Austin, Texas

"Sue Ellen darlin', are you ok?" JR wondered what was going on inside her mind; she wasn't completely paying attention to their conversation, she was barely even paying attention to the food on her plate. Sue Ellen was brought back to the present as JR called her name, "uh yes, sorry, I'm fine. Now, what was it that you were saying? Oh yes, you bought all of that farmland and accidentally discovered oil. That was very lucky" she tried to cover that she hadn't really been listening but JR knew by her retelling of his story that she was distracted. "Well, there was nothing lucky or accidental about it, but we'll finish talking about that another time. What is on your mind now? You are obviously distracted, now share your problem with me and I'll fix it, I'm JR Ewing, I can fix anything" he grinned and she laughed, only he would think so highly of his own abilities, though he wasn't totally wrong, he did wield a lot of power and could manipulate and scheme is way out of any problem. "You're going to think it's silly" she didn't want to bother him with her problems that were inconsequential compared to what he faced in his own life, Patricia had taught her to never assume that her problems were any match for the stresses a man faced, so she buried her feelings and stayed quiet. "Sue Ellen" he was getting annoyed, if she was going to tell him that she had a problem but not share it then she may as well have not even said anything, "if it's that small then I can definitely fix it". She smiled at his words, there was one thing that he could do that would fix everything, but she was almost positive that she wouldn't be hearing those words any time soon. "Well, it's just all hitting me now. In the past, the end of the school year was a happy occasion; it meant summer with my friends and no school. But now it's a scary thought rather than a happy one, I'm graduating in two days and then I have the Miss America pageant soon and my modelling contract with the magazine taking up the next few months, but come September and school starts again for everyone, I have no idea what I'm doing with my life. What if I don't win Miss America? I won't be Miss Texas anymore and no one will care about me, I doubt the magazine will want to renew my contract when there's a new Miss Texas; I'll be stuck as a catalog model forever. The career span of a model is only a few years, then I will be too old and too irrelevant, they won't want me" she looked as if she would start crying at the thought of being told she was old and irrelevant and JR smiled, it endeared her to him, he wouldn't let any of that happen to her. "Darlin' stop worrying; you could never be irrelevant, especially being married to me. I will give you the life that you deserve and everyone will know your name, I promise, you have nothing to worry about and anyone who says otherwise can speak to me", he reached across the table and held her hand as he spoke. She nodded and smiled as he mentioned marrying her again, though at the moment she wasn't ready to marry anyone, she still had a lot of personal insecurities to overcome before she was able to be a good wife.

Leaving the restaurant, JR directed the driver to an address that Sue Ellen didn't recognize, "JR? Why are we here?" she asked as they entered the foyer of an apartment building, "well, you sounded so down at dinner I thought I should do something to help cheer you up. I was going to wait until Friday when you graduate, but there's nothing wrong with an early gift" he gave her a mischievous look and she didn't quite know what to expect, but she was excited at the prospect of a gift. "Now, you just wait here while I go and speak to the manager", he pointed to a small guest couch and she did as he said. JR spoke to the manager and explained that they were two days early, but everything should be ready and he just needed an extra key. "Come on darlin', let's go cheer you up" he held out his hand and they entered the elevator; Sue Ellen still wasn't completely sure what he was planning, but she had a few ideas, all of them good. "JR?" she asked as they stood in the hallway on the fourteenth floor before he unlocked and opened one of the doors, holding it open and allowing her to enter the room. "Oh my" she gasped as she looked around the spacious apartment, it was newly decorated, a mix of modern and traditional décor, very much like what she would have chosen herself. "Do you like it?" he watched her reaction and knew that she did, but he always liked verbal compliments, "oh yes, it's lovely. It's not really your taste though" she joked, knowing deep down that he'd bought it for her, but not wanting to assume anything before he confirmed her thoughts. "Very observant. Is it your taste though? You will be the one that has to live here, so if you don't like anything then tell me now and I'll call the decorator right away" he closed the front door and moved closer to her, "no, it's perfect. I love it and I love you", she turned as she noticed him walking toward her, "thank you JR", she leaned up and kissed him.

