Dallas, Texas

"Julie, Sue Ellen and I have ordered lunch, so please bring it through when it arrives", relaying the basic message and then hanging up the phone, JR silently observed his wife's facial expression and took a drink. He didn't necessarily agree with her perspective, but he understood it and he had no desire to turn her nice, surprise visit into an argument, so he would keep his mouth shut in regard to further discussion of the elephant in the room, namely the nature of his current and former relationship with Julie Grey. At present, Julie hadn't done anything that warranted ceasing her employment at Ewing Oil, and even if he wanted to move her into a different role, away from the main office, he couldn't; she was his father's secretary and he liked her, his power as vice president didn't extend to deciding the fate of employees like Julie. For him personally, it wasn't exactly nice to walk into the office every day and be reminded of his past life, both good and bad, but it also wasn't as bad as it could be. Sue Ellen didn't seem to think so, but from his perspective it appeared that Julie understood and respected his commitment to his marriage and his complete lack of interest in her and that was good enough for him.

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Sue Ellen willed herself to let her feelings go. She didn't want to feel the way she did and she had no desire to repeatedly have the same discussion with her husband, but that didn't mean she could just turn off her feelings. She believed JR when he said that he had moved on from Julie and he was committed to being a faithful husband now, but seeing Julie and sensing her attitude, all of her old feelings and memories had returned and it wasn't pleasant. Logically though, she knew it was silly to be so bothered by Julie; she was JR's wife, their marriage was wonderful and stronger than it had ever been, he clearly had no interest in Julie and he knew he had everything to lose if he did show an interest in her. Doctor Williams was a smart man, he had taught her that she didn't and couldn't control other people, but she could control her reactions to them and their actions; she needed to move on from the past, really move on, just like JR had. Before she could move on though, she felt the need to make her feelings clear, just in case JR didn't already understand her.

"I'm not sure I trust her to deliver food to us without some issue arising, but I'll give her a chance, because I know it's not fair to direct anger at her for something she hasn't actually done. I don't like her and I don't like that she still works here, but I know better than to involve myself so personally. I trust you and I trust that you'll do the right thing even in the face of temptation…" Looking at him with an expression that conveyed that her words were both difficult to say and completely true, she then paused before gently redirected the conversation, "is there anything I can do for you? I love seeing you in the middle of the day, but I'm not stupid, I know you're busy and I know that if I want to be able to enjoy your company for dinner time you need to focus on your work, so I don't want to occupy too much of your attention". Happy to work for him or just sit quietly and observe him working, she stepped closer to his desk as she waited for his answer.

Down the hall, as his phone call ended, Jock Ewing's stomach grumbled; it was midday, it was time for lunch and he had about twenty minutes to take a break before he had to be back to work. He loved the oil business, more than anything else sometimes, but there were times in his life where the pathway Bobby was following seemed more appealing overall. Ranching was hard, physical work and there were definitely deadlines to meet, but the majority of the time the day-to-day schedule included a decent lunchbreak, it was good for staff morale and overall health and there were times at the office where he wished he had the luxury of being able to put his workload on hold for a time. Of course, he was the boss, he was the president of Ewing Oil, he had the ability to do choose when and where to work and there was no one above him to reprimand him if he did become too lenient, however, it wasn't that simple. He had responsibilities and deadlines and there were a fair amount of people he did business with who expected him to be contactable at all times; as well as that, he was a workaholic, he enjoyed work and he took great pleasure in being the best and becoming the biggest. The cartel were good allies for Ewing Oil to have, but there was no way he would be happy for any of them or truly mean his obligatory congratulations toward them if by some miracle any of them beat Ewing Oil to the finish line and gained the title of the biggest independent oil company in Texas. He had to work long hours, he had to work smartly and he had to work extra hard if he wanted to achieve the one thing he had always drummed into JR was the ultimate prize.

Making his way down the hall, passing JR's office, he decided not to enter as it sounded as if JR were in the middle of an important conversation and lunch was the last thing on his mind at the moment, the way it should be. As he kept walking and entered the reception area, he grinned to himself; he had held off on asking JR what he wanted, but it appeared JR and/or Julie hadn't forgotten him. Getting closer to his secretary's desk though, his mood changed; Julie looked miserable and from the look of the food she was transferring from containers onto ceramic plates, his mood wasn't far behind hers. The steak meal was obviously JR's lunch, but the other meal was clearly ordered with a woman in mind and from Julie's facial expression, that woman was not her. It was clearly not for him either and he felt both silly and annoyed for his initial reaction; he gave compliments where they were due, but this time he had been too quick to assume JR's intentions and he felt foolish to have assumed something like that. As it was though, it wasn't something to dwell too much on, he had other, more important things to do this afternoon and lunch was a pit stop in his day, not the final destination. There was one thing he was a little curious about though, however, as soon as he spoke, he regretted ever asking, because the simple question, "who's JR got in there with him?", was apparently not something Julie wanted to think about and her ridiculous, unprofessional jealousy wasn't something he had time to deal with, not today, not ever.

To be continued…