THE DEAL: Novel (32 page)

"Thank you very much my love, but you didn’t need to do this, I know you love me as much as I love you"

She said excitedly hugged him and he hugged her back, a long and warm embrace.

"Thank you for loving me and making me the happiest man in the world, I love you so much that I can give you the world and I will love you until the end of my days"

He said slightly touched by his own words. Carolina puts the necklace which matched the diamond rings that she was already using from the wedding day. When she decided to accept the rings, JP had told her and showing her the receipts, how he had bought the rings without even knowing, when he arrived home after being on the island he had the invoices for the rings for payment, he paid for them and didn’t mention anything to Carolina at the time. He kept the rings hoping one day both could use them again.

She was happy and nervous at the same time while they went down and right outside the house stood a limousine waiting for them to take them to their special night. When they reached the hotel Savoy, they were referred by the hotel's public relation to the room where they had already all the guests waiting for them. As they entered the room, the guests applaud them and Carolina and JP waved back to them all, the music starts playing and the voices chanting. Carolina had hired a band to play later for dancing and Michael Cretu from the Enigma project to put some songs in the beginning when they got in the diner room. When they were entering the room and they start to hear gravity of love, he looks at her surprised at first he didn’t realize that was actually Michael Cretu.

They’ve done what everybody was expecting to do, catching JP completely off guard, Carolina pushed him to the dance floor and they danced to the sound of the music, it was not a typical love song, but was the song they danced on the island.

JP was pleasantly shocked by the surprise, he didn’t expect that they had live music and much less that she had remembered the music they danced on the island. It brought him the memories when he struggled so badly to desire her deeply already and didn’t want to admit it at that time
what an idiot he had been all that time
.

But that belonged now in the past and he was happy with her now and will never leave her. They danced to the music until the end clinging to each other as if the world had stopped at that moment. The music couldn’t be more perfect for a couple in love it was slow, romantic and involving. Once the music stops, all the guests stand up applauding the couple again. When they finished dancing a soft music was on as background music, while everyone was about to be prepared to dine.

Carolina realizes for the first time the guests around the living room that is beautifully decorated, round tables with white linen tablecloths to the ground, stuffed chairs and white round backs, beautiful floral arrangements made with white and pale pink roses in contrast with evergreen branches in tall transparent vases standing around the room and on every table there is a flower arrangement following the same line as the standing vases, water candles on every table, beautifully displayed. The tables were elegantly decorated with fine china plates arranged neatly on top of each dish had a napkin white linen cloth fan-shaped standing with a natural rose from the same as the floral arrangements. Each place was marked with a card in front of the plate with the person name. Cutlery of silver placed as French etiquette. Also a variety of cups for water, white wine, red and champagne all displayed elegantly on the right side in front of each dish. It was now time to greet everyone and for presentations.

Carolina was about to introduce her father to JP, JP was distracted greeting his cousins who he hadn’t seen in a while, he turns around when he hears Carolina’s voice, looking confused at her and to her father, recognizing him immediately and with surprise says:

"Are you Carolina’s father?!"

"Yes, I am. I also found out moments ago, she has been keeping us secret from each other, maybe on purpose"

Said Carolina’s father smiling at JP.

"We seem to have more in common than we could ever imagine"

Continuing Carolina’s father still with a smile reaching his hand forward to greet JP and wishing him congratulations. They greeted each other with great emphasis and gave him a big hug. Carolina looks at them, she was also confused, and she knew they knew each other, but at what level she wondered.

What are they talking about?
Thought

"Gentlemen care to explain to me what's happening? I have noticed that you know each other already, but..."

They look at her smiling and JP says.

"It seems that you are the new owner of my companies. It was your father who bought my companies"

“Are you serious?!”

Carolina couldn’t believe her ears, it was really a small world and coincidences never ended between them.

"Yes, Carolina, it’s true. That’s why I’ve been in London so many times lately” her father said.

"When we were together in London last time and we went to dinner, I was already negotiating the companies from JP. I bought these companies because I hoped that you and my grandchildren wanted to take over.

I hadn’t yet told you anything about the conclusion of the business because I was hoping we could meet again to talk about it all, you are my only direct heir, as we spoke before it’s time for me to slow down and pass things slowly over to you.

