Her mouth fell open in disbelief.  “How’s it going?” he asked.  Hearing his voice again made him real and she couldn’t stop the tears from falling.  She dropped her head into her hands and cried. 

He sat his beer on the table and shot out of his chair.  He sat down next to her and put his hand on her back.  “Hey, don’t…”  She looked up at him for a moment, staring at his face.  “Pam…”  She threw her arms around his neck and sobbed into his shoulder, holding onto him as if he was the only thing anchoring her to the ground.  He wrapped his arms around her and leaned them back against the couch cushions, letting her cry. 

“I’ve been miserable this week” she said into his neck.  He smiled and tightened his grip on her.  “I know the feeling.”  He felt her laugh and it felt like heaven.  She sunk into his embrace.  They sat in silence for a few moments, but what Janine had told him earlier was eating away at him.  He had to know.

“Pam, what are you doing here?”  He loosed his grip on her as she pushed herself off of his chest.  He rested his arm along the back of the couch and felt his heart start to beat a little bit faster when she rested her hands on his thigh. 

“I broke up with Roy.  I moved out.  We’re not getting married.”  He truly couldn’t believe what he was hearing, so he shook his head slightly.  “I’m sorry, I’m not sure that I caught that completely…”

She leaned into him and smiled.  “I’m not getting married.”

“When did all this happen?”

“Last weekend.”

“After…”

“Yeah.  I just… I got home that night and couldn’t… I couldn’t stay there anymore.  I went to mom and dad’s the next day and… well, that was that.  It’s why I wasn’t there on Monday – we were moving my stuff out.”

“Oh God… I thought that…”

“I know and I’m so sorry.  I came in and saw Ryan packing your desk…”

“Ryan!  He’s left me like a hundred voice mails.  I just assumed he was checking to make sure that I got all my stuff, but I guess…”

“Probably.  He’s the first one I told.”

“Pam…”

“No, Jim, I need to say this.  I’ve got to get this out before it kills me.   I never… it’s just… I was with Roy for so long that I kind of lost myself.  I never thought that anyone would be able to see the me underneath it all.  But there was you – you always saw me, but I never… I just assumed Roy was it for me, that that was going to be my life.  I made peace with it, you know.  But then, I found myself jealous of Katy.  I found myself wondering what you were doing on the weekends.  I found myself unable to sleep at night because I was thinking about something you said to me during the day.  And then… you kissed me, that amazing kiss.  It broke everything open for me.  It was like I needed my eyes pried open and that was the only thing that could make that happen.”

He couldn’t take his eyes off of her.  She was beautiful, sitting there, pouring her heart out to him.  “Pam…”

“No, wait.  I know… I know I took you for granted, but I didn’t mean anything I said to you that night.  I was scared of feeling something this strong, this powerful…”

“Pam” he said again, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

“And if you need some time, you’ve got it.  I just… I needed you to know that you… you aren’t alone and that…”

“Pam” he said again, with a little more force.  He placed his fingers on her lips and she finally quit talking.  He wanted to say something, but none of the words seemed right.  He cupped her face in his hands and he kissed her lightly, reveling in the feel of her lips moving against his.  He broke the kiss slowly and looked at her.  She smiled at him and looped her arms around his neck, pulling herself across his lap until her back was against the armrest.  She pulled his face to hers and assaulted his lips.

The rest of the world melted away as she ran her tongue against his bottom lip.  He moaned into her mouth as he deepened the kiss.  Their tongues dueled with each other and she squeaked as he ran his arm up her back and massaged the base of her neck.  Finally, when the need for oxygen got to the both of them, they broke apart.  He looked wicked, with his eyes twinkling and his lips swollen from the kisses.

“Let’s get out of here” he whispered to her.  She slid off of his lap and he pulled a wad of money out of his pocket and dropped it all on the table.  She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the elevators.

TBC…