The Heart Break Vacation

Charlotte

            "yeah we are in Florida, but we can't stop..." "We'll meet you for lunch, your taking off from Fort Meyers right?" My mother ask, but really it was a forced answer "yes, but we're supposed to meet Ollie's parents for cocktails at the dock at 5:30" "oh you'll have plenty of time, just come down to Palm Beach, we'll meet you at the breakers for lunch at 1, we can have tea at 2, and you'll get there in plenty of time, it's only a 2 hour drive" there was no way I could get out of this now. "We'll see you then"
           "I can't believe you got us into this" he muttered as he tied his bow tie. "Oh please it's not like I could of gotten out of this" "you could of not answered the phone" "my grandmother is in the hospital, I can't not answer the phone, we're expecting her to keel over any day" he looked shocked "I'm so sorry, I didn't know, when did.." "Like a week ago, kidney failure, lung cancer..." "Lotte, I'm really sorry" he reached over to me giving me an awkward hug. "Yeah don't be, she was an alcoholic, smoker, and compulsive gambler" he nodded, so I slapped his arm "don't agree with me" "this is you moms mom right?" "Yeah" "why was your grandfather with her, he always seemed so nice..." "Remember how I said she was a compulsive gambler?" "Yeah" "she paid for my mother's college tuition to Georgetown in one game of poker, and that was on one of her bad days".   It all seemed to click in his head so I figured I could just drop it there.
        "Your terrible at cards" he pointed out as we walked to the car, suitcases in hand "I let you win" "why?" "So you wouldn't feel bad" I smiled a little knowing that would bother him all day "we're playing real cards on the boat" "fine, but your not going to like it... Losing that is" "I wouldn't know" I rolled my eyes at the ego showing through his eyes.
"oh my god" I whispered as we drove into west palm beach, "what?" "I can't believe I fell for this.." I hit my head against my hand, feeling incredibly stupid "what?" He was confused and very antsy after the three hour drive, "my mom is going to show us the different rooms that they most commonly use for weddings, there is probably the official wedding planner waiting for us to 'accidentally' bump into us, and say that wedding days fill up fast. Then my dad will take you aside and show you his Rolls-Royce, and how much it meant to him, and then he'll say something about how he hardly ever gets to use it anymore, and it's just taking up space now and he wants to give it a good home, then he'll some how trick you into saying that you think it's a great car and then he'll hint that he would give it to you if you were family..." Oliver was laughing so hard tears were coming out of his eyes, and he was swerving a little on the road. "Lotte I don't like cars as much as boats so I think we'll be fine" the smile I had gotten from making him laugh fell off my face "that's even worse" "how do you know this stuff will happen?" "I watched them do it to Camilla and then Carlton...Camilla's husband was offered a two man plane, and Carlton's wife was offered a bungalow in Puerto Rico" "I can't believe your parents bribe your siblings husband and wives" he laughed "it's a long family tradition... And we will most likely be split up, my dad will be on the golf course, probably hole 17 maybe halfway through, and remember the brighter the clothes.." "The deeper the pockets, yes I know Lotte, I play golf remember" "don't let on that you like boats more than cars or he'll buy you a yacht" he had a big smile on his face "why on earth did I ever break up with you?" He joked pulling into the breakers "I don't know, why did you?" "Later, remember we have to go fend off the wedding their planning"
            "Oliver, Jefferson is out playing golf with a few of his friends, I believe middle of whole 17 should be about right" my mother told him smiling as a golf cart immediately showed up and we were both whisked away. "Has he proposed yet?" She asked "no" "do you think he's anywhere close?" "We haven't really talked about it, we're only going into our 4th year of college" "yes but he's the perfect man for you, he comes from a good family, he's going to take over his father's company and your going to work for Town and Country Magazine as a photographer... He has a very bright future ahead of him" she started leading me through the different rooms, saying hello to the different friends, "isn't this room just lovely?" She asked looking all around, and unfortunately it was lovely, it really was, it was gorgeous and the light and Windows... "This is where I want to get married" slipped off of my lips and I instantly regretted it "did somebody say marry?" A woman asked appearing from out of no where "Erica, this is my youngest daughter Charlotte" "nice to meet you Charlotte, I'm the Breakers official event planner and coordinator. If you thinking of getting married anywhere in the near future I suggest we talk now so we can get your date all set" she smiled and then slipped into the background "mom.... Oliver and I aren't going to get married anytime soon, we're young and we want to live a little more..." "But you could live together..." She suggested, I just shook my head "fine, I'm sure when the time is right, your father and I can pull some strings to get your wedding here"