JR was standing off to the side in the living room at Southfork. Nowadays, the hour right before dinner usually ended up being a tense time for the family thanks to the contest. But for some reason, tonight was different. Everyone appeared to be relaxed. Normally, JR would have considered this a blessed reprieve when compared to the usual blame game and shouting matches that took place. But JR found Bobby's surprisingly calm demeanor suspicious, somehow. It was as if Bobby knew that something was about to happen. Something that could probably tilt the odds of winning the contest in his favor. JR didn't like this at all. But he didn't have time to think about that right now.
It wouldn't be that much longer until JR had to leave to meet Katherine at her new house. To say that he was nervous was putting it mildly. JR knew that Katherine only saw him as a friend, but ever since his feelings about her had started changing, he felt like he was constantly worrying about how he looked and acted whenever he was around her.
JR was surprised when Katherine had invited him over to her house. He knew that it was most likely only a friendly invitation, but a part of him couldn't help hoping that it might mean that she was actually starting to like him in more than just a platonic way. After all, whenever women had invited JR to their homes in the past, it usually ended up being for a very different reason. JR tried to shove that thought out of his mind. Even if by some small chance, Katherine was interested in him, she wouldn't just throw herself at JR like that. She wasn't that kind of woman. Even though JR found Katherine quite a desirable woman, he did not want to end up just casually spending the night with her. When it came to a woman that he cared about, JR preferred to take things more slowly. Why am I even thinking about this at all!? I'm only going over there to talk to her and see the new house. This isn't a date! I need to stop getting my hopes up like this! JR thought to himself in frustration.
JR managed to pull himself out of his thoughts in time to catch some of Miss Ellie's conversation with Clayton. "-don't care much for that one, either." Clayton finished saying.
Miss Ellie laughed at that. "Clayton Farlow! I never thought of you as the type of person who would have such a hard time with picking out a house to buy! Especially when you can afford the best that Dallas has to offer. I don't know. It looks like you're running out of options to choose from here!" Miss Ellie said teasingly.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that yet. I know of at least one good place that might be an option for me." Clayton said with a knowing smile. Miss Ellie laughed lightly at his response.
JR wanted to vomit. Clayton and Miss Ellie were sitting on the couch in the living room with a few newspapers and magazines spread out on the coffee table in front of them. Clayton was seated closely next to Miss Ellie on the couch. A little too close, in JR's opinion. This had been going on for a while now, and JR hated it. Ever since Clayton had said that he planned to move to Dallas, JR had been wary. JR hated how the man seemed to practically live at Southfork now. Clayton would always come back to Southfork after a day of house hunting with Miss Ellie so that they could then look at photos of even more houses afterwards. Clayton would then throw around a few not so subtle hints about where he really wanted to live: Southfork. JR knew that Clayton was only just going through the motions of looking for a house to buy. It was so obvious that what he really wanted was to marry Miss Ellie and move right in to Southfork with all of them. The worst part about it was that Miss Ellie seemed like she wouldn't mind this at all. JR did not want to even think about Clayton actually living in the same house as him. He is such a hypocrite! He had the nerve to accuse me of hitting on Katherine, when he comes over here everyday to hit on my mama! JR thought furiously to himself.
Miss Ellie chose that moment to notice JR. "JR, you look quite nice tonight. That business deal that you have must be quite important." She commented thoughtfully.
JR couldn't help getting nervous. He wasn't really dressed that differently from how he normally did. But he obviously must have let something slip here. Or was this just what they would call a mother's intuition? JR didn't know, but he did know that there was no way that he could tell anyone in his family about where he was really going. They would immediately think the worst of him if they did know. For now, JR was too afraid to tell anyone about the time he spent with Katherine. It wasn't something that he could hide completely. After all, they did go out in public to restaurants a lot. But JR didn't want to have to deal with how he knew how both his and Katherine's family would react to it, either.
"Yeah, this deal could most certainly turn the tide in my favor when it comes to winning Ewing Oil." JR lied.
He hated bringing up the topic of the contest, but if it would divert Miss Ellie's attention away from her suspicions about him, then JR was willing to do it.
Unfortunately, nobody seemed to really buy JR's explanation.
Lucy looked at JR with a sly smile from her place in the armchair. "I don't know, grandma. From the way he's been playing with his tie and running his hand through his hair these past ten minutes, I wouldn't say that this is about a deal. It looks to me like JR has a hot date that he doesn't want to tell us about!" She teased mercilessly.
JR was horrified. "No!" He said a little too quickly. Everybody stared at him. JR then quickly regained his composure.
"Lucy, you should know that looking your best is one of the most important fundamental rules of business when you are trying to close a deal. You've obviously just had dating on your mind way too much ever since you started hanging out with that ridiculous Trotter boy." JR responded snidely.
