Pam watched Jim and Karen leave the office, happy together. She felt bad that she was so angry at Karen. She really was perfectly nice, and she made Jim happy. It wasn’t Karen’s fault; it’s just that Pam thought she could make Jim so much happier. She knew Jim could make her happier.

As she did most nights as she left, Pam slipped the ear buds of her DuoSport into her ears. It was easier to forget about her problems while listening to music. Easier to drown out thoughts. Yet, it seemed that it wasn’t going to work tonight.

As she rode down the elevator, Semisonic came on. Secret Smile. She had never though much of this song, but today, it reminded her of Jim and only Jim.

Nobody knows it, but you’ve got a secret smile

And you use it only for me.

Well, that was true. At least, in her heart it was. She never saw him smile at Karen the way he smiled at her. She always thought of it as her smile.

So use it and prove it

Remove this whirling sadness

I’m losing, I’m bluesing

But you can save me from madness

She hadn’t seen his smile recently. He had used it during Oscar’s fiesta, but after that, Karen started acting possessive, and Pam felt him slipping from her grasp. He never smiled really anymore. Not just with her, but at all. She felt that if she saw that smile just once more, it would save her.

So save me, I’m waiting

I’m needing

As she walked to her car, she realized that his smile was really all she needed. Because, when she saw that smile, she knew that he was hers and she was his.

Pam decided that tomorrow she would just tell him. The truth, all of it. Screw what happens next.