February Pay It Forward

Based on the original February Sucks by George Anderson. Jim and Linda belong to George and they are NOT my characters. I am just borrowing them.

A silly little tale with Patrick from my story Fixing The Past Ch 01.

If you are expecting realistic or hate February Sucks alternates skip this one.

Patrick is back!

This story diverges as they are walking toward the club. There is no point in republishing an entire page of George Anderson's work.

Friday, March 1, 2046

It was a few minutes after midnight and Linda Blauhauser was in Dublin on a sightseeing trip with her cat fancy group. She had her friends in her cat fancy group and others, but was depressed at her lonely life as far as love and romance were concerned. When she was younger and just after her divorce, men had wanted her... for one thing. There had been a few relationships, but word always got back about her dalliance with Marc and no man wanted their own personal repeat of that humiliation. As the years rolled on, getting dates got harder and fewer until they largely stopped.

Her ex, Jim Blauhauser had dated many and even had some long-term girlfriends, but it never worked in the end. He was broken and simply incapable of the intimate trust a woman needs. They were on reasonably friendly terms and would say hello if they were in the same location, but even true friendship between them was off the table. Years later, Linda had approached him about a new relationship to no avail. Too much damage had been done. They were both alone and seemed destined to stay that way.

She sat in the pub, dressed in her cat sweater much like the other attendees of her group who had all returned to their hotel rooms. She sat with a sad expression despite a faux smile.

The bartender came up to her and said, "Last call. We close in twenty-five minutes."

Linda nodded with a feigned smile.

The bartender asked, "What is the matter?"

Linda looked at the name badge on the bartender that said, 'Patrick.' and half laughed, "The ultimate Irish name, 'Patrick.' Nothing except my whole life is a waste.

Patrick was skeptical, "What do ya mean?'" he said in the stereotypical Irish accent.

Linda said, "Just that. My whole life. A waste. I fucked my life up so bad and I am now alone... and I deserve it."

Patrick looked her up and down, "You obviously have friends. I rather doubt your life is a waste."

Linda said, "I have friends. Other cat ladies. I had the love of my life and I utterly destroyed him. I am a slut who betrayed her man in front of our friends and humiliated him. To this day, he cannot quite manage a permanent replacement for me. He has gotten better emotionally, but not by much and that is my fault. I had a man who adored me and I hurt him beyond words."

Patrick said, "Regret is the most expensive thing there is. I know three things. The first is, I'm the best bartender there is and that makes me the best listener. The second is, that you are the best tipper I have left in my pub. Three is, you are the last person in the bar so we have some time to hear your tale."

Linda laughed, Patrick had a relaxing air about him.

Linda smiled and said, "I guess you could call this a cautionary tale. 'Don't be Linda Blauhauser, the disloyal slut.'"

Patrick winced and said, "Don't say that!"

Linda said, "Thirty years ago, almost to the day, a sports star asked me to dance. He tried seducing me and I let him. It cost me my marriage."

Patrick winced again.

Linda pondered telling her full story and sighed.

Patrick asked, "Well?"

Linda said, "On our tenth anniversary, my husband took me out to dinner at a fancy nightclub with our other friends made up of other couples. Things were fine until a football star named Marc LaValliere came up to our table and asked ME to dance. Marc is gorgeous, rich, and the alpha male of alpha males. I got up to dance with him without a thought."

"We danced several dances and I let myself fall under his spell. He was seducing me and I let him. He suggested that after the dance, I join him for a night of passion. He set up a way for me to leave out a back door and would be parked, waiting for me."

"When we were done dancing, I went back to the table, mulling things and I got my friend Dee to come with me to the bathroom. I explained what happened and that Marc was waiting for me in his car. I was out the door and into his car as we drove to his house while Dee played dumb long enough for me to get away."

Patrick said, "Shiiit! Then what?"

Linda said, "It wasn't straight to bed. He played the seduction just right. We danced. He carried me to the bedroom. Did the whole undress me thing."

Patrick looked sad and said, "And..."

Linda said, "Sex. Mind-blowing sex. The best I ever had."

