Katherine was sitting at the desk in her office while she looked over some forms. It seemed like her life was finally starting to gain some stability. While it was true that she was still dealing with the overwhelming weight of her grief, Katherine had also developed a routine in her life.

Of course, work occupied the most space in her weekly schedule. Katherine's free time was a bit different, though. She spent a fair portion of it talking with JR. It was common for them to meet up somewhere for a meal or coffee so that they could talk about what was going on their lives. Katherine really thought that her time with JR was more helpful than anything else when it came to coping with her losses.

Katherine also spent some of her free time with Pam and Christopher as well. Except for the endless conversations about Bobby that Pam always wanted to have, Katherine was actually able to enjoy her sister's company. The hard part was that Pam still didn't feel like family to her. Katherine didn't know if there was something that she was supposed to do in order to feel that way, or if it would just happen with more time. Either way, Pam was definitely easier to get along with than Cliff.

Then, of course, there was Bobby. Katherine hated to admit it, but for her, the highlight of her weekend visits with Pam and Christopher was getting to see Bobby whenever he came to the hotel to either pick up Christopher for his visit to Southfork or to drop him off again after a visit. Katherine was always happy to have any time at all with Bobby. She just wished that her time with Bobby wasn't just limited to his brief visits to Pam's hotel suite.

Katherine had actually managed to talk to Bobby in another setting, though. Katherine had felt guilty about it, but she had gotten Bobby to meet her for a drink because she had claimed that she was having a rough time dealing with the changes in her life, and that she needed to talk to someone about it. Even though Katherine had enjoyed her time with Bobby, she would have preferred it if they could have used that time to actually get to know each other better. After all, Katherine already had JR to talk with when it came to the subject of handling her grief. But Katherine knew that she couldn't let Bobby know that she was actually interested in him. It was frustrating for her.

One part of Katherine hoped that Bobby and Pam would just get back together again so that she couldn't get her hopes up anymore. But the other part of her believed that she had to try to find opportunities to talk to Bobby so that he might at least consider her as a romantic prospect if he actually ended up divorced and wanted to find someone else to be with. But even on the off chance that Bobby does end up getting a divorce, I bet it would take him years to get over Pam. Katherine thought to herself hopelessly.

Suddenly, Katherine's thoughts were interrupted by some kind of commotion outside near Lara's desk. It sounded like someone was arguing with Lara.

"I'm sorry sir, but you can't see Ms. Wentworth without making an appointment first!" Lara said with a frustrated edge to her voice.

"Appointment!? That is completely ridiculous! Don't you know who I am!? I shouldn't have to make an appointment when I already own a part of this company! I'm going in!" An angry male voice practically shouted.

"Sir! You can't go in there!" Lara protested weakly.

Katherine silently groaned. Cliff was here, and he was apparently not a happy camper about Katherine being the new company president. Cliff had fallen into a depression ever since Rebecca's death. Surprisingly enough, he had blamed himself for the accident instead of JR and the other Ewings. With the exception of the funeral, Cliff hadn't left his house after Rebecca had died. But Katherine had known that it would only be a matter of time until her brother was back to his usual annoying self again. He had probably just now heard about Pam giving her shares to Katherine.

Cliff threw open the door to Katherine's office. Lara hovered behind him outside of the doorway.

"I'm sorry, Katherine! I tried to stop him!" Lara apologized nervously.

"It's okay, Lara. I'll talk to him. You can go back now." Katherine reassured her.

Lara nodded quickly and then headed back to her desk.

Katherine glared at Cliff. "I don't appreciate you coming here and harassing my secretary! Why can't you just make an appointment like a normal person!?" She asked angrily.

Cliff chose to ignore Katherine's question. Instead, he slammed a newspaper onto Katherine's desk. It was the article about Katherine's new ownership of Wentworth Tool and Dye.

"How could you do this!? You know that mama wanted all three of us to share everything! You went against her last wishes!" Cliff said furiously.

"I had to do what was best for this company! You almost completely destroyed everything after you embezzled money from us last year! There is no way that this company would have recovered if we had to stop and have a vote for everything every five minutes! Pam was completely alright with giving her shares to me! I wouldn't have asked her if I had thought that she was uncomfortable with it! And besides, you still have your share! I didn't ask for it because I knew that you wouldn't want to give it up!" Katherine said fiercely.

Of course, Katherine didn't mention that she had planned to get the shares even if Pam had said no, and that she still planned to get Cliff's as well.

"That's not the point! The point is that you asked Pam because you knew very well that she would say yes! You purposely took advantage of her kindness!" Cliff accused.

"I did no such thing!" Katherine lied.

"Whatever! Anyway, why do you have a new secretary? What happened to Marie?" Cliff asked suspiciously.

"She left. So did a lot of other people here. What did you expect to happen after you cut everybody's pay!?" Katherine asked in irritation.

