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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Scorpienne" data-source="post: 445945" data-attributes="member: 67264">I just wanted to say thank you for the kind words and feedback.  You ladies are awesome.  <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> Chapter 7 ~ Sue Ellen Hones Her Listening Skills Later that day… Ewing Oil JR sat with his back to his desk, gazing out the window.  He hadn’t been able to get his mind off the divorce summons Sue Ellen had received yesterday. Though ecstatic that the relationship would be ending for good, one thing puzzled him. How was it that Don Lockwood came to know where she was? According to her when he’d inquired, not only had she had no communication with him since the afternoon before she left London, but their finances were completely separate as well so the latter wouldn’t be a feasible option for him. At least, not if she was telling the truth. But he allowed she had no reason to lie to him.To JR, there could only be one way. He thought about that for a moment. Don would have known at some point the two of them would cross paths. And since, initially, Don would have no idea as to Sue Ellen’s location, it would make sense to have him followed. If he could locate JR, he could likely locate Sue Ellen too. Either way, he didn’t like it.Wheeling around in his high-back executive chair, he pressed the intercom button.“Yes, JR?” Sly replied.“Get Harry McSween on the phone for me. Tell him it’s urgent.”*************************************************************A few minutes elapsed before Sly buzzed him. “Yeah?”“Harry McSween on line two,” came the voice from the other side.“All right, put him through.” JR waited for the line to ring, then pressed the speakerphone button. “JR Ewing here.”“What can I do for you, JR?” Harry asked.“I’ve got reason to believe I’m bein’ followed.” He paused. “And possibly Sue Ellen too.”On the other end of the line, Harry’s brows furrowed. Last he had known, Sue Ellen resided in Europe. Always short and direct, he replied, “I’ll get my men right on it.”“Good deal,” JR remarked, then added, “And look, I don’t want her to worry so tell’em to be discreet about it.”“Done.”JR pressed the button to end the call and spun back around to look out the window. He was in direct violation of one of the very first rules she’d established. If Sue Ellen were to ever find out he had McSween put her under surveillance, she’d hit the roof. Or worse. She was too independent to understand or believe he was purely doing it out of concern and would automatically assume he was trying to gain some control of her. And he reckoned she had earned the right.Four Days Later… Santa Fe, New Mexico ~ Downtown Historic District  Sue Ellen glanced at her watch as she and April exited the seventh in the long line of fine pottery shops they’d visited thus far. “What do you say we take a break for lunch?”“I would say your checkbook would thank you,” April laughed, pointing at a low-key adobe structure just down the street from them. “How about La Roca?”Sue Ellen, laughing along with her, gestured in the same direction with her shopping bag. “That would be just fine.”Dallas ~ Ewing Oil Sly buzzed JR on the intercom. “Yes?”“Harry McSween’s here to see you.”“Good, good,” JR replied. “Tell him to come on in.”A few seconds later Harry was inside his office. Motioning toward one of the two leather-upholstered guest chairs before him, he said, “Have a seat…”“I take it you’ve got somethin’ for me,” he continued, more of an inquiry than a statement.“Yeah. We tracked Sue Ellen throughout the weekend until she flew out yesterday. Good thinking on your part. She was indeed being followed.”Beneath the surface, JR seethed. Something about the idea of her being alone in a hotel and being watched without her knowledge sickened him. “What about me?” he then asked.Harry shook his head. “Nobody tailing you. Just Mrs. Lockwood.”“That all?”“You won’t have to worry about that any longer.” Harry hesitated for a moment, then added, “We took care of it. It won’t happen again.”JR pushed away from his desk. “Did he say who he was working for?”“He did. Mr. Don Lockwood.”Santa Fe, New Mexico ~ La Roca“Mind if I have a margarita, Sue Ellen?” April asked as the two of them perused the menus. “I hear they’re the best.”Sue Ellen smiled. “I don’t mind at all.”In truth, she did mind just a little. It wasn’t the fact that April was imbibing in front of her. It was that she could not, which led her to feel a little pang of envy at her friend. The present setting was an example. Here she was, having a wonderful time, making purchases for her new home. It would have been delightful to be able to partake too and maybe propose a toast to the new life ahead of her. Just once. But one would lead to another. And another. And…She’d experienced that same emotion more than once when in the presence of others too, including both Don and JR though in different ways. Don, strangely enough, had suggested her alcoholism was primarily a consequence of her life with JR and that no harm would come of it if she shared a glass of wine with him. A rather foolish thing to say and she tried to justify his idea in that it was due to the European culture he’d been brought up in. She turned him down. She didn’t want it anyway. Not with him.Remarkably, even JR was not that ludicrous as to make such an asinine suggestion. Perhaps it was much to do with the fact he’d seen her at her absolute worst—too many times to count. And the funny thing was, while she had zero desire to partake with Don, she often wished she could have a nightcap with JR, though she did feel he drank too much at times. Still, to have been able to do so would have been very intimate, or so she thought. But she’d have to allow her imagination to determine that.As it turned out, Sue Ellen was being envied as well. Just as she finished the thought, April told her, “If you don’t mind me saying, I’m a little jealous of you.”