My New Life Ch. 03 - Collect Winnings

Main Cast of Characters

Scott Stevens...Young 24 year old Mechanical Engineer /Lottery winner

Makala Jones...One of the 18 year old twins helped with payment at Pizza Hut

Makenz Jones...The other 18 year old twin (Identical twins)

Lance Stevens...Scott's younger brother

Betty Stevens...Lance's wife

Betsy Mullen...The twin's grandmother (Gram's)

This story is protected by (c) copyright and may not be duplicated, reprinted, copied or placed on any Internet Website without permission of the author. All rights reserved.

*All characters in this story are purely fictional. Any first or surnames that are used are not the depiction of anyone in particular.

*All sex described in this story is between consenting adults, 18 or over.

*Comments and votes are appreciated. For the grammar police, I edited this story but it, being a long story, is bound to have some uncaught errors here and there. Feel free to contact me with any errors you find but don't leave them in the comments. I will collect any errors and overwrite the story with the corrections when I have time. Please leave your comments about what you like or dislike about the story only, and please keep it constructive either way you go.

This story is best read starting from Chapter 1

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Chapter 3 To the State Lottery Office

Monday - 2nd week:

I was up early this Monday morning. I had set the alarm early since Jim and I had to be at the state lottery office a bit before 10 am. We had a two hour drive to get there and I had to drive to the next county to meet him around 7:30.

I got a little bit of breakfast but was too nervous to be able to eat much. Just some cold cereal, some juice and a cinnamon roll.

I had gotten a little bit of sleep last night thanks to an over the counter sleep aid. But even that was not much help. It finally hit me hard yesterday while I was mowing the grass that I would be a multi-millionaire come noon tomorrow.

I called Bob at work, "Hey Bob, this is Scott I need another day off but will be in bright and early in the morning and we need to talk." when he answered.

"You shit! You did hit that lottery didn't you."

"Ah, I think it was someone with LoneWolf Enterprises, LLC" I said laughing out loud.

"Damn it all! I need you on this next project."

"Guess we can talk about that in the morning." I said.

"OK. I guess I'll let you collect your winnings. This is under protest though and we expect a big celebration."

Laughing, "Talk to you in the morning and keep it on the DL at the office for now please." before hanging up. I had already talked to Steve and told him I wouldn't be going today or tomorrow.

I got my morning shower, shaved and got dressed for the trip. I then left a little before Seven to drive to Jim's office. I got there just before him and he pulled in in his sports car.

I had planned on driving him but he could see that I was a nervous wreck and I had had trouble driving here from my house.

"I think I had better drive us from the looks of you. You didn't get much sleep last night did you." He stated.

"Oh, man. If you only knew how much of a freaking nervous wreck I am right now. This hit me hard yesterday afternoon."

He laughed, "Yeah, I can only imagine how it would hit me, suddenly becoming a multi-millionaire. You kept yourself pretty busy last week setting things up and did a hell of a job, I might add."

"Let's go across the street and get a big cup of joe before we head out." He said.

When we got to the cafe, he ordered a specialty coffee. I already had my wallet out and was at the cashier paying for it. "I already have my caffeine and sugar in the truck. I prefer mine cold in the summer." I said referring to the 24 oz bottle of

Mountain Dew Code Red.

He laughed. "To each his own poison."

We walked back across the street and got in his car and headed to collect my winnings.

We were just chatting about things in general, some of the NFL games yesterday, the latest international crisis, the economy, some ideas for investments for some of the money, etc.

About an hour into the drive he said, "Oh, I was in Dairy Queen Sunday afternoon getting a large Blizzard and sat down to eat it. I overheard twins on their break there talking about some guy named Scott that had given them each a hundred dollar bill and helped them when their car ran out of gas. That wasn't you was it?"

I got a funny look on my face and before I could own up to it he laughed and said, "Guilty as charged I see. Already starting some of our philanthropy are we?"

