.
Phyllis walked over to the elevator and inserted her card. She gave Pam a sly smile before returning to the office. Pam pressed the number three. She waited. She hated this elevator. It had the longest delay known to man. Just as the doors began closing a hand reached in to stop them. The doors moved apart and Karen stood in front of Pam.
She looked startled, like she was looking at someone she thought was dead but clearly isn’t. Pam gave her a small smile, but it wasn’t returned. The doors closed with a loud bang. The elevator shook as it began slowly moving. Karen glanced over at Pam and then back down at the floor.
Pam let a small noise escape her mouth. It sounded more like a small cracking noise coming from the back of her throat than any sound that a word would began with. She was trying to form words, but she wasn’t sure what to say. She wasn’t angry at Karen, but she thought it was a little weird when Karen never answered her last email to her. It was right after Pam had found out about the kiss. She just wanted to let Karen know that she wasn’t angry and that they were still friends. But apparently they weren’t friends anymore. If either of them should be upset it should be Pam, not Karen. Karen’s face when she saw Pam said otherwise though.
The elevator stopped on the second floor. Pam let out a loud sigh. Could this elevator move any slower? A guy stepped onto the elevator and hit the 5. The elevator shook more violently this time. Pam closed her eyes and prayed that she wouldn’t get stuck in the elevator with an angry Karen. It stopped and at the third floor. Karen pushed passed the guy and was half way down the hallway before Pam got out.
“Bye,” Pam yelled after her. It was a bit mean, but she was trying to make a point. What point, she wasn’t sure yet, but there was one... maybe.
Pam walked along the hallway. She knew Jim was in Andy’s old room. She stood in front of the door and thought about how she should do this. Should she just knock or call him and pretend like she’s at home and then knock. She knew she was over thinking this when the door opened.
He was standing in front of her in a white undershirt and basketball shorts. He was holding a bowl of cereal in his hand.
“Oh my God. What are you doing here?” His mouth was still full of cereal. He turned back to find somewhere to put his bowl at.
The smile spread across her face until her cheeks hurt. She watched as he searched for somewhere close to place the bowl, finally giving up and putting it on the floor. He grabbed one of her hands and pulled her closer until he could comfortably put his arms around her. He lifted her chin and bent down to kiss her. It was as good as he remembered to feel her lips on his. She shoved him back with her weight until they were inside of his room. He let go of her waist to search for the door. His hand caught the door and he slammed it shut.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hey.” He leaned back down.
He moved her back so she was up against the door. Pam felt her foot become cold and she heard the glass bowl clink against the tile floor. Jim looked down.
“Sorry.”
She laughed. “That was quite the welcome.”
His finger tips were pressing hard into her skin. He thought that he might be hurting her, but she was still smiling.
“Do you want to get out of that shoe?”
“I’ve been here for one minute and you’re already trying to undress me.”
“Trust me, I would not start with your shoes if I had the chance.”
He released his grip on her waist and she finally stepped out of the small puddle of milk. She pulled her shoe off and then her sock. She made a face at him as she held up her wet sock. “My foot feels gross.”
She tossed them off to the side. “Are you going to clean that up?”
“It’s not going anywhere.” He grabbed her again, this time leading her to the bed.
She tripped over some clothes on the floor. “When was the last time you cleaned your room?”
“August?” He guessed.
“Gross Jim.”
“I swear I was going to clean it before you came over.”
He sat down on the bed and he was still tall enough to kiss her without straining his neck. She put her knees on either side of his legs straddling them. He slowly lowered them back. She straightened out her legs and rested her weight on him. She moved her bare foot against his leg and he shivered.
He pulled away. “You’re right, your foot does feel gross.”
She rolled off of him and hit him in the arm. She used her foot to kick off the other shoe. She folded her legs underneath her making sure to hide the bare foot.
He sat up next to her. “What brings you all the way up here?”
“I was bored at home and I wanted to see you, so here I am.”
He kissed her on the forehead. “I missed you so much.”
“Ditto.”
“Really, at a time like this you’re going to pull out ditto?”
She nodded her head.
“I feel like I don’t even know you anymore.” He shook his, trying to keep a straight face.
