Dallas, Texas

"Julie, one more thing; tell JR that I want to see him when he's free this afternoon", Julie nodded and walked toward the door. She stopped as she reached the door and turned around, "if Bobby asks?" she knew exactly what Jock meant when he said to ask JR, he meant only JR, but Bobby had become accustomed to walking around the offices throughout the day and he was bound to find out about the private meeting Jock had just requested. Jock shrugged, "private business, he knows not to pry", Julie nodded and left the office, walking next door to JR's office. "JR", he looked up and noticed Julie standing in the doorway, she was still beautiful, he couldn't deny that, and he began to question whether perhaps he had been too hasty in breaking off their relationship completely. "Your daddy wants to see you for a private meeting when you are free", she noticed the way he was looking at her and smiled, it would only be a matter of time before he came back to her, she just had to be patient. "Oh, uh, thanks", he snapped out of his thoughts as she mentioned his father, a private meeting sounded serious and he was curious as to what he wanted to talk about; perhaps he would be getting the presidency sooner than he'd expected, though somehow he doubted it; his father was only sixty-one, he didn't seem ready to retire just yet. On top of that, Jock insisted that JR provide a son before he handed over control, he wanted to know that there was an heir to the Ewing name and fortune, he wanted a guarantee that all of his hard work would stay in the family, benefitting future generations, not just his own. It was something that JR and Sue Ellen hadn't succeeded in just yet, though it was still early in their marriage and JR wasn't too worried about it, he was confident that it would happen and they were doing everything they could to make it happen; in the meantime, there was no point in worrying about it. He finished the work that he had been doing and an hour later, he left his office, going next door into his father's office, "daddy. You wanted to see me". Jock looked up at his eldest son as he knocked and entered the room, "yes, come in, and close the door. I don't want anyone overhearing this"; JR did as his father said and began to wonder exactly what was so private and secretive, he was now fairly sure that the meeting had nothing to do with his future presidency.

JR sat in front of his father's desk, waiting for an explanation, "how do you think Bobby's been doing lately?" JR didn't answer immediately, momentarily confused about the direction of the meeting, he had assumed it was either some big oil deal, or he was getting a promotion; Bobby's performance was the last thing on his mind. "Fine, fine, as good as can be expected from a recent graduate with little experience I suppose. Why?" he wasn't sure whether his answer was acceptable or not, but he didn't really know what else to say, he wasn't going to tell his father that his favourite son's natural talents didn't lie in finding and profiting from oil. "Mhm, well that's really what I wanted to discuss with you. I want Bobby to get some real experience, he's been studying the theory of the oil business for three months now, but I think we've neglected to really show him and teach him how to actually use that theoretical knowledge in a real-world situation. I want to start bringing him in on our meetings, at first just to observe, but in time, I want him to feel comfortable making deals on his own and I want to feel comfortable letting him do that. I will retire one day and I want both of my sons running the company", he paused as he read JR's face, he had looked a little surprised in the beginning, but now he was just straight-faced, listening to everything before he showed any hint of a reaction. JR sensed that his father was waiting for his reaction, "I agree daddy, but we have to start off slowly, I don't want anything going wrong, we've worked too hard to make this company what it is". He wasn't really too pleased, but he'd known that the day would come eventually, his brother couldn't stay in the theoretical learning stage forever, he had to actually become a real part of the company at some point. JR just had to be smarter than Bobby to make sure that he held on to his position, he wouldn't have his younger brother ruining what he'd worked for his entire life. "Good, I'm glad. I wanted you to know first because I don't want anything to go wrong, especially not deliberately", Jock spoke in a warning tone, he wanted JR to know that he wouldn't tolerate the manipulation and sabotage that had happened a few summers ago, he was the boss and he made the decisions, whether JR liked them or not. Jock had already made up his mind about involving Bobby more, but he decided to let JR think that he'd played a part in the overall decision, it would benefit him in the long run, especially if JR started to mouth off about Bobby's incompetence. In the future, JR would not be able to claim that he was against the idea from the start, because he'd just played a part of the decision making process, he'd just said that it was a good idea, and even if he didn't think it, he'd said it, and Jock had enough evidence to counter any potential arguments.

"To Ewing Oil, past, present and future", Jock held his glass up to toast the new business arrangement and the rest of the family followed, congratulating Bobby on his new position in the company. Sue Ellen felt a little sick for some reason and really didn't feel like eating, but she politely listened and added small comments to the dinner conversation, she didn't want to bring any attention to what she was sure was just a passing illness. She really wasn't in the mood to answer more pregnancy related questions because she was almost positive that she wasn't pregnant, it just disappointed everyone when she didn't have good news. Miss Ellie watched Sue Ellen as Teresa cleared their dinner plates and brought out the dessert, her new daughter-in-law seemed to be having a hard time eating and looked like she was forcing herself to enjoy the food, first pushing around the food on her dinner plate and then eventually giving her slice of chocolate cake to JR to finish. Miss Ellie was definitely suspicious, she'd experienced the same thing three times in her own life and she hoped that Sue Ellen was acting that way for the same reason, she and JR had been married for six months, it was about time that they had some news to share with the family; "is everything all right Sue Ellen? You hardly touched your dinner". Sue Ellen heard Miss Ellie's enquiry and realised that her attempts at acting normally hadn't been very good, she wasn't feeling well at all and it really showed, "yes Miss Ellie, I'm fine, just a little tired". Miss Ellie added tired to the list of 'symptoms' and smiled, she was sure that Sue Ellen was hiding something and she couldn't be happier, "why don't you go upstairs and rest, I'll have Teresa bring up some tea for you". Sue Ellen would have turned her down for appearance sake, but resting sounded good, she was actually feeling worse now than she had been when dinner started, "I think that's a good idea. If you'll excuse me", she apologised for leaving the dinner, but no one minded, it was almost over anyway. JR watched as his wife left the room and he began to wonder if there was something more than tiredness to Sue Ellen's behaviour, she had been rather quiet and she did usually eat more, maybe everyone's wishes were coming true, "I think I'll go check on her", he excused himself and walked upstairs to their bedroom. "Sue Ellen?" he didn't see her, but he quickly realised why as he heard the sounds coming from the bathroom, tiredness was the least of her worries right now. Sue Ellen flushed the toilet and brushed her teeth before making her way back into the bedroom, she was beginning to wonder whether her intuition and calendar were wrong, that maybe she actually was pregnant. "JR", she jumped as she opened the door into the bedroom and noticed her husband's presence, she was embarrassed that he'd probably heard her getting sick, she didn't want to worry him or disgust him, "are you all right darlin'? Are you sick?" it was obvious in his tone that he was both concerned and a little curious. "Yes, I think I must be coming down with something, or perhaps something I ate. I'm sure I'll be fine in the morning. I think I will have a rest now though", she took her nightgown and went back into the bathroom to change, leaving JR confused, they were alone, she didn't have to pretend that it was just a random illness or food poisoning with him. She returned to the bedroom and kissed him on the cheek, she didn't want him to catch whatever it was that she had; JR was even more confused when she refused to kiss him on the lips, he couldn't catch pregnancy, perhaps she really was just sick. It was still early, too early for him to go to sleep, he decided to let her rest and went back downstairs to finish talking with his father and brother; he and Sue Ellen could talk properly tomorrow, for now she really just needed to rest.

To be continued…