Linda sighed, "I even had one for the road then showered. He brought me back and I came in trying to act like nothing happened."

Patrick asked, "So. I would imagine he was angry."

Linda nodded and said, "And hurt."

She looked down, "I destroyed him. The one man I stood up in a church full of people and swore myself to... I wrecked his heart and his ego. The ego came back... mostly, but he never healed his heart."

Linda sighed, "I tried to play it off. I was sad that I had hurt him but the sex was so off the charts good..."

Patrick said, "Yikes."

Linda nodded, "So I tried to make it up to him but he refused me for a long while. I even refused a second go with Marc trying to prove I could be a good wife. He wouldn't touch me for almost two months Eventually horny beat pissed off and we fucked."

Patrick said, "So you finally made love again. That's good."

Linda shook her head, "No. He fucked me. He never made love to me again. Did a decent job of fucking me for a while."

Patrick said, "Uh oh."

Linda drained the last of her glass.

Patrick said, "And..."

Linda said, "It took me all that time to realize the love in his eyes was gone. I was his cum dumpster."

Patrick winced and said, "Ouch."

Linda shrugged, "We were friends... sort of and stayed married a while for the kids. Things got moderately better for a while. He never said I love you, but he at least seemed okay being around me.

Linda pushed the glass forward and said, "Hit me!"

Patrick gave her half a glass and did not charge her.

Linda said, "Well, about the beginning of October we even went out together. I was tipsy. We got home and Jim was giving me a good pounding and almost Marc good...

Patrick said, "And I see the train coming down the tracks to run you over."

Linda nodded and said, "Mid orgasm I yelled out Marc's name."

Linda looked down and almost cried, "Jim deflated like a slashed tire, and pulled out."

Patrick said, "Fuuuuuuckkk!"

Linda nodded. He just sat at the end of the bed. I went to the spare room and lay there unsleeping all night. The next morning was Sunday. I simply went to him and said, "I will be at the house at four this Friday. I ask that you serve me privately and I will sign any divorce that is fair."

Patrick sighed and said, "So did he?"

Linda started sobbing and did so until closing time.

Patrick said, "I will get you the Uber."

Linda nodded weakly and picked up the story again, "Yes. He handed me the yellow envelope that Friday at four privately and at home and said, 'You have been served.'. I had it looked at. It was fair. It was a private offer by the best man on the planet that I had thrown away to hook up with a sports sex god. I destroyed a man and he still served me quietly and with as much dignity as could be given, and treated me fairly."

She sighed and shuddered then said, "I wrecked him..."

Linda finished her beer, went to her wallet, pulled out a hundred Euro note, and said, "Keep the change. Thanks for listening and now you fully understand how deep and terrible regret can be. I wish I could go back to a date seared in my mind, Monday, February 29 2016, with what I know now, and make things right."

Patrick asked, "Do you now?"

Linda said, "Yes. I ruined two lives. I wish I could go back with my current wisdom and knowledge and not destroy the man who only adored me because I was in heat, and maybe... redeem myself."

Patrick said, "Wishes should be granted in the manner they are desired. I see a pure heart. But perhaps you should earn it. Remember..."

He looked Linda directly into her eyes, "If you pay it forward... maybe, you will be paid back."

Linda felt the effects of her beer briefly and her vision blurred.

Patrick asked, "Are you okay?"

Linda nodded and said, "The Uber hasn't shown up, perhaps you should call again."

Linda went back to her hotel room. The dizziness was gone and the next day was a tour of the no-kill cat shelter.

******

Thursday, March 14, 2047

Back home, Linda was at The Golden Barrell Club with the cat lady group again and had a good time. The monthly get-togethers were good fun and a good social time to be with friends. It was getting late and for a while, she was the last at the bar after her friends had gone home.

Two women in their late twenties sat down next to her. One woman was a pretty blonde, the other was also very pretty with light brown hair.

The blonde said, "I'm so jealous of you Brittany! I cannot believe you caught Trevor Ball's eye! A weekend with a major sports-star! LUCKY!"

The brown-haired woman said, "I know, Maddy! It's only going to be for this weekend then I will get back to my loving husband forever!"

