I wasn't originally intending to write a sequel to "The Festival" but an idea came to me from a conversation I had with my wife and I decided it was too good not to put down on paper. So for those of you who wanted it here is a continuation of that story picking up a few weeks after the first one ended.
Thank you for reading my stuff and I hope you enjoy it.
*****
Rain fell hard on the roof of the house the sound as it struck the old slate roof like a thousand tiny pebbles bouncing off and leaping back into the air.
Roland lay stretched out in his bed his mind lost in thought as he played back the events of his last encounter with Ellen, his best friend Jack's girlfriend. They had been trying to find help after an unfortunate auto accident had rendered Jack unconscious. Happening upon an old farmhouse and being granted entrance by its owner they had found themselves held at gunpoint and forced to perform sexual acts on each other while the gunman had watched them.
Things had taken a truly bizarre turn when after completing their tryst he and Ellen had found their host had vanished. Not only that but after calling for help they had discovered upon the arrival of the paramedics that the whole house was gone as if it had never existed.
Though it had seemed impossible Roland suspected he knew exactly what had happened, the old Gypsy who had told his fortune at the Medieval festival had promised to give him a taste of what it was like to be with Ellen, and it seemed he had made good on that promise. By some crazy magical means, he had contrived a situation where Ellen would have to give herself to Roland.
He rose up in bed and glanced out the window at the gray sky. The memories of that brief encounter at the farmhouse caused his flaccid cock to start swelling inside his underwear. Ellen had been everything he had imagined and more, so beautiful, her freckled skin, the softness of her full lips, her sweet breasts in his hands. The elastic band of his shorts peeled away from his skin as he slid a hand down toward his now fully erect penis, enclosing its hard flesh in his palm. He started to tug at his cock as images of Ellen and himself having hot, passionate sex on the rug flashed in his mind's eye.
"Ellen!" he whispered loudly.
A crack of thunder startled him breaking his concentration. His hand was frozen in mid-stroke on his straining prick. Roland sighed and removed his hand letting his cock settle back down. This wasn't what he wanted, once you had tasted the real thing a fantasy just wouldn't do the trick.
The wood floor creaked as Roland slid off the bed and made his way across the room to sit at the small wooden desk where he typically worked on his college studies. He switched on the lamp sitting on one corner illuminating the loose piles of paper and an open textbook that covered most of the workspace. From the top of a stack of mail, he lifted a photo. Taken earlier in the year the picture showed Ellen and Jack together at the beach, Ellen in a cute green and black bikini.
"What am I going to do?" thought Roland sadly as he gazed at her beautiful face, her chocolate brown eyes filled with excitement.
The morning light found Roland with his head down on his desk, a harsh crook in his neck from falling asleep on the rough surface. The photo he had held the night before had dropped to the floor, and he returned it to its spot on the desk. Standing up and cracking his back loudly Roland went to take a shower and start his day. He had to be on campus by 10: AM for a class.
He arrived on campus on time for once and tried to focus his attention on the lecture but his miserable night of sleep was not helping matters. Shuffling out into the corridor afterward he spied Jack coming toward him, Ellen walking at his side.
"Hey, buddy! How was Psychology?" asked Jack.
As Roland contemplated his answer he noticed Ellen was trying not to make eye contact with him, she was looking off down the corridor. Things between them had been like this since that night. Though Ellen acknowledged that they had been forced into things and it wasn't Roland's fault, she still seemed skittish around him. Part of him couldn't blame her for feeling that way, but it still stung when they were together.
"Fine I guess, a little boring," said Roland finally.
"Well we have some news that should wake you up," replied Jack, "show him, Sweetie."
Reluctantly Ellen removed her left hand from her pocket, sitting on her ring finger was a diamond engagement ring.
"Yes sir, we are taking the big plunge," said Jack proudly.
Roland stood still feeling just vaguely sick as he stared at the glittering symbol of Jack and Ellen's love and also the revelation of a future where she would never be his again.
"Everything o.k. Pal, I thought you would show a little more excitement," said Jack frowning.
"What? No, I mean of course I'm excited. It has been a long time in coming, you guys are so good together," Roland managed to say.
"Damn straight! Hottest couple on this crummy campus," laughed Jack.
"Congratulations, Ellen," said Roland half-heartedly.
"Thanks, Rollie," she replied her voice sounding almost as lifeless as his had been.
"Well, I have practice, you better get your suit out of mothballs my friend, I'm not standing up there alone," said Jack as he started away, his long strides carrying him down the corridor.
"Ellen?" said Roland trying to get a moment alone with her, she looked up at him for the first time. Her eyes looked haunted though she did manage a smile.
"Rollie, we said we wouldn't talk about it, it happened, and we both got out safe. Let's just put it behind us and go on," she said.
There were so many things he wanted to say, but she was gone before he could find the words, following in Jack's footsteps, her shorter legs moving faster to catch up.
Turning away finally from Ellen's retreating form Roland walked with his head down toward the far exit his mind in turmoil. He had known the two of them ending up together was all but inevitable, but after what had happened he found it very difficult to stomach. He couldn't imagine himself with anyone else but her, and he felt that something had passed between them that night, they had been so good together surely Ellen saw that? He sat in his car a moment later, there was one more class still on his schedule today, but he had a more important destination in mind.
His car was in poor shape, and he feared it would give out on him before he arrived but an hour later he stood outside the gates of the Medieval festival. The crowd was light on a weekday, and he made his way quickly through crowds of grade school kids on field trips and elderly folks before he arrived at the Gypsy caravan. The wagon was just as he remembered it from weeks earlier and the wizened old Gypsy sat in the same spot, his thin fingers flipping cards back and forth painted with arcane symbols.
"Didn't think I would see you again so soon," said the Gypsy.
"It was you wasn't it, the man with the gun, he had that same medallion around his neck," Roland said as he took a seat.
"What are you babbling about Kid?" said the Gypsy with a raised eyebrow.
