"I don't know why I even bother to keep checking the totals. It's just not possible for him to catch up during what little time we have left in the contest." JR said to Katherine.
It was a weekday afternoon, and JR had stopped by for one of his regular visits to Katherine's office during his lunch break. Sometimes Katherine went to his office at Ewing Oil, but they usually met at her workplace because the coffee shop right across the street was a favorite of theirs. But today, JR couldn't help wondering if Katherine was even up for a trip across the street. She looked more tired than anything else. JR also couldn't help noticing that Katherine looked a bit pale. Granted, she did have a fairer complexion than a lot of other women he had seen. Especially compared to the tans that women usually developed from living in Texas. In JR's opinion, it was just another part of Katherine's physical appearance that put her in a class of her own above other women in terms of beauty. But now, she looked more like a ghost.
"I think we both know that you're going to win, JR. You're just nervous because there's so much at stake here. But I know that everything will be alright." Katherine said. She coughed a little.
"Are you alright? I never thought I'd say this, but you don't look so good right now. It looks like you have a cold." JR said worriedly.
"I'm fine, JR. I guess I'm just a bit under the weather. It's nothing I can't handle, and it's certainly not worth missing work for!" Katherine said reassuringly. But as soon as she said that, another cough came out.
JR walked over to Katherine behind her desk and put his hand on her forehead.
"Hey, you shouldn't do that! If I have a cold, then the last thing I want is for you to catch it, JR!" Katherine protested weakly.
"You're burning up. And I'm not referring to my usual opinion of you when I say that this time." JR said.
Despite her condition, Katherine laughed. "I swear, JR. You are going to end up giving me quite the ego one day!" She said before coughing lightly again.
"Okay, that's it. You're done with work today. I'm taking you home." JR said seriously.
"What? No! I said that I'm fine!" Katherine argued.
"Look, I'm worried about you. What with your job and everything you've been doing to help me lately, you've been doing too much. Today is Friday, so you'll have the whole weekend to rest up. Missing half a day of work is not going to kill you, Katherine." JR reasoned.
Katherine sighed. "Alright. You win, JR. But only because I'm too tired to argue with you right now." Katherine said wearily. She then smiled at JR, so he knew that she wasn't really upset with him.
After JR and Katherine left the office, Katherine stopped to say goodbye to Lara when they passed by her desk.
"I'll be going home early for the day, so you're free to go home whenever you want, Lara." Katherine said.
"I could tell that something was wrong when you came in today! I hope that you get well soon! Don't worry about anything here, Katherine. I'll make sure that everything is straight on my end before I leave today. Thanks for giving me the rest of the day off, though!" Lara said.
"It's nothing! Thanks for everything, Lara! I'll see you on Monday!" Katherine said.
"I'm sure you will!" Lara said. She paused when she saw JR standing next to Katherine and looked back and forth between the two of them with a knowing look on her face. "You take care of her for me, JR. Okay?" Lara said.
"Don't worry, Lara. She's safe with me!" JR said with a smile.
Katherine blushed furiously. "You guys never let up!" She said wearily.
Once they reached the parking lot, JR insisted on driving Katherine back to her house.
"But what about your car?" Katherine asked.
"I'll call a cab later so that I can come back and get it. It's no trouble. I'm not letting you drive back by yourself in this condition." JR said firmly.
"I expected as much." Katherine said.
Once they were inside Katherine's house, JR couldn't help gazing at everything around him. He hadn't been here since that fateful night when he had first confessed his true feelings to her. Just being back in the house again brought back the painful memory of Katherine's rejection. Ever since that night, it seemed like JR had been unofficially banned from Katherine's house. She never invited him over anymore; always asking to meet up with him at work or a restaurant instead.
"It's been so long since you've invited me here. I miss it." JR said sadly.
Katherine had a guilty look on her face. "It's not that I don't want you here, JR. It's just that I can't go back to pretending that things are normal between us. Because they aren't." Katherine said quietly.