"JR?" she stood in the kitchen making coffee as JR watched. He was enjoying her domestic side and even though she was only making something basic right now he knew that she was a skilled homemaker; Patricia had made sure her daughters learnt skills that appealed to men, Sue Ellen was good at many things, but never too good as to outshine a man in his efforts. He really had Patricia to thank for making pushing Sue Ellen to learn such a repertoire of skills, she would be the perfect wife for him and he intended to make her a Ewing someday, though not as soon as their families would like, he still wasn't completely ready to settle down and become a one-woman man. "Mmhm?" he heard her say his name but was focused on her moving around the kitchen, it was amazing how graceful and sensual she made basic actions; maybe he'd buy her an apron to really authenticate the look. "JR, I love the idea of living here; but I think you forgot to factor in one thing when you bought it" she looked at him with a worried expression on her face. JR thought about it and then replied, "and what is that?" he questioned her, he couldn't think of any downsides to her new living arrangement. "My mother. She is going to hate the idea of me, a single young lady, living all alone in an apartment downtown. This is not a women's residence and that is probably the only kind of apartment that she'd approve of me living in before marriage. She doesn't even really like the idea of me living alone at all; she has much less control of what I do when she's not there to monitor my actions. Did I ever tell you about my senior year of high school? I applied to six colleges and got into four, two of them with almost completely paid scholarships. Neither of those colleges were UT though and neither of them were located in Austin; one was in Houston and the other was in San Antonio, both less than three hours' drive from Austin, but she wasn't happy with that and therefore they weren't options anymore. She didn't want me to leave Austin for college because she wanted to keep an eye on me and make sure I didn't get into any trouble. My mama couldn't afford to send me to UT Austin by herself, so instead made sure that I got more modelling jobs and won more pageants. Then, she had the nerve to try and claim that I shouldn't live on campus because we already lived in Austin; the dorms aren't even co-ed and she didn't want me living there. It took me over a month including three campus visits and two meetings with the resident advisor before I was finally able to talk her into letting me live in the dorms freshman year and then the sorority house for the rest of college. She still doesn't think it was necessary for me to live on campus. Now that I'm graduating, she'll be right back in that place again, constantly questioning what I can do here that I can't do at home, making me feel like a criminal because I don't want to live with her forever. Now do you see the problem?" she really was concerned, she was finally getting along with her mother and this would probably break the peace. "Darlin' I have half of the issue sorted already. I own four floors in this building, this floor, the one below and the two above. I have specified that only women be allowed to rent the apartments on the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth floors, the thirteenth is for men. Technically, you're not supposed to be allowed to restrict tenancy like that, but I gave the manager a speech about women's liberation and how they would really be helping the cause by making a number of high-end apartments like these available just for women. Of course, he took a little more convincing, but he agreed in the end and that's the important part. You didn't really think I'd let you live alone on a floor full of men did you? I agree with your mother, some men just can't be trusted", he grinned as he spoke, he was afraid of her meeting someone with the same mindset as himself but he'd tried to mitigate the circumstances and make sure she got the best out of the situation. She listened and sighed with relief at his forward thinking, "and the other half? How am I going to convince my mama that I should live here instead of move back home?" she was still apprehensive about his plan, "look at the location. You are central to all of your commitments; the modelling agency office is only a five-minute walk from here, the 'Her Style' magazine offices are a five-minute drive and the Miss Texas office is a ten-minute drive. Your mama's house is in the suburbs, it makes sense to live here. Alternatively, you could tell her that I bought you an apartment in Dallas, and that you are moving there with me. Then she'll say no and we'll compromise, you'll stay in Austin and then this place won't seem so bad in comparison, at least she can still drop by at a moment's notice". She giggled at his cunning plan that involved an exaggerated level of deception that only JR would think was a good option, "I think we'll just stick with the location, I can't deal with my mother getting upset with me for an imaginary decision".

She poured their coffee and brought his over to him. "Your coffee Mr Ewing" she smiled and he looked her up and down before sipping his coffee, "excellent, thank you Miss Shepard. How about we go and drink this in the living room?" She followed him out of the kitchen and they sat on the couch, spending the rest of the evening talking and kissing, starting slow just as she had wanted, but moving into much more passionate kisses as their feelings for each other surfaced. JR had decided to make the most of what he could get from Sue Ellen for now, and kissing her like this but not going any further reminded him of being a schoolboy again. Sure, some girls would sleep with him, but he wouldn't be successful every time and making out while slowly working toward his goal was the next best thing in that situation. There were always easy women that would willingly sleep with him, needing no encouragement, but he liked a challenge and he'd started working on a foolproof technique the first time he'd been rejected; it had taken him a little while but he finally perfected it. Alcohol could speed up any situation, but even sober it wasn't impossible. A small show of romance followed by little kissing, then a little touching and some encouraging words and he was eventually able to get almost any girl to give in to what he wanted; any girl until he met Sue Ellen, she was the first girl to turn him down in over a decade. He had a level of respect for Sue Ellen that he never had with women; for now it was something he just had to live with, something he couldn't change and that was ok.

To be continued…