Dallas, Texas

Taking a large sip of his drink, Jack coughed loudly as the brown liquid met his taste buds and slid down his throat; he was no novice drinker, but he'd never had anything quite like the burning drink his uncle Jock called bourbon and branch. He was much more of a beer man himself, it was all he had ever really known and he wasn't sure he liked his uncle's choice of drink very much. He wasn't going to make a fuss though, he didn't want to start off on the wrong foot with his uncle, he wanted him to like him and want him to stay, and he sensed that with powerful men like Jock Ewing, playing the yes-man role for a while was necessary. It wasn't too difficult for him to do that though, embarrassingly, he was actually a bit in awe of the empire his uncle had built for himself and he was genuinely very interested in seeing the old family pictures of his uncle and father, and hearing the stories Jock had to tell. He wasn't blinded by his excitement though, even with most of his attention going toward his uncle, he was still able to assess his surroundings, and he was still able to conclude that something odd was going on at Southfork. From everything he knew, the whole Ewing family lived at Southfork, but looking around and listening out, it appeared that apart from his uncle and the maid, the large house was empty, and for a Thursday evening that seemed strange to him. He wasn't going to ask what was going on though, not unless Jock approached the subject first. He had a goal and he couldn't jeopardize his chances of reaching that goal, especially since if he didn't achieve his goal, he didn't really have a backup plan. He had no desire to return to Alaska to work with his father and sister drilling for oil, so much so that wasn't even an option in his mind, unfortunately though, with his limited job experience and the income level he was used to, getting a job that paid well but wasn't in oil drilling itself probably wouldn't be easy. He knew he was capable of more than hard labour, but he had a feeling that a recruitment agency in a big city like Dallas would take one look at his resume and immediately make up their mind about his suitability for any kind of professional job. He didn't want his uncle to think the same way and he was sure he could convince him that he was capable and worth taking a chance on, he just had to make sure he sold himself well. He would have to wait a little while to actually sell himself though, because from the amount of talking his uncle was doing, and the few questions he had asked about his life, he was getting the impression that Jock was a man who liked to talk and liked to have everyone's attention, but he wasn't much of a listener.

"What's wrong with you boy?" stopping in the middle of a story about how he'd taken a train to South Central Texas in 1933 to join Jason in the oil fields, and how along the way he'd picked up Willard, he was just getting to the good part of the story when his nephew began to cough. Quickly deducing that it was the drink making him splutter loudly, he let out a loud laugh and slapped his nephew on the back a couple of times before speaking again, "bourbon, not a drink for weak men. You'll have to get used to it if you plan to stick around Dallas for any length of time". Waiting for his nephew to stop coughing, he took a minute to study his appearance again, it was amazing how much Jack looked like Jason, or the Jason he remembered, they were both older now, and he wasn't so naïve as to think he or Jason looked the same as they had the last time they'd been together as brothers. Sensing Jack's breathing returning to normal, he waited a few seconds to make sure he still had his attention, before continuing where he had left off, he was enjoying reliving the good old days and having such an interested audience. "So, as I was saying, we arrived in this little town and there were oil derricks everywhere, in those days that was a beautiful sight, still is to me. More than beauty though, it meant money, and we all needed money…"

A few miles east of Southfork, Bobby Ewing's loneliness and romantic unhappiness was temporarily forgotten as he, Lucy, and Sue Ellen whizzed around the roller rink together. He was a young man with plenty of friends and plenty to offer women romantically, but that wasn't all he was; he was a family man too and actually spending quality time with his family was something he didn't realise he missed or was missing out on until he started doing it again and remembered how happy it made him. "What do you think Bobby? Next lap we race, and whoever comes last has to buy everyone a milkshake. Are you up for it?" looking down at his niece, his thoughts about family time were confirmed, because while she was giving him a mischievous look, she also looked very happy, and he was glad that something small he had done was able to bring her such joy. "Am I up for it? You'd better make sure you have your wallet ready, because you'll be buying", grinning as he spoke, he looked from Lucy to Sue Ellen and back before pointing ahead and defining the rules.

A couple of minutes later, as he victoriously passed under the large flag that hung at one end of the rink, he was once again reminded that although being a family man was nice, it wasn't enough to complete his life. Skating absentmindedly, he looked back to see how far behind him Lucy and Sue Ellen were, and in the second he wasn't paying attention to what was in front of him, the inevitable happened. "Hey, can you watch…" registering the sound of someone speaking, it wasn't until he was on the ground with a throbbing head and the tone of the woman's voice changed that he really paid attention, "…oh my, are you ok?" Feeling a warm hand on his head, he opened his eyes and smiled boyishly as he took in the woman's appearance, from her face all the way down to her chest. "Bobby!?" hearing his name being called, he looked toward the sound, and for a moment, he was giddy at the image before him; having two beautiful brunettes leaning over him was very much to his liking, that was, until Lucy appeared and quickly brought some reality to the pretty picture in front of him. Sitting up, he rubbed his head and checked to see whether he was bleeding before looking at the three young women in front of him and mumbling, "I'm fine. There'll be a bruise, but I'm fine". Making moves to stand up, he focused his attention on the young brunette woman he had skated into and spoke again, "I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going. Are you ok?" Studying her face as he waited for her to respond, he felt something familiar inside him, though before he could really consider anything more, everything went black.

To be continued…