"Look, I know that I said I wouldn't give up on you, and I still mean it. But I promise that I would be on my best behavior here." JR said. He knew that what Katherine was really afraid of was how far she would probably let things go between them here if he tried to do what he did in the parking lot at Ewing Oil that day. She was just too embarrassed to admit it. As much as he wanted for things to go farther between them, JR didn't want it to happen out of temptation. He would wait until Katherine decided that she was ready to have a real relationship with him.
"Okay. I've missed having you here, too. But if you go back on your word and try anything funny while you're here, you're not coming back. Just remember that, JR." Katherine said seriously.
"Don't worry, I'll be good. Whenever we're here, that is." JR said with a mischievous grin.
"Well, since you've promised to behave yourself, I'm going upstairs to change so that I can take a nap for awhile. You can come upstairs with me, but wait in the hallway until I'm done." Katherine said.
Even though he knew that nothing was going to happen, JR still couldn't help feeling a little excited. He had never been allowed to go anywhere near Katherine's bedroom before. Going upstairs with her sounded a lot like how a lot of the fantasies he had about her would start. But JR would stick to his promise and be a gentleman. He wanted to prove to Katherine that he was different.
"Okay, you can come in now." Katherine's voice came from the other side of the door to her room.
JR opened the door and walked in. Like the rest of the house, Katherine's room wasn't decorated very much except for the basic pieces of furniture that were normally used in bedrooms. When JR finally focused his gaze on Katherine, he couldn't help feeling amused when he saw what she had changed into. Katherine was wearing a long shirt with long sleeves and slacks. She's really serious about being careful around me. JR thought to himself in amusement.
"This is what you sleep in?" JR asked. Katherine simply raised an eyebrow at JR, so he let the question go.
"Well, anyway, I guess that I should say thank you for talking me into leaving work early. I honestly do feel like I could use a good rest now. Thanks for everything. You can go back to work now, JR. I'll be fine now." Katherine said. This was followed by another cough.
"Not so fast. There are things that people need when they are stuck in bed with a cold like this. Like medicine and a nice hot bowl of soup. I'm going to make sure you have all of that before I leave." JR said.
"JR, you really don't need to do anything else. I've caused you enough trouble today already. I can take care of myself." Katherine said in embarrassment.
"No, you need to rest. Trust me, you're not going to feel like doing anything once you get up. It's just for today. I'll run to the store and get everything that you'll need while you're taking your nap. And then, when I get back I'll make you lunch. After that, I'll leave you alone until you get better." JR said.
"Since this is obviously not a request, I guess I have no choice about playing the patient today. Just hold on and let me give you some money for all of this." Katherine said. She started to reach towards her purse.
JR waved his hand. "No, no. That won't be necessary. I'm paying." He said.
Katherine sighed in exasperation. "JR, this is ridiculous. I get that this is Texas and that you like to be a gentleman. But you already never even let me pay for anything when we go out to eat! You know I have the money." Katherine complained.
"Well, that's not the only reason why I always pay for everything for you. But, if you let me do this, then I will make an exception and let you pay for yourself the next couple of times we go out to eat. How does that sound?" JR asked in amusement.
"Well, if that's all I'm going to get, I guess I'll take it. Just let me give you the remote to the gate and the code for the door." Katherine said.
"Giving me the code to the front door, huh? That sounds like a big step in trust!" JR teased.
"Only for a month until the code changes again." Katherine teased back.
JR laughed. "Well said! I'll be back as soon as I can. Try to get some rest while I'm gone." JR said. He gently adjusted the blankets around Katherine before leaving the room.
About half an hour later, JR returned to Katherine's house. When he came upstairs to check on her, JR found that Katherine was fast asleep already. He didn't want to wake her up, so he decided to just wait until she woke up herself. JR sat down in an armchair and waited. He couldn't help watching Katherine while she slept. She looked so beautiful and peaceful while she was asleep; her breathing relaxed and even. JR was perfectly content to simply sit there and watch Katherine sleep all day. She was perfect, and he wanted to be able to do this every morning in the future. But JR knew that it would probably take a lot more patience and work to win Katherine over. It had taken a long time just to get this far. It would all be worth it in the end, though. JR was sure of that.
After another half hour had passed, Katherine woke up. She looked surprised when she saw JR sitting across from her in the armchair.
