Austin, Texas

"Will Mr Ewing be escorting you or do you have someone else in mind?" Sue Ellen listened to the pageant representatives as they discussed the upcoming Miss America pageant. "Oh, I'm sorry, I really hadn't thought about it. I haven't actually asked JR, but I'm sure he'll be happy to escort me" she scolded herself for being so unprepared; it was unlike her to miss something that big. "That's fine; we just need to know by next week, it has to be printed in the program books and they need to know final details by the fourteenth. I think that's all for now", they ended the meeting and Sue Ellen left the building, stopping at the grocery store before driving back to her apartment.

Exiting the elevator, she heard the sound of her telephone ringing and quickly hurried down the hallway to unlock her front door before she missed the call; not many people had her number, so it was probably someone calling for a reason. "Hello?" she answered breathlessly, "Sue Ellen Shepard! What are you doing?" her mother listened to her daughter's heavy breathing and imagined the worst, "nothing mama, I just got home and ran to the phone" she truthfully explained but knew from her mother's tone of voice that she'd already decided what she was doing. "Mmhm" Patricia doubted it, but moved on, "look, I called to see whether you were free for dinner. You promised that you would spend most of your time here but we've hardly seen you this past week. Kristin misses you dearly and the neighbours have been asking about you. I don't like telling people that you've moved to your own place, a lot of people are very judgemental". Sue Ellen tried not to scoff at her mother's words; Kristin missed her? She doubted it. Her sister had been living without her for four years and they weren't ever very close, she couldn't imagine that she missed her too much. Then her mother had the nerve to say that other people were judgemental. Her mother was probably the most hypercritical person she'd ever met. "Mama, I know what I agreed to, but I am a busy person. Just because it's summer, doesn't mean my commitments have stopped. This week I've had three photoshoots and this morning I had a meeting with the Miss Texas people and did a little bit of grocery shopping afterwards. Two innocent and completely necessary tasks. However, to answer your question, yes I am free for dinner. What time would you like me to come over?" she wasn't too pleased about spending her evening with her mother when she was in a mood like this, but decided that she probably should make an effort, it was the polite thing to do. "Well, now would be lovely. You're not doing anything important are you?" she wanted to see how her daughter would react; she had a suspicion that her 'running to the phone' story wasn't entirely truthful. "No mama, I'm not busy now. I'll be there in half an hour" they said their goodbyes and Sue Ellen put her groceries away just as the phone began to ring again.

"Hello?" she was slightly annoyed now; it was probably her mother calling to check up on her again; "whoa, are you ok? Is this a bad time?" Sue Ellen's mood softened as she heard Paula's voice, "oh, I'm sorry Paula, I thought you were my mother calling again" she apologised for her short temper. Paula laughed, "no need to explain any further", she knew exactly how Patricia could aggravate a person. "I am sorry; I shouldn't answer the telephone so rudely. How are you?" Sue Ellen was interested to hear about Paula's life, it was completely different to her own now. "Actually, that's why I called, I have some news. Roger got a new job, it is a great opportunity for us, he'll be earning twice as much and the company benefits are above and beyond what you would expect. Its perfect timing with the baby coming soon" she finished speaking and Sue Ellen sensed a slight hint of hesitation in her voice, "that's wonderful Paula, I'm so happy for you, but why do I get the feeling that there's something you're not telling me?" she wasn't sure what the downside of this whole thing was, it didn't sound bad. "Well, the job is in New Orleans" Paula explained and Sue Ellen realised what she was saying, they would see each other even less than they did now; Sue Ellen only ever saw her when she was in Dallas for the weekend visiting Southfork, it was going to be much harder when she was in a completely different state. "Paula, I am happy for you and I promise, this won't affect our friendship negatively, we already talk on the phone a lot anyway" she really was happy for her friend; a situation that could have turned out so terribly for her had actually blossomed into a great opportunity. Paula was happily married, financially stable and about to start a family; Sue Ellen would have been jealous if she didn't see the wonderful life that JR would provide her with. The two talked a little longer and then said their goodbyes.

"You're late. I don't know what you were doing, but I don't like it. Do we need to have another talk about the rules you live by when you're at that apartment?" Patricia scolded her daughter, she was fairly certain that Sue Ellen had been doing something less than innocent this afternoon, she had answered the phone flustered and then taken much longer than half an hour to arrive at her home. "I'm sorry mama, Paula called and we got talking, I didn't realise the time" she told the truth but knew that her mother didn't believe her, she was always looking for reasons that Sue Ellen couldn't be trusted to live alone. Patricia hated not knowing where her daughter was or who she was with; at least when Sue Ellen was in college there were rules about males in the house and curfews. With Sue Ellen living alone, she could do whatever she wanted and Patricia would never know; the loss of power and control bothered her immensely.

Three days later, Sue Ellen stood in the dressing room at The Store and listened to her mother nit-pick her appearance. "The blue one makes you look much bigger than you are and the red one is too revealing, but the silver one is lovely, you will wear this one", she had been criticising small details all day and Sue Ellen was tired, she decided to just smile and agree, it was much easier than arguing. "Now, I assume that a man as wealthy as JR Ewing owns a tuxedo, you make sure that he has it dry-cleaned and ready for the pageant", Sue Ellen was reminded again that she hadn't actually asked JR to escort her. She didn't know why but she was afraid that he'd say no; it was crazy, but she had a fear of being rejected, the way Clint had protested being her escort in the previous pageant had affected her more than she realised. JR had nothing against beauty pageants, they had met at one after all, but she was still nervous. "Yes mama he does, I'll make sure to remind him" she smiled and kept her concerns to herself; her mother's interference was the last thing she needed right now.

To be continued…