The elevator ride had been silent with only the occasional glance and squeak from the elevator itself. There was an uneasiness that filled the tiny cramped space and once the doors slid open, both Jim and Pam started breathing again.

“Wow,” Jim said, holding open the front door for Pam.

She smiled as she passed him. “Is this awkward?” she asked, looking up at him as they walked to his car.

“Um, kinda,” he replied, digging his keys from his pocket.

“I’m sorry. I’m just…”

“What?” he asked, unlocking the passenger side door.

“…just a little nervous.”

“Good.“ he said, as Pam gave a look of confusion. He continued, “Me too.”

“Really? You don’t look nervous,” she said, stepping towards the car.

“Oh yeah. I’m shaking in my boots right now. Can’t you tell?”

“Not at all. I didn’t even realize you were wearing boots,” Pam deadpanned as she looked down at his feet.

Jim chuckled. “Well, I thought it’d be better to wear the boots instead of the high heels. You know, mix it up a bit.”

Pam smiled as she reached for the door handle of the car. As she did, Jim apparently had the same thought. He reached for the handle, pulled the car door open, and noticed Pam stumbling towards him with the door.

“What are you doing?” he asked, with a curious grin on his face.

Pam stopped and looked towards the door. Her hand was under his on the door handle. “You’ve got me pinned.”

Jim looked at the door handle and retracted his hand quickly. “Whoops,” he said, lifting his brow.

Pam shook her head as she sat down into the car. Her smile widened after he shut her door and jogged around the car to get in.

Before putting the car into gear, he rested his hands in his lap, sighed, and looked over to Pam. “So, where to first?”

“Um, you asked me out on the date. Don’t you have a plan?”

“Well, I would normally take you to a fancy restaurant or out to a movie or something generic like that but, I figured since you didn‘t want to overdo it tonight, that you had other things in mind.”

“I don’t,” she said, shaking her head and giggling. “But, you did mention dinner before, so…”

Nodding jokingly, Jim replied, “Great.” He chuckled as he lifted his hands from his lap and put the car in reverse. He rested his hand on the headrest of Pam’s seat as he turned to look behind him.

Pam darted her eyes over to where his warm hand rested next to her cheek. She caught the look on his face and smiled to herself. He was diligently checking his mirrors, and then turned to look over his right shoulder again to back up. As he did, Pam noted the way he kept his lips in a straight thin line when he squinted to see behind the car.

Once they were on the highway, Jim broke the silence between them. “So, what did you decide?”

“Oh, I was supposed to decide on something?” she asked, jokingly.

“Yeah, because I have something in mind that you’re probably not going to enjoy.”

Pam looked over at Jim as he changed lanes. “What did you have in mind?”

“Nah. I’ll keep it to myself.”

“Where?” she asked again.

Jim smiled. “Um…Chili’s?”

Pam laughed and placed a hand over her mouth. “Are you kidding me? I have one too many memories in that Chili’s. Also, I think I’m still not allowed in.”

“Good point,” Jim remarked, nodding.

“That would be hilarious though,” she said, smiling and seriously thinking about his offer. “Why not? Let’s go.”

“Are you sure? I mean, they may not let you in, you know, since you caused that huge scene after you fell off of the barstool.”

Pam held out her hands. “Hey, it wasn’t my fault Dwight exposed himself to all the patrons eating that night!”

Jim shivered in disgust. “Ugh. Don’t remind me!” he said as Pam giggled.

“No seriously,” she straightened up, “Let’s go there.”

“Okay, but if there are posters of your face plastered everywhere, I don’t know you.”

“That’s perfectly understandable.”

After they arrived at the infamous Chili’s, they got a table immediately and quietly read over their menus. Every now and then, Pam could feel Jim looking over the top of his menu. She didn’t look up as to not catch him staring at her. For some reason, she liked that he was attentive and intrigued.

Finally, the waitress came to take their orders and rushed off. Jim tapped his fingers lightly on the table as he glanced around the restaurant. He smiled when his gaze went towards Pam.

“So…do you have anything you want to do after our dinner?”

Pam placed her napkin in her lap and folded it neatly. She replied to him while looking at her lap. “Whatever you want to do is fine with me.”

Jim played with the salt shaker in front of him. “Okay.”

Getting tired of the weird atmosphere that they’d created with preconceived notions and fears, Pam decided to deal with the awkward mood in the air.

“So, what’s something that happened while you were away? We need to catch up,” she said, flicking the salt shaker with her finger.

