Hotel Vendome

Chapter 15

HUGUES WENT TO see Heloise in Paris again in October. The weather was beautiful, and he was happy to see her, and she was excited about coming home. He never mentioned Natalie, but Heloise could sense that something was different. She questioned him about it over dinner.

“You’re all grown up now,” he said quietly. “Maybe we both are. I think I needed to grow up too. It’ll probably feel strange when you come home. You’ve been gone for a long time, living your own life, even living with a man.” He smiled at her. And she was loving her internship at the George V. “You’ve gotten very independent.” She looked worried at the idea of things changing. He was trying to prepare her for what was coming. But they had a good time anyway. He only stayed for four days this time. He had a lot to do at home. And when he got back, he made a suggestion to Natalie.

He asked her to redecorate a lovely small suite of rooms on the fifth floor for his daughter. He knew it would be a shock to Heloise to be moved out of his apartment, but she needed that too. And he needed a place to be with Natalie. He was paving the way for the life he wanted to share with her, and Natalie realized immediately that that was what he was doing. Things were different this time, in a good way. She felt loved and respected.

“How do you think she’ll feel about it?”

“Upset, scared, angry, happy maybe. All the things people feel when they’re growing up.” He asked Natalie to make the rooms beautiful, as only she could, and to spare no expense. He wanted it to be a surprise for Heloise when she came home, so Natalie had two months to do it. It wasn’t a lot of time, but he knew how capable she was.

She got started immediately, and by Thanksgiving it was almost ready. She promised him the suite would be finished in two more weeks. It was young and stylish and very chic and just the right place for a young woman who had lived in Paris for six months. Hugues had decided not to disturb her old room for the moment, and he would let her move into her new apartment when she felt ready, which seemed wise to Natalie too.

She put the last touches on it three days before Heloise was due home. He wasn’t sure what kind of shape she’d be in when she got there. She had called him in tears two weeks before; she and François had broken up. She said they had been fighting for months, and he was angry that she was leaving, and she had discovered that he was cheating on her with another intern at the hotel. It was over, and she was staying with a friend. She was leaving her IKEA furniture in the apartment, and she was upset about the break-up. Hugues was sorry for her, but in some ways he was relieved. It was a tie she no longer had to keep her there.

And he had been working on a homecoming party for her in the ballroom. Jennifer was organizing most of it, and Sally the catering manager was doing the rest. They were having the party the day after she got home. And she was planning to go skiing with friends the day after Christmas. She was going to start working for him officially after New Year’s. She wanted to have some fun first. She had worked hard at the George V.

Everyone in the hotel was busy before she arrived. Her new apartment was ready. The party for her was all planned. The hotel was full. Natalie was incredibly busy, and Hugues was fielding the usual problems. A drunken guest had fallen down a small flight of stairs and was threatening to sue them. There had been some food theft in the kitchen, and they had to fire three key employees at a busy time of year. And in spite of how busy they were, Hugues and Natalie were happy and peaceful. She was nervous about Heloise’s return, but she had the sense now that Hugues was going to handle it in the best way possible for all of them. She had waited a long time for this, and she trusted him now to finally do it. They’d been happy again since September, after their agonizing summer. And Jennifer was happy to see them back together. Hugues was a different man, and a better one, once Natalie came back. And a lot nicer to deal with than he had been all summer. He was himself again, only better. And Natalie was totally at home in the hotel and stayed in his apartment on most nights.

When Hugues picked Heloise up at the airport, he took the hotel’s van with him for her bags. She had been gone for sixteen months, and it looked more like sixteen years when he saw how much she had brought home with her. She had eight suitcases and several boxes, full of things she had bought at the flea market in Paris. And she threw herself into his arms the moment she saw him. She looked very sophisticated in a black Balenciaga coat she had bought just before she left, with his permission, and high-heeled boots, and her long red hair was tucked into a knitted cap. She looked very stylish, and she chatted animatedly all the way to the hotel. She didn’t mention François, and her father could see that she felt better. She’d obviously been ready to give that up, and they had talked anyway about breaking up when she left. But he had chosen an unpleasant way to do it.

