Dallas, Texas

"No messages at all?" Sue Ellen's face dropped as she quizzed the hotel receptionist on Thursday evening as she returned after a day at the spa. At first, she had been relieved at JR's lack of communication upon her return to Dallas, she didn't want to talk to him and she was glad that she didn't have to keep telling him that; it was emotionally exhausting to have to deal with the constant reminders of JR's betrayal. However, having been back for four days now and having had no contact at all with him, her relief was slowly turning into sadness, loneliness and self-doubt. It wasn't JR's style to not send her apology gifts or even try to make contact with her if he wanted her back, or even just to let her know that he knew she was back in Dallas, because she had no doubt that he knew, he was JR Ewing, he knew everything that went on in Dallas. In her mind, influenced by her low self-esteem and pregnancy hormones, she decided that if he had stopped trying to contact her, then he'd stopped thinking about her and had decided that she wasn't worth the trouble anymore, perhaps he'd given up on their marriage altogether. She may have been angry with him and not ready to simply forgive him and go back to living a normal life with him, but she still needed to be Mrs JR Ewing, she needed the name, the money and the familial support that came with being a Ewing; she needed him to keep trying. "I'm sorry ma'am, no messages", the receptionist gave her a sympathetic smile before Sue Ellen thanked her and turned to head upstairs to her room.

"Jock?" Miss Ellie spoke to her husband as she prepared for bed; "mhm", Jock looked up at her and encouraged her to speak. "I'm concerned about Sue Ellen. I called her hotel in Austin earlier today and they said she had checked out, but she didn't say anything about her destination. She was in a terrible state the last time I saw her and I'm very worried about her right now. She's five months pregnant, emotional and all alone; she shouldn't have to be dealing with any of this let alone having to do it alone, especially in an unfamiliar place". She sighed to herself sadly as she thought about the situation; she had hoped that when JR married Sue Ellen that that was the end of his philandering lifestyle, however, instead of stopping, it appeared that he'd just learned to hide that side of himself better. There had been some times when JR and Sue Ellen were legitimately happy and she had no doubt that he really was being faithful and good to his wife, but those good times were intermingled with a lot of bad times, times neither she nor Sue Ellen hadn't even realised were bad times until much later. Miss Ellie felt guilty for her role in the whole situation; she had spent countless hours counselling and consoling Sue Ellen and reminding her of the responsibilities and privileges that came with being a Ewing wife, because in her own experience, it was hard, but it was worth it. She felt guilty for all the times she had reassured Sue Ellen that JR's distance from her wasn't her fault and was all down to his dedication to Ewing Oil and his need to be the best. However, she now knew differently; JR was dedicated to Ewing Oil, but when he was away from Southfork, he wasn't thinking solely about Ewing Oil and he wasn't thinking about his wife nearly as much as she had been thinking about him. She was angry at her eldest son for treating his wife the way that he did, because Sue Ellen had done nothing but try to be the best wife she could and she had felt an enormous amount of guilt and responsibility when they relationship wasn't picture perfect and she wasn't as happy as she was 'supposed' to be.

The way Miss Ellie saw it, JR had treated Sue Ellen so badly that his actions had caused her fragile emotional state to worsen, eventually getting to the point where she felt worthless and confused about her thoughts and actions and honestly questioned whether she had played a part in causing JR to act the way he did. However, although she blamed JR for the majority of the situation, she also felt guilty for the role she had played in the whole ordeal and had thought about it a lot since her discussion with Sue Ellen last week. If she had said or done something earlier than she could have helped Sue Ellen become a stronger, more independent person, one that didn't rely on her husband for her entire identity. She had watched her daughter-in-law get lonelier and more isolated from her peers from the moment she quit modelling when she and JR were dating, but it had really worsened after they had married and JR began to reacquaint himself with being the vice president of Ewing Oil, not just a newly married man. Sue Ellen had thrown herself into being the best, most dedicated wife she knew how to be, but JR had had many more responsibilities than just being a good husband, legitimate responsibilities. Miss Ellie felt bad for sitting by and watching Sue Ellen drift through her life at Southfork; time she had spent alone while JR was busy was time that she didn't necessarily have to spend alone, if she'd had more friends in Dallas, then perhaps she would have had a happier life. She had thought that giving Sue Ellen more responsibility in DOA activities would help bring more substance and meaning to her life, however, it became clear after a while that the DOA really was just a distraction from the general worries of her everyday life. Sue Ellen liked feeling useful, but she never totally understood that she was allowed to dedicate a large part of her attention and energy to other things; it didn't have to be 90% JR and 10% everything else. She and Sue Ellen had had many talks about Sue Ellen's feelings, but they never really came up with a conclusive solution and they never really fixed any of her issues. In hindsight, there probably wasn't anything Sue Ellen could have done to stop JR from cheating, because she wasn't in control of his actions, but she could have protected herself better, she could have worked on improving herself before she tried to improve their marriage.

Miss Ellie sighed to herself, it was a complicated situation and every day that Sue Ellen wasn't at home with her family was another day that her guilt and concern grew. She had seen Sue Ellen in a bad emotional state before the car crash a few months ago and if Sue Ellen didn't start dealing with her issues more openly soon, then she feared that she was heading straight for another breakdown, one that could hurt not only herself, but her child too. "I had a word with JR earlier, gave him an ultimatum; Sue Ellen will be back at Southfork by Sunday, I'll make sure of it", Jock was annoyed with Sue Ellen for causing his wife so much distress, however, he wasn't heartless and he did empathise with the young woman. Even he understood that JR had treated his wife terribly and he understood why she didn't want to see him right now, however, he was just about done with dealing with this situation, it was time for Sue Ellen and his grandson to come back to Southfork where they belonged. At this point, he didn't even care whether she moved back into the bedroom she and JR shared, all that mattered was the fact that the Ewings were together. "Oh Jock", Miss Ellie sighed as she considered her husband's words, he may have meant well with his ultimatum, but he was pushing JR to do something drastic and if JR was being pushed, then any empathy he had left would go out the window in pursuit of what he wanted. "I know what I'm doing, just trust me. The girl will be fine. I'll personally ensure that JR treats her with nothing but kindness and respect once she's back home, and I promise, things will improve simply by having the family together, especially when our new grandson arrives", Jock gave her a kiss on the cheek before picking up his book again, effectively ending the conversation. Miss Ellie sighed, she wasn't going to argue with Jock about this, her words simply wouldn't change anything at this stage, however, not arguing with him was not the same as not doing anything about the situation and she intended to personally make sure that Sue Ellen was ok. She would have to wait until tomorrow to make any moves though, because it was much too late to do anything right now, especially since she didn't even know where Sue Ellen was anymore. Changing into her nightgown, she got into bed, her mind not resting just yet as she planned her new approach to the situation, one that was completely different to both Jock and JR's way of doing things. She needed to remind Sue Ellen that she wasn't alone and had a lot of people that cared about her, because if she knew Sue Ellen, her self-esteem was plummeting by the hour.

To be continued…