Winning (The Lottery)

Kelly went on: "I enjoyed dating you in high school, you know, and always hoped it might develop into something more. I was saddened when you left town after high school. I found out you had joined the Navy and figured you were out of my life for good.

"Then when I heard you were back, I was ecstatic. I was going to get you back. Even better, I had finally filled into my body, and I just knew that, once you saw me, we were going to be back together. Maybe you weren't that interested in me when I was a broomstick in high school, but now that I was all woman there was no way you would resist.

"But when I saw that bitch with you and the way you hung all over each other, my heart broke all over again. I just knew it was never going to be for us. I was so heartbroken I ended up essentially shutting myself in my apartment for almost a year. I even claimed a medical leave of absence for about six months. Amazing what you can get a doctor to put on a form. But I simply couldn't go out in town and take the chance I would see you with that bitch. I was angry with you for passing me up, and angry with her for stealing my man.

"After a while, I decided I had to get over it. I hauled myself out of my apartment and started working again. My job was kind enough to let me work from home as much as I possibly could, so I wasn't out of work, but I finally realized I couldn't stay shut in forever. A year later and I thought I was finally over you.

"I ended up meeting Brad, we dated for a while, I thought I loved him, so I accepted when he proposed marriage. And Brad was a real nice man, if a bit unambitious. He always treated me right. We stayed married for two years, but something just felt like it was missing. One day it hit me: simply, he wasn't you. My feelings for you hadn't gone away, I had just buried them. Maybe I should have asked my therapist for a refund!

"When I served Brad with the divorce papers, he wasn't surprised. He just said he kind of always knew my heart wasn't in it. He didn't fight the divorce and we walked away with what we brought in, nothing more, nothing less."

She stopped when she realized I was staring at her, hard. "What's wrong, Bluey?"

I responded, "Wow. That sounds like some real stalker shit. What did you think, this was some kind of bullshit romantic comedy? That kind of shit only happens in the movies. Maybe you did need a better therapist!"

She looked mortified. "Oh God...I didn't mean it that way...oh no, I thought this would be different..." Kelly trailed off and she looked like she was about to have a complete meltdown when she noticed I was laughing uproariously.

"Kelly, I'm totally fucking with you!"

Kelly punched me on the arm, I'm assuming playfully. Still kinda hurt. But she dissolved into laughter herself. "You bastard, you actually scared me!"

"Sorry, didn't mean to. You know, it's odd to me that someone would pine after me that much. Kinda nice, though." Shit, maybe this was one of those nitwit rom-coms.

We spent far longer at Jimmy's than either of us figured. Not that they had to pour us into taxis or anything--getting sloppy drunk was not tolerated at Jimmy's--but enough that we both felt the need to call a taxi. To save on costs, we decided to share. And maybe sneak a few more minutes together.

All too soon, I thought--why did that thought cross my mind?--we pulled up to her apartment building. She had an uncertain smile on her face as we both got out. I could tell she was debating a "nightcap". Time to take charge.

I leaned into the cab and asked him to wait just a minute. Didn't matter to him, the meter was still running. I turned to Kelly and said, "Listen, can I get your number? I might like to see you again."

As she recited the digits, I typed them into my phone. I then sent her a text message. "There, now you have my number as well. Now, a nightcap would be lovely, but if this goes anywhere, we've got hopefully the rest of our lives. I'd like it very much if it were the right rest of our lives, if you get my meaning." I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and climbed back into the cab.

As we pulled away, I looked back and she had the goofiest grin on her face. Just before the cab turned out of sight, I saw her turn and walk up her building's entrance stairs.

Would our encounter lead to anything more? None but God knew, but I thought I might like giving it a shot. But that's a story for another day.

As for Kristy and Chad? Never heard from either one, ever again. I heard through the grapevine that Kristy quickly moved back to San Diego, apparently without Chad. Chad was spotted once or twice in town, but I had low-key made it known around town that I didn't appreciate those who steal from me, and I might take personal exception, say, in a dark alley somewhere. In truth, I had absolutely no interest in a scumbag like that, but I thought it would be funny to let him sweat a little. After a few months, nobody saw Chad around either. Good riddance to bad trash.

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A few notes for the nitpickers and the otherwise curious:

I'm no legal expert. If I were, I'd be lawyering somewhere, not writing free stories online. One of the beauties of being located in an unnamed, Simpsons-style state is, I can set up the local legal system to what the story requires, within reason.

The plot twist where the lottery ticket ended up being virtually worthless was actually what I thought the plot twist in FrancisMacomber's story was going to be. When that turned out not to be the case (the ticket in his story was a legitimate jackpot winner), I thought it would be a fun plot twist in a story of my own. I'm hoping I didn't telegraph it too much.

I have no actual idea if the good people of American Samoa handle divorces via volcano. My suspicion is probably not. It's a bit of comedy for the story.

I'm sure there are other little details y'all can nitpick away at. At some point, maybe it's just a fun story.