Life of Luxury
Chapter Twenty Six
I was in my kitchen cleaning up, I was washing the dishes when I heard a knock at my front door. I yelled for them to come in and I looked up to see Candace walking in nervously, “Hi,” I said and she looked at me and closed the door and then walked over.
“Um, I ya- I wanted to apologize,” she said and I looked at her and then turned around, bent to the oven, grabbed the plate hoping it was warm, it still was.
“Eat up,” I said as I placed the plate in front of her and she just looked at me, “You’re hungry aren’t ya? You didn’t eat dinner.”
“Uh, yeah,” she said and I smiled towards her and grabbed her a fork and knife and watched as she pulled the foil off the plate, “Looks good.”
I grabbed a beer from the fridge and then a water, I gave Candace the water and popped the beer open and pushed myself onto the counter across from Candace and watched as she cut into the food, “You know I understand why you’re protective of your brother,” I said and then took a swig of my beer, “And to be honest, I’m a little jealous,” she looked at me confused and I just nodded my head, “I didn’t have that- I don’t have that.”
“Only child?”
“No,” I let out a laugh and shook my head, “I have a younger sister, Heather, she’s eighteen.”
“I didn’t know,” she said and I shook my head.
“Most people wouldn’t know until they met her, which you probably never will- She’s not my biggest fan,” I said and then rolled my eyes and took another swig of my beer, “Then again, just about my whole family isn’t my biggest fan.”
“Because you won the lottery?” Candace asked and I just looked at her, I knew her family would tell her the news, the reason why I was being careful onto why I didn’t tell a lot of people, the reason why I told them.
“Yeah, they didn’t like the fact that I wouldn’t give them anything,” I said and she just looked at me, I could see the judgment in her eyes, she didn’t need to ask out loud what she was thinking, I could see it on her face, “You gotta understand,” I said and she just looked down, “I had a job when I was fifteen, had two when I was seventeen and had three and went to college full time when I was eighteen,” I said and she looked at me, “Was even on the Dean’s List.”
“How?”
“Lots of coffee and no sleep or social life,” I said and she just looked down and nodded her head, “I hated it, I was so miserable- But,” I said and she looked at me, “I was making some serious cash- Now my family’s always been hard on me because I was just different, I’m the black sheep,” I said and took a swig of my beer, “But I never yelled at them or did anything to harm them- Never did anything bad to anyone,” I said and she just looked at me, “I always believed- And I still believe, that karmas a bitch.”
“That where the lottery comes in?” she asked and I smirked.
“Three days before I won the lottery, I went to my bank to deposit my latest paycheck, I was just there three days before, I had over twenty thousand dollars in my account,” I said and Candace’s eyes widened, “Yeah, I wasn’t kidding when I said I worked my ass off.”
“I’ll say.”
“Now there was money saved in there from my grandparents for birthday money before they died when I was twelve, but most of it was money from my paychecks,” I said and she nodded her head, “Three days before I won the lottery, I go to deposit my check and my back account is zero.”
“What?!” she looks at me wide eyes, “What happened?”
“Called security, demanded answers- I was twenty now, but I demanded footage on who came in and took twenty thousand dollars from my account and they went through it and found that my mom had come in the day before and took everything.”
“How could she?!”
I shook my head angrily; just thinking about it pissed me off, “Because when I was twelve, she help set up the account and her name was also on it. So technically, she could have- And she did, just walk in there and took everything,” I said and then took a swig of my beer, “Three days later I win six hundred and fourteen million dollars and suddenly I’m the most horrible person in the world!” I pointed towards her, “That’s why I’m jealous of you and your protection over your brother- Because I wish I had that.”
“What did you do?”
“Confronted my mom and demanded my money back, but she had used it to by my little sister her first car- MY money,” I said and scoffed, “And I had only got my Grams old beat up car, when she got a brand new one.”
“Did she ever give you the money back?”
“Nope, and she even brought the family involved and said that I should be grateful that I was doing a good deed and helping my sister out,” I said and rolled my eyes, “And then three days later I won the lottery and that same day I packed up all my shit, took my junk car to the junk yard and got more money, had Brittany pick me up, we bought my new car, I came here, got my condo, quit my grocery store and clothing store job- I loved the coffee shop, so I kept that- I had graduated the community college I went to with a general studies degree and just- I don’t know- I didn’t want to go back so I just started to live my own life.”
“How often do you see your family?”
“Um, last time was about two weeks ago, but shit went down and I told them that I never wanted to see any of them again until they apologize to me about how they treated me,” I said and finished off my beer and looked towards Candace, her plate was half gone.
“So has Tyler ever met your family?”
“Oh yeah, my parents kind of just showed up and said they were staying with me for a few days- Though, this was before Tyler and I were together,” I said and she nodded her head, “My mom thought that because Tyler was here, Freddy was here and then I have my other guy friends, she thought that I was sleeping with all of them.”
“Tyler doesn’t get jealous?” she asked and I snorted.
