Katherine was sitting on the couch in Cliff's living room. Normally, she didn't like coming to his place for "family time"; (the family consisted of herself, Pam, Cliff, Afton, and Mark) but with JR off on his business trip, Katherine found herself feeling more lonely than usual.
"I'm telling you, this whole situation just doesn't make sense! I know for a fact that there is no way that either of those guys that JR made his deals with would ever have been interested in throwing in with someone like him!" Cliff said in his usual irritated tone.
Katherine did her best to appear neutral. Things would get quite ugly for her if Cliff and the others found out that she was the one who had made those deals possible for JR. Katherine had managed to secure the second one not long before JR had left, and he was immensely grateful to her for it.
"Well, I'm not surprised at all. This is JR we are talking about. I'm sure he did something incredibly despicable and underhanded to get what he wanted. The people involved probably didn't even have a choice in the matter!" Pam said bitterly.
Katherine had to bite back her anger. She was so tired of Pam and Cliff always just assuming the worst when it came to JR. They don't even know him! Katherine thought to herself angrily.
Cliff turned to Katherine. "You should be careful yourself, Katherine. Since Wentworth makes parts for oil drilling, it wouldn't surprise me at all if JR came knocking at your door looking for a deal. And trust me, dealing with him would be the last thing that you would want!" Cliff warned.
Katherine shrugged. "If he offered a good price, why would I turn him down? This is business. I don't care who I have to deal with as long as it's beneficial for the company." Katherine said casually.
Cliff groaned "You are so naive! You have no idea what dealing with JR is really like! First of all-" Cliff started to say.
"Cliff, for once, can we please just have one conversation that does not involve JR Ewing!?" Afton interrupted Cliff sharply.
"Alright, alright! But just out of curiosity, who do you guys think will end up winning the contest? JR or Bobby?" Cliff asked.
Afton groaned in frustration. It was as if Cliff had not even heard what she had asked.
Cliff looked expectantly at Pam, Katherine, Mark, and Afton.
Pam was the first to answer. "While it's true that JR knows how to get what he wants by stealth, I don't think that Bobby can be counted out of this so easily. After all, I know that he has proven that he is not afraid to get his hands dirty either. And I would say that he is just as determined to win this as JR is." She said.
Katherine was a bit surprised at the anger in her sister's voice when she mentioned Bobby. She knew that Pam was frustrated with Bobby's dedication to winning Ewing Oil, but couldn't she at least try to see how important it was to him?
Cliff was pleased by Pam's reaction. "You see? When it comes down to it, a Ewing is a Ewing!" He said triumphantly.
Cliff then turned to Afton. "While it's true that they are both committed to this, I would still say that JR is more likely to win. He's been in the oil business a lot longer than Bobby, and I'm sure that he's learned more than a few tricks along the way." Afton said. She sounded as if she really couldn't care less. Cliff looked annoyed.
"Mark?" Cliff asked.
Mark laughed. "I don't know, can't we just flip a coin?" He joked.
"Come on, Mark! This is serious!" Cliff whined.
"Okay, then I guess I would have to say JR. Like Afton said, he's been at this for a long time now, and you don't invest that much time in a company if you aren't serious about it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have spent so much of my time enjoying the accommodations that first class airlines can provide!" Mark said.
Cliff finally turned to Katherine for her opinion. "And you?" He asked.
Katherine paused before answering. She wanted to answer honestly, but she also didn't want to say anything that would give herself away, either.
"I would have to say JR. But not just for the reasons that were already mentioned. He is the oldest son in his family, and I'm sure that he feels that he wants to pass down that legacy to his son one day. He probably also sees winning as a way to prove to his father that he's worthy of Ewing Oil. Even though he's gone. It's probably not just about winning to JR. I think that he is also emotionally invested in it." Katherine answered carefully.
"And you think that Bobby isn't!?" Pam answered a bit sharply.
"I didn't say that! I just meant that it's probably more important to JR. After going by what I've heard about him, that is." Katherine answered somewhat hastily.
Pam looked at her carefully for a moment. "I suppose you are right. Ewing Oil has always meant the world to JR." Pam said thoughtfully.
"Interesting. I have to admit that I also can't see JR losing." Cliff said reluctantly.
"You guys and your businesses! You're all way too serious! There is a big, wide world out from behind those desks you sit at everyday! You should be out trying to enjoy as much of it as you can!" Mark said cheerfully.
