Austin, Texas

"…and how long would you like to stay, Mrs…?" the hotel receptionist made a judgement about her marital status based on the large diamond on her left hand, though Sue Ellen was quick to correct her, "Miss Shepard. I'm not entirely sure yet, though it'll be at least a week". She opened her purse and pulled out her wallet, handing the receptionist her old UT Austin student identification card; it was the only form of ID that she still possessed with her maiden name on it and she was glad that she'd sentimentally kept it, because right now, she didn't want to be known as Mrs JR Ewing. The receptionist looked at the card and then at the young, pregnant woman's left hand again before handing the card back to her, not questioning her any further because it seemed fairly obvious to her what was going on; the young woman wasn't here for pleasure as she had stated earlier, she was running away from something, or someone. Entering the information into the hotel's check-in register, she handed Sue Ellen a key and called the bellhop over to take her suitcase upstairs. Giving her a pleading look, Sue Ellen slyly handed the receptionist a hundred dollar 'tip' and the middle-aged woman nodded, she didn't need it to be explained, as far as anyone else was concerned, there was no guest by the name or resembling the description of Sue Ellen Shepard/Ewing staying at that hotel.

Dallas, Texas

JR paced back and forth in his bedroom as he reread the scathing note his wife had written and he felt ill every time he thought about the pamphlet she'd so kindly left him, the one that gave a fairly graphic description of everything that could go wrong. He let out a frustrated sigh as he thought about the situation, he was angry, but not at himself, he was angry at his wife; there was no way that this was his fault, there just wasn't, because despite what she believed, he wasn't that stupid or irresponsible. He didn't like having to consciously remember to do it, but he always used protection when he was with any woman other than his wife. He knew that a man of his wealth and status couldn't afford to be doing what he was doing without taking some steps toward ensuring his own personal safety, protecting his assets and making sure that the Ewing name stayed favourable. No, if she had a STD, then it was because she had been whoring around, not him. However, in the back of his mind, he knew that that wasn't true, she was so sweet, innocent and completely in love with him, so much that most of the time, she didn't even really notice the interest other men took in her; deep down, he knew that there was no way she had strayed outside their marriage vows.

As he mentally ran through his recent encounters, as the pamphlet had said to do, it suddenly hit him, "DAMN!" There was a possibility that his unmemorable drunken tryst a few weeks ago had had much more of an effect on him than he'd originally assumed and he felt both stupid and angry about the lack of control he had over the situation, he didn't even know who the woman was. Frustrated and angry, he walked downstairs and grabbed a bottle of bourbon and a glass from the drinks cart in the living room, taking them with him and walking back up to his bedroom to think. In light of the current state of affairs, he decided that it probably wasn't a very smart idea to go out to a bar to drown his sorrows, because knowing him, he would be tempted to leave with a woman, and that seemed like a stupid thing to do right now. Sue Ellen's note made it clear that she did not intend to return to Dallas in the near future and she was angry, disgusted and disappointed in him, but JR wasn't too worried about the situation right now. Not only was she financially dependent on him, she was also emotionally dependent on him and running home to her mother wasn't going to offer her the comfort, coddling or financial stability that living at Southfork with her husband did. No, in JR's mind, his wife wasn't thinking straight right now and she just needed a few days to calm down and reflect, and having heard from his parents that she was in Austin visiting her mother, he was sure that she would be back at Southfork and in his bed in no time. A few days with Patricia Shepard was enough to make anyone reconsider their life-choices and if he knew Sue Ellen, she'd be regretting her hasty decision soon enough.

Austin, Texas

Four days later, Sue Ellen sat alone on a park bench in Zilker Park as she reflected on the past few days; she'd come to Austin in an attempt to escape the pain that was present in Dallas, but she wasn't really sure that she'd been even somewhat successful. Dallas was the Ewing's home, but Austin was where she'd called home for the majority of her life, she'd grown up in Austin and she was comfortable there, though not comfortable enough to make contact with her family, that was something that had to wait, she couldn't deal with her mother just yet. However, even with it being a familiar place, surrounded by landmarks and memories that should have been comforting to her, deep down, she knew that Austin wasn't her home anymore; it was part of her past and it was here in the present, but it wasn't where she saw her future self. She'd done everything that she thought would make her feel better, visiting all of her favourite places, doing a little shopping and spending a lot of time alone with her thoughts, but none of her attempts to improve her mood or feelings about the situation had been much help. She was angry, upset and disgusted but most of all, she hated herself for still having some positive feelings toward her husband, because as much as she hated him and wanted nothing more than for him to painfully suffer the consequences of his actions, she also felt some love for him and it felt wrong to admit that she did. She'd removed her wedding and engagement rings on her first night in Austin, but after just half a day of not wearing them, she felt guilty and empty, as if she were wronging the vows she'd committed to on her wedding day, especially 'for better, for worse… in sickness and in health'. By the time she finished eating dinner on her second day in Austin, she felt guilty and dirty for allowing men to flirt with her as if she were an available woman, which despite being furious with her husband, she was not. On Sunday morning, she'd slipped the simple silver wedding band back on her finger, though she'd left her flashy engagement ring locked in the safe in her hotel room; she only wanted a visual sign to indicate that she was married, not one that told everyone that she was a trophy wife.

Sighing to herself, she felt empty as she stared out at the large grassy field area where some college students were playing a friendly game of football. She didn't really know what she was doing with her life, because it seemed obvious to her that Austin wasn't her home anymore, but she was nowhere near ready to even think about going back to JR. As she felt a few soft movements in her tummy, she began to cry, her baby was giving her a physical reminder that she not only had to figure out her own life, but the life they would live together, with or without JR. If she'd learned anything from Lucy's presence at Southfork though, she was sure that if she did decide that she wasn't willing to forgive JR and wanted out of their marriage, he wouldn't make it easy for her to leave, at least not with their child. The baby she was carrying was the future Ewing heir and to JR and his daddy, that was more important than anything else, even infidelity, lying and common decency. Everything was a huge mess and she really had no idea where she was going to from here.

To be continued…