Fury

[Fraroc]

SURPRISE New chapter!

Chapter Thirty-Seven




Three years after its inception, Karilla and Mike’s romantic relationship was still going as strong as ever. To Jennifer, Marissa, and the two newest female riders Sarah and Melanie, their relationship was a textbook fairy tale romance. Mike and Karilla never once had a fight, they’ve only had minor disagreements in the past and in addition, are always seen holding hands, hugging and kissing….A major topic of discussion amongst the friends was when Mike and Karilla were planning on taking the relationship to the next level….in the form of Mike asking for Karilla’s hand in holy matrimony…The couple had shown no prior sign that they were ready for such a commitment, however it wasn’t totally out of the cards…





Karilla and Mike arrived at the stable on a beautiful, warm afternoon after spending the day cruising around town…

“Just another day in paradise, am I right?”
“You can say that again, sweetie….”
“Hey, I see Jason coming towards us…It looks like something’s bothering him…”




“What’s up, J.?”
“Have you seen Giuliano around? I need to have a word with him.” Jason asked in a flustered manner.
“Yeah, he said he was going to hit the gym.”
“The gym….that son of a bitch!”
“What? You’re upset he went without you?” Karilla quipped.
“Just come and look at what he did.”




Karilla and Mike followed Jason to find a good reason why Jason was upset…

“He did it AGAIN. He left Hercules completely unattended with his tack still on for the third goddamn time since he’s been here. I can only assume Giuliano took him out for a ride at some point today.”
“Oh my God…Again with this B.S, Giuliano?”




Jason stormed angrily into the paddock in order to retrieve Hercules and bring him back in…

“God, he’s such a beautiful, well-trained, and loyal animal…Any rider would kill for a horse like Hercules…It’s too bad your owner doesn’t give too much of a sh*t about you, but we’re here for you, boy…”

Hercules happily reciprocated Jason’s loving proposition by nuzzling his neck.




“I know I shouldn’t get too angry about this…but Giuliano, and the way he treats Hercules just pisses me off so much. The arrogance, I can deal with, the fake tough-guy machismo act, I can tolerate, but the sheer amount of blatant irresponsibility with Hercules is what really grinds my gears.”
“I know, man….He pisses me off too.”
“I might come from a wealthy family, but goddamn it, he makes me hate rich kids.”




About twenty minutes later, a very sweaty Giuliano arrived back at the stable. Jason wasted no time approaching him about the issue at hand.

“Hey Giuliano, have a good workout?”
“Uhh…yeah, I guess. What’s it to you?”
“Too bad the thought of putting Hercules back in his stall after you were done riding him didn’t cross your mind, for the third time I might add.”
“Tsch…whatever, man. Don’t get your panties in a twist.”




“Seriously?! That’s all you can say for yourself is “whatever”?”
“It’s no big deal, man! That’s what you guys are here for!”

That last comment was as much as Karilla could tolerate from Giuliano….

“ExCUSE ME?! We’re not here to be your personal f**ing assistants! Hercules is YOUR horse, start taking better care of him!” Karilla yelled.
“Yeah! You know what? I don’t think you really care about him at all. All I’ve seen is you taking that animal for granted.” Mike added.
“Obviously I care about him, he’s MY horse! I wouldn’t have picked him out if I didn’t care about him!”





“Saying that you care about him and showing that you care are two COMPLETLEY different things! So far, I haven’t seen you pull your weight at all around here, nor have I really been seeing you giving Hercules his exercise! Most of the time he’s just standing around in his stall waiting for you!”
“Don’t give me that sh*t! I ride him all the damn time! You just don’t see me do it!”
“Bullsh*t! I have RARELY seen you on that animal’s back!”





Jason suddenly stepped up and stood inches away from Giuliano’s face.

“You know what? I don’t think you’re a horseman at all. You’re just a f***ing spoiled arrogant rich kid with a sh*tty attitude who bought a horse just to make yourself look good to other people. You’re an absolute disgrace to this sport and I should wipe that cocky grin of your face.”
“Oh, is THAT what you think about me? What are you gonna do about it? Hit me? You’ll be disqualified from the competition before you can even blink!”
“Trust me, I’m pretty damn willing to give it up on the account of you!”
“Oh yeah?! Come on, hit me with your best shot, you little bitch!”





