Unlovely

When Diana Ripley arrived at her father’s table, the U.S.-Swiss Ambassador was on his phone talking loudly about one of his recent successes. He glanced up at Diana only long enough to tap his wrist watch and remind her she was late.

She shrugged while glancing around before taking a seat. Diana was attractive, in her late twenties, wearing black flannel pants, conservative flats, and a black blouse. Her hair was blonde and fashioned in a military style – as she had just came out of the Pentagon.

“Diana!” Her father clicked off his phone and stood to kiss her cheek.

“Hi Dad.” She did not kiss him back.

“You look exhausted.”

“I got your message. What’s up?”

Her father leaned towards the table, his eyes fixed on her.

“Have you played the lottery recently?”

“You mean the one for the whole country?”

“Yes. That’s exactly the one I mean.”

“Once in a while. But the odds are so big I got a better chance of watching Chinese Lantern in a Venice sky.”

“You’re absolutely right. In fact, the odds this month are approximately one in three hundred million”

“That is what I mean, I’d rather go for the scratch offs. At least then you got a chance to make a quick ten bucks.”

Her father licked his lips and leaned his elbows on the desk as he looked at her.

“What would you say if I told you I could drastically better your chances of winning the lottery?”

He kept his eyes at her. She took a sip of water.

“How?”

“In fact” He continued, ignoring her question. “What if I could lower your odds to one in – one!”

“Again, how?” She furrowed her eyebrows.

“Would you do it?”

“Is this some kind of joke?” Her hair fell in front of her face.

“I’m guaranteeing that you will win the lottery, Diana. I’m guaranteeing that you will win, at minimum, twenty million dollars.”

She sat there. Silently. Looking at him.

“No more chasing criminals. No more graveyard shifts. No more worrying about having food and paying bills. Anything you want, you can have. Anywhere you want to go, you can go.”

“You mind telling me how can you do that?”

“I need an answer to my question.”

“What question.”

Her father spread his hands. “Do you want to be rich?”

She took a deep breath, tried to calm her twitching nerves. “You’re asking me if I want to do something wrong. Then I’m telling you flat-out that I won’t. I don’t have much, and I’m not a criminal.”

“Who says it’s anything wrong?”

“Excuse me, but are you saying that guaranteeing to win the lottery isn’t wrong? Sure as hell sound like a fix to me. You think just because I work for the C.I.A that I’m stupid?”

“I actually have a high opinion of your intelligence.”

“Of course you do. I’m your daughter.” He put a little black book on top of the table.

“This is it.”

“How did you get this information?”

“Through my connections.”

“Are your connections valid?”

“Take a look. Will you? This book is a call to action, not complacency. Once you open it and read what is inside, your life will be changed forever.”

He slid the book across the table, and she picked it up.

“I liked this soft cover, and these pages are detachable too!”

“Read-what-is-inside Diana!”

She opened to the first page and read a sentence. She glanced up at her dad.

“How accurate is this?”

“I have checked the past winners. One hundred percent guaranteed.”

“And if I turn this in to our government.”

“You will continue to live a miserable life.”

“I went to College and got a degree. I should be proud.”

“Give it back please. I'm pretty sure I'll find a better use with this information. I knew I shouldn't have trusted my own daughter.”

“Problem is that your daughter is on the righteous side of the law.”

She got up and turned around.

“Diana! Stop it.”

“I’m turning it in at the agency.”

“The system is rigged. There is no turning back. We can be millionaires and change our lives forever!”

“I’m just doing the right thing!”

“You are but a single individual!”

“I’m a single individual that came to this World to make a difference.”

***

“Welcome to our plan-of-action meeting.” The Chief of Operations from C.I.A. said. He stood in front of the room, and looked around. The assistant Commander of Joint Special Operations, Joint Chief of Staff Chairman, C.I.A Profiler, C.I.A Analyst and Director of National Intelligence were also present.

“Let me first thank you for coming on such short notice. I was receiving the latest briefing on the facts as they were presently known, and this is a call of matters of National Security.”

The Chief of Operations raised a little black book.

“One of our agents brought this little black book to my attention. Inside, there is information showing how our lottery system have been filling the people with false hope.”

***

Diana’s dad approached her. She was standing by the quarter panel of her car. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest. The wind whipped a strand of long blonde hair across her face and she snagged it back behind her ear.

“How did it go?”

“I turned it in, as I said I would.”

“What a shame!”

“You're lucky I didn't throw you under the bus.”

“You blew our chances of becoming a filthy rich family!”

“There is no value by doing the right thing Dad! We just do what is right. This is how we change the World for the better. One day at a time”

“Did they offer you anything?”

“I’m not interested in their money. I’m interested in other treasures.”

“You’re so unlucky.”

“You are so unlovely.” She said it right back.

“I guess this is our good bye. Don’t you ever come asking for help.” Her father turned around and walked away.

“You’re the one that invited me for breakfast!”

Diana got in her car. Her phone chirped just as she was turning the key in the ignition. She glanced down at the screen of her phone, half expecting that it was her dad apologizing for the things he said. It was a notification pop up from her supervisor instead.

Diana Ripley: Because you discovered a clandestine operation involving the U.S. lottery, we are awarding you $20,000. The money will automatically fall in your account through a wire-transfer.

Diana put her sunglasses on her face, stared straight ahead, and skidded her tires as her foot hit the accelerator.

-The End.