Memorial Day
By Jody E.

Note: This story contains no spoilers for The X-Men III Movies, as I haven’t
seen it yet.

Jim sat on one of the tasteful but uncomfortable Naugahyde chairs in the lobby
of the corporate offices of Dunder Mifflin. His last training session had ended
a half an hour ago, but he was afraid to leave the lobby. Pam was supposed to
meet him here at 5 PM and no way was he going to miss her. It was ridiculous for
him to be feeling so nervous, but he had been feeling edgy all day today.

The training had gone surprisingly well. Of course a lot of it was taking
aptitude tests and listening to motivational speeches, which, for the most part,
were anything but motivating. But part of it, particularly yesterday’s session,
involved role-playing and improvisation. There were eight people in his class,
five men and three women, all of whom were considered to be “on the rise” in the
paper business. Their instructor, Paul, who was actually the director of a
professional Improv troupe, had them act out various scenarios that might arise
in their working environment, such as having to fire somebody (ack!) or giving
performance reviews. Jim’s natural gift for mimicry, plus his sense of fun had
led him to really make an effort in his scenes. He accepted one performance
review as woeful Kevin, which made everybody laugh, and when he fired somebody
as Michael, his stammering and inability to actually say the words, “You’re
fired,” caused Jan who had stopped by briefly, to choke on her coffee. His
enthusiasm was catching, and as a result, the class really got a lot out of the
session. Paul came up to him afterwards and was disappointed to hear that he
wasn’t from New York. He suggested that Jim might be interested in Community
Theater, or a local Improv class. The whole experience was surprising, and
rather gratifying.

But as fun as yesterday’s session had been, today’s was just plain torture. More
evaluations, and questionnaires, more literature to read. And all day Jim knew
that Pam was here in the city, having lunch with Jan, and there was nothing he
could do but try to look interested in the proper way to fill out an Estimated
Sales Report, and the intricacies of the new sales software package.

Fortunately, it was the beginning of the Memorial Day Weekend, so the session
let out early. His hotel was only a couple of blocks from Dunder Mifflin, so Jim
ran back and deposited his briefcase full of informative literature, brushed his
teeth, combed his hair, (not that it did much good) and dashed back to the
lobby, where he sat, pretending to read USA Today and trying not to fidget.

Thank God, she was early. Jim looked up at quarter to five, to see Pam pushing
through the revolving glass doors. Jim’s heart leapt at the sight of her,
looking as fresh and pretty as a May afternoon. An ordinary, small town girl,
perhaps, but more beautiful than any supermodel to him.

He jumped up, leaving his newspaper on the table, and went over to meet her. She
gave him a big smile and he returned it and they stood there, awkwardly for a
moment as he tried to decide whether to hug her or kiss her, or whether that
would be too forward right in the lobby of Dunder Mifflin. He eventually settled
for saying “Hi.”

“Hey,” she responded, amused at his obvious dilemma,” So, is your training all
done?”

“Yep. The brainwashing is complete. I am now Dunder Mifflin’s slave for life.
Let’s get out of here, please?”

They exited through the revolving doors out onto the street. After a cooler than
normal Spring, it was finally beginning to feel like summer, but without the
heat that summer brings to the City. A perfect late spring afternoon.

“Do you need to go back to the hotel? Maybe drop off your shopping bag?”

“Yeah, that’s a really good idea. I’ve been walking for hours, and these shoes
may have been a mistake.”

He looked down at the high heels, obviously worn for the meeting with Jan.

“Well, we’re not doing anything too fancy, so you can change if you want. I
think I will, too. I’ve been stuck in a suit all week.”

They had decided against trying to get tickets to a Broadway musical. Everything
good was sold out on line, and Jim didn’t have time during the day to go to the
box office or TKTS booth to see if he could get anything last minute. They ended
up deciding not to make any specific plans but just hang out, maybe see a movie.
As they walked toward the hotel, Pam had to walk quickly to keep up with Jim’s
long stride. When she stumbled slightly on the uneven pavement, he noticed, and
slowed down, taking her hand. “Sorry. I always forget not to walk so fast. We’re
not in any hurry.”

