Houston, Texas

It hadn't been that difficult to find him, he wasn't hiding his reservation or staying anywhere unexpected, and now she was standing not a hundred feet from him.

Entering the hotel bar, she had a moment of hesitation that it was the right time; from afar he didn't look very happy, and from talking to her mother she could understand why, so she did wonder whether he'd want to talk to her right now.

Continuing to walk, without any real plan, she soon found herself closer to him than ever before, and studying his face, what she saw confirmed what she'd thought from seeing pictures, he was handsome.

"You look like you could use some company." Addressing him, it occurred to her that perhaps inviting herself into his personal space was a little forward however, she didn't want to risk appearing just polite and only receiving a friendly smile but no opportunity for discussion.

"Please", glancing over at her, he stood up and pulled a chair out.

Appearing from serving another couple, the bartender addressed her the moment she sat down.

"Good evening, miss. What would you like to drink?"

"Red wine please."

Preferring to think of herself as mature rather than juvenile, she said what she said with confidence, despite her experience mostly being limited to drinks with dinner during her travel abroad, thanksgiving and Christmas, and only recently in situations like the one she was in now.

"ID?"

Prepared for the question, she confidently handed over her driver's licence, thrilled when he nodded and handed it back to her, apparently satisfied that she wasn't breaking any rules, which she wasn't thanks to the changes made last year; she'd still have a 21st party, but she'd have three years of legal drinking behind her by the time she did.

"Bad day?"

Speaking to Bobby as the bartender poured her drink, she asked an obvious question, one she already generally knew the answer to but she figured would be good to hear another perspective on.

"Worse than I expected", swirling the liquid in his glass, he murmured the answer and then downed the rest of his drink.

"But, I think it might be turning around", watching the bartender set her drink in front of her, it seemed that he finally looked at her for more than a quick glance, holding eye contact and offering her a genuine smile.

Flattered, she laughed lightly. He could be being polite, but she'd rather believe he was being genuine.

Looking away as the bartender swapped his empty glass for a new drink, he gave her a strong signal that he meant what he said when he indicated that both drinks were for his tab.

Tapping his glass lightly against hers and taking a drink, she followed his lead and then prompted him to elaborate on his answer to her earlier question.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

Shaking his head, she understood why he might say that, and it confirmed to her that perhaps she needed to be careful too.

"What would you like to talk about?"

Shifting the conversation away from his negative interaction with her mother, assuming they'd return to that later, she put the ball in his court.

Quiet, thinking, his answer to her question when he broke his silence wasn't at all what she expected.

"Do you know any good jokes or funny stories?"

"Funny stories?"

Knowing she'd heard him correctly, she repeated his question back to him out of surprise. She was familiar and capable of conversation that didn't rely on personal details but this was different to that.

"Yeah, I could use a laugh right about now."

Hearing his brief explanation, she couldn't deny him his wish, he had looked as if he needed cheering up earlier.

"Ok, this was a few years ago, but I was on vacation in the south of France and…"

Opening with a story that she was sure would cheer him up, her confidence grew as he listened and laughed. She felt comfortable with him; his smile made her stomach flip and hear heart beat faster and she hoped he had similarly positive feelings towards her, because then when she did find an opportunity to explain to him who she was, he wouldn't tar her with the same brush he had her mother.

Starting with one tale, her memories inspired him to share a few of his own, which she very much enjoyed. She wouldn't go as far as to say he was revealing anything particularly personal about his life to her, because he noticeably refrained from mentioning Pam, Cliff or her mother, but she felt from talking to him that she knew more about him than she had before, and what she heard, she liked.

"Weren't you angry?" giggling at a story that painted JR in a very different light to how he'd presented himself to her, she had to ask the question.

Shrugging, Bobby didn't seem nearly as affected as she thought she would be. "At first, then I guess I saw the funny side of it."

"That's a sibling thing isn't it?"

Listening to her, he was quiet for a second, really thinking over the statement. "I never considered that that's what it was but now that you mention it."

Nodding, she wanted to understand exactly what he meant, but she didn't really.

Appearing to notice her unsure response, he asked her a question that touched on the entire reason why they were connected, not that he knew that though.

"Do you have siblings?"

Knowing the answer was technically yes, she still wasn't really sure what to say to the question. Cliff was her brother and Pam had been her sister, that was simple, unfortunately, getting into any sort of detail about her life now was a little more complex.

"It's complicated."

Chuckling, he didn't question her statement, just agreed, "families always are."

Reassured by his easy-going attitude, she didn't dwell and let things move forward naturally, enjoying that they were comfortably swapping stories back and forth and empty glasses for full ones.

Comfortable or not though, they were both hiding things from each other, things that linked them together and that at some point they really ought to discuss.

To be continued…