As they had the year before when she came home for Christmas, many of the employees were waiting for her in the lobby, which looked beautiful with the tree and decorations. She hadn’t been home for a year, and the party in the ballroom the next day was going to be a surprise for her, as was the apartment. But Hugues wasn’t ready to tell her about that. He didn’t want to rush her and thought he’d give her a few days to settle in before he showed it to her. He didn’t want her to feel like he was pushing her out of the familiar apartment where she’d grown up. And Natalie was going to stay at her own place for a few days until Hugues had a chance to talk to Heloise about them. And Natalie knew he would this time. He wanted their time together now as much as she did, even if it meant upsetting his daughter. She had her own life, and he needed one too. But it was going to be a major change for Heloise, and possibly not one she was going to like. He hoped she would understand, but he also realized she might not. He was braced for an explosion.

As she had the year before, Heloise went out with friends the night she got back, after having dinner with her father. She was dying to see everyone, but she seemed more settled now and more mature. The internship at the George V had taught her a lot. She had worked at the concierge desk for the past two months, which was always hectic, and she had proven herself to be calm under fire.

Hugues was planning to put her at the reception desk, at least for the first month, to hone her skills handling guests. And he was even thinking of having her spend a month in accounting. She had to learn all aspects of the business now. And a few weeks at the room service desk would do her good too, and the concierge desk for several months. He wanted to round out her experience by June, and then she had to go back to Lausanne for graduation, which he was going to attend with her, and maybe even Natalie by then, if all went well. He was guardedly optimistic, and Natalie hoped he was right.

The morning after she returned, Hugues and Heloise had breakfast together, and then she went all over the hotel dropping off little gifts she’d bought in Paris for special people like Jan, Ernesta, a box of Belgian chocolates for the telephone operators, Jennifer, and Bruce, the head of security. She stopped to chat with each of them, and then she went out to finish her Christmas shopping.

She had told her father that she might go out with friends that night again, and he told her that he needed her in the hotel to help him. She looked a little startled that he expected her to get to work so quickly, but she didn’t argue with him and said she’d be there, and asked him what time. She seemed far more mature about everything after her job in Paris. They had trained her well.

“If you’re back by seven-thirty, that should work. I’ll meet you here. We have some important guests coming in,” he said to get her to her surprise party in the ballroom. He had invited Natalie too. He wanted her there. Heloise promised to be on time, and then left for the day.

She was dressed and ready as promised, at seven-thirty, and Hugues looked formal and official as they went down in the elevator. He had told her to wear a cocktail dress, since they had to stop by a function in the ballroom too. And she was wearing a pretty black lace dress she had bought in Paris, with high heels, and her hair in a bun. He loved the way she looked, and he smiled as they rode the elevator to the second floor. He told her they would stop at the ballroom first, and then greet the VIPs in the lobby after, as they came in. She didn’t ask who they were but followed him blindly to the ballroom. There was music playing and balloons everywhere, and as soon as they walked in, she saw everyone she knew and most of the employees waiting for her, as everyone shouted “Surprise!” and she looked genuinely stunned for a moment as she turned to her father.

“Is this for me?” She was amazed. Even her friends from the Lycée were there, and everyone was smiling at her, while she fought back tears. She was so touched by what her father had done for her and that everyone was there.

“Yes, it is. Welcome home!” There were over a hundred people there. She couldn’t believe they’d given her such a big party, and in the ballroom. It took her a few minutes to absorb it, recover, and start moving around the room to talk to everyone there.

Hugues walked over to Natalie as Heloise made her way through the crowd, and eventually Heloise came back to where they were standing and thanked him again. She was touched by how beautiful the party was. Her father and Natalie were standing together when Heloise came up to them.

