Carol's Ride Home

Carol's Ride Home

A "February Sucks" inspired story.

Disclaimer - Mature themes, adult language, sex, violence. This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this story are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Acknowledgements - A nod and a tip of the hat to George Anderson and his tantalizing story "February Sucks" and his villain Marc LaValliere for their inspiration.

Carol's Ride Home

By gstein

Watching Marc shift from 2nd to 3rd and then into 4th gear, hearing the powerful engine's distinguishing roar with each shift and feeling herself pushed back in her seat by the car's rapid acceleration up the on-ramp and into the interstate highway, Carol was dazzled by Marc's classic Ferrari Testarossa.

Then, after breaking out of traffic, Marc shifted from 4th into 5th gear while pressing down on the accelerator and taking the Ferrari well above 100 mph! It was in that second that Carol experienced a sudden rush of adrenaline which put her into an emotional state of pure excitement.

Forty-something year old Carol Long had never ridden so fast in a car but now she was and it was thrilling.

In fact she was thinking that riding this fast with Marc in his Ferrari was almost as thrilling as having sex with him.

Then she thought, "Yea, almost as good, but not quite. Nothing could top that!"

Carol was enjoying her ride from Marc's in-town townhouse out to her home in the suburbs.

And it didn't take long at the speed they were traveling, so in just a few minutes Marc was slowing down, changing lanes and exiting the interstate at the community Carol called home.

For Carol the thrill was over.

Because it was then and there that her consciousness shifted from thrill and excitement to apprehension. Because she would soon be home and facing her husband Earl Long, whom she had abandoned for a one-night-stand with the professional football star Marc LaValliere.

Last night Earl and Carol were having a grand time together at an annual charity ball when Marc LaValliere spied Carol in the crowd, sought her out, danced with her, seduced her and then asked her to go home with him for a night of forever memorable sex.

Now by the time that Marc got around to asking Carol to spend the night with him she was already smitten with the young, ruggedly handsome and virile professional football star who had been monopolizing her time on the ballroom floor. So when he confidently and unabashedly posed the question her already aroused primal urges took hold of her thinking and overruled her sensibilities. So, without giving it a second thought, she told him yes.

And Marc LaValliere had successfully scored again.

Then, just like many of Marc's other conquests had done before her, Carol deceived her husband. She told Earl that she was going to the restroom and but instead she walked out of the hotel and joined Marc who was waiting for the parking valet to bring his Lexus around.

She was ready to go! The normally staid Carol Long had been drawn into Marc LaValliere's intoxicating sphere of excess, unbridled passion and debauchery.

Now Carol didn't remember too much about the ride from the hotel to Marc's townhouse but she did remember everything about her night in Marc's bed. He hadn't oversold himself, he pushed all of her buttons, introduced her to some new buttons and took her sexuality to a place she'd never been.

And, like Marc had told her, she would forever remember her night with him.

But now it was the morning after. Her one-night-stand with Marc LaValliere was over and she was on her way home.

And in the light of day Carol was clearly seeing her night with Marc for what it was... she had cheated on Earl. There was no other way to see it. And frankly it didn't matter that she had cheated with a professional football player. It was still cheating just the same. And it didn't matter that it was just one night. It was still cheating. And it didn't matter that it was a moment in time for her. It was still cheating.

So now, after exiting the interstate highway, they were driving through Carol's community toward her home. And as they drove along the four-lane boulevard where she and Earl and their friends and their neighbors routinely shopped and dined and did business, Carol was worrying about the confrontation she would soon have with Earl and how she would have to explain to him why she deceived him, left him and spent the night having sex with Marc LaValliere.

Needless to say, Carol was getting anxious.

Naturally Marc LaValliere recognized her anxiety because he had seen it before. Other women had sat where Carol was now sitting and experienced the same emotions that Carol was now feeling. And those emotions could be summed up as simply as, "How do I go home to my husband after spending the night with another man?"

"Worried about going home to your husband?" Marc asked matter-of-factly.

"Yes," Carol replied in higher pitch than normal tone of voice.

Then she added, "Got any ideas on what I should do?"

Marc thought for a moment before he said, "Well, you know that he's probably pissed off and has been pissed off since last night when he discovered that you left the ball with me. And he probably spent last night in the proverbial ditch being angry and feeling hurt and hating me and hating you and thinking about what he's going to do to you and what he's going to do to me." Marc told her.

"Oh god," Carol muttered.

"So you have to get him out of the ditch," Marc told her.

"And just how do I do that?" Carol asked innocently.

Surprisingly Marc seemed to have an answer ready for her.

"Well, when you walk into your house just announce that you're home and make it sound like you're back from a shopping trip or lunch with your friends. Be upbeat. Be positive. Don't be negative. And tell him that you're the same Carol as you were before last night, that nothing has changed. Tell him that you're still his loving wife."

Carol was listening and pondering over what Marc was telling her.

"Anything else?" she asked sheepishly.

"Yea, drag him to your bedroom and tell him to fuck you. Tell him to reclaim you. Get him to fuck you like I fucked you last night."

Without thinking, Carol unconsciously exclaimed, "There is no way that Earl can fuck me like you did! Not even on his best day!"

Marc laughed out loud at Carol's subconscious admission that he was a better man than her hubby Earl in the sex game.

"Oh god, I shouldn't have said that," Carol said out loud.

Marc saw that Carol had embarrassed herself with her admission about Earl's deficient sexual skills and helped her get beyond her faux pas.

"Okay, I got it, I understand, sorry that I laughed, don't compare him to me, just get him to fuck you the best he can," Marc said trying not to laugh.