When they got to the Marriott, Pam discovered her room was opposite his on the
third floor. Dunder Mifflin kept two double rooms year round, for visitors to
the corporate headquarters. Until today, Jim had shared his room with a guy
named Fred from the management training class, and two of the women in that
class had shared the room that was now Pam’s. But now that the training was
over, Fred, Peggy and Jill were on their way home to Albany. They had invited
him for a drink with them at the hotel bar last night, but he hadn’t felt like
it. The girls had sounded disappointed, but Jim didn’t care. Fred hadn’t gotten
back to the room until after 3:00 AM, and was really hurting in the seminars all
morning. Jim was thankful he hadn’t gone. The classes today had been awful
enough, without a hangover.

Jim walked Pam to her door; “I’ll meet you in the lobby in...Well, how long do
you need?”

“Fifteen minutes?”

“Great. See ya in fifteen.”

Jim was very glad to get out of his suit and put on a pair of jeans and a dark
green polo shirt. He decided that there was time to quickly shave again, just in
case, and he was back down in the lobby at the allotted time. Pam was already
there, wearing jeans and her pink striped shirt. She carried her pink cardigan
sweater and her purse “It feels wonderful to get back to my sneakers. “ she
said, “I’m not much of a person for heels.”

Jim shook his head at her Keds, “Oh too bad. There goes next year’s whitest
sneakers award. One night in New York City and they’ll never be white again.”

“Well, that’s just a risk I am prepared to take.” She held out her hand and Jim
took it, “So where do you want to go?”

“Are you hungry? There are a bunch of restaurants on this street.”

“Actually, I’m starving. I was too nervous to eat much at my lunch today with
Jan.”

“Well, then let’s walk down this way, towards Broadway and see what looks good.”

They left the hotel and turning right, walked down the street, holding hands,
Jim careful to watch his stride, “So how was your lunch with Jan? Besides nerve
wracking, that is?”

Pam stopped walking, “Oh Jim, it sounds so cool, “she said, bouncing around a
little, the way she always did when she was excited about something, Jim loved
seeing her like that.” I’ll be coming into the city every weekend during July
and August and taking classes in Graphic Design. Then for two weeks in
September, I’ll be working with the Graphic Design department. I won’t get paid
for the weekends, but I can stay at the hotel, for free, so I’ll only have to
pay for food, and well, this could lead to a job offer or who knows what! “

“Pam...that sounds great!” he put his arms out and she went into them and he
gave her a big hug, wrapping his arms around her, “I am so happy for you.”

“I can’t believe I wasn’t going to do this!”

“Well, you changed your mind just in time. And Stamford’s less than an hour from
New York, so maybe I can see you sometimes when you’re here.”

“We’ll see, “ she said with a grin, “Ooh…there’s a Chinese restaurant. Let’s
have Chinese food!”

“Chinese?” Jim sounded doubtful.

“Sure. Don’t you like Chinese food?”

“Uh…sure. Chinese is fine.”

They went into the restaurant and were greeted by the waiter who showed them to
a table near the window. It was early and the place was almost empty. He
returned almost immediately with a pot of tea, a bowl of crispy noodles, and two
huge menus. “I be right back,” he said in strongly accented English, “to take
your order.”

As soon as he left, Pam started to giggle, “This is awful, “ she said, “I just
keep getting this terrible picture in my head of...”

“Ping.” Jim finished, “I know. Me too. Let’s face it...Michael has turned us
into racists.” He shook his head, sadly.

“And we used to be such nice people, too.” She opened her menu, trying to speak
seriously, “What should we order?”

“I know what I want. Beef with Broccoli.”

Pam looked at him over her menu. His was still flat on the table. “That was
quick. You didn’t even look at the menu.”

He shrugged, “Yeah, I know. Beef with Broccoli is pretty much the only thing I
ever eat in Chinese restaurants.”

Pam stared at him, “Why?”

