Dallas, Texas

"We could go shopping, or to the theatre, or the spa, or for afternoon tea at the Adolphus. Whatever you'd like to do, this is all about you", Sue Ellen smiled at her 'little sister' Mary as she suggested activities for their day; she wanted the girl to like her, so she gave her the option to do whatever she wanted if none of the activities she suggested sounded appealing. It was obvious from her appearance and general manner that she was from a less wealthy family; she was polite in a very basic way, without the social niceties or etiquette that Patricia had taught her daughters to practice, her clothes were old and casual, her brown hair lacked the touch of a good stylist and she wore little makeup. Despite her appearance and demeanour being less than acceptable for a proper young lady, Sue Ellen saw her as a challenge rather than a lost cause; she was a pretty, relatively polite girl and with Sue Ellen's mentoring and the Ewing money behind her, she had a lot of potential. Putting her 'little sister' through charm school wasn't exactly the point of the charitable program, they were just supposed to bring a little happiness to girls who didn't have much more than their basic needs met in everyday life, but Sue Ellen saw their arrangement as an opportunity for self-improvement as well as personal enjoyment. Although Sue Ellen liked to pretend that she was her own person and had her own opinions, it was obvious that her mother had greatly influenced the way she saw things and what she believed; she still equated being a proper young lady to being happy, even though it hadn't exactly brought her total happiness in her own life.

Sue Ellen watched Mary as she scrunched her face at the list of suggested activities; that was something they'd have to work on, it was rather rude to make her negative feelings so obvious to a conversational partner; she would need to learn how to control her body language if she wanted to succeed in life. "Those all sound nice, but I don't think they're really me", Mary gave Sue Ellen a shy smile as she replied, unsure of what to think of the wealthy, former Miss Texas, she seemed nice, but they were polar opposites. Sue Ellen smiled at Mary as she replied, at least she was a little bit more polite in spoken language, that was a start. Truthfully, Mary's words hurt a little, but she didn't let it show on her face; charity wasn't supposed to be about her, it was about bringing happiness to others. It did confuse her a bit though, of course Mary was allowed to want to do something different, they were just in the ideas stage right now, nothing was concrete; the problem was, Sue Ellen had really thought that her suggestions sounded fun. The activities she had listed were things she enjoyed herself, she knew Lucy and Kristin enjoyed them as well as the other ladies she socialised with, and she assumed that any other girl would too, but it appeared that she had been wrong and now she didn't know what they were supposed to do. "Well, how about we go and get a cup of coffee, or tea, or cocoa, whatever you'd prefer, and we'll sit down, talk and get to know each other", Sue Ellen smiled at the young girl, she seemed a little shy and she probably just needed a bit of time to open up and reveal her personality. She hadn't given up hope of success yet; it would be easier to find an activity to do together when they actually knew each other on a more personal level.

Returning home just in time to get ready for dinner, Sue Ellen wasn't entirely surprised to see that JR's car wasn't parked in the driveway, it had become the norm for JR to arrive home mere minutes before dinner was served, or sometimes not at all, choosing, or being forced to work late instead. For all the talk about cocktails and dinner being family time, Jock didn't seem to be too bothered by JR's lateness or total absences; it was something he had control over if he really wanted to change it, but he never did. Of course, he was the president of Ewing Oil and he was free to run the company in whatever way he saw fit, but to Sue Ellen, it didn't seem very fair that JR was left with so much responsibility and barely any free time while Jock got to enjoy his life and do whatever he wanted with his time. Even when JR did come home on time, he was often tired and stressed, making him less than pleasant company; it wasn't good for his personal wellbeing or their marriage. With his moods being so unpredictable, his exhaustion when he was home and the late nights, the most intimate part of their marriage had really begun to suffer; it wasn't that they'd completely stopped, but it was much less frequent and it even felt different, like they weren't connected so closely anymore. She'd thought long and hard about it, trying to work out whether it was something she'd done or if it was external problems impacting on their relationship, and she'd come to the conclusion that there was one definite turning point in their relationship, something she felt personally responsible for. Their marriage had always had its ups and downs, but they usually recovered from whatever difficulties they were having, it was usually just a matter of taking a time out from the hustle and bustle of everyday life to really appreciate what they had together, resulting in better communication and relations between them. Recently though, things had been more down than up and it was beginning to really hurt Sue Ellen, she didn't know how much more she could do herself, she tried so hard to be the wife that he wanted and needed, but he also had to put some effort into being a good husband, it just wouldn't work otherwise.

Things had really changed in their relationship after she had taken ill with what she assumed to be a pregnancy, but what was really just the mental stress and exhaustion of her life as JR Ewing's wife catching up to her. After she'd returned home from her mother's house, JR had begun to treat her differently, more delicately, as if the smallest bit of bad news would hurt her, so instead of talking about his thoughts and problems, he withheld them from her, both physically and mentally. His commitment to hiding anything serious or negative from her translated into a significant amount of the intimate attention he previously gave her being directed elsewhere, leaving her frustrated in more than one area of their marriage. In the past, whether he planned it or not, he used to vent his frustration in the bedroom, though she knew he always regretted when he did that, he had a complex about treating her like a lady; however, whenever they did anything of that nature now, it was always slow and gentle, things were just different. She sighed to herself as she parked her car in the driveway and noted that Bobby's car was parked outside too; although she knew how much JR disliked when Bobby was too involved in the business, she found herself wishing that he were more available for general company duties. Having Bobby around to help him would lessen JR's workload and possibly improve their marriage by giving him more time to spend with her without worrying about Ewing Oil; unfortunately, she knew JR would never entertain the idea, he liked to be in control and having Bobby around was not included in his ideal business plan. Walking inside the house, she faked a smile; it wasn't good for her image if she looked gloomy and upset, she had everything she had been taught that she should want in life thanks to the Ewings and it would look awful if she seemed ungrateful for all of that. "Good evening Miss Ellie, Lucy", she smiled at the two before excusing herself upstairs to change and get ready for dinner; even if she wasn't completely satisfied, she could at least pretend to be, burying her feelings was something she was well-versed in, she'd been practicing her whole life.

To be continued…