Dallas, Texas

Handing JR a drink and then sitting down in the leather chair behind his desk, Jock looked at his eldest son and continued the conversation he had reluctantly started. "JR, I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I do think I need to say something. As your mother is always telling me, you're a married man and what happens between you and your wife isn't our business until we're asked to involve ourselves or it becomes extremely obvious that you're not capable of acting like an adult. Like all of that business last year when Sue Ellen left you and left Dallas and you proceeded to hide it from us; I didn't want to get involved, not until your mama made it clear that you weren't going to fix things yourself. Now, I know that's behind you and you and I think everyone can see that you and your wife are more invested in each other than ever before, however, I think I need to remind you that this is an office, not your home. Sue Ellen, John Ross and any of your future children are welcome around here, but please, have a little consideration for everyone else in the office. Whatever went on between you and Julie in the past needs to stay there, for the sake of your marriage and for the sake of the way this business runs, because I have more important things to think about during the day than dealing with a moody secretary and a distracted vice president".

"Now, before you start shooting your mouth off, I've had the same talk with Julie. She's a damn good secretary and I don't wish to lose her services, but she needs to remember that when she's here, she's just that, a secretary, and when she's not at work, she's a young, single woman who if she just focused her energy in the right place could probably find a fine man to marry her. I trust that whatever you two had is firmly in the past and will not be brought up again, but I also ask you to take a moment to consider your words and actions before you express them. Women are different to us men, they feel things more personally and if we want to avoid having to have conversations like this then it's best to not be too vocal about things that are sensitive subjects. If you want to know more, I'd suggest asking your mama, she's much better at these kind of things than I am. All I want from you is a commitment to try not to stir the pot too much; Sue Ellen can visit, your mama would give me an earful if I said anything otherwise, but for the sake of peace and productivity in this office, please, try to keep the overt reminders of your commitment to each other private. I get it, it's not fair, not after years of me telling you that you need to pay more attention to your wife, and not after a year of recommitment, and it's beyond ludicrous that instead of discussing Ewing Eight, we're sitting here like two women, gossiping about who said what and who's upset with who, but bear with me". Crinkling his forehead and taking a drink, Jock looked at his son as if to ask for a sign as to whether he had heard anything he'd just said, because JR was the master of hiding his true thoughts and feelings, especially when he was at the office.

Taking a drink and considering his father's words, JR stayed silent for a while before breaking the silence in the room. "You're right. It is absolutely ridiculous that we're sitting here having this conversation. Julie has always known her place in my life; we had fun together when I was single and admittedly, I allowed that fun to go on too long, but she has always known there was never any possibility of her and I becoming anything more than two people that had fun together. I cut off any personal relationship I had with her years ago and quite frankly, I don't think dealing with her lack of ability to accept reality and move on is my responsibility or my problem anymore. Sue Ellen is my wife and we'll do what we damn well please; we've wasted far too much time censoring our actions and reactions because of other people. As you're asking me to though, for the sake of peace and productivity, if it's really an issue then I'll at least try to avoid Sue Ellen and Julie coming in contact again. If this issue persists though, I think we both know what needs to happen. There's a certain amount of professionalism required of our staff and if Julie can't or won't behave in accordance with those standards and expectations then she can have a glowing reference regarding her secretarial skills and she can find employment elsewhere". Taking another sip of his drink, JR waited for his father to react to his response. He had been somewhat more strongminded than his father probably wanted him to be, however, he had no interest or intention to just agree to what he was saying. If they were going to discuss the Julie situation then he was going to make sure he wasn't just passively listening; Julie knew her place and if she couldn't deal with it then she was free to move on from Ewing Oil. It wasn't his or Sue Ellen's responsibility to pander to her feelings and play nice with her, especially when according to Sue Ellen, she had no interest in playing nice with them and her catty side was alive and well.

"JR… watch it, you're pushing it. As I said, Julie is a damn fine secretary and I don't want to lose her. If you control yourself and she does the same, then we have no issue. That's all I'm asking for from you, a commitment to being conscious of your actions around her. I'm not telling you to censor yourself or to look too harshly at standards of professionalism in our office, I'm just telling you to stop rubbing it in her face that she's lost. You can have your wife and I'm very happy that you've made that your choice, but Julie isn't a business opponent, you don't need to make it a competition and neither does she. Like I said before, you're both getting this talk, it's not just you, so listen to me and tell me you'll do it, then we can all move on from this ridiculous discussion and start doing what we're here to do, pump oil and make money". Giving his son a hard stare, Jock waited for JR to nod and agree with him.

"Mm, and as I said daddy, I'll try to avoid any obvious opportunities for confrontation, but I'm not going to choose Julie over my wife, so if problems do persist, I trust you'll do what you have to do and we won't need to have this conversation again. There is no competition and no one is making it a competition except Julie. The sooner she realises she's not in line for anything, ever, the better", finishing his drink in one gulp, JR paused for a moment before speaking again, this time flipping their meeting back to their intended topic of conversation. "Now that that's settled, let's talk about something more pressing. I spoke to Joe at Ewing Eight earlier…" not giving his father a moment to respond to his first point, he then launched into why they had come together. He knew he was risking a tongue-lashing by effectively ending their earlier conversation before giving him an opportunity to respond, however, he didn't care. He had made his point and his father had to know he didn't really have any strong retort, it wasn't as if he had made any point other than the obvious. Sue Ellen was his wife, they were all Ewings and Ewings stuck with Ewings; Julie was free to have her own opinion if she so desired, but if she stepped out of line and attempted to start a fight with a Ewing, then her time at Ewing Oil was over.

To be continued…