Did I Mention I Won The Lottery? (4 page)

‘Well I’m
thinking a little clearer now,’ Rebecca said, ‘I ready to sort
everything out.’

It turned out
that there was far less to do than Rebecca had imagined.

‘We really do
make it easy for you to collect your winnings you know,’ laughed
Leslie.

Rebecca needed
to show her ID and her ticket to a member of the lottery team and
then - well she simply had to watch her bank account until it
increased by the sum of 15.7 million pounds.

‘Will it take
long?’

‘Oh heavens,
no,’ answered Leslie. ‘You’ll have the money in your account by the
end of the week.’

Rebecca sat
down.

‘The end of
this week?’

‘That’s
right.’

‘All of
it?’

‘All of
it!’

Rebecca tried
to imagine her bank statement showing 15.7 million pounds but
simply couldn’t. It had never held more than £500.

‘Are you
alright Rebecca?’

Leslie’s
anxious voice penetrated the fog of swirling numbers and Rebecca
shook herself.

‘Yes, I’m fine.
It’s just - Oh God 15.7 million pounds -it’s a lot isn’t it?’

Leslie laughed
again. ‘It certainly is but you mustn’t worry. We have a team of
people who can advise you. Whatever you’re thinking off,
investments, bequests, inheritance…we can get you on the right
track.’

‘Right,’ said
Rebecca faintly. ‘Well I think I may need to speak to someone.’

‘Of course you
will,’ Leslie said firmly, ‘but not right now Rebecca. Don’t make
any quick decisions. If you don’t want to go public…’

‘I don’t,’
interrupted Rebecca.

‘I know, I
know. All I was going to say is if you’re not going public tell as
few people as possible. Let it sink in before you decide what to do
with it all. It can be overwhelming and as soon as everyone finds
out they’ll all be telling you how to spend it.’

‘I’m keeping it
very quiet,’ confirmed Rebecca. ‘Very quiet.’

‘Good. Right,
where do you want to meet the lottery advisor? We can arrange for
him to come to your home. We could meet away from the home, even
your bank if you want to make it a little bit more official.’

‘Not at home! I
mean, the neighbours -you know how nosey neighbours can be.’

‘No problem.
Have you any ideas?’

Rebecca thought
for a moment. Her mind was still whirling with the thought of a
bank account showing several million pounds. It was difficult to
think clearly.

‘Leeds,’ she
blurted out, ‘I want to meet in Leeds.’

‘Okay. Any idea
where?’

Not really,
Rebecca didn’t have a clue what she was doing.

‘Er… I’m going
to be in Leeds for a couple of days this week. Can I let you know
when I’ve booked my hotel and we could maybe meet there?’

‘Absolutely no
problem Rebecca. You’ve got my number. When you’re sorted let me
know. If we can meet on say Wednesday, the money will be in your
bank by Friday.’

Rebecca’s head
was whirling again.

‘15.7 million
pounds?’

‘That’s right
Rebecca - 15.7 million pounds in your bank account by Friday.

When Rebecca
told them at work that she needed to take a few days off there was
a little mewl of distress from Carol who owned the Deli. With
flushed cheeks Rebecca lied and said that her mother wasn’t very
well and she needed to go to Leeds and visit her for a couple of
days. At which point Carol and Susie both put their arms around
Rebecca and told her it wasn’t a problem at all, of course they
could manage, hadn’t it turned out all right the week before when
Susie had been ill? She must go and not give them a second thought
and even whilst Rebecca’s heart turned with shame at her lies and
their concern she nodded her head and let them hug her and offer
her support.

‘It’ll do you
good anyway,’ offered Susie in the lovely Geordie accent that
Rebecca had taken almost two years to fully understand. ‘A couple
of days away from Mr Nobby.’

Carol nudged
Susie in her ribs but Rebecca didn’t mind. They had never known
Daniel as she had, when he had been relaxed and happy, when they
were a young couple with two adorable children. The only Daniel
they had ever met was the pompous, self-absorbed man he had become,
constantly lecturing and berating, full of his own ideas with a
mind that was completely closed to anyone else’s thoughts or
opinions. Rebecca didn’t mind because she agreed with Susie, a
couple of days away from Daniel was always a treat.

