“But I don’t want to go” she whined as she fell back on the bed.  Jim just smiled down at her as he kept packing his bag.

“Well, that’s too bad, because we’re going.”

“Why?”

“Because I said we would.”

“But it’s a two hour drive!”

“Pam, you really need to pack.”

“But, I don’t want to go!”

“Tough.”

“Why are you making me do this?”

“So that we can listen to Michael talk about what a great philanderer he is again?”  That made her laugh.

It had been a year since that night and Michael was hosting the casino night again.  When he called to extend the invitation to the two of them, Jim decided to take advantage of the weekend.  “PLEASE DON’T MAKE ME GO!” she cried as he opened the closet and pulled out her overnight bag.  He threw it on top of her as he headed into the bathroom.  “Better get packing, Beesley, or you’ll be wearing that all weekend.”  He smiled to himself in the mirror as he heard her grunt as she got off the bed.

Pam had finished up the program at corporate and had immediately been offered the position of Junior Designer at Corporate.  She had been at the job for 3 months and was traveling all day.  He hoped that was about to change.  ‘Later’ he thought to himself as he grabbed his toothbrush and turned off the light.

She glared at him from across the room.  “I can’t believe you agreed to this.”  He just shrugged and smiled at her.

+++

“Two Bud Lights please.”  Jim had left Pam in charge of the chips since she seemed to be cleaning up at Blackjack.

“Hey Halpert.”  Jim’s back stiffened as he heard Roy’s voice from behind him.  He turned and leaned back against the make shift bar, eyeing Roy.

“Hi Roy.”

Roy shifted back and forth, glancing over his shoulder at Pam then back at Jim.  “She looks good.  She doing alright?”

“She’s doing great.  She’s all but taken over the graphic design department at Corporate.”

“That’s great, I guess.  I just… I thought about trying to talk to her, but…”  Jim just watched him.  “I’m here with Katy.”  Jim guessed that Roy was trying to make him jealous, but it took him a moment to even remember who Roy was talking about.  “That’s great.  I bet you two have a lot of fun together.”

“Yeah, she’s alright.  Look, I just… I guess I just want to make sure she’s taken care of.”

“Not that she needs someone to take care of her, but yeah she is.  She’s more than capable of taking care of herself, though.”

Roy looked over at her again.  “Yeah, I guess… I guess I never saw that.”

“You think?”

Roy narrowed his eyes at Jim.  “Look, I just… tell her I said hi, alright.  I think we are going to get out of here.”  Jim watched Roy walk away, grabbing Katy away from the group she was talking to.  His eyes drifted back to the blackjack table to find Pam staring at him, concerned.  He grabbed the beers off the bar and walked back to her.  She put the beers down and dropped into the chair next to Pam. 

“Everything alright?”

“Everything’s fine” he said, placing a light kiss on her temple.  “Now, how about you take the rest of Dwight’s money.”

“That’s not funny, Jim” Dwight said from across the table.  “I’ll have you know…”

+++

“God, this place doesn’t ever change, does it?”  Jim looked down at Pam and then over their old office.  Everything was the same, except for his old desk and the receptionist’s area.  He turned toward her and put his hands on her hips, pushing her back against the reception desk.  He stared at her as she smiled up at him, a questioning look in her eyes.

“Jim, what’s…”

“I’m just trying to figure out where to start.”  Pam just stared at him.  “I got offered another promotion, to Corporate.”

“What?  When?”

“A couple of weeks ago.  Jan mentioned it to me over a call, but then they officially offered it to me…”

She threw her arms around his neck.  “Jim, why didn’t you tell me right away?”  He grabbed her hands and pulled them down, stepping back slightly. 

“Well, it’s just… there’s been this other thing that… and I wasn’t sure how to… but then Michael called about this and I thought that… well, what better place than here…”

“Jim, I’m not following.”

He sighed and closed his eyes.  “I know.  I’m doing this badly, I realize.”

“Doing what badly?”

He took a deep breath and opened his eyes.  “I love you, Pam.”

“I love you…”

He pulled their laced fingers up, putting his finger on her mouth, quieting her.  “Wait, I need… OK, it’s just… I’ve been in love with you for so long, but I never thought, honestly, that I would ever be in this position.  This last year has been, probably the best of my life – having you with me, living with me, waking up to you.  Then, this promotion came up and I had to decide about the rest of my life.  The one thing I do know is that I want you in it, forever.”  He dropped her hand and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small black box. 

Their eyes locked and he knew there was no turning back, not now.  “I want to be your husband, if you’ll have me.  I want to take care of you and raise a family with you.  I want to be the one you share your ups and downs with, Pam.  You’re the one for me, I knew it from the moment I met you.”  The tears spilled out of her eyes as a huge smile broke out on her face. 

“Jim… I… oh my god… I just…”  He dropped her other hand and opened the box, producing the most beautiful ring she had ever seen – it put the one she wore for three years to shame.  She couldn’t take her eyes off of it, until he said her name.

“Pam – marry me.”

“Oh my God… yes” she screeched, throwing her arms over his shoulders.  “I love you so much, Jim” she whispered to him, placing light kisses on his neck.

“You want your ring?”  She released her hold on him slightly so that he could slip the ring out of the box and onto her finger.  “There – that’s so much better” he said, grinning at her.  She put her hand on his chest, looking at the ring for a moment before looking up at him.

“When?”

He shook his head slightly.  “When what?”

“When can we get married?”

“Uhhh… I guess whenever you want.”

“Tomorrow?”

His eyes got huge.  “What?”

“Can we get married tomorrow?”

“Don’t you think that’s a touch quick?”

“Jim, I was engaged for three years.  THREE YEARS!  I don’t want to wait that long to marry you.”

He smiled at her.  “Well, neither do I, but I think tomorrow might be a touch soon.  You know, people probably already have plans, I doubt I could get a tux that quickly.  How about we look at a calendar and pick a date in about 6 months or so?  That should give us plenty of time to get moved and plan this shindig.”

She couldn’t take her eyes off of him.  “I’m sorry” she said quietly.

“Wait, sorry?  For what?  You aren’t changing your mind already, are you?”

She smiled sadly.  “No.  I just… I wasted so much time with Roy when you… and I knew so long ago but I didn’t do anything about it… and we could have been together…”

“Shhh” he said, pulling her flush to his body.  “No regrets, not anymore.  It may have taken awhile, but we got to each other.  That’s what matters – the rest of it is just a funny story we tell the kids when they are planning on getting married.”  Pam nodded, slowly winding her fingers up his shoulder and through his hair.  All of a sudden, she needed him to be closer than he was.  She dragged his head down for a scorching kiss that she felt all the way down to her toes.  It quickly escalated as he lifted her off the ground and set her on the reception desk.  She was panting heavily as he pulled his lips off of hers.

She pushed herself off the desk and slowly slid down his body, smiling as he groaned, digging his fingernails into her hips.  “How about you take me somewhere less…”

“Dwight?”

She laughed loudly as he grabbed her hand and pulled her out the door, living their old life behind in that office and moving forward together.

THE END