JR was nervous, and he wasn't even sure why. Katherine had told him that he was more than welcome to visit her at the Wentworth Tool and Dye office building, but now he couldn't help wondering if he should've called her first. What if Katherine was too busy? After all, this was only her third day at work.

JR knew that the past two days would have most definitely been too chaotic for a visit. Reporters had been swarming all over the place then, and now there was already an article in the newspaper about the sudden shift in company ownership.

JR couldn't stand the things that a lot of people around town had been saying about the whole situation. Yesterday, on his way home from work, he had overheard two people having a conversation that had actually almost made him want to shout at them.

"That girl already has the best of everything that life can offer a person! I don't why she had to go so far as to do something like this!" "You know how rich people are. Nothing is ever enough for them! I feel sorry for her poor brother and sister. They finally get a lucky break in their lives, and then this little brat has to take practically all of it away from them in the blink of an eye just because she isn't used to sharing!"

JR was furious. These idiots didn't know anything about Katherine. She was struggling just to get through every day. Yet these people made it sound like Katherine was just some spoiled little rich girl who did absolutely nothing every day, even though she had always worked to have a career for herself. Plus, had they forgotten that Wentworth had been founded by Katherine's father in the first place!? JR wasn't sure why people were complaining about anything when Cliff and Pam had still gotten away with receiving hefty amounts of cash from the will.

JR walked inside the building. It felt strange for him to be back here again. The last time he had been here had been while Cliff had been president last year.

JR walked up to the secretary's desk. The woman seated at the desk hadn't been the same secretary that JR had seen before. She had short dark hair, and was wearing a pair of large coke-bottle glasses. JR noticed that she was typing at a speed that might have actually been faster than his own secretary back at Ewing Oil. The nameplate on her desk indicated that her name was Lara.

"Excuse me." JR said politely.

Lara looked up from her typing. JR wondered if she recognized him at all.

"How can I help you, sir?" She asked JR professionally.

"My name is JR Ewing. I'm here to see Ms. Wentworth. Do you know if she's in?" JR asked.

"Yeah, she should be in her office right now." Lara replied.

Lara picked up the phone after pressing a button on it. "Katherine, JR Ewing is here to see you." She said into the phone.

"Great! Tell him that he can come right in." Katherine's cheerful reply came from the intercom.

"You can go right in, sir." Lara said with a smile.

"Thanks." JR said.

JR went into Katherine's office, which had her full name on the front of the door.

"Hi! I'm so glad you came!" Katherine said happily.

"Of course I came! I couldn't pass up the chance to see you in action here! I just hope that this wasn't a bad time for you. I really should have called first." JR said.

"Don't worry about that. After all, you are the one who made all of this possible in the first place! And I don't just mean your idea about asking Pam for her shares, either. If you hadn't given us the money to make up for everything that Cliff had embezzled, we would probably be bankrupt by now! So, you don't ever need to make appointments to see me here." Katherine said.

"VIP status, huh? That's quite the opposite from the treatment I used to receive here before." JR said jokingly.

Katherine laughed. "I wish I could've seen what you had to do just to get past the front desk back then! I bet it was quite the spectacle!" She joked.

"Yeah, it was. Speaking of the front desk, did you get a new secretary?" JR asked curiously.

"I did. And it wasn't just her, either. I had to hire quite a few other new people as well. A lot of people weren't happy with the way Cliff ran things last year. It turns out that he had cut everybody's salaries. Some people did still stay out of loyalty to daddy, but a lot of others just didn't want to stay here when they had the opportunity for something better. There were also policies added that I had never even heard of! So, thanks to all of that and Cliff's criminal activities, I am now working around the clock just to put things right again!" Katherine explained.

JR was a little overwhelmed. While he himself was no stranger to the huge workload that came with running a company, this sounded like a complete nightmare.

"Just be sure that you don't overwork yourself. You're going through a major life change. All of this stress isn't good for you." JR said gently.

"Thanks, JR. But it's okay. Having all of this work to do helps me to not dwell too much on my parents." Katherine said quietly.

JR realized that Katherine's way of dealing with grief was completely different from how he had dealt with things right after his father had died last year. JR still vividly remembered how he had completely fallen apart then. He had been lost in a daze of depression, barely even noticing anything that was going on around him.

