Slowly, Pam climbed the stairs to her apartment. One arm was full of her work things: her purse, her coat, and the handful of dream girl letters she'd gotten this week. She wasn't sure what to expect at this point; it still seemed so surreal. She was pretty sure Jim wasn't here-yet. At least, his car hadn't been in her parking lot. And yes, she'd looked.

On the drive home, she had figured she might as well prepare herself just a little bit-just in case. But he hadn't been waiting for her down in the parking lot, and unless he'd walked from several blocks away, chances were good that he wasn't going to be waiting on her doorstep either. Maybe that was a good thing, though. She felt like she needed a little time to adjust to all of this. On the one hand, Jim loved her, and he'd told her so-again. But had he only said that because he'd read her letters?

And more importantly, how had he gotten a hold of her letters in the first place? Not for the first time she wished she'd had the guts to just talk to Jim instead of writing him those stupid love letters and then throwing them away. This situation was so bizarre. Things like this weren't supposed to happen to a grown woman. Maybe in junior high when you had a crush on the star soccer player that sat behind you in English, but not when you were close to thirty and the guy you had a crush on was actually the guy you were in love with, and, instead of sitting behind you in school, he sat at a desk, at work, where you were both supposed to be doing your jobs and not falling in love with each other.

And especially not when that guy might still have a girlfriend. Pam quickly dismissed that thought. It was true she didn't know the details of their break-up, but she was practically positive that Jim and Karen were no longer together. There was just no way that he would tell her all those things when he was still with Karen, right?

It occurred to her then that the last time he'd confessed his feelings she, herself, hadn't exactly been single. But there was a big difference between telling an engaged girl that you loved her and telling a single girl that you loved her while you were still dating someone else. Wasn't there?

Pam's thoughts trailed off as she looked up and noticed the folded piece of paper taped on her door. She quickly pulled it down and let herself into her apartment. The note was handwritten and it gave her a little thrill to see her name scrawled across the piece of paper in Jim's big block letters. So this was what he'd meant by "further instructions."

Hey Pam,

I feel like I should tell you a few things before this goes any further. First, though, I'd just like to ask that you hear me out, and not try to call me or come find me before you give me a chance to explain myself.

So, here's the thing: I didn't steal your letters. Well, I guess, technically, I stole two of them, but that was only because I had no other way of getting them and I really didn't want them to go to waste.

But I have read your letters-all of them, in fact. Before you freak out, though, just listen to me. It's okay. I know we still have a lot to talk about, but I just want you to know that I read them all and I still decided to tell you that I love you. And I do love you, Pam. I do. I'm still in love with you-always have been, in fact. So don't even try to doubt it, because it's so...impossible. I just can't help it.

With love,

Jim

P.S. I have a lot more to say to you, but first I think I need to do some laundry and as luck would have it, I am completely out of fabric softener. Meet me in the appropriate aisle. I promise it'll be worth it.

Pam finished reading the letter and then carried it with her into her room. Her eyes had teared up a little bit as she had read it, and she tried to wipe them carefully, so as not to smudge the little bit of makeup she'd put on for work. She set the letter on her desk and sat down on the bed. At this point she didn't know what to do. She really wanted to go talk to Jim, but she wasn't sure she'd be able to face him without having a complete meltdown. It was just so much to take in.

Only half an hour ago, she'd been planning to confront Jim about the dream girl letters she'd been getting and force him to explain his bizarre behavior this last week. And now, she had so many questions that she wanted to have answered, but she just wasn't sure she'd be able to ask them without turning into a wreck. And she didn't want Jim to see her that way. Not now, when he'd just admitted that he was still in love with her.

Then there were her own letters to think about. She had no idea how he had found them unless he'd been taking them right out of her garbage can, but he had said that he hadn't been stealing them. She couldn't even remember what she'd written in some of them, but she knew for a fact that the words "Pam Halpert" had been recorded in bright blue ink. She groaned a little bit, wondering what he'd thought of that particular letter.

With a sigh, she sank backwards onto her bed. She could feel the beginnings of a headache, and she hoped shutting her eyes for a minute would be enough to stave it off. But even though part of her wanted to just stay there long enough to process everything that had just happened, there was another, more insistent, part that had her practically bouncing out of her skin in anticipation.

