Why had his wife gone to all this trouble? Had she a big win on the horses? Unlikely, she always said that only fools gamble on the horses, that it was a mug’s game to throw away all that hard-earned money on a silly old nag. If Sam had asked his wife what she was up to, she would tease him all night trying to get him to guess what it was. He knew her too well, and he was not in the mood for guessing tonight. His hangover was starting to set in. His tongue was feeling strange; it was as if a hamster had left its fur on it! Someone had got into his head and was thumping a drum, very badly. Sam decided to play along with her, after all she’ll tell him soon enough, because she could never keep a secret for long, it would be eating her up in no time at all.
Then it suddenly hit him, the day, the time; it could only be one thing! Her only vice was the National Lottery “if you’re not in, you don’t win” was her motto. Maybe now it had paid off! She did say ‘We could do anything we want’. That must be it!
All of a sudden, Sam’s hangover was cured, he decided he did feel like drinking some champagne and even the candles and incense sticks were not as nauseating as first suspected.
Janice appeared at the doorway looking very sexy in a beautiful black negligee, her hair had been tied back, with only a few strands dangling around her face. She was wearing a lot of make-up. Janice never wore make-up, she said “it made women look tarty and out for a good time!” She was always telling our two daughters, Kellie and Katie not to wear too much makeup when they were going out, as men would get the wrong impression. She had been quite a strict mother. No short skirts or low cut tops were allowed to be worn by her daughters!
The girls were twenty-two and twenty-four years of age now, living their own lives in the next town with their partners. Their son, Daniel, who was twenty, was the only one still living at home.
It had been very quiet in the house; all evening, no loud music could be heard coming from Daniel’s room. Which was unusual. He loved his Eminem music to be played so loud that the whole street could enjoy it! Thump, thump, thump, was all that could be heard when coming round the corner at the end of the street, however the neighbours very rarely complained about it. Maybe he had gone out for a change – but he never went out, his girlfriend, Jayne, always came here. This was all very strange.
Sam’s thoughts drifted back to his wife standing in the doorway. The last time he saw her looking like this was on their honeymoon. It brought back wonderful and distant memories of the Isle of Man, where they had spent two glorious weeks, hardly stepping outside their hotel room!
Janice strolled over to her husband, cupped his face gently with her hands and kissed him lovingly on the lips, and whispered, “I love you”. Sam was completely taken aback; it was all so out of character for his wife to behave like this. Thoughts started running through his mind. Had she something to tell him? Was she having an affair? Poor Sam was totally bemused as to what was going on in his wife’s head.
Sam ignored all of these thoughts; his wife would never have an affair. She took her wedding vows very seriously, every one of them! He started thinking again of the most likely reason for her behaviour, the Lottery! He started to eat his dinner, thinking of all the things they could do with the money – a foreign holiday, new house, new car, the list was endless.
He was getting very excited, he was dreaming about lying on a yacht in the middle of the Mediterranean, drinking champagne, when suddenly Janice proposed a toast “Here’s to us being able to enjoy life and to do exactly as we please, when we please, now that Daniel has finally left home!”
Suddenly Sam felt very ill. Although the meal looked delicious, it didn’t taste as nice as he first thought and he certainly did not enjoy it as much as he thought he would, considering his dreams had come crashing down around him!