“No,” I smirked, “Trust me, if you meet them, you’ll know why,” I said and she smirked, “I’m addicted to video games, I’m a geek like that,” I said and she laughed a little, “My friends- You watch Big Bang Theory?”
“Yeah, I love that show!”
“Yeah, well my friend Derek- He’s totally Sheldon- Ask Tyler!” I said and Candace laughed, “And then my friends Drake and Colin, they’re Raj and Howard.”
“Who’s Leonard? Probably my friend Max- Though Tyler hasn’t met him yet,” I said and giggled, “I get- I’ve always gotten along better with guys as my friend- Trust me, they’re less drama!”
“I know that for a fact!” she said and I giggled and tipped my beer bottle towards her before taking a swig, “How did you meet Brittany?”
“Oh, I worked with her at the coffee shop, we just clicked right away- We’ve been friends for about,” I paused to do the math, “For almost seven years now- Yeah, the coffee shop was my first job and she was already there when I started working, I’ve got about four friends that are girls- But Brittany is my best friend. She was there for me when I won the lottery and not only did I lose family, but I lost some friends- You know she’s my best friend- All of my friends now are my best friends because I’ve known them for years,” I looked at her, “And they’ve never asked me for money- Even though they know that I would give it to them the second they asked.”
“Never?”
“Nope,” I said and then grabbed another bottle of beer from the fridge and hopped back onto the counter, “I consider my friends to be my family- Actually, you guys are here for another two days, right?”
“Yeah,” she said and I looked at the calendar.
“You’ll meet them tomorrow, they most likely pop in- Like literally just pop in,” I said and we laughed, “One second you’ll be by yourself and then the next, one of them is plopping on the couch next to you and scaring the shit out of you.”
-Tyler-
I had come home and found Mom and Cassidy sitting on the couch watching TV on my new flat screen, “Where’s Candace?”
“Still over at Haley’s,” Cassidy and my eyes widened.
“What?”
“Yeah, she’s been over there,” Cassidy looked at her phone, “Since you like left.”
“I’ve been gone three hours,” I said and Cassidy nodded her head.
“She’s been over there the whole time,” Mom said and I turned around and headed for Haley’s to make sure that everything was all right.
I walked into Haley’s condo and heard laughter, I looked towards the living room and then towards the balcony to see Candace and Haley sitting outside, it was after nine, the lights from downtown Dallas were shining on the two girls that looked like they were the best of friends. I smiled and then breathed a sigh of relief at the sight. I turned around and left the condo, deciding to let the two just talk, because it seemed to be working out pretty well so far.
I walked back into my place and saw Mom smiling towards me, “It going well?”
“They’re laughing, so that’s a good sign.”
“Um, I ya- I wanted to apologize,” she said and I looked at her and then turned around, bent to the oven, grabbed the plate hoping it was warm, it still was.
“Eat up,” I said as I placed the plate in front of her and she just looked at me, “You’re hungry aren’t ya? You didn’t eat dinner.”
“Uh, yeah,” she said and I smiled towards her and grabbed her a fork and knife and watched as she pulled the foil off the plate, “Looks good.”
I grabbed a beer from the fridge and then a water, I gave Candace the water and popped the beer open and pushed myself onto the counter across from Candace and watched as she cut into the food, “You know I understand why you’re protective of your brother,” I said and then took a swig of my beer, “And to be honest, I’m a little jealous,” she looked at me confused and I just nodded my head, “I didn’t have that- I don’t have that.”
“Only child?”
“No,” I let out a laugh and shook my head, “I have a younger sister, Heather, she’s eighteen.”
“I didn’t know,” she said and I shook my head.
“Most people wouldn’t know until they met her, which you probably never will- She’s not my biggest fan,” I said and then rolled my eyes and took another swig of my beer, “Then again, just about my whole family isn’t my biggest fan.”
“Because you won the lottery?” Candace asked and I just looked at her, I knew her family would tell her the news, the reason why I was being careful onto why I didn’t tell a lot of people, the reason why I told them.
“Yeah, they didn’t like the fact that I wouldn’t give them anything,” I said and she just looked at me, I could see the judgment in her eyes, she didn’t need to ask out loud what she was thinking, I could see it on her face, “You gotta understand,” I said and she just looked down, “I had a job when I was fifteen, had two when I was seventeen and had three and went to college full time when I was eighteen,” I said and she looked at me, “Was even on the Dean’s List.”
“How?”
“Lots of coffee and no sleep or social life,” I said and she just looked down and nodded her head, “I hated it, I was so miserable- But,” I said and she looked at me, “I was making some serious cash- Now my family’s always been hard on me because I was just different, I’m the black sheep,” I said and took a swig of my beer, “But I never yelled at them or did anything to harm them- Never did anything bad to anyone,” I said and she just looked at me, “I always believed- And I still believe, that karmas a bitch.”
“That where the lottery comes in?” she asked and I smirked.
“Three days before I won the lottery, I went to my bank to deposit my latest paycheck, I was just there three days before, I had over twenty thousand dollars in my account,” I said and Candace’s eyes widened, “Yeah, I wasn’t kidding when I said I worked my ass off.”
