It’s a clear day in Scranton on June 8th. Pam is about to leave the house to take care of a few last minute things a couple of days before ‘The Big Day’ . It’s amazing how in such a short time the wedding has managed to arrive and how it seems like only yesterday that she was on the booze cruise.
As she puts the keys into the lock, she thinks about that moment in time where everything seemed to stand still as she and Jim stood out in the bitter cold, the soft sounds of the waves hitting against the ship and the lights from inside illuminated their faces. It was during that moment that Jim looked into her eyes, maybe inside of her, and in those precious moments, had so many emotions on his face. It all came so suddenly, quickly enough that Pam got uncomfortable feeling in here chest and excused herself from the deck, wondering what was going on and if the thumping in her heart had anything to do with the way Jim’s emotions were written across his face at that point in time.
She shook her head and told herself that there were things to do, people to see today and that with her standing in front of her and Roy’s front door step thinking about an event that happened back in January after the door was well locked was not the best way to start of the day. Before that day, she was unsure with what Roy’s motives were and to solidify their plans together for the future by setting at date for the wedding made her breathe a little easier. She sighed and walked out to where the car was waiting in the driveway. Since Roy was going to be out later that evening with some of the boys from the warehouse, she was left to settle for a tv dinner and an evening with Cary Elwes and Robin Wright Penn in The Princess Bride. It would be a nice quiet evening but not exactly the evening that she would have hoped for before a wedding.
She really wished Jim could have been at the wedding. Though there was family around, it would have been nice to have a friendly face to see in the crowd, to joke around with after the ceremony, to get away from everyone with for just a little while. As she would be standing at the doors of the church, in her mom’s wedding dress, and her family and coworkers in front of her as the organ was playing along, he would be in Australia, riding through the outback, wandering the city of Sydney, meeting a pretty and smart girl even.
Her heart gave an angry twitch but she just brushed it off as she was jealous of him traveling. The only place that Pam has ever been to was Atlantic City when she was five years old. She only dreams of sharing a kiss in front of the Eiffel Tower, riding through the London Underground, taking pictures of the snowy Mount Fuji like how she dreams of having her art work becoming famous and being shown at the MOMA and having a house with a terrace where she can have a small garden of flowers. She knows that Roy will take her to these places one day, provide her with these things, but there’s a little corner in the back of her mind that is shadowed with uncertainty, that knows that these days might never come or will never come.
At the end of the day, when Pam is done with running around, tying up some of the days’ loose ends, she pulls back into the driveway and finds a box sitting on the door mat. There are no postage stamps, no return address, just the words ‘To Pam’ in simple and neat block letters. When she lets herself into the house, she doesn’t bother with untying her shoes and leaving at the door. She just marches right up the kitchen and took out a sharp pair of scissors. Ever so carefully, she sliced through the carefully placed duct tape that held the top of the box together.
Once she pried open the lid, she dug and dug through packaging peanuts until finally she found a flat object no larger than the size of tennis ball wrapped in turquoise tissue paper and a note at the bottom. Plucking the note out from the sea of white fluffy covering, she slowly unfolded each side, her heart beating so loud that she felt it reach the top of her neck.
Dear Pam,
By the time you read this, I’ll sitting in an airport terminal, listening to overly cheesy easy listening to the over 30 tunes while drinking a cup of lukewarm coffee and waiting to board the plane. I’ve been thinking a lot about you, not just recently, but since forever I guess. I remember how it was your first day at work and were nervous as hell but managed to make you crack a smile after a couple of long hours. It’s been a long time since then.
I wonder how you’ll be on your wedding day. You’ll look beautiful, not just because you’re dressed up, but because you already are beautiful. I wish I could be there but to think that you’re going to marry another man who has known you for longer than 10 years but actually doesn’t seem to know you at all doesn’t sit with me well. I wish I could be the lucky man to have you all to myself but I guess Fate has a sick way with us.
I love you Pam, I’m not sorry that I kissed you on our Casino Night or that ever since then it’s been awkward. I’m not sorry that our conversations have gotten more uncomfortable and that whenever I walk into the break room, you run out as fast as possible. I meant what I said. I would never take it back, not even in a million years.
Through the years, you’ve given me the world.
Good luck Pam.
Love, Jim
The moment she concludes with her note, she tears off the fragile sheets of paper on the circular package. One by one, they litter the counter top until finally she rips off the last one. Underneath it all was a snow globe. Inside, a woman is sitting at a easel, painting a picture of some far off land. The glittery flakes dance on the terrace she is seated at with a garden of roses around them. But at the very bottom of the globe in tiny little black font is a message that touches her the most, that makes her grabs her keys and head towards Scranton International Airport:
Never give up.
Author's Chapter Notes:
howdy there readers. after a huge break from fan fiction writing, i decided to take a stab at it one more. none of the characters are mine, just the story line.
tell me what you think, reviews will earn you love. hope you like it!
tell me what you think, reviews will earn you love. hope you like it!
starstrucklove is the author of 1 other stories.
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