“Well, there are only three things in it...beef, broccoli and sauce, all of
which I recognize. I’m afraid that I’m not a big fan of mystery food.”

Pam looked scandalized, “James Halpert...are you telling me that you’re a picky
eater?”

He smiled sheepishly, “I’m not picky. I just like normal, everyday type food.
Stuff like hamburgers and pizza and spaghetti, “ he brightened, “I like the food
at Chili’s.”

Pam sniffed in mock disdain, “Oh sure...praise the restaurant that has banned me
for life! Well, I hate to tell you this, Jim, but you may not order Beef with
Broccoli tonight.”

Jim raised his eyebrows, “Oh yeah? Sez who?”

“Sez me, that’s who. Listen, Jim. The only reason that you and I are sitting
here in this restaurant in New York City, together, is because we both decided
to take a gamble...get out of our ruts. Am I right?”

Jim nodded, suppressing a smile. ”You are absolutely right.”

“So, tell me, how is it getting out of your rut if you order the same Chinese
food that you’ve been eating since you were a kid?”

Jim nodded again, “Good point. Very good point. Okay, Miss Beesly, what do you
suggest I order? What’s good?”

Pam shrugged, “I have no idea…all I ever order is Fried Rice!”

Jim snorted with laughter. “You are such a dork. Okay...I have an idea.” He
opened the menu and found the pages labeled Chef’s Specials, “We will each close
our eyes and point to something on one of these two pages. Whatever we point to,
we have to order. Even if it’s fried crickets or jellied duck web. And we have
to try both dishes. Deal?”

Pam’s eyes gleamed, “Deal.”

“You go first. And you’d better hurry. The waiter is coming over.”

Pam closed her eyes, and her finger hovered over the pages. Finally it came down
and she looked. “Oh. Okay. This could be good. Happy Family. I mean, how
terrible could a dish be that’s called Happy Family? It’s got chicken and shrimp
and pork. And vegetables.”

Jim grinned, “Well, if it’s anything like my family it probably has nuts in it,
too.”

Pam giggled, “Now it’s your turn.”

He closed his eyes and pointed, “Hmmm. Oh, Moo Shu Pork. I’ve heard of that.” He
didn’t mention that Katie had ordered it once, when they were going out. “It
comes with pancakes.”

“Just think of it as breakfast.” Pam suggested.

They were both still laughing when the waiter came over to take their order.

“So, now what would you like to do? “ Jim asked as they drank the last of their
tea, and Jim waited for the waiter to come back with his credit card. “Want to
see a movie?”

Pam looked thoughtful, “Well, as a matter of fact there is a movie opening today
that I would really like to see. But I just don’t know if it’s the kind of thing
you would enjoy.”

“What is it? Something with subtitles? I mean, I don’t care…whatever you want to
see..”

“Wait a minute, I’m trying to remember what it’s called…something beginning with
an X. X-Friends? No. X…”

Jim’s face lit up, “X-Men Three? My God… that’s opening today! I totally forgot!
I’ve been dying to see that!”

Pam laughed, “Duh. You’ve only had it circled on your desk calendar for the last
month! I can’t believe you forgot!”

“Well, they say that the mind is the first thing to go.” The waiter brought back
Jim’s card, along with a small plate containing two fortune cookies. Jim signed,
adding a large tip, just because he was feeling so happy, and offered the plate
to Pam. “Fortune cookie?”

Pam took one and gave the plate back to Jim. “This is my favorite part.” She
crumbled the cookie and took out the slip of paper. She frowned, “Hmmm. This
isn’t a fortune. It’s a cliché. ‘The longest journey begins with a single
step.’”

“Well, you did take a big step today. Maybe it will lead to a longer journey,”

Jim broke his cookie in half and looked at his fortune, “Now, this is profound.
‘Nothing in the world is accomplished without passion.’”

Pam grinned, “That’s what she said.”

They left the restaurant and headed back to the hotel. Jim hoped that the desk
clerk would have a movie schedule, so they could find the nearest theater. “You
know, there might be a line to get in.”