“Really?” she asked, surprised. “In what way?”“Just the fact you’re moving into your own home. Furnishing it in your own style,” April confided. “Don’t get me wrong. I love Southfork but…”“I know. You can’t sneeze without a half a dozen people knowing about it,” Sue Ellen finished for her, laughing a little.April took a sip from her margarita. “Exactly. I love Bobby. I love everyone there. But the complete lack of privacy can be overwhelming.”Sue Ellen glanced down at the table before nodding. “I love Southfork too. I always did. But I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t feel like residing there was surviving instead of really living at times.”“How did you do it? To me, you always made it look so easy…”“It took me a long time to get there,” she admitted.Though she could identify with much of what April was experiencing, Sue Ellen would keep the tumultuous details of her history to herself. While she wanted to provide guidance, she also didn’t wish to reach too deeply into the past. The purpose of this trip was to plan for her future, and she would keep it that way. An idea occurred to her then.“You know, April,” she began. “You and Bobby have plenty of money. And I know he would never leave Southfork permanently, but have you ever considered the two of you purchasing a place of your own—just so you can get away when you need to?”Sue Ellen looked on as April’s eyes lit up at the thought of a second home. “That’s not a bad idea,” she said, grinning. “Do you think Bobby would go for it?”“Well, you won’t know unless you ask.” She thought for a second before adding, “And I don’t think it’s Bobby you have to worry about…”“It’s Miss Ellie,” April quickly finished. At that, both laughed out loud.Ewing Oil  JR wondered how long it would take Don Lockwood to establish contact with him. Though he didn’t have explicit knowledge of what McSween’s good old boys had done to ward off the private investigator, he had a pretty good idea. He also knew Don wasn’t a complete idiot and would be gearing for him. Good luck with that, he chuckled to himself.Mainly guiltless, his only regret was that Sue Ellen would look at it as though he’d violated her terms regarding boundaries and independence. Where she saw things in black and white, he liked to operate in a gray area when deemed necessary. In this instance, in his mind, her overall safety was at risk. Therefore, his action was justified. And the rule wasn’t entirely broken, just bent.Turning his attention back to his computer, he looked at the monitor and paused at the columns of figures before him, brightly lit in green monochrome. The hue triggered something in him and his mind returned to Sue Ellen, making her way across the driveway to take her place beside him for Sunday brunch at Southfork, decked out in that emerald green dress. And then to Wednesday night, when she’d worn a slightly darker shade. She was always pretty but something about that color just elevated her overall look in his opinion. It was something in the way it complemented her eyes.When she returned from Santa Fe, he’d make a point of telling her so and that she should wear it more often.Santa Fe, New Mexico ~ La Roca April polished off her drink and ordered another, becoming noticeably more bubbly and forthcoming with each successive drink. “Do you plan on attending the Oil Barons Ball?”“Oh, my goodness,” Sue Ellen shrugged. “I don’t know. When is it?”“Let’s see…” As if mentally flipping through a calendar, April looked up. “If I’m thinking correctly, it’s three months from now.”Aside from being a shareholder in Westar, Sue Ellen really had no ties to the oil industry unless one was to count the relationship she’d hatched with JR. “I don’t think so,” she replied. “There’s really no reason for me to attend…”April leaned in then. “You might want to rethink that.”“Really? How so?”With a smirk, she continued, “If Bobby is correct, this may be one for the record books.”What was April getting at? “Don’t hold back on me,” Sue Ellen laughed, urging her on.“I’m sure you’ve heard of that Permian Basin deal JR brokered…”“Vaguely…” Liar.“Well…,” she began with a smirk, leaning a little further. “Bobby seems to think he has a real chance of winning the Oil Man of the Year award if you can believe that. And he isn’t the only one who thinks so.”Sue Ellen took a sip from her tea, momentarily stunned and only able to muster one of his signature phrases in response. “Is that a fact?”“It appears that way. I mean, after all he’s done...Can you imagine?”In all actuality, Sue Ellen could absolutely imagine it. She knew what that award meant to him, though a lifetime of scheming and conniving told a far different story. He was a man of contradiction in that way. She never felt it was so much the acceptance by his peers that he craved as it was the opportunity to finally make his father proud of him. Jock’s death years ago had made that forever unobtainable.The very idea of JR winning brought her a true sense of happiness. If he were to finally be fortunate enough to receive the honor now, after all these years…that would really be something. Sue Ellen wouldn’t admit as much right now to April, but there was no way in hell she would miss out on the opportunity to witness it in person. If the stars aligned just right and this really did happen, it would be…without a doubt, the biggest night of his life.“I’m a little confused,” she finally remarked, a deliberate ploy to pump April for more information. “What led to this? He’s burned so many bridges…I’m just having trouble believing the committee would ever recognize him…”April smirked. “Exactly. But that’s where it gets interesting. It all started a little over a year ago. Punk came barging in at Southfork…”Dallas ~ Oil Barons Club Having finished his late lunch, JR pushed away from the table. Catching Cassie’s eyes, he raised a finger to flag her over and ordered his usual. “Thank you, Cassie,” he said as she placed his bourbon on the table.