Hotel Vendome

Chapter 9

JUST AS NATALIE had promised, the suite she’d been working on for almost two months was ready the week before Thanksgiving, and it was absolutely perfect. She’d been so sure they’d be finished on schedule that she had told Hugues they could safely book a reservation for Thanksgiving weekend, which worked out ideally for him. One of their regular guests, a senator from Illinois, had wanted to reserve it, and several other rooms, to spend Thanksgiving in New York with his children and grandchildren. And they were able to confirm the reservation.

Hugues stood in the suite with Natalie on the Monday before Thanksgiving and examined every detail with awe and admiration. She had created something warm and elegant that felt more like a home than a hotel room, which was exactly the effect they had both wanted to achieve. And the new paintings were spectacular in the room. She had worked on the installation all weekend and invited him up to see it when she hung the last painting on Monday afternoon. She had done a lot of the hanging and placing herself, as she always did, and she had been a taskmaster about the window treatments, which were beautifully made by a French woman she had used for years. The suite was exquisite. And she had had several pots of orchids placed in the rooms in key locations. Hugues looked at it with obvious delight, and then took Natalie into his arms and kissed her. The relationship they had been developing since she started working for him had been an unexpected bonus for them both, and not at all what he had intended when he hired her to do the job.

“You like it?” she asked happily, looking like a kid and wanting to clap her hands with glee when she saw his thrilled expression.

“I love it!” he confirmed. The final effect was even better than he had expected and she had hoped. He walked all through the suite, examining every detail, and then he turned to her as he held her hand. “And more importantly, I love you… whether or not I like what you did here. But as it so happens, I do. You have an enormous talent.” And she had brought it in way under budget by using so many of the things the hotel already owned. “The last two months have been the happiest in my life,” he said as he pulled her down on the couch next to him. “I loved seeing you every day.”

“Me too,” she said, in awe of what he had just told her. She had fallen in love with him too. He kissed her again, and then called room service and ordered a bottle of champagne.

He opened the bottle of Cristal himself when it was delivered, and the waiter disappeared quickly, after commenting on how great the room looked. Hugues had a plan by then, and he spoke to her gently after they tasted the champagne.

“The general manager I worked for at the Ritz once told me that you never know how comfortable a room is unless you sleep in it yourself. I was thinking that maybe… if you agree… maybe we should try the suite tonight ourselves. I’d like us to be the first people who sleep here, while everything is brand new… How does that sound to you?” he asked her, and kissed her, and she smiled at him and put her arms around him. She had never been as happy with any man in her life. He was thoughtful and kind and considerate and such a loving person.

“I love that idea,” she said as they kissed, and then she looked at him with a worried expression. “What about talk in the hotel?” That always concerned her.

“There’s no reason why we can’t have dinner here, quite respectably. What happens after that is our business. I own the place and have every right to sleep here if I choose. And I can spirit you out a back way in the morning, for the sake of your reputation. My daughter did that once very effectively with a homeless person. If she can do it, so can we.” Natalie smiled at the story.

“That must have been quite something.”

“It was. She has a very charitable side to her and was determined to prove that charity begins at home. He spent the night out of the cold and had two solid meals before she sneaked him out. It turned up on the security screens the next day, but our head of security will be very discreet in this case. I trust Bruce completely. So what do you think?” He looked hopeful and boyish as he asked her. They had been seeing each other and dating for two months, and they were both ready to move forward together.

“I think I love you, Hugues,” she said softly. In fact, she knew it and so did he.

They ordered dinner in the suite that night and had a feast. Hugues put music on, and they both relaxed and talked until nearly midnight. The room service waiter who had delivered their dinner and cleared the trays saw nothing unusual about their having dinner in the newly redecorated suite to celebrate its completion, and didn’t even comment on it in the kitchen. And after that, with a Do Not Disturb sign on the door, the maids left them alone, and as the room was allegedly unoccupied, they had no reason to come in. He left his cell phone on, in case there was an emergency in the hotel, which was how the staff normally reached him since it was hard to know exactly where he was at any time. And if the owner wanted to try out the new suite, there was nothing surprising about that either. He had covered all the bases and finally turned the lights down low, kissed her, and led her into the bedroom when they were both ready.

He pulled the brand-new bedspread off the bed, and they put it on a chair together and then she fell into his arms and lost herself in his caresses and kisses. The bed enveloped them like a cloud, and all the pent-up longing of the last months and years and a lifetime without each other took them to a place that neither of them had ever dreamed of or ever hoped to find. She felt as though she had belonged to him forever as she lay in his arms after they made love, and he looked at her with the tenderness of a man who hadn’t loved a woman in more than twenty years. He couldn’t keep his eyes and hands and lips off her, and finally around four A.M. they wound up in the enormous bathtub, and when they got back to bed, they fell asleep instantly in each other’s arms like happy children.

