February Sucks - Another Version

FEBRUARY SUCKS -- ALTERNATE ENDING

By Blackheart93

George Anderson has given me permission to write an additional version of his story, "February Sucks". He has obviously touched off a great deal of interest with his plot line. By my last count, there were more than 20 versions of his story.

I have found that I like writing sequels and alternate endings to stories written by others. I have a number of them in the pipe line. I also like dialogue and confrontation rather than a running description of events.

The point of view of my story is: What would a real man do if confronted with this situation? He certainly wouldn't put up with blatant betrayal, much less accept it as his wife and friends have encouraged him to do in the story.

I have chosen to recount George Anderson's story from the beginning rather than pick it up in the middle. For those of you who are familiar with the set-up, please skip to the part when our protagonist, Jim, learns that his wife, Linda, has left the dance club with Marc LaValliere.

As always, I welcome constructive comments and feedback.

I appreciate the editing efforts of BlackRandl1958.

FEBRUARY SUCKS

Characters:

- Jim Carlisle: Protagonist

- Linda Carlisle: Jim's Wife of ten years

- Emma & Tommy: Jim and Linda's two children, 8 and 4

- Marc LaValliere: Local NFL football star and lothario

- Dee & David, Jane and Phil, Lois & Larry, Jillian & John: Friends of the Jim & Linda

- Kimberly Jordan: Widowed sister of Jim

- Bill & Mary Blackwell, Walter & Wendy Stocker: Married Friends of Jim

- Roxy Allen, Ellen & Irene Lockhart: Significant women in Jim's Life

ONWARD

It always does, unless you live in one of those places that doesn't have winter. Every February sucks, but that particular February out-sucked all the others put together, and the March that followed was worse.

The worst February ever started with two weeks when we literally didn't see the sun. Grey overcast, high temperatures in the 20s and an occasional inch or two of snow. Everyone was looking forward to Valentine's Day as if it was their hope of salvation. It fell on Thursday that year, and so many people were taking the next day off that the editorial writers were saying we might as well shut the whole city down on February 15^th.

Linda and I had big plans for Valentine's Day, just like everyone else. Like everyone else, we awoke to two inches of new snow, with more falling rapidly. By mid-afternoon we were both sent home from work while we could still get somewhere: the whole city was shutting down. By the time we should have been getting dressed for our night on the town, all the roads were closed to non-essential traffic so we changed into our cozy sweats instead. The great Valentine's Day date, the dinner-movie-dancing one that was supposed to make up for the previous two weeks of unrelieved beastliness, was frozen pizza and "Frozen" with the kids. The only dancing we did was dancing Emma (age six) and Tommy (age four) up to their bedrooms amid protests of "You know there won't be any school tomorrow."

After the kids were asleep, I sighed as I handed Linda her glass of wine. "I'm sorry, Linda," I said. "This isn't how it was supposed to turn out."

"It's okay, Jim. It isn't your fault, and it was fun looking forward to what you had planned for us. Besides, if nothing else, I got a new party dress out of it."

"Which I haven't seen yet."

"You know the rule: you don't see it until you take me out in it." I looked at her, trying to imagine what she had bought, and how she would look in it. Linda isn't classically beautiful, but she has an innate sense of style: everything she wears not only looks great on her, it reflects who she is. She started making her own clothes in middle school, and still does from time to time when she can't find "just the right thing" in the stores. She makes many of Emma's dress-up clothes, too. Anyone lucky enough to see her when she's dressed up would think she's the most attractive woman in the room, but would trouble figuring out why, because there would be hotter women there. They would be thinking, "There's just something about her, I'd like to get to know her," not so much "Boy, I'd give a month's salary to get a piece of that." I saw that when I first met her, and I've had no reason to change my mind. I looked at the diamond I'd placed on her finger almost ten years before, as it flashed in the firelight.

"Thank you for saying yes, Linda. I love you." I raised my glass. "To us."

"I love you, too. To us," she responded with a smile. We sat for a moment, comfortably silent.

"Linda, I'm sorry I've been so touchy these last few days. It's nothing you or the kids have done, and you deserve better from me. It's just this damn February, and this..."

"I know, Jim. I'm sorry, too; I've been just as bad. I think the hibernating bears have the right idea. We really should be sleeping until spring. We've all been on edge, even the kids. The people at my work are a lot worse than you, though. What about your work?"