I grinned a sheepish grin and nodded, "Yeah, it was me. I had paid for their pizza and drinks last week at Pizza Hut when Kala had found that her mother had stolen her money from her purse and they were stuck without having money to pay their bill. She then tried to pay me back after I had stopped in Dairy Queen for lunch later in the week where they had just started to work. I saw the state of their car at the Hut and when I left DQ I put a couple envelopes through the crack in the car window in the parking lot with her $40 and a hundred in each. I felt that they could use it."

"Yeah they could. And more. Apparently their mother kicked them out Saturday night since they weren't willing to share what they had got. What a bitch." He said.

"Kinda gathered their mother was a real case from the interactions I had with them. Did they move in with their grandmother or are they sleeping in that rattle trap of a car?" I asked.

"Their at their grandmothers from what my mom said last night when I talked to her on the phone. Their Gram's, as they call her, is a friend of my mothers from some club they used to be in and they keep in contact. Their mother was in my high school class and was a really popular girl and seemed to be headed places. Don't know what happened to her but she is a real mess now. Mom also mentioned some sort of adventure the girls went on on Friday night in the neighboring county their Gram's told her about. You seem to know more about them than just helping pay for pizza, care to elaborate?" He asked with a grin.

So I laid out the whole story about the Pizza Hut episode along with them trailing me home on Friday night from my local pizza place to my climbing the grain bin to see who had followed me with my night vision goggles and their running out of gas and me feeding them pizza then following them home after I led them back to the main highway from my place in the country.

"I had already planned on helping them out some and planned on getting them a better car and maybe seeing if there grandmother wanted to move into someplace with some help. Guess that will happen sooner rather than later with what you just told me." I said.

"Well," Shaking his head, "Your heart is in the right place with wanting to help others. Just be careful. I don't know their ages, but I could see their mother trying to take advantage of the situation and try to get something out of you." He said.

"They are 18 and just finished high school so they could separate from her without any issues with them being considered adults now." I said.

"That is a plus in this case. Still be careful." He said.

"I plan on it."

'Guess my plan to help out is going to be stepped up.' I though.

We were turning into the lottery office parking lot. I had already drawn up a temporary POA for him to be able to collect the winnings. There was a cafe across the lot from the office and I went there to have a piece of pie and coffee while he went in and collected the fake check. Seems they were set up to electronically transfer the funds to a financial institution and I had given them the credit unions routing number, the LLC account number and the phone number to the credit union so they could call and verify everything.

In about 45 minutes he came back out of the lottery office and I met him at his car.

"Well millionaire, where to now." grinning and handing me the fake check and paperwork.

"Where would you like to have lunch? Pick somewhere that has a nice fillet mignon if you don't mind." I replied smiling back.

"Ah, Temple's it is then."

I had heard of the place but never been there. We each ordered a 12 oz fillet mignon and a couple of sides along with a fine glass of wine. We then ordered their famous lemon pie for desert. I paid the bill and left a nice tip as we headed out for the drive home.

"Here is a folder of possible investment opportunities for you to look through. There is a link to a site that will allow you to review them further should you wish. One of the opportunities is a rental complex in my town that had began construction but the financing fell through after they got some of the units up.

There is a mixture of single bedroom apartments in one building and three two bedroom duplexes that are under roof and just needing the interior finished. Two of the duplexes are ready to move into and just needing the utilities connected. One of them has the complex office attached to the other two bedroom unit.

They are asking five hundred thousand but it can probably be bought for about four maybe four fifty. The financial institution that had to foreclose is wanting to unload it quickly. I have tried to get some local folks interested in it but so far only one is and can only finance a tenth of it.

There is a list of renters already interested in renting with the new plant coming to town. They would have to have their backgrounds reviewed and you might want to find someone to run it. It has room to grow with the plans already in place to build up the whole complex of four more duplexes three town houses and two more single bedroom apartment buildings as well as other amenities. Jim said.