Katherine had to admit that Mark's easygoing personality always seemed to lighten the mood when she was with everyone like this. He had a way of putting people at ease. Mark actually made these visits a lot more bearable for Katherine. He was a nice guy who not only always asked Katherine how she was doing, but seemed genuinely interested in her answers. Katherine thought that Mark seemed a lot more like how she imagined a brother should be when compared to Cliff.
"That reminds me, it's a real shame that you didn't want to go on that trip to France, Pam! I'm telling you, you would have loved it!" Mark said.
"I'm sure that I would have loved it too, but there wasn't anyone who could've looked after Christopher." Pam answered seriously.
"It's true that my work keeps me way too busy for almost anything now." Katherine said apologetically.
Even though Pam being gone would've possibly given Katherine a chance to spend more time with Bobby, there was no way that she would have taken any time off for it. Work came first.
"And the club is at it's busiest season right now. My voice wouldn't be in top shape for the customers if I was too busy singing lullabies everyday!" Afton joked.
"Hmm... Then I guess we'll just have to plan for another time then, won't we?" Mark asked Pam teasingly.
"We'll see!" Pam answered with a light laugh.
When Pam wasn't looking, Mark gave a quick wink to Katherine, Cliff, and Afton.
The next day, Katherine and Bobby met up for lunch at the Oil Baron's Club. Katherine had been more than a little surprised by Bobby's invitation. While it was true that Bobby had said that he had asked her to come because he needed to talk to a friend, Katherine still couldn't prevent herself from letting her imagination run away with her. She hated to admit it, but being in love with Bobby was more mentally exhausting than anything else.
"Thanks for coming today. I feel like I could really use a good friend right now more than anything. But the truth is that I feel like there aren't that many people I can talk to these days." Bobby said.
"And yet you chose me. Why is that?" Katherine asked curiously.
"Well, to be honest, it's sort of a business problem. And right now, I feel like you're the only person who knows about those things that I can actually trust to keep things secret." Bobby admitted sheepishly.
Katherine felt a huge pang of guilt. After feeding all of the information that she got from him to JR, she was most definitely someone that Bobby should not be trusting.
Katherine tried to remind herself that losing the contest to JR was actually the best thing for Bobby. The contest alone was already proving to be much too stressful for Bobby. His marriage was already suffering immensely from the strain of the workload that came with the contest. If Bobby couldn't even handle this, than how would he manage to keep his personal life from suffering even more if he had the responsibility of running Ewing Oil?
"Well, I'm always ready to listen to a friend. So, what's on your mind?" Katherine asked.
"Remember that deal I told about before that I made with the McLeish brothers?" Bobby asked.
"The Canadian deal?" Katherine asked while feigning ignorance.
"Yeah, that one. For a while it seemed like a really good thing. But now it looks like it will end up being worthless for me." Bobby explained gloomily.
"Really? I thought that it was a great opportunity for you! What went wrong?" Katherine asked, even though she knew exactly what the problem was.
"Well, it seems like the weather up there has taken a turn for the worse. None of our equipment is suited to drill for oil under those conditions. I keep waiting for things to settle down, but it's always the same thing. I end up calling Thornton and asking the same thing: "When can we drill?" And then he always answers by saying: "Sorry, but the weather patterns are much too irregular right now. We can't drill right now." I feel like I've had that conversation about fifty times now!" Bobby said in frustration.
Katherine couldn't help feeling sorry for Bobby. What had first seemed like an excellent deal, was now turning into a nightmare for him.
"I'm really sorry, Bobby. That sounds like a nightmare. But the weather has to break eventually, so the deal will still end up being profitable." Katherine said.
"Not in time for it to be of any use to me in this contest. At this rate, if I don't end up selling it to regain what I spent on buying it, I'll be more behind than ever! Especially now that JR just got those other two deals! I don't even know how he did it! From what I know, the people who he dealt with were most certainly not big fans of either him or the kinds of methods that he uses!" Bobby said.
"Bobby, have you ever thought that you should just be looking at this deal as a way to help Ewing Oil as a whole instead of just as a way to help you win the contest? Because in the end, isn't that more important? After all, I always try to do what's right for Wentworth. I don't worry about whether we're the best or not. I just want us to do well. I know that your situation is different from mine, but would losing really be that terrible?" Katherine asked.
