She's been working a few minutes later than usual the last few weeks so she can avoid having to run into Jim and Karen in the elevator. At first she'd wait for them to leave and then give them 5 minutes or so to leave the parking lot, but then one day a month and a half ago, she did that and caught them sharing a joke by his car and the only open spot that morning had been next to him so she'd had to walk right by them to get into her car and it had just been so humiliating, watching him chuckle with the girl he'd replaced her with. So, after that she just resolved to work until 5:30. Everyone’s usually long gone by then, and she's found she actually sort of likes getting to finish up her work for the day in a quiet office.
So, that's why she's surprised that day when she opens the door to the parking lot to find him standing in front of Michael's bouncy castle, staring into it.
At first, she continues toward her car, but then she stops. She's trying to be braver, isn't she? And so she takes a deep breath and changes direction.
He doesn't flinch when she walks over to him and follows his gaze into the inflated castle, just says, "What was he thinking would happen?"
"I don’t know," she says. "It's always pretty dangerous territory, trying to figure out Michael's thought processes."
He snorts.
"I'm sure he thought it would end with a round of applause,” she goes on, “but that's as far as I've gotten."
"Do you think he was hoping we'd call for an encore?" His eyes flicker over to hers for a second before returning his gaze to the castle. "It's pretty sad, just sitting here. Empty. With nobody playing in it."
She feels her heart start to beat a little bit faster. Courage, Beesley. "I think we can do something about that." Before she can stop herself, she's kicking her shoes off. She starts to roll up her sleeves and finally looks at him, ready to gauge his reaction.
He's still staring at the back wall of the structure. "You coming?" Her voice doesn't even sound like hers.
He swallows, waits a beat. Then, "Yeah."
She waits for him to take his shoes off and lean his messenger bag against her purse. He starts rolling up his shirt sleeves and she stares at his emerging forearms. She’s trying to remember when the last time was that she saw them, when she notices that he’s holding out a tentative hand. “After you.”
They climb in and they’re both sort of just bobbing up and down at first, walking around and looking at the walls up close, but pretty soon they start hopping up and down and then they start really jumping and laughing. She is instantly sweating and she shrugs off her cardigan and tosses it back outside and he finally speaks up.
“Whoa, Beesley! Getting serious, huh?”
She grins. “It’s hot!”
“When’s the last time you were in one of these things?” He asks, still jumping, his tie flapping up a little each time he does.
“Oh,” she says, breathless. “I wasn’t much for the old moon bounce as a kid.”
“Oh really?” He grins.
“No,” she shakes her head, “I was really more of a trampoline girl, myself.”
He laughs, a real laugh where he throws his head back and closes his eyes. “Oh, man, I can totally picture that. Were you one of those shitty kids who would try to mess everyone else up by jumping too close?”
“Oh, you mean like this?” She says mischievously, and then she leaps into his space and lands about a foot from him, just before his feet touch back down, and the next thing she knows they’re both falling.
He lands on top of her and pushes himself up lightning fast. “Oh, God! Pam! Are you ok?” His face is transformed from gleeful to worry.
She, on the other hand, cannot stop laughing.
“Are you ok?” He asks again, and then he starts to smile. “What?” The way his voice sounds is so familiar, throaty and full of laughter, and he’s grinning down at her and suddenly it’s not so funny anymore. She feels her face become serious and she’s staring up at him, his cheeks rosy, a little sheen of sweat on his forehead.
“What?” He whispers, and even though he’s sort of frowning, now, his eyes are still so bright.
“I miss you,” she says before she can talk herself out of it.
He’s quiet for a long moment, his eyes searching hers. “I’m right here,” he murmurs finally.
It’s all the invitation she needs.
She lifts her head from the floor of the bouncy castle and presses her lips to his. Her arms are sort of pinned beneath him but when he sinks into the kiss, he moves to wrap his arms around her and she is able to move enough to do the same. They rotate so they’re kind of lying on their sides and her heart is soaring when he slides his hand up to cup her cheek and against her lips he says, “We should talk.”
“I know,” she mumbles back, but she doesn’t stop. If they’re going to have to stop doing this to discuss what just happened, she is certainly not going to be the one to back away first. She lets her fingers tangle in his soft hair and changes the angle of her mouth to deepen the kiss and he groans against her mouth.
“Ok,” he tries again. “We don’t have to talk, but we at least have to get out of this thing.”
“Deal,” she says, but she still doesn’t stop. She knows once she does, the moment will be over and she can’t imagine a situation in which he doesn’t go back to Karen in the end. And Karen is nice and all, but this is Jim and she can’t just let that happen.
He sort of tries to detangle himself from her, rolling them around so that he can get up, and she starts to giggle and hold on tighter.
“Pam,” he says in a warning voice. They keep rolling around and now they’re sort of wrestling. He finally manages to pin her arms down over her head, and then he’s just looming over her, staring at her. She’s trying to catch her breath and waiting for him to move when he shakes his head, says, “Jesus fucking Christ,” and kisses her once more, deeply, then pecks her lips once, twice, three times and then forces himself up to sitting on his heels. After a beat, he offers her a hand and when she takes it he pulls her up to sit facing him. She smooths her hair with her hands and looks over at him.
He’s grinning.
“Let me take you home,” he says.
“Oh,” she says, surprised. “Ok.”
“I mean,” he hurries to cover himself, frowns, and she can see his walls starting to go back up so she quickly reaches out and touches his hand.
“I’d like that,” she says.
“Yeah?” He asks, looking down at their hands, then back up at her.
“Yeah,” she smiles warmly.
He hops to his feet and then helps her to hers, and they teeter over to the entrance of the bouncy house.
“After you,” he says again, gesturing with his hand out into the late afternoon sunshine, and she looks down at the ground and thinks, I can do this. She jumps, and he’s not far behind.
Story Notes:
I know other people have written about this but I decided to give it a go. Hope you enjoy :)
Author's Chapter Notes:
I wrote this several months ago but thought it was about time to post it. Enjoy -s*
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter End Notes:
Hope you liked it! Let me know what you think *
watchthesky84 is the author of 10 other stories.
This story is a favorite of 8 members. Members who liked Moon bounce also liked 2361 other stories.
