Dallas, Texas

"JR!" Sue Ellen dramatically stood and ran over to greet her husband as he and Bobby walked in the door; cringing at the excessive noise she was making, he mumbled something about spending the night at the condo and turned his attention to Teresa to ask for some coffee. It wasn't exactly the warm welcome she'd been hoping for, but she was still relieved that he was home safely and she felt better about whatever had happened last night as he explained that he'd stayed at the condo, his story backed up by the fact that he and Bobby had arrived home together. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, because she did, but sometimes she still couldn't believe that he'd chosen her to be his wife and she still had insecurities about not being enough for him, and her lack of self-confidence often led her to overthink things and imagine scenarios that were exaggerated or completely false. She also had the added insecurity of knowing that he had cheated on her when they were dating, she'd seen he and Julie with her own eyes and she wasn't so naïve that she really believed Julie was the only woman he'd been with during those years. However, although their marriage had had its ups and downs, she wanted to believe and mostly did believe that he'd been faithful to her, and she had no evidence of anything to dispute that belief. Seeing he and Bobby enter the house at the same time and not hearing Bobby dispute JR's explanation made her feel better about everything and she was now convinced that Miss Ellie had been right when she said that men were just not as considerate as women and that she'd been worrying for nothing. Re-entering the room, Teresa handed both JR and Bobby their coffees; "if you'll all excuse me, I'm going to go change into some fresh clothes", Bobby made a quick comment and then walked upstairs. "I'll go and see if Jock needs anything", Miss Ellie excused herself too as she realised that she wasn't needed nor wanted there anymore, leaving just JR and Sue Ellen standing in the foyer area.

"I'm glad you're home safely, I was so worried", Sue Ellen leaned forward and relaxed as she hugged him, though her relaxed mind-set didn't last long as she noticed the faint scent of women's perfume on his shirt collar and the familiar feeling of intuition related anxiety returned to her stomach. There had to be another explanation, she didn't want to believe that he'd cheated on her, but the evidence before her clearly showed that another woman had been close enough to him for something to happen, and he had spent the whole night away from home, so naturally, she began to think the worst. She tensed up as she processed it and tried to come to a different conclusion other than the obvious one, and she relaxed a little as she tried to convince herself that it had occurred at the party, not after the party. They had greeted all of their guests last night, half of whom were women, and he hadn't changed clothes since then, yes, that was where the perfume smell had come from, there was a totally innocent explanation, or so she reasoned. JR suddenly felt awkward as he felt her body tense in the middle of their hug; he hadn't been entirely truthful in his earlier explanation and he hoped that his lies had been convincing enough for her to not question him, though her body language was telling him that that may not be the case. "I'm sorry darlin', I suppose we just lost track of time, and then it was too late to call when we got to the condo, especially since I remembered that you were tired at the end of the party last night and you said you were going to bed. I didn't want to wake you", he paused after he gave her his rehearsed explanation and hoped she didn't question him. "Bobby had the right idea, I'm going to head upstairs and change into some fresh clothes too; no one wants to wear the same clothes for more than twelve hours", he gave her a light kiss before turning and walking up the stairs, breathing a sigh of relief when she didn't make any move to follow him. It wasn't that she'd done anything wrong or upset him, but he really needed a few moments alone to clear his head before talking to her again. He didn't like the way he felt this morning, it wasn't how he liked things to go in situations like these; he usually had a better recollection of what had happened and he usually had more time and space between his other women and his wife, and the way the situation was playing out this morning was not ideal. Infidelity wasn't anything new to him, but he usually handled it better; out of town business trips were ideal, working overtime provided a good excuse, late lunches and 'afternoon meetings' were a guilty pleasure of his, and providing entertainment and benefits to persuade potential business partners to do business with Ewing Oil was one of his personal favourites. All of his usual methods had one thing in common, he was always in control of the situation, but this morning, control was the last word he would have used to describe the way he felt.

His biggest annoyance was that he had to completely fabricate a story, there was risk that came with a full lie rather than a half-truth and he didn't like the potential consequences of that risk; in business, he was a risk-taker, but with Sue Ellen's delicate disposition, he'd rather err on the side of caution. He understood that the safest way to make sure that she stayed happy and healthy was to pay attention to her and not do anything that would upset her, however, truthfully, he was selfish, and he liked the idea of having both the perfect traditional, ladylike wife, and other women in his life. Monogamy was expected of his wife, but he didn't hold himself to the same standard, and in his mind, everything made perfect sense. His wife was there to listen to him, support him unconditionally, love him and do whatever he asked of her, but in choosing a true lady to be his wife, it felt wrong to also expect her to do the things that he enjoyed, sexually speaking. She was supposed to be conservative, demure and shy and for the most part, that's exactly how she was, except for the very rare occasions where she took a more dominant approach. Mentally, he just couldn't bring himself to see her in any way other than as a lady and he usually found himself feeling guilty if he did treat her rougher than he was supposed to. He didn't want to upset his wife, so it made total sense to him that he would seek other, lesser women to fulfil his darker, dirtier fantasies; he couldn't control what he liked, but he could control the way he sought satisfaction, or at least, that's how he reasoned it in his mind. There was also a more selfish side to his actions though, one that had nothing to do with how Sue Ellen felt and everything to do with power and ego; JR Ewing almost always got what he wanted and he enjoyed women, money and power the most. The previous night had played out less than ideally, but from the lack of further questioning by his wife, he was fairly sure that he'd gotten away with it this time, and for that, he was grateful. She was pregnant, and fragile, and he never intentionally meant to hurt her; ignorance really was bliss in this situation, and he wanted it to stay that way for as long as possible.

To be continued…