"The same."

"Well, look at it this way, Jim. We have each other, we have the kids, we have our home, we know where our next meal is coming from..."

"Yeah, Wendy's."

She laughed. Our first date was a running joke between us. I had met Linda in college. My parents had had to cut off my support to pay my dad's health bills, and I refused to take out loans, so after tuition and books I literally had no money. Linda was a little better off, and had offered to treat me or go Dutch, but I wasn't having any of that, so I was saving up to take her someplace nice. She had told me I was silly and said the object was to spend time together and get to know each other, and we could do that just as easily at Wendy's. So that's where we had gone, and the rest was history. We've moved up in class since then, but we still get Wendy's now and then for old times' sake.

"Seriously, though," I said. "How do people get through times like this if they don't have love?"

"Sometimes they don't." Linda shuddered. A high school boyfriend of hers had killed himself with
"Well, we do, and we will." I put down my glass and took both of her hands in mine. "Happy Valentine's Day, my love."

"Happy Valentine's Day, my beloved husband." We gazed into each other's eyes for a moment, then decided we really should move this to the bedroom.

We ended up getting the three-day weekend the editorial writers thought we should have, courtesy of about two feet of snow instead of the predicted eight inches. Everything was closed, of course, but hardly anyone lost power, and enough people had snowmobiles that anyone who really had to get somewhere could. All right, so the kid from up the street probably didn't have any places he had to be or any other excuse for making all that racket and throwing rooster tails everywhere, but he ran out of gasoline Saturday afternoon and his parents wouldn't give him any more. He didn't bother anyone after that.

Our kids, of course, were ecstatic. Mom and Dad were both home all day, there was snow to play in and pizza to eat and movies to watch, not to mention no school. What more could they want? Linda and I were pretty happy about the situation, too. There was no pressure to be anywhere or do anything, and we could enjoy our family to our hearts' content. Food wasn't a worry: Linda and I both grew up around here, so we always made sure we had plenty in advance with some to share, just in case. Emma and Tommy tired themselves out enough that they didn't even make a fuss about going to bed, and slept like logs. Which allowed Linda and me to content our hearts in ways for which we usually had to send the kids out of the house. There were only a couple of things wrong that weekend, as far as I was concerned. We had hundreds of movies in the house, but the kids would only watch one. Frozen. Over and over and over again. Okay, it's a sweet little story, and has some good songs, but come on! And Linda still wouldn't model the dress for me, or even let me see it.

"Taking me out in it means out, not in," she said, with a flirty little smile.

"What if I promise to take you out of it? Is that close enough?"

"Nice try, but nope." She wouldn't budge, darn it.

The real world returned early Sunday evening when the plows came through our neighborhood. School and work were on for Monday, and there was sighing from both kids and kids at heart as we got ready. Just before bedtime, Emma and Tommy marched into the living room, freshly scrubbed and in their night clothes. Big sister was the spokesperson, of course, standing as straight and tall as she could.

"Mommy, Daddy, this weekend was the best ever! Thank you for playing with us, and watching our movie with us, and all being together for three whole days in a row. We love you." With that, Daddy's girl climbed into my lap and Mommy's boy into Linda's. After giving us the sweetest kid-hugs in the world, they switched parents and did it again. I looked over at Linda and her eyes were as wet as mine.

"We love you, too," I managed to croak out. "We're so glad that you're our kids."

Linda and I didn't do anything extraordinary that night, unless making sweet love until we felt like we merged into one being counts. We couldn't wipe the smiles off our faces the next morning, and neither could the kids. Beastly February settled back in, though, and the three-day weekend faded into memory. Even our normally even-tempered kids were quarrelsome.

Linda and I had just collapsed against each other in the sofa in the living room after finally getting Emma and Tommy down for the night, when Linda's phone rang. I growled and muttered something.

"It's Dee, I have to pick up," she said apologetically. We had a loose circle of five couples that we hung out or went out with from time to time. We had all met as married couples, so there were no uncomfortable "back when you were single" moments. We all had the same ideas about fidelity: namely, you just did it, it wasn't questionable or negotiable. That way when we went out, we could dance with each other's spouses if we wanted some variety, and know we were safe. We were closest to Dee and her husband Dave; she and Linda were almost best friends. Linda made an "I'll keep this short" gesture as she answered the phone.

