My 8 E-books written over the years by Alina Udrea - HTML preview

Chapter 6: Winning the lottery

Al woke up early to go to his new job. His boss Bobby showed him his

office and let him know what he was supposed to do. Bobby was a nice guy and he only had three more employees as his firm was a small one: Dorian, his driver, a middle- aged man who had been his driver for the last 20 years and two younger guys, both salesmen. They sold computers and Al had to make sure everything was functional and also pay and keep track of bills. The younger men were brothers. Al had a strange feeling about them the moment he saw them so he figured that maybe he should pay attention to them. He settled at his desk and then he focused on the two employees. They were planning to rob Bobby, their employer. They knew he would be away on holiday for two days next weekend and were planning the burglary for the first night Bobby would be away. They knew he had a safe behind an old picture where he kept his money. They were planning to crack the safe and steal everything. Al couldn’t let that happen. The salesmen would probably end up caught and in jail for the rest of their youth and it wasn’t worth it. They were young and poor and they wanted to rob their boss to be able to buy an expensive car thinking that would help them find girlfriends. Al didn’t want the brothers to end up behind bars for such a foolishness just to impress girls but he couldn’t let them fulfil their plan. He thought about the situation for a while and decided to give them a helping hand, not to steal but to win at the lottery. If they won, they wouldn’t need to go on with their plan.

- Hello, Al addressed the two brothers. I’m Al, the new guy.- Hi, answered one of them, I am Tom and this is my younger brother, Adi. Nice to meet you!

- I am new here and I was wondering if you’d like to join me for a cup of coffee after work. My treat.

- Yeah we could. See you after work Al, said Adi.

- At the local restaurant? Are you two OK with that place?- A bit too fancy but OK, answered Tom.

- Then see you after work, and Al smiled to himself. They weren’t bad boys, they just needed a little push, a little help to go in the right direction. When they finished work they went to the local restaurant, the one

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where Delia worked. They grabbed a table and started chatting. Meanwhile Al ordered the coffee for all three and some snacks.- So you are new to this town, said Tom who was more talkative and was the mastermind behind the burglary plan. How do you like it here so far?- I can’t complain. I got a job, rented a house and the scenery here is fantastic. I really like it here. Then in order to get the chat where he wanted he added: could use some extra cash though. He saw that he immediately got their attention. I consider myself to be a lucky guy and I feel extremely lucky today. My first day on my new job. You know what? I’ll try my luck with the lottery. I bought a ticket. How about we all bet on it? Each say two numbers and see if we win anything. When is the grand draw?- On Friday, answered Adi. Sounds interesting. Why not? OK let me see…- First number that comes to your mind, said Al to encourage him. Then he told himself that it didn’t really matter. Anything they would choose would be the winning numbers because that Friday he would be on his couch focusing on the TV or rather on the show on the TV and more precisely on the person who would draw the winning numbers. He would make the person choose their numbers. It was a day before they would commit the burglary. Winning a large sum at the lottery should make them change plans and keep them out of trouble.

- OK, 27, said Adi. And 3. Now it is your turn, Tom. Choose two numbers.- I don’t see the harm in it so here goes: 7 and 23. What about you Al?- I choose 1 and 13. Ok now how about you two come over on Friday for a pizza while the numbers are drawn?

- Uh.. Ok and we can bring the beer, said Tom.

- Sounds good. We have a deal!

- Thanks for the coffee, said Adi, see you tomorrow at work.- Ok, have a nice day. And the two brothers left in a cheerful mood. Al remained a little longer. He wanted to see Delia and ask her out. It annoyed him that he couldn’t read her mind. Then he saw her coming his way.- Hi, he said, how about we go for a stroll after you finish work?- I should go home first and change. Maybe later?- You are perfect the way you are. You don’t have to change. Not on my account, anyway.

- Oh… and Delia blushed. She was so beautiful he could hardly get his eyes off her. See you when you finish?

- Ok. I’ll call my parents so they won’t worry about me. See you in two hours.

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Al could almost jump for joy. He had a date with her and he would also

win the lottery on Friday, saving the two brothers from themselves. He felt as if he had already won the lottery as he had a date with his soul mate and could hardly wait for the two hours to pass to be with her. Two hours later he was standing in front of the restaurant door waiting for her. She was wearing a blue blouse beneath the black unzipped jacket which matched her eyes perfectly and a pair of blue jeans. She looked perfect.

- So where would you like to go? Delia asked him as she too enjoyed his company and it didn’t really matter where they went. She trusted him, she felt safe inn his presence.

- Hmm, Al answered after a short pause, how about I show you my ship? It’s on top of the mountain but we can take my car. Shouldn’t take us more than 3 hours to get there and get back too. Al had rented a truck and had learnt to drive in less than an hour. He was very intelligent and he thought that driving a car was less difficult than piloting a cargo ship anyway.- Wow this must be the most interesting date anyone could have taken me on! I’d be delighted!

- Thought so, he said smiling at her.

- Do you have cars back on your planet? She asked him as she entered the car.

