JR breathed a sigh of relief as he sat down in the chair behind his desk in his office. He had just returned from his trip to Cuba. To say that it had been a nerve wracking experience for him was putting it mildly. JR's buyer had not been happy about the deal being delayed by Walt Driscoll's slip-up at the airport. This meant that JR had been thrown in a jail cell for hours so that he would "learn his lesson." It had been a terrifying experience for him. For a while, JR had been afraid that he might never make it back home again. But despite the unpleasant situation that had occurred, JR had finally been able to collect the money for the oil that he had sold. With this and the deals from Katherine, JR knew that he now had quite the lead in the contest for Ewing Oil.

At the thought of Katherine, JR smiled. He wondered if it was too late at night to call her and tell her that he was back now. JR looked at the clock. 11:30. I guess I should wait until tomorrow morning to call her. I shouldn't interrupt her beauty sleep. Not that she actually needs it. JR thought to himself in amusement as he pictured Katherine's beautiful face in his mind.

After putting some papers away, JR decided to leave the office and go home for the night. He had only just opened the door to his office when he saw Katherine in the lobby. JR was not pleased at all to see that Katherine was once again, talking to Bobby.

"The paper work will be ready tomorrow, Bobby! Pretty soon you'll be the proud owner of the Tundra Torque!" Katherine said excitedly.

"We did it!" Bobby practically shouted.

Bobby put his hands on Katherine's waist and spun her around in some sort of weird victory dance that caused Katherine to laugh with delight. JR felt a hot surge of jealousy shoot through him.

"I can't believe that I can finally drill in those fields now! How can I ever thank you!?" Bobby asked. He still had his arms around Katherine and was holding her close to him.

"Well, for starters, how about dinner!?" Katherine asked happily.

"You got yourself a deal, miss president! Come on, I'll drive!" Bobby said.

Right before Katherine turned to leave, she caught sight of JR standing in the doorway to his office. Her expression changed to shock, and then became sad and regretful. Katherine then turned around and left with Bobby, taking the shattered pieces of JR's heart with her.

JR was devastated. He couldn't believe what he had just seen. Why had Katherine betrayed him like that!? She was always telling JR that she wanted him to win and that she believed that he deserved it. Why had Katherine even helped JR at all if she was just going to turn around and help Bobby!? She had always told JR that he was her best friend, but had that really been all a lie?

I was afraid that all of this was too good to be true! She's in love with Bobby, not me... JR thought to himself miserably.

For the first time, JR knew what it felt like to have his heart broken. This must have been how Sue Ellen had felt every time she had found out about JR's cheating. JR thought that this must be his punishment for all of the horrible things that he had done to Sue Ellen.

JR was also furious at Bobby. The way he had held Katherine made JR seethe with rage and jealousy. Bobby's sudden interest in Katherine finally made sense to JR. Bobby was using her feelings for him to his advantage so that she would help him win the contest!

But a small part of JR was also worried that his brother just might be falling for Katherine. It looked like JR was going to lose both Ewing Oil and the woman he loved to his brother. Because now more than ever, JR knew that he loved Katherine. He wanted to be with her forever. To marry her and start a new family with her. But now it looked like his dream was more impossible than ever.

The next day, JR was at work in his office, trying his hardest to not think of Katherine. Last night, she had called his home phone number three times and left a message each time. JR hadn't even bothered to listen to them. He had simply deleted them. He did not want to hear whatever sorry excuse Katherine had for hurting him like this.

The intercom buzzed. "JR, Katherine Wentworth is here to see you." JR's secretary, Sly said.

JR stiffened. "Tell her I'm busy." He replied coolly.

There was a pause on Sly's end of the line. "She says it's urgent." Sly insisted uncomfortably.

JR sighed to himself. I guess I can't put this off any longer. He thought to himself with dread.

"Alright, send her in." JR said reluctantly.

Katherine timidly stepped into JR's office with a nervous expression on her face. JR guessed that she must not have slept much last night because there were dark circles under her eyes. JR hoped fervently that Katherine had been up feeling guilty about what she had done to him. The other alternative explanation that he had for it was too horrible to think about.

"You wouldn't answer my calls last night. So I had to come to you." Katherine said.

When JR didn't respond, Katherine continued. "I know that I owe you an explanation." She said.

