Pam awoke to the early morning sun shining through the single window in their room. She and Jim were comfortably entangled. When she moved her head from its spot on his chest, she felt a surge of cold air hit her cheek. She rolled over and noticed the clock. It read 6:01 a.m. and they would be docking in Nassau in the Bahamas in an hour. She longed to stay in bed for a little while longer but she knew that they needed to get up. Since it took her longer to get ready, she decided that she would go ahead and start and give him some more rest. When she sat up she felt sheets rustle and the body next to her roll over. She turned around and saw Jim squinting as he was trying to adjust to the sudden brightness from the sunlight.

“Hey,” she said as he sat up as well.

“What time is it?” he asked while yawning.

“6:00.”

“Remind me again, why are we getting up so early?”

“Because we’re arriving in the Bahamas in an hour.”

“Oh, yeah. So, how did you sleep?” he asked while pulling her close to him. He kissed the top of her head and then ran his finger along the imprint his shirt left on her cheek.

“I slept wonderfully,” she replied while he moved his hand down and began to run his fingers through her hair. She smiled and felt a chill go up her spine as she always did when he touched her.

“It’s a good thing you woke up when you did because we totally forgot about phoning in a wake-up call,” he said. They remained sitting close to each other, cuddling, for the next few minutes until they finally dragged themselves out of bed to get ready. Pam wore her madras shorts with a navy tank top and her newly bought bikini underneath it while Jim went ahead and wore his dark green swimsuit bottoms along with a white t-shirt that fit him in all of the right places.

Soon, they were seated in the ship’s dining room for breakfast.

Jim shook his head and looked at his girlfriend’s meal, “Pam, I still can’t see how you can eat oatmeal. When I was a kid, my mom had to force it down my throat.”

“Well, I don’t see how every morning you have a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios. I mean seriously, how can you not be sick of it by now?”

“Because they’re magically delicious!”

“Jim, that’s Lucky Charms.” Pam said, trying very hard to sound disappointed.

“Really? Then is it, ‘The taste you can see’?”

“No, that’s Cinnamon Toast Crunch.”

“Then what is it for Cheerios?”

“I’m not sure if they have one.”

“Oh, that’s just wrong. That brand has been around longer than any other and it doesn’t have a catchy slogan.”

Pam giggled at his remark. She loved how he could always make her laugh no matter what situation they were in. It wasn’t long before they were stepping off of the ship and onto the grounds in Nassau . They were debating on what they should do considering they only had until 2:00 before they had to re-board the ship.

“But I’m scared to death of heights!”

“If you could conquer your fear of performing in front of a crowd, you can definitely overcome your fear of heights," Jim said with absolute certainty. "And anyway, when you parasail you’ll be above the water, so if for some reason you fall it won’t hurt. When I did it before, it was just a relaxing ride. I promise you that there is nothing to worry about.”

She let out a deep sigh. One of her life’s dreams was to go parasailing but now that the chance was in front of her, she was to timid to reach out and take it. “Do you swear on your life you’ll be up there with me?”

“I wouldn’t do it without you, Beesly.”

“Good,” she replied as she stood up on her tiptoes and gave him a quick peck on the lips. They walked around a bit until they found a place to register for parasailing. By the time they signed up, paid, and walked up to the boat, it was 8:00. As it turned out, Andy, Angela, Michael, and Jan, were planning on doing it, too. Well, Angela was actually going to be the photographer.

“I can’t believe I’m about to do this,” Pam said. Jim reached for her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. “You won’t regret it,” he assured her. They stepped onto the boat and she took off her tank top so she could put on her sunscreen. She pulled it out of her bag and began rubbing it on her arms.

“Let me help,” he said. He took the sunscreen, squirted some in his hands and rubbed them together, and then began rubbing it on her shoulders. It was cold on her skin but his hands sent a surge of warmth through her body. He leaned towards her ear and whispered, “That swimsuit looks great on you, by the way.” She felt the pink rise up in her cheeks and a smile spread on her face. He finished and handed her back the bottle. “Your turn,” she said. He took off his shirt and turned around. She rubbed the sunscreen in between her hands and rubbed it in on his warm hard back and up to his muscular shoulders.