“Well, what are we sitting here for? Obviously we need to get reacquainted then.”
He pulled her back down. They kissed for a while longer until Pam thought it was really going to happen. Jim tugged at her shirt for a moment, but he didn’t pull it off. He stopped himself and she wasn’t sure why. Maybe she would have to initiate it. She moved his shirt up, but he grabbed it and pulled it back down.
He went to kiss her again, but she pulled away.
His eyes said ‘What?’
“Nothing,” She said.
She let him kiss her again. She didn’t understand. He seemed so into this, but maybe not as much as she was. She was too busy thinking that she didn’t notice that she had stopped kissing him back.
He moved to her neck before he realized that she was somewhere else. “You okay?”
She snapped back from her thoughts. “I feel weird asking you this, but don’t you want to have sex?”
“I—uh um, I...” he stumbled over his words for bit.
“Because I do.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to wait?” He didn’t know why he said that. He definitely didn’t want to wait, but the gentleman in him was always more powerful.
“We did wait. Remember? Rome?”
“Yeah, I think we should wait.”
“Oh, okay.” She didn’t sound happy about this at all.
He wanted their first time to be perfect and beautiful. Not clumsy and filled with memories of Pam stepping in his bowl of cereal. He wanted it to at least happen in a semi clean room. She deserved at least that much. He saw the disappointment in her eyes. This was the second time he had turned her down. She laid her head down on his chest looking away from him at the wall.
He moved a few curls out of her face. “Hey,” She looked up at him for a second. “You are beautiful. Honestly, you’d probably be disgusted with me if you knew how often I thought about having sex with you. But do you really want to think back to this night and think about cold milk on your foot?”
She cracked a smile. “Fine, you win.” She traced her finger down the front of his shirt.
She listened to his heart until she realized that they had never really talked about sex. “How many people have you slept with?” She said it fast hoping to make it less awkward that way.
“Four,” he said hoping that she didn’t take his small pause at the beginning as a sign that he was lying, because he wasn’t.
“I know one is Katy, so who are the other three?”
“There was one girl in high school and two girls during freshman year.”
He was being really vague about the other girls.
“Were you guys in love?” She wanted to take the question back as soon as she said it.
“Have I never told you about the first girl I said ‘I love you’ to?”
“Can’t say that you have.” She was really regretting the question now.
“Really?”
She didn’t say anything. She just wanted to hear what she had to live up to.
“Let’s see, where to start?” He reached down and intertwined his fingers with Pam’s. “This girl is amazing. She has the most beautiful green eyes.” He took his free hand and ran his thumb over the side of her face by her eye. “And her laugh is like a drug. I’m constantly thinking of ways to make her laugh just so I can hear it.” He ran his thumb dangerously close to her lips and then down her neck. “And she is wittiest person I know, besides myself.” She gave him a look, but he goes on. “And that hair – the way it falls around her face is stunning.” He gently moved a few more curls out of her face and tucked them behind her ear.
And then it hit her, he wasn’t speaking in past tense. That hair... that was her hair.
He continued. “The way she enters the room and always takes my breath away. Or the way she calls my grandma Nammy just to spite me and not in support of me.” He rolls her over so he can look down into her eyes.
“I’m in love with you.” He said softly. “I’ve wanted to tell you that for so long. I’m sorry if that freaks you out, but it’s true.”
She doesn’t smile at first and he thinks that he did freak her out. She took one big gulp of air before she can speak.
“I’m absolutely and completely head over heels in love with you.” He leaned down and kissed her finally. She can’t wait any longer. She reached for the back of his shirt and pulled it over his head. He doesn’t fight her this time. He sat her up and slowly pulled her shirt off making sure to graze her sides with his hands as he lifted it above her head. He took a second before doing anything else. He just looked at her and then pulled her ear next to his mouth and told her that he loved her again. He wondered if it would be hard to not say it all the time now.
As he continued to undress her she thought that she wouldn’t want to remember this moment any other way, wet sock and all. It was perfectly imperfect.
.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Finally some Pam and Jim interaction.
Chapter End Notes:
Next chapter someone living in Dunder Hall is dating someone you wouldn't expect.