"Well, good afternoon, beautiful." JR said with a smile.
"JR? How long was I asleep?" Katherine asked curiously.
"Only a little over an hour. I got back not that long ago." JR answered.
"I'm really sorry. You didn't have to stay." Katherine said apologetically.
"Of course I did. You still haven't had lunch yet. And besides, you're cute when you're sleeping." JR said.
A warmth spread across Katherine's face that had nothing to do with her fever. "Well...thank you. For getting everything, I mean!" She said hastily.
"You're welcome. I got everything you'll need here. Let's see... A few cans of soup. Some medicine. But keep in mind that this is just over the counter stuff. If you get worse, you should call your doctor. Cough drops. You already have plenty of orange juice. What else was there? Oh, that's right! This will sort of brighten things up for you. You can put it in a vase if you want." JR said as he took a single red rose out of the bag and handed it to Katherine.
"Thank you, JR. That was really sweet of you..." Katherine said softly as she looked at the rose in her hands.
"Only for you, Katherine." JR said softly.
Katherine looked uncomfortable. "You're a sweet guy JR. But you're not making this any easier for me." She said almost to herself.
"Why can't it be easy?" JR asked quietly.
"You already know the reasons for that. Can we please not talk about this right now? I thought it was lunchtime." Katherine said.
"Okay. I'm sorry I brought it up. You're not feeling well. Why don't you wait here for a few minutes, and I'll bring everything up to you then?" JR asked.
"Okay. That would be great. Thanks!" Katherine said somewhat hastily. She seemed all too relieved to end that particular conversation.
Ten minutes later, JR brought up a tray with a bowl of hot chicken noodle soup, a glass of orange juice, and the rose in a small vase that he had found somewhere in the kitchen.
"Here you are." JR said. He carefully placed the tray on Katherine's lap.
"Wow! I can't believe I forgot that you would have to carry this upstairs! Thanks, JR! This looks great!" Katherine said enthusiastically.
"It was nothing. Everybody needs someone to do this for them when they get sick. I still remember how much I enjoyed it when I was a kid..." JR said fondly.
Katherine gave him an odd look. "You liked getting sick!?" She asked skeptically.
"Yes. I really did. It was the only way I could actually get mama to spend some time with me..." JR said somewhat sadly. He still remembered how much he enjoyed the whole process back then. JR remembered the anticipation and excitement that he used to feel whenever the school nurse would make the rescuing phone call to Southfork while he waited in the office for his mother to come pick him up and take him home for the day. How wonderful it felt to have her actually pay attention to him and take care of him like that. It was the only time that Miss Ellie did not leave JR's care to one of the maids. JR treasured that time so much that he would even try to find ways to intentionally make himself get sick sometimes.
Katherine looked at sympathetically. "I'm really sorry, JR. I honestly can't imagine what it must have been like to hope for something like that just to get some attention from your own mother. I don't know what her reasons for being like that to you are, but you need to know that it's wrong. It's never okay for a parent to neglect her own child like that, and it wasn't your fault." She said seriously. JR wondered if Katherine was thinking about how her own mother had left Cliff and Pam when they were still young.
"Thanks. It means a lot to hear you say that." JR said.
"Of course. And if you ever do get sick again, just call me. I can promise you that I am one person who would be happy to help you get well again. Especially since I now know that you would do the same for me." Katherine said.
"Hmm... Maybe I should get sick more often then. Having you take care of me sounds like a lot of fun!" JR said mischievously.
Katherine sighed. "You're not supposed to do it intentionally." She said.
"Don't worry. It was just a joke. But I really do appreciate that. It means a lot to me." JR said.
"I know that it does. Just like everything you did today means a lot to me." Katherine said quietly.
"No matter what happens, I promise that I will always take care of you, Katherine." JR said seriously. Katherine didn't say anything in response. JR knew that it would probably take her a while to really trust him. But he had a feeling that it was events like this that would help Katherine to start building trust for him.
Author's note: There won't be a chapter next week. Well, technically I mean that there won't be a chapter on either Sunday or the Monday right after it since those are the days that I usually choose to use for my updating day. Thanks for reading!
