Dallas, Texas

"Mr Ewing?" cautiously knocking on the office door, Teresa waited for her employer to respond and invite her in before she entered the room. She wasn't blind or deaf, she had picked up on the tense atmosphere at Southfork recently and with Mr Ewing being the only member of the Ewing family home she didn't want to do anything that would put her on the receiving end of his bad mood. "Mm?" meeting his eye as he looked up at her from his leather recliner, she relaxed a little; he seemed more thoughtful and lonely than grumpy and that was good because it made her job easier. "I'm sorry to disturb you sir, but you have a visitor, he says he's family, and he has a passport that says as much…" she really wasn't sure what to do about the handsome young man who had appeared at the door a few minutes ago and she hoped Jock would interrupt her speaking and give her a direction. The Ewings were wealthy people, they weren't listed in the phonebook and they didn't usually invite strangers into their home, but there was something about the man's appearance and manner that she found endearing, and with the passport he'd given her to verify his claim, she had a strong feeling that turning him away would not be a good idea.

"Family? What family? You know the Ewing family, we're all right here in Dallas, apart from Gary I suppose, I don't know where the heck he is nowadays, it's not him is it? What was the name on the passport?" listening to Teresa speaking, Jock's interest was piqued, and without thinking too much about his own personal safety if the visitor was some dangerous lunatic, he stood and started walking toward the door, looking back at his maid to follow him and answer his questions en route. "No sir, it's not Mr Gary. His name is…" overestimating the amount of time it took to walk between the downstairs office and the foyer, Teresa's response quickly became redundant, because walking around the corner, he came face-to-face with a young man who without even needing to see his passport, was quite clearly Jason's son.

"Good evening sir, I'm Jack Ewing…" Using the manners he hadn't had much use for drilling for oil, but sure came in handy when trying to get ahead with his parents, sister, and the women he dated, he nodded at his uncle and looked for some kind of sign to continue speaking, though before he could, Jock completed his sentence for him, "…Jason's son". Taking note of the tone his uncle used and his facial expression as he spoke, his nervousness lessened a bit. Jock Ewing had to be a tough, powerful, controlling man, he was the president of a large, successful company and the patriarch of a large family, that didn't come easy and wasn't easy to retain, however from his demeanour, it didn't seem that that's all he was. From what he could tell, Jock Ewing was glad to see him, his nephew, Jason's son, and that truly was a weight off his shoulders. "Yes sir. It's a pleasure to finally meet you after all these years, my daddy's told me all about you, and him, and the old days, wildcatting, and even before that, your lives together as brothers. It's nice to put a face to the name in the stories, the pictures my daddy has are few and far between. The stories though, they paint you as larger than life, and I have to say, you don't disappoint; the way you strode in here a minute ago, you command attention, just like my daddy said…" Deciding to make the most of the slightly friendly greeting he had received a moment ago, it wasn't long before he knew he needed to stop talking before he made a fool of himself; a little bit of flattery was nice, but too much would make him look insincere or obsessed, even if it was well-intentioned.

Listening and watching as his nephew babbled on, Jock's earlier glum mood began to improve. The boy was nervous, that much was clear, and if they were going to have any kind of future together they would have to work on teaching him how to conduct himself, even when he wasn't totally at ease, but even with his nervous chatter, he liked him. Firstly, appearance-wise he reminded him a lot of his older brother Jason, and that was a nice thing, family meant a lot to him, even family he hadn't seen in far too long; and secondly, because after being abandoned by his immediate family for the evening, it was nice to be around someone so glad to see him. "Well boy, nice to meet you too. Come on through, I'll buy you a drink and you can tell me all about my brother. You really are the spitting image of him", waving his nephew into the living room, he felt better than he had in days. With Ellie, JR, and Sue Ellen in his ear about reliving the past, Lucy's well-intentioned, but self-centred stories, and Bobby's lack of presence at the office or at home lately, his mood had been affected negatively more than he had realised; he was upset with his family, but he was also lonely without them around. With his nephew present and eager to listen and praise him though, he felt wanted and important again, and he was going to make the most of it. He was the president of Ewing Oil and the patriarch of the Ewing family, he was wealthy and people envied what he had, in all aspects of his life, but tonight, before Jack had shown up, none of that had really mattered all that much. He still had Ewing Oil, that much was a given, but his family had all chosen each other over him and that was not something he was likely to forget anytime soon, especially if Jack turned out to be as good a listener as he was a babbler. He didn't have to completely trust Jack, he wasn't committing to anything with him, he just wanted someone to listen to him, and his nephew seemed eager to do just that, so what did he have to lose?

To be continued…