"Some sacrifices have to be made in business. Besides, it would have only been temporary!" Cliff said in exasperation.

"Oh, I'm sure it was." Katherine said sarcastically.

"Well anyway, I hope you're happy now! You finally got your daddy's company back!" Cliff sneered.

"I am happy. Happy that I managed to save this company from god knows what would have happened to it if you had still been running it. And now that you've had your little rant, I'm going to ask that you please leave. Unlike you, I actually work here to improve this company. It's not a tool for an agenda or a way to gain status like it was for you." Katherine said coldly.

"Fine, I'm leaving." Cliff said.

Cliff started to walk out the door, but then he stopped for a moment.

"I gotta say, I never thought that you would pull something like this off. You make JR look tame." Cliff said. After that, he finally left.

Katherine couldn't help feeling amused. Cliff had no idea that JR had everything to do with this, and now she was actually getting credit for his own idea!

The next day, Katherine was busy taking the last of her possessions out to her car in the hotel parking lot. She had finally purchased a new house and had moved almost everything into it. Katherine was quite happy to be leaving the Fairview behind forever.

Katherine had almost reached her car when she caught sight of a familiar figure standing in the parking lot. She was surprised to see Pam's friend, Mark Graison, standing next to his car with a lost expression on his face.

Mark had known Pam even before her separation from Bobby. Katherine had only met him a couple of times, but she thought he seemed like a nice guy. While Katherine did believe that Mark's concern for Pam was genuine, Katherine could tell that he was also hoping that he could use Pam's separation as a chance to get closer to her. From what Pam had told Katherine, Mark was hoping to be more than just friends with Pam. Katherine didn't find anything wrong with what Mark was doing, though. He seemed like he actually did want to help Pam. The way Katherine saw it, Mark was hoping to find a chance for an opportunity to get closer to Pam. It really wasn't that different from what Katherine was doing when it came to Bobby. Plus, Mark had a certain, likable quality to him.

"Hi, Mark! What are you doing out here?" Katherine asked.

"Hi there, Katherine. I guess I just spaced out for a moment." Mark said sheepishly.

"Well, Pam is here right now. Don't you want to go up and see her?" Katherine asked curiously.

"Well...yeah, I do. But lately I've been wondering if what I'm doing might not be such a good thing for her right now." Mark admitted.

"What do you mean?" Katherine asked, even though she was pretty sure she knew exactly what Mark meant.

"Well, you see, I know that Pam will eventually have to make a decision about whether her separation with Bobby will be permanent or not. The way I see it, she just wants to avoid the whole thing and stay in that hotel room. But problems don't go away just because you choose to ignore them. At first I thought that I could actually help her to make a decision by talking to her about it. But now, I'm wondering if me being around so much might actually just be making things more difficult for her. You see, the thing is, I like your sister. A lot. I've already told Pam that, so I'm worried that she will think that I'm just trying to pressure her into ending things with Bobby. And I'm not. I really just want Pam to make a decision here. But I'm also afraid that it will just look like I'm taking advantage of her circumstances right now." Mark explained.

Katherine was touched. Mark really did seem like he knew exactly what Pam was going through.

"Well, I certainly agree with you about Pam needing to make a decision. She seems to think that everything will just sort itself out. Plus, a hotel room is no place to raise a child. But Mark, I really don't think that you aren't helping Pam. I have tried to get her to see how important it is for her to make a decision here. And I think that staying here will just make that harder for her. But since Pam doesn't seem to want to take my advice, I think it is actually helpful for her to have you to tell her these things, too. I really do believe that Pam values your friendship a lot, Mark." Katherine said.

Katherine didn't want to lie and say that Pam had actually said that. That would feel a little too much like interfering. But Katherine thought it couldn't hurt to do something to help Mark. After all, he was only trying to help Pam. Whether Pam chose to go back to Southfork or not, it would be helpful for her to make up her mind sooner rather than later. Katherine didn't believe that being stuck in limbo like this was good for anybody.

"Really? Well, if you believe that Pam really feels that way, then I guess it would be okay for me to stick around. And that also means that I can still grace the hotel staff with my presence." Mark said jokingly.

Katherine laughed. "I'm sure that they always look forward to your visits." She teased.

"Yeah, but it seems like I haven't been able to win you over. Why else would you be packing?" Mark said with exaggerated hurt.

"Oh, I finally managed to find a house! There was only so much I could take of the food here!" Katherine said.

"Well, then I guess congratulations are in order! Who knows? Maybe one day Pam and I could come over for a visit. That is, if things manage to go the way I would like them to..." Mark said wistfully.

"Well...I guess that all depends on Pam." Katherine said.

"Yeah. Anyway, I think I will probably take your advice, Katherine. Thanks for talking to me about it. I'm sure I'll see you later!" Mark said cheerfully.

