Dallas, Texas

"…go upstairs and pack, we'll leave in an hour, I don't want to get there too late, we have to be up early tomorrow". Sue Ellen got an uneasy feeling as she heard Jock giving directions to his sons as they arrived home from work on Friday evening, it sounded like they were planning a trip somewhere, and it sounded immediate. If that was the case then she would be very disappointed, she had been waiting all week to finally get to spend a little time with JR; he had gone back to work on Monday and had been busy ever since. It didn't take her long to realise that the attention he'd given her during his holiday break was short-lived, he had to focus on Ewing Oil and she understood that, but it still hurt to realise that she wasn't at the top of his list of priorities. The three men entered the house and briefly acknowledged the women in the living room, though they quickly moved upstairs without any real explanation; whatever their plans were, they were obviously more important than family time. Sue Ellen followed her husband upstairs, she wanted an explanation, but she dreaded the result of their conversation, she was almost positive that JR wouldn't be spending much time with her this weekend, despite his promise to focus on their relationship as a married couple. JR rummaged through his closet, looking for his safari jacket and pants, they were going hunting and he needed an appropriate outfit; "JR?" he jumped as he heard Sue Ellen speak, he hadn't heard her enter the room. "What's going on?" she dreaded his answer, she could see that he was packing to leave, and it didn't seem as if he'd even given her a second thought. "We're going hunting", he replied simply, still focused on his closet, "but…" Sue Ellen was hurt, he had promised that he would take her out for dinner and dancing tomorrow night and she had been looking forward to it all week; JR stopped as he heard her tone of voice, she sounded hurt, confused and almost a little angry. Turning toward her, he realised how his actions must have looked to her; just two weeks ago, he had made a promise to pay more attention to their marriage, and now, at the first chance he got, he was leaving, choosing his father over his wife. He didn't really mean for it to happen like that, he had genuinely just been thinking like a bachelor again, he had forgotten to consider that he had a wife waiting for him at home, a wife who he had been somewhat neglecting for the past few months and who he had just recommitted to spending time with. "I'm sorry darlin', I didn't plan it; actually, no one really planned it. We were having lunch with some of the members of the cartel today, the conversation turned toward hunting, and it reminded daddy that we hadn't been for a while. You know how these things are, one thing led to another and all of a sudden we had plans to go hunting this weekend. I couldn't exactly say no", he covered his actions by making it seem as if he had no choice but to go hunting; it was partially true, but the real truth was simply that he hadn't even thought about her feelings when he agreed.

Sue Ellen sighed, she didn't mind him going hunting with Bobby and Jock, he was allowed to do that if he wanted to, but it would have been nice to know in advance. However, from his explanation, it sounded like there wasn't a whole lot of prior planning to the whole thing and it really wasn't his fault that she didn't know. She was more disappointed than angry, but she understood; he had given her a speech last week about each of them having their own interests, and she was on board with that idea, but she still wanted time for them to be a couple together. "Ok… when will you be back?" she whispered, unsure of how she was supposed to act now, she wanted to be happy for him, it wasn't often that he went hunting and he deserved to do things that he wanted, but the selfish side of her was just upset with him and his lack of consultation, intentional or not. "Sunday evening", he was conflicted, on one hand he felt guilty for disappointing her, but on the other, he was annoyed that she was acting like he had betrayed her; he was allowed to go away for the weekend if he wanted to, and he didn't have to ask her permission first. Logically though, he knew that that wasn't really what she was saying and she was just disappointed, "hey, how about Monday night we go out for dinner, just the two of us? Then next weekend we'll do something better, I promise", he didn't enjoy disappointing her, but he wasn't going to cancel his plans for her either; postponing their evening was the next best option. Sue Ellen looked at him and smiled, she still wasn't entirely happy, but he was trying, and that was good enough for her, "sure, that sounds nice. Do you need any help packing?" she decided to move on and not make a big deal about it anymore, it wasn't in her control and pressuring him to change his plans wouldn't do her any good.

"Are you sure you don't want to join us? You're welcome to", Miss Ellie watched her daughter-in-law and couldn't help but feel bad for her, she was young and still somewhat of a newlywed, JR was her whole life and she hadn't yet figured out that she was allowed to have her own friends and interests beyond her marriage. It wasn't a big deal to Ellie that Jock had gone away for the weekend, she and Mavis had already had plans together and her plans had nothing to do with her husband. "No thank you, I think I'll just stay in, maybe read a book, or clean out my closet", truthfully, Sue Ellen wasn't comfortable intruding on her mother-in-law's plans, even if she was invited. The Ewings and the Andersons had a well-established friendship and routine, once or twice a month they would all have dinner together, before they split and went their separate ways, the men to the Cattlemen's Club, and the women to an event, tonight was the ballet, something that neither of their husbands had much interest in. Sue Ellen liked the Andersons, but they were Jock and Miss Ellie's friends, not hers, she would feel awkward inserting herself into their plans. Miss Ellie politely left the room, silently worried about Sue Ellen; she was only twenty-three but she didn't seem to have any meaningful friendships, though as she thought about it, neither did JR, he seemed to care more about Ewing Oil than he did other people sometimes. She sighed it wasn't right, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. Sue Ellen tidied their bedroom and then wandered downstairs in search of something to do; Lucy was at a sleepover and Teresa was the only one home, though she was busy cleaning and she wasn't nearly desperate enough to disturb the maid just so that she had someone to talk to. Southfork was a big house when she was there all alone and she decided that she didn't enjoy the stillness and emptiness, it was a home that was meant to be filled with people, it just didn't feel right any other way. After walking around the house three times, she ended up in the living room, pouring herself a drink and deciding to read a magazine, hoping that it would distract her from her thoughts, though it didn't, her mind wandering as she sat in the large room alone. She would have liked to see the ballet, but she would rather see it with JR or a friend, the only problem was, she didn't really have any friends to call and invite, and she hadn't had any real friends for a while; she had a lot of acquaintances, but not a lot of friends. She still felt like somewhat of an outsider in Dallas, though even in Austin she hadn't managed to maintain many of her college friendships after she graduated, her life had gone in such a different direction that she had a hard time relating to anyone nowadays. The people she socialised the most with were the Ewings, though she was sure that that was only because she was there, not because they really liked her; that's why spending time with JR was so important to her, he was the most significant person in her life and he was the only one she really wanted to be with. A wave of sadness washed over her as she realised the true state of her life, if she didn't have JR, then she didn't have anyone, that's just the way it was. Without conscious thought, she finished half of the bottle of vodka in the downstairs drinks cart, not realising exactly how much she had had to drink until she stood to get another drink, the room moving a little as she walked. Making an executive decision, she went upstairs and changed, getting into bed before she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, her emotional state questionable, though there was no one around to notice.

To be continued…