Now was not the time to lie on her bed. Jim was waiting for her! Jim! Her Jim! They still had a lot to talk about, but he was there in the grocery store, waiting to kiss her! She just didn't want to wait any longer than they already had.

Pulling herself up off the bed, she quickly changed out of her work clothes and into some jeans and her favorite sweater. It was only 4:50 by the time she made it back out to her car, and she was glad she'd left the office early.

As soon as she'd read Jim's postscript, Pam had known exactly where to find him. She'd even conjured up a mental image of him standing all alone in the store where they'd gone shopping for Kevin's presents on Michael's birthday. She wasn't sure why he'd asked to meet there, of all places, but as long as they'd be able to go someplace quieter to talk, she didn't have a problem with it.

-----

As she parked in front of the grocery store, she had to take a few deep breaths before she felt steady enough to walk in. She headed toward the aisle on the end that was marked "Laundry/Cleaning Supplies."

He wasn't there.

She checked the nearest aisles nervously. She knew this was the same store. Tensing a little, she tried not to overreact as she made her way along the back of the store, looking down each aisle as she passed it. Where was he?

"Pam Beesly to the customer service counter, please. Pam Beesly to the customer service counter."

The teenage voice over the loudspeaker sounded bored. Pam shook her head and smiled. Of course Jim would do something like that. He had never been one to just let things happen; there always had to be some big production. As she approached the counter, she smiled again, thinking of all the trouble he must have gone through to make his plan work. First with the Dream Girl letters and now getting the store employees in on it. He really was adorably over the top sometimes.

She frowned slightly when she reached the counter and there was still no sign of Jim.

"Can I help you?" the girl behind the counter asked, still in that same bored tone.

"I'm Pam Beesly. I was paged?"

"Oh." The girl paused for a minute and looked at Pam more closely. "Seriously? You're Pam?"

"Um...yeah."

"Huh. Well then, I guess this is for you."

With one final look of disbelief, the girl handed her a folded piece of paper and went back to the magazine she'd been reading.

When she unfolded the paper, Pam found yet another letter.

Dear Pam,

I'm glad to see you figured out the clue! Sorry if you were hoping to find me in person, instead of me in a letter. But I still have a lot to explain, and writing it down is the only way I can make sure that I get it all to come out right.

So as I was saying, I just can't help loving you. You're the girl for me. The only girl. Oh, and Karen and I broke up last weekend. Wow. Okay, that is not how I meant to say that. What I meant to say was that Karen and I have been drifting apart for a while now. I wanted to try to fix it with her, because honestly, I did like her, but then I found out how you felt. I mean, Karen's great, but no matter how much I may have wanted to at one point, I could never feel as strongly about her as I did about you.

Pam, I had no idea that you loved me. I didn't even know you liked me. I mean, I know I wasn't really paying much attention, so it was probably harder for me to tell, but I just...

The words trailed off and Pam noticed a few words that had been crossed out. Then:

I'm sorry I didn't act like your friend, but I think you can probably understand how hard that would've been for me. I loved you, Pam. I really, really loved you. And I didn't want to get hurt anymore. Actually, it turns out that it hurt a lot more to not be your friend than it did to be friends with you while you were engaged, but I guess I just didn't want to have to keep trying to get over you. I thought that if I could just move on with Karen, I'd be able to keep from falling for you again. I just didn't realize that I'd never really fallen out of love with you at all.

Hoping you'll forgive me,

Jim

P.S. Speaking of forgiveness, do you think Michael and Dwight ever really forgave each other after their big brawl? I mean, what do you think would happen if we ever got them back in that dojo? Maybe we should ask the instructor about a group rate for lessons. I'm sure Corporate would approve it as a team-building activity, don't you think? Anyway, would you mind stopping by the dojo to ask? Thanks! I'll make it up to you soon.

When she finished reading, she looked up to see the girl at the service counter openly staring at her. With a faint blush of embarrassment, Pam turned to walk back out to her car.

"Hey!" the girl called out.

Pam turned to face her once more. "Yeah?"

"Your boyfriend's really cute. How'd you get him to go out with you?"

"Oh, we're not...uh... Actually, I don't really think that's any of your business." Pam made a defiant face at the clerk. Who did she think she was, anyway?

"Well, do you know if he has a younger brother?"

