It had been about one week since Katherine and JR had started working together to end Pam and Bobby's marriage. Despite their attempts, things were not going well. Both Katherine and JR had tried coaxing, lying, and even threatening (in JR's case) their siblings. But none of it had worked. If anything, Pam and Bobby seemed to be heading in the opposite direction from where Katherine and JR were trying to lead them. Now, with time running out for them to succeed, a very frustrated Katherine and JR had met up at a coffee shop in an effort to come up with a new plan.
"At this point, there is really not much else that I can do about this. Eventually, Bobby and Pam will get suspicious if it looks like I'm talking to them about it too much. They already know that I'm close to you, and I doubt that it would take them too long to start putting things together. I want to help you JR, but this is starting to look hopeless." Katherine said wearily.
JR looked concerned. "As much as I want to break them up, I really don't want you to stress yourself out like this, Katherine. You have done more than enough for me, and I am grateful for that. It's okay if you don't feel like you can do this anymore. I can take care of it myself." He said reassuringly.
Katherine was touched by JR's concern for her. "Thanks, JR. But don't worry, I'm fine. Just frustrated. I know that once Pam isn't married to Bobby anymore; both she and maybe even Cliff won't be so hell-bent with finding things to blame you for and always trying to fight you. They might not see it now, but I'm sure that their lives will be a lot less stressful once they stop obsessing over this ridiculous "Barnes-Ewing feud" that they seem to think exists!" Katherine said.
"I couldn't agree with you more! Although honestly, I'm not so sure that anything will stop your brother from trying to ruin my life. But either way, I don't want a repeat of what happened last year!" JR said.
"What happened?" Katherine asked curiously.
"Ah, that's right. You were still gone then. Anyway, this was right after daddy's will was read; which as you know was how all of this contest nonsense got started. Mama tried to legally change the terms of his will so that she could sell Ewing Oil. And your dear sister did everything she could to help her. It was nightmare. We ended up having to go to court and everything. Except for Bobby, the whole family was against me. We almost lost everything." JR explained.
Katherine was shocked. She had known nothing about this. This made what her own mother had done with her will seem like nothing. It also made Katherine angry to think that Miss Ellie would go that far just to make sure that her eldest son didn't receive the legacy that he had worked for for years. Especially after all of the time she had neglected JR when he was a child! It also infuriated Katherine that Pam would go right along with it without even caring how much it would hurt Bobby. Just where did they get off thinking that they had a right to do that!?
"I don't believe this! How could they do that to you and Bobby!? And what about your father!? He worked for years to support everyone and pass something down to his sons, and this is how he got repaid!? I don't mean to say anything bad about your mother, JR, but she had no right to try to do that! She never worked at Ewing Oil! And Pam had no right to get involved in that either! I mean, that's her husband's job! And it's none of her damn business! Just what was it with our mothers' trying to mess with these wills by going against everything our fathers' wanted for us!?" Katherine said fiercely.
JR looked at Katherine for a moment after her outburst. He then smiled. "This is exactly why I love you so much..." He said softly.
Katherine looked away uncomfortably. Whenever JR said things like this, she didn't know what she was supposed to say. Katherine had made it perfectly clear to JR where she stood on this issue. But he just wasn't getting the message. Katherine wasn't even sure how she felt about JR anymore. It was awkward, and despite JR's reassurance that he would always be her friend, Katherine was still afraid that it would hurt their friendship if he got too frustrated by her constant rejections.
"I do have one other idea..." Katherine spoke up hesitantly. She had been about to give up, but when JR had said the word "legally", an idea had started to form in Katherine's mind.
"Well, I'm all for new ideas. What is it?" JR asked curiously.
"It's risky. If one thing goes wrong with it, I would be in a lot of trouble. Not to mention that Pam and Bobby would most likely never want anything to do with me again if they found out about it. But if I managed to show Bobby a fake letter from Pam's lawyer about wanting to end her marriage with her signature on it, he might just believe it." Katherine explained carefully.