So Rebecca
carried on with a guilty heart and a flood of emotions that had her
constantly confused and resulted in several mistakes. She had only
been at work for an hour when Carol gently drew her into the tiny
little office at the back of the shop. This was where Rebecca had
been interviewed 4 years earlier. She had worked in the local
supermarket when they first arrived in Darlington. Daniel had made
it clear it was time for everyone to join in supporting the Miles
household and Rebecca’s years of being a mother and housewife where
over. Rebecca had actually quite looked forward to going back to
work but she had hated the supermarket. She left after a few months
and moved to a small bakery. She had hated the bakery. A few months
later she had seen a job offered at the small Deli and tea rooms
she often popped into when doing her shopping. She had met Carol in
the tiny little office which could hold two people but which
struggled with three and she had fallen in love with the Deli,
Carol and Susie, the flame haired, warm hearted and rather verbose
assistant who already worked there. She had been offered the job on
the spot. Now Carol put an arm round her sympathetically.

‘Rebecca
darling, I think you should go home.’

Rebecca looked
startled. Was she being sacked?

‘No, I’m sorry!
I...’

‘No,’
interrupted Carol. ‘You’re obviously worrying about your mum and
you’re just not yourself. Go home and get yourself sorted for your
trip. Put your feet up, have a coffee and relax, pack…whatever you
need to do but go home.’

Rebecca let
herself be persuaded. She had never imagined that it would be this
hard, keeping her millions a secret. Her hands were shaking and her
mind kept drifting to all manner of places, houses, cars and some
of the exotic locations contained in the travel brochures now
secreted under the living room sofa. So she put on her coat,
allowed Carol and Susie to kiss and hug her, promised to be back as
soon as she could and set off to the car park and home.

The first thing
she did was make a coffee, then she turned on the laptop and curled
into her chair in the conservatory with the duck egg blue throw
over her legs as she researched Leeds hotels. In her hand was the
credit card taken from the bottom of one of the shoe boxes at the
top of her wardrobe. It was her safety net. She had applied for it
two years earlier after discovering that Daniel had emptied the
bank account to pay for a week of golf in Scotland, where he was
convinced he would pick up enough business to put everything right.
The electricity bill and the car insurance had rolled through the
door within minutes of his departure and in desperation Rebecca had
applied for a credit card so she could pay the bills and also to
give her some security for the future. When Daniel returned they’d
had one of their rare arguments as she accused him of being selfish
and deluded. With his face purple with rage at being questioned he
had argued back that she needed to earn more and that the
responsibility of the entire household and family shouldn’t be on
his shoulders alone. Rebecca hadn’t told him about the credit card
or that the bills had been paid. She made a point of serving
nothing but beans and chips for weeks, refusing to buy any wine and
asking him every night, as soon as he arrived home, if he had
managed to write any business as a result of his trip to Scotland.
The credit card was repaid and hadn’t actually been used since but
it was still at the bottom of the shoe box, ready for the next
emergency.

Normally when
she went to Leeds to visit her mother and Sarah, Rebecca would go
by train and stay in the Travelodge in the city centre. If she
booked far enough in advance she could get a super saver room and
she was close enough to the bus station to be able to travel out to
the nursing home where her mother lived and was within easy reach
of Sarah’s student rooms.

But that was
before Rebecca had won 15.7 million pounds. A few keystrokes later
and she had decided on Quebecs Hotel, still in the centre of Leeds
but this time in a room that was quite rightly classed as
luxurious. With damask curtains, a king size bed, TV, a small
sitting area and a selection of toiletries that rivalled the
contents of Rebecca’s complete bathroom, it was a far cry from the
usual comfortable and practical room Rebecca would occupy.

She lifted the
phone with a heart that was thumping and a few minutes later it was
done. Rebecca was booked into the luxurious Quebecs hotel for a
minimum of 3 nights with the option to extend. She put the phone
down and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

If it was going
to take this much out of her spending a few hundred pounds, how on
earth would she cope with spending 15.7 million! She patted the
credit card, probably in shock after so long in the shoe box and
stretched out in the chair smiling. It was only a few nights in a
decent hotel but it was a glimpse of the life ahead and Rebecca had
a feeling she was going to enjoy it.

