Dallas, Texas

Miss Ellie awoke to the sound of a telephone ringing; picking it up she realised that JR had already answered, she knew that she should hang up but the first words she heard sounded angry and she was intrigued, "JR Ewing? What have you done to my daughter? I'd like to speak to her please, now!" Miss Ellie had heard many people sound angry with JR, but none quite like this, she wondered what had happened. As soon as Sue Ellen answered the phone Miss Ellie hung up, she was surprised that Sue Ellen had stayed, but she didn't mind, Sue Ellen was a lovely girl and had been treated badly the previous night, she felt sorry for Sue Ellen for having to deal with this phone call now. As she readied herself for the day, she wondered about what had happened between JR and Sue Ellen that her mother was calling Southfork in a fit of rage. JR had a reputation, but Sue Ellen didn't seem like the type to stray from her proper upbringing, she couldn't imagine that Sue Ellen's mother had been completely justified in her anger, though maybe she had, JR could be rather persuasive when he wanted something. She wondered how Sue Ellen would act at breakfast and decided to welcome her as if nothing were wrong, she didn't want to assume anything other than what she knew, she just hoped that the rest of the family would have the same courtesy.

Teresa brought the food out to the patio and Jock assembled his plate, Bobby walked downstairs and collected Lucy from the den before they made their way out to the patio. "Morning daddy" Bobby greeted his father and Lucy hugged Jock, Jock greeted his youngest son and granddaughter and they began to discuss the barbecue. Miss Ellie arrived at breakfast and greeted her family, noticing the absence of JR and Sue Ellen. As they ate and talked Jock noticed that his eldest son was not present, "Ellie, where is JR? He knows that we eat at 8", Miss Ellie noticed Bobby laughing to himself, he knew exactly where JR was and what he was probably doing right now, "oh, I'm sure that he'll be down in a minute. Bobby, why are you laughing?" Bobby didn't think it was his place to say and replied "oh, I just realised that no one ended up in the pool yesterday, that has to be a first" he covered with a lie he hoped sounded convincing. Jock laughed at his sons comment, he was right, it was surprising, "everyone was suspiciously well behaved yesterday, that is quite unusual. Oh, except for that little argument between Martin Hurst's daughter and Sue Ellen, I never did like that girl". As he finished his sentence, JR walked outside, followed by Sue Ellen, noticeably still wearing yesterday's clothes, everyone was silent as they looked at the couple, "JR, Sue Ellen, come sit" Miss Ellie was trying her hardest to act as if there weren't anything unusual about Sue Ellen still being there. Bobby laughed at the change in atmosphere, it was obvious that his mother was being overly friendly and his father hadn't said a word, JR pulled out a chair for Sue Ellen and they sat. "Sue Ellen? Did you and uncle JR have a slumber party? I like slumber parties" Lucy broke the silence and Sue Ellen blushed, it was somewhat of a slumber party, but not what his parents would be assuming and a little different to what Lucy thought. JR was amused by Lucy's childish naivety and the strange reactions everyone was giving them, "that's exactly it Lucy, Sue Ellen stayed last night because her clothes were ruined by a bad woman, but we made it more fun by turning it into a slumber party". Sue Ellen was mortified at the way JR worded his sentence, it was filled with innuendo and would not help with convincing everyone of their innocence, she sat quietly and looked down at her plate, she didn't want to make eye contact with anyone. Jock smiled to himself, he knew his son, and Sue Ellen was very attractive, he could see why JR would have fun.

Miss Ellie wanted to make it more comfortable for Sue Ellen; she could tell that the poor girl was embarrassed by the attention being put on their previous night. She wasn't sure what had happened between her son and his girlfriend, but she didn't think it was here place to judge them, they were adults and last night had been exceptional circumstances. "Sue Ellen, JR told me that you have agreed to attend the Oil Barons Ball with him, have you selected a dress yet?" she switched the subject, trying to get everyone to move away from the awkwardness. Sue Ellen was thankful to Miss Ellie for taking the attention off the previous night and putting it onto something she could easily discuss, "oh, well I have a few dresses on hold at The Store in Austin, but my mother always likes to approve my evening gowns before I commit to one. Have you selected your dress?" Miss Ellie was not surprised to hear that Sue Ellen's mother had control over her clothing, she had sounded particularly controlling on the phone this morning, "no, not yet. I was going to ask you whether you'd like to come shopping with me tomorrow, Lucy needs a few new dresses too and she's always mentioning how fashionable you are. Isn't that right Lucy?" Lucy nodded, she would love to have Sue Ellen shop with them. Sue Ellen didn't hesitate, she liked Miss Ellie, "yes, I'd like that very much", they made their plans and breakfast ended; it had finished much better than it had started.

