Pining for Paris/Jim Halpert

Chapter 10: Pam

Perfection. That was one of many words I could've used to described my relationship thus far with Jim: it was absolutely, drop-dead perfect. After our date, I was officially his girlfriend, and we made out and drank wine all night. In the end, he kissed me softly in the doorway, and I drove home, feeling like there had been a hole filled inside of my heart. Everything was going perfect — we'd been dating for about a month and a half, and it was so, so amazing. He took me out most weekends, to fancy restaurants or Taco Bell, and as the weather warms, I fell even more deeply in love with him.

At work, things were perfect too. We tried not to show too much affection in the office (because people would get upset, of course), but he loved to hug me from behind and kiss my neck softly when no one was around, which drove me absolutely crazy with love.

A new drama developed in the office, though: the day or so after Jim and I started dating, Pam called off her relationship with Roy. When I asked about it, she kind of clammed up and changed the subject, which I thought was kind of weird, but I figured she wasn't ready to talk about it. Sometimes, though, I could feel her eyes on me and Jim at work. Whenever I'd look over at reception, I usually caught her looking at us, or him. She would always cough and turn back to her work, but it concerned me. I was worried about her, you know, she was my friend. But I was starting to think she had feelings for Jim.

It was Wednesday, on a beautiful April morning. Phyllis and I sometimes gossip in the bathroom, which is what we were doing on this particular day. We were standing by the mirror, and she asked me about Jim.

"Oh my god, Phyllis, it's going great. He's such a gentleman, you know? And he's so sweet and so hot and so caring. I just — I love him. I really, really love him," I bubbled, playing with my fingers like a kid. Phyllis powdered her nose, smiling at me in the mirror.

"You two are so adorable."

"Thanks, Phyllis," I giggled. At that moment, one of the bathroom stalls opened, which was weird because I didn't think there was anyone in there. The speckled stall door opened to reveal Pam, who kept her head down as she shuffled to the sink to wash her hands. "Hey, Pam," I muttered, feeling embarrassed. I guess she heard our entire conversation.

"Hey." She cleared her throat, still looking down, but her voice was breaking. She quickly walked out of the bathroom, a hand on her face. I called after her, but she was gone. I looked at Phyllis, who looked concerned, and I followed Pam out of the bathroom. When I jogged out into the main office, I saw that reception was empty, and Jim was looking at the door.

"Hey, Jim, do you know where Pam went?"

"Yeah, she just ran out, I think she was crying." I looked at the entrance of the office and jogged out, opening the door. I looked inside the stairwell, and there she was, sobbing into her hands.

"Pam?"

She cleared her throat, wiping her face, and said, "Hey," so softly.

"Pam, what's wrong?"

"Oh — um, nothing, don't worry about it."

"Pam, I'm your friend. You can tell me."

"Paris," she snapped, looking over at me with red eyes, "I'm fine."

I paused for a moment and felt a rush of courage. "Pam, why did you call off your wedding?"

She looked back at me, confused. "What?"

"Why did you call off your wedding?"

"There were a lot of reasons —"

"Why did you call off your wedding?"