Jim looked up as the salt shaker fell out of his grasp and spilt on the table. “That’s not good, Pam. Look what you’ve done. It’s bad luck.”

“Nah, that’s not bad luck. That’s just salt,” she said, grinning

“Touché. Okay….something I haven’t filled you in on,” he said, tapping a finger to his chin. “Um, in Stamford, I once spent a whole day looking for a bag of chips. Oh, and another day we played video games for team-building exercises. And, I think I killed more of my own men than I did the opposing team.”

“Wow. So, pretty much the same productivity you’d get here.”

“Exactly,” he said. “What about you? What’s something that I missed out on?”

Pam fiddled with her napkin on her lap again. “Um, I promised Michael that I’d have a child with him if we were both single in thirty years.”

“That’s just not right, Pam,” Jim said, shaking his head.

“Trust me, I’ll be unable to have children in thirty years. If not, I’ll lie.”

Jim chuckled. Pam continued, “I went out on a blind date a long time ago.”

“I know,” he said, running finger over the grooves in the table. Pam was taken aback. How did he know? She hadn’t told him.

“I found out from Michael at that paper convention a few months back. How did that go?“ he asked, quietly.

Pam wasn’t sure if Jim was hurt that she mentioned that date or not. He was certainly acting defensively about it.

“Oh, the guy was totally wrong for me. He could’ve easily been Andy or Dwight’s distant cousin.”

“Really?” Jim asked, a light sparking in his eyes.

“Oh yeah. He drew on his napkin the whole night, blatantly stared down my shirt and treated me like I didn’t know what I was talking about.”

“What did you talk about?”

“Art, mostly. Well, he talked about his cartoons, I talked about art.”

“Two completely different things,” he said as they both nodded.

Jim fell silent again as he started towards the table top. Pam knew bringing up their past probably wasn’t the best conversation to be having at the dinner table. To ease the newly acquired tension that filled the booth, she just needed to be honest again.

“Hey, I just wanted to apologize.”

Jim quickly looked up. “What for?”

“Just…you know, everything.”

“Why? You haven’t done anything.”

“I know. That’s what I’m apologizing for. I didn’t exactly contact you after I called off the wedding. I didn’t make any attempt to track you down. I thought about it but…I just…couldn’t.”

“Yeah. Me either.”

“And, I think I would just like to kinda clear the air. I mean, we can’t move on if we’re constantly doubting, right?

“Yeah,” Jim said, with a smile tempting at his lips.

“So….”

Luckily, the waitress had brought out their food before Pam could get too deep into a conversation she’d never thought she’d have in a Chili’s.

Before the waitress left their table, Jim asked the waitress, “Do you recognize this woman?” as he pointed at Pam. The waitress looked and shook her head. Jim glanced at Pam as he smiled. “Okay, I was just wondering,” he said.

After the waitress was out of ear shot, Pam leaned forward over her food. “What was that for?”

“Just making sure those wanted posters weren’t still hanging in the kitchen.”

They both chuckled. “So…you better hurry up and eat,” Jim suggested.

“Why?”

“I just thought of something we can do but we gotta hurry.”

“Why?” she asked again.

“It’s almost sunset,” Jim said, cocking his head to the side and smirking.

----

After their dinner at Chili’s, Jim and Pam rushed to Jim’s car.

“What’s the big deal about sunset?”

“You’ll see,” he said, opening the car door for her. “Don’t you trust me?”

“I do,” she said, smiling.

“Good. Now, get in the car,” he said, nodding towards the passenger seat.

The car ride down the highway was almost silent. Pam watched as Jim sped his way to their destination. Pam giggled at how attentive Jim was to the road while he was speeding. Every now and then he would glance over to her and several times he asked if she had her seatbelt on.

“We’re almost there,” Jim said, looking over and smiling in Pam’s direction.

“Almost where?” she asked, coyly.

Jim pursed his lips. “Almost….to the place that I’m taking you.”

“Good answer,” she said, nodding.

Jim then slowly pushed on the brakes and tensed up. He mumbled, “Please don’t turn around” to himself as he checked his mirrors.

“What?” Pam asked, confused.

“Oh no,” Jim said, pressing his breaks harder.

“What’s going on?” Pam asked again, intently looking at the side of Jim’s face.

“Uh…I think we’re gonna miss our sunset,” Jim stated quietly.

“Why?” Pam asked, furrowing her brow.

Pam’s question was quickly answered when an array of red and blue lights filled the inside of Jim’s car.

"That's why," he said, pulling the car over to the shoulder.