Then Marc added, "And while he's fucking you just think about me fucking you and that will help you get through it. But just get him to fuck you and get him out of the ditch."

What Marc was telling her made sense but it also made Carol feel uneasy, awkward and more anxious so she changed the conversation by asking Marc, "Have you ever had any trouble with a husband?"

Marc was driving and thinking how to answer Carol.

Then he said to her, "It's like this, I only ask high-value married women to spend a night with me, which obviously means they're someone's high-value wife. So of course their hubby is mad and he's angry and he's pissed off and he thinks about revenge. But he gets over it because, at the end of the day, hubby doesn't want to lose his high-value wife and he's not going to do anything stupid or drastic that would cause him to lose his wife. So, instead of seeking some kind of revenge, he just sucks it up, gets over his anger and moves on. So I seldom have a problem with a hubby."

"Oh, I see," was all that Carol could say.

But continued with her questioning, "I hear you say seldom, which to me means that sometimes you have a problem, is that right? Sometimes you have a problem with a husband?"

Marc was thinking.

"Yea, sometimes a corporate dummy, you know, a white collar type, will go the legal route and sue me for something. But at the end of the day I've done nothing illegal so their lawsuits always fail. My lawyers call them frivolous lawsuits. The corporate dummy never wins." Marc chuckled.

"And there have been some military or ex-military or blue collar types who threatened to go 'Rambo' on me, and either beat me up or kill me, but as you see I'm still here." He told her laughing.

"So you've had death threats?" Carol asked in an alarmed tone of voice.

"Yea, but I don't worry about them because they're just threats. No one has ever tried to kill me."

"Oh my god, that's so scary!" Carol exclaimed.

So Marc added, "Look Carol, when men are angry they make threats but it's a huge leap to go from a threat to actually killing someone. So I don't worry about it. The odds of someone actually trying to kill me are extremely small."

They had stopped for a red light and while waiting for the light to change Marc continued telling Carol about death threats and how he was not afraid. So he wasn't paying any attention to the Jeep Wrangler next to him in the left lane.

And he didn't take notice of the man in the Jeep's passenger seat who seemed to be taking either pictures or video of him with an iPhone.

Further, he didn't notice that the back seat passenger window of the Jeep was rolled down.

So of course he didn't see the man in the back seat of the Jeep with a rifle pointed in his direction.

And Marc certainly never heard the blast of the round of.375 Weatherby Magnum that penetrated his head behind his left ear and blew his skull apart before passing within inches of Carol's head, blowing out the passenger side window, exiting the Ferrari and burying itself in a brick wall.

Epilogue

Marc LaValliere's murder is under investigation. No suspects have been arrested much less identified. Several victimized husbands who have the motive, potential and the capacity to commit such a crime have been interviewed and cleared. Forensic and ballistic analyses have not yielded any usable evidence.

Earl's and Carol's relationship and their marriage are in question. There has been no reconciliation or divorce. Currently they are estranged and living apart. Family and friends have encouraged, and continue to encourage, them to get counseling and to get back together.

Carol Long suffers from PTSD as a result of witnessing Marc's murder and almost being a victim herself; and, from being estranged from her husband. She's in counseling and therapy.

Earl Long is suing LaValliere's estate, his team and the league for a litany of grievances.

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Story Notes

1. This story is a "February Sucks" inspired story. It is not a re-write of or sequel to "February Sucks." Rather, it is a stand-alone story whose plot is inspired by "February Sucks."

2. This story is not about Linda and Jim, the characters in George Anderson's story "February Sucks."

3. Marc LaValliere is a fictitious character created by author George Anderson in his story "February Sucks."

4. Earl and Carol Long are fictitious characters created for this story. Readers can assume they are a mid-forties aged American couple living in a large metropolitan area and have been married for over twenty years. They have adult children.

5. The Ferrari Testarossa was produced in Maranello, Italy between 1984 and 1996. The Testarossa came with a 12 cylinder 4.9 liter engine and a 5-speed manual transmission. The Testarossa had an estimated top speed of 180 mph.

6. The.375 Weatherby Magnum cartridge (bullet) was designed and developed by Roy Weatherby in 1944. It was designed as a dangerous game cartridge i.e., elephant, cape buffalo, rhino, leopard and lion. The cartridge is able to fire a 300 grain bullet at 2,800 ft/s generating a muzzle energy of 5,224 ft⋅lb. This performance level makes it an appropriate all-round African safari cartridge.

7. The rifle used by the shooter in the Jeep was the Weatherby Mark V Dangerous Game Rifle in.375 Weatherby Magnum cartridge size, of course.

8. The men in the Jeep used multiple hearing protection devices to protect their hearing from the rifle blast inside of the Jeep.

9. I've read George Anderson's "February Sucks" several times and find it tantalizing. I particularly like his introduction where he establishes the credibility of his story by sharing a real life experience where women confess they would abandon their husbands for one night (of sex) with a sports jock.

10. I've probably read most of the "February Sucks" re-writes, sequels, modified endings, new endings and plot modifications. Some are good but most are bad... my opinion.

11. To my knowledge no one has developed a story plot around what happens with Marc and the wayward wife during their drive from Marc's home to the wife's home. I felt like there is a story of what happens during that drive that needs to be told... thus "Carol's Ride Home."

12. I leave it to the reader to speculate and decide why Marc was murdered and what happens to Carol and Earl. And to decide and speculate why the shooter used a dangerous game rifle rather than use an AR-15 or some other tactical rifle or handgun.

gstein