10

Loving this oh-so much, Kerber! I love the balance of humor and romance in this chapter, and each chapter just gets better and better! I'm really anxious to see how you lead up to and arrive at your big ILU crescendo, but watching this story blossom and unfold has been a delightful treat. I'm so happy to be involved with this wonderful story. Can't wait for more! -CH

Author's Response: Chica -- you have been my biggest cheerleader and greatest beta with this story and I appreciate it more than you know.  I'm really glad that the story doesn't disappoint and I can't wait to finish the big reveal :) 

10

xoxoxo--I'm so happy to see this is back, and I'm even happier that it looks like it'll be a long one! You've set up a fabulous premise here, and I love the twist on Michael and Jim's talk from "The Convention." Can't wait to see what happens next, of course, and keep up the fabulous work!! -CH

Author's Response: CH - Thank you!!  Not too long actually.  (twss) 3 chapters should do it.  I realized I had to put a little Jim POV in there thus the struggle w/Chapter 2.  I'm hurrying!!

8

I'm liking this! It's cute and fluffy, and the dreary boredom reminds me of the earlier seasons. I'm excited to read on! -CH

Author's Response: I'm glad that you caught the early season vibe. I liked the idea of meshing that with a S4-esque dynamic. Personally, I could use a little more dreary in-office boredom in my office. Thanks for the review Becky215.

10

Elegant and poetic. Bravo, my friend! -CH

I love you so much, Miss Mel. Everyday you post is a reminder of why I love fic in the first place. Don't make me wait long for more--I'm on the edge of my seat, my friend!!!  :D  -CH

Author's Response: I shall do my best to update as quickly as possible.  The feeling is mutual, though.  Don't think I'm not going crazy knowing that there are two...2!!!! Becky215 stories waiting for me to read either at lunch or after work today.  Thanks, as always for the review.

10

Damn you, Mel. You are the world's biggest bitch. I go on and on about how I have an exam to study for, papers to write, things to memorize, and you choose TONIGHT to update this story, knowing it has a gravitational pull on my soul. As soon as I saw the update, I was helpless, and I devoured the whole thing like chocolate covered cherries (NOTE: I do not really think you're a bitch or damnable, obviously).

I just love this story. There's such a unique element of creativity to it (no surprise since you're the author), and I am having such fun watching it unfold. That being said, I can't wait to see what you're building up to. Obviously our boy is gonna get his act together and come out with his feelings, and I just can't wait to see it all go down.

I especially enjoyed this: Jim spent a lot of time thinking about Roy and trying to decide if the guy was really an insensitive jerk, or just a well-intentioned guy who wasn’t aware of the effects of his words and the things he did or didn’t do. It would be easy to see him as a caricature of the villain on a Lifetime movie, but, as he told himself over and over again…Pam saw something worth loving in him despite all of his flaws. Though Roy sometimes made his blood boil, it was for that reason that he usually bit his tongue and let Pam handle things just as she was at that moment.

It's too easy to paint Roy as a villain, and I like how you avoid it with such stealthy skill. Well done, and as always, can't wait for more!! --CH

10

Mel--You've written many lovely things, and you know how I feel about your catalogue of stories. I love them all for very different reasons, and the resonance of your writing is breathtaking. This, however...this takes it all to a whole new level. This chapter broke my heart, but not for Jim and the fear he thinks he's wrong for Pam. Your dead-on characterization of Roy was humbling, incredible, wonderful, and awesome. There's this fumbled frustration about the character that was always fun to see in small doses on the show, but fic gives us the chance to flesh that out and dig into his character in new ways. Few writers write him so brilliantly, but you're on that short list, and in my book, you're at the top of it. I adored his characterization here, and I think this is the best chapter yet. Keep it up! --CH, member of the Team Roy (Just-Not-For-Pam) Fan Club

Author's Response:

CH—As always, I feel so humbled reading one of your reviews and if you look below, you’ll see how unsure I was about this chapter. I kept bugging people around me to tell me that it sounded okay and I finally just had to let it go.

