Dallas, Texas

"So, thoughts?" asking JR for his opinion mere seconds after they left the parking lot following their double date, Sue Ellen was eager to hear his opinion.

"About Richard?" turning away from the road ahead, he gave her a look as if to ask her to confirm her question.

"Yes", nodding, she figured he was being cautious, because she had certainly made it clear beforehand that she was interested in the dynamic between Jenna and Richard and his take on the relationship, from a man's perspective.

"Jack doesn't stand a chance", answering her question, his comments took her completely by surprise.

"You're going to have to explain the reasoning behind that comment", she was aware Jenna, Richard, and Jack were very loosely connected, she had told JR that herself, but for the once or twice Jack had come up in conversation all evening he didn't seem particularly important overall and she didn't understand what angle JR was approaching her question from.

"You don't see it?" glancing over at her again, he seemed a little surprised they weren't on the same page.

"Did we sit through the same dinner? I've never looked at Jack as anything more than a friendly acquaintance but if I were Jenna the option to explore something beyond that might be tempting, he's just so much more appealing than Richard. I know Jenna said their relationship was more one of convenience than anything else but I assumed she was exaggerating. She's young, beautiful and has a strong personality, love it or hate it. Richard is a nice enough man, but he talks about nothing but business and call me superficial but there are older men and then there are older men, if you know what I mean".

She didn't want to go as far as to call Richard old and boring but he was about as close as one could get without using either label and she found it hard to understand what drew Jenna to stay with him. Jenna thrived off being the centre of attention and making a show of the simplest of activities, Richard on the other hand seemed like the type who wouldn't notice or participate in either way of life, they were opposites, but not the sort who she imagined would attract, except clearly they did because they were together.

"Hey, I'm older than you", taking mock offence, JR shook his head, knowing full well she wasn't turning her nose up at his age.

"Eight years is very different to twenty-five, besides it's not just a numbers game, it's a personality thing. You hold your own in a room full of older men without issue and so can Jenna and I when we're required to, but I can't imagine wanting to date any of them". Reinforcing that she found Richard dry and unattractive, she offered a generalised opinion on everyone else, assuming JR would understand where she was coming from considering he spent enough time doing business with mature men to understand the differences between them and someone like Bobby or Jack.

"Darlin', none of that matters. Richard's family has been involved in the railroad going on a hundred years. He's not a poor man", disregarding personal attraction as in any way important, JR made it clear he thought she was looking too deeply at the issue and as far as he was concerned it was simple, Jenna liked money and Richard had money, thus he was attractive to her.

Thinking it over, she knew he was right, it wasn't complicated, it was exactly as Jenna had described it, their relationship was convenient, it suited them. The only thing she didn't understand was why Richard specifically, there were plenty of wealthy men to choose from if that was all Jenna wanted, she knew from personal experience unfortunately, before JR had swept her off her feet she'd been out on dates with what felt like every man of means in Austin. "Ewing Oil pays well enough doesn't it?"

Shrugging, JR glanced at her briefly before returning his eyes to the road, "Jack's pulling in an impressive salary for what he does and considering he has few living expenses, he's staying in a company condo and driving a company car, he's doing just fine for himself. He's no millionaire though. He has no stake in Ewing Oil and I very much doubt Jason passed any kind of generational wealth onto him upon becoming a man".

Considering his comments, she couldn't deny he made a very good point. Jack was young and free to general do as he wished, but he didn't have a large safety net to fall back on if he needed to, he wasn't safe like Bobby was. The Ewing family were generous and would help him if it was necessary, but courting a lady like Jenna was hardly an emergency. "You're probably right. I doubt Jack's looking for anything serious either".

"Oh, I'm not saying Jack and Jenna wouldn't be compatible in other ways, I'm just saying Ewing name or not, Jenna isn't willingly going to hitch her wagon to a less lucrative star", chuckling, JR acknowledged Jack and Jenna might make a nice looking couple but it was unlikely to happen under the current circumstances.

"No, she's certainly not, she knows what she wants and she goes after it", stating the obvious, Sue Ellen didn't know what else to say, now realising JR was right and it wasn't a surprise considering Jenna had as much as told her exactly why she did what she did.

