.
She had been slowly throwing things into boxes and bags. She had no real technique to packing even after three years of this. She just put things anywhere and prayed that she would be able to close all of the doors on her car. She was trying to be more careful because she realized that in a few weeks some of this stuff would be going to California with her. Wow, some of this stuff would be going to California. Hopefully some of this would be staying there forever, or at least until they moved.
There was a ding coming from her computer. She craned her neck up to see the screen.
jimjam76: Are you busy?
She smiled as she stood up from the floor. He was just a few doors down and he was messaging her. His laziness had hit a new all time low.
bees_knees: Just packing.
jimjam76: I need your help. Can you stop by soon?
bees_knees: I don’t know. It’s sooooo far. Give me 5 minutes.
jimjam76: ok, smartass.
bees_knees: I love you too.
She took her time on purpose. Waiting exactly 5 minutes before walking down the hall. She lightly tapped her fingers against the door. He cracked the door and flashed her a mischievous smile.
“Close your eyes for a second,” he said while still blocking the door.
“Why, do you have another girl in the room that you need to sneak out? She can just come out. My other boyfriend just left my room too.”
“You literally take all of the fun out of surprising you.”
“I’m like a black hole for surprises.” She leaned to the side trying to get a glimpse of what was going on inside of his room.
He squeezed out of the door and closed it behind him.
“Let’s go for a walk.” He grabbed for her hand that was already reaching for his door knob.
She looked at him suspiciously before clasping her fingers around his.
“So where are we off to?”
“No where special. Just wanted to take a break from packing.”
“What’s back in the room?”
“You’ll see soon enough.”
They walked hand in hand through campus.
“Do you remember all of those walks we used to take to get food?”
She exhaled loudly, “My gut remembers,” she said while smacking her stomach.
“Right, what was that, 49 pounds? That’s rough.”
“How did you know it was 49 pounds? Did Kelly tell you? Some things apparently aren’t sacred between roommates anymore.”
“The point of that was that I loved you even back then.”
“It was the way I ordered food, wasn’t it?”
“I’m being serious.”
“I know.” She stopped. “I’m just trying to stop myself from getting all sappy. But just so you know, I think I loved you back then too.”
“Good.”
“Can we please go back to your room now? I’ve been trying to figure out what you have in there and it’s killing me.”
“What have you come up with so far?”
“No, no guessing. What if I guess right? Then it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
“Says the girl that reads the last page of a book first.”
“Hey, I’m working on this whole patience thing.”
He nodded sarcastically at her before pulling her back towards Dunder hall. When they reached his room his heart was pounding, and he was pretty sure that she had noticed that his hands had gotten insanely sweaty in the last 5 seconds. His free hand ran over the bulge from the ring box in his pocket.
He looked over at her and she seemed none the wiser about his plans. His hands were shaking as he reached for the door knob.
She honestly didn’t know what he had inside, and when the door swung open and when she walked inside she almost didn’t see it at first.
“Happy anniversary,” it came out in a soft whisper.
She walked towards the bed where her present laid unwrapped. She ran her fingers over the gold lettering on the cover of leather bound the book. Pamela Beesly. She opened the cover to find pieces of art that she had done over the years.
“How did you get some of these? I did this one in the third grade!”
“Your parents sent them to me a few weeks ago.”
“Jim, this is just so... amazing.”
He reached his hand into his pocket and his fingers closed around the box.
“I uh, I...” He ran a hand over the back of his neck. “Pam...”
He had this huge speech planned down to when he would get down on one knee and now all he could do was say her name.
There was a knock at the door. His eyes finally met Pam before she looked at the door.
“Were you expecting someone else?” She smiled.
“No.” He hoped that she didn’t see that he was so nervous he thought he might get sick. He turned around, stretching his mouth and pausing before he opened the door.
He cracked it open. “Dwight, Angela.”
“James.”
“Uh, can you guys come back later? I’m kind of in the middle of something.”
“This will just take a second. Is Pam here?” Dwight pushed the door open and took a step into the room.
Jim took a step back and motioned for Angela to come in. Neither seemed to take notice of Jim’s current state of panic. Angela’s concentration was on carrying a wicker basket that was half of her size.
“Angela and I just wanted to show you our gratitude for everything you have done for us this year. We’ve brought this basket of beets for your enjoyment. Cousin Mose picked out the reddest beets from our harvest. We’ve also put in some beet wine, and a jar of pickled beets.”
“There’s a recipe for Borscht. It’s a Schrute family recipe,” Angela proudly offered.
“Borscht,” Pam exclaimed from behind them. They were the beets to Pam and Jim’s Borscht.