- Nope, not like these anyway. We have other ways of transportation. Small flying ships or we use teleportation. But teleportation is usually used by the more important Valentinians. Normal Valentinians use these small ships with four seats. I guess you could say they are our cars, and Al laughed.- Teleportation? Wow… said Delia daydreaming about all the things Al was describing and imagining even more which he hadn’t described but she had a good imagination. Have you ever used teleportation?- Yes, every big ship has one. I mean every ship which is bigger than a family ship which is only used on our planet to go from one place to another. The way humans use cars. But all spaceships which go to other planets and beyond have a teleportation device on board. It’s a must have. And whoever leaves the ship to go on the surface of the planet has a tiny device with the help of which he can teleport back on the spaceship in case of an emergency. If he gets in trouble he can just get back on the ship with the simple press of a button.

- Oh wow I wish I had such a device… So you have one? Can you teleport

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back to your spaceship?

- Yes, it is still functional. But I need the truck to carry materials back to the ship to fix it. Can’t teleport those too so I have this small device to guide me back to my ship. And he showed her the gadget.

- Nice! Your planet must be very interesting. I wish I could visit it and see for myself some of the wonders you are telling me about…

Al could almost jump through the ceiling of the car at hearing her. So

she would like to see his planet. So she would go there with him. He couldn’t believe his own ears which by the way were a bit smaller than a human’s and a little pointed at the top.

- If I ever manage to fix the ship you are more than welcome to come with me, he said and kissed her on the lips. She kissed him back to his utmost joy.

- Yes I would love to but what would my parents say? We would come back to Earth, right?

- Of course, as often as you’d like.

- Then I hope you fix your ship and show me what lies beyond the stars….- I will do my best to fix it, Al said with a large smile. This was the most beautiful day he had spent on Terra so far.

By the time they got on the mountain it was already dark and Delia started to be a little afraid. She knew there were bears and wolves in the wilderness. And Al didn’t seem strong enough to face any of the wild creatures. He was very handsome and smart but not physically strong and she was wondering if he could protect her or himself in case they were attacked by beats. He saw her fidgeting on her chair but as he couldn’t read her mind he didn’t know what the cause was. So he finally just asked her:- Why are you fidgeting? Are you nervous or you need to relieve yourself? I noticed that humans do this when they need to go to the bathroom.- Oh, it’s nothing. I was just thinking that we could encounter some wild beasts here and didn’t know if you had any weapon for defense...- Yes, I have this laser gun but I’d rather not use it. It is deadly in most cases. But you don’t have to worry, you are safe with me. And he kissed her again to reassure her that everything was under control. It seemed to work as she obviously calmed down. Here it is, he finally exclaimed! Some trees were burnt almost entirely where the ship had crashed and there it was: the alien ship, Al’s cargo ship. Delia still couldn’t believe it was all true, that she had indeed met an alien and now she was standing in

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front of what remained of his ship.

- Wow! She finally said! So his is your ship…

- Yes, he said and opened a trap door and showed her in. This way and watch your head, he said not wanting her to get hurt. They entered a large hall dimly illuminated and then he opened a massive door which led to his cockpit. There were tons of colored buttons and two seats, the captain’s and the copilot’s. But Al had no copilot. He always worked alone. The ship was about 80% damaged but with the right tools and materials it wasn’t beyond repair. And Al was now determined to fix it.- This is where I work and live most of the time… crashing on Terra was not such a bad thing. First of all, I met you… and of course life here is so interesting. Terra is a very interesting planet.

- Maybe… but I bet you’ve seen lots of places with your spaceship. I want to see some of them someday if you fix it and if you take me…- I’d take you anywhere you’d ask me. I’d do anything for you… he said and he bowed his head and lowered his eyes… I. ..I.. I love you! I’ve loved you from the moment I first saw you take a seat at the table with your parents. If you are wondering how I can say this, it is because it is true. It really is what I feel. We, Valentinians, only fall in love once in our lifetime and it is for the rest of our lives. And I love you. There can be no other for me. I hope I didn’t scare you. I don’t know what you feel, but this is how I feel. If you don’t feel the same you have no reason to be afraid, just tell me what you feel…

- I don’t know what to say… it is all so sudden…and I’ve never been in love before either… but I guess the butterflies in my stomach when I see you and when you look at me must mean that I feel the same way for you…- You’ve made me the happiest Valentinian on Terra!! He said jokingly and passionately kissed her just when she was about to say that he was the only Valentinian on Earth so…

Then Al pressed a button and a hologram of the Milky Way appeared in front of their eyes enveloping them.

- Look, he said pointing to a distant planet on the holographic map of the Milky Way, this is Valles, my home planet. And then he swirled the map and showed her Terra, a small planet in comparison with the rest she saw on the map. And this is Terra, he went on.

- You are a long way from home, she finally said.

- My home from now on will be wherever you are, either here on Terra or on

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Valles or on any other place where you’d like to go. My home is where you are…

- Wow… thank you I guess… it’s getting late, shouldn’t we go back?- Yes, we should. Come, he said and took her warm hand, let’s return before your parents get worried.