“Hey, Jim.” Keith poked his head around the corner of Jim’s cubicle.

“What’s up?” Jim swiveled in his chair to face his boss.

“Can I talk to you in my office for a minute?”

“Sure.” He got up from his chair and followed Keith into his office, shutting the door behind him.

“Have a seat.” Keith said. Jim sat, and waited for Keith to sit down before leaning forward and placing his folded arms on the desk in front of him.

“I need a favor. Jim. We have an editor from The New York Times coming in today for a big meeting with our board of directors tomorrow. I was supposed to pick him up at the airport, but I won’t be able to make it. Do you think you could go and pick him up for me?"

“Yeah, that’s no problem. What time does he come in?”

“Well, that’s the bad part.” Keith nervously shifted in his chair, and ran his fingers through his thinning hair. “He just landed, so you’d have to leave now.”

“Oh…that’s okay. I can go now.”

“Are you sure? I hate asking you last minute, but you’re the only one who I trust to do it…” He slid the itinerary over to Jim.

“Yeah, it’s no big deal.” Jim picked up the paper and stood up to walk towards the door.

“Jim?” Keith said and Jim turned around, his hand on the doorknob. “Go ahead and take the rest of the day off, too.”

“Ooookay…” Jim had a confused look on his face as he left Keith’s office.

Keith smiled to himself, as the door clicked shut. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and quickly typed the message.

------------------------

Pam’s phone vibrated in her pocket, indicating she’d received a new text message.

He’ll be there in 10 minutes.

A giddy smile spread across her face. In a matter of minutes she was about to embrace her husband, the man she had missed so much in the last few weeks. She sat on the airplane, patiently waiting for her turn to exit the aircraft, but couldn’t hold her legs still, wanting, needing to see Jim. She practically bounced out of her seat as soon as it was her turn, peeling her way between the sea of passengers, looking for the signs directing her to baggage claim.

The tears began as soon as she stepped on the escalator, the home stretch. She didn’t make any attempt to hide them-she wasn’t ashamed. She was 5 months pregnant, hadn’t seen her husband in almost a month, missed her 3 year old already, and had just spent the entire day in airplanes and airports. Darn it, if anyone had a reason to cry, Pam Halpert did.

The ground slowly came into view as the escalator made its way down to baggage claim. She saw several people standing at the bottom, and she was able to pick him out instantly. She saw his feet first, then his legs, his torso, and finally the unmistakably familiar, adorable face she’d only been able to dream of for the last 27 days. Her free hand flew up to her mouth, as her emotions threatened to boil over the surface. Her knees became weak, something only he could do to her.

The sign Jim was holding for the non-existent editor fell to the floor as he looked up, and saw his wife.