"Um...no, he doesn't."

"Oh. Too bad," she replied, shrugging her shoulders.

My boyfriend? Pam wondered if Jim had actually called himself that, or if the girl had just assumed they were together. Either way, as she climbed back into her car to drive to the dojo, she knew she could definitely get used to hearing people refer to Jim as her boyfriend. Especially now that she knew for sure that he had broken up with Karen. She felt herself sit up a little straighter as she started the car.

-----

She walked into the dojo in the middle of a class, but before she even had a chance to look around for Jim, the instructor stopped what he was saying and ran over toward her.

"Pam Beesly?" he asked. She nodded, and he handed Pam a plain white envelope. "This is for you. Oh, and Jim said you would like to schedule a lesson for your children?"

"He said what?"

"Um...I'm sorry. He said you wanted to schedule a lesson for a birthday party. We do children's parties. I just thought he meant..." the instructor trailed off, looking a little confused.

"Oh, no. Sorry. Um...I think that's supposed to be for my boss, actually." Pam smiled sheepishly.

"Wait-your boss? Have you been here before? You look familiar to me. Are you a friend of Dwight's?"

"Uh...no. Anyway, I'd better go," she said quickly. "Thanks for giving me this."

"No problem, Pam. You can call later about the party, okay?"

"Okay!" she said.

She hoped he wouldn't hear the relief in her voice as she hurried out the door. Pam shook her head as she pictured Jim describing her to the instructor, probably telling him that she would want to discuss party arrangements right away. Such a dork, she thought. For a quick second it occurred to her that maybe Jim had actually made it sound like the two of them really had children and were planning the party for one of them. That was stupid, though. Jim wouldn't have actually said that, right?

Pam slid back into the driver's seat, glad that her car was still warm. She glanced around the quiet street and noticed for the first time that the sky was filled with the last brilliant hues of a late-winter sunset.

As beautiful as the evening was though, Pam had more pressing matters on her mind. She quickly unfolded Jim's letter and switched on the overhead light so she could read.

Hello again, Pam!

Are you having fun with this yet? I thought it might be a good idea to send you to a few of the places where I fell in love with you. Just to remind you of the fun times we used to have before this all got so screwed up. Anyway, I just realized that I got totally off-topic in my last letter. I meant to tell you how this all began.

I don't know when you started writing me letters, but my part started when I came into the office one day and found a note from a woman named Marsha. She said that she worked as a cleaning lady in our office and that she had come across something that she wanted to show me. I was intrigued, so I agreed to meet her for coffee.

We met up, and she told me that she had found some letters that you had written to me, but that you didn't know that she'd found them, and she wasn't sure if she should give them to me or not. Maybe I should have just refused, or tried to talk to you about them. I guess that would have been the nicer thing to do, but the thing is we weren't really talking much at the time, and I just... I missed you. And then this woman came along and offered me a chance to find out what you'd been thinking lately, and... I'm really sorry that I went behind your back about this stuff, but I honestly didn't know what I was getting into. I had no idea that you had been so open in those letters.

Anyway, I thought Marsha was a little crazy at first, but I realize now that she was probably just trying to protect you in case I turned out to be a jerk or something. Which is probably why she made me agree to a trade. She said that she would give me one of your letters if I'd give her a letter from me to you. That's when I remembered the dream girl letters my mom made me start writing as a kid.

At first I had no idea that she was delivering my dream girl letters to you. But by the time I found out, I didn't really mind. You are my dream girl, Pam. In fact, you're even better than any of my dreams.

With love,

Jim

P.S. As second in command at Dunder-Mifflin, Scranton, I have just been informed that our office is in danger of being infiltrated by one, Agent Michael Scarn. I need you to meet me on the roof so we can discuss the security measures in place there. I suspect an aerial attack.

Pam rolled her eyes and smiled to herself as she started her car and began to drive back to the office. She was glad she'd thought to bring her coat with her. She had always liked hanging out on the roof with Jim, but it would be cold at this time of night.

As she drove, she thought about what she'd just read. It was such a strange story that she couldn't help but think it was true. After all, why would Jim have made up something like that? He wouldn't have. But now that she knew how he'd been getting her letters, she wondered how Marsha had found them. And even more than that, she wondered what had possessed Marsha to offer the letters to Jim.