I remember looking at the ticket. It was one of those moments that changed my life forever but it didn't feel like that. There had to be something wrong. I didn't really win, I told myself. There had to be some sort of mistake. I hadn't even bought the ticket, it was a gift and I told my sister that is was a dumb gift when she gave it to me.
I looked that the numbers and wondered if there were any rules that would disqualify me. You just knew that was how it would go. I would get my hopes up and then when I went to claim the money there would be some loophole preventing me from actually getting the money. I checked the lottery website and the number on the ticket and the little fine print serial number on the ticket both checked out. The site asked me if I had won and wanted me to input my name and address.
I was not stupid enough to just do that.
I took a long lunch on Monday and tried to get into a lawyer's office to ask about my legal options. I was initially turned away by the receptionist but as I turned around another lady called from her office saying she had time so I went in and sat down. She was young and I would later learn that she was only in her second year of practicing law after finishing law school. She was hungry for all the clients she could get.
I showed her the ticket and explained that I really didn't want to be famous for winning. We agreed on a fee and the fact that I'd only pay her if I actually got lottery winnings and she said she'd handle it. I went back to work and tried to not think about it.
Before I was finished for the day my lawyer called me and in a hushed voice said that everything was legit. I wasn't going to get the full 900 million that was advertised but I was going to get a lot, about 70%. Taxes suck but at least they didn't take it all. My lawyer had tried to shield me from what she could but there was no stopping that initial 30% cut for the government.
Even with my lawyer telling me I'd won and was soon to get the money, I still just could not believe it. Two days later my lawyer brought me to a bank and we set up the transfer. There were a bunch of legal reasons for doing things a certain way. Not all the money went into one account, we spread it out among many different kinds of accounts. I signed so many forms I thought I was buying a house all over again.
The account I had the most immediate and easiest access to had $4 Million in it. I looked at my bank card and thought that I really did not want to lose that thing.
For the rest of the week I did nothing. I didn't tell anyone that I was rich and I didn't really spend any money besides taking my lawyer out to dinner. We had a fun time and she was not only attractive but intelligent and energetic.
Anyway, I already had everything I really wanted. I had a nice car, I had a boat, I had a nice house. I supposed I could try to buy a sports team but it isn't like those things are just up for sale. I did buy my sister a nice gold bracelet with a huge lab grown diamond. It was the latest thing nowadays to be scared to death of mined diamonds like they were the worst thing on earth next to gluten. The brochure at the shop even mentioned that mined diamonds might have toxins in them from way beneath the Earth's crust that would make you sick. I thought it was typical overreacting and scaremongering but the jewelry wasn't for me so I got what I knew my sister would want.
My sister asked what it was for and I told her it was an example of a good gift. I wasn't even ready to tell her yet. She might not have believed me. The bracelet looked good on her. It was easily the most expensive thing to wear she owned.
On Friday I was bored out of my mind. I had sort of adjusted to the idea that I had all this money in the bank but I'm the kind of person who likes to see numbers go up not down. Since the numbers had sort of gone down recently I wanted to get them back to where they were. Sure, I had millions where that came from but it hadn't really sunk in yet. I just didn't feel rich. Maybe that would change after I started seeing interest and dividends coming in as income. I wondered how much I'd really make just letting the money sit in the bank.
I started formulating a plan to maybe open my own business. If it went well then that would be a nice way to get the numbers to go up but if it didn't then I'd lose a lot. One big problem was that I didn't know how to run a business. Maybe I could buy an already existing business and just rely on a manager to run the place. That was essentially how this place ran. The owner would pop in every now and then just to tell us we were doing well and maybe make demands like changing the posters we had up. I almost never had to deal with her but she was a headache for the managers when she did come by.
I looked at my calendar. I needed a vacation. I hadn't really been thinking about it before but now I really wanted to just get a week off and go travel someplace. Maybe I could get a passport and go visit another country. That would be nice. I had the days saved up. I picked a week I didn't think anything would be going on and I applied for off time.
It didn't take even twenty minutes and my boss found me while I was working on something and she handed the slip back to me without even saying anything. My request was denied and no reason was given.
I shouldn't have been surprised. Managers would almost always say no to anything the first time you asked for it.
For example:
"This checklist has boxes on it that we don't use anymore. Can I go into the computer, open the file, and get rid of them?"
"No."
Then when they weren't looking I'd just go into the file and do it anyway and nobody would notice. Or if they did notice they would say good job. There was very much an attitude here that you just had to take initiative and do things. But I couldn't just not show up for work.
She was going to make me ask again and we'd have to sit down and have a conversation about it. Then, instead of a week I'd get like three days but not together. I'd have two days here and then I'd have to work and then I'd have one more day off. Then I wouldn't be allowed to ask for more days off for like six months.
Then the question popped into my head. Why did I still work there? I had more than a half billion dollars in the bank. I could buy the company if I wanted to. The owner would be coming by later anyway. I'll just ask her how much she wants for the company. Even if I overpaid it wouldn't matter. I'd have a guaranteed job for life and I could take a vacation whenever I damn well pleased.
I knew real owners and CEOs didn't do that. They worked more hours than anyone or their companies were doomed to fail.
Ah! Thinking about money was hurting my head. I had always been a very frugal person. I always saved more than I spent and I was on target to retire with more than a million dollars in the bank. That would have been a good 38 years down the road but my plan was sound and so far it was working. Then this happened. I felt like I had cheated.
It felt like when you play a video game that is really hard at the beginning but instead of having a nice slow progression; level 5 feels more like level 50 and everything in the game just becomes way too easy. Sure, that's what I eventually wanted to do with the character anyway but if I get it too fast then it just becomes boring. That's what I felt like with all this money. I was bored. There was no challenge to it anymore.
But I was not going to be one of these people who wins the lottery and then quits their job. I couldn't do that. Not after I'd mocked and ridiculed those kinds of people so often. But maybe I could get fired. That would be ok. Then it wouldn't be my choice. I could go find Jasmine and tell her that I wanted two weeks off starting Monday or I quit. But she'd just call my bluff and I'd have to quit in order to keep my word.
What if I did something that would make them fire me? The company had a zero tolerance policy for any sexual harassment. I could ask Jasmine out on a date. But that wasn't harassing enough. I could ask to see her tits. But then she'd probably call the police. Sure, I would likely not see the inside of a jail but I did not want the police getting called or being involved.
Or, instead of Jasmine I'd go after the owner. Even though she signed my checks I didn't know her name. Like I said, I almost never talked to her. I could make an unreasonable ultimatum of the owner and she'd fire me and the managers wouldn't even be involved. I doubted the owner would call the police. I wasn't sure but she didn't seem to be so knowledgeable about company rules. She seemed like a woman who would just handle her business herself without needing to call a man to come save her.
Or I could just quit. Or I could buy the company. Thinking about money was hurting my head again.