Did I Mention I Won The Lottery? (16 page)

Rebecca sighed
and made her way upstairs. Opening the wardrobe door she unearthed
the glossy brochures she had collected the day she checked her
lottery numbers. Exotic holidays on deserted beaches with nothing
to do but lay in a hammock or drink a cocktail by the sea. Exactly
the sort of holiday that Daniel had said he didn’t want to have.
She threw them on the bed. She would get rid of them later, before
Daniel came across them and they had another row. Reaching onto the
top shelf she pulled out the boxes of photos and albums. Their
wedding day, albums of the children’s early years, it was all there
and Rebecca wanted to have them with her in Leeds. She put them in
a pile on the bed before flicking through her clothes. Most of them
she put back in the wardrobe, just one or two items joined the
photos and she did the same with each of her drawers. In the end
there was a small pile of photos, very few clothes and a selection
of bits and pieces such as the mother’s day cards that the children
had made at school, the pottery pencil holder that Toby had made
and which Daniel said was like deformed whale and the badly
stitched handkerchief that Sarah had spent weeks finishing.

Collecting an
empty box from the utility room, Rebecca packed up the few
possessions and put them back in the bottom of the wardrobe. The
brochures she put in a plastic bag.

Then brushing
her hair and throwing a scarf round her neck she went into town to
visit Carol and Susie at the Deli taking the plastic bag of
brochures with her and dropping them in a bin as she went.

True to his
word Daniel came home at a reasonable time clutching a bag full of
Chinese take away. Rebecca was glad they weren’t going out. If they
did they would have to talk to each other whereas this way they
could sit on the settee, Daniel could watch TV and Rebecca could
retreat into her own world which she did until Monday morning
finally came and she waited for Daniel to leave before calling a
taxi to take Rebecca and her single box of possession to the train
station and to her small cream car.

Within a couple
of hours she was back in her own house, sighing with relief as she
kicked the door shut behind her and feeling a whole new persona
begin to cloak her shoulders. This was the Rebecca she loved. This
was the real Rebecca.

The week passed
as the previous ones had. There was little to shop for now, the
house was almost as Rebecca wanted it to be. She had wondered if
she would get bored when shopping was no longer a day to day
necessity but the truth was that Rebecca just felt content. The
pile of books on her coffee table grew as did the DVDs and Rebecca
was at her happiest on an evening when she could snuggle down and
lose herself in a good story. She met with Gwen, Sarah, Helen and
Emma. She met Annie again for coffee. The rain had stopped and the
weather was almost verging on the spring like and Rebecca spent a
wonderful afternoon wandering around her new garden and getting to
know what lived there. She decided a gardener would be necessary.
She loved gardening and had every intention of planting herbs in
the courtyard by the kitchen and maybe even vegetables down the
side of the house. But there were some large trees that would need
cutting back and lots and lots of grass to cut.

She
re-organised all the photos, choosing a few to put out on display
in the lounge and on the hall table. She went to the market and
bought armfuls of fresh flowers to put in every room. A waste of
time Daniel always said of fresh flowers but Rebecca loved the
welcoming scent every time she entered a room.

She also went
to visit her bank manager and spoke to him about trusts for the
children. Probably the hardest part about keeping quiet thought
Rebecca was not being able to put Toby and Sarah’s minds at rest.
She knew Sarah was already having sleepless nights about the
growing total of her student loan and to be able to tell them that
they needn’t worry was a moment Rebecca was really looking forward
to.

‘How much do
you want to give them?’ asked the bank manager as they sat in his
office.

‘Well, started
Rebecca uncertainly, ‘I must admit I’m not really sure. You see I
want them to have some of the money, I just don’t want to spoil
what is a really important part of their lives. I mean - if I give
them a couple of million pounds tomorrow will they even finish
university? Will they feel the need to get a job and plan the rest
of their lives? Do you understand?’