“I’m sure you remember Natalie,” he said, introducing her again and trying to sound casual about it. “She’s done several more suites for us since you were home last year. And one I think you’ll particularly like,” he said cryptically but offered no further details. Heloise was too excited to pay close attention to what he’d said. She said a few words to Natalie, and then drifted away.

Eventually Hugues and Natalie left the party, as did most of the adults and older employees, and the young people danced till two A.M. He and Natalie sat in the bar for a long time afterward, and he sent her home with the driver and Rolls. He was sorry he couldn’t spend the night with her. But she knew it was too soon for him to disappear. It was only Heloise’s second night home.

And in the morning, Heloise thanked her father again for the fantastic party. She hadn’t suspected a thing, and actually thought he was going to make her work with him that night. And then she looked at him with mischief in her eye.

“Were you flirting with the decorator last night? Or did I imagine it? She’s very pretty, and I think she likes you.” Heloise looked amused and not worried as he smiled. Her father was handsome, and women always tried to get his attention. He bantered a bit, and Heloise believed he never pursued it and was a confirmed bachelor.

“I hope she likes me,” Hugues said quietly over their breakfast. “We’ve been seeing each other for a year now. She’s a very special person, and I hope you get to know her.” He had finally opened the door that had terrified him for a year. It was like a breath of fresh air for him. He wasn’t going to lie to her anymore.

But Heloise looked as though he had dumped a bucket of ice on her as she stared at him. She couldn’t believe what he’d just said.

“What do you mean ‘seeing each other’? You mean sleeping with her?” She was looking at him in disbelief. She was not ready for this announcement, and she wanted him to say he was joking or they were just friends. But he didn’t say that to her. The gloves were off. And it was time to grow up. He had promised this to Natalie, and it was long overdue, for all of them, Heloise too, whether she liked it or not. And for the moment it looked like it was “not.” “Is she your girlfriend?” She glared at him, waiting for an answer she didn’t really want.

He answered very calmly, “Yes, Heloise, she is.”

“Why didn’t you tell me before?” She looked outraged and hurt at the same time and probably felt both.

“I wanted to, but it never seemed like the right time. You were so far away. And we stopped dating for a while too.” Heloise didn’t know what to say. She stood up and walked away to stand at the window, thinking. And then she turned to her father with a heartbroken look that ripped his heart out. “Why? Why do you need a girlfriend? You never had one before.” She was wondering if it was because she’d been gone. “Were you lonely?” she asked, looking sorry for him. Natalie seemed like a decent, respectable woman, but Heloise wished he’d gotten a dog instead. “You never had a girlfriend before. Why now?”

“I’ve gone out with a few women over the years,” he said to her honestly. He didn’t want to go on lying to her, and she was old enough now to know. It felt much better to be truthful. “But none of them meant anything to me,” he went on, “so I didn’t introduce them to you. But Natalie is different.”

“How?” Heloise looked panicked as she met her father’s eyes. She didn’t want to give up her place to someone else. “We have something special together. Why ruin it?”

“Natalie can’t ruin it,” Hugues said gently. He wanted to cross the room to hug her, but he didn’t. She looked like she wanted space and distance, so he respected it. “Besides, you just lived with François in Paris. Why can’t I have someone in my life?”

She looked even more panicked then. Natalie was even young enough to have a baby, although Heloise hoped she wouldn’t. She didn’t point out that he was fifty-three years old and Natalie was thirteen years younger. Heloise looked devastated but remained polite. She seemed shell-shocked.

Her father spoke quietly to her then. “We had some wonderful years together alone, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world. But you’ve grown up. You just lived with a man for six months, and I didn’t complain about it, although it worried me. I thought you had a right to make your own decisions. Please respect mine. Natalie and I have a very nice relationship and she’s not going to take anything away from you.”

But she already had. Heloise knew that she had lost a part of her father to her. Things weren’t the same. She was no longer the only woman in his life. She wanted to crawl back into the womb.

