Dallas, Texas
Driving along the highway on their way back to Southfork, JR glanced over at his wife and then mentally cursed Marilee Stone again. The woman had no shame, she said and did whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, and she didn't care how it made her look; she was perfectly content being known as a rude, hostile woman and she was perfectly content, happy even, for her words and actions to negatively affect other people. He should have cut the conversation with Marilee and Seth short before Marilee and Sue Ellen ever got a chance to talk, because history had proven that the two women were not friends and had no interest in a friendly relationship, and even a cordial relationship was a bit too much to ask for.
The DOA was full of women who knew what was what, so Marilee fit in well with the group, she didn't really have to pretend to be anything other than who and what she was. Sue Ellen understood the mentality too and at times, she had been just as bad as the rest of the members, however, she did like to think that her life wasn't like that all the time, but from what she'd heard and experienced, she assumed Marilee's was. Knowing she and Marilee would never be friends and not particularly wanting to be friends anyway, Sue Ellen had chosen to live her life as if Marilee didn't exist, and for the most part, Marilee did the same for Sue Ellen. Unfortunately, something inside Marilee had snapped when she had seen JR and Sue Ellen at the Oil Baron's Club and she had felt the need to make a number of thinly veiled nasty comments toward them. The false niceties had been easy for both JR and Sue Ellen to deal with, because they both knew the score with Marilee, so they were not expecting anything other than what they got, however, what had come next had thrown them for a loop.
JR didn't know how Marilee felt comfortable referencing her formerly promiscuous past in front of Seth, the man she was supposed to be in a committed, monogamous marriage with, but he didn't really care too much, it was her life and their marriage, not his. He did care though that Marilee had cruelly decided to remind everyone of their history and had purposely made a vague comment about rekindling old friendships. Seth Stone was a decent man, he wasn't innocent, but whatever he had done in his own past, he didn't deserve a wife like Marilee, a woman who didn't seem to have received the message that married women weren't supposed to act the way she had with JR and in polite society, the majority of things she said weren't acceptable. JR didn't know how or why Seth put up with Marilee's obnoxious and toxic behaviour, but it wasn't really his problem to worry about, at least it hadn't been until earlier in the day.
What he was dealing with now really wasn't something that had needed to happen; Marilee was a spiteful woman for reasons unknown, because she had lived a very privileged life and really, she had no reason to say or do such purposely dramatic and nasty things. Her comments regarding her and JR's past intimate relationship served no purpose except to make Sue Ellen jealous and angry, JR angry, and Seth, well, JR didn't really know what her intention was with him, though he did know that she probably wasn't trying to please him. Whatever Marilee's reasons for saying what she had, the end result was still the same, Sue Ellen had slapped her, glared at JR and then walked into the elevator without another word. Knowing his next moves were important and would affect how the situation between he and Sue Ellen would turn out, JR had then said a few angry words to Marilee, almost completely ignored Seth and then quickly entered the elevator his wife was standing in. He hated leaving a scene without having time to properly retaliate, because he had a lot more to say to Marilee than he had, however, he wasn't stupid and he knew his marriage was more important than having the final word with a woman who was purposely stirring the pot, waiting for drama to ensue.
Unfortunately, whatever path he had chosen to take in response to Marilee's intentionally provocative comments wouldn't have been right in Sue Ellen's eyes, because she was hurt and angry that the whole thing had occurred, and she needed a little time to calm down before she could see things clearly again. Deep down, Sue Ellen knew Marilee's comments were intended to hurt and upset her, so to react that way was just giving Marilee what she wanted, however, she couldn't help but feel that way, because no matter how horrible Marilee's intent was, she had been basing some of her comments off the truth of the past. Whether Sue Ellen liked it or not, JR had a past that didn't include her, and even though he had explained to her years ago that his relationship with Marilee was complicated, but nothing to worry about, just hearing him say that didn't automatically make her negative feelings disappear.
After JR had stepped foot in the elevator, he had known all was not well, because instead of crying, shouting, slapping him or really showing any kind of emotion, Sue Ellen had simply looked coldly and blankly at him, and now, after almost half an hour of complete silence from her, he knew he had to do something. If Doctor Williams had taught him anything, it was that he and Sue Ellen never fixed their problems by not speaking and the longer they held things inside them, the harder it became to fix the original problem, because it was reasonable to need a little time to think, but too much time to stew was never a good thing.
Getting off the highway, driving through Braddock and then passing the perimeter of what was now his and Sue Ellen's land, JR then made a surprising turn. He and Sue Ellen were going to talk and sort out whatever the problem was now, before it turned into something much bigger than it needed to be.
To be continued….