Lucy looked annoyed. "Things are going perfectly well between Mickey and I. Just you wait. I'm sure he'll manage to win even you over eventually, JR." She said defensively.
Bobby, who was leaning casually against the railing at the foot of the stairs, decided to jump into the conversation. "Come on, Lucy. There's no need for you to get upset over what JR said. And besides, maybe his deal is with a woman. That would certainly make sense. Although I must say that I would be interested in seeing what she's like if it turns out that you are right about this." He said with a teasing grin.
JR had to resist the urge to glare at his brother. He still hadn't forgotten about Bobby's little late night meeting with Katherine at the office. When Bobby had suggested meeting him for a drink, Katherine had looked like a kid who had just been given some ice cream. He sure as hell better not be playing games with her anymore. JR thought darkly.
JR then noticed that Clayton was looking at him with his eyebrows slightly raised. JR got nervous again. He had a feeling that Clayton still hadn't forgotten about their confrontation in the driveway right before Rebecca's funeral. Based on that, JR had a feeling that Clayton might actually be onto him. This was not good. He had to get out of here.
"Well, even though it's obvious that everyone here is quite fascinated with me and my daily life, I'm afraid that I really do have to leave now. But don't worry, I will be back to entertain you all again." JR said with a smile.
"Oh, goody." Lucy said sarcastically.
"Will you be back in time for dinner?" Miss Ellie asked JR.
"Probably not. Bye!" JR answered before he walked out the front door. He couldn't wait to escape.
"Ha! There is no business meeting!" JR heard Lucy say right before he shut the front door.
About ten minutes later, JR found himself staring at Katherine's new house in complete amazement. This was not a house. It was a mansion! It was a huge brick structure; complete with turrets and a balcony, that was set back off the road with it's own land around it. JR couldn't see the backyard from his angle, but he was sure that there was one and that it was probably gigantic. JR could see part of a swimming pool and tennis court around the sides of the place. There was also a huge parking garage and patio as well. But to JR, what made this place more aristocratic than anything else was the fact that it was all enclosed behind a tall black wrought-iron gate that encircled the property. JR was in front of the door of the gate and saw that it had an intercom attached to it. Even though he was used to growing up in luxury himself, JR was still amazed by all of this. This house might actually be bigger than Southfork! For a moment, JR couldn't help wondering if he had somehow got the wrong address. Katherine wasn't really planning to live here all by herself? Was she? There was only one way to find out.
JR tentatively rolled down the window of his car so that he could press the button on the intercom. The speaker crackled. "Who is it?" Katherine's voice came through the speaker.
"It's me, JR." JR answered back.
"You're right on time! Wait a minute while I open the gate." Katherine said.
JR had just started to drive backwards a little to give the gate enough room, when to his surprise, it opened backwards instead so that it wouldn't collide with a vehicle. After JR was past the gate, it automatically closed again.
After parking awkwardly in the driveway, JR turned towards the massive front porch. Katherine, looking more lovely than ever, was standing next to the front steps with a delighted smile on her face.
"Hi! I'm so glad you came! Did you have a hard time finding the place?" Katherine asked.
"No. It's only about ten minutes away from Southfork. And anyways, it's hard to miss something like this!" JR replied.
Katherine laughed. "Were you surprised?" She asked.
"Honestly, yes. I mean, I thought that you might have a big house, but I wasn't expecting something on this scale. Is this place really just for yourself, or are Pam and Christopher planning to move in here too or something? It just seems a bit too big for just one person." JR said.
JR wasn't brave enough to ask what he was really wondering about. Did Katherine buy a place like this because she planned to get married and have a family here?
"It is a bit extravagant, but I wanted something that was like our old house back in Houston. But don't worry, Pam isn't coming here. Even though I feel like I should have asked her to stay here, I just don't want to do it. Besides, I know that you wouldn't like that!" Katherine answered with a grin.
JR laughed. "She certainly wouldn't like to see me here right now, that's for sure!" He said happily.
JR paused for a moment before voicing his other thought. "I am a little worried about you being all the way out here in a place like this by yourself, though. It might not be exactly safe..." He admitted worriedly.
JR made sure not to mention the fact that he thought that it might be more dangerous because Katherine was a woman. JR didn't want to come across as sounding sexist. But that wasn't his only worry about this set-up. Katherine was very wealthy, and that alone was a good reason for someone to want to break in. This place was also isolated from the main road and any other houses.
"I appreciate your concern JR. Believe me, I thought of that, too. But don't worry, I made sure that the security here is the best. Here, I'll show you." Katherine said.
Katherine walked up to the front door. JR followed her.
"Besides the whole gate system, I also have these on all of the outside doors." Katherine said.
