“And, if he never comes back again…that’s okay. We’re friends, and I’m sure we’ll stay friends.”

Pam was pretty sure the camera guys were not supposed to react to her, so as not to influence her interviews, but at those words, they all rolled their eyes and Brian, the one who usually worked on sound, shot her a disbelieving look.

She backtracked, shaking her head lightly and trying not to let her face betray her feelings too much.

“We just- we never got the timing right…ya know? I shot him down, and then, he did the same to me, and….but you know what? It’s okay! I’m totally fine,” now with a slightly defiant tone, “everything is gonna be totally–”

“Pam.”

Pam’s head snapped to the source of the interruption and the cameras followed.

Jim. Jim was there, in the doorway, apologizing to the cameras with that half smile and then looking right at her. How is he here? Wait, he’s talking, pay attention.

“Umm.. are you free for dinner tonight?” His tone and body language were casual, but his quiet voice shook, just slightly.

Pam answered automatically, her surprise coloring her voice. “Yes.”

Jim’s face split in a shy grin. “Alright. Then, it’s a date.”

He tapped his palm on the door frame as he backed out, still smiling, and as the door closed with a snap, Pam felt an answering grin stretch across her face. She bit her lip, trying to control the joy bubbling up like a soda in her chest, and faced the cameras again. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, purely from the shock and adrenaline, and prayed they wouldn’t overflow.

“I’m sorry, what was the question?”

Their faces reflected her smile, and the guy asking the questions (she felt bad for not knowing all of their names by now but it was difficult since they really weren’t supposed to chit-chat) shook his head, reaching forward and pressing the button on their camera to stop recording.

“Uh, no more questions. You can go ahead and go back out, whenever you’re ready.”

Pam could tell that they weren’t expecting that either, which was surprising in itself. Sometimes when things would happen around the office, she’d catch a look from one of them that said yup, there it is, because they’d already seen something coming a mile away. The perks of being in everyone’s conversations at once. This, though, was clearly a shock to all of them.

Karen. Oh god, had they broken up? Pam supposed that he wouldn’t have come back without her, and definitely wouldn’t have just asked Pam to dinner, if they hadn’t. By turning slightly in her seat, she could see that Karen wasn’t at her desk. She sat quietly for a few moments as the camera crew slipped out of the conference room, trying to assemble her thoughts. Her hands were shaking and she twisted them in her lap, focusing on the spot on her ring finger that was still a little softer and paler than the rest of her skin. Some things faded faster than others.

A date. He said “it’s a date”. But she didn’t know where, or when. Was it really a date? Or was that just a phrase? No, Jim wouldn’t have put it like that unless it was intentional. He’d been so careful around her the last few months, too careful.

Pam stood suddenly, and drew her pink cardigan closer around herself. She walked to the door of the conference room and quickly scanned the office, but Jim wasn’t there. Approaching her desk, she saw a blue sticky note on her keyboard. She sat down shakily and plucked it from the keys, only breathing out when she recognized Jim’s handwriting.

Call me when you see this. Cuginos? Pick you up at 7?  – J

Pam grabbed for the phone and was dialing Jim’s number before the note could hit the desk.

“Hey.” His voice was warm, happy. She almost cried at the warmth of it. He hadn’t sounded that happy to hear from her in so long.

“Hi.” Pam could feel the smile still stuck to her face. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever stop smiling again. She fiddled with her necklace, a nervous habit.

“So. Is seven okay? Is that enough time?”

“Yeah, yeah. Definitely. Seven is good.”

Jim huffed a laugh into the phone. “Okay, great. Uh… I don’t think I have your address. Do you wanna just text it to me?”

Pam nodded, then remembered he couldn’t see her. “Yeah, I’ll send it right now. What about…”

Jim seemed to understand what she wanted to ask. “We broke up. Well, I broke up with her. She’s, uh…she’s with her friends, back in New York.” He paused. “I’m sorry, I know it’s kinda quick, but..I couldn’t wait any longer.”

“No, no. It’s…I don’t want to wait either. Kinda feels like we’ve done a lot of that already.”

“Yeah.”

They both fell quiet, not wanting to hang up yet. Pam looked around, then at the clock. If she played it right, she could go home a little early and have more time to prepare. Shit, what was she gonna wear?

“Hey, I have a chance to sneak out, so…see you at seven?”

She swore she could feel his smile through the phone. “Yeah, Beesly, see you then.”

Pam stuttered a goodbye and hung up, her heart racing.

