Dallas, Texas

Walking out of one small boutique, along the shopfronts toward another, not long after taking a much needed breather, Sue Ellen readily asked an important question, resuming the conversation she and Jenna had been having before she'd fallen ill, "so, what now?" Genuinely curious about how Jenna intended to approach her relationship with Bobby going forward, she was selfishly glad too that they had something interesting to talk about, something to do with Jenna's life that had nothing to do with her situation.

"I don't think things need to change", answering nonchalantly, Jenna's comment surprised her.

"No?" considering her and JR's brush with false claims of paternity in the past, she had an idea of how complicated situations like Jenna and Bobby's could be.

"No, he's not Charlie's father, although he said he would happily provide us with anything we need. I guess he takes his role of legal father seriously", answering her without hesitation, Jenna seemed confident that Bobby was a father in name only and would be happy to continue to live that way, neglecting to see that offering to provide for the two of them fell under something more complicated.

"Somehow I doubt it's just that", having personal experience with both Bobby's kindness and generosity and knowing how he'd felt about Jenna, she didn't have any trouble believing that when he made an offer of support to Jenna, he meant it. She felt both John Ross and Lucy benefited from having Bobby in their lives and she imagined that if she asked Pam, she'd agree, however, she imagined too that Pam might feel differently if the child in question was Charlie, not because of Charlie herself, but because of Jenna.

"Oh no, you didn't hear him before I revealed the news. He practically accused me of coming back to cause trouble in his marriage and when I told him he was wrong and I was already busy enough with Richard and Jack's attention to need his too he had the nerve to tell me that men didn't appreciate seeing affection that was once aimed at them bestowed on someone else". Deviating slightly from their discussion about Bobby as a father, Jenna answered another question she had, the question of how aware she was of the attention men paid to her and what she thought of it all.

"He's not wrong", laughing, she had a feeling she didn't really need to spell it out to Jenna, she was a worldly woman.

Slowing down to a stop, Jenna turned to her, glowering silently before she finally verbalised what she was thinking, "no, but he doesn't seem to know what he wants. He doesn't want me because he's married, but he's happy enough to engage in our playful banter, because it's fun and easy, then in the next breath he's warning me about behaving the same way with Jack, a single man, at the expense of Richard, an absent man".

Understanding Jenna's perspective, that she felt Bobby gave her mixed messages about what was appropriate, what she could get away with and what he thought she should or shouldn't be doing outside of her interactions with him, she also had the advantage of knowing Bobby and having an idea of how he saw the situation, and she told Jenna that.

"Oh?" resuming walking, Jenna sounded surprised that a perspective other than her own might hold some value in a situation where she felt she was the victim, and she looked at her for an explanation of why she thought the way she did.

"I'm just saying, I can see where Bobby is coming from in the sense that if you're with Richard then surely there is some commitment there?" putting aside whatever was happening between Jenna and Bobby, she instead focused on what was happening between Jenna and Richard and Jenna and Jack.

"What does that matter to Bobby?" bringing it back to Bobby and his comments, Jenna didn't seem to understand that he could have an opinion about what she did without personally wanting to be with her. It was possible that he was concerned about her wellbeing in a platonic sense rather than a romantic one, or even that it wasn't her that he was concerned about at all.

"Perhaps he doesn't want to see his cousin hurt", guessing, having no idea whether she was close to the truth or not, she didn't think it was a completely silly suggestion. Bobby was all about family and while Jenna had almost been a Ewing, Jack was a Ewing, a Ewing that deserved his loyalty. If Jenna was cosying up to him in Jack's sight, it wasn't very nice, and if she was cosying up to Jack in Richard's sight it wasn't very nice either.

Looking like she was considering the suggestion, Jenna was silent for a few moments before she shook her head and answered, "Jack is the last person that's going to be hurt by this; he's not looking for anything serious".

"What about Richard?" reminding her again that there were multiple people involved in her love life and inevitably someone was going to get hurt, personally she didn't think it was going to be Richard. The man was nice enough and clearly enjoyed Jenna's presence, but from what she'd observed and been told, their relationship wasn't one of great emotion.

Shaking her head, Jenna all but confirmed her thoughts. "You know how things are with Richard, it's convenient, we're mutually attracted to each other and enjoy the life we live, but we're not kidding ourselves pretending we're in love".

"You have an answer for everything, don't you?" laughing, she shook her head in amusement at the casual manner in which Jenna approached her relationships.

"Sure do", laughing with her as they turned to cross the road, Jenna's voice was the last good thing she heard before chaos erupted around her. It all happened at once, a mixture of the sound of a car horn, frantic, incoherent shouting, sudden breathlessness as she hit the ground, her gasps and then pained yelps, before eventually, everything went black.

To be continued…