Did I Mention I Won The Lottery? Read online

  Taking a deep breath, Rebecca pulled the lottery ticket from her pocket and spread it out next to the screen. Her hand shaking, she reached for the phone and dialled.

  ‘Hello. Er… I’m Rebecca. Rebecca Miles. I’ve got…I have…. I think I’ve won the lottery.’

  30 minutes later Rebecca was sitting in her favourite chair in the conservatory, a brandy in her hand as she watched a robin hopping around the garden. Her toes were almost blue with cold and her hand still shook slightly as she lifted the glass to her lips. She really ought to find her slippers, she thought but didn’t move from her chair.

  A very nice lady called Leslie from the Lottery Help line had spoken to her. She had validated Rebecca’s ticket and confirmed that she had indeed won 15.7 million pounds. She had waited calmly as Rebecca lost the power of speech, sympathised as she burst into tears and had tried to give her a little practical advice which was all falling on deaf ears. In the end they had agreed that she would speak to Rebecca tomorrow after the shock had worn off a little. They would talk about the team of people who would be on hand to guide Rebecca through the legalities of winning so much money, offer her investment advice and generally look after her.

  The only decision Rebecca had already made was about publicity. When Leslie told her that a team would deal with it all in her behalf, she was quite, quite clear that this would remain private. No publicity at all,

  ‘That’s not a problem at all Rebecca. If you don’t want to go public that’s okay. But these things have a habit of coming out anyway. You tell your neighbour and she tells her friend and they tell someone at the pub and pretty soon everyone knows. If you want to go public we’ll help, we’ll protect you as much as possible and help you deal with it. But if you turn down the publicity team you’ll be on your own when everyone in the street is knocking on your door wanting a share. It’s surprising how many people suddenly remember you as their long lost friend and feel that you should be sharing the wealth - and I have to say families are often the worst ones!’

  But Rebecca had been firm - no publicity. She didn’t tell Leslie that there was no chance of anyone in the street finding out because she hadn’t told a soul, not even her husband. But she assured Leslie that since checking the numbers she had been very discreet and she didn’t feel publicity would be a problem and she promised that she would follow Leslie’s advice and tell only her nearest and dearest until she had met with the Lottery team.

  She needed to meet someone as soon as possible and in the meantime she had followed Leslie’s advice and written her name and address on the back of the ticket. She hadn’t put it in a safe place, it was still clutched in her hand.

  As the conversation drew to a close Rebecca had a final question.

  ‘There couldn’t be a mistake could there? I mean, I have definitely won?’

  Leslie chuckled, it was clear that this wasn’t the first time she had been asked this question as she assured Rebecca that there was absolutely no mistake. She had won 15.7 million pounds. Her life had changed forever.

  So now Rebecca was sitting in the chair, gazing out onto the garden knowing that in a few days there would be millions of pounds in her bank account. Leslie had mentioned it might be an idea to have a word with her bank manager and mention that a large amount of money would be arriving shortly. She should also get herself a lawyer - it was a lot of money to suddenly be responsible for. When Leslie had asked for bank account details, Rebecca had paused for the briefest of seconds before she gave the number. It was an account Rebecca had held for years. She would squirrel away money during the year and then use it to buy the children’s Christmas and birthday presents. As they got older she started putting away whatever she could whenever she could and now she used it to help them out when they were down to their last tin of beans, had to spend another £100 on books or whenever life at university became that little bit too expensive for them.

  Daniel didn’t think they should help the children now they had left home. They were independent he said, it was time they learned the value of money, learned how to budget and also learned how to do without. He hadn’t been like that when they were little. Daniel had been a wonderful father when they had two small children running around the house. But as he had gotten older and more disenchanted with his own lot in life, he had become a mean person. And not just regarding money. He was mean with his time, his praise, his love. He had recently spent a fortune renewing his golf membership, which they could little afford in light of his plummeting salary, but he had told Sarah quite firmly only last month that he wasn’t prepared to lend her any money and if she couldn’t afford life at university then maybe she should pack it in and get a job.

  Rebecca hadn’t argued with him. She had stopped arguing with him a long time ago. She had simply emptied what was left in her account and shared it between Sarah and Toby until the next instalment of their student loans came through. The account had been empty ever since.

  Rebecca wondered if she should have put the money in the main bank account. After all that was the account that paid the mortgage, the bills etc. That was the account that was severely in need of a little help as Daniel’s sales commissions had dropped lower and lower over the last few years. But, she reasoned, it was probably for the best. Just until it was all sorted and definite. Once the money was in the bank and she knew there was no mistake, then she could transfer it into whichever account she wanted. But for now, it was best to put it into her account. Just until everything was sorted.

  Suddenly Rebecca gave an almighty whoop, so loud that the little robin looked up in surprise and flew onto the garden fence.

  She had won the lottery. She had won 15.7 million pounds!