Mike, playing the role as the peacekeeper, broke up any potential fight before it could happen.

“Alright, alright, alright, ALRIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!! EVERYBODY JUST CALM THE HELL DOWN!!! Jason, Giuliano, whatever beef is between you is not worth being disqualified from the competition so both of you need to calm yourselves down! ”

With that said, Jason and Giuliano begrudgingly took their leave…




Later that night, Karilla walked upstairs to retrieve a book she was reading earlier to put it back in Jack’s bookcase. In her travels, she ran into Sarah Sherwood, one of the new riders in the jumping competition.

“Hey Karilla!”
“Hi, Sarah!”
“So I understand that Jason and my ex had a little bit of a spat this afternoon?
“Ugh….sister, you wouldn’t believe it. Jason was literally THIS close to just flat-out decking Giuliano in the face. I never really saw Jason get that mad before….According to Mike, he has a short fuse when it comes to people not treating horses right, but I guess this was the first time I ever saw him get mad firsthand…”
“What was it about?”
“Jason got really pissed off at the fact that Giuliano left Hercules in the paddock with his saddle on while he went out to the gym.”




“…He used to pull that sort of sh*t all the time back in Blackwood Ranch...Dumping his responsibilities on other people. He rarely groomed Hercules, he almost never mucked out his stall, and more often than not, Rusty, one of the ranch hands, needed to do all of those things AND give Hercules his exercise….I’ve seen Rusty ride Hercules way more than Giuliano….In case you haven’t guessed, He really isn’t liked by that many people, none of the ranch hands could stand him, none of the regular riders could stand him, Maria, the owner of the ranch couldn’t stand him….And if it wasn’t for the fact that Giuliano and his family would pitch a major fit, Maria would have shown him the door a LONG time ago.”
“Wow….He sounds like a major f***ing class-act bona fide jackass….If it’s true that he did all of that…how the hell could you stand him enough to go out with him?!”




“(sighs)….Because he has completely different side to him…One of his more positive personality traits is that he can be quite charming and lovey-dovey when he wants to be….And there was a time where I thought that he genuinely loved me and I fell flat on my face in love with him….At the time, Giuliano was my dream man…He was hot, he rode horses….He used to spoil me so much using his family’s money, buying me fancy clothes, fancy jewelry, taking me out to fancy restaurants….Now I realize he was only trying to win me over so that I felt “dependent” on him….and not that he actually loved me….We used to get into so many disagreements and verbal altercations that I just couldn’t take his bullsh*t anymore….You know what happened? I caught him flirting with another girl in a bar on the SAME EXACT DAY I was planning on breaking up with him…..”
“Oh my GOD!!”
“Yep, it was a quick “arrivederci” and I don’t regret a thing. The best part is that all I need to do is be in his general vicinity and it makes him SO uncomfortable! Anyway, as much as I really would prefer it if Giuliano jumped into a ditch and never came back out, I don’t think he’s worth Jason or Kevin getting disqualified from the competition.”
“True…but as I said before, Jason is very passionate about horses being treated right…He once beat the living crap out of a guy who was physically abusing his horses.”
“Really? I had no idea he was that passionate about horses.”




Karilla was about to walk downstairs, but Sarah had one last thing to say in regards to her former relationship with Giuliano…

“You know Karilla, I don’t miss being Giuliano’s girlfriend/human vanity project AT ALL…But talking about our relationship really makes me want to point out the fact that the relationship you and Mike Schaefer have is really something else…It’s like the most perfect romance novel-like relationship I have ever seen in my life…”
“Thank you, Mike really is a wonderful and chivalrous man and I’m lucky to have a guy like him in my life...He wasn’t always that way though….he had a little bit of a rough past. He fell into the wrong crowd when he was in high school, did some things he regretted, but working with horses really brought out the kind and gentle soul inside Mike.”
“I don’t know if I’m out of line for saying this…but are you planning on…putting a ring on that?”
“You know…I’ve thought of the possibility of Mike and I getting married one day...But I really don’t think that either of us is ready for “til’ death do us part” just yet…Being married and having a marriage work is a huge responsibility that requires mutual cooperation from both spouses…”




The next morning, Mike emerged from Jack’s home, refreshed from a good night’s sleep and ready to start the day. However, trouble began before he could even pick up a single pitchfork…The sound of men yelling at each other echoed throughout the stable and it was plainly clear what was going on.