By the time
Daniel came home, slamming the door behind him in temper, Rebecca
had booked a train ticket, first class of course, phoned Sarah to
let her know she would be in Leeds for a couple of days and phoned
her Mum at the nursing home to say she would be popping in to visit
her. She had phoned Leslie and arranged to see the Lottery adviser
at Quebecs hotel on Wednesday morning. The little account which was
soon to hold 15.7 million pounds had been opened in Leeds many
years earlier and she had also made an appointment to see her bank
manager to warn him of the unexpected boost to her bank balance.
She had packed a small case with a few essentials, not too many
because she had every intention of visiting the shops while she was
in Leeds and she was ready to leave.

Whenever
Rebecca went away for a few days she would make Daniel a meal for
each night she was away and put them in the freezer. She didn’t
think he had ever said thank you.

‘Bec, where are
you?’

Every night the
same question, every night the same answer. Rebecca would be in the
kitchen making the evening meal, even if her own shift had only
finished a few minutes before Daniel came home. She heard the keys
and change hit the table and heard his footsteps stamp into the
kitchen.

‘What’s
for…Bec, where are you. What’s for tea? What are you doing?’

Rebecca stayed
where she was in the conservatory and took a sip of her wine.
Another bottle of Pinot Grigio, the bottle well hidden in the
kitchen.

‘I’m in here,’
she sang out as Daniel loomed in the doorway.

‘What’s
happening? What are you doing in here? Why are you drinking and
what’s for tea?’

His voice rose
indignantly on each question as he waited for Rebecca to
answer.

‘I’ve been too
busy to think about tea. There’s some chicken in the freezer if you
want to make something or the menu for the Chinese is next to the
fridge.’

Rebecca stayed
in her seat, watching with interest as Daniels face coloured from
brow to neck as he watched her sitting in the chair drinking
wine.

‘You expect me
to work hard all day and then come home and make my own tea! What’s
wrong with you? Don’t tell me you had a bad day at the Deli,’ he
sneered, ‘too many people wanting a pot of tea at the same
time?’

Rebecca didn’t
answer straight away. She was watching the dull flush of colour
spread across Daniel’s face.

‘Actually I’ve
been packing, my mum’s not well.’

For a moment
she saw a little glimmer of fear in Daniel’s eyes. It had been
years since he had bothered to accompany Rebecca when she visited
her mum but he lived in terror of the day when he might be expected
to join her.

Gwen’s opinion
of her son in law had never been particularly high, even when
Rebecca had loved him with all of her heart and he had carried the
children on his shoulders around Gwen’s garden. ‘Weak’, she would
mutter to herself but in Rebecca’s hearing, ‘weak chin, mark my
words he’ll let you down’. But Rebecca had told her mother firmly
that Daniel was a good husband and Gwen, for her daughter’s sake
had kept her opinions mainly to herself. When Daniel began to
change and a bewildered Rebecca struggled to find the old Daniel
inside the dour man he had become, her mother had never said I told
you so, she had merely taken her daughter in her arms and held her
tight.

It was to
Daniel’s real chagrin that shortly after they moved to Darlington
Gwen had become increasingly more frail and a little forgetful
until after a nasty fall in the shower followed by a kitchen fire
when she left a tea towel sitting next to a pan of boiling water,
the decision was made that Gwen would sell her house and move into
sheltered accommodation. She was there for 2 years before
reluctantly having to accept that she now needed to spend most of
her days in her wheelchair and she moved on again, this time into a
residential home, a small private one on the outskirts of Leeds set
in an old manor house with a lovely large garden at the back and
security gates at the front. That such huge sums of money were
spent every week on Gwen’s care hurt Daniel to the core. The fact
that it was Gwen’s own money made no difference to Daniel. It would
have come to Rebecca as an only child and now it was being eaten
into on a huge scale every week, month and year that Gwen stayed
there. He hated visiting her. Hated the scrutiny of her sharp,
bright eyes.