Domination

Chapter 23

 Jesse passed an empty beer bottle from hand to hand across the bar counter. Lorelei could barely drink as her stomach was in a knot. Jesse had barely said a word since they left the hospital. Surprisingly to her, Jesse did not bring her to the hotel but to a bar. She thought he would never want to drink again after watching Christina; however, he had finished his third beer in an hour.

"Jesse," Lorelei said.

He chewed on his bottom lip as he watched the bottle in his hands.

"Jesse," she said again.

He did not look at her, so she pulled the bottle out of his hands. She put it on the counter beside her and put her hand on his shoulder. He sighed before glancing at Lorelei.

"We should use this time that she is in the hospital to purge everything from that apartment," he said. "She'll have a nice clean place to come back to if she doesn't die."

"I'm sure she'll be okay," Lorelei said. "She's in the hospital now. People are taking care of her."

"I told her that she had to stay sober," he said. "I did this to her."

Lorelei shook her head. Jesse pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. Was he pushing away tears?

"Christina has been drinking for years," she said. "You didn't do that to her."

"You don't understand," he said. "I told her she couldn't drink. I said if she drank, I wouldn't help her. I even made us leave when I saw her with a beer. Without alcohol, she could have died. I could have killed her."

"She is not sick because of you."

"Well, she is in the hospital now."

Lorelei put her arm around Jesse's shoulders. He leaned his head against her. It was odd to Lorelei to see Jesse so vulnerable. He rarely exposed this side of himself, especially in a public space. Lorelei leaned her cheek against the top of his head.

"There you are, Lovebirds!"

Jesse pulled away from Lorelei and looked over his shoulder. Jody was weaving her way through the tables of people toward them. Her dark hair was piled on top of her head. She had on a little black dress with a jean jacket over it. Sneakers were on her feet. Lorelei was always amazed at how effortlessly Jody could look gorgeous. Lorelei was not confident that she would be able to wear that outfit and not get strange looks.

Jody pulled the stool next to Jesse. Lorelei's chest tightened when she watched Jesse smile at Jody. She had not seen Jesse smile since Christina's seizure. She swallowed hard to try and push the panic away. She could not have a panic attack in this bar.

"I saw your texts as soon as my plane landed," Jody said. "I wanted to come right away."

Lorelei grabbed the neckline of her T-shirt. Was Jody the first person he talked to? When did he even text her? Lorelei could not recall seeing Jesse on his phone. She was also amazed that Jody had just come off an across-country plane ride and was looking that beautiful.

"How is your Mom doing?" Jody asked.

"She looked rough," Jesse said. "She was so angry at us."

"People with Delirium Tremens are often irritable and agitated," Lorelei said. "I'm sure she did not mean what she was saying."

Jesse let out a deep breath. Jody ordered herself a drink. Jesse got another beer. Was Lorelei going to see Jesse drunk? He had seen her inebriated on multiple occasions. She checked her phone to make sure she had enough battery. Jesse may not be reliable to get them home, and Lorelei did not know her way around the city.