#2 The next morning

Jim woke up and stared at the clock. It was only 7:00am. His body clock always woke him in time for work. As he roused, he remembered the night before and a huge grin came over his face. He had known that he and Pam had chemistry, but he never realized how hot she could be. His Pam was this soft, gentle, funny woman. That woman that he had kissed last night was part animal, and he liked it! It was nice to see this new side to her and he wondered what else he would discover. He laid back and wondered how long he should try to keep this relationship nonsexual. He wondered if he was going to be in any control, because Pam seemed to be very persuasive. If he had not been so tired from New York and drained from his break-up with Karen he probably would have stayed. He harbored a lot of guilt by hurting Karen. He probably should have waited a few days before asking her out. But, after he broke it off with Karen, he wanted to get to Pam as soon as possible. He had wasted 3 years.

One of the reasons that he was so tired was that while they were in New York, Karen used the time to keep “discussing” their relationship. She knew, she had to of known that this was coming. He just couldn’t throw her a life preserver when he saw that note from Pam. He reflected about Pam’s sweet note and the yogurt medal attached. Their private joke. Karen hadn’t even waited around for him to finish the interview. Pam would have never left. Their differences were so obvious. He realized the reason he probably was attracted to Karen in the first place was that she was very unlike Pam.

Pam had devastated him on Casino Night. He had put it out there and she had said no. She still had intended to marry Roy. So his ways of handling it was to runaway and hook up with the first type A personality he could find. He knew Karen was a great woman, but not his woman. He remembered his last day at Scranton, before his transfer to Stamford. He and Pam avoided each other. She couldn’t look him in the eye. As he walked out the door for the last time, he turned and looked at her. She was wearing a purple sweater and her hair was pulled into a ponytail. She looked drained and tired. She looked sad. She looked up from her phone and gave him a little wan smile. He smiled back and walked out. He thought he would never see her again.

He found out she had stopped her marriage to Roy through Michael. Michael had sent out one of those annoying e-mails of his and he told a story of Dwight attempting to place beets in the vending machine, and of Roy getting arrested for DUI after Pam dumped him. But Jim knew the e-mail was just a reason for Michael to forward some lame joke about a Hooters waitress and a milking machine.

At first, when Jim heard about Pam’s stopping the wedding he wanted to get in his car and rush to Scranton or at least call. He had no one to really confide in. After he had time to think about it, he realized that just because she broke up with Roy didn’t mean she wanted him. Roy was a tool and needed to be gotten rid of. He never really appreciated her. He lied to her. Jim knew he was a creep. He just new Pam wouldn’t want to hear it from him.

But, that was over. Roy was gone. Karen was not gone; she would be back in the office. But she was not his girlfriend anymore. She would be an issue. She had left a long voice-mail last night. She was saying she didn’t get the New York job that Ryan did. Wow, the temp really did it. Karen was saying that she came to Scranton for him and now she was stuck. He had thought she was so much more together than that. He didn’t want to hurt her. But what can he say to her. He gave it 6 months, but he just never really felt connected to her the way he felt with Pam. He knew Karen was an innocent victim in this. He tried to think of something that could help her. But she had to understand, Pam and he were going to be dating. He would not let anything stop it.

Feeling a gloom start over him, he changed the direction of his thought to last night and Pam. He tried to think of something they could do together. There had been so many things they had never done together. He had never taken her to the movies, or a fair. He had never done a lot of date like things. They were always in the office group. He smiled and decided where he would take her. It would take the whole day. But it would be wonderful.

Jim reached for the phone and dialed Pam’s number. Pam answered drowsily.
“Hullo,” she said.

“Hey you”, he said softly.

“Jim!” he could hear the smile in her voice. “I thought last night was a dream. Any minute now I would have to wake and have go to the Office.”

“Not today” he said sweetly, “Today is Museum day.”

“Museum day” she said, “Do I need a note from my mom? Are we gonna sit next to each other on the bus?”

He laughed. “Nope, I am gonna pick you up, we are gonna get breakfast on the run and we are going to drive to New York and visit every art museum we have time to see. What do you think?”

“Oh, Jim” Pam said, “That is so great!”

“Get dressed,” he said, “I will be over to pick you up in one hour. Wear comfortable shoes”

“Okay” she said, “Jim?” she paused.

“Yeah,” he responded.

“Last night was really nice,” she said, “this is really gonna happen, huh?”

“You bet.” He said sincerely, “Pam, this is gonna happen.”