I could see Linda getting more excited as she talked with Dee. She was all but glowing when she ended the call and plopped herself into my lap.

"So what was that all about?" My face couldn't help reflecting her smile.

"Well, dear husband," she grinned at me, "I know you think this horrible February has gone on just about long enough."

"I'll drink to that," I declared, reaching for my glass of wine. Linda seized my wrist to stop me, and firmly placed my hand on her slender waist. Much better idea.

"Well, we've been bemoaning the fact that not only is this the worst February in the history of the human race, we have to put up with an extra day of it."

That didn't add up with the smile on her face. I told her so.

"That's because Dee had this wonderful idea. The extra day of horribleness is on a Friday. What if we all got together, got sitters for the kids, had a really nice dinner, then some dancing at a good club, and then had hotel rooms for the night? That way we could get a little bit crazy and not worry about driving home, and we would end this horrid month right."

"What about returning from the club back to the hotel? Wouldn't we have to drive?" I'm always the guy who asks what can possibly go wrong with a plan. I know it's not fun, but I really can't help it. I'm like that naturally, and it's reinforced by the job I do.

"That's the best part, Jim. You know the Madison uptown? We've eaten there, remember? There's a dance club and lounge called the Iris Club on the next block over and they have a live band on Friday and Saturday nights. And, there's no cover if you ate at the Madison! Oh, and Phil and Jane have already asked Mrs. Porter to take their kids overnight, and they say she's fine with ours, too."

"Hmmm, I have to think about this..." I didn't really, but I was hoping that if I stalled, Linda would use one of her patented, guaranteed-not-to-fail Female Persuasion Methods to convince me. Instead, she seized a sofa pillow and bashed me over the head with it.

"Ow! Okay, I've thought. Let's do this. But there's one condition."

"What's that?" Linda was looking at me suspiciously. I took her sweet face between my hands, and looked into her blue eyes.

"You wear the dress you bought for Valentine's Day, that I still haven't seen."

"Your wish is my command." Her voice was husky and her eyes were smoky and she was irresistible and I wasn't interested in resisting anyway.

It was blue. The dress. I can't describe what kind of blue it was; guys can only see eight colors anyway. True fact. All I can tell you is whatever blue it was; it made her blue eyes look like they would glow in the dark. It was long sleeved and high necked, and the skirt came below her knees, but it was anything but a granny dress. The bottom of the skirt was flared, and rippled just enough as she walked to attract attention. When she danced, it would flirt all on its own. The smooth, tight but not too tight, fabric made you want to run your hands all over it, as it concealed and displayed the slim, womanly shape beneath. Linda smiled as she slowly processed down the stairs to where I waited for her, dumbstruck and gaping.

"Dear Jim," she said, softly and sweetly. She closed my mouth with a gentle finger under my chin. I swallowed, but still couldn't speak.

"It's still just me, the same old me as always. You don't have to flatter me, though I admit I love it when you do."

I shook my head and found my voice. "You don't understand. You don't know just how amazing you look. You..." Words failed me. I took her slim, long-fingered hands in both of mine, bowed over them, and kissed them. I looked up to see her eyes shining and moist, and saw the slightest tremble in her smile. I nodded. She understood.

The ten of us met at the restaurant. It was crowded on a Friday night, but we had reserved a large enough table that all ten of us could eat together. We laughed and talked and enjoyed a great meal, happy in each other's company and glad that February was finally ending. Linda was the most attractive woman in the room, and I must have told her so a half dozen times. I touched her arm or her shoulder or her hand as often as I could find a reasonable excuse. She returned the favor and smiled into my eyes. This was going to be a night to remember.

We checked into our rooms before we headed over to the club. Neither Linda nor I handles alcohol very well, so I usually drew designated driver duties. I was glad I wouldn't have to do that tonight. Not that I minded; my friends' safety was important to me, but I was looking forward to having Linda to myself as soon as possible. That seemed to be her idea, too. She excused herself to go to our room alone for a few minutes, and had her suggestive little "I'm gonna get you so good" smile on her face when she came back.

"We don't really have to spend very long at the club, do we?" she whispered to me as we walked. I knew how much Linda enjoyed dancing with our friends, so she might as well have said "I'd better not have to wait too long before we're alone together, preferably naked." I grinned right back at her.

