Did I Mention I Won The Lottery?

by Julie Butterfield

  ‘There’s no-one else here Daniel,’ offered Rebecca, ‘I’ve told you there is no man.’

  She watched as Daniel looked round the room. It couldn’t fail to impress anyone who saw it for the first time.

  Rebecca walked over to the huge wooden table and sat down waiting to see if Daniel followed her lead.

  He didn’t. He strolled round the kitchen, letting his hand trail along the edge of the black granite work surface, deliberately banging each of stainless steel pans that hung in perfect order over the range cooker before turning to glare in Rebecca’s direction again.

  Well go on then,’ he snapped. ‘I can’t wait to hear this one.’

  Rebecca took a deep breath. This was going to be every bit as difficult as she had imagined.

  ‘There’s something I haven’t told you Daniel,’ she ignored his snort of derision and carried on. ‘I should have let you know weeks ago but I didn’t. I just didn’t know how to tell you. At first I just wanted to be sure, absolutely sure before I told you anything and then it got difficult… the longer I left it the harder it became.’

  She sighed, rubbing her forehead with one hand. ‘No, no excuses. I should have told you Daniel and I didn’t. You thought that you were going to get the job you see…’ she trailed off.

  Daniel’s face had gone almost purple with anger. ‘Anyway,’ she carried on hastily, ‘that made me decide to wait, I decided to let you have your moment and I just didn’t think you would want to…

  Rebecca jumped as Daniel’s fist slammed violently onto the table.

  ‘Who is he?’ he shouted. Spit landing on her cheek.

  ‘There is no-one Daniel. I haven’t been having an affair, I haven’t been coming down to Leeds because there’s another man in my life. I’m here because a few weeks ago I won over 15 million pounds on the lottery. I’m here because this is my house. This is the house I bought with my lottery winnings Daniel. There is no man, this is mine.’

  Rebecca had expected a huge feeling of relief to descend upon her once she told Daniel. It wasn’t there. She knew she could stop lying now and that felt good. But the relief, it simply wasn’t there. And suddenly Rebecca knew why she hadn’t told Daniel. She hadn’t told him because quite simply she hadn’t wanted him to know. This was something that had happened to Rebecca. It was her moment. It had brought joy into her life and she just hadn’t want to share that with Daniel. Not right away. But she would have told him eventually, of course she would she thought fervently to herself.

  She looked up to see him staring at her with disbelief emblazoned across his face.

  ‘You expect me to believe that. You expect me to ...’

  ‘It’s the truth Daniel,’ said Rebecca firmly. ‘I can prove it, you have to believe me. It’s the truth.’

  Daniel pulled out a chair slumping onto it as he stared at Rebecca.

  ‘But why wouldn’t you tell me if you had won the lottery?’

  Oh why indeed thought Rebecca.

  ‘I told you the timing was never right, I was going to, when it seemed the right time.’

  ‘I don’t believe you.’

  He said it flatly, decisively. ‘You’re lying. It’s a smoke screen to stop me finding out about the affair…’

  Rebecca cut him short, reaching out for the laptop that sat on the table and flipping it open so that Daniel could see the page. It showed her bank account. A bank account with a balance of over 13 million pounds.

  Daniel stared. He stared at the laptop and then he stared at Rebecca before turning his gaze back to the laptop.

  ‘But you didn’t tell me.’

  Rebecca bit her lip. ‘You were so excited about the job I thought it would spoil things for you. You tell me you’re about to get the promotion you’ve always wanted and I say it doesn’t matter. I couldn’t do that to you, so I waited.’

  Daniel nodded. Rebecca could see his mind playing over the events of the last few weeks.

  ‘When did you win?’

  The question Rebecca had been dreading.

  ‘I’m not actually sure,’ she said with a nervous laugh. ‘I didn’t check my ticket for a week or so and then all of a sudden I found out I’d won.’

  Daniel was in shock. He took both hands out of his pocket and laid them on the table.

  ‘And this house…?’

  Again Rebecca felt her heart fluttering.

  ‘One of those things. You know how it is. I was in Leeds to meet the lottery people to check the ticket, get the money and everything and I saw the house and I... well I bought it.’

  He was staring at her as though she had gone mad. Of course he didn’t know how it was, he hadn’t just won 15.7 million pounds.

  ‘Right. So the money that’s here,’ he waved his hand towards the computer screen, ‘that’s what’s left?’

  Rebecca nodded mutely. She thought about telling him of the trust funds she was organising for the children, about her plans to give money away to her friends, the possibility that she might spend nearly 4 million on a nursing home that was unlikely to make any money. But instead she nodded and left it at that.

  Daniel’s shoulders had started to relax a little and he pulled the laptop towards him to look at the balance again.

  ‘Why did you put it in this account?’ he asked, suddenly realising that the account was in the name of Rebecca Miles and wasn’t their joint account.

  ‘Only account details I could remember off the top of my head,’ lied Rebecca.

