Dallas, Texas

Shaking his head at the blank stares coming from his daddy and cousin as he sat in one of the leather chairs in front of his daddy's desk, JR's frustration was evident in his tone as he asked, "you know who could answer that question, don't you?" The answer was Bobby, but was his little brother present at their meeting, on a Thursday no less, no, no he wasn't.

"Don't even say it JR", answering him in a brusque tone, unimpressed by his effort to point fingers, his father didn't seem very interested in hearing his comments, despite them being completely valid. He wasn't exactly surprised at his daddy's disinterest though, where Bobby was concerned it seemed he had endless amounts of patience and could make unlimited allowances, even when just days earlier he'd been on the brink of following through on his feelings of complete disappointment in his youngest son's choices.

"I'm just pointing out that Bob's employment here isn't over for another week, the least he could do until then is be present when a meeting is called", ignoring his daddy's instruction to be quiet, JR made his point. His little brother had an easy job, all he had to do was schmooze, dig a little and report back on his efforts, it really shouldn't have been too much to ask that he be present for the latter but apparently it was because Bobby was nowhere to be seen.

He knew where Bobby was, they all did; he was off helping his wife move from her old life as a Barnes to her new life as a Ewing, inconveniently during a rare time when his presence was requested at Ewing Oil. The ranch wouldn't miss him, he wasn't exactly an important player there, nor was he at Ewing Oil, but he was needed at the office now, unfortunately, it seemed that now was the time that suited Pam and what she wanted, she got, no matter whether it inconvenienced anyone else or not.

"You know very well that I agree, you also know very well that when a man is dealing with his wife some allowances have to be made", throwing back at him that he ought to understand how marriage worked by now, his daddy's selective memory kicked in. Sue Ellen was no stranger to requesting he and Ewing Oil be flexible at times, but she hadn't started making those demands a week into their marriage and she certainly didn't request them for things that could otherwise be handled outside of work hours. Appointments with Doctor Williams and the occasional weekend away, taken from his lunch hours and vacation time, were about as much as she asked of him, she didn't insist he took time away from work to do something she could do by herself or with the help of the staff they paid to make their lives easier. Pam on the other hand clearly wasn't of the same mind, or Bobby hadn't set her straight about his responsibilities, because as nice as it was that he was helping move her personal items from her old home to Southfork, it wasn't necessary for him to personally attend to the task, especially not right now when he had other duties.

"Yes, except in this case the allowance has been made for little more than his wife needing someone to help her move her things, it's hardly urgent, Raoul could have done it if she really insisted on becoming a permanent fixture at Southfork today". Reminding his daddy that there was a sliding scale of reasonableness when it came to being a good husband, it was JR's opinion that his new sister-in-law was being unreasonable, as was her husband. His little brother rarely had to show his face at the office but his attendance had been requested at this particular meeting because his head was full of information they needed and couldn't extract from his poorly kept file notes. He had specifically been asked to come into the office today and he knew why, he'd just chosen to ignore the needs of the company in favour of the wants of his wife.

To JR, Bobby's attitude was exactly why he wasn't cut out for any sort of serious business, whether it be ranching or oil, he didn't have the willpower to get on with what needed to be done when there was something more interesting tempting him outside of work. He could accept that it wasn't up to him to push his brother one way or another when it came to his future career, whether it was being a goodwill ambassador or a rancher, what he didn't accept was his little brother's lack of commitment or care now, a week out from his last day. What Bobby did after March 23rd was his choice, but everything before that was managed, or supposed to be managed, by his superiors, the president and vice president of Ewing Oil.

"It's none of your business either. Stop worrying about what Bobby's doing with his day and start worrying about what you're doing with yours", snapping back at him, making him sound as if he was meddling needlessly, his daddy did as he always did and made allowances for Bobby that he'd never make for anyone else. In his mind and according to his position in the company, he should have some say on what one of their employees did, especially in a situation like this, and he would if it were anyone else, Jack included, but the moment it was about precious Bobby, his entitlement to an opinion and a say in the situation disappeared.

"It's poor Jack here that's affected, not me", responding, he reminded his daddy that Bobby's absence directly affected his replacement; sparse file notes didn't provide much context for Jack to learn from and enter situations with, and that lack of readiness would impact Ewing Oil.

"Thank you JR, I could do without the mock sympathy but that's beside the point", shooting him a look that matched his comment, Jack turned his attention to the manila folders scattered over the desk, waving his hand at them as if to remind everyone of the reason they were arguing in the first place.

"Yes, the point being that some of the necessary information we require is severely lacking and the man that could fix that is noticeably absent", summarising the situation as he saw it, JR saw no reason to absolve Bobby of any responsibility like his daddy seemed to want to. He liked his little brother well enough as a man, but that was different to liking the way he worked or accepting the way he worked. Bobby had dropped the ball and it was absolutely his business to point it out, he wasn't worrying about what Bobby was doing with his day for no reason, not the way his father had made it sound.

"That's enough JR; we all understand your point. Bobby will be in this afternoon and we'll talk then. In the meantime I'm going to postpone this meeting until further notice", eyeing him as he spoke, Jock terminated their meeting with a gruff comment, flipping the covers of the open manila folders closed, collecting them in a pile to review later.

"Good. I have things to do", meeting his father's eye, JR gave up on their conversation; if he wasn't in the mood to listen then he shouldn't waste his time trying to make him. Bobby was failing them all, his daddy would realise it eventually and when he did, he'd have to listen.

"Best get on with them then", shrugging off their conflict, his daddy closed their conversation once and for all, handing the stack of files back to Jack and seeing them out with his eyes.

Well aware of the look his daddy was giving, JR needed no further prompts and in one quick movement, he stood, turned and walked out. Bobby would be back in the office later and so would he, ready to make his point again.

To be continued…