The sun was streaming into the room when they woke up the next day, and he couldn’t resist making love to her again, even though it was later than they had planned, but he still thought he could get her out of the hotel without causing comment or having anyone notice. And they both forgot about that as they made love again, and then they showered together. He couldn’t stop watching her as she dressed. He was in love with her mind, her heart, and her body.

“Have I told you yet this morning how much I love you?” he whispered into her hair, as he kissed her again once they were dressed, sorry that he had to leave her and go to his office. He wanted to stay with her forever.

“I love you too,” she whispered back. They could hardly tear themselves away from each other as they kissed for a last time and finally left the room. He put the tag on the door for maid service and led her down the back fire stairs, just as Heloise had done with Billy. He knew they would appear on the security screens, but he knew that Bruce Johnson would never comment on it if he saw them; nor would the others. The security staff dealt constantly with indiscretions committed by their guests, in the course of their illicit affairs, and their security men were like tombs. The guests of the Hotel Vendôme counted on its discretion, and so did Hugues. He pushed open the outer door downstairs and led Natalie out into the chill November morning.

“Do you want to come to my place tonight?” she asked him, and he nodded. They both knew they would never forget their first night in the brand-new suite. It had felt so right that they should be the first ones to stay there. And the adventure they had just embarked on, after two months of preparing for it, felt right to them both. “I love you,” she whispered when he kissed her, and then hailed a cab for her at the corner.

“See you tonight,” he promised and waved as she drove away, and he felt as though a piece of him were going with her, the best part, his heart. And there was room in it, he knew now, for both Natalie and his daughter. There was no conflict there. He loved them both, it was just that simple.

He walked around the corner to the front entrance then and said good morning to the doorman, who looked mildly surprised to see him since he hadn’t seen Hugues go out, but he was too busy to think about why that was. And a moment later Hugues strode into his office with a peaceful, happy expression and smiled at his assistant.

“Good morning, Jennifer,” he said, and walked into his private office. She picked up the phone immediately and ordered his usual cappuccino, and she brought it in to him when it arrived five minutes later.

“Did you sleep well?” It was a question she asked him often at the start of their day.

“Actually, I did. I tried out the new suite last night, just to make sure it’s all in order for the senator on Wednesday.”

“How was it?” Jennifer asked with interest.

“Absolutely perfect. You should go up and look at it later.” He knew she hadn’t had time to the day before, after the final installation. “Natalie did a fantastic job. By the way, I want her to start on the three other suites we discussed, right after Christmas. Just wait till Heloise sees this one.” It had a younger feel to it than the previous decor, although the changes were very subtle and in no way shocking. And Jennifer wasn’t surprised by his decision to let Natalie redo the other suites. She had expected that, for a variety of reasons. And just for a flash of an instant, she wondered if he had spent the night in it alone or with the woman who had decorated for him. She almost hoped that was the case but rapidly decided it was none of her business. All she hoped was that he was happy, and he looked it, more than he normally did on a Tuesday morning.

He called Natalie after he checked his messages and drank his coffee. He was sitting at his desk, thinking about her, and decided to call her. She sounded as happy as he was when she answered and saw his number appear on her phone.

“I’m crazy about you, Natalie,” he confirmed to her, and the best part was that loving her was not crazy at all. It made perfect sense to them both.

“Me too. I can’t wait to see you tonight.”

“We can always sneak back upstairs this afternoon if you want to. The senator isn’t arriving till tomorrow.” They both laughed at the suggestion and knew that for now they were safer at her place, until they were ready to share their secret with the world. But he wanted to tell Heloise before he did that. It was a respect he felt he owed her, and Natalie agreed. They had talked about it the night before in the bathtub. Hugues said he was going to tell her about them over Christmas, which sounded right to her too, and not over the phone. She was coming home in four weeks, and they could be discreet for that long. And it was kind of fun keeping their relationship a secret. “By the way, I want you to do the other three big suites. We can talk about it when you have time.”

“Thank you,” she said, smiling. She was happy about doing the other rooms, but she was much more excited about him and everything that had happened the night before.

“See you later.” After that, his day took off. He was busy until nine o’clock that night, and as soon as he could get away, he took a cab downtown to Natalie’s apartment. She was wearing a pretty sweater and jeans, and before he could even open the champagne, they were in bed, exploring everything they had started to learn about each other the night before. They couldn’t get enough of each other. And it was nice to be away from the hotel where they didn’t have to worry about being discovered.

He lay in bed afterward and looked at her with love and wonder. “How did I get lucky enough to finally find you?” he said, and meant it.

“I feel exactly the same way. I feel like I wasted all those stupid years before you came along.” She kissed him, and he smiled at her.

“They weren’t wasted. They were the price we both had to pay to deserve each other. And I don’t care how long it took, or how solitary it was, you were worth the wait, Natalie. I’d have crawled around the world on my knees to find you.” She smiled at the romantic words and put her lips to his again.

“Welcome home, Hugues,” she said softly, and he held her close and knew he was.