And another triumph to add! Our Father has been good to my charges. Pamela received excellent news today, and a new future opens up before her.
Ms. Reitzell let her go early today, so she decided to get a few friends together for coffee. She was already laughing with Diana and Mal when someone else approached their table. “This looks like fun,” Lee said.
Pamela looked up in surprise. She had messaged him, as well, but hadn’t expected him to come. “Lee, hi! I didn’t think you’d be getting out of work this early.”
“I happened to be done with a project when you messaged, so I decided to slip away,” he said. In truth, he stopped what he had been doing to answer her invitation. “May I join you?”
Well aware of Diana and Mal’s sharp eyes, Pamela got up to make room for him at the table. “Of course. We’re just hanging out. Want to grab something before you sit down?”
“Sure. I’ll just set my stuff here.” He did so, smiling at Diana and Mal before slipping away towards the counter.
The moment he was gone, both of Pamela’s friends turned to her with questioning looks.
“Don’t,” she said. “He’s just a friend.”
“Mm-hmm,” Mal said with full skepticism.
“Shut up,” Pamela said.
“And he left work early to come,” Diana pointed out.
“So?” Pamela asked, whose face was starting to turn red.
“Oh, nothing,” Diana said lightly.
“Look, I met him through Christine, and he’s a nice guy,” Pamela said, in answer to the questions they were pointedly not asking. “That’s all for now. That’s all I need for now.”
“Mm-hmm,” Mal said again.
“Oh, hush,” Pamela said, and they talked of other things until Lee came back.
He had to be introduced to Diana and Mal, of course, and then they asked him quite gentle questions about what he did for a living, how long he had known Pamela, what his family was like, how he liked their area. Lee answered without anxiety; he knew he was being interrogated, but he chose to take it as a sign of hope—after all, would Pamela’s friends question him in this way if Pamela herself did not have an interest in him?
I was trying to decide whether or not to press this advantage with either of them—I am still not quite sure if Pamela is ready for a relationship again—when Pamela’s phone rang. She glanced at it, frowned at it, and then squealed and answered it. Her reaction silenced the conversation, and they all watched and listened as she spoke.
“Hello? Yes, sir. Very well, thank you. And you? Oh? Well, thank you.”
I could have listened to the other end of the conversation, as well, but I have to admit, the suspense of trying to guess by her replies and expressions what was happening, as Mal, Lee, and Diana did, was exciting.
Suddenly Pamela clenched her free hand into a fist and did a little dance in her chair. I could feel the joy spiking out from her like fireworks, but she continued to speak calmly. “Thank you, sir. Yes, of course. I would be delighted to! What time would work? Yes, I know, the time difference does make it a bit difficult. Why don’t I go home and double-check my schedule and call you back in an hour? Does that work? Of course. Thank you so very much, sir! Oh, me too! I mean, yes, I am very excited to work with you. Thank you.”
She hung up the phone and placed it on the table, flushed and a bit breathless. After a beat, she screamed, “London!”
Diana and Mal both surged out of their chairs to throw their arms around Pamela. Lee jumped up into the seat of his chair and cheered aloud, attracting no little attention and making Pamela laughed. She kissed both of her friends, then twisted free in time for Lee to land on the floor next to her. He threw his arms around her, and her head fell back in delight as he spun her in a tight circle. The people at the neighboring table hastily snatched their cups out of danger.
“I’m sorry,” Pamela said, wiping her eyes and struggling free of Lee’s gasp. Her cheeks were burning, and not just with celebration. “I just got a job working for a year in London.”
They congratulated her, and she went back to her own table, somehow settling herself back in her chair. “I have to call back to set up a time to talk logistics with the principal, Mr. Demerson. I should do it soon—it’s starting to get late there.”
“Why don’t we go with you?” Diana asked, holding on to Pamela’s hand.
“Yeah, your place has booze, and this demands a toast,” Mal agreed.
Lee, who was just as excited for her as the girls, nevertheless felt himself out of place. He pushed to his feet. “I’ll let you girls get to that. But congratulations again, Pamela, really. You deserve it.”
He started off, but Pamela, with a hasty word to her friends, hurried after him. “Lee!” she called.
He turned, and then for the second time in ten minutes she was in his arms. This embrace was gentler than the first, without the blind joy between them. His cheeks went red.
“Thank you,” she said, and kissed his cheek. “I’ll call you.” She met his eyes for one brief moment, and then she was gone. He stood there for a moment, catching his breath.
So in a few months Pamela will be flying out again, and meanwhile on this shore is a man who may finally deserve her. There may be a conflict between these two joys in time, but for now I choose to feel only the joy and pride in them. They are both wonderful things, and Pamela deserves to celebrate.
If bad things come in threes, could not good things, too? Jonathan’s decision and Pamela’s new opportunity—what else could be waiting on the horizon?