Dallas, Texas

"JR?" Sue Ellen exited the bathroom and entered the bedroom, sliding into bed next to her husband, "mhm", JR looked up at her from the book he was reading, closing it and putting it on the nightstand as he read her expression, she wanted to talk, and the least he could do right now was pay attention to her. "Do you still have that private box at the Cowboys stadium?" although it wasn't really the ideal time to start a conversation, she decided to ask him now anyway, if she waited until she had his full attention then she'd be waiting a long time. "I do, well, we do, technically Ewing Oil owns it", JR looked at her confusedly as he spoke, Sue Ellen had been a cheerleader in college, but that was about as close as she got to an interest in football, why she would be asking about his private box now was a mystery to him. "Oh good, do you think it would be possible for me to take Mary there sometime, perhaps tour the stadium too?" she paused and looked at him before continuing to speak, he probably needed a little more clarification. "As much as I'm trying to get her interested in other things, she really seems to enjoy sports; though an interest in sport alone isn't going to get her a college scholarship, so I'm working hard to improve her tennis skills so that she can make the team when she goes back to school in the fall. I want my impact on her to be longer lasting than just this summer, she's smart and she deserves better than what she has. She works so hard to do the things I want her to and act the way I instruct her to, she's a good girl really, so I think she deserves a reward for her behaviour; seeing something from a perspective that other people of her economic means never do will give her something to really remember. A Cowboys game from a private box seems like a good idea, don't you think?" she finished speaking and waited for his response.

JR listened as she spoke, she started off making sense, but then she launched into something completely foreign to him, who the heck was Mary and why was Sue Ellen so concerned about her life? In that moment, he realised that he really hadn't been paying a whole lot of attention to his wife lately, the name and story vaguely rang a bell, she was doing some charity work for the DOA, but he didn't really know the details. It appeared by the way she spoke just now though that she'd obviously shared some information with him before and assumed that he knew what she was talking about, unfortunately for her, and for him, he just hadn't been listening and this was all new information to him. "It sounds great darlin', you're doing a good thing helping that girl. I'll call my contact tomorrow and arrange a tour of the stadium for you two later in the week", he was JR Ewing, he could easily make things like that happen; "thank you JR", she smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek as he confirmed her idea without argument. "Sue Ellen?" it surprised her as he continued to speak, "you do realise that there probably won't be much happening there right now, football season doesn't start until September". He couldn't help but laugh as he watched her face drop, of course she didn't realise that there wouldn't be a game on, or any players hanging around that they could meet, she only followed football in a very vague sense, not really taking notice of details like season schedules; she was a cheerleader at heart, not a football fan. "JR", she whined and began to pout as he laughed at her; truthfully, he was right, she didn't really think about whether the season was on or not, but it still hurt that he was laughing at her. She had been ultrasensitive about the way he spoke to her lately, he had been treating her like a child, as if she needn't concern herself with details of his business, and now it felt like he was laughing at her naivety, it just hurt to think that he underestimated her ability to think at an adult level.

JR frowned at her as she petulantly whined and pouted, he had been amused by her enthusiasm for something she knew nothing about, but he hadn't meant it in a nasty way; he loved that she wanted to please her new friend even when she had no real interest in football herself. He was quickly reminded that she was sensitive though, her pout making it clear that his joking comments had offended her; he knew she hated when he spoke down to her and it appeared that she didn't appreciate his little reminder. However, with the way she was acting right now it almost seemed appropriate to treat her like a child, she was behaving like one; he hadn't meant to offend her and he hadn't said anything terrible, she was overreacting again. Deciding that he didn't feel like having her upset with him, he chose to make amends for his misspoken words, he didn't enjoy apologising, but it wasn't something that was worth fighting about, "I'm sorry darlin', I didn't mean to upset you. Maybe if Mary would like to, you could bring her to a game next season, then she'll have the full experience", he smiled and willed her to accept his suggestion, he had made the move to apologise, the ball was in her court now as far as he was concerned. Sue Ellen looked at him as he finished speaking, silently scolding herself for once again overreacting to something he said, she needed to stop being so sensitive about his little comments, he didn't set out to upset her, she was too easily offended. "No, I know you didn't, I overreacted. Your idea sounds great, thank you JR", she moved closer and kissed him, hoping that he wasn't upset with her for the way she acted. Their conversation had unintentionally reminded her that she needed to remember to control her response to his words and not be so emotional about things, because if she couldn't handle a little light teasing, then she was sure that he'd never open up to her about his bigger problems again either. JR was surprised when she kissed him, he didn't understand women sometimes, but he wasn't going to argue with the turn of events, instead, turning off the bedside lamp and kissing her back; it was a much more enjoyable way to end the evening than getting in an argument.

To be continued…