____

Jim let his cell phone fall into his lap and leaned back into his car’s headrest. He hadn’t gone far, just around the corner. He didn’t want to be there when the camera guys got out of the talking head, didn’t want them to ask about the date. He felt protective of it, and if the cameras tagged along it wouldn’t be the same.

Jim was going on a date. With Pam. He wondered if she was nervous. Probably not as nervous as him. He wondered briefly if he should have picked somewhere fancier, but dismissed the thought. Pam loved Italian food, and they’d gone there for their first lunch together when he’d started at Dunder Mifflin. It was perfect, really. A fresh start. He smiled goofily at the thought.

Starting his car up again, Jim pulled out onto the street and headed for home. He wanted to shower, change, keep himself busy until it was time to leave. He didn’t want to think about what he was going to say to her, how the date was going to go, how the after the date was going to go…nope. Getting ahead of yourself there, Halpert. For all you know, this night could end with Pam deciding you’re more trouble than you’re worth. Jim shook his head absently, still not used to the lack of hair around his ears from the haircut Karen had bullied him into getting. It did him no good to speculate. He’d just have to wait and see how it played out.

____

Pam stood in front of her closet in her pink fluffy robe, despairing. She had zero date-appropriate clothes. She wanted to look fun and cute and maybe just a little sexy… but her work clothes didn’t fit that bill, and her pajamas definitely didn’t. There wasn’t a lot of in-between.

Jim doesn’t care what you wear. He’s seen you in cardigans and button downs every day for like the last five years. 

Right, but this was different. This was a beginning. A fresh start.

Suddenly she remembered a box of clothes, ones that she’d stuffed in the corner of her closet and hadn’t taken out again after the reactions of Kevin and Creed. She dropped to her knees and yanked the box out, finding the top she was looking for. Dark magenta red, closely fitted, cut a little low, definitely not Boring Pam the Receptionist’s style.

But Fancy New Beesly…. maybe. She quickly pulled it on, along with her best-fitting pair of dark wash jeans and a pair of low, open toed heels. Stepping in front of the mirror, she eyed her reflection critically.

Not terrible. Objectively, not terrible.

It would have to do. It was already 6, and she needed to get started on her hair if it was going to look halfway decent instead of a frizzled mess of curls like usual. She wandered into the bathroom and plugged in the curling iron, studying her face under the harsh overhead light.

She looked nervous, keyed up. There were two spots of bright pink burning high on her cheeks, and her eyes were bright. She dabbed on some translucent powder and a little bit of mascara, forgoing any lipstick for reasons she preferred not to think too hard about and dabbing on a little Chapstick instead. She formed her hair into loose barrel curls, leaving them soft around her face instead of her usual half-up style. She dabbed on a perfume, grabbed her purse and a jacket and sat down on her small, lumpy couch to wait. It was barely 6:45, but she was already staring at the back of her front door, waiting for a knock and tensing every time she heard a car outside. Finally, at 6:55, she heard a car pull up in front of her building. Footsteps approaching her door. A pause, then a quiet knock, three times. Pam was at the door so quickly that her purse and jacket fell to the floor by the couch, forgotten. She opened the door wide to find Jim leaning against the entryway, his big hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans, wearing a dark green sweater that made his eyes look amazing.

Here we go.

____

Pam smiled in welcome and stepped back, inviting him in, but Jim was a little bit frozen, his eyes traveling down to her shoes and back up. She blushed and hugged her torso, not meeting his gaze.

“Well, what do you think? Fancy enough?”

Jim remembered himself and stood up straight, clearing his throat quietly.

“Yeah. Yes. Definitely good. You look really nice, Pam.” Really, really nice. Where the hell has that shirt been hiding?

Pam smiled softly, then nodded her head towards her living room. “Let me just grab my coat? Do you want anything to drink before we go?”

Jim stepped inside, closing the door behind him. “Oh no, that’s okay. Thank you, though.”

Pam bent to grab her jacket and purse from the floor. When she straightened and turned back to Jim, he was pointedly looking at the ceiling. She felt a laugh bubble up in her throat as she realized he was trying not to check her out.

“You look nice, too, by the way.” His eyes snapped to her face at the words, and found her grinning, her tongue peeking from behind her teeth the way it did when she was trying not to laugh.

He relaxed as he laughed, his face breaking into a matching smile. “Why thank you. This look took me hours to accomplish, clearly. Beauty is pain, after all.”

She giggled, her eyes bright. She bit her lip and Jim felt his breath catch a little. He offered his arm, and she took it gently, stepping close and curling her hand over his bicep. “Shall we?”

Pam didn’t trust her voice to answer, so she just nodded and allowed him to lead her out the door, barely remembering to lock it behind them.