Did I Mention I Won The Lottery? (7 page)

It was a little
faded and in need of some upkeep. The heating was a nightmare to
get going and the plumbing sometimes shook the whole of the house.
Everywhere was in need of a lick of paint and it had been Rebecca’s
long held concern that it was struggling to keep its doors open in
the current financial crisis. But Parklands had kept going despite
everything. If the heating played up the residents were wrapped in
snuggly warm blankets with lots of hot water bottles; the plumbing
may shake the building but it always eventually produced hot water
and the staff looked after their charges with a care and courtesy
that brought relief to Rebecca’s heart every time she visited.
There was an air of gentility and grace about the place which had
immediately attracted Gwen. It was a lovely old house however much
the paint was peeling and the residents appreciated the spacious
rooms with their intricate architraves as much as the beautiful old
gardens, extensively planted with sweet smelling roses.

‘So how are you
my darling?’ Gwen grasped her daughter’s hand and looked into her
eyes.

Rebecca grinned
back. ‘Good mum, really good.’

‘Hmm, you
certainly seem a lot happier than the last time I saw you. Have you
left him?’

‘Mum!’
protested Rebecca. ‘Of course I haven’t. But things are -
better.’

She couldn’t
tell Gwen, just as she hadn’t told Sarah. She had to tell Daniel
first. It was their money. She would tell Daniel and then she would
tell Sarah and Toby and Gwen. And Carol and Susie. She would hand
in her resignation and she would move back to Leeds. If not to the
house she was going to see this afternoon, then another beautiful
million-pound property somewhere in the area. She would move back
to Leeds, visit her mum more and be able to see her old friends far
more frequently. She smiled at her mum who was watching her
shrewdly.

‘Yes things are
a lot better mum and I think they’re going to carry on getting
better.’

After several
very pleasant hours with her mum, countless cups of tea and a round
of ham sandwiches, Rebecca kissed Gwen, said goodbye to all the
other residents, thanked the staff as she always did for their
marvellous effort, noticed that Mrs Wendover the manager was
looking even more tired than usual, prayed that Parklands would
last a little longer for Gwen’s sake and climbed into the taxi that
had arrived to take her to see Beech Grange. She was meeting Annie
there and she had brought the glossy brochure with her which she
pulled out of her bag as they drove. The kitchen looked amazing,
with a vast array of surfaces, a never ending choice of cupboards
and large French doors opening into the garden. It had a huge
central table, ideal for cosy meals with friends and against one
wall were double glass doors that opened onto an adjoining garden
room with a wood burning stove and a collection of lovely deep
settees. Rebecca hugged herself, she could just imagine a day like
this, with a fire crackling, the smell of casserole in the air, a
bottle of wine in the fridge and her friends and family sitting
round the table.

Rebecca looked
around the whole house before she spoke to Annie. She looked in
every bedroom and every cupboard. She checked every bathroom and
looked behind every door. She even looked round the garden and the
tennis court at the very bottom hidden behind the apple trees and
the garage which was big enough for 4 large cars. She looked in the
wood store and the greenhouse where the current gardener propagated
the plants. She looked inside the double range oven and opened the
double doors of the American fridge freezer. She flicked the switch
that dimmed the lights and she flicked the switch that drew the
curtains. She flicked the switch that turned on the surround sound
and the one that turned on the garden lights. She looked at the
state of the art alarm system and the array of switches that set
the individual temperature in each room. She looked at everything
that Annie showed her saying nothing more than the occasional
‘that’s nice’ and ‘oh yes I see’.

Rebecca had
made up her mind seconds after stepping into the lovely hallway and
seeing the warm and welcoming house stretch out before her. But she
let Annie show her all these things partly because Annie was
enjoying it so much and partly because it gave Rebecca’s reeling
senses time to organise themselves. And when they had finally done
the whole tour and they were back in the hallway next to the lovely
staircase that curved upwards, Annie turned to her with a slight
edge of desperation to her voice and demanded, ‘So, do you like
it?’