By 8:30 the boat was loaded and they headed out to sea. They all took time to introduce themselves to the instructor whose name turned out to be Cliff. He was a very muscular man with sandy blonde hair. He wasn’t wearing a shirt but was dressed in red swim bottoms. He began to explain the techniques on how to parasail. Jim had his arm around Pam’s bare shoulders and she snuggled into his hold. Soon, the boat turned off its motor and Cliff asked who wanted to go first. Of course, Michael jumped to volunteer. Jan decided not to go and so he got in the water by himself. Actually, he attempted a cannonball.

“I think Michael is going to start crying as soon as the boat starts,” Pam said.

“I bet he’ll beg for them to let him back in,” Jim replied. Soon, Michael was harnessed to the parasail. Jim and Pam saw a look of complete panic come over their boss’s face as the driver turned on the motor. Shortly after, he was up in the air. Angela was snapping pictures and Jan was catching it all on video. Jim and Pam were squinting into the sun to see his reaction. He was screaming at the top of his lungs but neither could tell if he was crying. His screaming soon ceased, though, but it was unclear if it was because he was over himself or if he lost his voice. When the boat slowed down and the parasail was lowered into the water, Cliff asked who would like to be next. Jim looked at Pam and she nodded.

“We’ll go,” he said while she clutched his hand in fear and excitement. Michael just then stepped into the boat and exclaimed in a ragged voice, “Did you guys see me?”

Jim nodded wearily.

Michael saw Jim preparing to go next. “Yeah! Jimbo! Jim-bor-ee! Fat Halpert! Slim Jim! The Jiminator!”

“The Jiminator. That’s a new one,” Jim said.

Michael then approached to him and slapped a hand on his back. “It’s pretty high up there. I won’t blame you if you start crying. Pam, I don’t know if it’s safe for a woman. It took a lot of bravery out of me, and I’m a pretty brave guy, to go up there. If I were you, I’d back out now.”

“You know, Michael, I think I’m okay,” she replied. Michael nodded his head, took a towel, and sat down. Jim gave Pam’s hand one last squeeze before he jumped into the water. She took her time and slowly climbed in. They swam out to the canopy and harnessed themselves in. She began to feel nervous and her stomach was full of butterflies. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she said.

“I promise you, you’ll be so happy you did it,” he promised her. “And I’m right here with you.” Just like that, her tensions melted away, just like it did the night before when they were singing karaoke and she heard him sing the first line.

The boat started to slowly accelerate and they were gliding across the water. Then, they started to lift up in the air.

“Oh my god,” Pam said and stifled a shriek. She squeezed her eyes closed and no longer felt the water beneath her toes. After a few seconds, he said, “Open your eyes. You’ll like what you’ll see,” he said in his kind tone. She did as he said and he was right; she did like what she saw. The bright blue water surrounded them and little schools of fish swam below them in a carefree manner.

“Wow,” was all she could manage to say. She looked in the boat and saw Angela snapping away with the camera she lent her. Michael was clapping and shouting something to them that she couldn’t make out. The warm breeze blew through her hair and sent a soothing sensation through her. She turned to Jim and caught him smiling at her.

“What?” she asked.

“Do you have any idea how amazing you are?” he asked and she once again caught herself blushing. She was positive the video Jan was taking could catch the red in her cheeks. Suddenly, she didn’t care that they were right in front of Michael and Andy or that they were up in the air parasailing. She leaned forward and kissed him anyway. When she pulled away, they were both blushing a shade of red and smiling tremendously. He reached for her hand and he laced his fingers through hers. Those smiles didn’t leave their faces for the rest of their time they spent soaring in the air.

