Vail, Colorado

Lying facing JR and occasionally leaning forward to kiss and touch him a little more passionately than their resting position allowed, Sue Ellen smiled to herself as she snuggled down into the soft sheets and continued to listen to him talk, moving from topic to topic without any real pattern. JR had an effect on her like no man had ever had before, it didn't really matter what he was talking about, she always found it interesting to listen to him. Of course, there were times where she was exhausted or confused and therefore couldn't follow exactly what he was saying or respond particularly articulately, and there were times where he annoyed her, but for the most part, she loved listening to him speak. She had known it from almost the beginning of their relationship, he had hidden depths and not everyone was privy to those depths, but she was, and luckily for him, she had had a less than perfect upbringing too, so she had a lot of empathy for him when he dropped his façade of always being strong and powerful. This morning, as it was their last morning in Vail, she was reminded more clearly than ever that despite him acting like he was on top of things at the office, he still had a lot of things on his mind and he was never completely at ease. Sure, he wasn't a complete workaholic, he was able to remove himself from thinking about Ewing Oil every minute of the day, and when he was at home with her and John Ross, he was happy and relaxed, but with their return to Dallas looming, she could feel his tension returning. Bobby was leaving Ewing Oil and he and Jock had to replace him in somewhat of a hurry; the oil industry was chugging along, but wasn't anywhere near as profitable or reliable as it had been in the past; and while the issue of friendship wasn't work related, she knew it was weighing on his mind.

Drawing little circles on his chest with her index finger, Sue Ellen allowed her husband to lie quietly wrapped up in his own thoughts for a few minutes after he finished recounting his hopes for John Ross' future, hopes she had heard a million times before, but she didn't mind hearing again, because they weren't selfish like Jock's were. Even in speaking about something happy though, she could tell that he was preoccupied and not completely able to relax and just enjoy what he had right now; there was something on his mind and it was affecting the way he was thinking about everything, including her. "Do you want to talk about it?" breaking the silence after allowing him a good while to consider whatever was going on in his mind, she looked him in the eye and waited for any kind of response. They were fairly good at communicating with each other now, but even with open and honest communication, they still needed a little time to themselves to think sometimes, and at times, he also preferred to communicate not with words but with actions. From being out and about with him, she knew when he was tense, angry, insecure, or feeling cocky and on top of the world, and when they were alone, especially when they were in bed, it was much the same. While they had been enjoying a fairly energetic sex life over the past few days, this morning had been markedly different; this morning they had returned to their roots, enjoying slow, passionate intimacy, revelling in the emotional connection it left them with afterwards. Being together in a way that was at the time more about physical sexual gratification than emotional closeness was neither better nor worse than the alternative, it was just different and she enjoyed having both situations occur regularly in her life.

"Talk about what? John Ross' future?" subconsciously shaking her head as JR responded to her question with another question, she then leaned up and kissed him softly again before speaking, "no, about what's on your mind. I hate to remind you aloud, but I know you're already thinking about it, so I will anyway. We're returning home today and while we're both excited to see John Ross again, I know I'm not exactly looking forward to returning to my everyday routine and I don't have even half the tasks and responsibilities you do. You're tense and I can tell you're not completely here with me, but I want you to be, I want you to want to be too though. Remember, a problem shared is a problem halved, so please, share your thoughts with me; we're past the point in our relationship where we have to pretend that everything is fine when it's clearly not. As much as I love listening to you talk and I love talking with you about the past and distant future, I want to know your present thoughts too. What are you worried about?" Looking at him with kind, wide eyes, she hoped he understood what she was saying and chose to take her words to heart, because as she had just told him, she could tell he was concerned about something and she wasn't prepared to just ignore his worry.

Closing his eyes for a moment before looking his lovely young wife in the eye, JR sighed heavily before allowing everything to spill out. "It's not one thing darlin', I'm just a little stressed. This vacation has been wonderful, aside from those little annoyances, the ones you insist I should just embrace. Life isn't a vacation though, we're returning home this evening and tomorrow morning I'm going to be right back in the thick of it. I thrive on pressure and power so I know I'm psyching myself into feeling worse now than I actually will come tomorrow, but damn, I am not looking forward to all of the little things that are waiting for me back in Dallas. Daddy is capable and Diane is good, but she's not the vice president, there are some things she will have just taken messages about and I'll have to spend all morning sorting out. Then there's the whole Bobby thing; daddy and I are trying to hire from within the company, that'll be time consuming as it is, but if we don't find anyone it'll be an even bigger mission to find, vet, and train someone completely new. I have a lot to do and they're all little things; I hate little tasks when they're not part of an obvious bigger picture, aside from when I've purposely scattered details in order to throw other people off, which in this case, I haven't. I'll be fine later in the week, but damn, Monday, I am not looking forward to that". Feeling a little better as he verbalised his feelings about work, he worried for a moment that Sue Ellen would think he was weak and stupid, but as he looked at her again, his worries dissipated; she loved him and she was there to support him and it wasn't wrong to take advantage of that support. Additionally, after voicing some of his concerns, they suddenly became less overwhelming and while nothing had actually happened between them, he felt like he was more capable of getting everything done, promptly and properly. He was JR Ewing, not Gary or Bobby Ewing, he was more than capable of running the company on his own and a few days away from the office was not a big deal, not really. Laughing and grinning to himself in a manner he was sure confused his wife if her facial expression was anything to go by, he then moved his arms behind his head and looked at the ceiling; he would get it all done and he would do it well, even if it was only to prove to himself that he could.

To be continued…