FIC: With A Calm Mind Ch. 2 [The Office; Jim/Pam]
Author’s Note: Thank you for all of the reviews on chapter one. Here's chapter two.
She drove most of the night, stopping occasionally for food and other necessary things, a small overnight suitcase sitting in the passenger seat next to her. Her first thought had been to go to her mother, talk things out over blueberry pancakes and maple syrup. That wouldn’t have been a good idea, she thought to herself. Maybe she could, in a bit, let herself cool down a bit, before she dropped a bombshell on her mother. Discretion was always a good thing.
Glancing over at the road signs on the side of the road, she let out a sigh. She was nearing Harrisburg, over two hours from home. She’d stop there for the night, get some sleep in a cheap motel room and decide what to do when the sun came up. She could continue driving south, hit Baltimore and then Washington DC or she could go west…or east…or drive back home, pretend like she had just gone out for a drive around the block. “Yeah, Pam, a drive around the block…with two changes of clothes and a toothbrush,” she muttered to herself, willing herself not to cry. She had had to get away and think about things without Jim being around, even though she knew he understood and was excited about the baby, but the revelation was cutting deep. It was a big step, an irreversible life change.
Bitter, salty tears splashed on the steering wheel, as she let out the caged tears. It felt good to cry, a simple, primal release of excess emotion. It was what she needed.
The stars over the Susquehanna River glimmered brightly as she pulled into town, and found a cheap motel room. Settling down onto the bed, she grimaced. The bed was lumpy, the fabric of the comforter was frayed, and the air conditioner was broken, creating a sauna-like atmosphere in the room. She fanned herself with a brochure for a local amusement park the concierge had handed her, as she flopped back onto the pillows and squeezed her eyes closed, not bothering to change out of her clothes from the day before. There’d be time for changing and showers and thinking later. For now, it was time to sleep.
Jim woke up the next morning and turned over in bed. “Pam?” he whispered, eyes still closed. When there wasn’t a reply, he blearily opened them, and saw that there was no one there. Had she gotten up early? It wasn’t totally out of the question, come to think of it.
He padded out to the kitchen, still half-asleep. No sign of her in the kitchen. Maybe she had gone out for an early morning walk, or…no, they had been to Weis yesterday. There’d be no need for her to get groceries. Unless she was having a craving, he thought, remembering the sundae teasing he had given her the day before. Maybe she went to get some bizarre fast food breakfast combination or something.
Sitting down at the table, he waited for the coffee maker to finish percolating. He was excited about the pregnancy. Soon there’d be a little Halpert running around, playing in a sandbox full of sand in the backyard in the summer, making snowmen and snow angels in the winter. Yeah, maybe they were doing things slightly untraditionally by not being married first, and then getting pregnant, but there was something to be said for doing things against the norm. It wasn’t like their relationship had ever been particularly normal, though. Eschewing the traditional proposal for one in the rain at a gas station being just one of the many instances he could think of.
As he picked up the coffee pot and poured out a cup for himself, he let out a sigh. She’d be back before they had to go to work, right?
The first lights of morning streamed in through the dingy curtain shades of Pam’s motel room. She turned over and groaned, arms flailing outward, and she fully expected to whack Jim across the chest. When she hit dead air instead, she frantically opened her eyes and looked around. Memories of the night before came flashing back at her, and she felt a wave of nausea pass through her.
She ran into the bathroom and kneeled over the toilet, avoiding putting her knees on the floor, which she wasn’t sure if it had been mopped recently or not, and she retched up the truck stop sandwich she had eaten the night before. Was this morning sickness, or just some bad eggs? She wasn’t quite sure, but she made a mental note to read up on things later. A shower would make her feel better, cleaner, and then she could worry about food and maybe contacting Jim, letting him know that she was okay.
She turned on the faucet for the shower, and gingerly leaned back against the counter to let it warm up. “Darn it,” she said under her breath, glancing up at the water dribbling out lazily. Drip. Drip. The shower would have to wait. Rummaging through her purse, she found a hair band. It would have to do, for now.
Jim walked into the office, quiet except for a few people typing away on their computers. She wasn’t at her desk, so that scratched out “go out to breakfast without waking up your fiancé and then go into work,” on the list of options of what she could be up to, unless she still wasn’t at the office yet. Her purse wasn’t there, so she hadn’t just ducked into the restroom briefly.
Inwardly, he was hoping that she was okay. It wasn’t like her to not tell him things, so something had to be going on. He hoped it wasn’t anything bad.
He lounged back in his chair and waited for the phone to ring and for her to be on the other end, or, alternately, for her to come through the office door. Either one would work, he wasn’t particularly picky about which one...
