Okay, had to come back and review this. Amazing - simply amazing.  While I hate to say that I'm not a slash fic! girl (because that sounds pejorative and dismissive, and that's not my intent at all), I can say that I'm not an anything but Jim and Pam girl.  ...Which means that, while I'm certainly open to reading (and writing) other pairings, they generally don't move me the way the J/P ones do.

That said: Pitch perfect here.  It's not gratuitous or OOC; this comes off as completely believable - erotic, poignant, and with so much heart.

Bravo, girl!  I'm convinced that there is just nothing you can't do.   Making me love Jim as a coke addict, and now this? 

You're incredibly talented, DF. :o)

10

Oh my god oh my god oh my god.  I'm already frustrated because I know I won't be able to articulate how amazing this is.  You joked on TWoP that it wouldn't live up to the hype -- and I already had high expectations anyway -- but this is just stunning.  Absolutely stunning.  So real - god, so amazingly real.  I love the way you've written them both here - Jim so fed up and almost broken; Pam desperate and just putting one foot in front of the other.  Achingly erotic, too, when she follows him into his bedroom.  No, wait - first when she unbuttons his shirt to look at his ribs - oh my god!  Seriously...I actually could envision a moment like that happening on the show (her looking at the ribs, not what came after - heh).  And as for the smut - so real, so sexy, so them.  Because we don't see that side of them on the show, sometimes it's hard to really go with a fic and picture it (and I don't mean that as a skeevy little perv, but in terms of characterization).  But the way you've written this is so real.  I just can't say it enough -- I could absolutely believe it would happen this way with them.  (And him telling her to say his name?  Oh my god.)

I'm sure this review is rambling and absolutely incoherent; I wish I could be more articulate here.  Suffice it to say that this is my favorite thing that you've written - which is saying  a lot.  In fact, I'd go so far as to say that this is my favorite fic, period.  Wow.

Speechless over here, my friend.  Excellent, excellent work.

Oh my god, this was beautiful and so original.  First of all, for some reason, I initially assumed that it was Pam holding Jim's head in her lap -- realizing it was Karen was sort of like a punch in the gut (which says excellent things about your talent as a writer).  The fourth to last paragraph - when she's aware of how amazing Jim's feelings for Pam are - is so heartbreaking.  You really write Karen well here - Jim, too.

And this? "It’s just another earthquake that ends in cracked pavement and shattered glass."

Pure poetry.

Thanks for (yet again) giving us such a beautiful piece of writing. 

Whoa.  This was a damned fine way to start my day, let me tell you.  (And two stories from you in the span of twenty-four hours?  Heaven!)  Seriously, this was so hot and so fun and so them.  Love the elicitness of their being on an office retreat here - and I could so hear Jim saying to Angela that they had a little "slumber party thing" going on in there - heh. 

Just fantastic, as usual.  :o)

10

Okay, you.  I read this with the stupidest grin on my face - and it's still there.  Love, love, love the images you give us here: Jim walking into the kitchen with his tie in his hand (I find that image as hot as Marc Antony/James Purefoy in his eye liner), Pam then tying it for him (god, please let us see this just once on the show).... I could so clearly see Jim squinting as he thought over the first date issue (and I really love the way you allude to the Big Fight we're all hoping to see).  And the banter...god, the banter was so happy and hot and them.

As usual, bravo - now, I'm off to the next chapter....

10

Ahhh!  This was so freaking much fun!  Seriously, I haven't felt this gooey since watching Michael's Birthday. You make them so believable - just so in sync, so them, so hot.

Loved this - and would love, in all seriousness, just random glimpses like this for fifty more chapters. 

10

Okay, baby fic does not usually make me weepy, but this absolutely did.  It was so funny most of the way through (god, how adorable would Jim be in this situation?), but the last few lines pack such an emotional punch.  The image of him leaning his forehead against hers?  Guh. It's one of those moments that I could see so clearly...just gorgeous. 

Bravo!

I couldn't remember whether or not I've already reviewed this - but if it's a double review, oh well.  It's worthy of copious praise. :o)

Seriously, though, I really loved the simplicity of this - that simple moment of her finally coming clean to Jim (er, no pun intended).  And I really love the little "future glimpse" you give at the end.  So sweet.  You could write post-Cocktails fics every day & I'd not get tired of them. 

You sneak - I almost didn't even catch this!  I really like it so far; this is an interesting premise.  Loved the dialogue as well - I could just hear them both so clearly.  

So...update soon!

If it's any consolation, I'm as hardcore a JAM fan as they get, and I'm sitting here hoping Pam climbs up in Ryan's lap, damn it!  :o) Seriously, I'm reading this with a huge grin - and this makes me really, really want to see them go on a cruise on the actual show!  Love the voices here - still spot on.  This is just so much fun to read!

Author's Response: Hee!  So glad that you're enjoying it!

Okay, I was sitting here all smiley, bopping along and then screeeecccchhh: Ryan went to sleep to the sound of Jim and Karen having sex?  I thought I was all Fancy New Girl7, can be cool with Jim & Karen in the short term, but...uh, apparently not.  That hurt.  :o) Seriously, though, I really love the dynamic between Karen and Pam here.  And Jim's comment about being jealous of anyone who gets to touch Pam like that?  Guh.  Wow.  

Seriously, this fic is like a fantastic, exotic world that I don't want to leave.  That sounded corny enough to be worthy of Michael Scott, didn't it?  But I mean it! 

10

I think my cheeks are red because I haven't breathed normally since the moment Pam was dancing with Ryan...and I damned sure wasn't getting any oxygen from the moment she stepped into the closet.  (Because we all know what must happen when Jim and Pam are locked in a closet. )

Seriously, though...wow.  I feel that rush of affection for Michael every time he speaks here; you've just got him so down.  And at the risk of being repetitive, I really love the dynamic between Karen and Pam -- while I think Rashida's done an excellent job this season, the writers seem to have decided not to develop on the fascinating personality points to which they alluded earlier in the season.  Your Karen is one that would truly add to the show - so funny, so relatable, so likable.  

Reading this (Karen loaning Pam the miniskirt? giggling with her behind the chair?) makes me miss being single and hanging out with my girlfriends.  So much fun.

Ryan continues to be compelling here - I love the slow tension you're building here.  You're taking such time and care with this, which is what makes me believe that Pam and Ryan would end up attracted to each other.

But the tension with Jim.  Sigh.  Swoon.  Guh.

I'm pretending that there are enough chapters left to keep me reading until I fall asleep (though that wouldn't be likely with this one - great pacing, and terrific cliff hangers!).

Bravo! 

10

Mkay, your end note made me grin all sly and slow like Kevin...and now I feel like a skeevy little perv.  :o) 

Whoa.  This chapter was intense.  (Side note: How adorable are Dwight and Angela here?)

I love the slow burn of anger that's building between Jim and Pam here; while Jim is being, admittedly, a total prick, at the same time, it's believable because of course he's frustrated. 

And no, it's never easy - certainly not in this fic, because you so deftly dodge the "easy" route: making Karen so likable, Ryan a viable (albeit temporary - my theory) alternative to Jim....

Sigh.  It's stupid how sad I am that I know there's not much left for me to read tonight.