The time flew by and before they knew it, the boat had slowed to a stop and they were unfastening themselves from the harness. They swam back to the boat and stepped in and were greeted by a cheering Michael.

“Hey, Jimmy! Congrats on your little smooch-a-roo up there!” he said while Jim bent down and got towels for him and Pam

“Uh, thanks, Michael.”

“So, does this mean you and Pam are going to miss out on the rest of the day and—” The instructor must have known where Michael’s question was headed because he interrupted him by asking who was next. Andy ran and jumped in the water before even announcing it was his turn.

“I guess that answers my question,” the instructor said. Jim handed Pam her towel and they went and sat back down.

“Now, aren’t you glad I made you do that?” he asked.

“Yes, I am,” she replied. “It was nerve-wracking at first, but once you told me to open my eyes, I had a great time.”

They spent the remainder of the boat ride sitting close to each other and enjoying the warm sun. After Andy got off, the strangers who were also on the boat with them took their turn. By the time the boat drove back to the shore they were completely dry. As they were about to step off the boat, Cliff stopped them. “Hey, Pam,” he said with practiced confidence. “I know you’re on a bit of a time crunch here, but I was wondering if you wanted to go out to lunch or something.”

Pam’s mouth dropped and she was temporarily baffled. Of course she didn’t want to go on a lunch date with him, but other then Roy, Jim, Ryan, and her ninth grade boyfriend, Steve, she’d never been asked out by a guy. “Uh—I—” she stuttered. Luckily, Jim stepped in to her rescue.

“Sorry, man, but she’s with me,” he said with a grin. He put his arm around her and they stepped off the boat. “Thanks for the trip,” he called over his shoulder.

They stepped onto the wooden path that was sprinkled in sand. “That was awkward,” Pam said when they were out of the instructor’s earshot.

“Did he not see us? I mean, we were showing a bit of a PDA…”

“I know! He was probably too busy being distracted by Michael and his crude comments.”

They both let out a chuckle and then he asked, “So, what do you want to do for the rest of the time we have here? It’s only 10:30 so we still have three and a half hours until we have to be back on the cruise,” Jim said.

“Hmm… I say we just relax on the beach. Is that okay?”

“Absolutely.”

They walked to a nice looking beach that wasn’t too crowded but wasn’t to empty, either. They found a spot on the sand and laid out their towels. Then, Jim turned to Pam with a menacing look on his face.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked. “You’re kinda scaring me.”

“Last one in is a rotten beet!” he yelled and then took off running towards the water.

“Hey, that’s not fair! Cheater!” she yelled back while chasing after him. He splashed into the water first and then took a dive into the wave and she followed hot on his heels. “I won!” he declared when they both came up for air. “Oh, whatever, that was so unfair!” she protested.

“You’re just afraid to admit that I beat you fair and square,” he fought back.

“Cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater.”

“I was just lucky that I got a head start.”

“But it doesn’t count because you didn’t call it.”

“Fine, we’ll call it a tie.”

“Nope, you cheated so that means that I officially win.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah,” she retorted and then surprised him by splashing him in the face. He spit the water out of his mouth before he said, “You’re so going to pay for that, Beesly.” He lunged after her and she let out a scream while he grabbed her and pushed her under the water. When she popped up, she pushed down on his shoulders and tried to push him down but his feet were touching the bottom, unlike hers. He picked her up and held her firmly against him. She wrapped her arms around him as he said:

“I’ll let you win this time, but next time, you’re going down.” He kissed her nose and she giggled. This was finally it. It was finally them. They were together, completely happy, and completely in love.

“I think we’ll have to see about that,” she said. Just then, a wave came and knocked them both under the water. She kept grip on him and they soon emerged from the water laughing.

“I was not expecting that,” he said as he shook his hair spraying some water in her face. They swam around for another thirty minutes until Jim said, “I’m getting hungry. You want to stop somewhere for lunch?”

