The realization that came to Pam made getting ready for her date with Jim mean even more. Tonight was going to be more than that, much more than those three little words. She was going to tell him that she loved him. With it only being a little after five, Pam had time to enjoy getting ready for Jim, indulging in a few more of those pre-date rituals that she thought she wouldn’t have the time for.
Time seemed to pass by quickly. The next thing Pam knew, her doorbell was ringing as she threaded the small silver hoop into her right ear. Am I running late? she thought to herself as she grabbed her cardigan from the bed and walked out towards the front door.
“Early of course, I should have known,” she said to herself after glancing at the clock on her DVD player. “He says to be ready at 7:00 and he’s here at 6:48.”
“Who’s there?” she questioned, biting the side of her lip and smoothing her hands down her dress. She bit back a giggle as she placed her hand on the doorknob. Pam laughed more lately. She laughed, smiled, grinned a lot more than she used to. It wasn’t just because of the changes she was making for herself; it was because of the man outside her door. And she liked this ‘happy Pam’ that she was becoming.
“Hi, I have a delivery for a Miss Pam Beesly,” he said in a falsetto that reminded Pam of Andy's singing. “Can you sign for this please?”
As she opened the door and stepped back, the first thing she noticed was not Jim. It was what he was holding. It wasn’t your typical bouquet, though it had a few flowers scattered here and there in it. This one, however, had paintbrushes off all different types, pastels, charcoals, colored pencils, and palate knives all tied together with a soft pink ribbon.
“Jim,” she sighed as she took hold of the unique bouquet. “You didn’t have to do all this…”
“I know you said last night you needed a few new things for the summer class and well it’s not a real date without some flowers,” he shrugged interrupting her mid thought. Jim slipped his free hand in his pocket. “So I killed two birds with one stone. And you did say you found inspiration in the walk through the beet fields,” he said with a lopsided grin on his face. “I wanted to help further the pursuits of Scranton’s newest art star.”
Add this to the list of reasons of why I’m telling him tonight, Pam noted to herself as a flush crept across her skin. “Thank you,” she said softly before kissing his cheek and tugging him into her apartment. “Let me just put these away and get my purse.”
Pam brought her bouquet into the kitchen, carefully sliding the fresh blooms out from between the brushes and pencils and placing them into a vase. She carefully ran a finger along the soft petals of one of the peach roses. Before she lost herself further in thought, she heard Jim from her living room, “I’m glad you finally listened to me and hung up some of your pieces. These walls were too bare.”
“Okay, all set,” she said, grabbing both her purse and cardigan off the couch. “Ready to rock and roll?” Jim shook his head no, reaching out for Pam. She looked at him quizzically. “Jim?” she questioned.
Jim pulled Pam in close, wrapping one arm around her waist. She felt his breath on her ear, warm and moist before his lips met hers. It felt like they were in that spot, the moment, the embrace forever. She felt like she was floating. Jim pulled back first, leaning his forehead against hers.
Pam barely squeaked out, “What was that…”
“Had to say hello first before we could go. Ready?” Pam just nodded in agreement, still breathless. He had a way of making her feel things she never thought were possible.
“Hey, Jim?” she asked nervously. This was it; this was the time she was going to tell him. Jim slipped his arm from around her waist to take hold of her hand. He looked over at her with a smile that spread from ear to ear. Pam felt him give her hand a squeeze and when she looked up and met his eyes, she lost all her thoughts. No, not right, not yet, she thought. I have to get this right. “I just need my sweater before we go.”
He nodded, snagging the cream cardigan from the couch and draping it lightly over her shoulders. “Come on Beesly, we’re going to lose our reservations,” he quipped with a wink, tugging her by the hand out the door.
“Wow. Reservations? Impressive” she giggled as they walked to his car.
“Well I’m looking to get lucky,” Jim smirked.
Immediately a flush swept over him. They were falling back into their regular banter. Smooth move there buddy, he thought. Especially after the conversation about that exact subject they had last night at the farm in Dwight’s oddly shaped beds. “You’re going to have to fold up like an accordion to even think about fitting in that,” she mentioned, looking between the two linen covered lumps. After their bedtime story from Dwight, they quickly pushed both beds together as best as they could and settled down in each other’s arms. Jim remembered holding her against his chest, her hands intertwined with his over her stomach when she shook her head and said so softly that she couldn’t just yet. He shifted her closer, tighter to him and promised that it was alright, that he could wait. There was no rush, no pressure, and no ‘need for speed’ as he joked last night. And what do I do, Jim thought, I go and say something that Roy would have said to get in her pants. She lightly squeezed his hand and smiled up at him.
“Damn, you figured out all my tricks already, I’m in trouble,” Jim chuckled as he opened the car door for her. “I was even going to let you pick out the music for the drive over, but since you’re onto me, maybe I’ll just subject you to the CD Jon sent me a few weeks ago.”
The drive to the restaurant was anything but typical for a Friday night in Scranton. Pam left Jim in charge of the music, listening to what Jim told her ‘Jon’s taste in musical expression’. They hit each and every red light and then a bout of stand-still traffic on the Scranton Expressway.
Jim began to drum his fingers against the steering wheel in frustration. “Never going to make it at this rate,” he sighed as the car inched up the highway. Pam reached over and stilled Jim’s hand with hers.
“When we get there, we get there. It’s Scranton, do you think we’re going to get closed out of the place?” she said as she reached for his iPod. “Ok enough of this noise from Jon. A change in tunes should help your mood.” Pam flipped through his playlists. “I’m worried about you now after seeing some of the bands in here. Crowded House, Mr. Big, do I really want to know about your inner 80’s hair band love?”
“I think someone owns Monster Ballads, don’t they?” he said with a laugh. “You should be able to find something suitable, Beesly.”
“Here we go,” Pam nodded, clicking through his ‘Acoustic & Unplugged’ playlist and hitting play on the cover of a Death Cab for Cutie song he played for her a few nights ago. “And look, a change in tunes has the traffic moving.”
With cars moving back to the speed limit, Jim was able to pull into the parking lot with about 7 minutes to spare. “Thank goodness, made it,” he said letting go a breath he’d seemed to have been holding since the stop and go traffic. “Ready?” Jim asked as he pulled the keys from the ignition.
Pam nodded with a smile, looking over at him. “Yeah, yeah I am.” She watched as Jim shifted out of his seat, around to her side of the car to open her door. As the sun started to set slowly over them and the light breeze blew through her hair, she knew she had goosebumps that had nothing to do with the cool autumn sky.
Chapter End Notes:
Sorry for the delay! Life, work, and the rest got too in the way. But now after this chapter, I think the flow is back!
Much love, praise and gratitude for the best betas a girl could really ask for: Becky215 & Cousin Mose. You both are beyond amazingly wonderful. Shout out to my girl receptionist for the musicality help and as always nothin' but love for my JT crew!
Much love, praise and gratitude for the best betas a girl could really ask for: Becky215 & Cousin Mose. You both are beyond amazingly wonderful. Shout out to my girl receptionist for the musicality help and as always nothin' but love for my JT crew!