"That's Jenna for you, she's always been that way, even with Bobby, she played along with what he wanted but if he pushed her too far in the wrong direction she dug her heels in". Sounding impressed, JR described Jenna's stubborn streak as an attractive feature, a bit of a hypocritical stance she thought considering the same behaviour from Pam qualified her as unworthy of being a Ewing wife. JR had made no secret of his preference for Jenna over Pam though and it showed in their interactions. For a couple of people that claimed their relationship was limited to old family friends they had a rapport that indicated something deeper, and if she were suspicious she might wonder whether that meant something, however, both JR and Jenna had always denied there was anything more between them than already established, so she chose to believe that. They had similar personalities and they understood each other, that was all, she had to believe that otherwise everything she knew and everything she was trying to do would begin to crumble.

"I suppose she has to look out for her own interests, especially now she has a child to look after", justifying Jenna's will to seek the best situation for herself, she wasn't sure she necessarily believed it was because of her maternal love. Jenna obviously loved her daughter, but in no way did she allow the title of mother to dictate what she should or shouldn't do, in fact it seemed she spent almost as much time during the week off doing her own thing as she did parenting.

"Let's not pretend we're not all looking out for our own interests", concentrating on the road ahead, not turning to look at her as he spoke this time, the darkness and angle made JR's face hard for her to read, as did his tone, however, his comments indicated he was doubtful Jenna was all that different to everyone else.

Unsure whether he was criticising her, Sue Ellen was quick to defend herself anyway, telling him the truth, "I'll have you know I married you because I loved you".

Looking over at her, his facial expression indicated her quick defence came as a surprise to him, so perhaps she had interpreted his comments the wrong way. "I know darlin'", briefly squeezing her hand, she felt better, that is, until he opened his mouth again, "but even that was based on what was best for you. You had a hard time at the beginning even married to me; now imagine the boredom of being married to bland Billy, or cash-strapped Clint".

Referencing the two men he was aware of her previous involvement with, she got the feeling he wasn't particularly serious, he was infinitely more attractive to her than either Billy or Clint and he knew it, but still, it wasn't as simple as he thought it was. She had never been deeply involved with Billy, he knew that, but Clint was something else, unless he had delved deep into her relationship with him without her knowledge it was possible he did think she'd left Clint for him because he was a man of means and Clint wasn't, the problem was, that was only half true.

"I don't want to argue about this, but I do have to say, before I met you I thought I could be very happy as Mrs Clint Ogden, even without all the material things my mother raised me to believe I should have. I thought I was in love with Clint, I thought we were going to be married and live happily ever after, then you came along and disrupted everything, you made me feel things I'd never felt before and once that happened that was the end of things with Clint. I really believe that had I not met you, I would have married Clint, not Billy, because you know I was never interested in Billy romantically", explaining herself more than was probably necessary, she wanted him to understand that she hadn't switched from being Clint's girlfriend to his because he was wealthy but because she was emotionally attracted to him.

"I'm glad to hear all that darlin', but my point still remains, this Clint might have made you a happy college girl but who knows what would have happened beyond graduation. You chose what was best for you, you chose me, and I'd like to think we're both reaping the rewards of that choice", confident that he was the only man for her, he didn't seem convinced by her insistence that before she felt what she did with him, she was perfectly happy with what she thought love was. It wasn't for him to decide he knew how she felt better than she did herself, but that didn't stop him.

"We are, but you can't deny I would make an excellent housewife", confident in her own skills, she attempted to close their discussion of past relationships with a point they could both agree on, however, instead of smiling, nodding and agreeing, JR chuckled at her comment.

"What was that?" confused, his reaction stung a little; if there was one thing she knew for certain it was if she was ever required to she could run a home without problem, surely JR knew it too.

"Darlin', I'm well aware that you can cook an excellent meal when you try, and you could clean the house if you really had to, but let's not act as if homemaking is your calling. I don't know why you're not more confident in who you are outside of those things; take pride in the role you were made to perform, you're my wife, you're Mrs Ewing, you like nice things and you can have them". Trying to emphasise the side of her she was able to indulge because she was married to him rather than Clint, all his comments ended up doing was making her more self-conscious. She already had Pam around to pass judgement on her frivolous lifestyle, she didn't need JR doing the same thing.