Rebecca looked
down the hall into the lovely bright kitchen and then turned to
smile at Annie.

‘Oh yes, I like
it. I’ll take it please.’

Annie’s
eyebrows shot up to lose themselves in her hairline.

‘You’ll take
it,’ she repeated.

‘Yes, I’ll take
it,’ answered Rebecca, as casually as though she had just chosen a
new set of towels.

‘When can I
have it?’

Rebecca
wondered if she should take Annie’s arm, she looked very pale.

‘Well, when did
you want to...’

‘Oh straight
away. No point hanging around once you’ve chosen is there? How soon
can these things be organised?’

‘Well, I think
a couple of weeks if everyone is...’

‘Oh and I’d
like the furniture as well.’

‘The
furniture?’

Poor Annie
really did look as though she needed to sit down. Rebecca had
realised as she followed Annie on her tour, that this house was the
product of a great deal of time and effort. It was co-ordinated in
a way that only the truly gifted can make a house look and although
Rebecca was sure she could manage the same look given time, why
bother? She loved the look, pale cream settees included and she had
decided it would be far easier to just buy the whole thing as it
stood.

‘Right,’ said
Annie, ‘well of course I’ll have to ask them…’

‘Oh I’ll pay,’
said Rebecca ‘just tell them to let me know how much they want,’
and smiling at Annie she walked out into the garden where she was
sure the air had suddenly become a whole lot warmer.

It was Friday
morning and as Rebecca opened her eyes she had trouble working out
what time it was. The thick damask curtains did an excellent job of
keeping out the light, weather and noise and it took Rebecca a few
seconds to focus on the clock on the side table. She had overslept.
It was 9.07. Another superb meal followed by another deep,
luxurious bath had sent her into a long sleep ably helped by fluffy
pillows and goose down and Rebecca had stayed in bed long past her
usual 7.30 wake up time.

She sat up,
looking around the still dark room before slipping out of bed and
into her dressing gown. She pulled back the curtains, enough to let
in some of the hard, bright winter light and then walked over to
the sitting area where she did the same, gazing down onto the
street below.

It was busy.
Workers still flooded the streets, buses and taxis lined the road.
Everybody busy, everybody with somewhere to go. Rebecca turned back
and sat by the small coffee table. It had occurred to her yesterday
that she had no means of checking her bank account. So she had made
a quick visit to the nearest electrical shop and now a brand new
laptop sat on top of the piles of brochures, magazines and leaflets
that were starting to accrue.

She had asked
for the password for the hotel’s Wi-Fi the night before and she had
checked her bank account, which showed exactly zero.

But today was
Friday and the balance should be a whole lot more.

It wasn’t until
she had logged into her bank account and was watching the swirling
circle as the page loaded that Rebecca realised she was holding her
breath.

She exhaled,
loud and deep just as the circle completed and on the screen came
her balance.

15.7 million
pounds.

It was there in
black and white. Her account held 15.7 million pounds. She counted
the noughts just to be sure but there really was no mistake.
Rebecca Miles had 15.7 million in her account.

It was Monday
morning and Rebecca was on an early shift at the Deli. She had
arrived home on Sunday afternoon, having extended her stay at
Quebecs. She had met Sarah again and taken her shopping, refusing
to listen to her insistence to pay her own way. She had done a
little more shopping herself but had been quite restrained, after
all where would she wear all these new clothes? As yet she had told
no-one about her win. She was carrying on with life as normal and
Rebecca’s normal life did not include a wardrobe of new clothes.
But she had visited a hairdresser and her hair had been cut and
coloured back to the vibrant auburn tones of ten years earlier and
she had been amazed at the difference it made to her face. She’d
also spent a few more hours in Debenhams, wandering through the
household section and visualising all the soft bath towels lined up
in her bathroom, choosing the pans that would be in her kitchen,
picking out a new colour scheme for her bedroom.

And she had
also bought a house.

