Austin, Texas

"Sue Ellen, your mom is here. She's waiting downstairs", she was dreading seeing her mother, she was just as unengaged as she was yesterday, not what her mother would want to hear. "Sue Ellen, I was worried, you didn't call me last night like I asked you to", Patricia's words sounded concerned to an outsider, but Sue Ellen knew what her mother meant and it wasn't concern for her daughters safety or wanting to know how fun their date was. "I'm sorry mama, I was very tired last night, yesterday was a long day" she didn't quite know how to break the news that she and JR were still in the same place they'd been for months. "Well, I see your ring finger is still empty. I think I need to have a strong conversation with JR, you aren't getting any younger and if he waits much longer, he may get bored with you, we can't have that happening now can we?" Her mother's words hurt Sue Ellen, the age comment was particularly bad, her whole life was based around how she looked and she did feel pressured to look her best, getting older wasn't something she could control and it wasn't something she thought she had to worry about yet, she wasn't even twenty one. Her mother claiming that JR would get bored also hurt, she knew his reputation and it was a fear she had in the back of her mind, he was notorious for enjoying the chase and then becoming uninterested once he'd reaped the rewards. She always wondered if that would happen to her, especially as she was holding the rewards back from him, what if he married her, got what he wanted and then became uninterested? He said he loved her, but what about his basic human nature? Things like that didn't change did they? They both had issues and insecurities they needed to fix before they got married and the pressure everyone put them under to do it as quickly as possible made their issues seem much worse and more concerning than they probably were. "Mama, you know JR, he doesn't take kindly to people telling him what to do, you may just ruin everything if you try and persuade him to do anything other than what he has planned. Please, stay away from JR" Patricia saw the pleading look in her daughters eye, but she wasn't convinced that he wouldn't listen to her, she agreed to let it go, but next time she saw JR, she would definitely be asking him a few hard questions. Her daughter was the perfect package and if JR Ewing wouldn't commit, then there were plenty of other wealthy men who would.

Dallas, Texas

"Uncle JR, look!" Lucy interrupted JR as he read the morning newspaper; he knew she wouldn't go away until he paid attention to her, "Sue Ellen is in the magazine" JR's interest in the conversation was piqued, he knew about her new modelling job, but hadn't thought about it too much, until now. There was an introductory paragraph about the new and improved section of the magazine, the current Miss Texas, Sue Ellen Shepard, would be the face of the campaign. A picture of Sue Ellen being crowned Miss Texas reminded JR of that night, he'd fallen in love with her the first time he saw her. There was an explanation of the updated content as well as the invitation for readers to write in with questions and Sue Ellen would answer them. He turned the page and smiled at how good she looked doing domestic things, he was sure that the aim of the photographs was not for her to look sexy, the demographic was young women, not men; but she made even the simplest tasks look glamorous and appealing. She looked great in the kitchen, demonstrating the cake recipe printed in the magazine. There was another picture of her in a short, white tennis dress alongside an article about spring and summer sports. She even made cleaning look glamorous, something he knew wasn't, he'd never seen Teresa look that happy when vacuuming the house. He laughed at the actual content of the articles; did women really need a magazine to remind them that no one likes a dusty home? No wonder they weren't given high powered jobs. He wasn't too interested in the articles after reading the silly common sense they were advising, but assumed that women must find something about the articles appealing, otherwise no one would buy the magazine. JR was more interested in the pictures of Sue Ellen, he'd have to suggest playing tennis sometime, that skirt accentuated her legs perfectly. Her apron was cute too, the old-fashioned side of him found it very appealing to imagine the two of them as an average income couple where she was the housewife and he was the breadwinner. No maid, ranch house or oil riches would be the downside, but he'd get to see her cook dinner and enjoy it, something they didn't get the luxury of at Southfork. He wondered if she'd be into role-playing those sorts of things, it wasn't dirty and unladylike, just very appealing to his inner man.

"Doesn't Sue Ellen look pretty?" Lucy spoke and JR was reminded that he wasn't alone, "she sure does, that's why I picked her" he grinned, it was the truth, he'd been immediately attracted to her even before he spoke to her. There were more things he liked about her now obviously, but the reason he'd even approached her was because of the affect her whole presence had on him, she achieved sexiness and appeal without even trying. "You know, there is a whole page about dating advice, if you don't marry her soon, some other man may come and sweep her off her feet" Lucy was young, but she was good at picking up on social behaviours. She also enjoyed pushing people and seeing how far she could get before they became annoyed; her comment would certainly irritate her uncle. Sue Ellen was everything the perfect wife was supposed to be and everyone was pushing the two toward marriage, if JR didn't ask her soon, she had the feeling that Sue Ellen's mother wouldn't be very pleased and would take matters into her own hands. She'd seen the way other men looked at Sue Ellen when they were shopping together or there was a party at Southfork. Sue Ellen was the type of girl that people noticed and she would have no trouble finding another man if she wasn't with JR. Lucy didn't understand them though, they said they planned on getting married, but JR never said when or made any indication that it would be soon. It had to be something that only adults understood, because she was thoroughly confused by the situation. "Thank you Lucy" JR replied curtly, the child had a special ability to needle him with few words; they were a lot more alike than he'd ever admit.

Austin, Texas

"We just need you to read and answer these questions and then you can leave" Sue Ellen sat in a meeting with the editor of 'Her Style' magazine, they'd received a positive response from Sue Ellen's first appearance in the magazine and were working on the second issue. Sue Ellen didn't have to do much except for model and make a few casual comments for quotes in the articles, she was actually rather pleased with the way the whole thing operated, the writers at the magazine would do most of the work for her and she would still get credit for 'her ideas'. The reader questions were standard high school and college girl problems, dating advice, college life as well as a few about domestic issues like cooking for beginners and keeping a bedroom or dorm room tidy. She didn't feel like it was difficult to come up with answers to the questions and anything she didn't know how to answer was handed over to the magazine staff or she was given suggestions. Exiting the building after her meeting, she made her way back to the campus. She needed to finish some of the class work she had been avoiding, she was beginning to feel the effects of senioritis, she was ready to be done with college assignments forever and if working life was like her job at 'Her Style', it may not be so bad after all.

To be continued…