"Interesting, I'll have to take a look at it." I said. Thinking, 'I could possibly put the girls and their Gram's in one of the duplexes and maybe see if one of them would be interested in running the office.'

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While I called the credit union, Jim called the broker for the complex and they set up a meeting at two thirty. The manager at the credit union said they got the electronic transfer and that the funds would be available at 3:00 pm today.

I thanked him and said goodbye.

Jim was off the phone as well and told me were to meet the broker at the complex at Three.

We had about 20 minutes before we needed to leave. I authorized a two million dollar transfer to Jim's brokerage effective in the morning and gave him three of the investment prospectus that he had let me look over and told him to invest two hundred thousand in each of them as soon as the funds were there.

"Damn, you aren't wasting any time are you?" more a statement than a question. "Let's head on over to the complex." He said. "It will give you a few minutes to do a quick look over before Terry gets there.

We left in my truck stopping by the credit union so I could get another grand out, again 8 Franklin's and $200 in twenty's.

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We got to the complex and I took a quick ten minute tour of the grounds and spotted a couple of things that I did not like. I had worked some for my uncle's engineering firm while in college and was able to spot something that needed corrected in the rain water drainage as well as the way one of the utility connections was improperly installed.

Terry pulled in and Jim introduced us, "Terry Landus, this is Scott Stevens that I spoke to you about."

We exchanged greetings. "Terry, I would like to look at the architectural plans and drawings for the complex. I have spotted a couple of things that were either mistakes in the design or the contractors didn't follow. As new as this is someone should be on the hook for making the necessary changes."

Terry got a stern look on his face and said, "Your awful young to be making those kind of comments. What's your background for saying that?"

I could see Jim standing off to my side and shaking his head. Before I could reply he said, "Terry, can I talk to you for a moment."

But before they could move away I said, "Well for starters, I'm a prospective buyer. I grew up in the next county on a farm, worked summers and holidays for my uncle's engineering firm dealing with designing subdivisions and structures and some survey work during my college years studying Mechanical engineering. I work for Warhammer Engineering currently."

"Terry my friend, you don't want to go there with this one." Jim told him.

"I...I'm sorry for my quick judgment based on your being younger. C..Can we start over." Terry stammered. His face a bit pale.

"Apology accepted. We may." I said holding out my hand to shake his again.

"I'll see about getting you a copy of the plans when I get back to the office." He said.

We went inside the duplexes first. They were nicely done and I was quite impressed with the way they were laid out. I also liked the office attached to one of the two bedroom units. It would do for what I had in mind if everything worked out.

We then went to the single bedroom apartment building that was laid out for 8 apartments on two floors. I spotted a couple of things that needed changed and looked like the contractor had taken some shortcuts but the overall structure seemed sound.

I said to Terry, "After I look over the plans, I would probably want to talk to someone about the needed changes and then probably make an offer."

"You can set up financing that quickly?" He asked thinking I would have to get a loan.

"Financing is already in place if I need it." I said. That got a look of surprise from him. Jim was standing behind him with a Cheshire Cat grin on his face.

We parted and Jim and I got in the truck.

"I'm sure I'm going to get a call from him when we get back from that pompous shit." He said laughing. "God, that was priceless."

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I dropped Jim off at his office and since it was about supper time, I headed to Dairy Queen to see if one or both of the twins were working.

When I pulled into the lot, I spotted the girls' grandmothers car that had run out of gas on Friday.

I went in and Kenz was working the counter and as I walked up I said, "Hey good looking, what's good this evening."

She lit up when she heard my voice and looked up smiling, "Hey Scott, how are things going?"

"Good, no great right now." I replied. "See you have your grandmothers' car."

"Yeah, Kala had an errand to run and left early."

She said. "So what can I get you?"

"I...believe I'll have the Turkey BLT, onion rings and a medium pineapple shake."

"You seem to have a thing for the pineapple shake." She said.

"Yeah, they are really good."

