Reviewer: Andastainonmyshirt Signed 
10
Date: March 20, 2009
Title: Chapter 1: I Don't Seem Obvious, Do I?
Well, well… I promised myself I’d make my first review when you posted a new story and since I’m so heartbroken, I’m not sure where to start. I hope this is coherent. First, let me say I stand by my believe that even with all the WONDERFUL writers out there, that you remain unsurpassable in my eyes.
Everything about this is spot-on: the worn down look and feel of Jim, the desperation of Pam to “fix” things, Roy being oblivious (not because Pam didn’t tell him anything, but because he doesn’t see it.)
I would end up quoting down to the last line, if I were to say everything I liked, but some things that tore into me were “Jim smiled and squeezed back. "Oh, I know how this one ends." Because, really he knows how this (they) will end even if at the time it’s said it’s in a different context. “…He can smell her breath, which reinvigorates his recollection of the taste of her mouth” and you feel him wanting to lean in again. “Their eyes meet and it would be funny if he wasn't able to see Pam's entire life spread out before her, these people at the very center of it.” It’s really hard when you know someone is making a huge mistake with their life, but you just have to let them do it; but when it’s the person you’re in love with, it’s unbearable.
"Maybe you just think -" "Think what?" I can hear the weariness in both of them. "It's not coming out of nowhere." I love that you put that in here, because it’s so not coming out of nowhere- she knows it, and he knows that she knows- how could she not?
"You kissed me back, Pam. It felt incredible." (closes eyes *shivers*)
“What he wants, really, desperately wants, is to get the hell out of this bar, to take her with him, for just a couple of hours, so that they can, for once in their lives, have a conversation that isn't happening on borrowed time.” Again, you’ve added an extra beat to my pulse by feeling the same desperation he feels. Sigh.
He rolls his eyes, "Oh, that is such bullshit." Yes! Angry, frantic Jim. Niiice.
"I have never once wondered what it would be like to make love with Dwight." This, THIS is it. I can plain as day hear him saying this to make her laugh, but the seriousness of the way it’s said here it’s so openly truthful that it can do nothing but cut her to the core.
"I love you. So much. Okay?" He employs the same trick that he used earlier that week, looking everywhere but her face. Crying in front of her once was the absolute limit permitted by his dignity. Oh, Jim. My heart bleeds for you. Talk, how do you write a whole visual scene, complete with deep-rooted emotion, in so little words?
He brushes past Pam without looking at her again. With him knowing it would be the last time he would see her, I think it would have shattered him if he did look at her again.
Wow, enough. Right? Perfect in every way, shape, form, and feeling. And since you are the queen of companion pieces, I’d love to see your Pam’s POV after this, when she realized Jim’s not coming back. You know, after Geography is complete.
Author's Response: And, with her first attempt, Ang takes the trophy for longest review for this story! I\'m so touched by your kindness, dear, and strongly inclined to protest - I\'m still just pretending that I\'m colette or Annabel Winslow. In response to some of your comments: you know, I\'m not entirely convinced that Pam really did know how Jim felt, not fully. She might have thought that he had a crush, something like that, but I truly believe that, either thanks to denial or lack of attention on her part, he completely caught her off guard on Casino Night. That line about Dwight got taken out and put back in to this story around five times. Based on reader response, I\'m glad that I left it. Finally, I don\'t think I\'ll be writing a companion to this, but I am doing my darndest to get Geography off the ground (interrupted by a small Post-Two Weeks diversion this weekend). Thank you so, so much for your review, Ang. Do stick around, okay? :)
"It's always been Jim and Pam." What if it always was? What twists and turns do a lifelong friendship take? A story of Jim and Pam and love, in varying incarnations.