carried more weight than their most dramatic declarations. The extraordinarily unattainable had finally become ordinary. And Pam had somehow managed to bake this elusive gift right into a chocolate cake.

She smiled quizzically at him and he realized he was staring at her. Reaching out and putting his hand against her cheek, he leaned forward and kissed away a tiny smudge of frosting at the corner of her mouth. Then let his tongue glide slowly over her lips, just to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. Just to make sure he wasn’t imagining this.

‘I guess it’s time for the birthday suits then?’

‘Definitely,’ he replied, pulling her onto his lap. ‘You go first.’

Pam laughed and settled against him, putting her arms around his neck, her fingers in his hair. Jim’s mouth found hers again. And again. She tasted miraculously familiar. And so much better than chocolate.

Not a bad birthday.