“Jim, it’s 3 in the morning. Are you okay?” 

“I…um… I am having a Christmas party tomorrow, and I really wanted you to come…” 

Pam immediately smiled. She wanted to jump on her bed like she did when Johnny Parker, her first crush, picked up a pencil she dropped and carefully handed it back to her. 

“I would love to!” 

“Awesome!” She could hear the smile in Jim’s voice, and she was sure he could hear hers, too.

“The party starts at 5:00, but I was hoping you could come early… like around noon. I know this sounds really early, but I haven’t even bought food or started decorating, and I could use your help. I also really need to talk to you….” 

5 hours with Jim … What caused him to invite me all of a sudden? Maybe he saw that I looked sad today or something and felt bad… 

“Pam? Are you there?” 

“Oh, yeah, I’m sorry! I just… dropped my phone!” She winced at her lame excuse. 

“So… do you think you can make it? It would just be you and me because I really need to talk to you about some things.” 

“That sounds great! I’m looking forward to it!” 

Karen won’t be there. It’s just going to be the two of us. Holy God. Should I bring him a present or something?  

“I’ll see you then!” 

“Okay! Bye, Jim!” 

“Bye!” 

Pam hung up the phone and fell into her pillows. She couldn’t stop smiling. She closed her eyes and fell back asleep feeling much happier than she did earlier that night. 

****

Pam woke up early so she could spend some time putting his present together and get ready. She curled her hair, having finally found a style that she really liked, and put on a red dress. It had spaghetti straps, so she had to put on a grey cardigan to keep her warmer.   

She walked up to Jim’s house that he shared with his roommate, Mark. She had to take a few deep breaths before ringing his doorbell. She looked at the present she was holding to give to him and noticed her hands were shaking.   Now she was standing at Jim’s doorstep, her stomach full of butterflies. It was snowing heavily outside so it had taken her 30 minutes to drive the six blocks to his house. When the door finally opened, Mark was standing before her. 

“Hi Pam!” 

“Hey Mark! Merry Christmas!” 

“Jim’s still getting ready, but come on inside. It’s freezing out there.” 

Pam walked into the warm, welcoming house and shut the door, leaving the cold air behind her. She had been in his house once before when he had a barbeque. She loved it immediately. It was so comforting and welcoming. It was even nicer during Christmastime. He had a Christmas tree that was overloaded with ornaments and a wreath hanging on his door. The stairs had garland hanging from it all the way up. As she hid her present in her purse and hung up her heavy coat, she saw Jim scurrying down the stairs. He walked up to her and took her coat. 

“Let me hang that up for you,” he said. Pam had to fight not to smile as he reached over her and hung her coat on his coat rack.  When she turned around to face him, she looked at what he was wearing. He had on khaki pants and a dark blue sweater. His hair was brushed, but still the hair she was used to.  

“Merry Christmas, Beesly!” 

“You too!” 

“You look… very nice.” Pam felt herself blushing. She was still smiling. She hadn’t seen Jim like this in a long time. He was so … happy.  

“You look very nice yourself!” Jim smiled at her. Their eyes met for a second, but Pam felt herself blushing more, so she looked away. 

“Would you mind if we went to the store? I have absolutely nothing for this party yet, and it starts in five hours.” 

“That’s fine with me,” she replied and laughed. He reached over her again and retrieved their coats. He helped her put it on, and Pam began blushing all over again.  

“It took me like, thirty minutes to get here, so it would probably be faster to walk.” 

“Well, I like the snow, so I have no problem with that.” 

Pam thought of the curls she had spent so much time on. They looked perfect right now and she didn’t want them to mess up. Just as if Jim had read her mind, he went in a closet and got her a hat, scarf, and mittens and handed them to her. 

“You will freeze your butt off out there if you don’t put these on,” Jim said as he turned around and put on his coat. She put all of it on and saw her reflection in the hall mirror. She started laughing. 

“Is something funny, Pam?” 

“Look!” Jim turned around and saw Pam wearing his clothing items that were much too big. He joined in on her laughter and dug around to find something smaller, but had no luck. 

“Looks like you’re stuck with what you have!” He said, still laughing. Pam opened the door and stepped outside. She carefully walked down his driveway, trying to avoid slipping on the ice. She felt something hit her back. She turned around and saw Jim holding a snowball.  

“Oh, you are so going to pay for that!” She bent down and made her own snowball and threw it at him. It hit him in the head.  

“It’s war now!” Pam ran, hid behind a tree, and made more snowballs. She was ready to ambush him when he walked by. As he started nearing her hiding place, she reached her arm back and threw another snowball. She kept throwing them until his hair was all white. 

“You look like the abominable snowman!” Jim reached out his arms and started walking like a zombie.  

“I’m going to get you Pamela Beesly!” She started running away and he began chasing her. She slipped on the ice and he followed close behind. They erupted into fits of giggles and rolled around in the snow. 

“I hope you know that this is all your fault!” 

“Well, I wasn’t the one that started the snowball fight!” 

What has gotten into him? Just yesterday he was ignoring me for Karen, and now he is attacking me with snowballs. Well, I’m not one to complain. 

When the laughter died down, Jim stood up and brushed off. He reached his hand out to help Pam up. She was hesitant, but she took it and he pulled her up. She felt an electric shock go through her. It was weird how one little touch could do so much to her emotions. 

“You’re glove is soaking,” he said and took off her gloves. He took his off also and put her hands in his. His hands were so warm and soft so hers warmed up immediately. 

“I think they are warm enough now,” she said. He let one of her hands go and laced his fingers through the other. 

“What if I don’t want to let go?” Everything was quiet for a moment.

Pam knew she was turning as red as one of Dwight’s beets.  

“Wouldn’t Karen be angry?” 

Stop making excuses! He wants to hold your hand and you want to hold his, so just let it be! 

Jim was quiet for a moment until he finally said, “I… broke up with her this morning.” Her eyes widened, and she acted surprised, while on the inside, her heart was filling up with hope.  

“Wow…. I’m really sorry to hear that… are you okay?” 

“I’m actually doing great, I just feel bad for breaking up with her on Christmas Eve,” he said, but with a smile. “Neither of us were very happy. She deserved somebody… not like me, and I needed somebody not like her.” 

“You don’t look too sad about it… Is there a reason for that?"

“Let’s just say that… I had feelings for somebody else.” He winked at her and she could feel excitement buzzing within her. They started walking down the street with their hands still tangled together. The snow was now falling down in heaps but it was the last thing on their mind.