Dallas, Texas
"Ok, now you've made me curious, so I have to ask, what does a business trip to Midland and Odessa actually involve?" Putting her question to Bobby as they enjoyed their chips and salsa at the relaxed Tex-Mex bar and restaurant they'd picked on a whim, driving past on their way out of her suburb, Pam was a little nervous about how he would answer. She didn't really understand what he did for work but what she did understand was that it involved business meetings that were more about mixing and mingling than actually hashing out any business deals. Him networking wasn't an issue to her, she had a job, Cliff had a job, most people she knew had a job, so she understood how important it was to have connections in the business world, for the company and the individual. What bothered her was the idea of him going off and enjoying the show he put on for Ewing Oil in order to convince people to work with them or at least see things their way. She had no hold on him, nor him on her, it was premature and a little crazy to even think that way, they'd only been on a handful of dates and while things seemed to be going well, no commitment to exclusivity had been made by either of them. In fact, in her case, she had even taken a few phone calls from men who had her number; she hadn't made any additional plans for the weekend, but she also hadn't told them she was no longer a single, available woman, because she was, at least for now. The thought of Bobby doing the same didn't sit well with her though; she planned to let him take her to bed at some point in their next few dates if things continued to go well but she didn't want to be one of many he was doing that with.
"I'm a goodwill ambassador, I travel to promote the company, to make sure people know our name and have a favourable opinion of us. I'm taking Jack with me this time, to train him. What's on the agenda this time are mostly meet and greets over drinks, it's an opportunity to introduce Jack to some of our established connections, show him what goes on, and remind those men that Ewing Oil is still very much open for business and interested in maintaining relationships". Nodding as she listened to Bobby's explanation, her mind wandered. If she wasn't so involved she would almost find his job amusing; he really did have a nice life, he was probably being paid an exorbitant salary for what amounted to very little real work, whereas someone like Cliff worked hard at all kinds of crazy hours of the day for a reasonable but mid-range salary in his chosen field. The salary Cliff brought home was nothing to turn her nose up at, it was far more than she had ever made or could ever even dream of if she stayed in retail and clerical roles, but even with Cliff having a decent job in law, they weren't wealthy, not like the Ewing family. Realistically, hardly anyone had such wealth in their first generation of success though, Bobby was a prime example of that, his cousin Jack even more so; neither Bobby nor Jack would probably be making the money they were doing the cushy work they did if they didn't have Jock Ewing's backing. In her family Cliff was now the first generation of success considering their daddy had never recovered from being cheated out of his share in Ewing Oil; she could be successful too, but probably never to the same extent as Cliff.
"Let me guess, the drinks aren't the only way you curry favour with potential partners. I imagine there are women involved somehow too", assuming he was spinning the details of his job to appear less sleazy and more reputable, she asked a direct question, and when he looked down at the table in response, she had her answer. It wasn't much of a surprise, she was a woman in a man's world, she made a lot of her own decisions as to what she did in her personal life but at the office she knew very well that she was not just there to type letters and file documents. She imagined things at Ewing Oil were much the same as what she was used to, a little pinch or pat here, a little comment there, and outside of the office things were likely a lot more explicit; women had been used by men for millennia, that was just how it was.
"Well, sure, but it's not just that. Men like women, that's how it is, but men also like tickets to ballgames, finely aged booze, and an excuse to spend some time doing whatever it is they enjoy, under the pretence of legitimate business. I provide a somewhat personalised experience, and in return they remember Ewing Oil in a positive light next time something of mutual interest comes up. We're an independent oil company, we have to work to stay that way. You might not like it, at times I don't, it can get tiresome believe it or not, but if we're going to argue about it you should at least know that it's not all women. I get the feeling that's what really bothers you, isn't it?" Explaining to her again what he did, she raised an eyebrow at his suggestion that she was bothered by his time spent with other women; it was crazy to be jealous at this point in their relationship, they really didn't even have a relationship yet, but he had her feelings pegged. His job sounded like it involved a lot of mutual backslapping, men sitting around admiring the view and congratulating each other on their future successes, but who was she to judge? As much as it bothered her, she had to keep coming back to the fact that she didn't have any hold on him, he wasn't hers to claim or ask to change, they were only just getting to know each other, he was well within his rights to continue to enjoy the life he had been prior to meeting her.
"Well, how would you feel if half of my day involved having drinks and granting personal favours for businessmen?" Blurting a response without really thinking about what she was saying, it was then her turn to look down at the table in embarrassment, their conversation was quickly turning into something much more than what she had expected it to be and she wasn't sure that was a good thing. "I'd be very jealous of them", looking up at him as he answered, she blushed, he seemed to be serious and that interested her a lot; perhaps she wasn't the only one who didn't like the idea of other people seeing them in ways they did each other. It was a lot to take in, they had only known each other for a very short period, though she was already considering more, and apparently so was he.
Taking a drink to buy her some time, she was relieved when he broke the silence and made another comment, "I think we're getting a little ahead of ourselves here. I told you, my job is more than just women. It's a good time yes, but it's a job too and there's a reason I'm leaving. I don't really know what your job entails, but I'd hope there's more administrative work than anything else, you deserve that much at least". Smiling at his comment, she knew she should dig deeper into his feelings about the women's liberation movement and whether his thoughts reflected his opinion for all women or just her, but for now, she was happy to leave it, things were awkward enough already without getting in an argument about her place in the modern world. "Well, thank you", answering him, she deliberately avoided answering his question because she really didn't want to talk about other romantic entanglements all evening, instead, she continued their conversation with something related but less controversial, "so tell me, what else does providing the means to do whatever it is your business connections enjoy entail?" Surely female entertainment was the most questionable part of his job, the rest of it was simply handing out bribes, he probably had a few interesting stories to tell there, and while he was doing that she could breathe and think. She wanted their date to go well, she liked him a lot, but talking about their relations with other people was too much, too soon in her opinion. She knew she had brought it up originally, but she had seen how well that went and had no interest in further pursuing that exact line of conversation, at least not right now.
To be continued…