But I was really surprised when you said you got married and now you want a new life for you, and I have to wait a couple years more until your sons end up university to come and take over the business.

I mean I didn’t expect that you would ever get married again and much less expected you to marry with the man who took my millions. When you told me you had married, I was worried until I got here, I was worried that he wasn’t at the same level he deserves you, but I was wrong, he is the perfect man for you, for personal and professional interest I must say.”

Laughing in amusement and shaking his head remembering:

“When I met him”

Carolina’s father looked at JP and back to Carolina trying to explain his thoughts, which he was not very good at it.

“To be honest with you, it occurred to me to introduce JP to you, I didn’t want you to think I was trying to fix you up only because you were alone for so long already, but you know I suck handle with people in my personal life and I don’t mix business with personal matters. But it looks this is fate"

He said giving a pleasant laugh of genuine enthusiasm.

Carolina and JP were surprised to learn that he had bought JP companies to Carolina and her boys, and most surprised to learn that he fully approved his daughter marriage with JP. She knew that her father liked her, but he never showed that he cared about her, never helped or offered something to Carolina who wasn’t already hers from her mother’s right and now buying a million companies for her and the children, that is a completely novelty.

"Father there is one thing you need to know”

“There is more? What are you trying to do to me? Are you trying to kill your old man?”

“Don’t worry because it’s only good news you are going to be a grandfather again, this time twins"

She said. Her father was very surprised, 48 hours before he didn’t even know that his only child was married and now he learns that not only she got married but he will be a grandfather of twins too. But he saw his daughter and JP happiness and couldn’t avoid but hugging her and gives her a kiss on the cheek saying:

"Congratulations, I wish you to be very happy, because you deserve it. You have all my support with JP and I mean it"

Turning to Carolina commented into her ear:

"He's a very fine man"

Carolina was completely amazed with her father's reaction, he wishes congrats to her? And she has his support in a marriage he never heard of before and the news about the twins he is okay with all that. That’s was also news to her. When Carolina married the father of her sons, now young adults, 22 years ago her father never supported her, never gave her access to the funds that were from her mother to be able to organize her life, he never supported the marriage or the husband of Carolina.

Feeling betrayed at the time by her father, because he didn’t support her marriage, for not calling grandchildren as it should, for not caring about the only child he had, for never having told her he had inherited an absurd amount of money from her mother's heritage, which were only released after her divorce through a fund, which Carolina later split into 3 equal parts, one for her and the other two for each son. Never knew why he acted like that, she thought it could be because of his bitterness, but today, he is here giving his support, she thinks that there was probably something else he never told her, maybe even something to protect her. Anyway it didn’t matter now because it’s in the past and JP was her present and future. When finally she managed to give a few more steps to continue the introductions, when JP and Carolina had the opportunity to switch a few words together, Carolina said at JP’s ear:

"It seems that I am now the new owner of your business, I think you're going to have to continue to work after all, now you will be working for me"

She said softly, smiling and teasing him.

He looks at her and smiles, hugs her giving him a kiss on the forehead and says:

"Whatever it takes to satisfy your desires, I can continue to work in part-time. But first I want to go on vacation and travel the world with you"

Since they enter the room that Carolina tries to spot JP's ex-girlfriend, but as she didn’t know more than half of the people she couldn’t easily identify her, although she should be easy to identify because she was a woman who stands out. When Carolina finally see’s a woman coming towards her, she knew it must it be her, she was so attractive, elegantly dressed and visible older then Carolina.

There she was it could only be her.

Carolina thought nervous waiting for her to approach.

"Many congratulations Carolina, I am very happy for you. I am Mara JP ex-girlfriend, how are you doing?"

She announced. JP hearing Mara’s voice he turned around perplexed with her presence there. Surprises tonight seemed endless for JP. He came close to her, gave her two kisses on the face without saying a word staring at her waiting for her to speak or would it be because he was speechless. Carolina couldn’t tell from his expression. For Carolina was confusing and even felt a twinge of jealousy of the woman who was once loved by her husband, but soon jealousy was gone when he hugged Carolina and she remembered how much he liked her now and how she was treated like a princess from him.

