Lindsay woke early, her eyes opening to find Jess lying beside her on the bed, drooling onto the bedspread. He hadn’t even bothered to get under the covers.
She crept into the bathroom. He was sleeping soundly, but she didn’t want to risk waking him. She stared into the mirror at herself. The bruise was darker now, but it at least didn’t have the hand shape it had appeared in the night before.
It wasn’t all his fault. She said things that hurt more than a single slap. He’d deserved them and she’d been angry.
He deserved to hurt.
“Hello? Hellooo?” A click came from the other line, signaling that whomever it was had hung up. Lindsay sighed. Probably a telemarketer, she thought. Then she looked at the caller ID box.
Her.
Lindsay closed her eyes, willing herself not to cry. It didn’t mean anything. Maybe they were just friends. Even as she thought the words she knew that they weren’t true.
He was lying to her. He’d told her that he wouldn’t see Rory anymore. He’d lied to her.
When the front door opened twenty minutes later, Lindsay was calmly sitting on the couch.
Waiting.
“Oh, hey Lindsay,” Dean said awkwardly, scratching his nose. His shirt was rumpled. Rumpled. It was rumpled in the way that shirts got when you’d been making out with someone.
She glared at him. She’d never been so angry in her entire life. “How’s Rory?” she said softly.
“Rory?” Dean’s face flushed. “I, um, I really don’t know.”
“Liar.” Lindsay choked back a sob.
He tugged off his jacket. Something fell out of one of the pockets, fluttering down to the floor. Both Lindsay and Dean stared at the empty condom wrapper on the floor.
She stood, looking up at him. “How long?” She gritted her teeth slightly.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t play stupid with me! How long have you been sleeping with her?”
“Lindsay.” Dean reached out to her but she moved away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I can’t believe this,” a few stray tears made their way down Lindsay’s cheeks. “I’m your wife, Dean, and while I’m at home thinking that you had to work late, you’re out there sleeping with that,” she choked slightly, “that slut.”
His hand shot out so fast that she didn’t even realize what was happening until she felt the sting on her cheek. Oh my god! He just hit me! She thought, covering her shocked mouth with her hands.
Dean looked as shocked as she felt. “Lindsay, I’m so sorry-.” He reached for her again but she stepped away, grabbing her purse in her right hand.
“Get the hell away from me.” With that Lindsay ran out the door, never looking behind her and without a thought as to where she was going to go. All she knew was that she wasn’t staying there.
Lindsay undressed quickly and stepped into the shower. The warm water felt good on her skin and she was thrilled to finally feel clean. Just spending one night in the motel made her uneasy. The whole room reeked of smoke and god knows what kind of germs were crawling around on the bed.
After using some shampoo that had the same consistency of dish soap and conditioner that failed to condition, Lindsay dried herself off with a large white towel. At least the towels were nice.
She looked at the pile of clothes on the floor. What was she going to wear? Being the typical blonde that she was, she’d failed to think about things like clothes when she stomped out of the house.
Grumbling, she pulled on her clothes from the previous day, and tip-toed back into the room. Jess was still sound asleep as she walked over to the window and peeked out of the shades. Aha! Bright Blue florescent lights proved to be her savior.
Wal-Mart.
***
Jess’ arm was twisted under him in an uncomfortable way and there was a crick in his neck. He glared at the bed. “Stupid hotel mattresses,” he muttered, shoving himself up to a sitting position.
There was an indent on the bed beside him, but otherwise no sign that Lindsay had been there. He sighed. He supposed hoping that she’d gone home would be asking too much.
Just then, he heard the door unlock and Lindsay slid in, large blue shopping bags in her hands. She grinned at him.
“Aren’t we much happier,” he grumbled.
Lindsay smiled some more. “Shopping is very therapeutic, especially when it’s done on Dean’s credit card.”
Jess’ mouth dropped open. The girl had more spunk than he thought.
“Hungry?” she asked, sitting down on the bed and fishing through one of the bags.
“Uh, sorta.”
She tossed him a Nutri-Grain bar and he stared at it for a moment. It was disgusting, but then again, it was on Dean, so why not? He opened it and took a bite.
Meanwhile, Lindsay pulled out a backpack and started shoving clothes in it, their tags still attached. Jess looked away when she started pulling out…girly things like underwear and other items he preferred to not think about.
Lindsay and her backpack disappeared into the bathroom, re-appearing in a new pair of jeans and a clean t-shirt just as Jess was dropping the rest of his Nutri-Grain bar in the trash. He looked up guiltily, although he wasn’t sure why.
“So.” Lindsay sat down on the bed beside him, resting her bag on the floor. “Where are we going?” she asked softly, staring at her hands.
Jess tried not to let his shock show. “You’re still coming?”
She nodded. “I can’t go- I can’t go back there. Not yet anyway.”
“Fair enough.” Jess stood up. “I hadn’t really decided yet where to go, but I was leaning towards going back to California.”
“Back?”
“My dad lives there.”
Lindsay nodded again. “Ah.”
Jess shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Check out time is in an hour,” he said finally, glancing over at the clock.
“Did you pay for the room last night?”
“Nah, I was gonna do it this morning.”
Lindsay grabbed her purse. “In that case, I think Dean’s going to treat us for this one.”
Jess smirked a little. He wasn’t going to fight her on that one.
***
A few hours later, they were on the road in Jess’ clunky car. Lindsay tried not to think about all the suspicious noises and smells coming from the engine. She might not be a mechanic, but she’d spent enough time with Dean to know that the car wasn’t doing well. She prayed that it would hold out for awhile longer, at least enough time for her to get further away.
Lindsay twisted her wedding ring nervously, sliding it up and down her finger, and around in circles. What was she doing? She’d just left her husband and taken off with the person Dean hated the most in the world.
Maybe that’s why she was doing it.
Jess hadn’t said a thing since they’d started driving. Instead, he’d turned on the radio and spent most of the ride flipping through stations, looking for one that was sufficiently loud and annoying for him.
The music was definitely getting on her nerves. There was no apparent melody, just loudness and chanting what was supposed to be lyrics, although she couldn’t understand them.
“You need a CD player,” she announced.
Jess snorted. “Sure, if you want to buy me one. Then again, I have to warn you, it’d cost more than the entire car.”
She sighed. So much for that idea. If she hadn’t been depressed before, she sure was now after listening to all the angry, depressing music Jess seemed to enjoy. She reached for the radio knob.
“Hey! What are you doing?” Jess yelped, swerving the car as he shoved her hand away. “Keep you hands off my radio.”
Lindsay glared at him. “No,” she said, and hit the knob, changing it to a Top 40 station.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jess muttered as a Michelle Branch song came on. He hit the “power” button. “No more radio.”
“Fine.” Lindsay crossed her arms.
“Fine.” Neither one of them spoke a word until hours later when Lindsay’s stomach made a loud growling noise.
Jess cringed. He’d been starving for hours but wasn’t about to admit it. Now he felt bad. What were they fighting for, over the stupid radio station? This was stupid. They were adults. He put on his right signal and pulled off the next exit, coming to a stop in front of a popular fast food restaurant.
Lindsay’s eyes darted over at him. “Thanks,” she whispered.
“Whatever.” Jess put the car in park and climbed out, slamming the door behind him.