"That is absolutely diabolical. And I love it!" JR said excitedly.
"Easy for you to say! You wouldn't be the one doing it! I would be committing forgery, JR. If Pam looks at what she's signing or Bobby asks her where the letter came from, the whole plan fails and I'll get in trouble!" Katherine said nervously.
"First of all, Bobby will be way too devastated to even mention the letter to Pam. Trust me, I know my little brother; and he is not exactly good at knowing how important details can be. And second of all, you can't get in trouble for forgery if you've left no evidence of it. Especially if there's no real proof that you did it. Just make sure to get rid of it after Bobby sees it or even if Pam sees it by accident when you give it to her to sign. Just know that even though I want us to go through with this plan, I won't push you to do it if it makes you too nervous, honey." JR said reassuringly.
"No, it's okay. After hearing about how Pam almost cost you Ewing Oil, I know that we need to do this. I won't let her do something like that to you again!" Katherine said confidently.
"Thank you, Katherine. For both this and everything you've done to help me win the contest. You're the only person who has ever done anything to help me keep Ewing Oil. I won't forget this, and I promise that I will repay you for all of your kindness." JR said quietly.
"You don't have to do anything to repay me, JR. Just being able to help you is enough for me." Katherine said uncomfortably.
"Oh, I know. But I'm still going to anyway." JR said with a smile.
The next day, Katherine paced nervously in Pam's hotel suite. Luckily, the first part of the plan had been executed easily enough. Earlier in the day, Katherine had somehow gotten Pam to sign the letter. Katherine had claimed that she had needed a family member to sign some boring medical documents, and Pam hadn't even bothered to actually look at what she was actually signing. Even though Katherine was still one hundred percent behind helping JR, she still couldn't help feeling a little guilty about what she was doing to Pam. Despite how angry Katherine was at Pam for trying to hurt JR and her accusations about their friendship, she was still her sister. Before all of this had started to happen, Katherine felt like they had finally started to develop a real, sisterly bond. They had shared some good moments, which was a lot more than Katherine could say when it came to Cliff. That made this whole plan just seem wrong. But in the end, JR had to come first.
The doorbell rang; interrupting Katherine's thoughts. It was time for part two of the plan. Earlier that day, Katherine had already lied to Bobby about arranging things so that he could have a heart-to-heart talk with Pam about their marriage. She had specifically arranged it for when Pam was out with Mark again. It feels like all I ever do is lie to Bobby... Katherine thought sadly to herself. Would there ever come a time when she wouldn't have to do this anymore? With a sinking heart, Katherine realized that as long as she was friends with JR, the answer to that question would probably be no.
"Hi, Katherine. Where's Pam? I thought you said that she wanted to talk to me." Bobby said after Katherine had let him in.
"Bobby, I'm really sorry, but she went out with Mark again. I didn't know about it until the last minute. I was just as surprised as you. I really thought that she would want to talk to you. I'm sorry..." Katherine said.
"It's okay, Katherine. I'm not mad at you. I just don't understand what happened! We really seemed to be working things out these past few days. But now I feel like we are going backwards again!" Bobby said in frustration.
"I'm sure that it's not as bad as it seems and that Pam will come to her senses soon!" Katherine said in what she hoped was an encouraging tone.
"I hope so, too. I'm sorry that you keep getting caught in the middle of all of this, Katherine. You really have been a good friend to us during all of this." Bobby said.
"It's okay. I want to help. But before you leave, there is something important that I think you need to see, Bobby." Katherine said.
"What is it?" Bobby asked curiously.
Katherine walked over to the end table where she had left the letter. She had purposely crumpled it up a bit to make it look like she had found it in the trash.
"I found this in the trash by accident. It's a letter that Pam wrote to her lawyer. I wasn't trying to snoop, but once I got a look at it, I couldn't put it down. Maybe she decided not to send it, or maybe it was just a first draft. I don't know. But I still think that you need to read this, Bobby." Katherine said. She held out the letter to Bobby.
