Dallas, Texas

"Sue Ellen?" hearing Ruth calling her name, Sue Ellen temporarily abandoned the box of clothes she was sorting through and walked over to the entrance to the stockroom. "There's a young woman here to see you, she said her name's Pamela and you'd know who she was". Listening to her co-worker's words, her mood instantly improved; if Pamela was here then it had to mean she was interested in Bobby, there was no other explanation in her mind. "I do, thank you. I'll be right out", checking her appearance in the mirror, she collected her thoughts and took a few deep breaths to calm herself so that she didn't walk into a situation where she came off as much too intense and excitable. She wanted to help Bobby find happiness and she was sure that this time her good intentions had a higher chance of ending in positive outcome than they had the last time, when she had tried to play secret matchmaker with Jenna Wade but had instead ended up feeling like a stalker. This time she was prepared and she knew her own limits; she could encourage Pamela and she could encourage Bobby, she could even arrange a few things, but unlike the last time, instead of her involvement being undercover and feeling sneaky and seedy, it would all be out in the open, just the way she wanted it to be.

"Pamela, it's lovely to see you again. To what do I owe this pleasure?" Walking out of the stockroom and into the public area of the charity's 'shop' premises, Sue Ellen smiled genuinely as she noticed Pamela's demeanour; there was something in the way she presented herself that said she was a bit nervous, but also hopeful that something positive would come out of her visit. "Hi Sue Ellen, I hope you don't mind me just dropping by like this, I didn't know how to contact you any other way though. Seeing you last night was a surprise, a good one though, well, mostly. How is Bobby?" Disregarding the pleasantries, Sue Ellen found herself focused on the final part of Pamela's response; she had come to visit for exactly the reason she had assumed, and that was a very good thing. "Oh you heard the doctor, he has a concussion but he'll be fine. I took him home last night and he went straight to bed, and since I haven't heard anything from him or the rest of the family today, I imagine he's just fine". Being honest, Sue Ellen almost wished she had called Southfork before she had left, just to check to see whether Bobby was ok, the reality was though that doing so hadn't really occurred to her, she had been so focused on John Ross and JR before she had left home that she had almost forgotten about Bobby. She did care though, so even just for her own peace of mind she made a mental note to check on Bobby's health after she finished her volunteer work for the day.

"Oh, I'm glad. I know he skated into me, but I can't help but feel responsible for his injuries. That's why I had to come and see you to check he was ok…" knowing that wasn't her only reason for paying Sue Ellen a visit, Pam grew quiet as she mustered up the courage to admit aloud that there were other motives behind her presence. After leaving him the previous evening, she hadn't stopped thinking about the things she had felt in the small amount of time she had been around Bobby, a man she didn't even know, and that scared her a bit. She knew she couldn't ignore it though, the way she felt around Bobby was something she had to pay attention to, especially when it was made even more obvious when she interacted with Frank. Frank Copeland was nice enough, he hadn't exactly been a gentleman when she'd dodged his question about their next date, but overall he seemed to be a reasonable man; the problem was, he wasn't the man for her, that had become very clear to her very quickly the previous evening.

Hearing Pamela go quiet, Sue Ellen waited for a few moments before putting her out of her misery, "that's very kind, but really, you have nothing to feel responsible for. If you really feel that checking on Bobby is something you have to do though, you could always come and see him for yourself. I know he would love to see you again, he said just about as much last night. He wasn't unconscious after that his initial collapse, he was awake and observant and I happen to know he was very pleased to have such a personal attention from a pretty girl". Not wanting to mention that a few of his rambled comments on the way home had been closer to what she would expect to hear from a frat boy than a nice guy like Bobby, she stayed general and hoped that Pamela took her offer as it was rather than asking her to elaborate on what exactly he had said.

"Do you think that would be too intrusive? I don't even know him…" Hearing Pamela's concerns and seeing her matching facial expression, Sue Ellen felt silly; in all of her thoughts about setting Bobby and Pamela up with each other she hadn't even considered how strange it might be for Pamela to show up at Southfork out of nowhere, or whether Bobby was even at Southfork to begin with. Not wanting to give up at the first hurdle though, she simply shook her head and responded, "no, I don't think so, Bobby's not like that, he's friendly and open, I don't think he would think a kind gesture like you're wanting to make was intrusive. I suppose if you want to be on the safe side though you could write down your number and I'll call you after I've had some time to explain your concerns. How does that sound?" Hoping her suggestion sounded ok and Pamela's nerves weren't enough to deter her from following through with her original intentions, Sue Ellen waited patiently while Pamela considered everything.

"Ok. I'll be at work this afternoon and tomorrow, but evenings and weekends I'm reachable at home", removing a small notepad from her purse, she jotted down two numbers, before signing it with her first name, tearing the paper out of the notepad, and handing it to Sue Ellen. It was best to work quickly, otherwise she just might lose the confidence she had managed to gather to visit Sue Ellen to investigate her encounter with the handsome stranger. Luckily, Sue Ellen didn't seem to be a mind reader, even if she did have some female intuition about the situation, so she believed she was hiding the true extent of her nerves quite well, and that meant the exchange of the small piece of paper didn't seem nearly as dramatic as she imagined it could have been.

"Great. I'll see if I can talk to Bobby this afternoon. I know he's going to be happy to hear from you, I just know it". Clasping the notebook paper in her hand, Sue Ellen smiled brightly at the young woman in front of her before finishing their conversation and saying goodbye as Pamela made her way out the door to leave. Walking back into the stockroom after waving goodbye to Pamela, she slipped the small paper into her purse and continued to smile to herself; she had pegged Pamela and Bobby as potentially good for each other a while ago and it was nice to see she hadn't been wrong. Unlike the Jenna Wade situation too, she felt good about her involvement this time; she wasn't sneaking around interfering in things she had no business involving herself in, this time she was just the messenger and she was sure Bobby would be happy to hear the message she had for him.

To be continued…