Jim slowly opened his eyes. Everything was golden. The sun warmed the room with heat and colour. He reached over to pull Pam towards him, but the bed was empty. He rolled over, looked towards the deck, and saw her. Pam was sitting on a wicker chair with her sketch book on her lap. She was focusing intensely on her drawing. Her brow was furrowed, her lips were pursed and her long curls were piled on top of her head. He could feel a warm breeze coming through the open doorway and watched that same wind make an errant curl dance around her face. A smile creeped across his face and he felt like he was in paradise. He felt like he could literally lie there forever and study her, drink her in. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever known and seeing her draw made her even more breathtaking.

She continued run her charcoal slowly and purposefully across the page and would occasionally look up at her subject: the ocean. It lapped against the sand and formed curls and lines Pam had never seen before. She wanted to remember the spray and the movement and the beauty and she hoped that her hands could capture the feelings she was experiencing. She turned to check on Jim and saw him watching her. He had a dreamy grin on his face and she couldn't help but smile back.

“Take a picture, it lasts longer,” she said playfully.

“Nope. Don't need a camera. It's all up here,” he said pointing to his temple.

Pam rose from the chair and padded over to the bed. She placed her sketch book and charcoal on the bedside table and lay down beside Jim, cupping his face in her hands.

“Uh, watch it, Beesly, you've got dirty charcoal hands. My face is my fortune and I don't want it looking all grubby.”

She leaned in, kissed him, and smeared her thumbs along the sides of his nose and across his cheeks.

“There. That's better,” she said with a giggle.

“Hmmmm...do I have something on my face? You'd tell me if I did, right?”

“Yeah, nope. Everything looks good.”

They couldn't lounge around too much because there was a lot to do to prepare for the wedding. The big day was tomorrow and there were meetings and a rehearsal and a few last minute details to cover.

Pam helped Jim wash away the charcoal in the shower and Jim's curiousity got the better of them as they were getting dressed.

“Just let me have a peek, just a peek! I just want to know what colour it is,” Jim pleaded.

“No! You'll see it tomorrow, and I would hope you would know what colour it is,” she said with her arms folded.

“Red? Purple. It's purple, isn't it,” he joked.

“Jim!”

“Well, it's not as if you are a virgin, I just don't know the official rules about these kind of things.”

“This is my first and only wedding. You will be my first and only husband. I am more than justified in wearing a white wedding dress, so just shut it. You know I want it to be a surprise.”

“Yeah, yeah, ok. I guess some things are worth the wait,” he said with a smirk as he pulled her close.

They pressed their foreheads together and held each other tight.

“Tomorrow's it. Can you believe it?” Pam whispered softly

“Nope. It's...”

“I know.”

“This time last year I was staring out the window at Stamford, missing you like crazy.”

“And now we can stare out the window at the ocean, together.”

“Okay, Beesly, things are getting a little too sappy here,” he said as he pulled his head away from her. “We'll have a bucket full of sap to get through tomorrow.”

Pam smiled widely and they headed out the door to start the day.

They looked at flowers and leis, met with the photographer and the Wedding Officiate, and discussed everything included in their wedding package. They had chosen the simplest package, the “Ku'u Ipo Heneheno” wedding, which translated means “My Cherished Sweetheart”. Jim thought the name translation was a little cheesy, but couldn't scoff at the amenities in the package, especially the “Lomi Lomi” massage for two at the spa, which was scheduled that afternoon before dinner.

After meeting in the offices of the resort, the wedding coordinator, Keala, took them out to the wedding site. They had chosen the South Point Tiki site, which was at the southern end of the bay. It was going to be a sunset wedding on the beach and this site was supposedly the best for that. It did not disappoint.

Keala led Jim and Pam down to the beach and encouraged them to take their shoes off. As they walked hand in hand, with the sand squishing between their toes, Pam started to get a lump in her throat and Jim became very quiet. It was like they were stepping on Holy ground. Their Holy ground.

“Well,” Keala said, “What do you think?”

Jim began, “It's...”

“Perfect,” Pam finished.