He spoke to her very clearly then, seeing all that she felt in her eyes. “You’re not going to lose me. You never could. No one is ever going to replace you. There is room for all of us here.” He said it with enormous love for her in his eyes.

“No, there isn’t!” she said with tears in hers. It was the worst shock she’d ever had, since she didn’t remember her mother leaving. “I’m going back to France,” she said, pacing around the room, and although he didn’t feel it, Hugues tried to appear calm.

“No, you’re not. You have an internship to do here. You won’t get your diploma without it. And besides, this is your home.”

“Well, it’s not hers. I don’t want to see her around here.”

“I’m not going to hide her from you, Heloise. I respect you both too much. I should have told you a year ago, and I didn’t. It was a big mistake, and I’m not going to do that again. I hope you’ll get used to the idea, and to Natalie. She wants to be your friend.”

“I have enough friends. I don’t need her. She’s twice my age.” He didn’t say anything and waited for her to calm down, and instead she grabbed her coat, turned to look at him, and said, “Thank you for ruining my life.” With tears running down her face, she ran out of the apartment and slammed the door. He was sure she was going to one of her friends to complain about him, but at least he had finally told her. Now she had to make the adjustment to Natalie being in his life. And he knew it might take her a while. He wasn’t shocked by what she said, just sad for her.

He called Natalie later that morning and repeated the conversation to her, without the comment about ruining her life. He had been true to his word. He had told Heloise at last and got the reaction he had expected. She was grateful it wasn’t worse.

“How is she?” Natalie asked, sounding worried. She hoped it hadn’t been too bad, for either of them.

“She’s very angry at the moment. And probably scared, and hurt. She’ll get over it. She just needs a little time.” He sounded confident and calm now that he had done it.

Heloise slept at a friend’s that night, and on Christmas she was still not speaking to him. Natalie was at her brother’s in Philadelphia, as she was every year for Christmas, so he didn’t ask her to join them, which was just as well. It was a very tense Christmas. Heloise refused to have dinner with him and worked at the front desk instead.

And the day after Christmas, Natalie came over when she got back to town. They were having dinner quietly in the apartment, when Heloise came in, saw her, stomped into her room, and slammed the door, without saying a word. The fear and hurt she felt had turned to rage. She looked like a tornado tearing through the suite, and she was acting like a child.

“Wow!” Natalie said softly. She could see why he hadn’t told her before. She was being anything but gracious about it. Heloise had spoken to several of her favorite people around the hotel, including Jennifer, and they had all said that Natalie was a kind person and good for her father, which made Heloise even more upset. She wanted them to hate her as much as she did, but no one would sign on. She was alone in the fight, and they all thought that it was time he had a serious woman in his life again. Heloise thought they were all traitors and hated them too. But she hated her father most of all, for the ultimate betrayal of replacing her. She had no intention of sharing him with Natalie or anyone else. He was hers.

“She’ll be all right,” Hugues tried to reassure Natalie, but she was upset too. She hadn’t wanted to destroy his family, or the relationship he had with his only child. But there was nothing they could do now except wait out the storm. And it looked like it was going to be a long wait.

The next day Heloise left to go skiing in Vermont with friends. And she said not a word to him when she left. In a way it was easier that she had gone away for a few days. Natalie could stay with him, and they could spend New Year’s Eve together in peace. They had no particular plans other than being together, and Natalie was worried now that she might be ruining his life.

“Do you want me to get out of your life again?” she asked him, feeling guilty for the trouble she’d caused.

“No, I don’t!” he said sternly. “I did this for us, and it’s the right thing to do. Now help me see it through. You can’t just bail out of the boat the first time we hit a wave.” She nodded and didn’t know what to do to calm things down, other than support him and wait it out.

“Do you suppose she’ll ever give me a chance?” Natalie asked him, looking anxious.

