‘I’ll see you both soon. There’s a lot going on at the moment as you can imagine,’ Carole nudged Susie before she made any comment. ‘But I’ll be in to see you both soon. After all, we need to go on a shopping spree to end all shopping sprees!’ and Rebecca grinned from ear to ear blowing a kiss to them both and returning to her car to drive back to Daniel.
Chapter 15
Daniel was still in the living room when she returned. The tea had been replaced by a whisky and he still had the mobile clamped to his ear. Rebecca was exhausted. She wasn’t going to cook tonight she decided, they would have a take away. They could afford it. She looked in the fridge and found half a bottle of white wine. She took out the biggest glass she could find and poured in most of the contents of the bottle. She couldn’t bear to listen to Daniel, he sounded so thoroughly obnoxious as he banged on to the sales broker about how money was no object, how he expected that the staff would be delighted when they found out he would be taking White's back into number one position, how someone had to make up for the mistakes of Peter Thompson.
She slipped into the conservatory and curled up in her chair to watch the darkening skies and sip her wine.
Eventually he came to find her, rubbing his hands with glee.
‘I think it will be in the bag pretty soon,’ he gloated his face smug. ‘We’ve had a valuation done and made an offer. Just have to wait for them to accept now.’
He threw himself in the chair opposite Rebecca sighing with happiness.
‘What fantastic timing, they screw me over on the job and I win enough money to buy them out! Priceless.’
Rebecca had to work hard to remind Daniel that he hadn’t won anything. She on the other hand, had won 15.7 million.
‘What’s for tea?’
Rebecca stared at him.
‘Oh, shall we have a take away then? By the way did you speak to the bank manager?’
Rebecca shrugged, sipping more wine. ‘Not yet.
‘You need to do it straight away Rebecca! We can’t have the money festering in that silly little bank account of yours. I might need to move quickly next week, the money needs to be available.’
Rebecca didn’t answer.
‘And besides, I can’t use any of it when it’s in your bank account. I mean how ridiculous is that. I’ve won over 15 million pounds and I can’t spend any of it.’
How long did guilt last wondered Rebecca? How long would she feel so deeply and profoundly guilty?
‘Shall we have a Chinese or a curry?’ she asked and ignored Daniel’s glare of disapproval as she went to find the menus.
‘Monday Rebecca, speak to him on Monday. I need to have access to the money - I can’t actually afford to pay for a curry for God’s sake. I’ve just won all that money and I can’t even afford a curry!’
‘And will you bring back another bottle of wine,’ asked Rebecca. ‘A decent bottle not that house plonk, it tastes like vinegar.’
It was Monday and Rebecca woke with an overwhelming need to pack a bag and travel down to Leeds. Daniel was already up and she could hear him whistling as he wandered around downstairs. She laid in bed staring at the ceiling. He would be busy planning his new empire, there was no reason why she couldn’t go to Leeds. She hadn’t seen Gwen in days and when she had last visited there had been a great deal of general upset about Dotty leaving. That reminded Rebecca that she still hadn’t really made any decision about Parklands. It was pretty much off the cards anyway if Daniel went ahead with his plans to buy out White's. It would leave them struggling to afford the lifestyle they were busy buying. But she could still go to Leeds. There was no reason why she couldn’t go back to her house. Daniel knew everything now. He could phone her there. He could visit her there. In fact, she could stay in Leeds permanently now it was all in the open. It was up to Daniel when or if he came down to visit.
She slipped out of bed and pulled on her dressing gown. Daniel was just making a coffee.
‘Slept in eh? All that money making you lazy!’
He laughed at his own joke and took out a cup for Rebecca. ‘Don’t forget you need to phone the bank manager this morning.’
Rebecca didn’t know how she could possibly forget. He had reminded her every hour on the hour all over the weekend. When he had gone to put petrol in the car he bemoaned that he didn’t have access to ‘his’ winnings. When he had gone for a paper and to get some milk from the local shop he reminded her that he couldn’t just dip into a bank account holding millions like she could.
‘I may have to go see him,’ said Rebecca casually.
Daniel stiffened. ‘Why would you need to do that?’
Rebecca raised her eyebrows and snorted derisively. ‘Daniel! This is a bank account holding millions of pounds, do you think they’ll take a phone call and just transfer it all into another account!’
Daniel flushed a little.
‘I thought you had more business sense than that Daniel,’ and she left the room her sense of guilt in overplay but her satisfaction levels riding rapidly.
She was halfway up the stairs, her step suddenly a lot lighter.
‘I’ll come with you’
She stopped, turning and looking at him standing at the foot of the staircase.
‘I’ll come with you, we can sort out the bank together.’