JR and Sue Ellen drove back to Sue Ellen's hotel in silence before JR finally spoke, "I'm sorry if that was uncomfortable for you, I didn't think anyone would say anything", she was more embarrassed than angry, "it's ok, you can't control the words of a child, trust me, I know. Besides, everyone else was very nice about it. I think your mama has her suspicions but didn't want to say anything, I am very thankful that she changed the subject though". JR smiled to himself, he was glad that she wasn't upset, hopefully the morning hadn't ruined the rest of the day. They arrived at her hotel and the front desk receptionist informed her that she had a stack of messages all saying the same thing, her mother had called four times the previous night and once that morning to ask whether she had returned, JR was shocked, Patricia was being extremely overprotective and possessive. Sue Ellen apologised for any stress her mother had caused and JR tipped the man for his services. They made their way upstairs to her hotel room and JR sat on the small couch while Sue Ellen went to shower.

JR read the coffee table book, the free magazine, looked out the window, and then looked at the clock, it had been 45 minutes and she was still in the bathroom. He wondered what was taking her so long and then decided that it was a woman thing and he probably didn't want to know. "Darlin'? Are you ok in there?" he knocked on the door and waited. She had almost forgotten that she had company and that her usual routine probably took longer than he was used to sitting down with nothing to do, she opened the door, in her towel and robe still, but her hair had been dried and curled and her makeup was laid out on the countertop. "I'm sorry, I realise this is probably taking a lot longer than you anticipated" she apologised and lightly kissed him, "keep me company while I do my makeup?" she returned to her makeup and started to apply it. JR thought she looked beautiful just showered and bare faced, but the process she was going through to make herself even more stunning fascinated him; he'd seen plenty of women in the morning without makeup, some pretty, others not so pretty, but he'd never taken the time to watch the transformation from private to public beauty. She realised about 5 minutes later that he hadn't said a word, she looked at him in the mirror reflection, he looked entranced, "JR? Are you ok?" He snapped out of his thoughts as she spoke, "yes, uh, I'm fine. I was just admiring your natural beauty", she smiled at his honest comment, "thank you. I'm almost done". She finished applying her setting powder, put away her makeup and looked at herself, "stunning" he whispered almost to himself, she turned around and smiled, "come on, there's one more thing left to do". She held up two dresses, "did you have any plans for today? Which dress would be more appropriate?" JR had no real plans for them, but liked the idea of her wearing the shorter pink A-line dress, she had lovely long legs and he liked when she showed them, "the pink one". She smiled to herself, somehow she'd known that he'd choose that one, it was a little more revealing than the other dress she had shown him. Gathering underwear, pantyhose and her shoes, she went into the bathroom and changed, once again leaving JR alone. He wished that she would have changed in the bedroom, he would have had a better opportunity to finish what they'd started the previous night, but he decided that now probably wasn't the right time.

She emerged from the bathroom and was happy to see the look on his face, she knew she looked good, but seeing his reaction made her feel even better. "So? What did you have planned for today?" JR thought for a minute and then decided, "well, we had a pretty busy day yesterday, so how about I take you to Highland Park Village, we'll have lunch and if you're good then maybe I'll buy you something. We can visit Lakeside Park this afternoon, it's beautiful there at this time of year", she agreed, glad that they were going to have a relaxing day. On their way out of the hotel she left a message with the front desk informing them of their plans and that she would be back later that night, she was sure her mother would call to check-up on her at some point.

As they walked around the upscale shopping mall, all the lovely items for sale enchanted Sue Ellen; she had always had an eye for fashion, but never the kind of money to indulge her fantasies. Patricia was very strict about how they spent their money; Sue Ellen had a wardrobe full of beautiful clothes, but it was a very carefully planned wardrobe, everything had a purpose, there were no items that were purchased just because Sue Ellen liked them. She sometimes received free clothing from her modelling shoots, but those were catalog clothes, not designer clothes; this was different to her usual shopping experience. JR enjoyed seeing Sue Ellen enthralled in the clothing, he usually hated shopping for long periods and never took women with him, usually he would have a sales assistant pick out items and he would try them all on at once. Seeing Sue Ellen examine each item and mentally picture how they would fit into her wardrobe was new and fascinated him, he enjoyed the pleasure it brought to her. They finished shopping, it had taken a little sweet-talking, Sue Ellen was happy to just look and imagine, but JR wanted to buy everything; she'd never had so much money spent on her in one day, it was a nice experience though and she was very grateful to him. They ate lunch and she thanked him again, she didn't know how she would be able to repay him for his kindness, she wasn't really able to give him anything that he didn't already have or couldn't get himself.

Exiting the shopping mall and driving the short distance to the park, they spent the rest of the afternoon walking and talking, just enjoying each other's company. Sue Ellen would have been happy just doing things like that all day, she didn't need to have JR spend money for her to want to be with him and she made sure he knew. They elected to have dinner away from Southfork and afterward JR brought her back to her hotel. She wasn't sure that she could face another round of awkward conversation trapped at a table with JR's family, though she would have to talk with Miss Ellie and Lucy the next day, but at least then she would have dresses to try on and that would lead to different conversations. As she prepared herself for bed, she felt lonely without JR by her side, their closeness the previous night was something she'd never experienced before and she didn't like going back to the way things were. Her mother had been stern with her about her boundaries earlier in the night, but she was beginning to have other ideas about what ladies should and should not do. She knew she wanted to marry JR one day, she just hoped that he had the same idea, because the loneliness she felt now was not something she wanted to feel forever.

To be continued…