“Oh GOD….not again.”




Mike burst open the barn doors to find Jason and Giuliano going head to head for the second time in a row…He noticed that Jason was holding a horseshoe in his hand…
“What’s going on here?!”
“I am exerting EXTREME self-control by not hurling this piece of solid cast iron at his cranium.”




“You won’t, no balls!”
“IS THAT A DARE?!”
“Man, You really are pathetic. All you do is sit around talking sh*t about other people and when someone wants to challenge you, all you do is throw a bunch of empty threats like a pussy-ass little coward!”
“SHUT THE F*** UP, YOU POMPOUS, ARROGANT PIECE OF-”




Mike instinctively intervened to keep Jason and Giuliano to from killing each other.

“ENOUGH! STOP. THE. FIGHTING! I can’t take it anymore, and you’re both beginning to bother the horses! So you either take it outside or you both shut up and stop trying to kill each other!!!”




Soon enough, Mike learned that Giuliano’s rudeness was not designed specifically for Jason…

“What are you going to do about it, man?! The last time I checked, you’re not even a part of this competition, so you have NO right to boss me around. Just stay the f*** off my case!”
“I might not be a part of this competition, but I’ve been riding at this stable for a hell of a longer time than you! In fact, I work here! This is what I do for a living, so yeah, I think I have the right to boss you around!”
Giuliano responded by violently shoving Mike backwards and getting in his face.
“I don’t have to take any sh*t from you! I can probably waste you with one hand tied behind my back, you ain’t a part of this competition, I can beat the sh*t out of you and still compete!”
“Oh yeah, you don’t have the balls to hit someone who’s been practicing MMA for fifteen years! I’d like to see you try, motherf***er!”
“I’m going to shove my boot so far up your-“




At that exact moment when Giuliano threatened his owner, Fury had gone absolutely berserk. He reared up and started to destroy the wooden door of the stall in order to break out…Once he was out, the Arabian stallion went straight on the offensive towards Giuliano, violently knocking him off his feet with one kick and following the attack with an attempt to stomp Giuliano to death.

“FURY, STOP!!! CALM DOWN!!!”




Jason managed to accost Fury by the reins (while avoiding being attacked himself) while Mike grabbed Giuliano by the shoulders and hauled him to safety.




“WHAT THE F***ING HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, MIKE?! Are you some kind of psycho who trained his horse to ATTACK PEOPLE?!”

With that said, a shocked, but otherwise uninjured Giuliano ran out of the stable.




Mike approached Fury after the attack, clearly bothered by what just happened.

“FURY! You know better than that!!!! Look, I get it! I don’t like Giuliano either, but you can’t just go crazy and wail on him like that! Do you want people to still think you’re a vicious animal?!”

Fury responded by holding his head down low and gently nuzzling Mike’s chest.

“I know you were only looking out for me..…but still…not good.”




Mike exited the stable to find Jason sitting down on the ground and holding his head, deeply perturbed by the entire situation.

“What’s wrong, J.? Talk to me….”
“I just…..Part of me thinks that doing this whole jumping thing was a complete mistake. At first I was really looking forward to it….Ever since meeting that f***ing scumbag, I just…I don’t know how I’m going to co-exist with him on a professional level….Heh…even Fury hates him.”
“Fury just freaked out because he thought Giuliano was going to throw a punch. He did the same thing with Roy Peterson back when you started working here. Remember that?”
“Yeah, how he thought Dante was killing his horses…and he put me through hell because I thought I was going to lose him? Yeah…those were some good times..” Jason said sarcastically.




“But when it comes to Giuliano, I don’t know how I’m going to deal with him…I don’t think I have ever met a rider who gives less of a f*** about horseback riding than him…”
“I know, man…It’s going to be a challenge having him around…The best we can do is just teach him how to be better with Hercules and hope that he’ll listen, even if we have to proverbially drill it in his brain.”