Alliances

Part 16

The ear-splitting sound of screeching brakes, coupled with a thick spray of gravel followed J.R.'s Cadillac, as he swerved his car off the side of the road on the Dallas Parkway. He was reeling, and furious at the picture he saw of Sue Ellen as the new print model for Valentine Lingerie's high-end line of intimate apparel.

How could Sue Ellen allow those pictures of her to get published? Why hadn't Sue Ellen told him that she would be Valentine's new model? He had to go back to the boutique, and hear the answers to his questions directly from Sue Ellen. J.R. stepped on the gas pedal, and quickly pulled out into traffic, narrowly avoiding a collision with a passing truck.

J.R. raced in and out of traffic, rapidly changing lanes, until he found a freeway off-ramp that would lead him to an on-ramp, heading back into Dallas. J.R. picked up his mobile phone, and dialed the telephone number to the Valentine Boutique.

Sue Ellen's assistant Gretchen answered, "Good morning, Valentine…"

"Get me Sue Ellen Ewing!" J.R. interrupted her in a voice filled with rage.

Gretchen replied, "I'm sorry, but she's very busy at the moment . . . "

J.R. snarled, "I don't give a damn how busy she is, tell her she has an urgent phone call."

Gretchen placed the phone on the counter, and walked into the stockroom to find Sue Ellen. Sue Ellen was standing behind her desk with her mobile phone pressed to one ear, and her desk phone pressed firmly to her other ear. Sue Ellen motioned for Gretchen to come over to her desk.

Sue Ellen held an envelope with the word 'PROOFS' stamped on it in red ink. Sue Ellen placed the handset of her desk phone back on its base, and covered the mouthpiece of her mobile phone with her free hand, muffling the sound of J.R.'s violent tirade, until he grew tired of waiting for an answer, and disconnected the call.

Sue Ellen asked, "Why are there two envelopes on my desk marked 'proofs'? Where are the proofs for the new ad campaign? They hadn't been approved yet. Why is this envelope empty?"

Gretchen covered her mouth with her hand and gasped, as her eyes filled with terror.

Sue Ellen said, "Gretchen, what is the matter? You're as white as a sheet?"

Gretchen started to panic, and said, "Oh my God, Sue Ellen. I don't know what happened, I think there must have been a huge mistake."

Sue Ellen said, "Gretchen, what the hell happened to the proofs? Talk to me, Damn it!"

Gretchen's voice was a barely audible whisper as she said, "The guy from the ad company must have grabbed the wrong envelope. I was so busy arguing with the driver who delivered the wrong merchandise, I wasn't able to get back here and show the ad agency's courier which envelope of proofs he needed to take. I am so sorry, Sue Ellen"

Sue Ellen said, "No, the ad agency guy didn't take our proofs, they're right here. What proofs did he take?"

Gretchen said, "Oh my God! I just remembered that a girl name Kimber dropped off some proofs for you earlier this morning. I put them on your desk. I'll bet that was the envelope the agency guy took."

Sue Ellen's jaw dropped, "Did you say 'Kimber' dropped off some proofs for me?"

Gretchen sobbed, and said, "Yes, I am so sorry, I don't know what else to say."

Sue Ellen sat down in her chair, and buried her face in her hands. The implications of Gretchen words hit her like a brick. The ad agency would have printed the new Valentine Lingerie ads using the lingerie photos J.R. arranged to have taken of Sue Ellen. She lifted her head, as the sound of high-pitched brakes could be heard coming from the employee parking lot.

J.R. pounded his fists on the glass employee entrance door of the boutique.

Sue Ellen said, "Gretchen, will you please go see who's at the door? Tell them we won't be accepting any more deliveries today."

Gretchen wiped at her eyes, as she walked into the storage room to answer the door.

J.R.'s face was red, and his eyes were narrow slits of hardened steel, as he glared at Gretchen, and demanded that she open the door immediately.

Gretchen asked, "What do you want?"

J.R. shouted, "I want to speak to my wife, Sue Ellen Ewing. Tell her that her husband is here, and he's mad as hell."

Gretchen turned the lock that would unlatch the door, and allow J.R. access to the stockroom. J.R. barged through the door, almost knocking Gretchen over, as he called out Sue Ellen's name.

Sue Ellen exhaled when she heard J.R.'s voice. She hesitated to turn around, fearing the worst, that J.R. had already seen one of the ad photos.

J.R. barked, "Sue Ellen, I want to talk to you, now!"

Sue Ellen turned around, and said, "J.R., keep your voice down. I have customers on the sales floor."

J.R. yelled at Sue Ellen, "To hell with your customers! I want to know why there's a photograph of you wearin' next to nothin' on the back of a DART bus drivin' all over this city?"