"Your call, babe." She punched my upper arm lightly, then wrapped her hands around it and hung on.

We'd reserved a table for ten at the club, and it was a good thing we had. It seems a lot of other people were busy forgetting February, but they weren't too busy to notice the five women in our group.

"You're attracting a lot of attention, babe," I whispered to Linda. "You're the most attractive woman in the room, as usual."

"Oh, you." She looked up at me, lightly pressing a soft breast into my arm. "You don't have to say those things, even though I like hearing them."

"But I do have to," I responded. "Truth is truth, after all. You can't have opinions about truth." Yeah, I know that's faulty logic, but neither of us cared just then. She got the point, and glowed even brighter.

Neither Linda nor I is a great dancer, but we don't disgrace ourselves, either. We just don't care that much: we're out there to enjoy each other, not to provide entertainment. So, I danced with the love of my life, with occasional breaks for hot wings and a drink. I had gone to replenish the wings; when I came back, Dave was asking Linda to dance. I heard her response.

"I'd love to, Dave, and I would another time, but I want to make tonight special for Jim and me. I'm only dancing with him tonight."

Was I proud? Happy? You'd better believe it. I distributed the wings and whispered into Linda's ear.

"So is it time to leave yet?" A few minutes later, the band took a break. In the relative quiet, we could hear loud laughter from another table, and turned to look.

"Hey, isn't that Marc LaValliere?" Phil was craning around me to see.

"It is, it is!" Dee squealed excitedly. Marc LaValliere was the star tight end on our city's football team. Unlike many others on the team, he made his year-round home here. He had the reputation of being a genuinely good guy, and he was as well known for his community activities as for his exploits on the field. Marc became the main topic of conversation at our table, as the guys talked about his football feats and the women praised his good works and good nature.

"It doesn't hurt that he's a hunk, either," Dee put in. Linda and I both knew who he was, but we weren't very interested in anything besides each other just then. We let the conversation wash over us, holding hands under the table.

"Hey, you two, get a room!" Linda and I looked at each other. We hadn't even been kissing. Well, not really kissing, anyway. My feeding her wings (so she wouldn't get sauce on her new dress, of course) didn't count. Besides, we'd already gotten a room. We were saved from further embarrassment when the band started again.

"Shall we dance here, or upstairs?" I whispered to Linda. Before she could reply, Jane interrupted.

"Look! He's coming this way!" Sure enough, Marc LaValliere had left his table and was heading for ours. I was amused by the reaction of the women at our table. Four of them primped and strutted, all but saying "pick me, pick me!" If you think a woman can't strut while she's sitting down, you have a lot to learn. Linda looked downward, and held my hand a little tighter.

"Hi, I'm Marc. Would you like to dance?" He was standing behind Linda's left shoulder, holding his hand out to her.

I felt Linda gasp as she dropped my hand as if it were a hot potato. I watched dumbstruck as she turned her back to me, gave Marc her right hand (it almost disappeared in his big paw) and gracefully rose from her chair.

"Hey, man, now my feelings are hurt. I thought she was just dancing with you tonight." Dave smiled as he needled me.

"Yeah, that's what I thought, too," I groused.

"Relax, Jim. It's just a dance." Jane tried to soothe me. I tried to believe her, but I couldn't help having a bad feeling about this.

The band played a couple of fast songs, and our whole table watched them dance. So did everyone else in the room. Marc was good, far better than I was, and Linda was clearly enjoying herself. Her partner and her dress combined to show her off to perfection.

"Don't they look great together? Come on, Jim, let's join them," Dee invited, clearly trying to distract me.

"Thanks, but no."

The next song was a slow one. I watched Linda melt into his arms, fitting perfectly as though she belonged there. He was good at that, too. Lots of practice, I'll bet, I thought to myself sourly. Marc said something to Linda; she smiled sweetly as she responded. He wasn't doing anything I could legitimately object to. He didn't dance any closer to her than I danced with Dee or Jane; his hands didn't go anywhere they weren't supposed to.

Another slow song, a ballad this time. I could see the band leader watching my wife and her partner, taking his cues from them. Marc was smiling as he held Linda in his arms; he was clearly pleased with whatever was going on. I'd seen enough. I rose from my chair, and felt Jane's hand on my arm.

"Wait, Jim. Let her have this. Don't ruin it for her."

