Dallas, Texas

"JR", Jock waved his arm at JR and JR stood, giving his wife a quick kiss on the cheek before grabbing his hat and briefcase and leaving the house. "Lucy, you'd better be going too, you don't want to be late for school", Miss Ellie smiled at her granddaughter and waved her out of the room before checking her watch, leaving the room herself as she muttered something about going upstairs to finish getting herself ready for her morning with Mavis. "Miss Sue Ellen?" Teresa cleared the rest of the family's dirty plates from the table before hovering in the room as Sue Ellen stared absently out the window, not touching her food, but also not making any moves to leave the dining room. Sue Ellen was brought back into reality as she heard Teresa speak her name, "oh, I'm finished now. Thank you Teresa", she stood and left the dining room, making her way upstairs to 'finish getting ready', though she wasn't sure what for, her plans for the day consisted of riding her horse and sunbathing by the pool, neither of which required any more getting ready than a quick change of clothes. Walking into their bedroom, she paced around for a while, unsure of what to do with herself now that she was there; straightening the frames on the wall and reorganizing the top of her dressing table, she looked around the room, everything was clean, tidy and organized, there wasn't much more she could do in there right now. Sighing to herself, she picked up a magazine from her nightstand and walked downstairs, telling Teresa that she was going to sit outside for a while and asking her to bring her a cup of coffee. Sitting down, she looked at her watch and sighed, it was only just after 8.30am and she was already antsy, it was strange to have so much time on her hands again now that the school year summer vacation period was over.

Earlier in the summer, she had asked the ranch hands to have her horse tacked up and ready to ride at 9.30am every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, but she made a mental note to change the time again now that Lucy had started school again and her mornings were free of disruptions. It was clear from her restlessness this morning that she had gotten used to having more people around her and more things to fill her day with and she was having a hard time adjusting back into her normal life. Although the people she had been around for the summer were younger girls that she had effectively been babysitting, they were still people she was socialising with and she felt at a loss now that the school year had started and her 'friends' were busy with their own lives again. Sipping her coffee and looking out at the ranch, Sue Ellen felt a bit silly as she reflected on her thoughts, it seemed a bit sad that she was considered her niece, her mother-in-law, her sister and her DOA 'little sister' to be her closest friends; because the cold reality was that that she had no real friends anymore. Things had been so much easier when she was in college, she was a cheerleader, sorority girl, Miss Texas and all-round popular student, she had been happy with the way her life was back then. In college, even when a close friend wasn't there, there was always someone around who wanted to hang out and do something together, even the people she considered mere acquaintances had been closer than the 'friends' she had now. Outside of the Ewing family, the DOA ladies were probably the people she socialised with the most, but she didn't really consider any of them to be her real friends. The DOA ladies were nice enough to meet with a few times a week for meetings or the occasional social get together, but they were all playing a game, it was all about keeping up appearances and staying relevant in Dallas society, it was all superficial, not real. The truth of the matter was that she had no real friends and she hadn't had any in quite some time; after college graduation, her life had gone one way and her friends lives had gone another way, they'd just drifted apart. The problem was, she hadn't made any new friends to replace the ones that she had lost, and didn't know where to begin to make new friends now. Her husband wasn't nearly present enough for them to enjoy quality time together like they used to, her in-laws were just that, she had no hobbies or interests outside of the DOA and shopping and she had no baby yet; her life felt empty. Finishing her coffee, she walked upstairs and changed into her riding clothes before slowly making her way down to the stables; as she walked across the ranch, she made the decision to increase her morning rides from three times a week to five and change the time to 8.30. The changes would give her something to do in the mornings, at least in the meantime; anything had to be better than sitting alone waiting for time to pass.

Returning back to the house at midday, Sue Ellen quickly showered and changed clothes before walking downstairs for lunch on the patio, alone, again. For a moment, she regretted not taking Miss Ellie up on her offer to spend the day with her and Mavis, but she quickly reminded herself that her mother-in-law was merely being polite and that it would be intrusive and rude to impose on their time together. Teresa brought out the plate of food for Sue Ellen's lunch, asked her whether she needed anything else and then returned to the house, leaving Sue Ellen to enjoy her lunch in peace, though the quietness of the ranch house seemed more unnerving than relaxing. It was too quiet, too empty; everyone that inhabited Southfork was somewhere else right now, doing something productive or enjoyable with their lives, that is, everyone but Sue Ellen, she was just sitting at home by herself, lonely, sad and bored. She ate her lunch and walked upstairs, her mind dazed as she moved around the bedroom, subconsciously changing into her bathing suit and cover-up. As she looked at herself in the mirror to check her final appearance, it suddenly occurred to her that she didn't really feel like being out in the sun all afternoon after she had just been riding all morning and she was acting out of routine rather than want. She hesitated, uneasy with the new realisation, one that should have been obvious to her before, but wasn't; she didn't have to do anything that she didn't want to do; unfortunately, it was easier to act on a scheduled routine of monotonous activities than it was to do something different, because truthfully, she didn't really know what she wanted. Making a snap decision, something she hardly ever did, she changed out of her bathing suit and into a nice, publically acceptable outfit, grabbed her purse and got into her car, leaving the ranch; she didn't really have a plan or a destination, but she was going to do something different this afternoon, and she was going to enjoy it.

To be continued…