She didn't even look up from her desk anymore. Apparently some of her coworkers had been paying more attention to her than she thought. "...courage and honesty. Well those aren't Pam's strong points." The words had been running through her head all week and they kept getting louder. Pam thought to herself: I broke off an engagement. I dared to choose a life that wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been brave enough to be honest with myself. Ugh, what did they know? Maybe more than she knew, considering the instant insight these two relative strangers had gained from her "motel art." Her Drawing I instructor had always encouraged her to delve deeper and pick a subject matter that was more personal than a stapler or a floral still life, but as hard as she tried, her mind kept throwing road blocks in front of her creative eye and the pages remained blank.

Pam shook off these thoughts and decided she wasn't able to concentrate on her work because she needed to eat her lunch. Quietly, she made her way to the kitchen and pulled her bag out of the fridge. She sat down at a table in the break room with a magazine and got herself situated. The corner market she goes to when she only needs a few things was out of mixed berry yogurt, so she had to settle for peach. She began to enjoy the fruit on the bottom, along with the silly article about hot fashion trends re-emerging from the ‘80s when Jim came in, jingling change in his hand.

They hadn't exactly been friendly with each other since Phyllis' wedding, and she was pretty sure their already flailing friendship might be on its last legs. It seemed like they were both giving up.

"Hey," he sighed after a few seconds of awkward silence.

Pam looked up at him and with a defeated little smile, she returned the greeting.

Jim started to slide his coins into the vending machine. "Your, ah, drawing of our office building looks really good."

"Thanks. It was one of the pieces I submitted for my art show. Michael really liked it, too," as she said that, she wondered if he even knew about the show.

"Yeah, how'd that go?" Jim asked as he turned toward her with his eyes on his newly purchased bottle of water.

Pam didn't say anything. She continued to look at him with her forehead crinkled until he looked up at her.

"What," he said with his eyes darting back and forth. "I can't ask?"

Oscar and Gil's words were still going through her head when she heard herself sigh, "Do you really care?"

Jim pulled his chin into his neck in surprise and lifted his expressive eyebrows. He opened his mouth to say "Of course!" or even "Where did that come from?!" but instead, nothing came out. Before he even had a chance to formulate an appropriate response, Pam continued to speak.

"I didn't mean for that to come across so cold. I'm just..." she paused. "I'm just so sick of us tiptoeing around each others personal lives. I wish we could be honest with one another, you know what I mean?"

He nodded his head slowly and pulled out a chair at her table. He sat down and took a swig from his bottle.

Pam was a little relieved that he was receptive to her words because she had never been so forward. "You've always encouraged me to pursue art, and here I had a show. Because of our pettiness, you missed it. It's both our faults that these missteps keep happening. I just hope we can repair some of the damage."

"Me too," he said as he fixed his eyes on the spoon in her hand. "This is going to be hard."

Pam couldn't resist. "That's what she said." They both let out relieved little laughs. The tiredness from her face melted away for a second as she gave a sincere smile to Jim.

"Anyways, um, I could call you and we can talk about this later?" he asked, feeling a little bit better about their situation.

"Of course. My cell is still the same. I'll be home tonight."

"Ok then. I'll see you out there," he said as he got up out of his chair. Pam nodded and watched him leave. Her eyes fell back down to her lunch, and she played with her yogurt for a second before deciding she wasn't hungry anymore. She could hear her heart beating loudly in her ears. A few deep breaths and she felt her pulse go back to normal. She laughed out loud to herself because she couldn't believe she had been so confident in her words as she spoke to him. She also realized that those nagging voices that had been in her head all week weren't there anymore. Pam gathered the remains of her lunch, threw her garbage away and returned the uneaten portion to the fridge. As she walked through the office back to her desk, she felt brave enough to make eye contact with Jim and gave him a little smile. He looked her right in the eye and did the same.