  For the first time Rebecca actually let herself believe that it was true and slamming the glass down she leapt to her feet and threw her arms out.

  ‘Oh my God I’ve won!’ and to the amazement of the robin who was watching Rebecca and next door’s cat who was watching the robin, she began to dance and spin and whirl around the conservatory laughing and whooping and flinging her arms around as the tears poured down her cheeks.

  Breathless, tear stained, Rebecca stopped. The brandy had warmed her stomach but her feet were still icy cold. She stared down at them. She really couldn’t remember where her slippers were but it didn’t matter - she could always buy some more.

  She sank back into her seat. It was Sunday lunch time. The weather was cold and blustery. Her husband was playing golf and she had just won 15.7 million pounds. What should she do next?

  Tesco would be open, but it was hardly the place to splash millions. Besides, she didn’t actually have it in her bank yet. She could plan but not actually spend. Rebecca jumped up and started pacing the floor. How frustrating. To have all that money but not actually have it in her hand! She wondered what other people did when they won the lottery. She ignored the little voice inside her that said they told their family and went back to the computer. A few minutes later she knew that the first purchase of most lottery winners was a car. Closely followed by a house and a holiday.

  That didn’t really help - she couldn’t buy any of those things at Tesco on a Sunday afternoon. And besides she knew nothing about cars. Or holidays come to that. Other than the odd week away in Greece or Spain, she and Daniel didn’t really go on holiday much. They had when the children were small; lovely family breaks where they played on the beach, drank Sangria and lazed around. But as time moved on Daniel had declared them a waste of time and money. At least he had declared family holidays a waste of time and money - he often went away for long weekends of golf, even a week to the Algarve once. Rebecca didn’t mind him going away. She actually welcomed the peace and quiet. Sometimes she took a weekend off to visit Sarah at Leeds University or Toby at Bristol. Last time she had gone to Leeds she had treated herself and Sarah to a day at a Spa and they’d spent a lovely few hours wrapped in fluffy white towels being pampered.

  That was an idea - perhaps a long weekend at
a Spa would be good. Recharge her batteries, spend some time thinking about what to do next.

  A car. Well Rebecca could do with a new car. Daniel had a company car, a Ford Focus which was replaced every two years and came insured and serviced and seemed perfectly acceptable to Rebecca. Daniel didn’t think it was appropriate He felt he should have something that reflected his position in the company. Rebecca had refrained from pointing out that his position was that of the worst performing sales man. Her car was a little Nissan that was old and rusty but Daniel had declared it good enough.

  She could buy the children cars as well, nothing over the top but something to give them some independence.

  She hugged herself. What fun! What else could she buy?

  She thought about a holiday and realised that Daniel would only want to go somewhere he could play golf - regardless of what Rebecca might want to do. He certainly wouldn’t be interested in a weekend in Prague or New York, ‘who wants to go to a city for a break, just go into Newcastle and shop instead’ he would say. He wouldn’t dream of going on a cruise ‘surrounded by people who thought they were better than they were’. He certainly wouldn’t want a couple of weeks on a tropical beach ‘God knows what you’ll catch and why go all that way when there’s perfectly good beaches much closer to home’. And as for skiing - Rebecca could just see his face turning purple as he explained to her how many people broke their legs or even worse, their necks on the ski slope every year.

  So she moved quickly on and thought about a house. But she knew that would be another problem. Daniel would want to stay in Darlington. They had moved here five years before when Daniel had decided he needed to be closer to Head Office. It made no difference as Daniel’s area spread right down to the Midlands but he had decided they needed to move and that’s what happened. The move had coincided with Peter Thompson’s arrival at White’s. Daniel decided that the reason he hadn’t been promoted and that Peter had been chosen for the job was because Daniel hadn’t lived close enough to the office. Daniel had been overlooked because of his location, because he wasn’t in the office every day to remind them who he was and how good he was. Rebecca was of the opinion that if Daniel had been good enough for the job they would have given it to him anyway but muttering about being held back and needing to compete Daniel had dragged them all North.

  Rebecca and the children had hated it. Rebecca had loved Leeds. She had loved the village they lived in on the outskirts of the town, she had loved her friends, the life she had grown for herself over the last 15 years. The children were appalled to be dragged out of their school and away from their friends but Daniel had gone steaming ahead. It was what he needed and as he was providing the roof over their head, they would all have to get used to a move to Darlington. They had never recovered from that move.

  With 15.7 million they could buy the house of their dreams wherever they wanted. And as far as Rebecca was concerned it would be anywhere but Darlington.

  She finished the brandy with a sigh. Her virtual spending wasn’t exactly working out. Making a decision she jumped up and ran up the stairs to find some socks for her still cold feet, slip on some boots and grab her coat. Before leaving the house she held the lottery ticket in her hand. It had lived in her pocket throughout the previous week and had gone everywhere with her. But now that she knew it was worth so much, she was frightened at the thought of taking it out of the house. Suppose she lost it? Suppose she put it in her purse and then she had her purse stolen? If she put it back in her pocket it might fall out.