Annie had
phoned her only a few hours after they had visited Beech Grange to
tell Rebecca that her offer had been accepted, the house and the
majority of the furniture was hers. The owners were looking for a
quick sale and were delighted that Rebecca wanted to move things
along so speedily. Details were exchanged, solicitors engaged and
Rebecca was told that in the absence of any problems the house
would be hers within the next few weeks.

She had
returned to Darlington with a far bigger suitcase. The new laptop
was packed at the bottom under her new trousers and trench coat,
the new phone she had bought on impulse tucked next to it. Rebecca
had never bothered with a mobile. But with solicitors, bank
managers and estate agents all now needing to keep in touch, she
had wandered into a shop and come out clutching a phone that was a
complete mystery to her but which now contained her new list of
contacts.

The first thing
on her list of things to do was to tell Daniel. He needed to know
so that they could actually move on with their new lives. The
holiday brochures that Rebecca had brought home from Tesco were now
tucked at the bottom of her underwear drawer and even Rebecca
appreciated that it would be hard to fit in a two week luxury break
on a tropical island without her husband noticing.

She needed to
tell him. Sooner rather than later. Especially as she seemed to
have bought a house.

Except when she
got home the house was empty and there was a brief note from Daniel
that simply said ‘golf’. There were pots in the sink and food on
the surface. The takeaway menu was next to the kettle and Rebecca
felt a tiny moment of guilt that she hadn’t bothered to leave him
any meals prepared. But it was only a tiny moment and soon
disappeared as she spent the next hour cleaning the kitchen and
restoring order. At least it gave her time to take her suitcase
upstairs and unpack out of the way of prying eyes. Not that Daniel
would have bothered to watch her unpack, he seemed to have very
little desire to pry into her life these days. The laptop went onto
the top shelf of the wardrobe amongst the shoe boxes, the phone
went into her handbag, the clothes into the wardrobe. The
toiletries and cosmetics were shared between the bathroom and her
dressing table and when everything was unpacked and the suitcase
put away, Rebecca went downstairs to make a cup of tea which she
took to bed before falling into an exhausted sleep.

In the morning
she had received a grudging apology from Daniel for his late return
home before he brought her up to date with every slight and insult
he felt had come his way during her absence. He was incensed that
Peter had now insisted that Daniel bring himself up to date with
the new practices of the business whether he wanted to or not.

How dare he!
Did he not realise how much experience Daniel had in this business?
Did he not understand how much Daniel knew about the packaging
business? Didn’t he know just how many customers Daniel had brought
to White’s over the year? How dare he act as though he was in
charge. How dare he!

Rebecca
listened as she gazed around the kitchen and thought about her new
house. The kitchen alone was as big as the ground floor of their
Darlington house. She couldn’t wait to move.

‘Are you
listening to me!’ Daniel was thrusting his quivering red face
inches from her own.

Rebecca put
down her coffee cup. ‘Yes I’m listening. But Peter is in charge
though, isn’t he Daniel?’ and she walked out of the kitchen leaving
Daniel, for once, silent.

So she had not
told Daniel about the 15.7 million pounds in her bank account. Or
the house she had arranged to buy in Leeds. She hadn’t told Daniel
and therefore she couldn’t tell Carol and Susie so she turned up
for her shift as usual that afternoon, answered all their questions
about her mum and her few days in Leeds and carried on as though
everything was exactly the same as normal. They admired her hair
and she admitted she had decided to treat herself but she didn’t
wear any of her new clothes and the new perfume stayed on her
dressing table. It was a normal day and half way through Rebecca
began to wonder if it had all been a dream until she arrived home
and checked her account online. There it was on the screen, 15.7
million pounds, large, bold and real and sitting in her account.
She closed the laptop and went into the kitchen to peel some
potatoes.

She didn’t tell
Daniel that evening, or the next morning, or the next evening. She
still hadn’t told Daniel on Friday morning when she took a call
from Leslie to arrange a meeting the following day with another
Lottery advisor followed by a call from Annie to check that all was
ok and to suggest a date for the signing of the contracts and
finally a call from Sarah saying what fun it had been to spend some
time with her mum the previous week.