-to be continued-
Prompts used: Cry, stars, sand, sick, hope, in order.
She drove most of the night, stopping occasionally for food and other necessary things, a small overnight suitcase sitting in the passenger seat next to her. Her first thought had been to go to her mother, talk things out over blueberry pancakes and maple syrup. That wouldn’t have been a good idea, she thought to herself. Maybe she could, in a bit, let herself cool down a bit, before she dropped a bombshell on her mother. Discretion was always a good thing.
Glancing over at the road signs on the side of the road, she let out a sigh. She was nearing Harrisburg, over two hours from home. She’d stop there for the night, get some sleep in a cheap motel room and decide what to do when the sun came up. She could continue driving south, hit Baltimore and then Washington DC or she could go west…or east…or drive back home, pretend like she had just gone out for a drive around the block. “Yeah, Pam, a drive around the block…with two changes of clothes and a toothbrush,” she muttered to herself, willing herself not to cry. She had had to get away and think about things without Jim being around, even though she knew he understood and was excited about the baby, but the revelation was cutting deep. It was a big step, an irreversible life change.
Bitter, salty tears splashed on the steering wheel, as she let out the caged tears. It felt good to cry, a simple, primal release of excess emotion. It was what she needed.
The stars over the Susquehanna River glimmered brightly as she pulled into town, and found a cheap motel room. Settling down onto the bed, she grimaced. The bed was lumpy, the fabric of the comforter was frayed, and the air conditioner was broken, creating a sauna-like atmosphere in the room. She fanned herself with a brochure for a local amusement park the concierge had handed her, as she flopped back onto the pillows and squeezed her eyes closed, not bothering to change out of her clothes from the day before. There’d be time for changing and showers and thinking later. For now, it was time to sleep.
Jim woke up the next morning and turned over in bed. “Pam?” he whispered, eyes still closed. When there wasn’t a reply, he blearily opened them, and saw that there was no one there. Had she gotten up early? It wasn’t totally out of the question, come to think of it.
He padded out to the kitchen, still half-asleep. No sign of her in the kitchen. Maybe she had gone out for an early morning walk, or…no, they had been to Weis yesterday. There’d be no need for her to get groceries. Unless she was having a craving, he thought, remembering the sundae teasing he had given her the day before. Maybe she went to get some bizarre fast food breakfast combination or something.
Sitting down at the table, he waited for the coffee maker to finish percolating. He was excited about the pregnancy. Soon there’d be a little Halpert running around, playing in a sandbox full of sand in the backyard in the summer, making snowmen and snow angels in the winter. Yeah, maybe they were doing things slightly untraditionally by not being married first, and then getting pregnant, but there was something to be said for doing things against the norm. It wasn’t like their relationship had ever been particularly normal, though. Eschewing the traditional proposal for one in the rain at a gas station being just one of the many instances he could think of.
As he picked up the coffee pot and poured out a cup for himself, he let out a sigh. She’d be back before they had to go to work, right?
The first lights of morning streamed in through the dingy curtain shades of Pam’s motel room. She turned over and groaned, arms flailing outward, and she fully expected to whack Jim across the chest. When she hit dead air instead, she frantically opened her eyes and looked around. Memories of the night before came flashing back at her, and she felt a wave of nausea pass through her.
She ran into the bathroom and kneeled over the toilet, avoiding putting her knees on the floor, which she wasn’t sure if it had been mopped recently or not, and she retched up the truck stop sandwich she had eaten the night before. Was this morning sickness, or just some bad eggs? She wasn’t quite sure, but she made a mental note to read up on things later. A shower would make her feel better, cleaner, and then she could worry about food and maybe contacting Jim, letting him know that she was okay.
She turned on the faucet for the shower, and gingerly leaned back against the counter to let it warm up. “Darn it,” she said under her breath, glancing up at the water dribbling out lazily. Drip. Drip. The shower would have to wait. Rummaging through her purse, she found a hair band. It would have to do, for now.
Jim walked into the office, quiet except for a few people typing away on their computers. She wasn’t at her desk, so that scratched out “go out to breakfast without waking up your fiancé and then go into work,” on the list of options of what she could be up to, unless she still wasn’t at the office yet. Her purse wasn’t there, so she hadn’t just ducked into the restroom briefly.
Inwardly, he was hoping that she was okay. It wasn’t like her to not tell him things, so something had to be going on. He hoped it wasn’t anything bad.
He lounged back in his chair and waited for the phone to ring and for her to be on the other end, or, alternately, for her to come through the office door. Either one would work, he wasn’t particularly picky about which one...
-to be continued-
Prompts used: Cry, stars, sand, sick, hope, in order.