They both beamed at each other as Keala led them through the details of the ceremony. They tried to pay attention to everything she was saying, but the enormity of the moment was distracting them both. Pam just couldn't believe how right everything felt. Every preparation she made for her wedding with Roy was tainted with doubt. But as she was standing there with Keala and Jim, discussing their places and the events of the wedding, Pam felt like everything had clicked into place.

This is what love feels like, she thought. This is forever.

Jim's palms were sweating, and it wasn't because of the hot Hawaiian sun beating down on him. He started to think of himself as a husband. Pam's husband. This was a big deal.

Can I give her everything she deserves? Do I deserve her?

His last thought was broken with Pam taking his hand and smiling at him with a smile he had never seen before. Her smile answered his questions and sent him a multitude of messages:

Hope. Faith. Desire. Passion. Playfullness. Mystery. Belief. Promise. Love. Love like he had never known. Love that he will always have.

He smiled back at her and they focused their attentions back on Keala. This was a big deal. The biggest deal of his life.

This is the best thing I will ever do, he thought.

“So, you two, any questions about tomorrow?” Keala said with smile.

“Nope,” Jim answered quickly, looking at Pam.

“Yeah, everything seems clear,” Pam added.

Keala nodded. “Excellent. So you will be picked up separately, as you requested, tomorrow at 6:30 pm. Jim, you will be picked up at the main building of the resort and Pam, we will send someone to get you at your hale. Jim will be waiting for you on the beach, with the Officiate, and Pam, you will walk the same path we walked today to meet Jim on the beach. Sunset is usually around 7:15, so you will become man and wife just as the sun sinks down over there.”

“That's fantastic. Thank you so much, Keala, for everything,” Pam said, still smiling.

“Yeah, seriously, you have been amazing. Thank you,” Jim added as he shook Keala's hand.

“It's all my pleasure. Now, you two have a massage to get to, am I right? Let's get you back to the resort.”

Jim and Pam followed Keala back to the Jeep, hand in hand.

“You know, I've never had a massage before,” Pam said excitedly.

“Hey, I've given you a few massages,” he complained.

“Well, I've never had a professional massage before. And, I don't think this massage will end like your massages do,” she said with a wink.

Jim smirked, “Ahhhh...true enough.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Uhhhhh,” Jim groaned as the masseuse pressed deep into the muscles between his shoulder blades.

“This...is...so...amazing,” Pam whispered sleepily.

They had been in the spa for 45 minutes and the expert hands of the masseuse and masseur were kneeding and squeezing out every bit of stress and jet lag from their bodies. They held hands and their heavy eye lids opened occasionally to steal fleeting glances at each other.

“Do you think...they have...this...kind of service back...in Scranton?” Pam said with a groan.

“Ummmmmm...I...uh...probably not,” Jim huffed.

“That's...just...soooo...wrong.”

“Uhhhh...yep.”

After their massage, Jim and Pam enjoyed a beachside dinner outside of their hale. The massage had made them both feel relaxed and almost drunk. They sat there in silence, listening to the waves and an orchestra of insects.

Pam was the first to speak. “So, about tonight.”

“Hmmm?” Jim looked away from the ocean to focus on her.

“Well, I was thinking, um, that we shouldn't, you know...”

“Uhhh...what do you mean?”

“Well, I was thinking, since this is the night before our wedding, that we should not...have...relations?”

“Oh...oh! Really?”

“Yeah, I mean I know we're are going the non-tradtional route with eloping and everything, but I kind of want tomorrow night to be...special.”

“Wow...okay, so...I'm supposed to lie beside you, in this tropical paradise...all night and not...”

“Yeah. It will build anticipation for...our honeymoon.”

“Beesly, you continue to surprise me. Okay, I won't if you won't. It's going to be hard, though.”

“That's what she said.”

Jim laughed and nodded. “Niiice.”

“Thank you,” Pam said with a flourish of her hand. “Oh, and after tomorrow you can't call me that anymore.”

“Call you what?”

“Beesly. It will have to be Halpert.”

“Now that will take some getting used to.”

“I'm already used to it. I've been practicing writing Mrs. Pamela Halpert in my diary for years now.”

“Ooooo...did you also draw hearts and flowers around it too?”

“Of course.”

“Perfect.”

They sat on the beach for a while longer: staring at the ocean, thinking about the wedding, contemplating the past and thinking about the future.

Tomorrow was just a few hours away.