The Screening

By Teala373

Chapter 6: Conclusions

By Tuesday, Jim felt like he was losing his mind. Pam had called into work the past 4 days. He hadn't seen her since she had blown up with him last Wednesday at his place.

He ran over the events of the night a million times and tried to think of what he would say to her when he saw her next. He couldn't just leave things the way they were, even though he wanted nothing more than to crawl under a rock and die.

He was agitated and had a hard time concentrating on anything. People would try to talk to him and he would give short responses. His sales were way down for the week, but he didn't care. All he could think about was Pam.

Over the past few days, he had picked up the phone, but never went through with dialing her number. He started numerous e-mails to her, hoping she was checking them at home, but he always deleted them before he finished.

He drummed his fingers on the desk impatiently, needing to do something other than agonize the situation before he exploded.

Around 10:30, a dejected Roy came up with Darryl to use the break room. Upon seeing that Roy was still at work, a light bulb went off in Jim's head. Shooting Michael a quick e-mail, he grabbed his coat and flew out the door, ignoring Dwight's barking questions.

Pam was surprised when she answered her door to see Jim standing breathless and frazzled on her doorstep.

"I knew you weren't sick," he commented.

She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"Listen," he began, "it's just not that easy. I – I didn't actually want to hear you rejecting me, which I was pretty sure you would do all the different times I wanted to... say... something. I mean, I get your attention Monday through Friday, nine to five, but you would go home with Roy and then come in the next day with some story about how he did something that upset and I knew... I knew I could be better. I knew I could be the one that could make you happy. I want to be that guy, but you kept pushing me back and insisting on being with Roy... how was I supposed to think that telling you the truth would change anything?"

Pam continued to simply stare at him, a pained look in her eyes.

Jim took in a big breath before plowing forward. "You want me to say it, Pam? Well here it is: I love you. I've always loved you. I'll never love anyone but you. If you don't leave Roy and come away with me... I'm just going to be alone and miserable for the rest of my life. I want to be with you. I want to... I want to make you happy and..."

He was swiftly cut off by Pam crushing her lips against his. His arms instantly came up around her, and he held her to him as if he never meant to let go.

"I wanted to hear you say it," Pam whispered when they came up for air. "I needed to know it was more than a crush."

Jim frowned. "But you read the card..."

"Yes, but when I saw that you had your own copy of the DVD... I don't know... I thought maybe I wasn't worth it for you to say it to my face... that maybe it was just some crush gone wild and that if I said something to you... you... wouldn't really want me at all... I was so scared..."

He silenced her by pressing his lips briefly to hers. "How could you ever think that you're anything less than perfect? You're everything to me, Pam... everything..."

She chocked back a happy sob in her throat as her eyes began to shine. Smiling, she backed out of his embrace and let him in. As he walked in, he noticed that her apartment seemed oddly bare.

"He moved out over the weekend," Pam explained, noting the look on his face. "I needed some space, so we aren't going to announce anything until next week."

Jim gathered her into his arms. "So then you are going to Australia with me?"

"I wouldn't miss it," Pam responded, smiling back.

Looking down, Jim took note of what Pam was wearing. "Are those... are those Wonder Woman pajamas?"

"Yeah," Pam replied, her defenses rising slightly, "so?"

Jim smiled wide. "Nothing... it's just... I have this little thing with Wonder Woman..." He leaned down to start another long kiss with the woman he loved.

fin