"I understand." JR said.

JR noticed the framed photo on Katherine's desk. It was a picture of a man and a little girl standing together in front of what looked like the outside of the Wentworth building itself. JR could guess who the people in the photo were.

"Is that you and your father?" JR asked while pointing to the picture.

Katherine smiled. "Yeah. That was the first time that daddy ever brought me here. I still remember how exciting it was for me to see everything back then. But I only got to come here a few more times after that. Mama never thought that this kind of work would be good for me. But that didn't stop daddy from teaching me everything he could about this company. We just had to be very secretive about it." Katherine said.

"Seeing this reminds me of when my daddy first took me with him to work at Ewing Oil for the first time. It was definitely a day to remember..." JR said thoughtfully.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I could definitely use a short break right now. Since it's technically my lunch hour, how would you feel about getting out of here for a quick coffee break?" Katherine asked.

"Sounds good to me!" JR said happily.

About ten minutes later, JR and Katherine were seated across from each other at the small diner that was just across the street from the office. Katherine had just finished telling JR about all of the changes she hoped to make at work now that things had a chance to stabilize again after last year.

"...and once that's over with, I think that we will finally be back on track." Katherine finished.

"I'm impressed. I must say, you really do have quite a talent for all of this." JR complimented Katherine.

"Thank you. And not just for that, either. I know that I've said this before, but I really do appreciate everything that you have done for me, JR. You really are a great friend." Katherine said sincerely.

The smile that Katherine gave JR seemed to light up her whole face. JR couldn't help staring at Katherine for a moment. She really was quite stunning. JR had always noticed Katherine's looks before, but now he felt like he was admiring them in a different way than he had before. This was more than just the simple lust he had always felt whenever he had looked at her last year. Katherine was a truly beautiful woman who looked even more radiant when she smiled like this. It was a true, genuine moment of happiness. JR had seen Katherine with this expression a few times now since she had come back. It made him all the more happy to know that he had been the one to make her smile like this.

"Would you like to order anything else? Sir?" The waitress asked in confusion.

Embarrassed, JR realized that he must have been spacing out for a longer time than he had thought.

"Oh, sorry! No, uh, I mean yes! I'll have more coffee, please." JR said hurriedly. He wanted to crawl under the table and disappear right about now.

"And for you, miss?" The waitress asked Katherine with a smile.

"I'll have more coffee too, please." Katherine answered happily.

JR was relieved that she hadn't seemed to notice his idiotic behavior.

"Great! Be back in five!" The waitress answered cheerfully before turning away from them.

Somehow, that simple, innocent sentence from the waitress had a devastating effect on Katherine. Just like that, her beautiful, happy smile was gone. It was now replaced with a look of pure terror. It looked like Katherine was struggling to breathe. JR was terrified. Something was very wrong here.

"Hey, are you okay!?" JR asked anxiously.

Katherine quickly stood up. "Be back in five..." She said in a dazed tone.

Katherine hadn't even looked at JR when she said that. She then started walking quickly towards the doorway without another word.

"Katherine, wait!" JR practically shouted after her.

Katherine ignored him and went out the door. Frustrated, JR hurried up to the counter and payed for everything as fast as he could. He then bolted out of the restaurant.

Luckily, it didn't take JR very long to find Katherine. She was near the side of the building, on her hands and knees. JR could see tears in her eyes. Once Katherine saw JR, she immediately stood up and quickly brushed her tears away in embarrassment.

"Katherine, what happened to you!? You just took off all of a sudden! I was so worried!" JR said with concern.

"JR, I am so sorry about that! I never wanted anyone to have to see me like that! I'm so embarrassed! I didn't think that that would happen in there!" Katherine babbled.

"Katherine, what exactly was it that scared you so much back there?" JR asked calmly.

Katherine took a deep breath before answering him. "Sometimes, it just hits me, you know? No matter what I happen to be doing, if I happen to hear or see anything that reminds me too much of mama and daddy, I just sort of...lose it. When the waitress said "Be back in five", that reminded me of all of those times that daddy had said that to mama. Daddy always ended up saying that whenever he went to work in his office at home at night. Although he usually ended up spending a lot more than just five minutes in there. It was sort of a joke for between them." Katherine explained.