Katherine pointed to something on the side of the door. JR saw what looked like a small metal panel. Katherine took a key out of her pocket and turned it in a keyhole that was apparently on the bottom of it so that it wouldn't be quite so visible to other people. JR watched in amazement as the bottom opened up. Katherine then pushed a button that could obviously only be reached after using the key since it was under the keyhole. This time, the metal on the front of the panel slid open to reveal a keypad with numbers. Finally, Katherine quickly punched in some numbers on the keypad and the door swung open.
"I'm the only person who knows the two codes that open the front and back doors here. I'm also going to change them every month. They both have different keys to them as well. As for the windows, they're made from a type of glass that is pretty hard to break. Plus, I also have alarm systems in the house that will go off if someone actually does manage to get past all of this. Oh, and in case you're wondering, I keep most of my money at the bank." Katherine explained.
JR was impressed. Katherine quite obviously knew how to take care of herself. The security was top-notch.
"I'm impressed! This makes me realize just how unprotected Southfork really is. I've got to get this system for us, too! It's amazing!" JR said in astonishment.
"You should, but I guess that you, Bobby and all of those ranch hands can put up a pretty decent fight against any intruders." Katherine said with a smile.
JR was embarrassed. He didn't want to admit to Katherine that he wasn't particularly good at fighting. At least not compared to Bobby and Ray.
"Yeah, I guess we could. But I still want all of this." JR admitted sheepishly.
After they had both went inside, JR noticed another keypad on the other side of the door. Katherine followed his gaze. For one crazy moment, JR wondered if Katherine was going to lock him inside the house with her.
Katherine seemed to have read his mind. "I could lock this, but I don't really think that I need to right now. After all, I have you here to protect me if anything goes wrong. Right?" She said jokingly.
"That's right." JR answered with an embarrassed laugh.
Even though he knew that Katherine had only been joking, JR knew that he really would do his best to protect her if something ever did happen. It was just too embarrassing for him to actually tell her that right now.
"Well anyway, as you can see, the place is sort of a mess right now. But feel free to sit down in the living room over there." Katherine said.
Katherine walked over to what JR guessed was the living room, and pointed to a sofa and an armchair. JR could see a ton of half opened boxes scattered around the room. Aside from that and the few basic pieces of furniture and lamps that were in the room, JR realized that this part Katherine's house seemed to be full of a whole lot of nothing.
"I know what you're thinking. It's awful. It's just that I haven't been able to think of this as home yet." Katherine admitted sadly.
JR couldn't help feeling sad at Katherine's words, but he tried not to show it.
"That's going to take time. It's not easy to start over again after you've just lost everything. I think it's something that will happen gradually." JR said gently.
The rooms were so bare that their words actually echoed a bit across the giant living room.
"Yeah. I know you're right. Enough of this depressing talk, though. Would you like something to drink? Maybe some coffee?" Katherine asked with a bright smile.
"Do have any wine?" JR asked hopefully.
"Wine? Again?" Katherine asked skeptically.
JR was surprised at her reaction. "What do you mean "again"?" He asked in confusion.
"Well, I'm not trying to criticize you, JR. It's just that, well... I've seen that liquor cabinet in your office. And I know about cocktail hour at Southfork. Add that to the fact that you always order it whenever we're at a restaurant, and I can't help but worry that you might be drinking a little too much in one day." Katherine explained carefully.
JR was amazed. No one had ever had the guts to point out something like that to him. Normally, he would've been offended, but since this was Katherine...
"I guess maybe it would be considered a lot to some people..." JR trailed off helplessly.
"Well, how about some tea instead? I know that a drink helps take the edge off after a hard day, but trust me, this will help you feel better, too! And it's good for you. I think you'll like it. Come on, what do you say?" Katherine asked cheerfully.
JR didn't see how he could say no. Katherine just looked too sweet and hopeful for words. If it makes her happy, then it's definitely worth it. JR thought to himself.
"Okay. Why not? Surprise me." JR said with a smile.
"Great! I'll be back in a minute!" Katherine said excitedly before rushing off to the kitchen.
JR couldn't help smiling. Katherine was so easy to please.
Katherine came back a minute later with two glasses of iced tea.
"This is all natural. There's no sugar or anything like that in it." Katherine explained.
JR looked curiously at the tea. "So this is something that you had to sort of make by yourself more than if it was just a mix?" He asked.
"Yeah, since I had all of the ingredients, it was all me. So, if you end up liking it, then I'll know that it's probably a successful experiment!" Katherine joked.
"Oh, so in other words, you're using me as your guinea pig! How devious of you!" JR teased; causing Katherine to blush.
"Okay, now how is it!?" Katherine asked excitedly after JR finished taking a drink from his glass.
"It's...actually really good." JR admitted honestly.
"Really!?" Katherine asked excitedly.
"Yeah, really. I honestly never thought that tea was something that I could enjoy this much, but after trying this I think that I might actually be able to quit drinking if could just have this everyday instead! Or just cut down to one a day." JR admitted.