  Should she leave it in the house? And if she did where did she put it? She didn’t think for a moment that Daniel would start looking. He despised her for wasting her money every week on what he called a loser’s game. But suppose someone broke in? Suppose the house burnt down? By now Rebecca was sweating, the back of her neck was damp and her top lip had beads of perspiration. Leslie had said it was a good idea to photocopy the ticket but where did she do that? If she took it into a print shop they would know why she wanted to copy it. She couldn’t give it to Daniel and ask him to take it into work, which is what she would do with anything else she needed copying.

  Making a decision she pulled her gloves out of her bag and folding the ticket as small as she could she pulled on her left glove and then pushed the ticket down until she could feel it against her palm. The ticket was going with her, she wasn’t letting it out of her sight until the money was in her bank.

  Tesco was quite full but Rebecca didn’t mind. She grabbed a bag snorting with laughter at the thought of filling it with 15.7 million pounds of Tesco items. Ignoring the stares of other shoppers, she set off down the aisles, the ticket still held against the palm of her left hand.

  A little while later she looked at the contents of her basket and smiled. Examining baskets was something she often did when queuing to pay. Out of boredom she would look down at the baskets in the queue and decide who they were shopping for. Singles were easy to spot, meals for one, bags containing two apples and one tomato. The men would have a few beers tucked in there, the women a bottle of wine. Busy working mums topping up the cupboards were easy too. Nearly always another loaf of bread, peanut butter for lunch boxes, packets of crisps, cans of pop, milk, beans. Shopping for a dinner party she could spot - fromage frais, vanilla pods or ginger stems, exotic herbs, fancy pasta, sun dried tomatoes, expensive wine, anchovies - nothing practical.

  Rebecca looked down at her basket. A printer, small, compact and easy to install according to the box. A bottle of very expensive Pinot Grigio which she had once bought for a dinner party but never for herself. A pack of knickers, not the plain cotton that she usually bought but soft silky ones with lace edging and little bows and flowers embroidered along the top. A pair of slippers, soft fluffy and almost sexy. An Ideal homes magazine. A throw - pale duck egg blue with circles on that Rebecca had admired last week and thought would look lovely on her favourite chair. Having just paid the electricity bill she had stroked it and moved on but now it sat defiantly in her basket. And a salmon fillet. Ready to be poached when she got home and eaten when she opened the Pinot Grigio. What did Rebecca’s basket say about her? Rebecca grinned, it certainly didn’t say she had just won 15.7 million on the lottery but it definitely had an air about it. A casual carefree air. It had a whiff of the extravagant and a little touch of luxury.

  Having only managed to spend £81.57 Rebecca added a selection of brochures from the little travel agent in the lobby and headed for home, where she threw some bread that was far from stale out for the robin, shooed the cat away and turned the heating up to maximum.

  When Daniel returned home later that evening, Rebecca was curled up in a corner of the settee with a glass of wine in her hand. If he had concentrated he would have detected the aroma of salmon in the air, poached with a handful of herbs and served with the tiniest squeeze of lemon. Rebecca hadn’t bothered to do any potatoes or vegetables with it - which is what Daniel would have insisted on. She just had salmon and a glass of chilled white wine.

  ‘What a bloody waste of time,’ growled Daniel as he came into the living room. ‘What a complete waste of time and money.’

  He threw his keys and change onto the small table by the door. Rebecca had asked him more times than she could remember not to put them there. She had even bought a little wooden bowl and placed it on the hall table for Daniel to use for his bits and pieces. But he ignored her and every night he would walk past the bowl and into the living room to throw his keys and loose change onto the small cream table. She didn’t bother asking him anymore and tonight his keys skidded onto the surface that was scratched and marked from the nightly onslaught.

  ‘I had old David Murgatroyd here,’ he thrust the palm of his hand in Rebecca’s direction. ‘Right here.’ He clenched his fist, his face almost purple with rage. ‘And then that silly little upstart of a son started bleating on about sustainability and environmental impact,’ he spat the words out as though they were poison. ‘And then he had the
nerve to tell me that they had put all their business with Hanson’s now.’ He was quivering with anger as he spoke, ‘Bloody Hanson’s! I bet they didn’t take him out and pay for a round of golf and dinner!’

  Rebecca watched him as she took a sip of her wine. She doubted that any of the sales staff at Hanson’s would be stupid enough to pay for golf and dinner. They probably just did their job properly and told David Murgatroyd and his son how the whole of their packaging plant was now geared towards packaging with a conscience, with one eye on the environment. Just like Daniel could have done if he had actually listened to anything Peter Thompson had tried to tell him over the last five years.

  ‘What’s for tea?’

  Rebecca raised her eyebrows at her husband.

  ‘Nothing - you told me that you were eating out.’