“ I don’t care. It’s gorgeous out.”

At the hotel, they discovered that X-Men III was playing at a theater about
three blocks away, starting at 7:30. “An hour, that’s perfect, “Jim said, “ Are
you tired, would you like to take a cab?”

“For three blocks? On an evening like this? No, I’m fine.”

As they walked, Jim told Pam all about his week of training, Dunder Mifflin
style. And she told him about her day of window shopping. “I did buy something
for my Mom and sister, to make up all the trouble I’ve caused them, with the
whole wedding mess.”

A line was already forming at the theater for the 7:30 show, but Pam and Jim
were near the front. Pam offered to go get the tickets, still feeling guilty
about that huge hotel phone bill from the week before, but Jim would have none
of it, “Look, Pam, it’s our first real date. So let me be ’the guy,’ and pay for
everything. After tonight, we can work something out, okay?”

“Okay.”

He came back quickly with the tickets, and they waited, watching the crowds.
Most of the true comic book geeks had caught the midnight show, the night
before, but quite a few of them were in the crowd tonight, loudly comparing
directors, CGI effects and continuity glitches among the three X-men films.
There were quite a few couples, as well, in various stages of relationships, and
a whole flock of adolescent boys, which didn’t bode well for the noise level of
the theater during the show.

Standing on line turned out to be a lot more tiring than walking. Pam’s legs
were starting to ache, so she leaned back against Jim, and he put his arms
around her waist, and they stood like that for a while. Jim didn't feel like
talking; just standing there with Pam in his arms, was all he needed to do right
then. He actually felt a pang of disappointment when the line began to move.

Action adventure flicks aren’t exactly make-out movies, Jim thought as he and
Pam found seats towards the back, away from the squads of noisy kids, who tended
to crowd towards the front. But that was just as well, as he really wanted to
see this. Still, he was very conscious of Pam, sitting next to him, his arm
draped over her shoulder, their knees touching now and again as he moved around
a bit, trying to find comfort for his long legs in that confined space.

Occasionally he turned his head to look at her, just to watch her reaction to
the movie. Sometimes she did the same thing and a couple of times they happened
to look at the same time, and smiled, comfortable with each other.

After the movie, Jim bought Pam ice cream at a nearby café. “Now if this were a
movie, we’d be eating ice cream cones, and after a few bites, we’d throw them
away. Nobody in a movie ever finishes an ice cream cone.” Jim said as they ate
their sundaes.

“I know. It’s such a waste. And then we’d have to go do that running on the
beach montage thing.”

“Yeah. I never could get the hang of running in slow motion. But, of course, if
we were in the X-Men, we would get to have super powers. Now that would be fun.”

“C’mon, “laughed Pam, “Would you really want to be blue, or all spiky? Though
that guy with the wings was awesome. That would be incredible, to fly like that,
wouldn’t it?”

“Yeah. But those wings would just get in the way all the time. I think I’d
prefer to look normal, but have hidden mental powers.”

“Like Phoenix? But, you can already move coat racks with your mind. What more do
you need?”

He laughed, and they talked about the movie for a while. Finally, as they were
getting up to leave, Jim said, “Listen, Pam. My parents are having this big
barbecue on Monday. Memorial Day. They have one every year. I figured I’d go
home for it, since I still have a lot of packing to do, and I was wondering if
you’d like to come.”

“That’s right, Monday’s a holiday, isn’t it? No work...Nice. Sure...I’d love to
come. My parents never do anything on Memorial Day.”

“Yeah, well my Dad was in Vietnam. So he always likes to do something a little
special on that day. ‘Cause he lost a lot of friends, there.”

“Oh. That’s too bad. But he got through it okay?”

“Yeah. I guess. He doesn’t ever talk about it, so…” Jim shrugged.

“Yeah. I can understand that. It’s the same thing with my uncle. Well, the only
thing we ever did on Memorial Day was go to the parade. South Williamsport,
where we lived before moving to Scranton, always had the world’s lamest Memorial
Day parade. A bunch of boy and girl scouts, Knights of Columbus, the High School
marching band and a firetruck. Oh, and a float from the Lutheran church with
people handing out pinwheels with the church’s name printed on them.”