"Normally, I would try to think of it that way. But this deal isn't really just about helping me win. You see, back in the old days when I first started working for daddy at Ewing Oil, I had a different role than I do now. Daddy taught JR everything there was to know about the oil business. He knew that JR was both smart and crafty enough to handle all of the day-to-day work at the office. Meanwhile, I was always off on road trips in order to promote us. More than anything else, I was our goodwill ambassador. JR always tells me that I'm too rash when it comes to doing business, and he's right. Whenever I hear about a deal that sounds like it would be great for us, I always end up getting too excited and buying it right away without even stopping to think about how it will play out. I let my emotions affect me too much and end up making poor choices. That was probably why daddy never told me everything about the company. It was much easier just to send me off to do more advertising for us. While I don't always agree with his way of running things, the truth is that JR is much smarter than I am when it comes to business! I'm better off being just good old Bobby Ewing, the company pimp! And not being able to use this deal for the contest will just prove that I have once again planned everything wrong!" Bobby explained in frustration.
Katherine was surprised. She never would have guessed that Bobby felt inferior to JR in any way. He always seemed so strong and confident. The fact that his own father had chosen to only teach JR the real workings at Ewing Oil must have given Bobby the impression that he hadn't believed that he was capable of doing the job. When Katherine thought about how much her own mother had never supported her dream of running Wentworth Tool and Dye, she could certainly empathize with Bobby.
"Bobby, you need to know that you are much more important than you think you are when it comes to all of this. You just have a different way of doing things than JR does, that's all. You are not any less important when it comes to helping Ewing Oil to succeed. You're special just the way you are." Katherine said fervently.
Bobby smiled. "Thanks. I needed to hear someone say that. I feel a little better now, even though I still don't know what to do about this mess that I've gotten myself into..." He said helplessly.
Then, before she even stopped to really think about it, Katherine found herself presenting an offer to Bobby. "Bobby, as it turns out, there is a way for you to still benefit from this deal." Katherine said quickly.
"Really? How?" Bobby asked in confusion.
"Well, it's still pretty new, but Wentworth Industries has developed a new drill that is specifically designed for the kinds of weather conditions that you're facing right now in Canada. It's called the Tundra Torque, and if you'd like, I could arrange it so that you can use it. It would be it's first test run." Katherine explained.
Bobby looked amazed. "Well, I would certainly appreciate that! But I would have thought that you would want to do something like this for JR instead of me. I mean, he's your best friend!" Bobby said.
At these word, Katherine felt like she was being devoured alive by her own guilt.
"That's true. But I'm not helping you because of the contest. It's because I want to you to see that you didn't screw up this deal. You just hadn't found the right way to fix things, that's all. I'm completely neutral when it comes to this contest. Whether JR likes it or not." Katherine lied.
"Well, when you put it that way, how can I refuse? Thank you so much, Katherine! This will really help me! And the McLeish brothers are also going to be happy once they hear about this!" Bobby said excitedly.
Katherine couldn't help feeling happy about helping Bobby. His enthusiasm was contagious. Until she remembered what this really meant.
"I'm glad that I can help you, Bobby. I promise that I'll have all of the paperwork ready soon! But there is one thing that I have to ask first. Can you please not let anyone know that the drill was from me? Even though he knows how I feel about the contest, I know that JR would still be really hurt if he found out about this! He's my best friend, and I don't want to hurt him! Please!?" Katherine begged.
"I understand that you've put yourself in a very difficult position because of all of this. And I know that you don't want to hurt JR. In truth, I don't want him to find out about this, either. So, I promise to keep this quiet." Bobby said seriously.
"Thank you so much, Bobby! I'll let you know when everything's ready!" Katherine promised.
It wasn't until after Bobby left, when the ugly reality of the situation really hit Katherine. How could she do this to JR!? He was her best friend, the one who stuck by her through everything, and now she was going to betray him!
Katherine wasn't helping Bobby so that he could get further in the contest. She only wanted to him to stop feeling bad about himself. But now, She had pushed herself into a corner.
It doesn't matter! I'm still going to make sure that JR wins! I'll find even more deals for him! Plus, I can even loan him my own money! After all, even the money that Bobby makes from this deal can't compare to the income I get from Wentworth Industries and Tool and Dye! Not to mention my trust fund! Katherine thought frantically. No matter what, she would make sure that JR won Ewing Oil! As long as JR never finds out about this, everything will be okay... Katherine reassured herself. But she still hated herself for what she had just done.
Author's note: I just want to say that despite what it might look like in this chapter, this story will NOT end up being Katherine/Bobby in any way! Katherine's indecision about him is part of some of the drama, that's all. In other words, the Tundra Torque could be used to drill a wedge between Katherine and JR. (Lame joke, I know!) But I wonder if anyone thought that I would try to use this storyline at all? This chapter was also based off of the episode "Hell Hath No Fury". And finally, I don't own Dallas or the Tundra Torque!