The bank
manager understood perfectly. He had two sons both at university
and he knew exactly the quandary that Rebecca found herself facing.
They had a long, pleasant chat and he suggested figures for Rebecca
to think about. He proposed that initially Rebecca could pay off
their student loans and give them a monthly allowance so their day
to day lives would be easier but without the responsibility of a
large amount of money. He suggested a trust that provided them with
a cash amount when they were 25, followed by a larger amount when
they were 30. It gives them time to find their own course he had
suggested and Rebecca had agreed. ‘So what amount in total are you
going to give them, have you decided?’

‘Maybe a
million each? Maybe a bit more. Of course they’ll get even more
when I’ve… well you know later. But for now…... Is that enough do
you think?’

The bank
manager nodded. ‘You do need to be careful about spending too much
of the capital of course Rebecca. You don’t want to run out.’

Rebecca
laughed. She threw back her head and laughed until she realised
that he was serious.

‘Run out! I won
15.7 million pounds, how could I possibly run out?’ she asked
shocked.

He shrugged.
‘Easier than you might think actually. Oh people think that it will
last forever but if you keep spending the actual money rather than
the interest it can go surprisingly quickly. You’ve spend 2 million
on a house. A house like that needs money to maintain it, your
average utility bills are going to be high. You will probably buy
another car,’ he waved his hand at Rebecca’s protests. ‘Oh I know
you’re happy with the one you’ve got but I bet you’ll have another
one within a couple of months. Bequests to friends and family,
investments, good and bad. You’re earning a very healthy rate of
interest but all you need to spend is a few million here and a
couple of million there and suddenly it’s gone.’

Rebecca had
left his office feeling almost depressed. Arriving home she flicked
open the computer and looked at the balance in her account. There
was still over 13 million there. Even if she put two or three
million aside for the children and gave money to her friends, even
if she decided to buy Parklands it still left her with over 5
million pounds! Surely that would see her through the rest of her
life!

She shrugged
her shoulders and decided it was good advice but not relevant to
her and rolling up her sleeves the house was soon full of the
smells of baking as she produced several trays of scones to take
around to Parklands that afternoon.

The week passed
as they all did, in a haze of contentment and all too soon it was
time to turn on the alarm and head back to Darlington. Arriving at
the train station she parked the little Fiat and hailed a taxi to
take her home.

As soon as
Rebecca opened the door she sensed disaster. It was nothing that
she could put her finger on, just an all pervading feeling of bad
will. It hung in the air, creeping around her shoulders until she
shivered.

‘Daniel? Are
you home?’ She hung her coat in the hallway and walked slowly to
the living room. He hadn’t answered but she knew he was there.

‘Daniel?’

Pushing the
door open she walked inside.

‘Oh you’re back
are you. Nice of you to come home once in a while. It’s not like
you live here is it? Not like I should expect you to be here when I
get home in the evening is it?’ Daniel sneered.

He was drunk.
The bottle of whisky sitting next to him was almost empty and from
the dishevelled state of him and the blood shot eyes Rebecca
guessed he had drunk most of it as he’d sat in the living room.

She didn’t need
to ask what was the matter.

‘Daniel I’m so
sorry. I...’

‘Sorry!’ he
shouted trying to pull himself to his feet and lurching sideways
into the coffee table. ‘Sorry! I don’t think you’re sorry at all.
You never thought I would get that job did you. Be honest, you
never really thought that they’d give it to me. You just sat there
smirking and agreeing and not giving a shit.’

The bottle of
whisky tipped over, rolling around as the last dregs dripped onto
the carpet.

‘You didn’t
believe in me, you didn’t think I was good enough. You didn’t…’ he
waved his arms in the air before turning to flop back into the
chair. ‘You didn’t think…’ but he was running out of steam and his
voice tailed off as he put both hands over his face. ‘You didn’t
care,’ he whispered.

Rebecca took a
hesitant step forward reaching out her hand. ‘That’s not true
Daniel. Of course I care, of course I believe in you.’

But it was
another lie and even to Rebecca’s ears it sounded thin and
unconvincing.