“No dykes on bikes?”

“What?”

“My soon to be ex-roommate, Mark, lived in San Francisco for a while and there’s
this group called dykes on bikes that ride in all their parades.”

Pam laughed, “Really? That’s what they call themselves? That’s funny. Well, we
didn’t have them, I’m pretty sure. “ She thought a second, “ though we did have
tykes on bikes...does that count? Still, for all its lameness, it was a nice
parade. Everybody in town came to see it. Or be in it. Anyway, count me in for
Monday.”

By now they had reached the hotel. Almost as soon as they stepped into the
lobby, all of the comfort that Jim had felt all evening with Pam, dissolved, and
his heart began thumping wildly. He had no expectations, since this was only
their first date, and Pam had just broken up with her fiancé, and it was all too
soon for anything, or so he argued to himself, but still it felt extremely weird
to ride up in a hotel elevator with her.

“This is weird, huh.” Pam said.

Jim hoped that Pam wasn’t actually reading his mind. “Hey, what are your plans
for tomorrow?” He asked, trying to sound casual. “When do you have to get back?”

“No particular time. I guess we lose these rooms after tonight, right?”

“I don’t know. It’s a holiday weekend. I can’t imagine that anybody would be
coming into town on business. I could ask. We could go to a museum tomorrow or
something. Or do something touristy. I mean this is New York City, and all we’ve
done so far is exactly what we could have done in Scranton.”

“Yeah. Except that we never did.”

“True. Well, Pamela, here we are. Room 324. Got your key?”

Pam withdrew the key card from her purse. “Well, uh. I had a really great time.
I hope…” she looked up at Jim, eyes wide, and he pulled her close to him and
kissed her. Pam wrapped her arms around his neck and they stood there kissing
passionately, in the deserted hotel hallway. Suddenly, the elevator doors down
the hall opened with a loud mechanical squeal. Pam pulled away, as a middle aged
couple came out and headed down the hall towards them. Pam looked down at the
key card in her hands. The couple opened the door to the room two down from
Pam’s and went inside.

“Pam?” Jim said softly, “What do you want to do?”

Pam kept studying the key card, as though the answer was somehow encoded on it.
She wouldn’t look up at Jim, afraid to see the love and longing that she knew
would be written all over his face. Finally, she shook her head sadly, “I’m
sorry, “ she said, “I – I think it’s too soon. You know?”

“Yeah. I know, “ said Jim, trying to quell the desire and disappointment he felt
in equal measure, even if he hadn’t really expected more, “That’s okay. No
problem. I’ll call you tomorrow morning. Sleep well, Pam.”

“You too. Goodnight, Jim.” Determined, she stuck the card in the lock and the
tiny light blinked green.

Jim quickly walked across the hall to his room, fumbling his keycard from his
wallet. He heard Pam’s door close behind him, and turned around to look at the
empty hallway, and her bland, featureless hotel door.

He let himself into his room and flopped face down on one of the two double
beds. “ Down boy,” he lectured himself. It had been a perfect evening...better
to let it end this way. There was no rush. Someday he would make love to Pam. It
would happen, so no point in beating himself up about it tonight. Feeling
somewhat better, he got up and went into the bathroom. He got undressed and got
into bed. Thank God, at least Fred was gone. He switched on the television. The
room had pay per view porn, but that was the last thing he needed tonight, with
all of the imaginary Pam porn floating around in his head already. He flipped
the regular channels listlessly, finally ending up with Letterman.

When the phone rang, he jumped a foot. Heart thumping, he picked up the
receiver. “H-hello?”

“I have a confession to make.” It was Pam, but her voice sounded different.
There was a note to it that he had only heard hints of once before, on another
hotel phone.

“Oh yeah?”

