Dallas, Texas

Listening to his father and brother as they had the same conversation they had been having all week, Bobby found his mind wandering. January never had fantastic weather, and ranching was hard work, but lately, he had found himself feeling much more fulfilled and energized on the days he spent at Southfork than he did on the days he was travelling or made an appearance at the Ewing Oil office. The oil industry was exciting and he loved that a lot of the time his work didn't feel like work, because socialising was something he had always done and had always enjoyed, however, lately, things had been different. JR and his father were both strong, opinionated men, and while they were respectful of each other's opinions, they had no problem making it known when they disagreed with something. In this case, he was tired of the discussion; he had heard both sides multiple times and had come to the conclusion that no one could actually predict the future, so all they could do was be as prepared as they could. JR's perspective was based on statistical predictions and an assumption that their proactivity over the past year, both in oil and other areas, would protect them from too much harm. His father on the other hand, seemed more negative about the entire thing; his opinion was also based on statistical predictions, but his numbers were a lot different to JR's because he had factored in 'experience from the US' social and economic past'. Bobby didn't know what to think; both his father and brother had fair points, but the fact of the matter was neither of them could control or completely accurately predict what the future held, so while talking and disagreeing was interesting at first, it was getting repetitive and boring now.

It didn't help either that he wasn't really involved in the running of the business. After graduating college, he had been so sure working at Ewing Oil, in the office with his daddy and brother, was exactly what he was meant to do and exactly what he wanted to do, however, the actual reality of life at the office was nothing like what he had expected. The roles he had played at Ewing Oil when he was a child, teenager and then college student, were quite different to the role he was initially given at the office after graduation. It soon became clear to him that as much as he wanted to and as hard as he worked to achieve what he wanted, it wasn't that easy. JR was sneakier, smarter and more experienced than he was, and his father loved him and wanted nothing more than for him to succeed, but he was a busy, successful man who wasn't used to having to train employees from the very bottom. It was obvious after the initial settling in period that reading and analysing maps and statistics, and preparing successful business plans were not his strengths; luckily though, all hope of success was not lost, because as he was naturally a people person and Ewing Oil needed someone like that. He was sure JR had set him up with the job he had simply because it meant he was out of the office and away from the 'important' decisions and action, however, after all of the things JR had done to sabotage his success, it was the one thing he actually hadn't been angry or upset about.

Things had changed recently though. Where he had previously just done a lot of schmoozing and entertaining to maintain important people's positive opinion of Ewing Oil, there was now more of a hard sell to do. He was perfectly capable of convincing people to see things his way even when they were initially sceptical or less willing to just accept his goodwill because they couldn't make equal promises to return the favour, but in the past, that scenario had been much less common than it was now. His father was right in some aspects, people and companies did seem to have less money to work with and there were things going on in Washington that he couldn't even begin to comprehend, so his job wasn't as simple as making contacts and discussing potential deals anymore.

The positive aspect of the situation they were in was that because he was focused on making and maintaining positive connections, he hadn't had to do anything unsavoury recently; he hadn't really had time and for whatever reason, his father didn't see it as being as important as doing what he had originally been assigned to do. He understood and accepted that sometimes, to get ahead, playing dirty made sense and could be seen as a need, even if they never intended to use the potentially damaging information they collected; he would be glad if he never had to actually deal with that side of business again though. Being sneaky or nasty didn't sit well with him on a personal level and often, his personal opinion influenced into his professional demeanour. JR and his father were similar when it came to business, even if they disagreed at times; he was different, he wasn't totally opposed or disinterested in oil, office work or family business like Gary had been, but he wasn't drawn to Ewing Oil the way his father and brother were.

Working at Southfork ranch was different. He had always loved being out on the ranch; some of his best childhood memories had been when his father had taken he and his brothers camping, and during the summers of his childhood, while he had found it exhilarating going out to visit the oil fields, he had always enjoyed physical ranching more than working at the office. More recently, ranching had given him exactly what he had been looking for; it was physically and mentally rewarding, it was something he was naturally talented at, and his father was proud of him when he achieved new things, things JR hadn't already achieved and set the bar for. He was lucky in that his family did own two completely different businesses and he had two ready-made careers if he wanted them. It had taken him a while and a lot of trial and error, but he knew now he had made the right decision. He liked his job a Ewing Oil and at present, while he was a little frustrated, he was in no hurry to leave, but ranching was in his blood and in his future and he was looking forward to that future.

To be continued…