Fort Worth, Texas
"Well gentlemen, how about a drink?" Bobby was enjoying this aspect of his summer work experience, it didn't involve him sitting in the office and he really didn't even have to talk much business, he just had to make sure that their prospective business partners were treated well and ended up with a favourable opinion of Ewing Oil at the end of the night. As they were about sit at their table Bobby's plan was put into action, "Bobby Ewing? Is that you?" a young, blonde woman and her brunette friend approached the men, "Stella, how nice to see you, it's been a long time", he didn't really know this woman, but he had witnessed Jock and JR do the same thing multiple times, it wasn't a difficult task, he was a people person. "Forgive me gentlemen; this is Stella, an old friend of the family, and her friend…" he waited for her to name her companion and took note of the other men's faces, they certainly wouldn't object to the next part of the plan. "Are you two here alone?" the girls nodded and he invited them to join him at their table, the men he was schmoozing were hooked and Bobby had just guaranteed that they would definitely be doing business with Ewing Oil.
JR flicked through the weekly report from his private investigator, pleased to see that Sue Ellen was filling her time with appropriate activities and appeared to be emotionally stable. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, but he always liked to have a good amount of information about the activities of his associates, it helped him to know what he should be paying attention to. "JR?" Jock knocked on his office door and then entered the room; he wasn't the kind of man who would wait to be invited in, especially in his own company. JR quickly closed the folder and turned his attention to his father, "yes daddy?" Jock threw a manila folder on the desk and spoke, "what the hell are these? I thought I told you to show Bobby what to do", JR grimaced, his father was upset with Bobby's performance but felt the need to blame him, it wasn't a totally fair decision. "I did, and he told me that he understood; but obviously he didn't" he looked over the documents and could see why his father was upset. He didn't know how, but Bobby had selected two pieces of land that were useful only for farming or development and another two that were potentially productive but not the most lucrative, he'd somehow passed over the three tracts that were actually worth bidding on. "Mhm, well I will speak to Bobby myself. But, if he tells me something different then you bet there will be hell to pay; Ewing Oil is a family business and I intend for both of my sons to be a part of it". Jock conveniently forgot to mention Gary in the plan and JR wasn't sure whether he'd genuinely forgotten he had three sons or whether he was purposely ignoring his biggest disappointment. JR didn't care too much either way, the further away Gary stayed from Dallas, the happier everyone was; even his mama, at least that was the way JR saw the situation. Where Gary went, turmoil followed and his mother always ended up with a broken heart, he didn't care where Gary was or what he was doing, he was just glad that he wasn't in Dallas and wasn't interfering in their lives. "Yes daddy, of course" JR replied; he knew that Bobby would backup his story, he had explained what to do and Bobby had said that he understood; as far as his story went, he had told the truth, it wasn't his fault that Bobby didn't have a natural talent for recognizing oil potential.
Austin, Texas
"So, last month's theme was 'summer in the city' and that seemed to be received well, so next month the theme is 'summer at the lake'. The two contrasting themes should work well together", Sue Ellen listened and nodded as the ideas were pitched to her; she was glad that the magazine editors still treated her the same way even though she was no longer Miss Texas and hadn't won Miss America. "These are the categories we have so far; fashion, food, activities, best places to go and helpful tips. Since we're located here in Austin and Lake Travis is so close, we've arranged for the outdoor photoshoot for this Friday; Sue Ellen, we'll also need you to come in next week for any reshoots and to final information. Does that sound alright to everyone?" Margaret, the magazine features editor, informed the staff and everyone agreed. "Ok, that's all for today. I'll see you all at next week's meeting", they left the room and Sue Ellen confirmed the details of her next photoshoot before leaving the offices; Sue Ellen was pleased with the way her job at the magazine worked, the only real work she ever had to do was modelling, almost everything else was done for her.
Dallas, Texas
JR was expecting Jock to be upset with Bobby when he arrived back at Southfork, but instead he was greeted by the sounds of laughter and clinking glasses; "JR, buy you a drink?" Jock greeted his eldest son with a smile and JR was more confused than ever. "Mhm" he nodded that he would like a drink and then turned his attention to Bobby, "we celebrating something?" he wasn't sure what had changed his father's mind; just this afternoon he'd been upset that Bobby was useless at recognizing good opportunities. Jock spoke before Bobby had the chance to, "we are. Collins & Lawson Oil, that little company based out of Odessa; remember them?" JR nodded, Ewing Oil had tried to do business with them in the past, but things never quite worked out; "well those two were in Fort Worth doing a little business and I got a tipoff. They have a field that I'd love for us to acquire, so I sent Bobby out to meet with them and see whether they'd still be interested in doing business with us and he did brilliantly. He's a natural I tell you", Jock put his hand on Bobby's shoulder and JR could see he was proud. Bobby had set up a business meeting between Ewing Oil and a prospective business partner; it wasn't even an actual deal, just the plans to talk about a deal. It bothered JR that Bobby was praised for the smallest achievements while he had to get a deal signed and sealed before his father would congratulate him. "That's great", he weakly smiled and was glad that his mother chose that particular moment to walk into the room, it saved him from having to listen to endless praise for Bobby.
Austin, Texas
"That's great girls. Now, I want you two over there by that sailboat and you three sunbathing here", the photographer lined up the next photo pose and snapped away. Sue Ellen was having fun; although it wasn't actually a relaxing day at the lake with her friends, it was still a day at the lake and that was always enjoyable. "Wonderful. That's all for the swimsuit cover-ups and shorts, next we'll do swimsuits and then sundresses", they were shooting pictures of the girls first and then bringing in male models later on for a few establishing shots of the 'lake party'. The magazine's target demographic was young women, so the clothes had to be the main draw in the pictures, but young women also liked young men and the bigger group shots would do nicely to balance the layout. The photographer snapped pictures of each girl in different poses and scenarios, it was better to get all of the possible pictures now and then select the ones they wanted later, rather than having to come back and reshoot pictures because they didn't turn out as expected. By the end of the afternoon, the models were nearing the end of their enthusiasm and were beginning to get tired; Sue Ellen was pleased to finish the day with a campfire photoshoot, it didn't take much attention or work, all they had to do was look cozy and happy. As they roasted marshmallows over the campfire, Sue Ellen realised how romantic the lakeside setting was; she made a mental note to suggest more nature based activities like this to JR, though neither of them were particularly outdoorsy she had a feeling that it wouldn't matter too much when they were together.
To be continued…