Chapter 21
G regory yawned as Charlotte pressed a coffee into his hand after they arrived at the Orlando airport. The shadows under his eyes had dulled somewhat on the flight. Even with tired eyes and rumpled hair, he was impossibly handsome in jeans, sneakers, and another V-neck tee, this time in a plum color. Charlotte had cautioned him to dress comfortably.
“I can’t believe we got up at that ungodly hour and are going right from the airport to a theme park for a day,” he groaned.
“Technically we’re going right to the hotel to drop off our luggage.”
Gregory responded with an eye roll.
Charlotte nudged him with her elbow. “I thought you were a morning person.”
“There’s a huge difference between seven in the morning and four in the morning.”
“Yeah, fair. But you were the one who pointed out how we have limited time and how we shouldn’t be away from Lands too long. We have to maximize our trip!”
He leveled a stare at her. Charlotte decided it was best to forgo further conversation. They’d landed in Orlando and stopped for necessary caffeine before summoning a rideshare to the Dreamland Resort area; Charlotte didn’t think Gregory was ready for the chaos of the DreamUs-operated transportation system that ferried passengers between the airport and hotels.
The driver was quiet, thankfully, so the drive passed in peace with minimal traffic and Charlotte texted Melanie to let her know they’d arrived in town. Charlotte and Gregory were staying at Charlotte’s favorite DreamUs hotel, RetroDream, with an airy mid-century modern design connected to the resort’s monorail system. Aparna had done Charlotte the hugest of favors by somehow getting them into RetroDream. It didn’t matter that it was early March and well before spring break; Dreamland was always busy. In addition to the hotel having a stunning design, they could go up to the second level right to the monorail platform and ride for two stops to Dreamland’s main entrance.
When they arrived, Charlotte ushered Gregory in and situated him on a low couch in one of the lobby’s sunken areas, the terrazzo flooring sparkling in the morning light shining through the massive windows. He didn’t say anything, but Charlotte could tell from his appraising glance that he was impressed.
“Not what you expected?” she asked.
“Not at all,” he said. “I thought there would be . . . I don’t know, cartoon characters everywhere?”
“One of their resorts does have cartoon characters everywhere, but give me a little credit—”
“About this much?” Gregory held up his thumb and index finger, almost touching.
“You know what?” Charlotte said. “I appreciate a solid callback. Anyway, I know cartoon characters aren’t your thing. And besides, this is my preferred DreamUs hotel. It’s gorgeous. Remind me to show you the indoor waterfall and river in the lounge downstairs.
“For now, though,” she continued, “have a seat. I’ll get things sorted and then we can drop our bags off with the bellman.”
She approached the front desk, a dreamy wood-and-quartz design formed with elegant, curved lines, and gave her last name. The front desk clerk’s face lit up when she saw Charlotte’s reservation.
“Ah yes, Ms. Gates. I have your special booking right here, but your suite isn’t ready yet.”
“No, I didn’t think it would be since it’s so—wait, did you say suite?” Charlotte asked. Aparna hadn’t said anything about scoring her a suite. As in a single room.
She smiled. “Is it just the suite under my name? Only one room?”
“Yes! It’s one of our nicest rooms,” the clerk—Erika, according to her name tag—enthused.
Charlotte knew it was. She remembered drooling over pictures of RetroDream’s suites years ago—suites with a single king-sized bed.
“It is a beautiful room,” Charlotte agreed, “but I think there’s been a mistake. I believe I was supposed to have two rooms. Is it possible to downgrade and get a second room?”
Erika looked perplexed by Charlotte’s request but said she’d take a look, just in case. After a few minutes of Erika tapping the keyboard and then stepping away to talk to another clerk, Charlotte didn’t feel hopeful.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Gates, we don’t have another room available. We’re booked solid. The reservation had a note to ‘give Charlotte,’ that’s you, ‘the most special room possible.’ The note also has a winking face emoji. I could look at another hotel.”
The gears in Charlotte’s head turned and she realized she hadn’t communicated clearly enough to Aparna. In the rush to get the trip together on short notice, she hadn’t specified two reservations. No, she’d mentioned wanting to show a special friend a good time so he could see the magic of theme parks. So, yeah, it was easy to see how Aparna had connected dots and thought it was a romantic situation.
Welp.
“I appreciate you checking, Erika. And I’m grateful for the gorgeous room. I’m just, uh, wondering, is the couch in the suite a pullout?”
Erika looked relieved. “It is! All the bedding is in the living room closet and it’s supposed to be very comfortable.”
“Then we’ll stick with the suite,” Charlotte said.
“You won’t regret it,” Erika assured her.
Charlotte wasn’t so sure, but the suite had a separate bedroom with a door and they were adults. They could figure it out. Plus they were doing a full day at Dreamland; they’d be wiped by the time they dragged their bodies back to the hotel.
She finished pre–checking in—RetroDream would send her a text when the room was ready—and returned to Gregory, figuring she’d wait to break the news about one room but not one bed until after he ate breakfast.