Calgary, Alberta, Canada

"JR."

"Mm?"

Hearing the voice, another noise, and feeling a gentle nudge against his side, he wasn't completely aware of what was going on until the gentle nudge became several nudges and the voice became louder and more insistent.

"JR!"

"Mm?"

Opening his eyes, the annoyance he felt at being awoken in such a manner dissipated as he took in the picture before him, although it returned not a moment later as he realised the other noise in the room was a telephone ringing.

"You know what, never mind. I'll get it."

Leaning over him to pick up the ringing phone that sat on the nightstand on his side of the bed, Pam's behaviour improved his mood instantly.

"Hello?"

Irritated one moment, she was polite as anything the next, answering the call and speaking friendlily to the person on the other end.

Listening to almost nothing she said as his other senses went into overdrive, he had no idea what she was thanking the other person for when she ended the call and hung up, only that the agreed pillow divider in the bed had done its job for the night but was now failing miserably.

"Apparently not everything was lost in translation. They got the message we wanted a wakeup call just fine."

Unable to form a coherent thought let alone a sentence as she brushed over him on her way back to her side of the bed, all he could do was murmur in response.

"Mm."

"Oh my… what is that?"

Freezing, it suddenly became apparent that his discomfort was hers too, albeit a different type of discomfort.

"Come on, you were married."

Finding his voice as she broke their contact, he found her demeanour both amusing and frustrating.

"Yes, but I cannot have this conversation right now."

"When you decide you can, I'll be ready to listen."

Closing her eyes, she shook her head and went quiet, pulling the sheet up over top of her, as if there was still a reason to protect her modesty now.

"I need to wash my hair. That will take a while. Get that under control before I come back."

Silent for a long time, she finally spoke, giving him an out, although it seemed she hadn't really thought it through.

"I think you'd best let me take a shower first then."

"Go and do whatever you need to do."

Laying her arm across her face, she blocked her eyes dramatically and her effort not to catch sight of anything felt insincere and pointless to him considering they'd both acknowledged it was there and wasn't going away until it was dealt with.

Getting up, he shook his head and chuckled silently as he walked into the bathroom. She'd spend the next little while flustered, he knew she would, and he'd take great pleasure in that knowledge.

"You're equal partners?"

Seated in the dining room for breakfast after what had so far been one of the most awkward mornings of her life, it was a relief to be talking with other people about business again, even if it was regarding their personal stakes in Ewing Oil rather than anything more neutral.

"Well…"

Sensing JR was ready to minimise her role in the running of things, she interrupted him before he could finish his sentence, answering the question herself.

"Yes, we each control thirty percent."

"Not quite, but I won't bore you with the details."

Always wanting to have the last word, JR didn't go any further into how or why they held the positions they did, the circumstances of her entry into the company painful for both of them and sure to bring down the mood at the breakfast table.

"Oh no, I think it's fascinating. Not many husbands would be so generous with their wives and not many wives would want so much responsibility."

"We're not…"

Unfortunately, by not explaining the details of their partnership their relationship defaulted to one of marriage in people's minds, however that wasn't true, although by the time it required correcting the damage had often been done.

"I know, I know. You're not like other couples. Everyone thinks they're different, few actually are. It seems to me that the proof is in the pudding."

Meeting JR's eye, his amused expression having returned, this time she couldn't help but smile. It was all so absurd.

"Oh?"

Interested, JR dug deeper for an explanation.

"Lovely couple you two are."

Looking between Peter, their breakfast companion, and JR, she was almost grateful for the waiter who appeared at their table.

"Sir, there's a phone call for you."

"Thank you. Excuse me."

"We must be blind."

Leaning close to her as Peter left the table, whispering in her ear so no one else could hear him, JR's joking comment was one she wholeheartedly agreed with.

"I'll say."

Yawning as the guest speaker continued his speech on arctic drilling, the details of which she'd lost understanding of long ago, Pam jumped as JR's face entered her personal space again, his whispered words jesting.

"Tired?"

"Unfocused."

Looking at him, she admitted she wasn't paying much attention to the presentation, surprised when he smiled and nodded.

"I can represent Ewing Oil if you want to step away."

At any other time the suggestion might have felt like he was trying to get rid of her, but for some reason, this time it was the opposite, he almost sounded as if he cared and was being kind.

Looking over the agenda, she noted there was another half hour before the planned break, a half hour that was sure to feel like an eternity if she attempted to pay attention.

"I might go and get some fresh air. I'll be back for the next speaker."

Much later, after a long day of listening and learning, JR straightened his tie in the mirror, watching Pam out of the corner of his eye where she sat dressed for another nightly mixer, reapplying her makeup at the desk in their small room.

"Pam, I don't want to offend you…"

"So don't say it."

Not even looking over at him, her focus entirely on the steady hand required to draw a line on her right eyelid that matched that on her left eyelid, her words and tone indicated she didn't want to hear what he had to say.

"I'm going to."

"Of course you are."

Waving her hand in front of her closed eye, she still didn't look at him.

"You don't have to push yourself to understand all of this. You can take a day to go sightseeing with the other wives."

Attempting to be nice, he knew he'd said the wrong thing when she dropped the tube in her hand and turned to glare at him.

"Other wives implies I'm your wife."

"That wasn't my point but I'll rephrase. These events always have a separate schedule for accompanying spouses. You said you wished to see some of the city while we're here, why not use your days to do that?"

He'd seen how bored she'd been by the content of the conference and he'd been to enough events to know it was unlikely to get any more exciting. If she insisted she stay, she didn't have to stay for the oil, she could stay for the vacation, no one back home would ever have to know.

"Christopher owns thirty percent of Ewing Oil, it's my duty to oversee that that's taken care of and for now the best way to do that is to do it myself."

"The best way to do that is to trust a team of lawyers, accountants and professional advisors."

He could completely understand where she was coming from as far as wanting to do right by her son's future, everything he did was to build Ewing Oil so one day John Ross would inherit something great; what he didn't understand was her need to do it herself, with her own two hands it seemed.

"Trust you, you mean."

"Well, that too, but I'm not saying you should solely rely on what I think."

Christopher's thirty percent of Ewing Oil would be just fine under his leadership, but she could seek a second opinion if she wished, what she didn't need to do was learn a lifetime of information about the oil business just to prove she could. No one was asking her or expecting her to take Bobby's place and even if she did, he'd always been more knowledgeable than Bobby, so she'd still come in second to him where Ewing Oil was concerned.

"I'm glad to hear you say that because you'll be able appreciate that for now I trust myself and I plan to stay exactly where I am."

"That's fine."

Shrugging, he didn't wish to argue with her stubbornness at present, the argument wasn't one that was going to end differently any time soon.

"Good."

Having the final word, she turned back to her small makeup mirror to finish her makeup, leaving their room silent again, at least for now.