Rebecca gripped the coffee tightly.
‘No need.’
‘I know but we haven’t spent much time together lately and let’s face it, now we’ve got all the time in the world!
Showered and dressed, Rebecca refused to share a car with Daniel as they drove to her house. She might want to visit Gwen whilst they were there and Daniel wouldn’t want to join her, she reasoned. So they took two cars which gave Rebecca some time to think and as she pulled into the drive of her beloved house she had a proposal for Daniel.
‘Why don’t we stay here for a few days, a week, a few weeks?’ she asked as she unlocked the door and led him inside.
‘What for?’ asked Daniel grumpily. He had driven much faster than Rebecca and had been waiting in the drive a good 20 minutes.
‘Because it’s a beautiful house. Because we can afford it. Because... because why not?’
Daniel didn’t reply for a moment. The entrance hall of the house was particularly attractive. The walls curved around a wonderful wooden staircase that rose upwards against an exposed wall of rich honey stone. The polished floor stretched to either side, the multi paned windows on each side of the door flooded the area with light together with the slight scent of honeysuckle that grew above the front door. It was rich and welcoming.
‘I suppose,’ began Daniel reluctantly, ‘it could …’
‘Good,’ interrupted Rebecca briskly. ‘You had a good look round last week but if you want to know where anything is…’ and she left Daniel standing slightly bemused with the door still open to the elements as she strode off in the direction of the kitchen.
She had always known that eventually she would be sharing the house with Daniel. Maybe once he had spent some time in Beech Grange he would stop being so resistant to the idea of moving to Leeds. For now she was just thankful to be living in her home without any pretence.
Within minutes Daniel was ensconced in the study, his mobile to his ear and his chest puffed with importance. Rebecca took him in a cup of coffee.
‘Just a minute,’ he demanded to whoever was at the other end of the phone, ‘Rebecca, when are we going to see the bank manager?’
Rebecca paused by the door and then turned to give Daniel an amused look. ‘Pop in and see him? Ask him to move millions of pounds? I think you’ll find we need to make an appointment Daniel,’ and then quickly left the room before he could reply.
Standing in the kitchen with the fridge door open she decided to go to the supermarket and writing a quick note rather than risk another conversation with her husband, she slipped out of the house and back into her car.
Shopping bags full, Rebecca sat in the car park of
Tesco for 10 minutes staring out across the nearby fields that were finally beginning to show signs of spring after the horrendously cold weather of the last few months.
Then starting the car she pulled out of the car park and in minutes was on the A61 heading into Leeds.
‘I don’t have an appointment,’ she explained to the woman on reception, ‘but I could really do with speaking to Mr Dickinson if he’s available. My name is Rebecca Miles.’
The woman smiled and spoke softly into a phone before waving Rebecca onwards and within minutes she was sitting in Richard Dickinson’s office with a fresh cup of coffee in her hand.
‘Rebecca, good to see you.’
Strangely Rebecca felt he actually meant it and gave him a slightly strained smile.
‘Richard, thank you so much for seeing me. It’s a bit… delicate.’ She cleared her throat nervously. ‘I mean it’s just that I need to, well I…’
‘Is it about your husband and the transfer?’ asked Richard Dickinson taking pity on her.
Rebecca looked down at the highly polished desk. ‘Yes.’
‘Okay,’ he leant forward, steepling his fingers under his chin. ‘Well, let me start by just reminding you of a few facts.’
Rebecca put her cup and saucer down on his desk. He had a very smooth and efficient tone that immediately relaxed her.
‘The money you won is yours and yours entirely Rebecca. You have placed it in the account of your choice. Whether you move that money is your decision and yours entirely. If you choose to move the money into your joint bank account, then tell me and I’ll do so immediately. If you feel that you would have more - control over the money by keeping it in your own account, then I have to say that is a decision that I would applaud.’
Rebecca twisted the fingers that lay in her lap. ‘I don’t want you to think that I don’t want him to have any…’
Richard held up a hand to stop her. ‘It’s not up to anyone else to judge what you do with your money and believe me I only have you and your best interests at heart.’
He leant in a little closer. ‘Rebecca you have a considerable amount of money, carry on being as careful as you are before sharing it out amongst anyone else including your husband.’
Rebecca stayed a little longer and they chatted about anything that had nothing to do with money and husbands before Rebecca thanked him and drove back to the house.
Daniel was pacing the floor in the living room when she returned, shooting into the hall as he heard the door slamming.
‘Where the hell have you been?’
It was funny thought Rebecca she didn’t remember Daniel caring at all where she was at any point over the last 5 years. In fact, Rebecca did remember spending most of her weekends alone as he went to play golf, entertain business prospects and generally ignore her. But there again, she thought, she hadn’t had over 13 million pounds in her bank account then.
