“Can you point me in the direction of Jim Halpert’s office?”  Janine swiveled around her chair to see the petite brunette standing in reception.  Janine recognized her instantly.  “I’ve got it” she said to the receptionist.

Pam looked at the blonde and smiled.  “Thanks.  I’m trying to surprise him.”

“You’re Pam, right?”

Pam nodded.  “Yeah, I am.”  Pam looked her up and down.  “I’m sorry, but have we met before?”

Janine turned on her heel and smiled.  “Not exactly.  I was with Jim the night that…”

“Oh yeah.”  Images of Jim holding her hand came flooding back.  It had been three months, but those memories still hurt.  Janine saw the recognition and hurt instantly in her eyes.  “Look, Pam, that… it was really nothing.  He was new here and seemed really sad.  I was just trying to get him out for a few hours.  You just happened to see us at really the only slightly romantic moment we had.  I knew that he was crazy in love with someone from the moment I laid eyes on him – but it wasn’t until that night that I had a face to put with the sad look.”

Pam nodded.  “It kills me to hear he was like that.”

“Yeah, but all that seems to be in the past, right?”  Pam smiled widely and nodded.  “Good.  His office is the last one on the end.”

“Thanks… I’m sorry, I didn’t get…”

“Janine.”  Pam shook her hand.  “Thanks, Janine.”

+++

She thought he looked sexy as hell, barking into the phone with his shirt sleeves rolled up.  “Listen, I don’t know who you think… well, that’s not really how we do things around here… I don’t care if that’s how it used to be done… well, he’s not here anymore… Yeah, you are talking to the boss… feel free, her name is Jan Levinson at Corporate…”  He didn’t see her, so she decided to use that to her advantage. 

She quietly stepped in and shut the door.  As the door clicked, he looked up and his eyes got wide.  She pulled her clip out of her hair and propped her right foot up on the door, smiling coyly at him.  It had been a couple of weeks since they had seen each other, and it was supposed to be another week, but she couldn’t take it anymore.  Besides, she needed to tell him what was going on.

Pam could hear the man yelling on the other end of the phone.  She pointed at the phone, snapping him back into reality.

“What?  Oh… I’ll transfer you to reception for the number… sure, yeah, looking forward to it.”  Jim dropped the handset into the receiver and rounded his desk.  He grabbed her and pushed her against the door, kissing her wildly.  She wound her hands through his hair and held on for dear life.  When the overpowering need for oxygen descended on them, she broke the kiss. 

“What are you doing here?” he asked breathlessly, resting his forehead against hers.

“Surprised?”

“Completely.”  She looked up at him and he dove in for another kiss.  The receptionists’ voice over the intercom broke them apart a few minutes later.

“Jim, you have a call on…”

“Put it through to voice mail.  I’m busy!” he yelled, kissing lightly up and down her neck.  Pam giggled.  “What if it was important?”

“More important than this?” he asked incredulously, staring at her as if she had lost her mind.

“Well, yes, considering we are standing in your office…”

He pulled back and smiled.  He grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the small couch in his office – one of the perks of having the corner office – room for more furniture.  They sat down.  “So, Ms. Beesley, what in the world are you doing here in the middle of the week?”

“I have some news.”

“What’s that?”

“Well, Jan was at the office about a month ago and she got to talking to me about the graphic design internship again and… well, turns out there was an opening left for the fall program and she said that if I was still interested, she would make sure it was mine.  So…”

Jim just looked at her.  “Wait, that fall program… that’s full time during the week, so how…”

“My last day was yesterday.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“Because I wanted to make sure that everything was in order… I’m getting one of the paid slots, which isn’t near as much as I was making before, but this way I don’t have to listen to Michael or stare at Dwight, so I figure it’s a fair trade.  Jan offered to help me find a place in the city, but I told her…”  Jim noticed the twinkle in her eye and he finally caught on.

He pulled her in for a fierce hug.  “You know that the city is only a 45 minute train ride from here.”

“Yeah, I had noticed that.”

He pulled back slightly and cupped her face.  “You’re living with me.”

“Well, I was hoping, but I don’t want to…”

“Pam, I would love nothing more than to be able to come home to you every night and wake you up in the morning and sleep in on Saturdays with you.  These last two weeks have… well, sucked, basically.  I hate being apart when we’ve just started.  Live with me.”

She waggled her eyebrows at him.  “We’re ordering new bedroom furniture.”

“We can do whatever you want, as long as you are there.”  He kissed her lightly and pulled her off the couch.  “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

She laughed and shook her head at him.  “Jim, it’s three in the afternoon.  You have work to do.”

He sighed and looked back at his desk, the voice mail button flashing at him.  “Yeah.  But I really want to…”

She laced her fingers through his.  “I’m not going anywhere.  Well, except for now, yeah, I’m leaving and going shopping and then heading to your…”

“Our!”

She smiled at him.  “Yeah… our apartment.  You’ll be there in a few hours.”

He gave her his puppy dog look.  “You’re right.  Fine, I’ll get back to work.”

She grabbed her purse off the couch and opened the door.  “I’ll see you at home.”  Just hearing her say those words made his heart beat a little faster.  “You bet.”  She blew him a kiss and headed out, leaving him to his work and his thoughts about the quickest route home.

TBC…