‘No.’ Tiredly
Daniel shook his head. ‘No, you didn’t think it was mine. You
didn’t think I had it.’

Rebecca let her
hand fall to her side and said nothing. She stood there and stared
out onto the bleak garden that never got any sun. She looked down
at the whisky that was soaking into the carpet and she knew that he
was right. It had never occurred to her for a minute that Daniel
would get the job at White’s. She had gone along with the idea
because it had made her life easier not because she thought Daniel
would succeed. She stood there and watched as his head fell back
onto the chair, his eyes closing as his breathing changed and he
fell asleep. She stood there and struggled with her guilt knowing
that she could have saved all this from happening if she had told
Daniel the truth the moment she found out she had won.

Eventually she
went to get a cloth from the kitchen and soaked up the spilt
alcohol as best she could. The room stank of whisky. She got a
throw from the back of the settee and threw it over Daniel’s legs.
She moved the glass from his side and turned up the heating. It was
so cold that the windows were misting over from their breath. Then
she sat curled up on the settee opposite and waited for him to
recover.

It wasn’t long
before the whole story came out. That the job had indeed gone to an
existing member of the sales team. Joshua who was only 34 but
consistently the highest earning sales man at White’s. It had been
announced at the previous day’s sales meeting. He was thrilled to
be offered the job, thanked the management team sincerely and told
the sales team how he would carry on with Peter Thompson’s
magnificent sales strategies.

Shocked beyond
words Daniel had gone straight home, opened the whisky bottle and
not stopped since.

Rebecca tried
to console him but he wanted nothing from her. She tried to
commiserate but he looked at her as though she had deliberately
gone out of her way to humiliate him. She tried to suggest that
maybe it was time to leave White’s and look for another job but he
told her to shut up. She decided not to suggest leaving Darlington
behind and starting again, she didn’t think he was ready for that
just yet. She didn’t tell him that it was irrelevant that they
hadn’t offered him the job because she had money anyway. She didn’t
think he was ready for that either. And she didn’t tell him about
the beautiful new home that was paid for and which they could live
in without either of them having to work again. She definitely
didn’t think he was ready for that.

So they spent
the weekend in total misery with Daniel more obnoxious than ever
and blaming the entire sorry saga on Rebecca’s lack of faith.

‘If you don’t
believe in me,’ he had snarled, ‘how can anybody else be expected
to.’

Come Monday
morning Rebecca wasn’t sure what would happen but Daniel got up at
the usual time, put on his suit, made a cup of tea and picked up
his briefcase, albeit with the air of a man who was about to walk
into the hangman’s noose.

‘Are you going
to Leeds again?’ he demanded as he stood in the doorway.

Rebecca hadn’t
been sure what to do. She really couldn’t bear the thought of
spending any more time with Daniel in this mood. But to go to Leeds
when he needed her?

‘You might as
well go, you’re no bloody use here.’

Rebecca’s head
shot up. ‘Then I’ll go,’ she said quietly.

‘Any luck
finding somewhere for your mother? You’ve been looking for long
enough.’

Rebecca shook
her head. Daniel had been so preoccupied with the possibility of a
new job he hadn’t given a second thought to her long absences. This
was the first time he had asked about any progress she had
made.

‘There can’t be
that many places to look round.’

Was it her
imagination or was he looking at her strangely. There again he had
been looking at her strangely all weekend.

‘No there
aren’t many more options,’ said Rebecca truthfully. ‘I think I need
to make a decision this week.’

Daniel nodded.
‘About time,’ he said gruffly. ‘I’ll see you at the end of the
week.’

And he was gone
leaving Rebecca slumped against the closed door with her heart
hammering against her chest.

She drove back
to Leeds less than half an hour later, desperate to get back to the
peace and tranquillity of the house she now thought of as home.
Closing the door behind her Rebecca looked round the hallway with
desperate eyes. She couldn’t keep this going any longer. She
couldn’t keep up the pretence and the lies. And whatever he might
think, Daniel actually needed her at the moment. She should be
sharing her new life with him.