Bobby frowned. "I don't read Pam's mail, Katherine." Bobby said in a disapproving tone.
Katherine wondered if Bobby thought that she was starting to pick up bad habits from being around JR too much. But she was also starting to get annoyed with Bobby. Even though she was in love with him, Katherine did have to admit that Bobby's goody- two shoes routine became tiring sometimes. This was one of those times. She just wanted Bobby to hurry up and read the damn letter so that she could finally get this over with.
"Bobby, this is important. So if you won't read it, I'll read it to you." Katherine said.
"Mr, Garrity-" Katherine started to read.
"This is wrong." Bobby muttered to himself. But despite his disagreement about it, he was too curious to bring himself to stop listening.
Katherine continued reading out loud. "-when I came to see you I was sure I wanted a divorce from my husband. I am less sure now, mainly because I have seen that divorcing him would hurt him very deeply. Bobby and I have grown apart and my love for him has changed. I might never have known how much if it were not for a man I met recently. But I still care deeply for Bobby and would never want to hurt him. Six years of marriage can not be easily dismissed. Therefore, if that means remaining with my husband when it no longer makes me happy, in order to avoid causing him that pain, then perhaps that is what I'll have to do. Mr. Garrity, I know we would both be better off if Bobby would just let me go. But if he doesn't, I may have to give in and return to him. His happiness should be as important to me as my own is. Sincerely, Pamela Ewing." Katherine read.
After about a minute, Katherine dared to look at Bobby to see his reaction to all of this, and then wished that she hadn't. Bobby looked completely stunned. He didn't even seem to be capable of talking anymore. Katherine felt even more horrible about her actions now. She had been so caught up in doing this to protect JR that she had completely forgotten about how much it would hurt Bobby.
"I'm really sorry, Bobby!" Katherine said. She wasn't just apologizing for how the letter had affected him, either.
Bobby still couldn't bring himself to say anything. Then, after what seemed like forever to Katherine, Bobby reached out and pulled the letter out of Katherine's hands. He then proceeded to tear it up into tiny pieces. After that, Bobby turned around and silently left the hotel suite with his head hung low.
Later that night, Katherine was at home in her own room, explaining everything that had happened to JR over the phone. Even though it made her feel a bit better to hear how happy he was, Katherine just couldn't get her herself to match JR's level of enthusiasm. Katherine had been so fired up and eager to help JR after seeing Pam threaten him. But then, she had felt guilty after having to actually put everything into action. Katherine hadn't expected to feel so divided about everything. Hopefully, what she did today would stop situations like this from coming up again, though.
"Thank you for everything that you did today, Katherine. I knew that you would be able to do it." JR said.
"I don't think that we can relax just yet, JR. Bobby could still tell Pam about this letter. And you know what will probably happen then. And even if they do get divorced, a divorce isn't necessarily permanent." Katherine cautioned.
"Don't worry. I'm sure that everything will work out just fine. I have that feeling about a lot of things, lately." JR said confidently.
"Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Goodnight, JR." Katherine said.
"Goodnight, my devious little lady. I love you." JR said in a tone that was both soft and seductive before hanging up the phone.
Katherine had to admit that a part of her was actually starting to enjoy hearing JR say those three little words to her. But at the same time, it terrified her.
Author's note: A lot of this chapter was based off of the episode "The Letter". Including the, um, letter. I don't know if a lot of people will really hate this part or not, but it's necessary for future developments in this story. And once again, no, I'm not going to pair Katherine up with Bobby. So that is not what I meant when I said future developments. To the guest reviewer: I can't say exactly when JR and Katherine will kiss because I don't want to give anything away here. But I will say that a... turning point of sorts will be reached in a few more chapters. You'll just have to wait and see! Oh, and one more thing: In regards to JR's comments about getting away with forgery. Please know that I have no idea how a person could get away with forgery, nor do I support it in any way. So, yeah. Writing fake letters is bad! And I don't own Dallas or the letter!