“Not for a while. She was always a very stubborn child, and she hasn’t changed. The storm will have to blow itself out. And I’m sure it’ll be pretty unpleasant for a time.” He put an arm around her and kissed her. And as much as he had feared Heloise’s reaction for the last year, he was ready for it now and willing to endure it. It was Natalie who looked scared.

When they went to bed, she tossed and turned for most of the night, and she looked tired the next morning.

“Try to stop worrying about it. We just need to give it time,” he said firmly.

Natalie finally relaxed on New Year’s Eve, and they spent a wonderful evening together, watching old movies and drinking champagne. Hugues had tried to call Heloise to wish her a happy new year, as he always did, but she didn’t answer her phone. He left her a voice mail and sent a text message. Natalie was amazed at how calm he was. Now that he had finally told her, he was fine. And he refused to talk about it that night. The evening was theirs.

Much to everyone’s amazement, Heloise was still angry when she came back. More so than ever. He had betrayed her, in her eyes, and betrayal was something she couldn’t forgive. She started her job at the front desk two days after New Year’s, and she scowled at her father whenever she saw him. He gave her plenty of space and didn’t force the issue. She had the information she needed, that Natalie was part of his life now. She had to get used to it, whether she liked it or not.

She didn’t relent for all of January and barely said two words to him in five weeks and ignored Natalie entirely. Hugues was a little discouraged by then. He wondered how long she could continue the vendetta. Apparently a very long time. Jennifer tried to talk to her too, to no avail. Heloise didn’t want to hear it, from her or anyone else. She said she hated Natalie and that was it. But Jennifer dared to disagree.

“This isn’t the temporary catering manager flirting with your father and sleeping with the sous chef in the freezer,” she reminded her. The reference actually made Heloise smile. She had forgotten about Hilary. “Natalie is a decent woman. She won’t give you a hard time. And she’s not trying to take him away from you. You should give her a chance.”

“Why? I don’t need a mother. I have one. And I don’t want to share my father with her.” It was honest at least, although she sounded about five years old, which was part of the problem. In some ways she still was. She was acting immature and spoiled. And Jennifer told her so, which made her even more furious. Jennifer told her she wasn’t being reasonable, and that she was better than that. Heloise stormed off in a huff and went back to the desk, where she was doing a very good job. Her father was pleased to hear it and giving her a wide berth. Natalie was staying away from the hotel when Heloise was there.

At the beginning of February, Heloise was still angry and upset, Natalie was a nervous wreck, and Hugues was getting a little tired of it all. Natalie kept offering to leave him, Heloise would have loved it if she did, and he wanted them both to calm down. He reported to Jennifer about it every morning, and she kept telling him to hang in and be patient. He said he was.

“Why don’t you just marry her then?” Jennifer said one morning. “You might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb. If Heloise is this mad, she’ll just get mad all over again if the two of you ever get married. Why not get it over with all at once? And then Natalie can just move in.” He hadn’t shown Heloise her new apartment. He didn’t want to spoil it by doing it when she was so angry. He wanted her to enjoy it and was waiting for her to settle down, and she hadn’t yet. And it was beginning to look like she never would. But he liked Jennifer’s idea and thought about it for a few days. Maybe she had a point. Heloise was already mad and had been for nearly two months. What difference would it make? And he loved the idea of spending the rest of his life with Natalie. They had talked about it a few times, before the furor began when Heloise got home.

He didn’t say anything to anyone, and he bought Heloise a beautiful red Givenchy coat for Valentine’s Day and gave it to her at breakfast. He could tell that she was tempted to give it back to him, but instead she opened it with a surly expression that melted when she saw the coat.

“Papa, I love it!” she said, and looked like her old self for about five minutes. He hugged her, and she put it on, and then she went back to her bedroom and slammed the door again. At least it had been a break in the clouds, which gave him hope. Maybe one day the hurricane would pass. Her relentless fury was getting old.