“Dining alone, JR?” came a voice from behind, one he immediately recognized as Marilee Stone. Good god.“Appears that way…”“If you don’t mind me noticing, you’ve been doing that a lot lately.”“You been followin’ me?” he laughed.“No. But we do frequent the same establishments. And I haven’t seen you in the company of a lady friend in months…Are you feeling alright?”Irritated, he replied, “Marilee, as much as your concern touches me, I’m a busy man…”Undeterred, Marilee placed her hand on his shoulder. “Even the busiest of men get lonely sometimes.” Then, leaning down so her lips nearly brushed his ear, she whispered, “You know where to find me…”He could have let Marilee slip out the door and waited a few minutes to make his own discreet exit from the establishment. Follow her to her place for a midday tryst just like she had offered and no one would be the wiser. But not only would he not. He didn’t want to. Wednesday had something better in store for him.In a fluid motion, he raised his hand and removed hers from his shoulder. “Yeah, thanks for that. You have a good day now…”Santa Fe, New Mexico ~ La Roca “Really?” Sue Ellen asked, intrigued. “What for?”“Apparently, he had come out of retirement. Nothing full-time, but he was dabbling in some wildcatting with another of his and Jock’s friends from the old days, but the name escapes me…”Sue Ellen closed her eyes and shook her head. Surely, JR had not done something nefarious that involved one of Jock’s lifelong best friends. “I’m almost afraid to hear more.”“Anyway, he marched right into the living room. It was before dinner and we were all gathered, having drinks,” she continued. “I didn’t know Punk was capable of being that angry. He demanded that JR come outside with him.”Lifting her eyebrows, she asked, “And did he?”“Oh yes,” April answered. “I think he knew better than to say no.”The last sentence made sense to Sue Ellen. She’d often thought Punk was the only person on earth who could exert some authority over JR. Especially after Jock’s passing.Very much interested, she motioned April to continue.“Once they got outside, it got pretty heated. I couldn’t hear all of it so I’ll pass along what I did hear. It sounded like Punk’s property was directly adjacent to a lease JR owned on the side. Nothing to do with Ewing Oil.”Sue Ellen pondered that for a moment before telling her, “One of his many dummy corporations, I’m sure.”“Exactly.”“Go on,” she said, motioning again. “This is fascinating.”“So, Punk was headed for a massive payday. JR knew that reservoir was going to be a big one too. Now, if I heard correctly, he drilled a series of offset wells right along the property line.”At that point, Sue Ellen knew exactly what he had done. She’d learned quite a bit from him over the years. “And let me guess? He tapped into their pool?”“Yes. That’s what I gathered anyway.”“How could he?” she whispered aloud. JR was capable of much. She’d often thought his picture should be beside the word ruthless in the dictionary. But for him to do such a thing to someone who was practically considered family was an all-new low, even for him.“That’s exactly what Miss Ellie and Clayton said. And everyone else, for that matter.”“Anything else after that?”“Oh yeah,” April replied, smiling. “Punk told him that he may be an old man but that wouldn’t keep him from kicking JR into the dirt.”The revelation brought a slight grin to Sue Ellen’s face as well. She knew Punk was one of the few people who could put a little bit of fear in JR. With a laugh, she remarked, “I’m just picturing how that all went down…”“You could cut the tension with a knife.” April took another sip. “After that, Punk told him he wanted him to go for a walk with him. I remember they were gone quite a while and it was dark before they came back.”She paused again. “After that, he became different. I mean, he’s still JR. But he did put that deal together that ended up saving a lot of independents from bankruptcy.”Sue Ellen mentally placed the pieces together. Though thousands of miles away at the time it all occurred, she’d been very much aware of how desperate things had been for the oil industry. JR and Ewing Oil were no exception. Initially appalled by what he had done, she could nevertheless understand his reasoning, though she did not agree with it. And technically speaking, everything he had done had been perfectly legal. Still, for him to do such a thing to Punk of all people was terrible. “That’s an incredible story.”“I thought you’d like it.”“Yes.”She also couldn’t help but wonder, had this behavior carried over to her? Was this newfound affection some twisted plot on his end to somehow better his reputation in the lead-up to the Oil Barons Ball? But she thought better of that. No one knew they were seeing one another, therefore it would be of no benefit to him. Besides, there were plenty of others with less than sterling reputations who had won the prestigious award in the past. All he had to do was impress the committee enough and, at least according to April, it sounded like her very well might have.Something else, April’s revelation did nothing as far as changing her feelings toward him. His questionable and sometimes morally bankrupt methods in conducting business had never really bothered her in the past. It wasn’t a problem for her now either. In truth, if he’d pulled such a stunt on anyone else, she probably wouldn’t have laughed, but she would have definitely been entertained at the sheer audacity. You low down bastard. Sue Ellen looked on as April, a little tipsy from her two margaritas, paid the tab for the two of them and found both that and the conversation amusing. In the last hour, she had effortlessly gathered a great deal of valuable information as to the goings-on of her ex-husband/newfound lover while she’d been away.Sometimes being the only sober person in the room did have its benefits, after all.</blockquote>

Verification: Who played Sue Ellen in Dallas?