Midland, Texas

"…a couple more days probably; we still have a few things that need to be dealt with here, the sorts of things that are easier to control in person than from the office", Jock made a quick phone call to his wife to inform her of their plans. He and JR hadn't expected to have to stay in Midland for more than a day, but they'd found that their orders were taken more seriously when they were there watching as opposed to making phone calls from Dallas. He knew his wife well enough to know that although she knew not to worry too much about him, after a few days of little communication, she would be concerned and start to think the worst; it was a fairly natural reaction to have, especially when the updates she did receive came from Julie, not him personally. They'd been married for over thirty years and he knew his wife well, a quick phone call to inform her of the situation was enough to calm and reassure her; she didn't need to know the details and she didn't ask, she knew not to pry, so she didn't, it was a system that they both understood and respected. "Junior", he noticed JR sitting in the corner of one of the office trailers at the drill site, he was reading a stack of papers, completely engrossed in whatever was written on them. He sighed as he walked over to JR, he was a damn good oilman, but as a husband, he seemed to lack empathy or common sense; from his conversation with Miss Ellie, it appeared that Sue Ellen would've been in the dark about the whole trip if it hadn't been for Julie's updates. Apparently, JR hadn't even called his secretary to tell her to call his wife to update her on the situation or inform her of his safety; it wasn't a necessity, but it was a nice courtesy. JR looked up and nodded to acknowledge his father, "I just spoke to your mama, she said everything's fine back home and she'd pass on the message to your wife that we're safe. However, I think Sue Ellen would probably prefer to hear the news from you personally, you know how women are", he gave JR a look as he spoke, his suggestion wasn't optional. "I will, after I finish reading over these fire reports", JR acknowledged Jock's comments but didn't think too much of them, if his mother already knew, she would surely pass on the information to Sue Ellen, it wasn't necessary for him to call her immediately. Besides, she would probably start questioning him if he called her, he didn't have time for that right now and she didn't need to know all the details, she had a problem with overanalysing things. Jock looked at his eldest son as he brushed off his comment, for a man who'd had so many women in his life, he sure didn't understand them very well; a quick phone call took very little effort for a man to make but meant everything to a woman. It was no wonder Sue Ellen had had a problem with overanalysing and worrying about everything, it appeared that she always found out about things at the very last minute and probably had much too much time to think and speculate about things without any facts, something a little communication from her husband could have prevented. "Junior", Jock spoke again and JR took notice, standing up and making his way over to the office phone; his father was confusing sometimes, he sent mixed messages, first Ewing Oil was the most important thing, but apparently now it was his wife that had to take priority. He didn't know what to think, but he didn't argue, making the phone call was easier than facing the wrath of Jock Ewing.

Dallas, Texas

"Lucy, you'd better change if you want to be ready in time", Sue Ellen knocked on Lucy's bedroom door and entered, making her comment as she stood in the doorway before turning to walk away. She'd only intend on passing on the message, not staying and chatting, Lucy hadn't actually asked her for her help and she didn't want to intrude by hovering around annoyingly. Lucy turned around from where she was sitting at her bedroom vanity, looking at Sue Ellen as if she were speaking in tongues, "I'm ready". Sue Ellen looked at her niece and subconsciously raised an eyebrow, "you're not wearing a dress?" she was surprised, her red bellbottom jeans and yellow top seemed more casual than dressy, she could only imagine the way her own mother would have reacted if she or Kristin had tried to claim that as a dance appropriate outfit. Lucy rolled her eyes, Sue Ellen was supposed to be cool, but for some reason she was acting strangely, "no", she shook her head, "everyone's wearing jeans". Sue Ellen paused as she gathered her thoughts, thinking carefully about how to phrase an opposition to Lucy's outfit, it just didn't seem appropriate and she felt responsible for making sure that Lucy didn't embarrass herself or the Ewing family. She hadn't realised how much of an impact her mother had had on her opinions, but it had to have been significant, she couldn't let Lucy go out dressed like that, it wasn't right. "Are you sure you don't want to dress up a little more? The yearbook photographer will be there", she didn't want to push too hard, but she also firmly believed that casual clothing had no place at a dance. "No", Lucy was getting frustrated now, she didn't understand why Sue Ellen was making such a big deal about it, she was wearing a new outfit, it just happened to be pants and not a skirt, but it was still nice, it wasn't the end of the world. Truthfully, she had more reason than just liking her clothes, she couldn't change, not now, it would seem so uncool; last weekend, she and Cindy had gone shopping and purchased coordinating outfits, she was finally in with the coolest girl in school and she wouldn't do anything to mess up that friendship. Sue Ellen looked around the room awkwardly, she didn't feel comfortable forcing Lucy to change clothes and it didn't seem like she was going to make that decision herself, so she decided to do the next best thing, "all right, well if you're sure. I'm just down the hall if you need me", she smiled and backed out of the room, closing the door behind her. Her initial instinct was to just let it go and allow Lucy to make her own decisions, but the Ewing voice inside her told her to do something about it; she didn't want to speak out of place, but that didn't mean that she couldn't drop hints to get her point across.

"Good afternoon Miss Ellie", she walked into the kitchen as her mother-in-law helped Teresa prepare the dinner, Miss Ellie greeted Sue Ellen and they began to talk, Miss Ellie informing her that Jock had called and that everything was ok, but he and JR would be away for a few more days; that information was news to Sue Ellen. JR and Jock had been away for three days and JR hadn't called her once, everything she knew about their trip was because Miss Ellie had told her. She didn't understand JR sometimes, he seemed to think that by not calling to tell her what was going on that he would somehow spare her from worrying, but instead it was the opposite, she would constantly worry when she hadn't heard from him. She would've preferred that he just called and told her what was happening, no matter whether it was positive or negative, at least then she would have real facts to base her thoughts on instead of using her imagination to think of the worst possible situations. He couldn't shield her from real life forever and she wished that he would understand that; she was trying her best to not overreact to things that she couldn't change, but he had to start being more open and honest with her for it to really work. The two women chatted for a while longer, talking about a number of different things before Sue Ellen found the perfect time to make a comment about Lucy's school dance, prompting Miss Ellie to go upstairs to pay her granddaughter a visit before she left. It was a perfect manipulation, even if Lucy accused her of interfering, she had no way of proving it; as far as Miss Ellie was concerned, Sue Ellen hadn't once mentioned trying to change her or that she thought she wasn't dressed appropriately; she had simply mentioned the dance, that's all. As she walked out of the kitchen, the phone rang and she answered, her heart speeding up as she realised that it was JR, finally.

To be continued…