And that night he took Natalie to dinner at La Grenouille, which was her favorite restaurant, and then they went back to her place to talk, relax, and eventually make love. It had been a stressful two months for both of them. They were both working hard, and Heloise was making life miserable for them. He loved getting away from the hotel now, whenever he could, to be with Natalie and enjoy their time together in peace.

They were lying in bed afterward at her apartment, talking about Heloise again, and Hugues changed the subject. He didn’t want Natalie to get upset again. It was all they talked about now, most of the time, while they tried to guess how long it would take Heloise to relent about them. Maybe never, at the rate she was going. It had been a very long two months.

He was trying to tease Natalie to distract her, and kissed her, and then he looked at her with a worried expression, as though he saw something he didn’t like. “What’s that in your ear?” he asked her, and she looked scared for a minute.

“In my ear? Is there something in my ear?” She brushed her hand past it as though it might be a bug of some kind.

“There’s something in your ear,” he insisted, still frowning. “Let me have a look.” He peered into it, and she giggled. He was tickling her.

“What are you doing?”

“I think it’s stuck. Maybe I should get a pair of pliers or something.”

“Don’t be silly,” she said as she turned around and kissed him, which distracted him for a minute. He wanted to make love to her again, but there was something else he wanted to do first.

“Do you have a pair of pliers?”

“No, I don’t. And you’re not going to put a pair of pliers in my ear!”

“Oh, here it is! I got it! I knew there was something in there!” He handed something to her, and she didn’t know what it was at first, and she looked at it and stared in disbelief. It was a beautiful diamond solitaire. He had followed Jennifer’s suggestion and gone to Cartier that day. It was much larger than any engagement ring Natalie had ever dreamed of, and she looked at Hugues in amazement.

“Are you serious?”

“That looks like a very serious ring to me,” he said, laughing. “It’s a good thing I got it out. We might have had to cut off your ear to get to it.” And then he grew serious too. “Will you marry me, Natalie?” He slipped the ring on her finger as he asked her and then kissed her.

“Yes, I will,” she said when they came up for air. “I would even without the ring. I never expected anything like that.” That made it even more fun for him. He loved spoiling her. And she had earned it. She had waited a long time for him to do the right thing. And now he was doing more.

“When shall we get married?” he asked her, looking happy and relaxed as he lay next to her, and she was flashing the handsome diamond on her finger and grinning from ear to ear.

“I don’t know. Is tomorrow too soon? What if you change your mind?”

“I won’t.” He got quiet again for a minute. “I have to go to Heloise’s graduation in Lausanne in June, and by then I hope you’ll come with us. I’d like to give her a party when we get back and combine it with her twenty-first birthday. I don’t want to steal her thunder. What about July? How does that sound to you?”

“Perfect,” she said, as she turned and kissed him. The whole evening had been perfect. Their lovemaking, the proposal, the gorgeous ring. And a life with him forever. And then she looked worried again. “What are we going to tell Heloise?”

“That we’re getting married,” he said simply. “She hates me right now anyway. How much madder can she get?”

“Maybe a lot,” Natalie said, looking nervous.

“She’ll get over it.” He still believed that. And he had told Natalie when she came back to him that it was for good. And he was true to his word. “When she calms down, I’m going to ask her to be my witness.”

“I’ll ask my brother to give me away,” Natalie said happily. “Actually Heloise might like my nephew. He’s awfully cute. We can introduce them at the wedding.” She loved the sound of it as the words rolled off her tongue… ‘“at the wedding”… It was sheer bliss.

“That might help,” Hugues said, looking equally happy. “I assume we’ll have the reception in the ballroom?” he asked her.

“Of course. We could have a minister do it there.” She wasn’t particularly religious, and he was divorced, so it sounded right to both of them. It all did. The wedding. And the life that would come afterward. He had a life again. And he was going to have a wife who loved him. And one of these days, he might even have a daughter again too.