Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

It’s exactly 1:37 AM when Pam’s cell phone, charging on her bedside table, begins to ring. The first time it rings, she groans, rolls over and ignores it. Her head hurts and she has to be in work in a few short hours. But the caller is persistent, and when the phone begins to ring again, part of her worries that maybe it’s an emergency. Head still beneath the covers, she gropes around until her fingers finally find the phone. She clumsily flips open her phone and mutters “Mmphhello?”



“Heeey Pam.”



Suddenly Pam is wide awake. She would know that voice anywhere, even though it still feels so far away. “Jim?”



“Yes. I am Jim. Um, I got you’re text and… I tried to text back buuut my fingers won’t work.” Jim’s words were slurred and Pam heard something crash in the background. “Shit.”



It doesn’t take Pam long to figure out that Jim is drunk. Intensely drunk at that. It was funny, but she couldn’t recall if she had ever seen him drunk before. She remembers the night of the Dundies when Roy had left and she had gotten very drunk. And she kissed Jim. She was able to dismiss it as a drunken slip-up. But knowing now how he had felt, it hurt to wonder what that had done to him. And he had taken care of her for the rest of the night, picking her up off the floor and preventing her from getting into too much trouble. He had been a better friend than she deserved. “What was that? Are you okay?” She asked, concerned about the crash.



“That was my coat rack.” Jim began to chuckle. “I actually have a coat rack…is it just me, or is that kind of ridiculous? I don’t have that many coats anyway… It just seemed like a fancy new thing. We both do fancy new things you know! I’m doing new things. I eat tuna now.”



“Tuna?” Pam giggled. “Did you have a thing against tuna before?”



“No, nothing against tuna. I always ate ham and cheese. Always. I was a ham and cheese guy. Specifically ham and cheese. For 5 years.” Jim went silent for a moment. “Did you forget?” His voice sounded so uncertain, for a moment Pam wasn’t sure it was Jim.



“No, no, no,” Pam said hastily “I didn’t forget. Of course I didn’t forget.” Pam chewed on her lip nervously. “So did you go out with some friends tonight, or what?” It was weird to think of Jim having another new best friend.



“Nope. Drank at work. Some weird…tradition thing they have. Not like some beer-drinking tradition either. We are talking hardcore liquor traditional drinking! And I couldn’t bike home, because balancing was stupid. So Karen drove me home.”



Pam’s breath hitched in her throat. “Who’s Karen?”



“Karen? Karen is a really nice girl.” A hint of bitterness crept into Jim’s voice. “And she’s really pretty. And she likes me.” The alcohol in Jim’s system made him callous, but he was still hurting. Several months after, and time hadn’t done shit for his heart. He wasn’t sure why he had called her back; he had missed her voice more than she would ever know, but talking to her was painful.



“Oh.” Pam had absolutely no idea what to say. Of course she hadn’t expected Jim to pine over her forever. But why now, just when she was really feeling like she had things together, really feeling ready for a new relationship? “Well, it’s really good, you know, that you’re meeting people in your office.”



“Yeah, Karen’s great.” Jim sighed, rummaging through his refrigerator. At the same time, he doubted he could keep anything down right now. “Everything’s fucking great.”



Pam felt out of her depth, not knowing how to handle this raw emotion. “Well…” Pam said hesitantly “Everyone here really misses you.”



“Pfft.” Jim snorted. “Like Dwight? Or Angela?” Jim asked sarcastically. “I’m pretty sure Stanley isn’t all that torn up. I don’t think Creed ever even learned my name.”



“Well I’m pretty sure that Michael’s been crying himself to sleep at night.” Pam joked weakly, and gave an internal sigh of relief when he laughed genuinely. “And Phyllis and Oscar and Ryan miss you. Kelly misses you a lot. You were her best sounding board!”



“Oh god,” Jim groaned, rubbing his forehead. “Just thinking about it gives me a headache. Or my hangover is starting early. Who’s her new victim?”



“Me actually. Thanks for that.” Pam sighed. “It is kinda fun sometimes to have a girly girlfriend to gossip with though. You were never much help with nail polish.”



“Hey!” Jim cried indignantly. “I am the king of nail polish! I know more about nail polish than…the person who invented nail polish. Sometimes the person who invented nail polish comes up to me and is like ‘Hey Jim…I have a nail polish question for you…’ And I always know the answer.”



Pam laughed “Alright, well now I’ll just call you with my nail polish questions instead of Kelly. Cause you know I had so many. But can you help me with my online shopping?”



“God no. But I contain a plethora of basketball trivia.”



“A plethora, huh?”



“Yes, a plethora. What do you need to buy online anyway?”



Pam paused. “It’s kinda embarrassing… she thought I should start dressing, like…sexier now that I’m ‘back on the market‘ as she calls it.” Jim swallowed hard, and coughed. “But it backfired.” Pam continued. “The only kind of guys whose attention I got were guys like Creed.” She decided not to mention Roy’s comment on her new shirt.



Jim felt relieved, even if he wasn‘t sure he had the right to be. “I’ll have you know that Creed is a very, very sexy man.” he confirmed.



Pam laughed. “And you are very, very drunk.”



“True! I am drunk.” Jim confirmed. “What time- shit…” Jim stopped, realizing how late at night, really, how early in the morning it was. “I’m sorry Pam.”



“It’s okay.” Pam said hastily. “It’s good talking to you. I’ve missed you. Every time I look up, Ryan’s sitting at your desk and I hate it. Just going to work every day knowing you aren‘t going to be there is so much harder.” Pam said in a rush.



There was a long, torturous silence. “Don’t-don’t do that Pam.” Jim said, his voice choked. “I’m starting over. We didn’t want the same- you didn’t want…” Jim couldn’t continue. “I gotta go Pam.” He said before hanging up abruptly.



Pam was left listening to the dial tone, staring into the lonely dark of her fancy new bedroom. Curled up in the cold, vast expanse of her fancy new bed. Crying into the harsh, unsympathetic silence of her fancy new life.