"Okay, bye Mark!" Katherine said happily.

It was true that Katherine was hoping for Pam to choose to be with Mark so that she might have a chance with Bobby someday. But Katherine also honestly wanted to see Mark happy. He was a nice guy, and Katherine believed that he truly cared about Pam. It might actually be better for Pam to be with Mark. Plus, it might also be healthier for Pam to live without all of the Ewing family drama that she seemed to think existed. Not to mention that it would certainly make JR happier, too.

The next day, Katherine and JR were having one of their usual weekly meetings at a restaurant together. Ever since her embarrassing little breakdown at the coffee shop, Katherine thought that it seemed like JR was being a bit more...softer towards her. Katherine didn't know how else to put it. Even though they were good friends now, Katherine still had a hard time getting a read on what JR was feeling sometimes. After what happened at the coffee shop, he probably thinks that I'm a total nutcase. So now he probably feels like he has to be extra careful with me so that I don't have another episode again. Katherine thought to herself in irritation.

"So, how have things been for you lately?" JR asked.

"I would say that they are pretty good right now. Especially since I haven't had any more outbursts. But, you should know that our "friend" has finally decided to come out of hibernation." Katherine said. She didn't need to specify who the friend was. JR could tell that Katherine was talking about Cliff.

"I knew that I would only get a brief respite before he decided to rear his ugly head again. And now it will only be a matter of time before he continues to show his fascination for me again." JR said almost wearily.

"Yesterday, he claimed that he was ready to join the human race again." Katherine said.

"That's rich! In order to rejoin the human race, you would have to have been a part of it in the first place!" JR said with a laugh.

Katherine laughed at his joke. "Yeah! He is also absolutely furious about Pam giving me those shares. Quite a change from just a week ago, when he was saying that he didn't deserve any of it!" Katherine said.

"Well, enough about that termite. How are you settling into your new home?" JR asked.

"Well, it's certainly nice to finally have my own space now! Not to mention that I'm no longer being woken up by Christopher's wailing every night! But I haven't exactly been able to...unpack." Katherine admitted.

"Oh. You mean..." JR trailed off.

"Yeah. Every time I try to unpack anything from our old house, I end up crying. Or even worse, I'll start to just scream and throw those things around. So, a lot of things are still just sitting in boxes." Katherine admitted sadly.

JR looked at her with a sympathetic expression. "Well, I suppose that if that makes things easier for you right now, then it won't do any harm to just let them stay there until you're ready to unpack them. But when you are finally ready for that, you should let me know. I think it would be easier for you to unpack those things with a friend there. And I am interested in seeing anything that means a lot to you." JR said gently.

Katherine was touched by JR's offer. Whenever JR said things like this, she always ended up getting nervous for some reason. Katherine still had a hard time believing that he had no problem going through such trouble for her. A small part of her sometimes worried that JR's kindness was too good to be true, and that he might have some ulterior motive that she didn't know about. Katherine managed to force that thought away. But even though she pretty much believed that JR's kindness was genuine, Katherine still felt that there was something here that she was missing, somehow. Katherine decided to brush that thought off for the moment.

"Thanks, JR. Having you there while I unpack those things would certainly make it easier for me. And I would love for you to see everything. But since I'm not ready for that yet, would you settle for just coming over for a bit sometime to see the house?" Katherine asked.

Katherine was a little nervous about asking JR to come over. Even though JR was a good friend, the fact remained that he was still a man. Katherine couldn't help worrying that JR might get the wrong impression about an invitation to come over to her house. I shouldn't be worried, though. JR isn't like that anymore. Katherine told herself. Maybe what she was feeling was not so much worry as it was nervousness.

"I would love that. Just let me know whenever is a good time for you." JR said.

"Hmm... How about this Friday at about six? Does that work?" Katherine asked.

She didn't want it to be too late, but Katherine also didn't know exactly when JR's work hours ended. Especially with the contest. She also didn't know if this would conflict with Southfork's family dinner time, which she knew the Ewings took quite seriously. That was why Katherine usually met JR during their lunch hour.

"That would be perfect." JR answered.

Katherine was relieved."Good. I didn't want this to interfere with your work or the family dinner hour at Southfork." She said.

For a moment, Katherine couldn't help remembering how much she had loved all of the family dinners that she used to share with her parents.

"No, that's quite alright. Meal times at Southfork have gotten a bit tense ever since the contest started, so I don't mind a break." JR admitted ruefully.

"Okay, then I guess I'll see you then. Just let me give you the address before I forget." Katherine said while she rummaged around in her purse for a notepad and pen.

Katherine still couldn't believe it. If anyone had told her last year that she would be inviting JR Ewing over to her house, she would have believed that they were crazy. But now it seemed like a completely normal thing to do.