It was Mara who started to talk.

"Congratulations to both, I'm very happy that you finally understood each other, even if it took a little bit of my help.

I want to take this opportunity to apologize the way I had to solve your stubbornness, but whether I want Tess we were sure that you were made for each other. You didn’t want to see the obvious, well... especially JP didn’t want to see the obvious and he continued burying his head in the sand, avoiding being happy again"

She said trying to explain her motives to what she had done to them, blinking her eye adding:

"I would like to introduce my husband"

Her husband found himself further back talking animatedly with another couple, coming forward to greet JP and Carolina with a handshake. Mara's husband was not the man who Carolina expected to see as Mara’s husband, she expected to see an elegant and charming billionaire, but he was shorter than Mara, he was not physically attractive and had lack of hair on the top of his head. It was not very obvious but Carolina noticed in his eyes that he could be a little bit retarded, as soon Carolina realized what she was thinking about that man, she was full of remorse for her thoughts. Her remorse’s were relieved when she realized that he was a true gentleman, he was extremely captivating and any person immediately after starting a conversation with him was blown away.

Mara's husband was by far one of the smartest men Carolina ever met, managing to captivate anyone with his genuine and wise words.

Carolina didn’t know if it was from all the emotions that she was going through that night, but she was beginning to feel tired very quickly, she started with a severe headache very suddenly, feeling fading slowly losing her strengths from her body and she lost the ability of hearing people talking to her. She was unable to ask for help and she pass out moments after falling helpless on the floor. JP immediately rushes to rescue her, not letting anyone touching her, although the guests wanted to help, he wouldn’t let anyone get close to her, he wanted to give her room to breathe. Mara’s husband stood up to him saying he was a neurosurgeon and he was able to help.

He starts to watch Carolina’s vital signs, saying she would be alright, but it would be better to call an ambulance and take her to the hospital. JP quickly called the ambulance and takes her to the hospital.

Rough reality

Carolina finally wake up she was full in pain, she didn’t know where she was, looking around she is in a room alone and doesn’t recognize where she is. The room looks like a hospital room but she isn’t sure, looks around again and see’s that she has liquid running through her veins coming from a transparent bottle hanging next to her bed, she notices that she as laterals guardrails in the bed to keep her from falling. The last thing she remembers is being on her wedding diner with JP, she remembers vaguely that she danced with him, she remembers having introduced JP to her father who was surprisingly polite to them, she remembers having met JP’s ex-girlfriend and her adorable husband and she remembers that she must have passed out again as had happened before.

That's why she was now at the hospital in a bedroom again.

The twins...

She remembered suddenly.

Are they okay? –
Thinking concerned.

She questioned trying to find out by leading her hand to her belly where it was hurting terrible, as she could find out this way if the babies were okay and instead she felt that her belly had a huge bandage. She didn’t understand why did she have a bandage in her belly? What had happen to her?

Carolina tries to get up, but she can’t, the pain is to too strong to be able to get up. Calling for help but no one listens, because no sound came out from her mouth, her mouth was is so dry that didn’t came out any sound. Look back around and sees a red button next to her head, instinctively she presses it and almost immediately a nurse enters in the room, coming her way to rescue Carolina as like she was waiting for Carolina to press that button.

The nurse asks in a quiet voice:

"Hi, Carolina how are you feeling? That was sleeping"

The nurse smiled politely to her. Carolina wanted to speak but she couldn’t get a sound out of her mouth, the nurse notices that she is struggling to speak but she can’t, the nurse gives her some water.

"Don’t worry, drink some water and after a while you will be able to speak freely.

For now please shake your head if you are in pain and I’ll give you something right away for the pain." Carolina shook her head in sign as a yes.

"I'll give you something for the pain and you will feel much better right away. I want you to start walking by the evening today. Your sons are in the hallway, I'll let them inside the room after I have medicated you."

The nurse already used to the ritual of caring her patients, she prepares with quick gestures all the medication for Carolina injecting directly in the tube where she was already was receiving the other liquid in her veins. After finish the nurse giving all medication to Carolina she gives more water to Carolina and asked her to try to speak again. Carolina was able to articulate a few words while the voice was still failing a little bit. The pain started now to be less intense and Carolina asked to see her sons.