Maddy said, "Okay. So I am running interference for this weekend while you are away. We are 'At the Spa' for a spa weekend. Your husband will surely call me if you don't pick up. Keep an eye on your phone! I will vouch for you, but you have to keep on it looking to see if I text you! Don't fuck it up!"

Brittany smiled, looking forward to a weekend with a sports god.

Maddy looked at her phone then said, "Have to go. I promised the husband I would be back by eleven." She got up and left.

Linda sighed loudly then looked at the young woman and asked, "How long have you been cheating on your husband?"

Brittany looked at Linda and said, "Uh. None of your business and I have not cheated. It's just that at the club we were just at last night, Trevor Ball... you know, the baseball player asked me to go away this weekend. Have you seen him? He is Gor-Jee-Uss!"

Linda sighed, "You are going to lose your husband. Maybe he is an asshole or something. Or lousy in bed."

Brittany said, "No. He is great. I will have my 'Spa weekend' and then never do it again. I will be the perfect wife."

Linda shook her head sadly, "You sound like me."

Brittany said, "Pardon?"

Linda said, "I was seduced... or better said, I allowed myself to be seduced by Marc Lavalliere."

Brittany thought for a second then asked, "Wasn't that the football player that had his way with like a hundred wives until one of their husbands cut him into pieces with a chainsaw?"

Linda nodded, "That's the one."

Brittany asked, "What was it like?"

Linda asked, "The sex or what happened after?"

Brittany said, "The sex of course!"

Linda shrugged and said, "The best sex of my life. Unfortunately."

Brittany asked, "Unfortunately?"

Linda said, "My husband could not compete. The sex was that much better. Alpha sex like that is unbelievably intense."

Brittany smiled and said sarcastically, "Sounds soooo horrible!"

Linda said, "My husband knew about it and confronted me the next day."

Brittany said, "It is all arranged and my husband will never find out."

Linda sighed, "Keep telling yourself that. He will know something is up when your husband is a pale comparison and the intensity is gone. You will be bored and only going through the motions. He will figure it out eventually."

Brittany said, "I will be extra careful."

Linda scoffed, "He will figure it out at some point. By the way, After you do it... never have alcohol again."

Brittany asked, "What?!"

Linda said, "Even after my husband found out, he tried forgiving me. He never made love to me again but he sure fucked me hard."

Brittany said, "You really are not selling your story well here."

Linda asked, "So you ONLY like being pounded in bed?"

Brittany shook her head, "No. I like a nice variety. Sometimes soft, sometimes hard... sometimes in-between."

Linda said, "Be prepared to only get a pounding if he finds out and agrees to stay anyway."

Brittany said, "I will be extra extra careful."

Linda sighed, "Then remember about never drinking again."

Brittany shook her head and said, "Uh, NO!"

Linda said, "Uh.... yeah! Six months later, My ex, Jim, was giving me a really good pounding. I was a bit tipsy and called out Marc's name."

Brittany winced.

Linda pushed, "You cannot hide something like that forever. It will come out at some point."

Linda sighed and said, "I have been alone for almost thirty years. It's not worth it. I cannot stop you."

Linda turned and looked into Brittany's eyes. Brittany saw the tortured pain in Linda's eyes.

Brittany sighed and said, "FUUUUUUCK!"

Lindas vision blurred

******

Linda looked around and as if in another body...

Linda heard herself say, "I'd better not have to wait too long before we're alone together, preferably naked."

Linda asked, "Wait... what? Where is Brittany?"

Jim asked, "Who is Brittany?"

Linda looked down at herself in her dress. She walked over to the side and steadied herself on the wall."

Jim asked, "Are you okay?"

Linda studied the face of the thirty-two-year-old man in front of her. She asked, "What is today's date?"

Jim said, February 29th, 2016. You are worrying me."

Linda said, "It's not 2047?"

Jim had a worried expression, "2047!? Are you okay?"

Linda looked around and said, "I need to see something!"

They were walking past the bathrooms in the lobby and said, "I have to use the bathroom."

She went into the bathroom and looked at her reflection... her thirty-one-year-old reflection...

