Dallas, Texas

"JR?" wandering through her home in search of her husband, Sue Ellen braced herself for an emotional scene as she followed the light shining under the door and headed toward JR's home office. Opening the door, the churning in her stomach slowed down a little bit when she met his gaze; he wasn't his usual confident self, he seemed quieter and more reserved, but simply from making eye contact with him it was clear to her that he wasn't emotionally broken. "Hi", lifting her hand to wave at him, she smiled empathetically before walking over to his desk and taking his small reciprocal hand gesture as an invitation to sit on his lap. "How are you?" leaning forward, she gave him a soft kiss before relaxing into him, enjoying the way her head fit into the crook of his neck and the way he ran his hand over her arm. Hoping he would talk to her, but receiving little verbal response from him, she decided to try again, "I saw your mama when I was dropping Lucy and Bobby back home…" Feeling his breathing change as she spoke, she moved her head to look up at him, and when she met his gaze again, she could tell he was considering how he was going to respond; she wasn't thrilled he was being so careful with how and what he told her, but she was glad he wasn't completely freezing her out. She wanted him to communicate with her, they'd come too far in their relationship for him to withhold his feelings from her; she wanted to help him with whatever problems he was having and she didn't mind whether that was through actual solutions she could offer him, or just by being someone he could tell his thoughts to.

"Mm, she left early, there wasn't much to say after we talked. She came over, was sat in silence, she told me I had to let her in, so I tried, I tried to explain, but I don't know, it's just not that easy. She wants answers that I don't have, and I want… I don't know what I want… I know what I can't have though… Anyway, we're going to go and see Doctor Williams together, I think it's the only way I'm going to be able to communicate anything to her. It's pointless trying to talk to her myself, I don't know what to say or how to say it, and she keeps apologising without understanding why it's not as simple as that". Listening to JR's confused explanation, Sue Ellen had mixed feelings; she loved her husband and she hated seeing how emotionally affected he was by an interaction with his mother, and she wanted to take away the memories and inequality that was causing the pain inside him; at the same time though, her feelings of anger and annoyance were growing. Jock and Miss Ellie had a lot to answer for, JR wasn't a weak man, in fact he was a very strong man, but he wasn't inhuman, he was a person just like everyone else, he had feelings and insecurities, and he needed comfort and stability just like anyone else. It wasn't fair that a conversation with his mother was so emotionally painful and confusing, he deserved to have parents who loved him and made it clear that they loved him, not just verbally, but in their actions too, it wasn't too much to ask.

Feeling better as his wife relaxed into him and gently stroked the back of his neck with her hand, JR relaxed too, and although he wasn't in any better position now with his mother than he had been a few minutes ago, he did feel better. Allowing his thoughts to wander, he considered what she had said to him a few moments prior, "hold on a minute, I know why mama wasn't here for very long, but why are you home so early?" He had been wrapped up in his own thoughts, so he hadn't really thought about it at first, but now that he had a slightly clearer head, even if he hadn't resolved anything, something was amiss. Lucy loved roller-skating and she loved spending time with Sue Ellen, so unless the child had hurt herself, or they had had an argument, which judging by Sue Ellen's demeanour, hadn't happened, he didn't understand why she was home so early.

"Oh, well when I went to pick Lucy up from Southfork, she had invited Bobby, so he came with us. So we went, we skated for a little bit, then we decided to race each other, and unfortunately Bobby skated straight into the back of someone, actually not just someone, Pamela, the girl I told you about a few weeks ago… Anyway, he hit his head and the doctor that checked him over said he probably had a concussion and it was best for him to go home and rest, so we left early". Quickly explaining what had come to be just the beginning of the evening's surprising events, Sue Ellen paused briefly before continuing, "actually, speaking of coming home early, I received a surprise when I arrived back at Southfork this evening. Do you know a Jack Ewing? I didn't stick around long enough to hear why he was in Dallas, but from what I observed before I left and then when I arrived back, I don't think your mama and daddy were expecting to see him".

Shifting in his seat as he listened to Sue Ellen speaking, JR pulled back to look at her face-to-face as he began to respond. "Jack Ewing? I don't think I know a Jack Ewing. Who did my daddy say he was? And how were they acting together?" He didn't know a Jack Ewing, in fact he didn't even really recall the name, but that didn't mean he wasn't interested, he was very interested, whoever this Jack Ewing was had obviously made an impression on his parents and selfishly he hoped it was a bad one. He would never admit it but it would be a huge blow to his self-esteem if his parents treated yet another Ewing better than they treated him, especially one they didn't know. He was their son and he was trying to build a relationship with his mother and work on figuring out how he wanted his relationship with his father to be too, but it wasn't easy and it wouldn't be very beneficial to the situation if another competitor was added into the mix, he already had enough brothers to compete with.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I didn't mention that did I? Jack is Jason's son, so he's your daddy's nephew, and I suppose that makes him your cousin. He's young, probably around Bobby's age, maybe younger; he seemed nice enough, but I don't know, he seemed awfully comfortable at Southfork for someone who had just turned up out of nowhere". Listening to Sue Ellen's further explanation, JR was silent for a few seconds as he considered the implications personally and professionally if what she was saying was true. Long-term it was good that he had a legal pathway to ownership and control of Ewing Oil, that meant his father couldn't start being overly generous if this Jack person somehow manipulated his way into their lives, but short-term it could prove to be a problem, there was nothing stopping his father from being generous in other, less materialistic ways. He knew nothing about Jack, but Sue Ellen's uneasy tone and his natural inclination to distrust the things he didn't know much about was enough to set off a series of thoughts in his mind.

"I'll bet he did. There's nothing like money to bring long lost family members out of the woodwork. You've never had the pleasure of meeting Gary, but he's exactly the same way; he leaves town without a word to anyone, devastating mama, and then saunters back months later when what little money he had has dried up. Don't let mama's accounts of him fool you, he's not some fragile little bird, he's a lazy leech, he pretends not to be, he pretends to hate the Ewing money, but the only time he ever comes back is when he's hit rock bottom and needs a helping hand from mama. I've never met this Jack person, but I imagine he's exactly the same. The minute he gained the ability to leave wherever he came from, he hightailed it and came straight to Dallas to ask for a handout from my daddy. How did daddy react to him? Did he see through his transparent plan?" Assuming a lot, but not considering for even a second that his assumptions were anything but correct, JR looked to his wife for any further information to back up his pre-judged opinion. His father wasn't stupid, but he did have a tendency to like everyone else more than he liked him, so while he didn't really want to know the answer to his question if it were anything but that his father had sent Jack packing, he had to ask, because he had to know, even if the answer would upset him.

To be continued…