"I'm so sorry..." JR said helplessly.

Katherine was suffering even more than JR had thought. It was truly heartbreaking for him to see her like this.

"No, I'm sorry for doing that to you. The truth is that I had hoped that having all of this work to do would make it easier for me to deal with all of this, but now I see that it's not that simple." Katherine admitted.

"It never is. But I'm still glad that you told me about this. You can talk to me about these things anytime you want. Whether it ends up helping you or not, I want you to know that I'll always listen." JR said seriously.

Katherine smiled softly at JR after hearing that. "I know right now that I'm lucky just to have someone as nice as you for a friend. And I do feel a little better now that I've explained it to you." She said.

"That's good. Do you want me to drive you back to the hotel now? You really should rest for a bit." JR said.

"No, I really am fine now. And I really do need to get back to work right now. So, I'll be heading back to the office now. I'll see you later, JR." Katherine said.

"Well, if you're sure. I guess I'll leave now, too. Bye." JR said.

JR was still worried, but he knew better than to try to push Katherine. He had a feeling that she was a workaholic either way. They really did seem to have a lot in common.

It was now nighttime. JR was pacing around his office anxiously. His latest business venture was turning out to be a big mess. Selling oil illegally to Cuba was already hard enough. But now his business contact, Walt Driscoll, seemed to deliberately be making a game out of it. JR hated having to constantly push this guy just to get the ball rolling on this.

JR was bored and frustrated. He decided to step out and pay Bobby a visit in his office next door. Even though JR wasn't exactly feeling confident about winning the contest right now, he knew that he had to at least make it look like he believed he was ahead. Plus, JR always enjoyed annoying his brother.

JR hadn't gone any further than the doorway to his own office when he spotted Bobby. JR was surprised to see that Katherine was with him. Why would she come all the way here at night without calling first? It also seemed odd to JR that Katherine would want to see him twice in one day. JR was worried for a minute. Was Katherine still feeling depressed about what had happened at the restaurant?

JR listened to what Bobby and Katherine were saying.

"I was going out for a drink, anyway. Do you want to come with me?" Bobby asked Katherine.

"That would be great! I'll leave right now!" Katherine said excitedly. She then headed towards the elevator with Bobby.

JR was surprised at how jealous he felt. Why had Katherine wanted to spend time with Bobby instead of him!? JR hadn't even known that they were that friendly to begin with.

JR tried to calm himself down and think rationally. There really was no reason why Katherine shouldn't want to be friends with Bobby. After all, Pam was her sister, so they probably wanted to talk about her. But still, JR had been right there, in his office! Katherine could have at least stopped in to say hello to him! Maybe she just didn't want to seem like she was bothering me. We already spent a lot of time together today, anyway. JR thought to himself. But JR still couldn't stop himself from worrying. What if Katherine spent a lot of time with his brother, already? Did she talk to Bobby about the same things that she told him?

JR was also angry at Bobby. Here he is, a married man, and yet he's out hitting on his own wife's sister! JR thought angrily. Even though JR realized that it was quite hypocritical for him to think that, he still couldn't help feeling angry.

JR once again tried to get himself to calm down. He had no real reason to be upset by this. After all, it wasn't like JR was actually dating Katherine. But the fact that he had gotten so mad about this in the first place told JR something. JR realized that he might actually be starting to develop feelings for Katherine. He didn't know how strong they were, or how strong they could get. But he couldn't deny that Katherine had an effect on him. JR hadn't believed that he could ever feel things for another woman besides Sue Ellen. While it was true that he had stopped having feelings for his ex-wife a long time ago, JR couldn't help believing that having feelings for another woman made it feel like he had truly said goodbye to his old marriage. For JR, it was both sad and hopeful. For once, he did not know what to expect in his future. But maybe, just maybe, he would have a chance at real happiness again someday...

Author's note: The scene at the end here was based on the scene from the episode "Brothers and Sisters". During that episode, JR was standing in the doorway while he watched Bobby and Katherine talk to each other. Considering JR's thoughts at the end of this chapter, I thought that adding that scene made a nice, dramatic effect.