Free Love, Lies and Scandal by Earl Sewell

hair. He sat on a bench until sunset, mulling over his thoughts and the pros and cons of different scenarios centered around ending his relationship. He finally grew tired of placing so much mental energy into his problematic marriage. He decided that he'd walk back up to the strip and treat himself to a nice dinner and show to take his mind off JoAnn.

    The following morning, Jesse went to the convention center and packed up all his remaining merchandise so that it could be shipped back to his store. When he was done late in the afternoon, he returned to the hotel room. JoAnn was sitting on a chair having a phone conversation. When she saw him, she ended her phone call and remained silent. Jesse could tell that she'd been crying because the whites of her eyes were still red. He didn't say anything to her because his heart didn't have any sympathy whatsoever. He opened the closet door and pulled out his suitcase and began packing. He was ending their stay early.

    "Are we leaving early?" She broke the silence between them.

    "I don't care what you do," Jesse answered bitterly. "I'm taking a five o'clock flight home."

    "I don't blame you for the way you reacted," JoAnn said. "It's understandable, but I don't want you ever to do that to me again."

    Jesse still refused to acknowledge her.

    "You're not going to talk to me at all?" JoAnn asked. "We can work this out, you know. It's not as bad as it seems." She smeared away more of her tears. "Do you still love me?" JoAnn stood up and approached him. "Will you ever forgive me? I've forgiven you for choking me." Jesse's heart and feelings for her were completely iced over.

    "Do yourself a favor--don't say a fucking word to me," he said as he moved toward the bathroom. Once inside, he shut the door, locked it and turned on the shower so that he could freshen up before heading to the airport.

    When they arrived at the airport, Jesse paid the cabdriver, grabbed his luggage and immediately went to the ticket agent to change his seat assignment. He ended up with a seat at the rear of the aircraft near the toilet, but he didn't care. He didn't want to sit next to JoAnn during their flight home. Once he got his boarding pass, he didn't bother to wait for JoAnn to receive hers. He continued on his way as if she were a complete stranger to him. He took a seat at the gate area and glared out the window at planes arriving and departing.

    "Do you want something to eat or drink?" JoAnn arrived and sat next to him.

    Jesse couldn't believe that after all that had gone down, she still had the nerve to be in his face like a fly buzzing around a picnic table. He caught her gaze and showed her that his contempt for her was still very much alive.

    "Don't look at me like that, please," JoAnn begged.

    "Leave me alone, JoAnn. What part of that don't you understand?"

    "We have to talk about this, Jesse. I'm so sorry for what I did. I got caught up. I wasn't myself, okay? I don't know what to say. I don't know why I--"

    "Shut up, JoAnn." Jesse didn't want to hear another word fall from her mouth. She swallowed heavily and moved away from him. Jesse went back to the business of watching planes arrive and depart. After he got bored with that, he decided to walk over to a magazine stand and select something to read. As he did, he spotted JoAnn sitting at the penny slot machine searching her purse for any loose coins to gamble with. He shook his head disapprovingly. He picked up the latest issue of Runners World and went back to his seat.

    "Here." JoAnn interrupted his reading. He glanced up at her from the page. "Your daughter wants to talk to you," she said as she tried to hand him her cell phone. He didn't take it. JoAnn pressed the mute button.

    "You can be mad at me all you want for as long as you want. But don't take out your anger on Trina." She attempted to hand over the phone once again. Jesse took the phone, released the mute button and spoke.

    "Hey, butter cookie," he said to his preteen