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Author's Chapter Notes:

Ok  - so it turns out this wasn't done - I didn't lie - I thought it was but came to realize the ending maybe wasn't as clear for readers as it was in my head so I added this coda to help wrap it up. And with the addition, the story I hope is maybe even a little richer for it.

It's roughly 2 years later... 


Making her way back to the airport parking lot, Pam couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by her feelings. It seemed to her as if someone had cast a butterfly net over the brief encounter in the terminal and caught every emotion swirling around their tearful goodbye.

Relief at having caught him before he passed through security.

Warmth from the hug they shared.

Thankfulness for the support he’d given her and trust he’d placed in her over the years.

Appreciation for the way he helped her grow and discover her own strength.

Tenderness for the heartfelt sentiment he wished for her and Jim.

Nostalgia for all the memories she would stow away in her heart.

Amusement from one last That’s What She Said spoken at the moment she thought she’d break into tears only to be able to step away from him with a smile on her face.

But mostly at the moment she felt sadness because she knew she would miss him terribly. Foolish, immature, and narcissistic Michael who she often wanted to murder and who had sometimes made her life a living hell but was also one of the most caring and kindest people she’d ever known. Despite all he’d put her through over the years, Michael’s love for Pam was perhaps stronger than his love for anyone else at Dunder Mifflin and she knew that.  For Pam, he too was more than just her boss, he was one of her dearest friends and for that reason she tried to push back her sadness and let happiness take over.

Happiness, because he was leaving to be with Holly, his true love.

 

As she drove away from the airport back to where her own true love was waiting for her, by now at home with their daughter, her mind wandered back to the conversation she’d had with Jim upon returning from her trip with Michael 2 years prior. The trip where she’d read the letter from Holly and witnessed just how in pain Michael was over losing her.

She remembered when she woke that first morning back in bed with her husband-to-be her state of mind was similar to the one she was currently in. Her mind back then experiencing a swirl of so many feelings; relief they were finally together, joy from being able to wake up next to the man she loved, excited to be getting married soon, but also profoundly sad at knowing so well the feelings Michael was going through.

Jim, in his efforts to make that sadness go away insisted that if they were meant to be, as he knew they themselves were, they would find their way back to each other.

As she drove on through town, it was the strange Valentine’s Day she thought of next, when sitting in the car they’d first heard the news report. Who could have suspected that a crazed serial killer strangling his victims in their city would set off the chain of events that led to today?

Two years later, after he’d been caught and put on trial, Toby became a juror on that lengthy trial. The vacancy he’d left at the office needed to be filled, even if only for a bit, and it was Holly brought in to replace him.  

But could it also have been what Jim believed about their own relationship at play. That they were meant to be, and so it was destiny that forced them back in each other’s orbit.  It was on that same day Pam and Jim discovered they too had met and missed only to leave each other with the faintest imprint, one that stayed with them until they unknowingly were reacquainted and bonded again over the Jelly Bellys she kept at her desk.

Pam turned into the driveway where Jim was waiting to greet her, carrying Cece in his arms. The butterfly effect or divine intervention, she’d never really know. Either way as she stepped out of the car to her waiting family, her tears became a happy smile. This was what Michael had ahead of him in Colorado, his own happy ending.


 

Chapter End Notes:

And now it's done. Finit. That's All Folks. 

 



Maxine Abbott is the author of 19 other stories.
This story is a favorite of 1 members. Members who liked Butterflies, Snowballs and Divine Intervention also liked 124 other stories.
This story is part of the series, Gold Mine . The previous story in the series is New Year's in New Jersey. The next story in the series is Another First Date.

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