And for the tiniest moment it's all not true

Jim was planning a romantic night with Karen for their six month anniversary. Dinner, dancing, candlelight, ease, and love. Yes, he had become more determined than ever to fall head over heels in love with Karen. And she was almost perfect. Gorgeous, intelligent, witty, sexy. The pro list went on and on and on. There was only a single con. One life-altering, unshakeable, world-shattering con.

She wasn’t Pam. She never would be.

And sitting in the middle of the ladies bathroom with Toby, Ryan, and Kevin, he kept up his content facade and told himself that if he pretended to be happy long enough that eventually he would believe his own lie. In those other moments, in that silence, he would imagine his six year anniversary with Pam. They were happy, and in love, and forever.

But it was all just a dream. This was his life now, and he was more determined than ever to make it work, to make it right, to make it last. And if he did that, then maybe, one day, far far in the future, he wouldn’t want for things he could never have anymore.