"I'm more than a wife or a lady who likes nice things aren't I? Our relationship is more than a simple exchange", disappointed that her insecurity was returning after all their previous work to move past those feelings, she wished sometimes JR would just say what was expected rather than exactly what he thought, it would be easier that way.

"Yes darlin', you have a lot to offer, my point was you don't have to justify your existence to me, I know what you can do but I don't demand you do any of it. As for our relationship, of course it's more than a simple exchange. I love you, but if I didn't and all I wanted was what Jenna and Richard have I never would have gone through with a whole marriage to get it, that's far too much commitment for what could easily be had for much less. I can't believe you're really asking that question though, I thought we'd settled this the last hundred or so times we discussed it", delicate in his answer to begin with, by the time he finished speaking it was clear he was frustrated with her.

"I'm sorry. You just made me sound so shallow", not wanting to end the evening on such a negative note, she didn't push the topic, instead apologising but not backing down on her hurt feelings.

"I was trying to make a point, you brought up our marriage", shaking his head, JR's frustration was still apparent.

"Yes, your point was we do what's right for us, my point was I chose what was right based on more than finances, which is what we were talking about before that comment", explaining herself, she hoped he could understand she had never intended to reopen an old, tired discussion.

"So what's the problem here?" glancing over at her again, appearing more confused than frustrated, this time she found his expression endearing rather than maddening.

"I don't know", sheepish, she admitted things had spiralled and now she was just as lost as he was.

"So why are we arguing about it?" brushing his hand over hers, he played a game she was familiar with, distraction, trying to make her forget the bad things and focus on the good, like how much she enjoyed even the simplest of his touches.

"I didn't like how it made me feel", telling him so he was aware, she didn't feel much like getting deep into it again, so she left it at that.

"I'm sorry, shall we move on?" apologising, he squeezed her hand and looked to her for her answer.

"Please", nodding, she said nothing more, letting him go forward whichever way he wished.

"Well, I know you think Richard was all business, but he got me thinking about something quite personal. How would you feel about leaving the country for a few days? To go to say the Caribbean, or perhaps a small European nation, I haven't thoroughly looked into the options yet". Wasting no time, JR launched into a discussion that piqued her interest; she was always up for taking a vacation, especially to somewhere she'd never been before.

"It sounds lovely, but the Caribbean and Europe are quite different, are they not?" her knowledge of Europe came only from secondary sources, not personal experience, but it wasn't hard to imagine it was like what she saw in books and movies and that image was strikingly different to what she'd experienced on their honeymoon.

"They are, but for the purpose of our visit they act the same way", confirming her thoughts, he gave her no real answer about how or why two such different places were similar.

"What is the purpose?" interested in his reasoning, she looked to him for a little more information than just an announcement a short vacation was ahead for them.

"Safeguarding our future", vague in his explanation, one thing was clear, his use of the word personal referred to personal business as opposed to corporate business, not simply enjoying a little personal time in the sun somewhere.

"In what way exactly?" asking again, she wished he'd be a little more open with what he told her and she didn't know why he wasn't, especially since it wasn't as if she hadn't made it clear she found him highly attractive when he spoke about their combined future.

"It's complicated darlin', but simply put it's about diversifying the location of our assets so we'll always be on top", confirming it was in fact a personal business trip, it was the outcome of the trip that held her interest now. She hated the idea that he or anyone else would think she married him for his money, but it was undeniable that she liked when he let his ambitions show, especially when he made it clear he intended for his actions to benefit them jointly.

"I like the sound of that", running her hand over his arm, she met his eye as he turned to look at her, a flicker of mutual attraction and understanding passing between them before he turned his attention back to the road ahead.

"I thought you might. Now, I won't bore you with the finer details, all you need to focus on is enjoying the vacation, wherever we go", returning to keeping his explanations general, his lack of detail and assumption that she wouldn't be interested annoyed her a little, though not enough to make a fuss, not now they were back on good terms.

"I can do that", answering him, she was honest to a point. She wasn't stupid, she was capable of doing both, enjoying a vacation and understanding why they were jetting off to a foreign country for a few days, but she understood too when to hold back and wait for the right time to gather that information. JR didn't want to share right now and she didn't want to get into another argument, so she wouldn't push it, she would find out eventually, she had her ways, just as he had his.

"Good", nodding, he smiled and said nothing more, leading them into a comfortable silence for the moment.

To be continued…