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At first she’s all wrong. She’s uptight and he hears her behind him, because their desks are set up in some asinine way so that they can’t make eye contact, making an exasperated noise when he cracks a joke on the phone with a friend or even a client. He’s not really sure what her deal is but he always gives people a few chances until, like Dwight, they prove themselves unworthy of any more of his good humor.
The first time she assassinates him during their weekly Call of Duty “exercise”, as Josh likes to call it, he notices her smile. He calls her a psychopath to the camera, but maybe deep down inside that’s for Pam’s benefit. Even though they say this thing is going to be on TV one day, he wonders how long they can actually waste time filming without airing. Maybe he’ll show up one morning and the cameras will finally be gone. And then they can get rid of the tape and 2 miserable years of his life pining for the unattainable will be gone.
He knows she called off the wedding. He knows she hasn’t called him yet. She knows how he feels and he’s not going to waste his time pointing out yet again what should be painfully obvious. The ball is now completely, entirely in her court and she hasn’t even shown up for the game.
She offers to teach him the finer points of using the weapons. Josh made sure they all got a copy of it for home use months ago. Jim wonders how he finessed that onto an expense report but he’s tired of going back to his half-unpacked apartment and he hasn’t found a place yet that can make a good pizza so he says yes.
She’s good at the game and she turns out to be not only a good teacher but an excellent cook as well. She knows the way to a man’s heart usually involves food and games and she is used to getting what she wants.
Jim is tired of taking the lead. Tired of initiating the pranks and worrying about Pam’s emotional health and if she’s wasting her life and her talent on a man who doesn’t even want to know her thoughts and feelings. It’s easy now to let Karen take charge.
She’s been in the Stamford office for a while and she knows the best salesmen all have big egos and little dicks. The more she knows about Jim, the more she wonders how he has any success at selling. He’s definitely not full of himself and when she gazes at his lanky frame and his long lovely fingers, she doesn’t think he could possibly fit the other stereotype either.
After 6 weeks of “training missions” as they like to call their Friday night sessions, she finds out for sure. He’s maybe had one too many and it’s now been six months since he’s heard a word from Pam. But Karen is there and she’s understanding and warm and soft and not holding anything back. He’s tired of baby steps and stolen glances and making up for hurt feelings and everything about her feels surprisingly right. They fit.
Three months later and he isn’t even dreaming about Pam anymore although he’s yet to dream about Karen. But she’s the one who has Thanksgiving dinner with his family. She’s the one who surprises him at Christmas with a ski vacation. She doesn’t have a fiancé, she’s not wasting her talents, she’s not hesitant about showing him how she feels and she’s made it exceedingly clear that even though it’s been a short time she thinks he is the one for her.
Three months after that, Pam finally sends him a brief e-mail. It’s short and somewhat impersonal and she tries to joke with him but Jim just finds it annoying that after all this time she still isn’t able to talk about things like an adult. She had started taking classes but then stopped again because she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to teach or go into graphic design or focus on painting or maybe just do calligraphy and get a job with more security that pays better but Jim is surprised to find that he really, really doesn’t care at all anymore. He did all he could for her and she still can’t figure out what she wants.
When Karen wins the Salesman of the Year Award, and she and Jim laugh their asses off that seriously, the award still says “man”, it goes along with a week’s trip, all expenses paid to Hawaii. Jim doesn’t know if it’s the impossible shades of blue in the water or the scent of tropical flowers that always seems to be hanging in the air but he proposes to Karen on a moonlit walk down the beach and when she throws her arms around him and whispers “yes, yes, yes” in his ear as he twirls her around, he feels drunk with happiness. That night, he finally dreams of her.
Pam calls him right before the wedding and as before, she’s hesitant and indecisive and what Jim used to find endearing has finally lost its charm. He knows she wants to ask him if he’s really truly over her but she doesn’t say it so he doesn’t help her find the words. She wishes him and Karen every happiness and he hangs up the phone right before he knows she’s going to burst into tears.
The wedding is small and intimate and they take a long trip to see the world together before they settle down and start a family. She knows he’ll be a great dad and she doesn’t want to be one of those women who wait too long and then regret it. Besides, she’s the better salesperson and he’s offered to be a stay at home dad.
He’s running errands one day, the baby in a carriage, when he sees her in the drugstore. It’s been three years since he laid eyes on her and she still looks pretty much the same. She doesn’t really know what to say to him, no surprises there, and it’s awkward. She’s still taking classes and hoping to finish one day and she seems a little embarrassed by her slow pace. She leans down to look at his son sleeping in the carriage and he sees sadness wash over her face. Jim glances at his watch and says he needs to get going so he can pick up his wife at the train station. Pam seems happy for an excuse to end their reunion and they make vague promises to call each other some day soon.
He’s holding the baby in his arms when her train pulls in to the station and she spots them right away as she steps onto the platform. She smiles and waves and moves through the crowd of commuters toward them. When she reaches him he wraps his arms around her and their son and she laughs in the autumn sunshine and he knows for certain what it means to be loved.