“As long as our parasailing instructor isn’t there, I’m in.” They swam back to the shore, dried off, and started walking around the little beach town that they were near. They ended up stopping at a deli. They each ended up getting a Caesar Salad with shrimp. When they were finished, they started to head back to their spot on the beach when Jim spotted an ice cream shop.

“What do you say? My treat,” he said.

“Come on, Jim. You’ve paid for all of our meals this trip.”

“Yeah, Starbucks and Quiznos cost me so much money,” he replied sarcastically. “Oh, and the free breakfast.”

“Okay, fine. But I’m paying next.” They walked into the little shop. “I’ll have mint chocolate chip, please,” he ordered. “And let me guess,” he said to Pam. “You want strawberry?”

“Of course,” she said, smiling at him. She loved how well he knew her. He paid for the cones and they walked back outside, licking at their treats.

“Now switch me,” she said. He handed her his cone and she handed him hers. It was a ritual they had each time they got ice cream. She took a few licks of his mint chocolate chip and then they switched back.

“Pam, look over there,” he said, pointing over his shoulder. She turned her head expecting to see something neat when instead she was greeted by him rubbing the cold, minty treat on her nose.

“Hey!” she interjected. “I’m sorry,” he apologized and started wiping it off her nose with a napkin. “I just couldn’t resist.”

“Well, in that case…” she dug a finger in hers and rubbed it on his mouth. “Hmm… I wonder how I’ll clean it off?” she asked, pretending not to know.

“Oh, I have a solution,” he said, grabbing her waist with his free hand and pulling her close into a kiss. The cold dessert felt cool pressed between their lips, but as always, the kiss was magical. They pulled away and now they both had ice cream on their lips. She licked it off her lips, then looked at him and giggled at how he looked with pink smeared across his face. She wiped some off with her thumb. He took her hand and kissed the finger. He kept her hand in his and they walked back to the beach.

“You know one thing that I really love?” she asked.

“What?”

“When you hold my hand.”

He smiled at her and squeezed her hand. “I love that too.”

They threw their trash away and sat down on the blankets. Pam sunk her toes in the warm sand, bent her neck down, and poured some over her feet. Then, she took more and poured it onto Jims.

“God, Pam, I just love you so much,” he said.

She looked up and smiled warmly at him. “I love you too. So much.” They stayed on the beach for the remaining time they had in Nassau spending their time between swimming and laying in the sun. At one point, something caught Pam’s eye that she absolutely had to point out to Jim.

“Hey. Look over there,” she whispered and nudged him, motioning to her right. When he did, he saw Karen, who was close enough that they had to be careful of how loud they spoke, dressed in a super stringy bikini. She practically sitting on Ryan Howard’s lap and she was running her hand through her hair. Jim turned to look at Pam and they immediately broke out in giggles. Karen must have heard them, because she looked over and linked eyes with them for a second, then went back to caressing Ryan. She started smiling even brighter and batting her eyelashes even more as if she was trying to show off for Jim and Pam. They turned away and started giggling again.

“What is up with her?” Jim asked in between laughs.

“I don’t know, but I think she’s hitting on Ryan,” Pam said.

“Yeah, that or she’s dating him and trying to flaunt him in our face.” That caused them to snicker even more. Karen turned around at them and gave them a glare so they put their hands over their mouths to hide their smiles. When 2 o’ clock drew near, they packed up their stuff, dried their hair off as much as they could with a towel, and headed back to the cruise ship.

When they stepped into the lobby, it took them a while for their eyes to get used  to the absence of the bright sunlight. The strong air conditioning was a surprise to their bodies that had finally adjusted to the heat. Pam shivered due to this and the fact that her hair was still wet and droplets of the sea water ran down her back. Jim wrapped a towel around her and pulled her close to him. They walked to the elevators, their flip-flops making loud noises against the hard floor, and pressed the button to go up.

