* * *
“Pam?” He answered the phone on the first ring.
“Where’d you go?” she asks, and his heart twists a little because she sounds so plaintively young, sleep still clinging to the corners of her words.
“Forgot my toothbrush in Scranton. Figured I’d just head down the block and find a drugstore. I didn’t want to wake you.” Outside the sun hung lazy and low, the steady glow of heat a welcome change from the white-hot blaze of the afternoon. It felt good on his skin; he almost thought he could feel little rays piercing through to his bones.
“Could have left a note,” she countered, only slightly mollified, and Jim found himself suddenly wishing he could run his thumb across her soft mouth.
“Don’t tell me you miss me already?” he laughed.
“Not a chance,” she replied back smartly, drowsiness replaced with the bright, hard snap of her banter. “Who needs another warm body in the middle of June?”
Jim sniggered, unconsciously avoiding cracks in the sidewalk as he walked further down the crowded street. The heat had left the city hushed and languid, and the blare of taxi horns and car screeches that he usually overlooked seemed to get under his skin. People tried to rush by, gabbing on their phones and never making eye contact, but everyone seemed to be moving just a little slower through the syrupy air.
“So the truth comes out at last. You only wanted me for my body.”
“Duh, Jim. Plus now I’ll never need to buy a ladder.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. Do you feel used now?”
“It depends. Are you planning to stop anytime soon?”
“Nope.”
“Then fine by me,” he replied nonchalantly, neatly sidestepping a fire hydrant as he pressed the phone to his ear. “Use me, abuse me, whatever you like.”
“Jeez, Halpert, I always figured you were a little masochistic, but I had no idea it was this bad.”
Jim ducked into the drugstore, momentarily startled by the blast of air conditioning that made his clothes feel damp. The store was crowded with teenagers trying to escape the heat, and he turned to keep from colliding with a bald, suited businessman balancing an attaché and a slushie. “Seriously? The last five years didn’t tip you off?”
“Ouch.”
“It’s okay, Beesly, I love you no matter how sadistic you are.”
“Hey!” she protested weakly, but Jim went on as though he hadn’t heard her.
“Listen up. I have my choice between Spiderman, Batman, or Disney Princesses.”
“Huh?”
Jim sighed exaggeratedly, “My toothbrush, Pam. Try to pay attention every once in awhile, will you?”
“Which princesses?”
He held the plastic package up closer, turning it from the glare of the fluorescent lights overhead. “Um, the mermaid, the Arabian chick, and the brunette. You know, the one who ends up with the beast?”
“Ooh, get that one.”
“Good choice.”
“Thanks. And could you pick up some bug spray while you’re at it?”
“For the ants?”
“Yeah. I’m still not sure why there are ants in my shower of all places.”
Jim walked down the opposite aisle, scanning the canisters until he found what he wanted. He grabbed it and walked up to the counter, pulling out his wallet from his back pocket. “I bet Dwight would know.” He listened to Pam laugh, nodding his thanks at the cashier and swinging the plastic bag over his shoulder.
“Maybe you should have brought him with you, then,” she teased. He could hear her shuffling around, along with the faint ringing of metal and running water. He shielded his eyes as he stepped out into the sun, back into the traffic of bodies on the sidewalk.
“Be careful what you wish for, Beesly. You might find yourself with an unexpected visitor the next time I come up.”
“I’m going to call that bluff, Halpert. No way you’re spending two hours in a car with Dwight.”
“How did I not think of that?”
“Eh,” she said, noncommittally, “blame it on the heat.”
Jim grinned. “Sucks for you, Pam. Looks like you’ll be stuck with just me, after all.”
“You know, call me crazy, but I’m thinking that might not be so bad.” She seemed to taste the words as she spoke them, slow and tenuous and soft like a thread of silk, and Jim could feel his stomach clench with wanting her.
“What are you doing right now?” he asked after a small pause, trying to regain control as he kept his voice deliberately light.
“Mmm, starting dinner.”
“Aw, Pam, you don’t have to. We can order in, or go out, or whatever you want.”
“I want to,” she insisted. “I like…taking care of you, you know?” she sounded a bit hesitant, even a little shy, before reverting back to a brisk tone. “Besides, don’t even try to tell me you’ve been eating anything but sandwiches these last couple weeks.
“And takeout. Don’t forget takeout.”
“See? Now what’s taking you so long? I’m looking out the window and I don’t see you anywhere.”
Jim rounded the corner onto her street, striding a little faster towards her apartment building. “How about now? I’m the tall guy in the green shirt.”
“I see you,” she sang out, and he caught sight of her just as she started waving. The light fell softly on her hair, warm and honeyed and rich with color. She was wearing one of his shirts, the collar threatening to fall off her shoulder, and she seemed loose and free and happy in a way that almost terrified him. And her smile, he could probably live for years with just the memory of her sweet, easy smile floating down to him from a third-story window.
“Hey,” he said softly, still looking up at her with a lazy crook of his mouth.
“Hi,” she whispered back, biting her lip a little before grinning widely.
“I’m going to marry you,” he said finally, because it needed to be said. He needed to bind the moment up somehow, tie it down before it fled with the last rays of the summer sun. Pam started, her eyes growing wide.
“Jim –”
“Shh. Don’t say anything,” he said, licking his lips as he continued. “I’m not going to ask you right now, you deserve better, but I want you to know that it’s coming, I swear it is, because I can’t imagine any sort of future that doesn’t have you in it.”
She sighed, and he watched her close her eyes for a brief moment, shoulders sagging. “Jim, I don’t need anything fancy, you know that. Just ask me!” she pleaded, but Jim only shook his head and kept smiling.
“Humor me, Beesly. You’ll get what’s coming to you.” He watched her pout and stick out her tongue.
“Now who’s being a sadist?” she asked, clearly a little miffed from their exchange.
“It’ll be worth it, pretty girl. Scout’s honor.”
“Whatever, Romeo,” she said, flouncing away from the window and letting the curtains fall. “Pressure’s on. Now come upstairs, already.”
Jim heard her hang up, and let his arm fall to his side still clutching the phone. Shadows lengthened across the street, bringing with them a timid stillness that stole over the early evening. He looked back up the window, once, and marveled a little at the strangeness of wanting nothing more than what was already in his grasp. He was full to the brim and he walked up the stairs slowly, trying to take it all in and unwilling to spill a single drop.
* * *
Author's Chapter Notes:
Mmm, it's been awhile, hasn't it? Thanks again as always to all the wonderful reviewers. I work hard so that I don't let you guys down!
Chapter End Notes:
My gift to you. Along with the promise of more to come.
Chapter title from "My Heart is a Lute" by Anne Barnard.
Questions/Comments/Concerns? I'm all ears.
Chapter title from "My Heart is a Lute" by Anne Barnard.
Questions/Comments/Concerns? I'm all ears.
