I Quit! Part 2
The sun was warm, very warm, as I lay stretched out in the deckchair. A shadow passed over my eyes and stayed there. I squinted my eyes open a little under my Bvlgari sunglasses. It was Burenos, the waiter from the beach bar. "Your margarita," he smiled broadly as he passed the drink to me, ice cold to the touch with beads of water rolling down the outside. Just like the ads.
I sat up a little and surveyed the scene as I supped the cooling drink. Ahead was the sea, azure blue, clear as crystal, waves breaking gently on the white sand. Colorful windsurfers bobbed their way further out, the sails wagging in the gentle warm breeze. I looked up at the tall palms above me that lined the beach in front of the 5 star luxury hotel that had been our home for the past two weeks.
Around me on bright beach towels lay my friends and my partner, browning in the sun. My ex co-worker Ray raised his head and looked at me, then sank back with the effort. "Way to go!" he called cheerfully. "Wonder what the guys back at the factory are doing right now." We laughed. We were as far from the gray, dark factory as it was possible to be. It was a dim past I could hardly remember.
I reflected on the last 6 months, and how far my partner and I had come after the win. Most of the $35 milllion prize remained, locked up securely in a number of investments. We wouldn't touch that at all. That capital was sacred. Like a golden goose that laid eggs forever, the interest payment of around $3 million a year would be constantly flowing into our pockets for the rest of our days, or until we decided to do something else with it.
Already that interest had bought us a large house in a gated community. While I lay in the tropical sun, our gardener was trimming the lush lawn and attending to the garden. I checked my Rolex. It was 2pm... the pool guy should be there now. Funny how the pool looked a lot like the sea right now, bright blue and so clear you could see right to the bottom.
In a day or two our housekeeper would be starting to prepare the house for our return, filling it with fresh flowers and making sure the refrigerator was stocked full of our favorite food. Things changed with the win. In our previous life we were too tired after work to eat properly. But now we were eating better and healthier than ever before... salads, fruit and nuts. We had cut out most of the red meat, caffeinated drinks and beers - somehow this kind of menu didn't seem that tempting now. And as a result we had lost a lot of weight, as the giant mirrors in our home gym showed.
But the best part would be the trip we would take after returning. A few days after relaxing at home we were due to fly out again - to South America - to visit our own village. We had 'adopted' a village in one of the poorest districts, and by working there for a month at a time we would help the 600 villagers to improve their lives in many ways. Our donations would help them buy fresh water and power generators, provide a hospital for the district and establish a school to give better education to their children. It had been our dream for many years. But when you're faced with just trying to exist on a factory wage, there's not much you could do for others.
As I placed the empty glass on the table beside my deckchair, I thought about the people who had unwittingly helped us get us to where we were today, and who were helping us with our South American dream and our exotic lives. These hundreds of thousands of buyers of our lottery had given us our fortune - I was determined to be a good steward of those funds.
After all, most of our possessions in life are on long term loan. We are merely custodians.
Happy Winning!
Ken Silver
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