She pointed to the shopping bags gathered in the hall.
‘Shopping,’ was her only reply as she gathered them together and made her way into the kitchen.
‘You’ve been a long time,’ he accused not attempting to help carry any bags.
Rebecca shrugged.
‘Did you go to meet Helen?’
Rebecca stared at him.
‘I told you, I went to the supermarket. Why on earth would I call in and see Helen?’
‘Well I don’t know but you need to watch that one, especially now the word is out about the money. I never really trusted her.’
Rebecca looked at him in amazement. Never trusted Helen? For years Helen and Steve had been their closest friends. They’d spent most weekends together, had shared numerous bottles of wine, put the world to rights over the kitchen table, helped each other out with babysitting, garden tools, lifts to the airport. Daniel had always got on with Helen.
‘What on earth are you talking about Daniel. Not trust Helen. Are you mad?’
Daniel turned away, his shoulder’s stiff. ‘Just saying that’s all. Did you phone the bank, make an appointment for us to see that useless bank manager?’
Rebecca paused in her stacking of the fridge.
‘No,’ she said casually. ‘I actually called in on my way back from the shop.’
She didn’t mention that the bank was nowhere near the shop, she didn’t have to really. She was sure Daniel could work it out.
‘You did what? I thought you said you need an appointment? What did he say, why the hell did you go without me?’
Rebecca looked into the fridge. It was still early but she pulled out a bottle of wine. She had a feeling she would need it.
‘I just thought I would try on the off chance that he could see me.’
‘Yes, well I suppose that was - good thinking. But you should have waited until I was with you. Anyway what did he say, when is he moving the money.’
The only sound in the kitchen was the gentle ripple of wine hitting the bottom of a glass.
‘He’s not.’
Rebecca took a deep drink. There was nothing like cold, cold Chardonnay.
‘What? What do you mean he’s not? I told you he was useless!’
Daniel snatched the bottle from Rebecca’s hand and slopped some into another glass.
‘You shouldn’t have gone without me Rebecca. You don’t have what it takes to handle this kind of money. You have no experience with high finance, with business.’ He drained the glass and slopped in some more spilling some on the kitchen counter where Rebecca watch it pool against the side of the bottle.
He turned on her, waving his free hand in the air.
‘You know nothing Bec, nothing about handling money and negotiation. You should have told me right at the beginning and then you wouldn’t have ended up with a silly little car and a great big house miles away from where we live. The money would be in the right account where I could access it and not stuck in your savings account.’
His voice was getting louder and louder, his face an unpleasant shade of purple.
Rebecca briefly considered letting him believe that the bank had simply refused to let her access her money. He would phone and shout at them but they wouldn’t transfer the money, Richard Dickinson had promised her that.
‘Daniel,’ he paused in his ranting, glaring at her as she turned to face him full on. ‘Daniel, I told the bank not to transfer any money. Not for the moment.’
They stared at each other.
‘You did what?’
Rebecca took a step towards him but he pushed a chair in her way, holding up his hand as though to warn her away.
‘Daniel please don’t think that I am trying to keep the money away from you. Of course I’m not.’ She ignored the snort that erupted from his throat.
‘It’s just that, it’s a lot of money and it needs ... planning and controlling. I don’t want to move millions into another bank account without really thinking about whether we want to go ahead with this White's thing.’
‘Planning and controlling!’ yelled Daniel with such ferocity that Rebecca winced.
‘What the hell would you know about planning and controlling you stupid woman.’
‘Daniel...’
‘Shut up! Just shut up.’ He threw his glass in the sink and Rebecca watched as it shattered, the glass flying across the sink and surface. What a shame to destroy such a lovely crystal glass. She would buy another so she still had a full set.
‘And tell me please,’ he started sarcastically, ‘just what plans and control did you have in mind?’
Rebecca shook her head wearily.
‘Daniel it’s just that we need to take it slowly. Work out all the things that we need to do, the things we want to buy, how we want to live- before we just spend millions buying a company.’
‘Like you thought carefully before buying this place?’ demanded Daniel nastily. ‘Did you plan and control the millions you wasted here. Spent without even telling me. Moving in WITHOUT EVEN TELLING ME!’
Rebecca closed her
eyes. The guilt was back, as painful as ever but she had to be strong.
‘I’m not saying we won’t buy White's,’ she said choosing her words carefully, ‘I’m just saying that we need to do things a little more slowly. When I... when the moment is right of course I’ll transfer the money and then we’ll…’
But Daniel had gone, the kitchen door slamming behind him and his footsteps thundering down the hallway.
Did I Mention I Won The Lottery? Page 16