JR was a little shocked at how good the tea was. Katherine was just too talented for her own good. Unless...There wasn't actually alcohol in that? Was there? JR wondered to himself for a moment.
"Thanks! I'm so glad that you liked it! You see? I told you that you would!" Katherine said.
"So, aside from learning how to make the world's best tea, what else have you been doing lately?" JR asked casually.
"Well, I've been trying to spend some quality time with my sister, but sometimes it's just so... difficult." Katherine admitted.
"What do mean?" JR asked curiously.
"Well, the thing is, as long as we're just talking about something casual, or doing some fun girl activity like shopping, or even just playing with Christopher, everything is great. But I still don't feel comfortable with telling her things about my past or even asking about hers." Katherine explained.
"Is there a reason for that?" JR asked.
"I guess that, in a way, I'm afraid. I'm afraid that if I start telling Pam everything about my childhood, it will just seem like I'm sort throwing it in her face that I got to spend all of those years with mama while she barely had any time with her at all. While I still believe that it's been a harder loss for me, I still can't help seeing just how terrible it was for her, too. To believe that mama was dead for all of those years, and then to find her again and start building a life with her, only to just end up losing her after a couple of years. It's a different kind of loss. I wonder if Pam wishes that had she never tried to find her in the first place. I know that I would. Mama left them to grow up with practically nothing. I'm the one who got all of the memories and good times. I got to live the perfect, fairy tale childhood. I don't think that hearing about everything I got to have with mama would make either Pam or Cliff feel any better. They might just resent me. Or maybe they already do. I'm afraid to find out. But it's more than just that. I feel like I just want to keep those memories for myself. I feel like telling Pam about any of that would be like giving them away, somehow. I'm selfish. I want to keep that for myself because I feel like that time belonged to me, not them. It was the part of my life when everything made sense." Katherine said.
"You can't expect yourself to just magically form a bond with people that you barely even know. You've only just started trying to spend more time with your sister. And you are two very different people. That's even more true with Cliff. I honestly don't know what advice I can offer to you. I've never even tried to spend any time getting to know my half brother. It's frustrating because we are also very different people. I know what it's like to be frustrated and to wish that you never found out about them in the first place. But as long as you keep trying, I do think that that time will come to mean something to you someday." JR said.
"That was probably what I needed to hear more than anything else. Thanks, JR. I only wish that it could be as easy to talk with them as it is with you. You're very good at this." Katherine said.
"Thanks, but I don't think that I would be this way if it hadn't been for my ex-wife. She made me start to think about these things more because she knew that I needed to in order to start being a better father." JR admitted.
"Well, I'm certainly glad that she did. But enough about my problems. Is there anything that's been bothering you lately?" Katherine asked.
JR thought for a moment before answering Katherine. "Well...yeah. But it's a little embarrassing to talk about." He admitted.
"It's okay. You can tell me. I won't laugh at you." Katherine reassured JR.
"Well, okay. I've been angry because Clayton has started seeing my mother. A lot. And I think that it's serious. He's moving to Dallas just so that he can be closer to her. And he has plans. Big plans, if you know what I mean. I know that's it's probably stupid and childish for me to feel this way, but I just don't want anything to happen between them! Daddy only just died last year. How can mama just move on with someone else after only a year!?" JR said in frustration.
JR noticed that Katherine looked a bit angry.
"Well, that explains that." Katherine said bitterly.
"What are you talking about?" JR asked in confusion.
"Earlier this year, while I was still in New York, mama called me to tell me all about how great Clayton was and that she thought that they would start dating soon. Just like you, it made me mad. Only a year after daddy, and she was already starting to replace him. But after more time had passed, mama called me again and told me that the whole thing with Clayton turned out be just a whim and that she hadn't really been serious about him in the first place. But I could tell that something else had happened, and that mama really was hurt. Now I know what it was. Apparently, my mother wasn't good enough for Clayton." Katherine said bitterly.
"I'm sorry. I didn't about that at all. Now I really feel like a jerk for bringing this up." JR said.
"No, it's okay. I'm glad that you told me. And I understand exactly how you feel. After losing the person that you loved more than anything, the person that you had already built a life with and believed that you would spend the rest of your future with, one year is just not enough time for someone to feel like they can just start all over again. At least not for me..." Katherine said quietly with a faraway look in her eyes.
Somehow, JR didn't believe that Katherine had been referring to her parents when she had said that. He was curious, but he didn't want to pry, either.
They spent a little bit more time talking before JR finally left. He hadn't even realized just how late it had gotten. Time just seemed to fly by whenever he was with Katherine. She was just so easy to talk to. In a way, it frightened JR. This is starting to feel like... But he wouldn't let himself even think that word. Not yet. JR knew that it was too soon for him to start facing that again, and based on Katherine's cryptic comment earlier, he knew that it was definitely too soon for her as well.
