Dallas, Texas

"I'm sorry sir, Mr Ewing is not available at present. Can I take your name, company name, and contact number and give him a message?" Listening to the lady's pleasant voice on the other end of the line, Jack Ewing leaned against the wall next to the payphone as he silently contemplated her words, and after a few moments, he then responded, "huh, is that so?" before pausing to think about his next move. If his research over the past few hours was correct, he had come to Dallas at just the right time if he was serious about pursuing a future with Ewing Oil, the company his father had helped establish but currently had no claim on. It appeared that Ewing Oil was advertising a vacancy and it wasn't hard labour, in fact, reading between the lines of the neatly crafted job description, it didn't really sound all that hard period. Of course he'd never introduce himself as a man looking for an easy job, that would do him no favours, especially with a hardworking man like Jock Ewing, however, not spending his days from sunrise to sunset drilling for oil did sound like bliss to him, he couldn't deny that. His sister Jamie and his father had always been the ones that were genuinely interested in oil itself, he had really just worked in the industry because he needed a job, it was all he really knew, and compared to other industries, it paid well. The head office of an oil company was much more his style and if he could get his foot in the door, he was sure he could prove it was what he was most suited to too.

"Yes sir", hearing the woman speaking again, his thoughts were suddenly brought back to the present; Jock wasn't available and he was being asked to leave a message, the problem was, he wasn't from a company and there really wasn't a message he could give to the secretary to correctly convey why he had phoned. "No, no message, however this is kind of a pressing matter, so perhaps you could pencil me in for an appointment sometime today? I'm in the area so whenever he is free should be fine", trying his luck, knowing the answer would probably be something to the effect that 'Mr Ewing doesn't meet with unknown people who walk in off the street', he then waited for a response.

"I'm sorry sir, I didn't catch your name or which company you were calling from. May I record those details and I'll consult Mr Ewing's calendar and get back to you regarding a potential meeting, or to arrange for a more appropriate member of our staff to contact you", receiving a more polite reply than he had anticipated, he was once again a bit flustered when it came to formulating his own response. He had been naïve to think he could just call through to the president of a company like Ewing Oil, but stupidly he hadn't really considered what to do when inevitably his call was vetted and shuffled into a pile of other non-urgent messages. Thinking about his current living and contact circumstances and the reason why he was trying to contact his uncle, he decided it wasn't worth trying to get his message across via a few scribbled notes on a memo pad. For all he knew his uncle didn't even know he existed, so to leave a message saying to call him at a motel in the suburbs would probably be dismissed as nonsense anyway.

Rubbing his forehead as he contemplated his next move, he then took a deep, resigned breath and then spoke, "you know what, this is really more of a personal matter anyway, I'll see if I can contact him at home. Thanks for your help". Listening to the confused secretary's quick goodbye, he then hung up and leaned back against the wall next to the payphone. In hindsight, it seemed showing up in the office and flashing a flirty smile and his passport may have been a better option, however, it wasn't the option he had chosen and he had to live with that. Living with his decision to call rather than appear and hope his uncle wanted to see him wasn't the end of the world though; his comment about trying to reach Jock at home may have been impromptu and not particularly well thought out, but it was worth a try.

Thirty-three floors above street level, unaware of the conversation that was going on between his secretary and his long-lost nephew, Jock Ewing poured himself a large bourbon and branch, grabbed a red pen and the reports he needed to look over, and then reclined in his large, comfortable leather chair and began to read. After a couple of minutes of reading through the information JR had collated and analysed for him to review, he sighed to himself in frustration. JR was damn good at his job and frankly, he wanted to invite him in to have a drink and discuss just how much money they could potentially make if they followed the plans he had outlined, but he was also a stubborn man and he couldn't just forget everything else that was going on.

He was trying hard to keep things professional between him and JR when it came to business, because they were business partners as well as father and son, but he couldn't pretend that their argument outside of the office hadn't happened and hadn't offended him. He wasn't like the rest of the family when it came to whining about emotional damage, he just didn't see the point, but he also couldn't pretend it didn't anger and hurt him when JR accused him of such low actions. He wasn't a monster, he did love his son and he thought he knew that, though obviously he didn't and he was looking to pick apart every little bit of the past in order to make himself look like the victim, despite the fact that he was set to receive everything a Ewing son should want and aspire to have. He didn't understand JR, he really didn't. Finishing his drink as he considered his eldest son, he slammed the glass down on his desk and glared at the report in his hand. Why JR had to be so whiny, accusatory, pushy, and immature in his personal life was a mystery to him, especially since when it came to business he was so good at what he did and had no problem acting like an adult. Until JR could learn to act like a grown man in his personal life too though, he was going to continue to keep his distance; he had better things to do with his free time than to rehash the unchangeable past and he wasn't going to waste his time entertaining silly, biased opinions.

To be continued…

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