Houston, Texas

"Well sir, I think we have an agreement", JR grinned as he laid out the paperwork for the man to sign; it was just a tentative agreement, the secretaries would change some of the details and fill out the particulars, making them ready for the lawyers to check before they were signed and returned later in the week. However, JR wasn't concerned about the fact that the contracts weren't completely binding yet, he was certain that the deal would go through, they'd made a lot of progress in today's meeting and agreed on a deal that was good for each of their companies. Now that he was secure in the knowledge that Ewing Oil was a winner once again, he was ready to lighten the mood. In true Texan style, Mr Miller grinned, almost as if he had read JR's mind, "Kathy, would you please come in here", he buzzed his secretary and ordered her into his office to make their drinks, the contracts were signed, they were celebrating, it was time to show a little hospitality to his guest. Having Ewing Oil as an ally was only a good thing, negotiating with JR Ewing could either go excellently, or terribly, the man was ruthless when it came to business and it always paid to be on his good side. JR grinned to himself as the secretary formerly identified as Kathy entered the office, he remembered seeing her on the way in, appreciating then the way her hips moved as she walked in front of him to show him to Mr Miller's office; she was young, tall and blonde, a classic Texan beauty. Looking her up and down, he appreciated the way she positioned herself at the bar as she set about preparing their drinks; she knew her best physical features and she clearly knew her role within the company, she was there for primarily aesthetic purposes, her administrative duties were secondary.

JR briefly thought about Julie, she played somewhat of a similar role in Ewing Oil, though hers was more toned down, she was sexy, but it was more of a subtle flirty sexy than an overt sexy; she would perform personal services for their associates if JR asked her to, but those were rare occasions. Truthfully, he didn't like the idea of every man in Dallas having had a piece of her, so he usually used hired professionals for his blackmail purposes; however, there were occasionally situations where he specifically needed someone like Julie. She knew Ewing Oil and she knew JR, her brainpower and manipulative talents were useful to him when he required a more detailed picture of a situation; Julie knew how to get information out of men, a talent JR appreciated and rewarded her for. If he just wanted pictures to blackmail someone with, then he could use a hooker, but information required a more delicate approach; it was simple, there were very few hired women that he actually trusted to keep their silence after he'd paid them, and some things were just too risky for him to assign responsibility to an unqualified girl. Sometimes it was necessary to use Julie for other purposes, but he would never pimp her out in the way that Kathy earned her salary at Miller Industries. JR watched her hips sway as she walked over and handed him his bourbon, making sure she paused for a few seconds to give him a chance to notice her cleavage. He grinned to himself as he sipped his drink, he knew would end up in bed with someone tonight, but it wouldn't be this particular woman, she was too close to the company he was dealing with, he wouldn't implicate himself like that, it was too obvious. However, that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy the view, after all there was no harm in looking.

Dallas, Texas

"No dresses or skirts?" Sue Ellen watched Lucy as she moved around the clothing racks in the juniors section of The Store, she was beginning to regret promising Lucy that she would hold back her honest opinions, there was so much more that she wanted to say. Lucy was smart, she knew not to waste the opportunity on something silly, if Sue Ellen was going to buy her anything and everything she wanted and not complain about how 'unladylike' her choices were, then she was going to take advantage of it. The clothing stores were now full of new season fashions, just in time for Lucy to choose a completely new back to school wardrobe. She had thought out their whole trip, she would ask Sue Ellen to go to The Store first, they would buy the basics there and it would ease her into the idea of letting her choose her own things. Then, when Sue Ellen was feeling a little better about everything, thinking she'd won the game, she would request that they visit some of the trendier stores in the mall, that's where she planned on purchasing the majority of the clothes she wanted. "No dresses or skirts, at least not for school. Only little girls and middle-aged women are wearing dresses now. I want to look cool, and denim jeans and corduroy pants are cool. Haven't you read any magazines lately?" she looked away from Sue Ellen and rolled her eyes, the stylish Miss Texas had been replaced with a conservative, traditional woman, it was as if marrying JR and joining the DOA had aged her well beyond her actual age of just twenty-four. Sue Ellen never seemed to think that anything she chose was acceptable, instead, overriding Lucy's preferred choices with cutesy dresses and dainty accessories, they were fine a few years ago, but now, they weren't at all what she wanted to wear. It was as if Sue Ellen wanted to keep her dressed like a little girl forever, but she wasn't a little girl, she was almost a teenager, and she wanted to dress like all popular girls at school; why her aunt didn't seem to understand that was beyond her. Sue Ellen had a mental response to Lucy's comment, but decided against voicing it, just nodding and allowing Lucy to walk over to the next rack of clothes; their discussion wasn't worth getting into a fight about, especially not in public like this. The truth of the matter was that Lucy wasn't actually her daughter, she had no real authority over her other than being the adult in the situation; the closeness in their relationship was based solely on their attitudes towards each other, and she really didn't want Lucy to hate her or stop wanting to spend time with her. She needed all the friends she could get, especially with JR being so busy all the time; if Lucy wanted to have the freedom to choose her own clothes and Miss Ellie was ok with the idea, then it wasn't her place to tell her no.

Besides, there were worse things in life than a little girl being interested her appearance and wanting to fit in, at least she cared enough to assert herself in order to get what she wanted, it was more than what Sue Ellen had done at Lucy's age. The more Sue Ellen thought about it, the more she realised just how much her mother had controlled every aspect of her life and how she had just accepted it; it was hard to admit, because she didn't want to be like her mother, but by trying to redirect Lucy's interests, she was imitating her mother's parenting style. Sighing, she looked over at the younger children's clothing section, gone were the days where she could purchase a stack of cute and feminine new outfits, place them on Lucy's bed and only get positive thanks in response to her gesture. Turning her head, she noticed the racks on the other side of the children's section, little boys clothing; for a brief moment she wondered whether it was any easier with a son, the choices seemed a lot simpler and boys typically didn't care as much about their appearance as girls did. However, her heart sank as she realised that it would be years before she ever got to shop in that section; John Ross Ewing III was taking a lot longer to announce himself than anyone had expected, a sad fact that impacted her every day of her life. No one said anything anymore, but she knew that everyone was thinking about it, if she didn't produce a son soon, the Ewing family would think there was something wrong with her, and would probably start to wonder whether their investment in her as a Ewing wife was worth all the hassle. "Can you please hold these, there are a few more things I want to get before I try everything on", her thoughts were interrupted as Lucy handed her a pile of clothes, though she wasn't upset about it, the topic of possible infertility was one she wasn't ready to confront just yet, it was too painful.

To be continued…