“Oh Dwight, you really didn’t have to.”
“I would also like to make you an honorary Schrute. Although your weight and physical appearance are a shortcoming, you make up for it in height. You are welcome to stay at Schrute farms any time, but as such you will be required to work the fields.”
“Wow. That is... wow. Thank you?” Jim bit at his bottom lip trying to mimic Dwight’s seriousness.
“Pam, you are welcome to join Jim anytime as well. Angela would like to say something to you too.”
Angela cleared her throat and deposited the basket on the floor.
“I just wanted to thank you for your friendship, and although I do not approve of you living in sin with Jim, I hope that it is an enjoyably summer.”
Angela opened her arms and wrapped them rigidly around Pam for the quickest of seconds before returning to her spot like it was just a figment of Pam’s imagination.
“California is the devil’s breeding ground. The Godless sodomites roam the streets freely in San Francisco, Pam. And I will request to have my congregation pray for you every Sunday and Wednesday.”
“The dark man from your pictures of your trip to Rome, the one you befriended, when I saw him my internal gaydar went off. He would fit in well there.”
“Oscar?” Pam questioned.
“Internal gaydar?” Jim pressed for more information. “Do you have an external gaydar? And if so please do not feel obligated to show it to us.” Jim smirked at Pam for a brief moment.
“Damn it Jim! Internal forces are not a joke.”
“These internal forces, are they similar to internal conflicts? Like the type of internal conflict that you would have over... I don’t know... your sexual orientation?”
Angela gave Jim the death glare and Dwight seemed to not understand Jim’s implications.
“Hey, thanks for the beets.” Jim leaned down to pick up the basket. He fingered through the contents hoping that this would cue them to leave.
“If your urine is red don’t freak out. The likelihood of it being blood is low considering you will have just eaten beets, unless you are experiencing some sort of pain while urinating.” Dwight looked between Pam and Jim waiting for them to give him reassurance that they did in fact understand the possible side effects of beets.
“OK then.” Jim moved closer to them and corralled them towards the door.
“Some consider beets to be an aphrodisiac.” Dwight gave Angela a knowing look.
Pam’s mouth formed an O as she stifled a laugh.
“I did not need to know that.” Jim reached for the door. “I really need to get back to—“ Jim pointed a thumb back at Pam. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
He closed the door and turned back to see Pam grinning at him.
“Those two are just on a whole different planet.” She leaned back against his dresser as she flipped through some more pages. “I think you’ve out done yourself. No present can ever top this one.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” he said while raising an eyebrow.
“Sorry I didn’t get you anything.”
“You’re coming to San Francisco with me.”
“For three months,” she added.
“Yeah, three months.”
‘Why did she say it like that?’ he thought. Was she that set only staying for three months that she had to bring it up right now?
His hand reached into his pocket and grabbed the box, and he wondered how he could slip it back into his drawer. He had time; he had all summer to convince her that she wanted to stay.
She saw his face drop when she said it, but she was just reminding him that he hadn’t asked her to stay forever. She wanted him to, but she had all summer for him to realize he wanted her to.
The next two weeks were crazy with the packing and Jim going out to California to sign a lease. Sitting in the back seat of her parents’ car driving to Jim’s house was kind of an odd moment. It was like her parents were ceremonially giving her over to Jim. She felt like she was 12 again, taking a trip to the art museum, but this time they would leave her to fend for herself, to find her own way.
She all of sudden felt like Kelly when her dad pulled out the three large suitcases she was taking with her. She had over packed in the event that she wouldn’t necessarily be back. She wheeled one behind her and her dad followed her over to the U-haul. Jim was standing next to his dad listening to him explain how to drive a vehicle this large while towing his car.
“Take turns slow. We don’t need a call saying you flipped the truck. It’s an extra 20 feet behind you than what you’re used to. You always have to account for the car. When in doubt take the corner as wide as you can.”
Jim obediently nodded, not hearing anything he hadn’t already assumed. His eyes wandered over to Pam and she wondered how he was able to do that, smile so big with only his eyes.
“I’ll take that,” Jim said while reaching for Pam’s bag.
She stood nervously in front of his dad.
“You guys will be okay.”
She gave him a weak smile.
“He’ll ask you stay.”
Her eyes doubled in size to see his dad give her the same smirk Jim would flash her.
.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Jim attempts to propose before the move.
Chapter End Notes:
Alright guys and gals, one more chapter! I'm thinking it's going to be long. I cut out the original ending of this chapter because I assumed some of you would hunt me down for a cliffhanger. Sorry for the delay, but I literally kept backing myself into a corner with Jim and his impending proposal. Obviously I'm trying to save it for the last chapter, maybe.