When they arrived in their hotel room, they immediately changed into dry clothes. She flopped onto the bed and reached for the remote control so she could turn on the TV. The soft bed was so welcoming to her tired body. Jim laid down right next to her and she instantly snuggled closer to him. The pillow she was previously laying on had a spot from her wet hair. He pulled up the blankets and wrapped his arm around her. Before long, they were both drifting off into a peaceful nap.

*****

When Pam awoke Jim wasn’t laying next to her. She sat up and looked around, worried at first. Then, she saw the balcony door open. She stepped outside and saw Jim sitting on a chair.

“’Hey, sleepy head,” he said. She walked over to him. “Come here,” he said and patted a spot in his lap. She sat down and laid her head on his shoulder as his hands went around her waist. The cruise was once again at sail. She closed her eyes as she felt the warm breeze blow around them, sending pleasant chills down her spine.

“Look at the sunset,” he said. She opened her eyes and looked at the beautiful colors that were lowering below the oceanic horizon. She wrapped her arms around his torso and gave him a soft squeeze.

“It’s so beautiful,” she said.

“Will you do me a favor?”” he asked.

“Yeah, anything,” she replied willing to do whatever he asked.

“Will you draw this for me tomorrow?” She smiled adoringly at him and kissed his chin. His cheeks were a little red and so were his nose. She was pretty sure hers were, too.

“Gladly.”

Last night at this time, Pam was in the bathroom crying and feeling as if it were possible to lose the man that meant so much to her. Now, she felt a promise or a certain security between them what was unbreakable. She knew that nobody could pull them apart; they would be able to stick together no matter what obstacles they will cross. Their lonesome past only helped to strengthen them as a couple, not bruise them and cause issues as she’d feared. Right there, as they were sitting on their balcony, nuzzling in each other’s warmth, she felt a sudden assurance that he was the one she would be spending her life with.

They stayed like that until the sun set all the way, listening to the soothing sound of the breaking waves below them and the seagulls cawing as if to their own tune.

Then, Pam felt a vibration coming from Jim’s stomach.

“You hungry?” she asked and he nodded his head in response. She stood up and held out her hand to him which he gladly took in his.

“What do you feel like eating?” she asked.

“I’m not going to lie; I don’t feel like dressing up for anything. So how about we go to the pizzeria?”

“That sounds great. At least one of these nights, though we will dress up and eat at one of these nice restaurants.”

“That’s good with me,” he replied with a smile. They took the elevator down to the main floor and walked to the pizzeria. Fortunately, it wasn’t too crowded so they were seated right away. They ordered a pepperoni pizza to split along with a grape soda and a Coke. Despite their hunger, they took their time eating. They talked and flirted too much and the people sitting around them were probably getting aggravated with their constant laughing. When they finally signed their check, they headed back to the room. When they were crawling into bed, Jim said, “Now, I’m warning you, if you hit me with a pillow tonight I’ll be sure to tickle you like you’ve never been tickled before.” She gave him a lighthearted smack and sat on the bed next to him. “Turn around,” he said.

“Why?” she asked suspiciously.

“I’m not going to do anything mean, I promise,” he said. She turned so her back was to him and he put his hands on her shoulders and gave them a squeeze. She relaxed with his touch and sighed at how good his massage felt. He rubbed her neck and then went down her back. While he was back to massaging her shoulders, he moved his mouth up to her ear and whispered, “Pam.” Hearing her name sent chills through her body. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” She placed her hand on his and turned around to face him. “I don’t ever want to lose you,” she responded as their faces inched closer. “Never, not in a million years, will you ever lose me. I’m never going to let that happen,” he said as their lips met. The kiss was tender and affectionate and neither of them ever wanted to pull away but after some time, they did. Their lips were swollen but they didn’t care. “I’m deeply and madly in love with you,” she said. He smiled and leaned in for another kiss that proved he meant it too. They pulled away with gentle smiles on their faces as they lay down. He pulled her close to him and she curled up next to him and he kissed her forehead. Yeah; he was most definitely the one.