Dallas, Texas

Muttering something incomprehensible in Richard's direction before standing and touching Sue Ellen's arm, encouraging her to join her, Jenna looked at her before directing her attention toward JR, "JR, you don't mind if I borrow your wife for a moment do you?"

"Should I?" matching Jenna's charming smile and gleaming eyes, JR put the question back on her.

"I'll try and refrain from getting her in too much trouble", answering him as if she wasn't even there, Jenna's comments bothered Sue Ellen a little, though not enough to refuse to comply with the vague request she had put forward. They were at a restaurant, high above the city, she wasn't sure where they could realistically go in the middle of dinner, or why they would need to, but that was Jenna, she didn't always make sense but she didn't let that stop her from pushing forward with whatever idea took her fancy.

"You know Jenna, I'm not sure I believe you", directing his words and gaze at Jenna, Sue Ellen was acutely aware of JR's hand gently, intentionally brushing against her side as she stepped back from the table, secretly pleased that even in the overly familiar state he and Jenna seemed to easily fall into, he didn't forget about her. She was his wife, he shouldn't and was unlikely to forget about her, but when Jenna was around it was easy to get swept up in other things, she knew that as well as anyone.

Laughing, Jenna didn't defend herself against JR's comment, simply answering, "we'll be right back".

Following Jenna's lead, Sue Ellen grabbed her purse and stepped away from the table, waiting until they had walked out of earshot before asking where they were going.

Shrugging, Jenna gave her a sly smile as she answered, "just to the ladies room", leading them in the complete opposite direction for some reason.

"That's fine, but why didn't you just say that?" she liked Jenna, but sometimes she really didn't understand her. If she wanted to go to the ladies room she could have said so, it's not like the men cared, in fact, she couldn't imagine Richard really cared all that much either way as long as Jenna returned to his side at some point. For now, he seemed firmly involved in his and JR's conversation about the logistics of transportation over various types of terrain, something she couldn't bring herself to spend more time than she already had trying to figure out why it was so fascinating.

"Don't you ever like to be mysterious?" offering no explanation, only a question, Jenna's words at the very least labelled her behaviour in a way Sue Ellen couldn't argue with, she was certainly mysterious.

"Well sure, when there's something worth waiting for", confused by their entire conversation, Sue Ellen responded honestly. She was flawed in that she allowed her outlook on life to be swayed by her emotions, often overreacting to small things, but this time she didn't think that was the case, in this situation Jenna was the one making a big deal out of nothing. If she was bored with Richard's dry conversation and wanted some air she could have excused herself to the ladies room just as easily as what she had done instead.

"Men like to be kept on their toes; it's good for them to consider all the options outside the obvious", circling back as they reached the front of the restaurant, this time actually heading for the ladies room, Jenna indicated her intentions.

"What for?" curious, Sue Ellen wasn't stupid, she knew the general idea behind keeping a man interested, she just didn't see how it applied here. She tried hard to make sure she had JR's attention, but generally it didn't require her to make a show of such mundane occurrences, that wasn't to say she hadn't ever exaggerated something ordinary for his pleasure, but this was a different extreme.

"It keeps them appreciative, shows them they could easily lose you if they're not careful. Who knows what we're up to while we're away?", answering, Jenna's comments indicated to Sue Ellen that she put a lot of thought and effort into making sure she maintained exactly what she had, though she couldn't imagine why she felt the need to. If anything Richard seemed like the type of man who required a reminder that he had a personal life to pay attention to in the first instance, not the type that required that reminder because he was spreading his personal attention too thin.

"A trip to the ladies room teaches them that?" sceptical that Jenna's plan had sparked any meaningful feelings or conversation between the men they'd left behind, Sue Ellen questioned her thought process. JR hadn't been particularly serious in his concerns when she'd left the table and she couldn't picture Richard fretting over Jenna's absence either. I general she didn't take issue with Jenna's will to do things one way or another, but in this she simply didn't see the point in orchestrating such an event.

"No. Disappearing from dinner for five or ten minutes does though, as does a little harmless flirtation in less formal situations. It makes them aware that you could just as easily be somewhere else, with someone else as you are with them", explaining herself further, Jenna inadvertently gave Sue Ellen further insight into her thoughts about her relationship. She had once called herself a convenience to Richard and said the arrangement suited her just fine however, what it sounded like now was that she was in fact a convenience, but it wasn't just fine. Jenna liked attention and what little she got from Richard was not enough.

"I don't want to be with anyone else, I love JR, I'm married to JR", firm in her words, Sue Ellen reminded Jenna that her problems weren't universal and her solutions didn't fit other relationships.

"I know, and I'm with Richard. I told you, it's about appreciation", sticking with her approach, Jenna refused to acknowledge that her position was anything other than completely reasonable.

"I'll take your word for it", not willing to ruin their enjoyable evening so far, Sue Ellen accepted Jenna's comments for what they were, though she had no plans to start playing games with JR, they already had enough miscommunication in their lives without deliberately doing vague or confusing things for the attention.

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing", attempting to reassure her, Jenna's comments didn't exactly have the desired effect.

"You sound just like JR", shaking her head, she couldn't hide her amused smile, it was no surprise Jenna and JR got along so well, they had similar personalities and complementary rather than competitive goals.

"Then you know you can trust my judgement", playing on her trust in JR's decisions, Jenna shot her a playful smile, indicating that despite what she might believe she wasn't trying to start an argument.

"I know something", muttering her answer, she relaxed a little, she still wasn't reassured that Jenna's intentions would play out as she imagined, but she knew it wasn't really her problem either, so it wasn't something to spend too much time judging her about.

"Come on", reaching the ladies room, Jenna seemed content to accept her answer, and with that they crossed the threshold and moved on from that part of their conversation.

To be continued…