“I’ll say.”
“Now there was money saved in there from my grandparents for birthday money before they died when I was twelve, but most of it was money from my paychecks,” I said and she nodded her head, “Three days before I won the lottery, I go to deposit my check and my back account is zero.”
“What?!” she looks at me wide eyes, “What happened?”
“Called security, demanded answers- I was twenty now, but I demanded footage on who came in and took twenty thousand dollars from my account and they went through it and found that my mom had come in the day before and took everything.”
“How could she?!”
I shook my head angrily; just thinking about it pissed me off, “Because when I was twelve, she help set up the account and her name was also on it. So technically, she could have- And she did, just walk in there and took everything,” I said and then took a swig of my beer, “Three days later I win six hundred and fourteen million dollars and suddenly I’m the most horrible person in the world!” I pointed towards her, “That’s why I’m jealous of you and your protection over your brother- Because I wish I had that.”
“What did you do?”
“Confronted my mom and demanded my money back, but she had used it to by my little sister her first car- MY money,” I said and scoffed, “And I had only got my Grams old beat up car, when she got a brand new one.”
“Did she ever give you the money back?”
“Nope, and she even brought the family involved and said that I should be grateful that I was doing a good deed and helping my sister out,” I said and rolled my eyes, “And then three days later I won the lottery and that same day I packed up all my shit, took my junk car to the junk yard and got more money, had Brittany pick me up, we bought my new car, I came here, got my condo, quit my grocery store and clothing store job- I loved the coffee shop, so I kept that- I had graduated the community college I went to with a general studies degree and just- I don’t know- I didn’t want to go back so I just started to live my own life.”
“How often do you see your family?”
“Um, last time was about two weeks ago, but shit went down and I told them that I never wanted to see any of them again until they apologize to me about how they treated me,” I said and finished off my beer and looked towards Candace, her plate was half gone.
“So has Tyler ever met your family?”
“Oh yeah, my parents kind of just showed up and said they were staying with me for a few days- Though, this was before Tyler and I were together,” I said and she nodded her head, “My mom thought that because Tyler was here, Freddy was here and then I have my other guy friends, she thought that I was sleeping with all of them.”
“Tyler doesn’t get jealous?” she asked and I snorted.
“No,” I smirked, “Trust me, if you meet them, you’ll know why,” I said and she smirked, “I’m addicted to video games, I’m a geek like that,” I said and she laughed a little, “My friends- You watch Big Bang Theory?”
“Yeah, I love that show!”
“Yeah, well my friend Derek- He’s totally Sheldon- Ask Tyler!” I said and Candace laughed, “And then my friends Drake and Colin, they’re Raj and Howard.”
“Who’s Leonard? Probably my friend Max- Though Tyler hasn’t met him yet,” I said and giggled, “I get- I’ve always gotten along better with guys as my friend- Trust me, they’re less drama!”
“I know that for a fact!” she said and I giggled and tipped my beer bottle towards her before taking a swig, “How did you meet Brittany?”
“Oh, I worked with her at the coffee shop, we just clicked right away- We’ve been friends for about,” I paused to do the math, “For almost seven years now- Yeah, the coffee shop was my first job and she was already there when I started working, I’ve got about four friends that are girls- But Brittany is my best friend. She was there for me when I won the lottery and not only did I lose family, but I lost some friends- You know she’s my best friend- All of my friends now are my best friends because I’ve known them for years,” I looked at her, “And they’ve never asked me for money- Even though they know that I would give it to them the second they asked.”
“Never?”
“Nope,” I said and then grabbed another bottle of beer from the fridge and hopped back onto the counter, “I consider my friends to be my family- Actually, you guys are here for another two days, right?”
“Yeah,” she said and I looked at the calendar.
“You’ll meet them tomorrow, they most likely pop in- Like literally just pop in,” I said and we laughed, “One second you’ll be by yourself and then the next, one of them is plopping on the couch next to you and scaring the shit out of you.”
-Tyler-
I had come home and found Mom and Cassidy sitting on the couch watching TV on my new flat screen, “Where’s Candace?”
“Still over at Haley’s,” Cassidy and my eyes widened.
“What?”
“Yeah, she’s been over there,” Cassidy looked at her phone, “Since you like left.”
“I’ve been gone three hours,” I said and Cassidy nodded her head.
“She’s been over there the whole time,” Mom said and I turned around and headed for Haley’s to make sure that everything was all right.
I walked into Haley’s condo and heard laughter, I looked towards the living room and then towards the balcony to see Candace and Haley sitting outside, it was after nine, the lights from downtown Dallas were shining on the two girls that looked like they were the best of friends. I smiled and then breathed a sigh of relief at the sight. I turned around and left the condo, deciding to let the two just talk, because it seemed to be working out pretty well so far.
I walked back into my place and saw Mom smiling towards me, “It going well?”
“They’re laughing, so that’s a good sign.”