Feeling tired and confused she didn’t know what was happening or why she was with that bandage in the hospital, she thought she was there because of her low blood pressure problem, she wanted to ask the nurse but she was already out of the door before she had the strength to ask and her sons were arriving next to her. When they saw her, they rushed to her, taking her by the hand caressing her to comfort the suffering that was visible in her face.

"How are you feeling mum?"

They ask in chorus.

"I'm not sure, I feel extremely tired, I'm confused, I’m in pain, what happened?"

"Don’t you remember anything?"

Questioned Alex concerned.

"I’m not sure. I think it was because of my low blood pressure issues caused by the pregnancy. But I don’t really know why I'm here right now."

She answered honestly. Showing up worried asks the boys:

"What happened? Are the twins alright?"

"Twins?! You are at the hospital because you had a surgery to take out cysts you had in your ovaries and you had at the same time a permanent sterilization. The doctor said the surgery had gone well.

We were just worried about you because you slept too long and they must have given you too strong anaesthetic because you slept 24 hours straight"

Alex told her with a worried voice.

She was confused more than ever, she still didn’t remember anything.

"But how are babies and where is JP?"

Insists Carolina confused. The boys look at each other and say:

"We don’t know what are you talking about, you aren’t pregnant and who is that JP?!"

Carolina smiled at them still flustered from anaesthesia she continued:

"Now boys, where is my husband?"

The boys looked at each other nervous again and without realizing what their mother was saying. They don’t know what to tell her, they weren’t understand anything she was talking about. They noticed that she was confused and they were also getting confused and concerned about her conversation it was making no sense.

"Mom, we don’t know any JP. You are divorced from our father already 8 years and you never got married again, you never introduced us a boyfriend. What's all this talk of twins and husband? Where that came from?"

Alex tried to explain to her again, but was getting seriously apprehensive, his mother was very confused. Carolina looked at her hand, waiting to see the rings, but they weren’t there.

They had likely taken them off at the hospital and keep the rings somewhere in a safe or JP has them?

She thought.

But she decides to ask anyway:

"Where are my rings?"

The eldest son said he would talk to the nurse to know about the rings and would be right back he will only take a minute. While the other son, Leo was making her taking his hand trying to comfort her and give her another sip of water, Alex went to the nurse because he was seriously concerned about his mother, his mother didn’t look well. He found the nurse who was treating Carolina and explained what was going on.

"Don’t worry if it seems confusing and even if she tells only nonsense, it is rare to happen but sometimes patients when they wake up from the anaesthesia they are confused and some even have amnesia. As I said it's rare, but it happens.

We have had cases of patients reporting that they dreamed all the time under the effect of anaesthesia and they say the dream was so vivid that it seemed real.

Some rare side effects of anaesthesia, but when they happen they are reversible and the patient will return to normal state within 48 hours.

We have her closely under observation, don’t worry."

Said the nurse trying to quiets him from his visible worries. A little bit less worried, he returns to her mother’s room with an acceptable explanation for what was happening to his mother when he arrives near her, he explained what the nurse told him, but Carolina doesn’t believe her son.

She wants to see JP she really needs to talk to him.

The eldest son starting to get frustrated, takes her hand and with his hand takes it to his head pulling the hair from the forehead back, putting his hands on his hips, and starting to walk from one side to the other going up with his hand again, repeating the process several times.

"Mom, you are confused from the anaesthesia. While you were numbed you must have dreamed you were married to this JP guy, but the truth is that you aren’t. It was just a dream mother, don’t worry that within 48 hours everything will return to normal."

That’s what’s everybody was waiting for.

She turns her head to the side and didn’t want to hear the truth, she just couldn’t believe it, if they said that JP didn’t exist, if everything had been a dream, it had been dream very real for her.

Now she was trying to put her thoughts in order:

If I wasn’t married.

If I never met JP.

Never had lived happy moments with him.

And I was not pregnant?!