I jerked my arm free, and then I looked at Linda's face. She clearly wanted to be exactly where she was, and nowhere else. She did not want any interference from me. I slumped back into my chair. Finally, the song ended. Marc nodded at the band leader, who started a faster song. He and Linda left the dance floor, smiling at each other, but not touching, not even holding hands. Linda gave him a last brilliant smile as she turned toward our table and Marc turned toward his.

The difference between a woman's best smile and her second-best smile isn't much. Unless you know the woman well, you probably wouldn't notice it at all. As Linda neared our table and our eyes met, her best smile faded to her second-best. I knew then that we had a problem.

"I keep telling you that you're the most attractive woman in here," I whispered in her ear as I seated her. I reached for her hand, and held it in both of mine. "Is it time to take the next dance back to our room?"

For just the tiniest moment, I could have sworn Linda was afraid. Her eyes widened and I could feel her hand trembling. She covered the moment quickly, though, and looked away from me, across the table.

"I'm sorry, everyone, I just have to go to the restroom right now. Linda, come with me?" Dee's voice could be heard far beyond our table. I was too preoccupied to wonder why she had to broadcast this to the room at large. Linda looked at me apologetically.

"Sorry, Jim. I can use some freshening up, too." She rose and left, without answering my question. Of course, the conversation immediately turned to why no woman who is out with a group can possibly go to the restroom by herself. I had just started to wonder why my friends were working so hard to keep the conversation going on that topic, when Dee came back. Alone.

"Where's Linda? Is she okay?" I practically shouted.

"Relax, Jim," Dee said, smiling. "Linda is fine, she just has something to do. You don't need to worry about her. She is a grownup woman, you know." Upon which my friends started teasing me about how much I worried about Linda. It's true, I did; she worried about me the same way. I put up with it for about five minutes, and when Linda still hadn't returned, I'd had enough. I got up and headed for the bar, taking an empty plate with me as an excuse. I approached one of the female bartenders.

"Excuse me, but my wife went to the restroom about fifteen minutes ago, and hasn't come out. She never takes that long. Could you please go, or send someone, to be sure she's all right?"

The bartender gave me a dubious look. The plate in my hand gave me an idea.

"The wings are great, and she likes spicy food, but every now and then she gets a reaction. Really, I just want to know she's all right. Her name is Linda. Here, let me show you a picture of her." I put down the plate and pulled up Linda's picture on my phone. The bartender was beginning to look somewhat sympathetic when there was a voice at my elbow.

"She's all right, you don't need to check on her." Dee was addressing the bartender. "Everything's fine. I'll take care of this." She placed a five on the counter. I wondered why the bartender looked at me with what seemed like sympathy as she pocketed the bill.

"What... why... but she went there with you, because you asked her..." I was completely confused.

"Jim, she's not in the restroom. She has left the club."

"Left? Without me? Why? What's the matter? Why didn't she tell me? Where did she go? Is she all right?" I still didn't get it.

"Let's go to the end of the bar where there's some privacy." I just went where Dee dragged me. It was quieter in the dark corner at the end of the bar. Dee looked me in the eye.

"Jim, Linda loves you. She loves you and the children more than anything else in the world, and she always will, and you know it. But she is spending tonight with Marc."

I stood there with my mouth open, looking stupid as my world ended. Pictures whirled madly through my mind, or what was left of it. Linda at the top of the stairs in her beautiful blue dress. Linda at dinner; Linda at the club; Linda as we fed wings to each other. Linda in Asshole's arms. My anger rose.

"So, on what was supposed to be our special night, she left me for some asshole jock?" I glared at Dee as I growled the words.

"Jim, she hasn't left you. She'll come home to you tomorrow, and you'll have plenty of other special nights together."

"She didn't even have the guts to tell me to my face that she was leaving me. She just snuck out the back door!"

"Jim, listen to me. She hasn't left you..."

"Well, if she hasn't left me, then where the hell is she? She sure isn't with me now, is she?" I was getting loud, and didn't care who heard me.

"Please settle down, people are looking at you. Listen, I know this hurts you, but it's just tonight. Linda knows, we all know, that you're the only man for her and you always will be. You're the good guy."

"Yeah, and we all know where the good guy finishes, don't we?"

"Jim, it isn't like that. You're making way too big a deal out of this. It's only tonight, then she'll come back to you tomorrow and everything will be just like it was before."