- Afton Cooper: What are you thinking?
- Cliff Barnes: [lies on couch, eyes closed, unshaven] I'm not thinking. I can't think, I can't focus, I...
- [sighs]
- Cliff Barnes: I just gotta get away from Dallas.
- Afton Cooper: Look, there may be a better way to handle things than letting J.R. win this way.
- [Cliff tiredly shakes his head]
- Afton Cooper: Cliff, there's a lot we can talk about. But first I need a commitment from you.
- Cliff Barnes: About us? You and me?
- Afton Cooper: Yes.
- Cliff Barnes: [smirks] Afton, look... what do you wanna tie up with a loser for?
- Afton Cooper: Cliff, you don't have to be a loser. Listen... I'm not gonna press you. Just hang in here in Dallas. You gotta give yourself time to come around. I know... I know you've always had to do it by yourself, Cliff, but not anymore. I can help you. Listen... together, the two of us... we can beat J.R. and come out winners all around. I know a way.
- Cliff Barnes: Baby, there isn't *any* way I am *ever* gonna beat J.R.
- Afton Cooper: [J.R. knocked on the door of her dressing room, then just came in] Most people wait to be invited in.
- J.R. Ewing: Well, I'm not like most people, you know that, Afton.
- [spots red feather boa:]
- J.R. Ewing: Say, look here.
- [picks it up]
- J.R. Ewing: Isn't that something else? My goodness.
- Afton Cooper: [impatiently] J.R., what do you want?
- J.R. Ewing: Oh, you got that backwards, darling. It's not what I want. It's what you want. And I'm here to give it to you. You remember Cliff Barnes?
- [sarcastic:]
- J.R. Ewing: The entrepreneur at large? Well, his nearest and dearest have dumped him. His company, his mama, his sisters...
- [fake sigh]
- J.R. Ewing: and now Sue Ellen. He's all yours, honey. I just thought you'd be pleased to hear that.
- Afton Cooper: [shakes her head] I'd rather have lost him than have this happen.
- [smirks]
- Afton Cooper: You really put him through a meat grinder, didn't you?
- J.R. Ewing: Well, I had to. You saw it coming even if he didn't. Of course, you were always a lot smarter than he was. And I hope you're making some good money nowadays, because you might be having to support him.
- Afton Cooper: Just when everything started to look so good for Cliff, I knew... I just knew it was only a matter of time before you'd be sitting right here where you are... gloating
- J.R. Ewing: Well, I'm here to tell you I owe you one. It was pretty sharp of you to spot that situation with Clayton Farlow. So, any time you need a favor, come to old J.R.
- Afton Cooper: [softly] J.R... . your favors are too expensive. There's nothing I want from you.
- J.R. Ewing: [smiles] You never can tell.
- [as he gets up, she just glares at him]
- J.R. Ewing: I'll see you around, honey.
- [as he leaves, she just sits there at her dressing table, quietly seething]
- Rebecca Barnes Wentworth: Well, I really can't say you didn't warn me.
- Pamela Barnes Ewing: Mama, I never wanted to say I told you so.
- Rebecca Barnes Wentworth: [gets up from couch] Pam, do you think I went too far, firing Cliff? After all, he did try to replace the money. We didn't take a big loss.
- Pamela Barnes Ewing: You know you did the only thing you could, letting Cliff go.
- Rebecca Barnes Wentworth: But, he's my son.
- Pamela Barnes Ewing: Well, he should have thought of that when he took the money.
- Rebecca Barnes Wentworth: Why?
- [sits down on couch again]
- Rebecca Barnes Wentworth: Why does he feel so competitive with J.R.? Can't he ever outgrow that?
- Pamela Barnes Ewing: Mama, it's not just J.R., it's all the Ewings. It's one of those feuds that's just going to go on and on. And worse than that, Cliff has a fatal weakness: His ambition. He's like a horse with a wild streak. It just runs away with him. I love him too, but I don't know if he'll ever change.
- Rebecca Barnes Wentworth: I know what you're saying. And you're right, but... shouldn't a person be allowed to make mistakes?
- Pamela Barnes Ewing: Oh, yes... but shouldn't they be prepared to pay a price if they do? You did.
- Afton Cooper: [Cliff was contemplating suicide, then there was a knock on the door] May I come in?
- Cliff Barnes: Sure. If you ever decided to stop singing, you should take up fortune-telling. You know, you're really quite good at it. I mean, you called me to a turn. Everything you predicted came true. The minute I got serious about Sue Ellen, J.R. set me up like a duck in a shooting gallery. Bull's-eye. If you wanna enjoy yourself, go for it.
- Afton Cooper: Cliff...
- Cliff Barnes: Look, I wanna tell you. I got fired. Nobody in my family is speaking to me. I'm in debt, worse than that, I'm in the hole. Sue Ellen doesn't even answer the phone when I call her. So now I've got you here to tell me "I told you so."
- Afton Cooper: Cliff, that's not why I'm here. I'm sorry about what happened. But just...
- [her hands go to his shoulders, she looks into his eyes]
- Afton Cooper: Just give it some time. Things will change.
- [sighs]
- Afton Cooper: I'll bet you haven't eaten all day. Can I get you something?
- [he shakes his head]
- Afton Cooper: Would you like a drink?
- [he shakes his head]
- Afton Cooper: Would you like me?
- [he shakes his head]
- Afton Cooper: I'm just trying to tell you, Cliff... that I would do just about anything for you. Anything.
- Cliff Barnes: That's sweet of you, Aft. But there isn't anything I want.
- [her hands slip off his shoulders]
- Cliff Barnes: Nothing.
- [he walks away]