“What are you still doing here? Have you developed some new work ethic I haven’t been informed of? No wait! It’s a prank, right? I'm in. What are we doing to Dwight?”
 
Pam, surprised at seeing anyone at work this late on a Friday night, swiped her eyes quickly with the back of her hand. Not that she had been full on crying but she was angry and frustrated and after the way her date had gone tonight, she’d been so full of – something. Something that was threatening to burst out from inside of her. Something even 8 hours of quality sleep couldn’t allay.
 
“Hey. No, I just bought this special card for Phyllis and Bob’s wedding and I had to come back here and pick up my car tonight anyway so I thought I’d grab it now rather than have to make it back here before the wedding.” She held up the card before stuffing it in her bag, wanting more than anything to not have to face Jim right now. Alone. Here.
 
“Hey,” he said softly, resting a hand on her shoulder as she tried to move past him, “Is something wrong?”
 
“No,” she said with a little more volume than she’d intended. She sighed. “I just didn’t have a very good week, I guess.”
 
“Do you want to talk about it?”
 
This wasn’t at all what she had planned. This wasn’t the mood she wanted to be in. And she sure as hell didn’t want to do it here. But she reminded herself how badly her instincts had served her in the past where her feelings for him were concerned and she relented, “Well, yeah, maybe.”
 
He smiled. God she’d missed that smile - the one he used to save just for her. “Sit down and I’ll grab us a soda, okay?”
 
She nodded and smiled back, took a deep breath and sat down on the sofa. She quickly brushed her hair back over her shoulders and dabbed a tissue to her eyes before he returned. When he did, she fondly watched him walking towards her balancing two cups. She took note of the way his hair curled against the collar of his polo shirt. She accidentally (on purpose?) let her fingers brush against his as he handed her the cup of soda. She felt the warmth when his bare forearm accidentally (on purpose?) touched hers as he settled in next to her.
 
“So?” he prompted.
 
She sucked in a breath. “Okay, where to begin? I've just been through five hellatious days. I wish I could use white-out on my brain and erase the memories.”
 
“Tell me,” he said softly.
 
“All right, here goes. Monday. Michael had that brilliant idea for separate parties for Phyllis' wedding. The men got a stripper at their party and the women got a Ben Franklin impersonator.”
 
“Scholastic lecturer, Pam.”
 
“Whatever. A Ben Franklin impersonator who proceeded to hit on me. Bifocals, breeches, and a receding hairline. This is what my love life has come to."
 
Jim burst out laughing.
 
She waggled her finger menacingly at him. "Not funny, Mr. Assistant Regional Manager!"
 
He tried to stifle his grin. "No, you're right. Sorry. Must be the way you tell the story. Go on!"
 
"Yeah. So anyway, the stripper? She told me she thought I’d be good at her job.”
 
“What?” Jim feigned shock but he was having a hard time focusing on her words after that because all he could picture was a pole and the way her curls would bounce as she moved...
 
Pam shook her head. “Yeah. Good to know I have career options, right?”
 
“Is that all?”
 
Well let's see, I had to watch Karen come over right in front of me and hug you and know that she knows all about us and that it really doesn't seem like such a big deal and I think you're over me but.....
 
“Yeah, that’s all for Monday. Okay, Tuesday. Roy showed up at my house after dinner, like he does every so often, telling me that he’s looking for a CD or a DVD or something that he used to have that must’ve gotten mixed up with my stuff. And then I can’t get rid of him because I know he's going to start that conversation he tries to have with me every couple of months about how he wants me back and how he’s changed and I tell him no and it ends up all awkward and sometimes I swear he’s gonna cry and it’s just awful.”
 
“Wow. And we're only on Tuesday, right?”
 
“Yes we are, and you don't have to rub it in! So Wednesday. Andy returns to work after being out sick for two days and informs me that he has a ‘clean bill of health’ wink, wink. Then he proceeds to ask me if I want him to be my date for Phyllis’ wedding so I don’t have to show up alone. Because unmarried women always get understandably depressed at weddings. Apparently we're all afraid that we'll never find a man and will end up bitter and alone.”
 
“He didn’t.”
 
“He most certainly did. I thought for sure Thursday would be better! It's my art class night. I figured it’d be nice and relaxing and I could concentrate on drawing and forget how crappy the rest of the week was."
 
"Makes sense. Didn't work out though?"
 
"Uh, no. Guess who the nude model was?
 
"Andy?"
 
"Close. It was Creed.”
 
“No way!”
 
“Yes way! And I tried to hide behind my easel the entire time but the teacher came around to check on our progress. She wanted to know why I was taking so long and did I even examine the model before I began and I finally just had to tell her I had a bad headache and went home.”
 
“Wow, Pam, that is hysterical!”
 
“Not if you were the one looking at Creed naked!”
 
“So how did tonight turn out? Can’t be worse than that.”
 
“You wouldn’t think so, would you? But tonight was the night of my big date with Ryan’s friend Jeff from business school.”
 
“Oh.” The single word hung heavy in th air for a long time.
 