  Daniel nodded again. There was a long silence as he stared at the screen.

  Rebecca’s mobile rang and she stood up quickly and retrieved it from the counter top.

  ‘Hello? Oh hello Helen. What? Oh I’m so sorry, I completely lost track of time, I’ll be there in half an hour. Sorry’

  Rebecca put down the phone and turned to see Daniel staring at her.

  ‘Helen? You’re meeting Helen?’ he asked darkly.

  ‘Mm,’ said Rebecca, ‘And I’m late!’

  ‘I thought I told you I didn’t want you to see her any more. And Emma. Trouble causers the pair of them.’

  Rebecca shrugged impatiently. She really didn’t understand why Daniel had suddenly developed such a violent objection to Helen and Emma. When they had all been neighbours Daniel had gotten on like a house on fire with both women.

  ‘And I’ve told you Daniel they are my friends and I will carry on seeing them.’

  ‘Well at least call and cancel now. You can’t tell me something like this and then walk out.’

  Rebecca struggled with her conscience. If she were truthful she would like a little distance between herself and Daniel right now. She needed some time to think, to clear her head.

  ‘I can’t cancel Daniel. Helen has made lunch for us both and it would be rude not to go.’

  ‘Rude?’ Daniel spat out in disbelief. ‘Not half as rude as not telling your husband you’d won 15 million pounds. Now that’s rude!’

  That made Rebecca’s decision for her. ‘I must go. It will do you good to have a bit of time to think about it all. I know it’s a bit of a shock. I remember when I found out…’ she trailed off.

  ‘Anyway, you have a chance to clear your head while I’m out and we can talk when I get back. You can stay here, obviously. There’s food in the fridge and…’

  Daniel was looking at her if she were some two headed monster and Rebecca had to admit she was being a coward, telling him then fleeing the scene.

  ‘I suppose you’ve told them all?’ His voice was bitter.

  ‘No. Actually I haven’t told anyone. Not a single soul, apart from the bank manager. I didn’t want anyone to know until I’d told you Daniel.’

  He didn’t look impressed but a little of the anger left his face.

  ‘I’ll be off then. I won’t stay long,’ and Rebecca was out of the house, almost running in her haste and holding her breath until the Fiat had started and she was pulling out of the drive.

  Her legs were shaking so much she
had to pull into a lay-by only a few minutes later, dropping her head onto the steering wheel until the trembling had stopped.

  What had she expected she asked herself angrily. What did she think he would say? ‘That’s okay Rebecca, never mind.’

  True to her word she didn’t stay too long at Helen’s. It was obvious to her friends that there was something wrong as she sat in a daydream, not hearing their questions and blindly staring out of the window.

  ‘Is it Daniel?’ Helen had asked, sympathetically.

  ‘Daniel?’ Rebecca looked up. What made them ask she wondered, had they heard something?

  ‘Er no, not really. Why do you ask?’

  Helen and Emma exchanged a glance and Emma shrugged her shoulders. ‘Well you know, we just wondered if he had changed his mind about moving back to Leeds.’

  Perhaps her friends knew her husband better than she did. Despite every lie that Rebecca had told them, they didn’t believe that Daniel would agree to a return to their old life. What had made Rebecca think that he would?

  The awkward conversation stopped and Rebecca left not long after. She was tempted to visit Parklands before she went home. She wanted to check if Gwen was okay after her distress of the morning. And if she were honest she really just wanted to delay her return to the house.

  But there had been enough prevaricating Rebecca decided so she squared her shoulders and drove back, albeit very slowly. She pulled up outside the front door, next to Daniel’s car and with a sigh climbed out of her car and into the house.

  He was in the living room sitting in one of the large cream chairs. His fingers formed a steeple underneath his chin and he had obviously been thinking.

  Rebecca crossed the floor and sat opposite him.

  ‘How did you know where I was?’ she asked curiously.

  Daniel didn’t answer for a moment and then he put down his hands and turned to face her. ‘I phoned the nursing home. I said I was checking on Gwen and asked if you were there. I’ve phoned up a few times this week but I’ve never got the timing right. Today Mrs Wendover told me you’d just arrived so I drove straight down. I watched you leave and followed you here.’

  Rebecca nodded. If only Daniel was as imaginative in the rest of his life.

  ‘I’ve been looking round the house. Very nice.’ commented Daniel.

  Rebecca didn’t answer.

  ‘How come you’ve managed to get it looking like this so quickly?’

  Rebecca shrugged. ‘I bought the furniture as well. Seemed the easiest thing to do.’

  Daniel nodded.

  ‘Have you told the children?’

  Rebecca shook her head, ‘I told you, I haven’t told anyone. Not until I told you Daniel.’

  ‘Have you told Gwen?’

  ‘No-one Daniel. I have told no-one.’

  He stood up. ‘There’s no beer in the house,’ he said and walked into the kitchen pouring himself a glass of wine instead.

  Rebecca followed, standing in the doorway and watching him open all the cupboard doors until he found a glass.