JR finally spoke. "What explanation could you possibly give me to make me understand why you hurt me like that, Katherine?" He asked coldly.

"JR, I am so sorry! You have got to understand that I did not help Bobby with that deal in order to help him win the contest!" Katherine said desperately.

"Well, it sure as hell doesn't look that way to me! Do you have any idea how much money that deal is worth!?" JR practically yelled.

"You don't understand! Bobby is jealous of you! He told me that he thought that Jock always believed that you were the one who was more suited to run things and that he was always just sent off on the road to talk up the customers! He thinks that the way he just jumped into buying this deal without thinking about it proves that he isn't smart!" Katherine explained with emotion.

"And you actually fell for that sob story!?" JR asked angrily.

"Look JR, I know that what I did was wrong, but I only wanted Bobby to feel better about himself! He's not my best friend like you are, but he is still my friend!" Katherine said.

"Don't even try to sell me that "best friend" garbage again! It's obvious now that it all meant nothing to you! You only pretended to care about me! I thought that we were a team... And now, because of your stupid crush, I am probably going to lose Ewing Oil!" JR yelled.

"That is not true! And it's not a crush! I am still going to help you win, JR! There will be more deals for you! I'll even give you my own money! What Bobby makes from his deal can't even compare to all of it! I promise you that you will win! That has always been my intention, whether you believe it or not!" Katherine said angrily.

"I don't want your money! Not after what you did to me!" JR said.

"Oh, so you think that I was the only one who was dishonest here!?" Katherine asked.

"What are you talking about?" JR asked.

"Your little business trip, that's what! Funny how you failed to mention that you really went to Cuba!" Katherine angrily retorted.

"How did you even know about that?" JR asked in surprise.

"I came here last night a few hours before I ran into Bobby. I thought that I would wait for you to come back. Sly said that it was okay for me to wait in your office. I wasn't trying to snoop, but I just happened to see it on your calendar right there on the desk." Katherine said in a subdued tone.

"What does it matter that I didn't tell you where I went? I thought that you would have figured out where I needed to go based on everything I told you." JR said.

"It matters because you went somewhere dangerous without even letting me know where you were! What made you believe that you could just waltz right into Cuba and take care of everything without a problem!?" Katherine demanded.

"There weren't really any problems. In the end, I was able to get the money and get out." JR said.

"What do you mean "In the end"!? JR, what really happened while you were there!?" Katherine asked in frustration.

"Well, I was...detained for a while. But everything is fine now, so what does it matter!?" JR asked in irritation.

"You were "detained"!? Oh, that's just great, JR! You got yourself thrown in prison, and nobody even knew where you were! You should have told me where you were going! Didn't you ever stop to think that I would be worried sick if you had never came home!?" Katherine asked.

"After last night, no. I'm sure that my dear little brother would have helped ease your loneliness." JR said coldly.

"You're my best friend, JR, and I never meant to hurt you. You were never supposed to find out about how I helped Bobby. And I promise that I'm not going to help him again. I had already decided that it was only a one time thing, anyway. What more do you want from me?" Katherine asked quietly.

Katherine looked like she was about to cry. Despite how hurt and angry he was, JR felt his protective instincts for Katherine starting to surface again. He was tempted to hold her and reassure her that everything was alright. But everything wasn't alright between them. So he couldn't do that.

JR took a deep breath before answering Katherine. "Katherine, I think that you should leave now. I really don't want to talk about this anymore right now." He said quietly.

Katherine looked crushed. JR turned around so he couldn't see her face. After about a minute that really seemed like an hour, he finally heard Katherine leave the office, shutting the door quietly behind her.

JR felt even more miserable than he had last night. He had never even thought that Katherine would be hurt about him not telling her where he had went. Katherine had every right to be angry about that. But why couldn't she understand that just helping him win the contest didn't make up for how she had helped Bobby. Katherine hadn't even wanted to call the deal off.

There was also the fact that he was jealous of his own brother. JR couldn't tell Katherine that a big part of why he was so hurt by her actions was because he was in love with her. Despite how hurt he was, JR did still love Katherine. But he wasn't ready to forgive her just yet.

Author's note: The first scene in this chapter was based off of the episode "Cuba Libre". Just like in "Brothers and Sisters", JR was once again, watching Katherine and Bobby while he stood just inside of his office.