Jim walked out of the corporate headquarters and out onto the busy New York City streets. His senses were buzzing as his thoughts raced about the afternoons events. Even though he had gotten a little more comfortable with the cities streets and atmosphere, he still couldn't shake the feeling of being an outsider. It wasn't just the place he was at, it was the way he felt about the last couple of months of his life. He'd felt like a stranger even to himself.

And, just last week, Pam had made him realize that. Her gutsy and endearing speech made his heart do triple axels in his chest as she looked him dead in the eyes. He was frozen out of pure shock and utter torment. He'd never seen her look to calm and bold at the same time before. He wanted to do and say so many things at that one moment, it was like an overload happened in his brain.

He met Karen outside the restaurant where she had met her friends and he escorted her back to the hotel room. As she sat down on the large bed, she looked at him and asked what was wrong.

He shook his head and then knew he had to tell her what he had come to realize. "They offered me the job," he said, opening up his arms, defeated.

She let out a little gasp, excited for him. "That's great."

He didn't respond for a moment or two before looking back to her. "I didn't take it, Karen," he said, finding his overnight bag and throwing his t-shirt and toothbrush in it.

"What? Why not?" she said, throwing her hands up in the air.

"This isn't going to work out for me," he said, knowing exactly what he wanted to say at that moment. He didn't want to drag it on any further.

"The job? Jim, you didn't even give it a shot," she said, rubbing her hands on her slacks. "That's just insane that you'd give up on something so important."

"I know..." he mumbled, picking up his tennis shoes and shoving them deep into the bag.

"What are you doing?" she asked, confused. "Do you wanna be in Scranton your whole life?" she asked, as he remembered the time Pam told him to take the position at Cumberland.

"Actually, I think that's the perfect place for me."

She looked painfully hurt. "Well, I don't think I want to be in Scranton forever," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Jim's shoulders hung low. "New York is really nice..." he said, shaking his head. He hoped she started to pick up what he was saying.

She did by the way her body tensed and her eyes shot flames in his direction. She uncrossed her arms and crossed them again.

"Are you...breaking up with me?" she asked, putting her weight on her right leg.

Jim put his head down. He held out his hands and opened his mouth. Nothing came out because he had nothing else to say. In his mind, it was over.

You know it's nothing new
Bad news never had good timing
Then the circle of your friends
Will defend the silver lining

He slowly nodded, looking up at her for a brief moment to see her face red and her eyes welled up with tears.

"I'm sorry... I..." he began, trying to find the right words.

She held up a hand as two large tears poured from her eyes and down to her cheeks. He was a sap for her tears. He'd seen them only once before and prayed that he'd never have to again. His prayers went unanswered as she tried to cover them with her hand.

"I know..." she said, wiping her cheek. "Go back to Scranton. Go back to your life there. Go back to her."

He dropped his head lower at the mention of Pam. After six months of an unfulfilling relationship, she did see his heart and his inner thoughts after all. He never quite understood how she could do that.

"I'm gonna stay in the city another night. I'll be fine," she said, waving a hand in his direction as she turned and went towards the bathroom.

"Um..." he said, trying to say something, anything, to make the situation easier. Deep down he knew there was nothing that could ease the pain in this situation. So, he grabbed his bag, threw the strap over his shoulder and made his way towards the door. He stopped, to make sure she was fine. He hated to leave her in the state that she was in. He also hated breaking hearts. It's not something he planned on doing, it just sort of happened that way....

"Are you..." he began as she cut him off.

"I'm okay. I could be better," she chuckled, sniffling. "See you later, Halpert."

"Bye," he said, pulling open the door, freeing himself from the mess that had been his existence for the past six months.

"I miss you..." Pam had said, standing in front of her coworkers, friends, and acquaintances.

He replayed those moments of brutal honesty and forgiveness over and over in his head as he drove back towards the Pennsylvania state line. His foot pushed harder on the pedal when he thought about the way she looked at him when she said it. He wanted to make sure he expressed himself before it was too late. It was like if he didn't get the words out at the right time, they would escape into the air where no one could hear them. He didn't want to waste anymore words...

He knew they had wasted weeks, months, years trying to tip toe around one another's feelings. It hadn't gone the way he had saw it played out in his mind. When he first met Pam, he had seen a future with her that started a lot sooner than four years down the road. He kept telling himself for all those years, all those months of torture that "things happen for a reason." Now, he was starting to actually believe it.

He parked his car in a handicapped parking space before he jumped out of the vehicle and trotted towards the door. He made his way into the quiet office and saw the reception desk empty and Dwight sitting at his desk with his shoulders slumped.

Dwight looked up as Jim spotted Pam sitting in the conference room. Dwight tried to start to interrogate Jim as he passed him but Jim kept walking towards the conference room door and leaned his shoulder into it as he opened it. As soon as he opened the door he remembered everything had happened between him and Pam that was pivotal to who they were these days.

He remembered her pale face, her hands intertwined in front of her and "I can't."

He also remembered walking into the dark office, finding her and kissing her out of pure desperation.

The moment when a little thing called ‘perfect timing' just so happened to fall into his lap as he watched Pam and Roy walk out of the reception hall together; hand in hand.

"...I never really came back..." he said, honestly.

She looked at him, held his gaze and said sincerely, "Well, I wish you would."

And now, he was standing in front of her with his heart on his sleeve, yet again.

"Are you free for dinner tonight?" he asked, quickly, trying to get it out before he exploded.

"Yes," she said, looking shocked.

"Alright...then it's a date," he said, tapping the door frame with his hand, trying to ease away the chill bumps that dusted his arms.