  ‘I’m sorry Daniel, I’m so sorry. But I would have told you, I was just waiting for the right time. Once the whole job thing was… sorted, I was going to tell you. Of course I was.’

  Daniel poured the wine. Watching the pale liquid fill up his glass, he took a long drink then topped it up again. Rebecca could see his reflection in the glass of the patio doors, could tell from the stiffness of his back how tightly he was hanging onto his emotions.

  A moment passed and then slowly he reached into the cupboard and pulled out another glass, filling it to the brim before turning and pushing it in Rebecca’s direction as she stood hovering in the doorway.

  ‘Of course you were Rebecca, of course you were.’

  The evening was long and tortuous. Rebecca cooked them some pasta and chicken. Daniel emptied the bottle of wine. She felt riddled with guilt and Daniel was still taking in the news, asking questions, spending long periods in silence. Somewhere around midnight he decided to forgive her. Rebecca could see the emotions in his face, had watched him go through feelings of betrayal and anger through to eventual reconciliation and forgiveness. Because as Rebecca had already worked out, if he didn’t believe that she intended to tell him about the win, where on earth did that leave Daniel and Rebecca Miles?

  Rebecca showed him to one of the spare rooms. She didn’t care how he took it but she couldn’t sleep with him next to her. She wouldn’t be able to rest feeling his anger bubbling throughout the night.

  ‘Very nice,’ was his only comment as he looked around the room decorated in duck egg blue. And closing the door slowly behind her Rebecca escaped to her own room trembling with fear and self-loathing.

  She found it difficult to sleep. She tossed and turned and even her wonderful nest of goose down and the best of linen didn’t soothe her. In fact, was it her imagination or had the whole house suddenly become slightly tainted by Daniel’s presence?

  She over slept and made her way downstairs the following morning with a thick head and a heavy heart. Pulling her dressing gown around her she recognised the smell of bacon half way down the stairs and made her way warily into the kitchen.

  Daniel was cooking. He had a glass of orange on the table and the coffee machine was glugging away beside him He had obviously worked it out a lot quicker than Rebecca had. He was whistling softly as he added an egg to the pan and just at that moment some bread threw itself out of the toaster.

  Hearing Rebecca he turned and smiled at her as she stood in the doorway.

  ‘I’ve made enough for two,’ he said. ‘It will be ready in a few minutes.’

  Rebecca sat down heavily at the kitchen table staring as Daniel buttered toast, poured coffee and then distributed the food across the two plates he had standing ready.

  ‘I have to say Bec, this is a wonderful house. The kitchen is superb,’ and he slid a plate in her direction as he sat down to tuck in.

  Rebecca had no appetite but neither did she want an argument so she forced down the toast and a little egg but passed on the bacon.

  Eventually Daniel finished and pushed his plate away with a sigh of satisfaction.

  ‘Right,’ he said in a matter of fact tone. ‘I suppose we need to have a discussion.’

  ‘About?’ asked Rebecca carefully.

  ‘Well about the money, what we’re going to do with it, how we’re going to spend it, what a difference it will make to our lives - all that sort of thing,’ smiled Daniel.

  Rebecca stared down at her plate.

  ‘I’ve been thinking,’ he went on and Rebecca tensed as she waited to hear where those thoughts had taken him. ‘This has obviously all been a huge misunderstanding, bad timing and all that. But we need to get over it and move on.’

  She was watching him speaking although she couldn’t quite believe it was Daniel saying the words. He actually sounded excited. He looked like the cat that had swallowed the cream. He looked exultant.

  ‘I appreciate what you were trying to do regarding the promotion Bec and it was…considerate of you. But I suppose it has all worked out for the best hasn’t it?’

  Rebecca wanted to run. She wanted to leave the kitchen and find another house, one that no-one else knew about and one where she could pick up that contented life she had enjoyed so much over the last few weeks.

  ‘Let’s face it, I don’t need the job at White's now do I?’

  Daniel could hardly contain himself. His eyes glittered and his hand shook with excitement as he lifted up his coffee cup.

  ‘I don’t need the job Rebecca because I can go one better than that. I’m going to buy White's, I’m going to buy it lock stock and barrel.’

  Chapter 14

  Rebecca showered and dressed, made her bed and still the shaking hadn’t stopped. Daniel was outside looking at her new car and she walked back into the kitchen and automatically started to clean up the mess left from breakfast.

  Daniel wanted to buy White's. He wa
nted to buy it because that way he truly would be in charge. He could eradicate the thought of Peter Thompson and the humiliation of being passed over for the job by actually buying the place and putting himself in charge.

  He had described his plans to Rebecca, how the first person he would sack would be Joshua who had taken his coveted sales manager role. Then old Mr White himself who clearly didn’t recognise good staff when he saw them. He described how he would take White’s back to the glorious company it had been when Daniel was the top sales man, forget all this eco rubbish and new wave thinking that had seeped into the soul of White’s over the last few years and run it how it was meant to be run.