"OK, Turkey BLT, onion rings and a pineapple shake coming right up." she said. "Hey, I'm due for my break, mind if I join you?"

"I would welcome the company." I said.

"Have a seat and I'll bring out the shake. Get two straws please."

I got my condiments, napkin and straws and found a table in the back with no one around.

She came out and had two medium pineapple shakes in hand. She sat down and took her straw from me putting it in the shake and taking a long pull on it.

She smiled and said, "I hadn't tried the pineapple shake. Wow! These are good."

Stella came out with my meal.

"Hey Stella, how are you doing?" I asked.

"Good, and you?" she replied with a bit of a jealous look.

"Doing great. You still going to college?" I asked.

"Yeah, getting ready to start my second year at the Junior College."

"What are you studying?"

"Working on an AS in business management. May look into the DQ management program when I finish."

"Good for you. Glad to see your trying to expand your horizons." I said. Then I noticed Kenz had a sad look on her face.

Thinking it was probably my praise of Stella and her not having much of a chance, I said, "Kenz, I have something I'm working on that may interest you and/or Kala as future employment. I can't say anything more about it at this time though until I see if it is going to pan out. I do have a good feeling about it though. It would be a better job than this for sure."

"Stella, isn't there a building trades program at the Junior college besides the management curriculum you are currently enrolled in?" I asked.

"Yes there is. I have thought about taking some of those courses to supplement my management degree." She replied.

"Interesting." I said between bites of my supper.

They both had to get back to work so I finished my supper and left sticking a $10 in the joint tip jar.

I again slipped a hundred in each of two envelopes with Kenz and Kala's names on them and dropped them in through the slit in the car window and left heading home.

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I decided to take the back roads and came in behind the farm taking the back road into the farm lot. I parked my truck behind the machine shed and walked through the backyard sneaking in the back door. I had done this on the off chance that the word had gotten out about the winnings.

I was smart in making this move. I had warned Lance and Betty to be ready for an onslaught of news media and beggars once the word got out. I no sooner got in the house and the door locked and the phone was ringing and I got a text from Lance saying that they were huddled in the back bedroom and not answering the house phone, cell phone unless it was someone they were willing to talk to or the door.

I texted back, 'Hang in there buddy. I plan on putting a stop to this post haste or at least slow it down some.'

I looked out the front living room window from my hidden spot in the dinning room and could see vehicles from no less than two newspapers, a radio station and an area TV station. There were also three other dilapidated cars on the blacktop. The answering machine was blinking like a police car. I walked over to it and it showed 72 messages and the display said it was full. I'm damn glad that I had made the changes I had.

I took a deep breath then walked to the front door and turned on the porch light. It was a mad scramble to get to my door with one reporter tripping on the way.

Just as one of them reached for the door bell, I opened the door. Everyone started talking at once with questions. I held up my hand and said, "This is the only statement I am going to make in regard to your questions. I have set up a limited liability corporation to handle any and all charitable contribution requests. There is a phone number that has been set up with an answering machine. That is currently the only way we will be taking requests. This is to ensure that my brother, my sister in law nor I are bombarded with constant requests bordering on harassment for charitable donations. We are working on setting up some things that will benefit the community of White County and those that we deem needing help. Those who do not adhere to our request for our peace and quite will get nothing, I repeat nothing, from this corporation. The phone number set up for this is 681-732-3200. Please do not make any requests to this number until one week from today. The answering machine is currently full and the ringer has been turned off so there will be no one picking up the phone. Yes, this is my current phone number but will be changed this week to reflect that it is the number for Lone Wolf Enterprises, LLC. As further things are set up such as a web site or social media sites, we will let it be known. Thank you for your time this evening and good night."

With that I went back into the house and shut the door and turned out the porch light letting them know that the statement/interview was over.

I had called my brother and put my cell phone on speaker before I went outside to make the statement.

"Damn! Bro! That was awesome!" He said once I got back inside.

"Thank you. Hope that settles things down in a day or two."