Free Aphrodite’s Reject: The Lottery Winners by Mairsile Leabhair Page B

prize, to break that awkward silence right before she said yes. But then she thought better of that because she was positive the lottery ticket was a dud. Still, she thought it would be a very romantic gesture.
     
    I’m interrupting this tender moment, to remind you that Deziray still has the ticket in her back pocket, and still does not know that she’s won half of the thirty million. Let’s hope she doesn’t give it over to Penny, the skank who is about to break her heart. Okay, now back to the tender moment, even though my heart is already breaking for our hero. But not to worry, I’ve got true love waiting in the wings, she just doesn’t know it yet.
     
    Finally, Penny Nelson walked through the door. A strong, independent, forty‒eight year old woman, who’s skin was rough from too much sun, liquor and cigarettes. And she was just as rough as her skin. When Penny was sober, she would cuss you out as to look at you. But a drunk Penny, was a very endearing, loving, compassionate woman. That’s the side Dez fell in love with, and wants to marry. Unfortunately for Dez, the sober Penny is the one who walked through the door.
    They got a table in a secluded corner , and ordered their steaks. It wasn’t until the dessert arrived that Dez pulled out the ring, and got down on her knee to proposed.
     
    Stop! No, I can’t watch! I’ll just tell you what happened instead. Deziray got down on her knee and held up the ring. A small ring with an even smaller diamond. The poor thing couldn’t afford much more than that. Anyway, Penny laughed at her. I guess she thought it was a joke, but I wasn’t laughing. Uh, I mean, Deziray wasn’t laughing.  Being a love guardian, I can actually see when the heart breaks, and Deziray’s heart was breaking. She tried to explain to Penny that she was serious, and finally, Penny believed her I guess, because she told Deziray to get up, sit down and put that ring away. That’s when Penny told her they were through, and then she walked away. Talk about heart broken, Deziray was so upset that she actually cried, right there in the bar. This is something she never does. Cry, I mean. She hates to cry, though in my humble opinion, if she would cry more she’d feel better. But anyway, let’s check in on our girl.
     
    Flagging down the waitress, Dez ordered a whiskey straight up. While she waited on that, she polished off the rest of her beer, wishing that she could climb inside the empty bottle and disappear. As the realization set in, she relived every word Penny said to her, then she recalled all the good times they had together. What was she going to do now, without her lover, her reason for waking up in the morning. The waitress brought the whiskey over, and Dez picked it up with the intention of getting drunk. But as she brought the glass to her lips, the smell of the liquor reminded her too much, of how she first met Penny.
     
    Okay, it’s me again, and I just have to say, I can’t go down that road again, I just can’t. She plans to get shit faced, and that was how she met Penny in the first place. And we just saw how well that played out. So I’m going to intervene. I’m going to march right over to Deziray, take that drink out of her hand, and tell her it’s time to stop being an idiot and go find a real woman. Or…
     
    A TV announcer interrupted Dez’s depression when he read the winning lottery ticket number. She set her full glass of whiskey down on the table and pulled out her ticket. Thinking she could add to her misery by losing, again, she checked the numbers on the ticket against the numbers flashing on the TV screen. Not believing what she saw, she called the waitress over and together they read the numbers, verifying that she just won thirty million dollars. Beyond excited, Dez handed the waitress the diamond ring as a tip, and walked out the door.
     
    ***
     
    My plan is working perfectly so far, if I do say so myself. Now comes the hard part. Getting the