It dawned on her, HER THIRTY-ONE-YEAR-OLD REFLECTION!

The memories... of the dance... of driving away... of the mind-blowing sex... the hurt the next day... the divorce... All were there... Were they? They were hazy like the memory of a dream fading after waking up.

Linda made a decision, cried a second, and silently thought, "However this happened... A dream? A forewarning? Thank you. I won't fuck this up twice."

The memories were suddenly even more hazy. Was it all a dream? A forewarning? She smiled and said to herself, "Not again."

Linda looked around... Her smile was even better than her best smile for Jim. She came out of the bathroom, took his hand, and tried to lead him back to the hotel room.

Jim stopped and said, "Our friends are waiting. We have to go."

Linda let go of his hand and said, "I can't"

Jim was insistent, "We have to meet our friends. They are waiting."

Linda rooted herself to the spot and shook her head.

Jim said, "We are going to be late."

Linda shook her head and started backing toward the elevator.

Jim asked, "What is wrong?! We have to meet our friends."

Linda shook now in terror trying not to go near the club, "I won't go. I WON'T"

Jim asked, "What the hell is wrong?!"

Linda was now unsure of many of the earlier memories of that night, but the memories of Jim's tortured face and the loneliness lingered more and raged inside her head. She said, "I WON'T GO! I WON'T"

Linda started sobbing. Jim's face was close, but she saw the image of Jim the next day after she had crushed him. That image was not nearly as hazy as the others. The image of him crushed then was replaced with the current image of his face concerned about her.

Jim took a conciliatory approach, it was clearly a crisis.

Jim asked, "Why?"

Linda said, "I won't cheat on you with Marc at the club. I WON'T!"

Jim said with a scared expression, "You cheated on me?"

Linda shook her head and said, "But if I go in... I will cheat with Marc LaValiere."

Jim shook his head and said, "What?"

Linda said, "I danced with Marc LaValliere in front of you then went home with him."

Jim said, "No you haven't. I would remember you dancing with Marc. Wait. What? You are going to cheat on me when a celebrity is going to dance with you and you are going home with him? And you know this how?"

The memories kept fading, except the parts of her loneliness, and the stark crushing image of her beloved Jim's face after he found out.

Linda said, "I don't know. It's hazy, but I won't go in there!"

Jim sighed and paused then texted Dave, 'Linda is feeling very poorly. Will try to come down later if she feels better. Have a good evening.'

Jim offered his hand to his wife and they went back to the elevator and to their room.

Once in the door Linda dropped the dress, stripped completely, and went under the covers, shaken. She spent an hour in the bed staring at the wall.

Jim came over a half hour later and offered her some water and asked, "Are you better?"

Linda nodded. The memories were now gone except the one of Jim's bleak face and the feeling of her loneliness.

Jim asked, "Can we go down now?"

Linda shook her head and looked into Jim's eyes and realized... He loved her. Deep into his soul, he loved her. The memories of her loneliness were stark and she realized... There was the light of his love still in his eyes. HE STILL LOVED HER!

Linda smiled, pushed the covers aside, and laid back on the bed. She opened her legs and looked back at the love coming at her...

Linda smiled and said, "Jim, please, make love to me super softly... all night. I need it so badly."

Jim smiled and unbuckled his trousers...

*******

Linda was just getting off Jim with a towel between her legs when Jim received a phone call at nine in the morning.

Linda heard Jim say, "What!?" and "NO!"

Linda asked, "What?"

Jim waved her away.

Jim said, "Divorce!?"

Five minutes later Jim ended the call, looked at her, and said, "Dee went away with Marc Lavaliere last night. Dave said he is divorcing."

Jim looked at Linda in his own Twilight Zone moment. How did Linda know Marc was going to be there? Did she receive some premonition... COULD she have cheated? He realized that could have been him? Or not? One giant thing that stood out was that Linda thought something was wrong and was adamant about not approaching a known danger to their marriage...

He said, "I love you Linda."...

*******

If they have heeded my request, this is published exactly 3 years after the original on September 11th.

Happy Birthday, Jim,

Tomh1966