"Yeah," Pam replied quietly. After a too-long silence, she continued. "You think I would have learned after the last date Kelly and Ryan set me up with but I hoped maybe that was a fluke."
 
"Not your type?" Jim asked, trying unsuccessfully to hide the glee in his voice.
 
"Not anyone's type! Seriously, Jim, I'm ready to just join a convent or something. I mean, right after Ryan introduced us, as he's shaking my hand mind you, he starts telling me about his spreadsheet of desirable qualities he looks for in a mate."
 
"In a date?"
 
"No, he said mate, if you can believe that!"
 
"That's sorta presumptuous for a first date!"
 
"Yeah, I'd say so!"
 
"So that's not a good way to start, right? Because I'm just taking some notes for myself on what a perfect date should consist of and..."
 
"Shut it, Halpert!"
 
"Sorry. So what were the 'desirable qualities' he was looking for?"
 
"Top of the list? Earning potential."
 
"He actually said that? Top of the list?"
 
"Oh yes! His plan is to retire early so he wants to maximize his and his mate's income during their peak earning years. Needless to say, when he found out I was a receptionist studying art..."
 
"Ka-ching! You're a double threat there, Pam!"
 
"Exactly. And the rest of the night was all downhill."
 
"I gotta ask - why would Ryan have even thought he was setting you up for a love connection?"
 
"I kinda pushed him and I think he just picked the first guy who was free tonight."
 
"What's the rush?"
 
Maybe it was because things seem to be going so well for you and Karen. Maybe I realized how badly I screwed up my chances with you and I wanted to forget for two seconds.
 
"I just wanted to go out and have some fun tonight."
 
He broke out into a wide grin. "So then mission accomplished!"
 
"Jim!" She slapped his leg with her hand. Then she let it linger there a second too long. He cleared his throat and she suddenly pulled back.
 
She glanced over at him, almost afraid to meet his eyes, her hand still warm from where it had rested on his jeans. When she looked at him - really looked - she noticed something new.
 
"Hey, what are you doing here so late on a Friday night?" she asked softly.
 
Jim sighed. "I went out with Karen after work. She dropped me back here to pick up my car. When I saw yours was still here and the lights were on I thought I should check and see if you were okay."
 
Pam stiffened at the mention of Karen's name. "I'm fine. You should probably be getting home or back to Karen or wherever you were going."
 
She hadn't meant her voice to slip into that tone. She didn't like the way she sounded but she couldn't keep all the bitterness inside. It was just too hard to accept that the door that he'd left open for so long was finally closed to her. Even all the months he was gone, she still harbored hope that one day she'd have the strength to walk through. Naive as she was, she never dreamed that someone else could take her place.
 
He didn't look at her. "Karen and I broke up," he said as though it wasn't the best thing she'd heard since May - maybe ever.
 
Her heart skipped a beat. Or two, she wasn't really sure but she did maintain enough composure to not start jumping up and down in celebration. She slipped her hand into his and squeezed. "Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?"
 
He looked down at his hand surrounding hers like it wasn't even a part of him. "You've had a bad week. We don't need to talk about this now."
 
"I think we do," she whispered. Then she took a deep breath and made the leap she'd been utterly terrified of taking for months. "Did it have anything to do with... me? With us?"
 
Slowly he raised his eyes to hers. He was searching for something there and he nodded as though he'd found it.
 
"Jim," she barely got out, her lips finding his of their own volition. His arms snaked around her and her hands twined instinctively into his hair. She was just wondering how she'd be able to face her coworkers on Monday if she started doing to Jim all the things she wanted to do to him on this couch right now when there was a loud noise at the door. They both leapt to their feet just as one of the night cleaning crew came in pushing a trash can and pulling a vacuum cleaner behind him.
 
He didn't seem at all surprised to see them and so they felt no need to explain their presence. Wordlessly, they gathered their things and headed for the elevator. As soon as the doors closed, she dropped her bag and walked into his arms, which were waiting for her. He gathered her up and wondered briefly if he should be concerned at the way his heart was racing.
 
"I'm sorry you had such a bad week, Pam," he murmured into her hair.
 
A week, a month, a year, ten years - doesn't really matter anymore. She giggled. She just couldn't help herself.
 
He pulled back, confused but with a smile. "What?"
 
"It's after midnight," she laughed. "New start. New day."
 
"I have a good feeling about today." He brushed his fingers over her cheek. "Hey, question. I know you're dying to go to Phyllis' wedding with Andy, but do you think could possibly save a dance for me?" he teased.
 
"Always," she said just before her lips found his again.
 
********************************************************************************
 
As it turned out, they didn't have to wait for Phyllis' wedding for that dance. Although later, as they moved together in the darkness of her living room he didn't want to there to be any room for misinterpretation.
 
"Just to make sure we're on the same page," he said low, "I want you to know that I consider this dancing and not swaying."
 
She smiled into his chest her eyes raising to meet his as the song ended. "Agreed. And just so we're absolutely clear, I'm in love with you."
 
When he told her, again, that he was really, truly in love with her, she marveled at how she couldn't even remember the previous five days. But she was positive she would never forget this night.