“I have a friend,” he begins, but corrects himself, “I had a friend, when I was your age.”
His grandson looks at him with anxious eyes.
“She was the receptionist at the place I worked for at the time. We worked together for three years. Everyday I felt like I knew her better. Everyday she looked just a little more beautiful than the day before.”
“What about grandma –” the grandson begins, but cuts himself off.
“Your grandmother is an amazing woman and I love her very, very much.”
He pauses, thinking if he should say what he is about to say.
“But this receptionist, Pam, her name was, gave me a reason to wake up every morning.”
The grandson is silent, but runs his fingers through his thick, brown hair, just like his grandfather did when he had hair. It is obvious that Jim’s genes skipped a generation; his grandson is nearly identical to himself when he was his age. He has the same goofy grin, too.
“We laughed together, played jokes on coworkers, made up words, emailed each other secret messages. We were best friends.”
“So?”
Jim looks at him skeptically.
“Why didn’t you do anything.”
“She was engaged.”
The grandson’s expression falls.
“She was engaged to a man who I knew wasn’t right for her. For a while, I thought I was being biased because I had a thing for her, that maybe they were a perfect couple and I just couldn’t see it. But as time went on, it became clear that they weren’t.”
“Why not?”
“He refused to commit on a wedding date for years. When she said she wanted to go to art school, he told her it wasn’t worth it, that it was just a silly dream of hers. He acted like a teenager. He disrespected her, to say the least.”
“Then why was she with him?”
“I don’t know. Because she was used to him? She didn’t want to change?”
“What do you mean?”
“They dated since high school.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Absolutely not.”
The grandson looks at his grandfather, his eyes wide. Jim shrugs.
“So, what happened? Did she marry the guy?”
“Yes.”
“So that’s why you married grandma?”
“I married your grandmother because I fell in love with her.”
“Yeah, yeah, but you never told Pam anything? You never told her how you felt?”
“I did.”
“Then why did she…”
“I kissed her.”
“While she was engaged?”
“Absolutely.”
“Wow, grandpa. You had guts.”
“Hell yeah I did!”
His grandson is surprised with his grandfather’s words, but grins, almost laughing. But he knows the story is not one with intentions of laughter.
“Were you not a good kisser or something?”
“That can’t be the case. I’m married after all!”
“So then why did she marry him?”
“I told her I loved her. She told me she loved him. That was the end of it.”
“Really?”
“Yup.”
“If you loved her so much, why didn’t you do anything else?”
“I wanted her to be happy. And if being happy meant being with him, then that’s the way it was going to be.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah.”
The grandson is thinking hard, wondering what to say, what to think, what to do; should he pat his grandfather on the shoulder, understandingly? Or just offer his apologies, then joke that he is happy he married his grandmother (or else he would not exist)? Or should he say nothing, because there aren’t any words that could capture the expression his grandfather has right this moment?
“I’m really sorry, grandpa.”
“It is what it is.”
He just has to know what happened next.
“So then what happened?”
“A few days after, I moved to Connecticut and transferred to a different branch of Dunder Mifflin. I spent about a month there, and then transferred back to the original place.”
“Was she still there?”
“Yup. But she wasn’t engaged anymore.”
His grandson’s look is one of shock.
“How…then what…huh?”
“In Connecticut, I met another woman. She transferred back to Scranton with me.”
“Why didn’t you break up with her?”
“There were no signs whatsoever that Pam had any interest in me.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It’s simple. She moved on, and I did too.”
“Did you really?”
“Do you really think so?”
His grandson pauses, looks into his grandfather’s eye, and can swear that he can see a tear. And he isn’t surprised.
“No. I don’t think so.”
“Every day I prayed that she would come to my desk and tell me she wrong, that she loved me the whole time. But we stopped talking. We weren’t friends anymore. Things changed.”
“Grandpa…”
“That’s how things go sometimes, buddy. Life doesn’t give you everything you want. You have to fight for it. You have to fight really, really hard.”
“And what if that doesn’t work?”
“Then you have to find a way to get over it.” Jim smiles weakly, trying to lighten the somber mood that has suddenly engulfed the two of them.
Jim reaches over and places his hand on his grandson’s shoulder. He squeezes gently.
“To make this long story short,” Jim says, pausing, catching himself before he lets a tear fall, “Don’t make the same mistake I did. Please.”
Story Notes:
Just an experiment... takes place in the far future, when Jim is a grandfather, but not with Pam. The grandson is in his late teenage years.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Just as everyone wishes, too
But I want to see it for a new reason:
To see if there will be a me and a you
Chapter End Notes:
Interesting, right? I was really weird about this, because I wasn't sure about it. I was thinking about doing another chapter, but this time, with Jim and Pam married, and Jim telling their grandson some sort of story. Maybe in the future...
Anyway, thanks so much for reading!!
Anyway, thanks so much for reading!!
Dwangie is the author of 25 other stories.
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