Sue Ellen calmly said, "J.R., I can explain . . . "

J.R. angrily spat, "Like hell!"

J.R. lunged at Sue Ellen, and grabbed her by her arm.

Sue Ellen hissed, "Let go of my arm, J.R. You are causin' a scene."

"Oh, I'm causin' a scene? I'm not the one wearin' my underwear in a picture splashed all over a damned bus!" J.R. retorted.

Sue Ellen 's rage was becoming equal to J.R.'s as she lowered her voice, and glared at J.R, saying "Let's take this somewhere quiet, shall we?"

J.R. tightly held Sue Ellen's arm, as he escorted her outside to the employee parking lot.

Sue Ellen looked up, and shielded her eyes from the sun. She squinted as she peered out underneath her hand; her mouth fell open when she saw a recently posted billboard ad for the new Valentine campaign.

J.R. turned to see what Sue Ellen was staring at.

"Oh my God!" he muttered.

Sue Ellen covered her eyes, realizing the far-reaching ramifications of the photo mix-up. Her initial concern was for John Ross, and what he would think of the ad campaign. Then, her thoughts wandered to Clayton and Miss Ellie, what would they think? She knew that Bobby would find the humor in the situation. She desperately wished J.R.'s reaction wouldn't have been so overtly hostile.

J.R. spat a steady stream of expletives intended to cover his feelings about the situation, but aimed squarely at Sue Ellen.

Sue Ellen folded her arms across her chest, and waited until J.R. had finished with his outburst. When J.R. stopped yelling, Sue Ellen spoke.

"Do we feel better now?" she asked, her voice oozing with cynicism.

J.R. attempted to sound calm and said, "You can cut out the sarcasm, Sue Ellen. I'm not in the mood."

Sue Ellen flared, "Oh, you're not in the mood. Well, let's just put our lives on hold until the fabulous J.R. Ewing is up to the challenge. You're not the only person affected by this screw-up, J.R. How do you think I feel, knowin' that my picture is on dozens of billboards throughout Dallas, not to mention all of the newspaper and magazine ads throughout Texas, and the rest of the country?"

J.R. carefully ran Sue Ellen's words through a filter. He hadn't thought about the rest of the country, and there would be hundreds of publications touting the new Valentine product line, and their new cover model. There was no way to contain the damage at this point, he acknowledged.

Sue Ellen turned away from J.R. She started to walk back toward the boutique.

J.R. said, "Darlin', I'm sorry for yellin' at you. I know that this was partly my fault. It was my idea to have those photographs take of you wearin' lingerie."

Sue Ellen stopped walking, and stared at the asphalt-covered parking lot. She could hear the sound of J.R.'s cowboy boots on the tarmac, as he walked over to where she was standing. Sue Ellen stiffened her back, as she felt J.R.'s touch on her hips.

J.R. attempted to pull Sue Ellen into his embrace, but she resisted.

Sue Ellen wanted to give in to J.R. She needed to know that he understood how she felt about the whole situation, but her anger ran much too deep for her to give in to her need for J.R., now.

J.R. pulled at Sue Ellen's waist, and huskily said, "I'm sorry, Sweetheart. I know this wasn't your fault."

Sue Ellen didn't say anything. She stood with her back to J.R., fighting back at the stinging tears that slowly formed in her eyes. She started shaking from the rush of adrenaline that coursed throughout her body from her heated altercation with J.R.

J.R. kissed Sue Ellen's neck, eagerly hoping to get some verbal, or physical response from her. Sue Ellen was unmoved.

J.R. said, "Sue Ellen, look at me, please? Say somethin' to me, scream at me or slap my face, anything to let me know that you hear me. I'm sorry. I know I've said that a lot, lately, but I mean it. I am so very sorry for yellin' at you, and scarin' your assistant."

Sue Ellen released a highly emotional sigh, and said, "What do you want me to say, J.R.? You come over here, madder than a wet hen, barkin' orders at my employees, demandin' to see me, knowin' full well that I have a hectic day ahead of me, then this whole ad fiasco hits me out of the blue, and you want me to say somethin' to ease your mind?"

J.R. lowered his head. Sue Ellen had every right to be angry with him. Say somethin' to her, you jackass, he thought. How could he make his outrageous behavior up to Sue Ellen? What could he do, or say to mend the rift between them? Flowers, he thought, he would say his apology with flowers.

J.R. forced Sue Ellen to turn around and look at him. Sue Ellen's eyes were bloodshot, and red-rimmed from her angry tears. J.R. could barely maintain eye contact with the cold and wounded eyes that vehemently bore into him, as Sue Ellen met his gaze.

J.R. pulled Sue Ellen into his embrace. Sue Ellen trembled against him.