I know we’ve talked about this in reviews before, but I’ll say it again. I have an extremely soft spot for Roy…one I don’t have for Lee from the British series. I guess that I’ll admit something here…I had a Roy in my life…well sort of. It was all very unrequited in a total Jim and Pam sort of way. Except that I was in the Jim position. He was a big guy…football player…prone to dark, dark moods and we were friends…when he wasn’t hanging out with his buddies, that is. Nobody could understand why I’d want to spend time with him when his greatest achievement was constructing a giant beerymid (out of cans) the weekend his parents left him alone. I saw something beneath all of that…something worth loving and that’s what I always base my Pam and Roy dynamic on. Now that I’ve shared entirely too much, let me just thank you once again for your lovely review. Thanks so very much.

9

ILU, Mel. Write me more, give me more, and more and more and more before I become a Britney Spears song. ;-) I love the subtlety of these chapters, and I really can't wait for this one to hit its crescendo! -CH

Author's Response: Oh CH! Thanks so much for your support here. This is undoubtedly heading toward a pretty messy cresendo (at least that's what my outline tells me. That could change!) As always it's great to hear from you. I know you and fic are having a bumpy time lately, so I'm super appreciative when you chime in with a review.

8

Wow. A thousand applauses for your boldness and daring. Very clever, my friend, and like Mose said, I love how you give us these glimpses of the unsung secondaries! Bravo!! --CH

Never Acquiese.

9

Thank god you're back. Don't leave again. But if you do, always come back with awesome stuff like this. LOVED it!! -CH

Author's Response: You know, it's one thing when you're not a fic machine to begin with (like SOME people), but when your little handcrank won't even turn...well, that's not just a shit sandwich, it's the whole buffet.  Good to be back, CH, and thank you!

10

This really is lovely, flonkerton. I had such fun reading the early draft, and your final copy is perfect. I am kind of in love with the tone and flow of this story, and I can hardly wait to see where you go with it next!

This little exchange in particular struck a chord with me:

"I don't want to get Roy," she whispers, surprised she's said it at all.

"Then don't."

Something about the naked honesty in those simple words just really pushes this story to the next level; I love that they're being so honest with each other in their cute passive-aggressive way.

Wonderful work, and I can't wait to see what happens next! --CH

10

WHOA.

Where the HELL did this come from!? I've known from the start that you were a good storyteller; your earlier stories on the site immediately made me think, "Okay, this, THIS is a newbie I can get behind," but now? NOW you bust out something like this! Of course it's not that I'm surprised--your other pieces have been beautiful, too, but this is....I don't know. I really, really like this. An insane amount of liking is going on right now at Casa de CH. (So much so that I'm favoriting this story, and I NEVER favorite stories.) Your focus and attention to detail, and the subtle theme of the colors (or lack thereof--the use of the grayscale touches so many things for them: grey newsprint smeared on fingertips, white paper, black memories--GUH) really packed a punch with this story. I also love the small details, from the Pam's Harry-Potter-specs (well, maybe not like that, but still--those are somethin', aren't they?) to phrases like the light of their future and the dark of the past.

And this?

She knows from experience what this feels like and she wishes he’d take a chance on something other than her. In addition to her. She knows he wants to ask her, has seen the question in his eyes a million times before. Those are the moments that terrify her because it’s then that she knows she can’t be all of him. She can’t be all of him because then there’s nothing left for her but suffocating blackness.

 That, THAT sums up everything I've been trying to say about this idea of them getting engaged. They're ready in that they love each other, and they know that they want that future together, but at the same time, there's something incomplete on the personal level that just has to be taken care of. To me, you have PERFECTLY summed up those ideas I've had that I just couldn't articulate. So thanks for this.

I've loved your writing from day one, my friend, but this just started a whole new ballgame, IMO. Well done, bravo, here's a Dundie, tkae a diet coke, and do a victory lap. --CH

9

This was lovely, my friend! I really like how you balanced out the time after they started dating, and the confrontation with ol' Karen was well-handled. This was a great distraction from writing my paper, so thanks for that. Bravo! -CH

Author's Response: Thank you, dear. Anything I can do to distract you from the important things. ;)\r\n-Chels