They Say Money Can’t Buy Happiness, But It Pays For The Internet Which Is Pretty Much The Same Thing
‘’ Cablaaammm! ‘’, Dan yelled as he whooshed through the corridor. He was rarely this enthusiastic or excited about anything so I had to find out what caused him to enter this ‘over the moon’ state.
‘’ You alright there Daniel? ‘’, I asked sarcastically.
‘’ Couldn’t be better actually. ‘’, he replied just like the smart-ass he was. His answer was insufficient, but I couldn’t be bothered to dwell on the topic. I figured that once his high of emotions was over he would come and talk to me.
A few hours passed and Dan still hadn’t come into my room to disturb me from my university studies that I totally cared about and wasn’t dying of boredom from. I was genuinely surprised when suddenly I heard the front door slam shut. Dan would usual tell me when he was going out, so I decided to check if he was in the apartment.
‘’ Dan, you here? ‘’ I raised my voice to make sure that it projected throughout the whole student accommodation. I waited for an answer but all I received back was silence. Silence…
A few days had passed since Dan unexpectedly vanished. I had done what any human being would do if someone went missing, which was to think rationally and call the police. They collected all the data they needed and left. Since then, I haven’t heard anything from them. It seemed to me that Dan might be cunningly planning something and that I shouldn’t be worrying too much, but in my mind, all the scenarios from the show, ‘Crime Scene Investigation’, were repeating themselves constantly. I had become a ball of paranoia and stress, the only way I could unravel was if Dan would kindly just stroll back home…
Meanwhile in Spain…
I had drawn the luxurious blinds of my new villa. I breathed out in satisfaction and thought to myself – this is the life. Even in the lap of luxury and in my opinion true happiness, in the back of my mind I felt slightly guilty that I hadn’t thought to tell Alaska about my sudden departure. I didn’t think about her feelings or whatever because I just needed freedom. When I had found out I had miraculously won the lottery, I just left; I had to. I abandoned my not so fabulous student lifestyle; of eating instant ramen noodles, and adopted a whole new one - living in a villa in Spain; in my opinion this is as good as it gets.
I had realised that studying music at university was not my calling; but with a loan and no way to bounce out of the vicious circle, which is student life – this unexpected, yet heavenly occurrence had given me the opportunity to live a little and do something that I wanted to do…
Months had passed since I had moved to Spain. The money supply that I once had, was running low and I wasn’t feeling as happy as I remember feeling those months before. Truthfully, I missed home, I missed the careless but at the same time, stressful student life, and most of all I missed my friends and Alaska, who I must admit was the best roommate that anybody could ever wish for. I guessed that Benjamin Franklin was correct when saying that, ‘’ money has never made man happy ‘’…
Back in England…
I had slowly grown to live without Dan in the small, but homey, student accommodation flat. It took a long while, but I realised that one day, Dan wouldn’t be in my life anymore and I guessed that his departure could have been less sudden, painful and unexpected, but at this point anything that had happened couldn’t be undone.
I was confused when suddenly I heard keys turning in the lock of the front door. Nobody else had the keys to the flat apart from Dan, our…um… my landlord and I. So I had figured that it must’ve been the landlord because what were the chances of Dan returning home after being missing for over 6 months? – Pretty much the same as the chances of winning the lottery.
‘’ Hi Nigel, I’m just in the living room! ’’, I yelled across the apartment because I was too lazy to get my butt off of the sofa. I was surprised when I didn’t hear a response, so I quickly jolted and up and walked hastily into the corridor; my face masked with a look of pure confusion.
The second I saw Dan looking guiltier than that time when he forgot that it was my birthday, I instantly forgot about the stress he had caused me and enveloped him into one of my famous bone-crushing hugs.
‘’ Where were you Daniel? ’’, I asked him sternly as I let him out of my tight hold.
‘’ Spain. ‘’ , he answered bluntly, he hadn’t changed at all – he was still the smart-ass I knew; I hated him for being like that but that’s just one of the traits I had to deal with.
‘’ For once in your life, would you like to kindly elaborate on this idea? ‘’, I asked as I grew feelings of anger due to me having to stress out while he was on holiday in Spain.
‘’ I won the lotte- ‘’, he started to speak but I interrupted him.
‘’ You won the lottery! ‘’, I screamed out in shock. I couldn’t believe that firstly, he had won the lottery, secondly, ran away to Spain for a holiday and thirdly, left me here worrying without saying a word in over 6 months.
‘’ Yeah, I’m sorry for not telling you, but I had to take a break. I should’ve told you and not acted hastily, but you know that I act before I think… ‘’, he explained as his guilt grew so much that I could hear it clearly in his voice.
‘’ Okay, now that the story is straight where’s the rest of the money? ‘’, I asked hesitantly as I had a feeling that I knew what he was going to say.
‘’ Well… ‘’, he started off and dragged out this word for a while.
‘’ Let me guess, you spent it all ‘’, I added with slight annoyance.
‘’ Yeah. But you know what they say Alaska; money can’t buy happiness, but it pays for the internet which is pretty much the same thing. So as long as I can afford to pay Virgin Media for my Wi-Fi, I think I’m alright. ‘’, he commented in the way that only Dan could.
