The Parent Trap

chapter fourteen

Charlotte walked into the almost empty hotel bar. She sat down and let out a little sigh, upset since Maya was nowhere to be found.

"Here you go. This will cure anything you've got, just don't ask what's in it." The bartender handed a drink to Carina, who sat right beside Charlotte. Carina slowly lifted her head from the counter and whined a bit.

"Alright," She whispered to herself, picking the cup up and looking at it before taking a deep breath. She turned to Charlotte, not aware of who she actually was, and raised the cup in her direction, "Here's to you. May your life be far less complicated than mine."

Charlotte gave her a small smile and confusedly nodded, before muttering a 'thank you'. She grimaced as she watched Carina's expression of pure disgust as she tried to chug the drink.

"One martini, please. Dry." Charlotte ordered. The bartender nodded and began preparing her drink while Charlotte watched. A bit later, as Carina took another sip of what the bartender had prepared for her, she accidentally let out a loud burp. Charlotte's head snapped in her direction, her eyes widened.

Carina blushed, "Oh, my God, I am so so sorry. Excuse me." She looked even sicker. "I think I just drank tar."

Charlotte had an annoyed look but nodded. "There's your martini," Her head snapped back in the bartender's direction as he handed her her favorite drink, "and your bill, Miss DeLuca."

"Thank you." Carina said before taking another sip of her drink and grabbed the bill, quickly signing it and handing it back to the bartender. Charlotte snuck a glance at Carina's signature and she chocked on her drink.

"You're Carina DeLuca?" She asked.

Carina's eyes widened, not expecting to get recognized and she nodded, giving a small smile, "Guilty."

Charlotte put her drink down and let out a yelp, "Oh!" She excitedly exclaimed and jumped out of her chair, quickly sitting on the one next to Carina, "Oh, my God! I can't believe it! I've read so many of your papers, you're incredible. I just saw your most recent one and, you know, I'm getting married soon and I plan on having a child and I want you to be my doctor! I even faxed the hospital you work at but they said you were out of town, I wanted to see if you handled things like that. Ah, this is fate!" She grinned and stuck out her hand, "I'm Charlotte Dearborn."

Carina smiled at her and shook her hand, "How are you?"

⭒

Maya sighed as she frantically looked for Carina throughout the hotel. She had been pretty much everywhere and still, her ex wife was nowhere to be found. Her eyes scanned the people as she walked through the pool area, her eyes widening once she saw a woman with the same hair style as Carina. She reluctantly took a step in that woman's direction taking a peek, darting away once she realized it wasn't her.

She bumped into a man and quickly apologized, "There you are!" Mr. Dearborn gushed, making her give him a small smile. "Where have you been? We've been looking all over for you."

"Maya, I think this is the perfect place for the wedding!" Charlotte's mom grabbed her arm as Maya tried to discreetly look around, still trying to find Carina. "The more I see it, the more I love it."

Maya nodded, "Me too, yes." As her eyes continued to scan the crowd, she stopped in her tracks once she saw Carina DeLuca walking down the stairs into the pool area. She smiled, her eyes sparkled and she felt her heartbeat rising, almost as if her heart was going to jump out of her chest. Her legs weakened.