“I’ve had Happy Family before. And also Moo Shu pork, and probably everything
else on that menu tonight. Even the spicy stuff. I love Chinese food. Roy and I
used to have it at least once or twice a month.“

Jim laughed, “Okay. So you lied a little. It doesn’t matter. Because you were
right. It was silly for me to be so closed-minded. And the food was great. No
leftovers, right?”

“But, but…I feel so guilty.” There was that note again. This was a Pam he had
never met before, except in his imagination. Seductive Pam.

“And well, you should,” he said sternly.

Pam sighed, dramatically, “I feel like I should come over there and apologize…in
person. “

“O-okay,” Jim managed to croak, even though his voice wasn’t working quite
properly. However, the rest of his body seemed to be in excellent working order.
In fact, some parts of it seemed to be putting in extra effort.

“Actually, “ she said, breathlessly, “maybe you should come over here. I don’t
want to have to put my clothes back on just to go across the hall.”

“I’ll be right there.” He slammed the phone down and leapt out of bed. He pulled
his jeans on, zipping them with some difficulty, and threw on a tee shirt.
Barefoot, he was almost out the door, when he remembered to grab his key card.

Seconds later, he was knocking on Pam’s door.

“That was quick, “ Pam said laughing, as she opened the door. Jim quickly
stepped inside and closed the door behind him. The only light in the room was
from the little nightlight over one of the beds, and from the television, where
Letterman was on mute. Pam was wearing a pale blue cotton nightshirt, more of an
oversized tee shirt than a nightgown, and her hair was loose and very curly
about her face. Jim looked down at her. She was so lovely that she took his
breath away.

“Well, here I am.“

“I’ve been thinking,” Pam said, “Come in, sit down. This may take a minute.”

“I told you, Pam, I’m not in any hurry.” Jim sat down in the generic hotel
swivel armchair. Pam sat down on the side of the bed. Her nightshirt was very
short and rode up high on her thighs when she sat down. Jim’s swiveled himself
out of direct view so he could actually listen to what Pam had to say.

“I met Roy when I was sixteen. My dad had gotten transferred to Scranton the
year before. I was quiet, shy, kind of nerdy. Roy was the hero of the football
team. So, when he began paying attention to me, it was like a miracle, you know?
I mean, he could have had any girl in school, but he picked me. We started
sleeping together in senior year. After the prom, in fact. Total cliché, huh.”

Jim smiled, remembering his own senior prom, “Yep. Been there, done that. They
should have given us all tee shirts.”

“Maybe if I’d gone away to college, we would have split up. But instead, I
stayed in Scranton, went to Marywood for two years.”

“How come you didn’t graduate?”
“My folks ran out of money. My Dad got sick...had a heart attack before my
junior year. He’s fine now, but he couldn’t work for months. I figured I’d get a
job and help out, and go back to school later. Never happened. Roy was just as
glad. He couldn’t be bothered with college, himself. Went to work for Dunder
Mifflin right out of high school. Three years ago, when I lost my job at the gallery, Roy got me hired there. When my Dad was transferred back to South Williamsport, I decided to stay in Scranton. I got an apartment with my friend Stacy. After Roy proposed, we got an apartment together. The rest, as they say…”

“Is history.”

“The thing is, Roy and I were comfortable together. It was easy. It was...”

“Beef with Broccoli.”

Pam snorted, “Well, I don’t know about the broccoli, but basically, yes. So
anyway...that’s why I owe you an apology. I made you take a gamble this evening
on mystery Chinese food, but I wouldn’t take one myself. On you.”

“No apology needed. But does this mean you’ve changed your mind?”

In response, Pam stood up and walked slowly over to Jim’s chair and sat down on
his lap. Putting her arms around his neck, she looked him in the eyes and said,
“I love you, Jim.”

“Oh God, Pam,” Jim said, enfolding her in his arms, “I love you so much.”

He started slowly at first, staying there in that chair, kissing her, and
stroking her gently through, and then under the thin cotton shirt. By the time
he picked her up and carried her to the bed, they were both more than ready.

Because of the holiday, they were able to keep Jim’s room until they left to go to
his family picnic on Monday morning. But they never did get to any museums.

The end