Disappointed, sad and confused, uncontrolled tears fall from her face in utter despair. The pain she felt right now from the operation was nothing compared to the pain she felt right now in her chest, she was feeling pressed so hard in her chest as if they were putting 1ton on top of her, smashing her, making her feel short of breath. She wanted to go back to sleep and dream that she was still married to JP, she wanted to continue to live happy with him. Felling terribly tired her eyes start slowly to close and gradually arriving in the world of dreams.

Without realizing that in the real world she had gone into cardiac arrest. As soon as the machines started beeping, two nurses entered the room, getting one to prepare Carolina to get back again, while the other nurse ran out of the room fetching the hall the defibrillator to revive her again. While the nurses were struggling to bring Carolina back, she returned to JP.

Carolina and JP walked together in a huge park, hand in hand. In front of them she saw two small children, with same age, they should have only 2 years old, and they ran toward them, the girl with a pink doll rag and the boy with a ball under his arm. The children had golden colour hair with big blue eyes that looked like two spotlights. Carolina took a few seconds to realize where she was.

JP was talking all excited with her and when she began to hear his voice again and started to understand his words:

"So what do you think Mrs Bennett of Central Park and New York is it very different from what you had imagine?"

She replies as if she had never left his side:

"It's beautiful, everything is magnificent. Discovering the world together is simply marvel. You know how much I love you don’t you? I love you this world, the other world and another half."

"Only that?! So you just love me half as much as I love you"

JP said with a laugh teasing her, putting ahead of her, hugging her and kissing her, she hugs him back putting her arms around his neck, handing him a tender and passionate kiss. The children arrived next to their parents rolling up the parents legs. Carolina was happy again, there was no better sensation than to feel loved by the man she loved from the first moment she saw him.

This feeling was torn when she feels pulled away by her waist by an unseen force. She begins to levitate in the air being pulled slowly away from JP and from the children, getting more and more distant from them in to the sky, flying direction to the clouds, rising skyward, high, and higher away from JP and the twins. She tries to grab him with her hands to hold on him, to hold on to happiness, but she can’t help but being pushed away, because the invisible force is stronger than her. She is faced with all her strength struggling to break off and return to them, she didn’t want to go away from him and the children, but they are increasingly distant as she goes up, and up.

JP see’s her being pulled away, tried to hold on her, grab her hands as much as he could, but the invisible force was stronger than both, when he was forced to let her go he still with his arms in the air straight at her, begging her to come back, screaming in despair for her to stay with him, falling to his knees desolate in the ground as she continues to distance herself. He screams over and over again for her to return.

The small children are confused as they don’t understand what is happening and cling to his father crying on the floor, with fear and perplexity seeing their mum moving away in the air like a bird in the sky and their father crying for her. All together they beg for her return, but she continues rises high, too high when it was only a small dot in the sky.

But she is gone. And they are gone.

This is the last thing Carolina sees from above when she returns to the hospital room. Nurses are able to stabilize her, ensuring her sons that she would be fine and that now she needs some rest, they should go home and do the same. After being medicated Carolina was still monitored, left alone in the bedroom to rest, but she can’t sleep, sadness took over her and she cries for hours in silence, tears ran down her watering face, soaking the sheets. With red and swollen eyes from rubbing her fingers and wiping the tears with the back of the hands, she can’t help to enters in a deep unhappiness, despite the confusion she is in as well.

Carolina wants to fall asleep hoping to return to JP, she could only fall asleep is was already dawn. She sleeps agitated, but she doesn’t dream about JP, he doesn’t come back to her.

The next day, Alex and Leo return to the hospital with a bouquet of red velvet roses, mother's favourite flowers. They are hopeful that their mother continues to recover from what had happened the day before, they had been very frightened, beyond mum came into cardiac arrest without medical explanation, was all that confusion in her head, all that talk about being married to a man they have no idea who he was and that she would be pregnant with twins, it was just terrifying not knowing how they could help mum.

When the boys enter the room they see a very pale mother, her eyes were red from crying, arriving next to the bed they embraced her and asked concerned how she felt.

"I’m feeling better today, thanks"

"Mum, you were crying?"

Asked Leo concerned about his mother's well-being.

"It was just a reaction to all the confusion, but I'm better today, there is nothing to worry about"