Dallas, Texas

"Pam, I'm glad you're here. Come on, let's go get a drink, from what Cliff said when I phoned your house earlier, you probably need it", ushering her friend over to the drinks cart, Connie spoke kindly and candidly with Pam. "So what is it? Hard week at work? Man troubles?" handing Pam her drink, she had to smile at the look her friend was giving her, Cliff had indicated something in his sister's life wasn't quite right, but at the moment, it seemed that the biggest thing throwing her was the mention of his comments. "Remind me to have to have a word with Cliff about minding his own business. Or at least paying attention to everything before he comes to a conclusion", raising an eyebrow and relaxing into the couch in Connie's living room, Pam surveyed the room, taking note of who was and wasn't present just yet before making eye contact with Connie again. "It's a little bit of everything. If Cliff made it sound like I'm heartbroken over Frank though, he's mistaken. Do you mind if we don't talk about it though? It's been a long week and I just want to have fun tonight". Nodding, Connie accepted Pam's answer without argument, if she knew her friend as well as she thought she did, she would know by the end of the evening what exactly it was she didn't want to talk about, alcohol tended to have the effect on people. "Ok", raising her glass, she paused for a moment before looking around the room like Pam just had, before speaking, "let's go have fun", pulling Pam up off the couch and leading them toward the larger group.

A little while later, after the last of the crowd had arrived, a group consisting mostly of present and former girls from the store Pamela had worked at since high school prior to leaving recently to pursue better paying, but far duller office work, they all set off for their traditional Saturday night activity, dancing. Unlike the men who seemed to frequent dance clubs, finding someone to share a bed with at the end of the night was not their main goal for the evening, though that didn't mean it didn't happen. To Pam and many of her friends, there was nothing wrong with living that way, they were women of the sexual revolution and they were working girls unlike the generation before them. With that perspective and being shaped by their environment came other personal goals, if they wanted a man they could have a man, it really wasn't that difficult; if they didn't want a man though, that wasn't an issue, at least in their minds, there was more to life and social interaction than pairing off and settling down.

Society was changing, for some people faster than others, as Pam was now realising; for women like Sue Ellen, there was nothing more important in life than being a wife and mother, she didn't want to judge because that seemed to come back to bite her every time she did, but it was difficult not to compare their lives. Earlier, she had invited Sue Ellen to come out dancing and she had politely declined, probably partly because she didn't want to feel like she was intruding on an activity for an established group of friends, but also partly because she felt pulled toward being a 'good wife'. From what she could tell, Sue Ellen's husband wasn't even at home, he was out having a good time himself, but still, she had felt obligated to return home to wait for him. If that was what marriage was, a lonely series of events that included waiting at home and putting your husband's needs before your own, receiving little reciprocal effort in return, she wasn't sure why anyone would choose that life. Her own life wasn't perfect, not at all, but at least it was hers, for the most part; she liked working and having her own money, even if her present job was uninspiring and didn't pay well in comparison to the kind of wealth other people had, it still satisfied her, and it distracted her from her family problems.

Entering the dance club and seeing the state of things, Pam was instantly hit with a second opinion on Sue Ellen's attendance, or as it was in reality, absence, from the real fun of the evening. She knew from talking to Bobby that Sue Ellen had been a cheerleader in college, so pre-marriage she had probably had an active social life, but from their recent conversation, it sounded like she was isolated from life with same-age peers; it was probably terribly judgemental to think, but she did wonder, did Sue Ellen even remember how to party? Did her marriage vows and self-enforced regulations even allow for fun without her husband or child present? She hoped so, because she appeared to have taken on the role of the sympathetic friend without really understanding Sue Ellen at all and she didn't really know what she was supposed to say or do if it turned out that submissive woman was Sue Ellen's natural state. She knew how to show someone a good time and she liked to think she was able to offer reasonable advice, but being a minor party in someone's life, attempting to assist them to change seemed like a big job to her. If Sue Ellen simply wanted a friend, someone she could spend her time with and enjoy the company of, she could do that, but if Sue Ellen needed someone to help her talk through her deep loneliness and insecurity about where she fit in, she wasn't exactly sure she was the best person to help her.

"Let's dance", snapping out of her thoughts as Kathy, Brenda, and Connie's energy began to match the energy of the rest of the club's patrons, Pam nodded and smiled, following them out onto the dancefloor. She wouldn't know the real extent of Sue Ellen's needs and wants from a relationship with her until they actually spent some real time together, so it wasn't really worth concentrating on at present, so she wouldn't, after all, she did have her own life to live. Easily falling into line with everyone on the dancefloor, it was easy to forget about her earlier meeting with Sue Ellen, her long week at work, her father's struggles with life, and the resentment she held toward the Ewing family, Jock Ewing specifically, for the life she and her family now lived; dancing was freeing and she liked that.

As one song ended and the next started, changing the movement of the group from individual dancers into pairs, Pam's freedom from all of life's little imperfections suddenly disappeared, because right there, with his hand outstretched, just waiting for her to accept it, was Bobby Ewing. "Oh my…" gasping, she stood still for a moment, unsure what to do; bumping into Bobby once was a coincidence, twice was something else entirely though. "Pamela… nice to see you too… shall we?", seeing him gesturing toward her awkwardly outstretched hand, just inches from his own, she couldn't help but laugh, he looked just as surprised to see her as she was to see him, more than that though, he seemed shocked that she hadn't immediately accepted his hand. There was no official rule saying she had to dance with him, but the nature of a line dance moving into a two-step, where men and women paired off and danced together as a couple, and the randomness of a crowd at a club meant that more often than not, unless pairs already existed, strangers ended up dancing together. She and Bobby weren't exactly strangers, but in this case, even if they had been, they probably would have ended up dancing together out of pure random selection, being in the same place at the same time. "Bobby", unsure of what else to say, she took his hand and moved into position, trying desperately to ignore the fact that her heart was racing, but failing spectacularly as she felt his hands on her. Their last encounter had ended unpleasantly, but that was the furthest thing from her mind as the music quickened and they began to dance, moving together as if they always had. Simply following the correct steps had the same intended consequence for both dance partners, but this was different, it was much more intense; distilled down, it had to do with feelings, feelings she couldn't deny existed, no matter how inconvenient they were. It was almost a sick joke, Digger Barnes' daughter falling for Jock Ewing's son, but apparently, that was her life.

To be continued…