J.R. sighed out loud, and said, "Honey, can you ever forgive my jealous insecurities? I feel terrible about yellin' at you. I know you had nothin' to do with this mess. Is there any way I can make this up to you, Sugar?"

Sue Ellen bravely fought a losing battle against her urge to cry out loud, as J.R. held her to his chest. Why, in God's name, did some external forces always manage to interfere with their relationship? J.R. whispered soothing words into Sue Ellen's ear, in an effort to calm her down.

J.R. placed his hand under Sue Ellen's chin, and lifted her head to his face. Sue Ellen stared vacantly at J.R., unyielding, and unwilling to speak to him. All of a sudden, Sue Ellen remembered chastising J.R. for holding a grudge, and she lowered her head, feeling ashamed for her resistance to J.R.'s genuine, and earnest apology.

J.R. wiped at Sue Ellen's tear-stained cheeks with his fingertips. Sue Ellen gave him a weak, timid smile, as she wiped at her eyes with a handkerchief.

Sue Ellen said, "I'm afraid I've got some more potentially bad news, J.R. I have to fly to Chicago this afternoon for a press review for our new product line."

J.R. said, "What? Why do you have to go today? Why can't the press come here to Dallas?"

Sue Ellen said, "Believe me, J.R., I don't want to have to go to Chicago any more than you want me to leave right now, but our Chicago store is huge, and their profits are up over thirty-percent from last year."

J.R. knew what a profit increase of thirty-percent meant for sales in other stores. Profits inspired competition between the stores. J.R's remorse for his outburst made him reluctant to ask if Sue Ellen wanted him to join her in Chicago.

J.R. asked, "Will you let me drive you to the airport, Sue Ellen?"

Sue Ellen said, "I have to go home and pack an overnight bag, just in case the press conference lasts longer than it was scheduled for."

J.R. said, "That means you don't know when you'll be coming back home, isn't that right?"

Sue Ellen said, "I don't want to go, J.R. Especially after the morning I've had, but duty calls."

J.R. said, "Can't one of your assistants go in your place?"

Sue Ellen said, "Don't you think I've already considered that? The Chicago press core asked for me, and only me. This is excellent free publicity for my company, J.R. Exposure like this would cost me a fortune, if I were to try and advertise by myself."

J.R. wondered if the press had requested Sue Ellen, exclusively because of her picture in the new ads? What if they recognized the model as Sue Ellen Ewing? How would their relationship survive such an ominous threat? He had to be positive, for his and Sue Ellen's sake.

"I'll drive you back to the ranch, and wait for you to pack, then I'll take you to the airport, if you'll permit me, Sue Ellen?" J.R. said.

Sue Ellen forced a smile, and said, "That's very gracious of you, J.R. I'd like that very much. Thank you. I'll go back inside the store, and grab my things. I'll be right back."

J.R. watched as Sue Ellen walked into the boutique. The sound of her high heels softly clicked against the asphalt covered parking lot as she gracefully strode toward the employee entrance.

"You are such a callous, self-centered bastard J.R.," he cursed.

J.R. was angry with himself for his overreaction to the lingerie ad on the back of the bus, and the billboard on top of a nearby office building. He wouldn't resort to self-deprecation, but he would find some way to mend the rift between him and Sue Ellen.

Sue Ellen came back outside, and smiled at J.R. She looked stunning, in spite of the chaotic events of the day. J.R. opened the passengers' door for her, and gently touched her hand.

J.R. said, "Sue Ellen…?"

Sue Ellen gave him a furtive glance, and said, "I know, J.R. I love you, too. We'll muddle through this, somehow."

J.R. quickly pulled Sue Ellen into his arms, and thoroughly kissed her. The touch of his lips on her mouth made her ache to feel his skin pressed against her. She wanted to turn back the clock, and start the day over again. She wanted so many things. J.R. continued his control of her mouth. He wanted and needed Sue Ellen so badly, he wondered if they would be able to have any time for each other when they got back to Southfork?

None of the days' events seemed important to Sue Ellen at the moment. Her head was pounding with a vicious tension headache. There had been times over the last few years that she regretted her decision to give up drinking alcohol, and today would be no exception.

The thought of vodka on the rocks would have sounded so good, and tasted even better to her years before. Now, the smell of alcohol turned her stomach. Even J.R. had stopped imbibing, under the well-respected advice of his physician.

J.R. released Sue Ellen, and held the door for her as she climbed into his car. J.R. closed the door when he was certain that Sue Ellen was safely inside the car, and walked around the front of the car to the driver's side.

J.R. stepped inside the car, and closed the door. He placed the key into the ignition, and started the car. J.R. pulled out of the parking lot, and drove onto the Dallas Parkway. For the next thirty-five minutes, J.R.'s mind would be filled with thoughts of how he would regain Sue Ellen's love and trust, in spite of his earlier outburst...