‘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.
Chapter 13
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.
The week began its usual pattern, Rebecca filled the fridge, spoke to Sarah, started her herb garden and visited Gwen. She arranged to have lunch with Helen and Emma on Wednesday and asked the bank manager to make arrangements to draw up a trust for the children. They would each receive £250,000 on their 25th birthdays and a further 1 million each on their 30th birthday. As soon as she had told Daniel about the money she would also make arrangements to transfer some to her close friends. She wanted Carol and Susie to have something, they had made her life bearable in Darlington with their friendship and support. And she wanted Helen and Emma to have something. Emma maybe didn’t really need it but Rebecca knew that Helen and her husband were in a constant battle with their finances.
So she made plans, wrote down figures and smiled happily as she went about her day to day business. On Wednesday morning she went to visit Gwen first thing only to find her in tears. She was no longer confined to bed and had joined her friends downstairs in the communal room.
‘Dotty has to leave,’ she told Rebecca, tears rolling down her cheeks. ‘She’s run out of money and Mr Hammond said she pays or goes. Her family can’t afford to keep her here, she’s moving to some new build place on the other side of Leeds.’
Rebecca consoled Gwen and went over to kneel down by Dotty who sat silently in her favourite chair by the window.
‘Oh Dotty, don’t worry. I’m sure the new place will be lovely.’
But Dotty just shook her head mutely and as her eyes met Rebecca’s own, Rebecca was shocked to see that there was no sign of any life or happiness left in them.
Rebecca left and drove home her head whirling with the possibility of buying Parklands. The bank manger’s words echoed in her head. A couple of million here, a couple of million there and it’s soon gone. But even if she bought Parklands, still gave the planned donations and set up the trust for the children she would have millions left. That would be enough, surely. How many millions did you need to live comfortably for the rest of your life?
She parked the cream Fiat outside the front door and went inside to turn on the coffee machine. She had been planning on driving straight to Helen’s house but in the end had cut short her visit to Parklands and decided to call home first instead. All she could see was the dead despair in Dotty’s eyes.
The doorbell rang and with a sigh Rebecca made her way into the hallway, still racked with indecision.
She opened the door and at first she couldn’t make sense of what she was seeing. It was wrong, out of place and for a moment she just stared until Daniel put his hand through the doorway and pushed her to one side so he could enter the house. Stumbling against the doorframe Rebecca put out a hand to steady herself and then gasped in pain as Daniel grabbed at it, twisting her towards him so he could meet her eyes.
‘Well, well,’ he said in a quiet but vicious voice. ‘Look what we’ve got here,’ and with a grunt he threw her away from him so that she fell backwards, cracking her elbow against the still open door.
‘Daniel,’ she gasped. ‘Daniel I …’
‘Where is he then?’ asked Daniel, unnaturally calm as he thrust his hands in his pockets and walked slowly across the hall. He stopped to look at the photos gathered on the hall table, photographs of his own children and his face darkened with fury.
‘Where is the man you’ve been shacking up with all these weeks?’
Rebecca stared at him shaking her head as the tears started rolling down her face.
‘M-man. There is no man Daniel. This house is…’
‘Don’t lie to me!’ he thundered, his voice echoing around the hall. ‘No more lies you bitch. Where is he?’
Rebecca pushed the door shut and tried to stand tall, pulling back her shoulders as she met her husband’s gaze.
‘Daniel you must listen to me, please let me explain there is no man, there’s no affair, this is my house and….’
He laughed. An unpleasant laugh that reached out and slapped her across the face.
His voice was quiet but dripping with venom, his body was rigid and his hands clenched into fists. His eyes were wild with rage and, was that fear?
‘You’re lying,’ he thundered, suddenly lunging in her direction and terrified Rebecca couldn’t help herself as she whimpered and tried to step backwards.
He grabbed at her and pulled her to within inches of his face, his mouth contorting as he spoke, spitting in her face as his words launched at her.
‘You fucking slut! All this time. All this time you’ve been shagging someone else. Pretending to be such a good little wife, such a supportive little wife. Well I’m not stupid Rebecca. I could tell there was something going on now you need to tell me, WHERE IS HE?’
Rebecca sobbed as he shouted the last words so loudly it hurt her ears.
‘Please Daniel, please just listen to me. I’m not… there is no-one. I need to tell you…’
‘Stop lying you stupid, stupid woman. Did you really think I would fall for your pathetic stories? Did you think I wouldn’t know what you were doing? How long did you think you would get away with it Rebecca. Just how long did you think you’d be able to pull the wool over my eyes?’
‘No - no,’ sobbed Rebecca, ‘I haven’t…’
‘SHUT UP! The only thing I want to know is - who he is? No one with any taste that’s for sure!’ He laughed unpleasantly. ‘I mean come on Rebecca. Who in their right mind would give you a second look.’
Rebecca stayed silent as Daniel circled her like a shark, looking her up and down with a contemptuous expression on his face, his lips twisted in disgust.
‘Let’s face it Becs old girl, you’re hardly the sort a man would lose his head over. A bit past it, a bit wrinkly, not really got it any more have you?’
He turned to whistle appreciatively at the beautiful wooden staircase curving toward the upper floor. ‘Now this guy, whoever he is, he’s got it. He’s got money hasn’t he Becs? Is that why you’re with him, because he’s got money? I understand that, you know, I really do. I can see why you would want to be with him. What I can’t work out is why the hell he’s with you. Is that how he gets his kicks, taking in desperate old housewives who will do anything he tells them for a handful of notes?’
‘Please stop,’ whispered Rebecca as Daniel came full circle to stand in front of her again. ‘Please, please stop Daniel and let me tell you what this is all about. You really have got the wrong end of the stick.’
; Daniel snorted. ‘Well go ahead Rebecca, I can’t wait to hear whatever little story you’ve concocted. Just how are you going to explain this set up Rebecca?’ He poked her hard on the shoulder each time he ground out her name.
‘So come on Rebecca.’ Another hard poke to her shoulder, ‘start talking.’
Rebecca took a step back, out of range.
‘Let’s go in the kitchen,’ she suggested and turned away to walk down the hallway.
‘Oh well let’s be civilised about this by all means,’ and almost knocking her out of the way Daniel strode down the hall pushing the kitchen door open so violently it almost flew off its hinges.
Did I Mention I Won The Lottery? Page 13