they wanted to go around the city, to airports, or out of town.
Food, beverages, and catering was one of their largest departments and was responsible not only for room service, and their now-famous restaurant frequented by people from all over the city, but they dealt with all catered events that were held at the hotel: weddings, private dinners and lunches, conferences, and meetings. Food and beverage handled it all, and thus far, extremely well.
The security division was somewhat behind the scenes, but it was another vital service that Hugues relied on heavily to keep personnel in line and guests safe. Jewel robberies had become a common occurrence in many first- rate hotels, and Hugues was extremely pleased that the hotel had experienced none so far. Their staff was extremely vigilant on all aspects of security.
They had a business center, with secretaries and IT personnel available at all times. The spa and health center was one of the best in the city. Engineering and maintenance kept the hotel in working order, whether it was a crisis like the burst pipe in the basement, or something as simple as a blocked toilet or a television that wasn’t working. All of it required the attention of engineers. And the other essential department was the staff that manned the telephones to keep communications in and out of and within the hotel working smoothly, taking messages properly, and handling all calls with speed, precision, and discretion.
In all, it was an enormous staff to make the hotel what it was, with Hugues overseeing everything himself. He was proud that he knew each of his employees by name, and his constant presence at the hotel kept everyone on their toes. Running the hotel was a tremendous job, and each piece of the machine, however seemingly unimportant, was actually a vital piece that allowed the hotel to function smoothly and well as a whole. And just as Hugues knew every one of his employees, so did Heloise as she roamed freely through the hotel.
The Hotel Vendome was not only Hugues’s dream but his passion, and other than his daughter, it was his love. There was so much to do there that it was hard for him to focus on much else. In the absence of Miriam, once she left him, the hotel became his wife. He often said he was married to the hotel. He ate, slept, breathed, and loved everything about it. He couldn’t even imagine being married again now; he didn’t have time. And any woman he got involved with realized very quickly that she was only secondary in his life, if that. He had too much else on his plate-all of which related to the smooth running of his hotel and averting crises before they happened, or solving them quickly when they did-to have time for anything other than breakfast and dinner with Heloise and a few quick hugs in between. The rest of what he did all day required his full concentration and most of his time. Heloise got what was left.
When he arrived at dinner parties, he inevitably arrived late. When he went to the theater, the opera, or the ballet, when taking out a woman, his phone vibrated on his belt all night, and too often he had to leave halfway through the performance to deal with a security issue surrounding a head of state or the Secret Service. They had to clear the floors above and below the floor occupied by a head of state. It was a hugely complicated undertaking, and he needed to make sure that the other guests were not unduly inconvenienced while they were there. It left the passing women in Hugues’s life frustrated and annoyed that they could never spend an evening with him without interruptions. It was rare that he could enjoy a quiet evening with a friend, and more often than not, he didn’t even try. Women staying in the hotel frequently pursued him, once they realized that he was single and saw how handsome he was. But he was always candid with them right from the beginning that he was too busy at this point in his life to get seriously involved with anyone, and they were liable to be disappointed by the little time he had to share. It was also a clever way to mask how badly he had been hurt by the failure of his marriage, and by Miriam’s betrayal when she left with Greg. He had no desire to go through that again, although he enjoyed female companionship once he healed from Miriam, and frequently he couldn’t resist a pretty woman, but it never lasted long. There were too many other demands on his time, and Heloise fulfilled his emotional needs better than any romance. She wasn’t going to cheat on him and leave him, and she filled his heart in all the ways that mattered most to him.
“I can’t compete with your daughter and your hotel,” a famous film actress had complained after dating him for a few months whenever she was in New York. She had been crazy about Hugues and sent him expensive gifts, which he quietly sent back to her. He couldn’t be bought, and he knew that what he offered wasn’t a fair exchange. All he wanted was an occasional lighthearted evening here and there, and on rare occasions he would slip away for a weekend, but only if Heloise was staying at a friend’s. And he never involved her with the women he went out with. None of them was ever important enough for him to do so. And his affairs within the hotel had been discreet and rare. He had learned that lesson before his marriage, and he knew how disruptive it could be to get involved with someone he worked with. His early attempts in his youth had ended badly, and he almost always avoided them now, with very rare exceptions. He didn’t want to get tangled up in complicated situations.
All he really wanted was to be a good father and run a great hotel, and so far he was doing well at both. It left little or no time for an important woman in his life. He was essentially unavailable in all the ways most women wanted, and rather than disappoint them, he preferred to engage lightly and move on, or steer clear of them entirely if they were too demanding or intense.
More than one of the women he had had a brief romance with had tried to turn it into more, without success. All that did was make Hugues run faster in the opposite direction. And he remembered all too clearly how agonizing it had been for him when Miriam left. He never wanted to experience that kind of pain again. He didn’t consider himself relationship material, and said openly that he didn’t know if he would ever be again. To some women that only provided a greater challenge, and they eventually discovered that he meant what he said. He never lied to the women he went out with. He was extremely candid right from the beginning, whether they believed him or not. And as far as Heloise was concerned, she believed she was the only woman in his life, which suited her just fine.
By the time Heloise was eight years old, she was the queen bee and mascot of the Hotel Vendome. Her interests and pursuits were becoming a little more grown up. And although she still loved Ernesta and helping her push the turn-down cart at night, she had developed a strong friendship with their florist, Jan Livermore, whose flowers for the hotel were spectacular and artistic on a grand scale. Her gigantic arrangement in the lobby caught everyone’s attention, and sometimes she let Heloise help her put it together. Heloise was spending more time with Jan now than with Mike the engineer, and becoming more of a young lady. And she loved watching Jan and her assistants do pieces for weddings, and bridal bouquets.
She had convinced Xenia the hairdresser to cut a few inches off her hair, and wore it in a long ponytail now instead of braids. Her new teeth had come in, and she was wearing braces, which only made her look more impish than ever when she smiled. She visited Mrs. Van Damme and Julius her Pekingese often, and loved walking him, for which the dowager paid her a dollar.
Heloise hung out with the phone operators, and still enjoyed pushing the trolley for the maids and checking out the new lotions and creams and shampoos. Her father’s new assistant, Jennifer, pointed out to him discreetly that Heloise seemed to be craving female companionship, since she frequently sought out all the female employees and befriended them. He was aware of it too and felt badly about her mother’s absence from her life. Miriam was always promising to send for her and never did. She had just had another baby with Greg Bones, this time a boy, and she was leaving Heloise more and more out of her life and rarely called. Heloise never complained about it, but he knew she was hurt. When her mother forgot her eighth birthday, she had looked crestfallen all day, and it made Hugues’s heart ache just looking at her. He tried to be both mother and father to her, but it was hard to compensate for the failures of her mother.
Heloise’s favorite pastime on the weekends that her father worked was slipping quietly into wedding receptions in the hotel’s ballroom and mingling with the guests. She loved looking at the brides and watching them cut the cake. Hugues had caught her eye once as he walked past the ballroom himself and saw Heloise lined up with the single women to catch the bouquet. He had rapidly signaled to her and beckoned her out of the room.
“What are you doing in there?” he scolded her. “You’re not a guest!” She looked highly insulted when he said it.
“They were very nice to me. They let me have a piece of cake.” She had put on her best party dress, with a pale blue satin sash, and her shiny black patent-leather Mary Janes, and she looked crestfallen when he made her leave. “I helped make the bouquet.” Her father shook his head, led her down the hall, and took her back to his office so she couldn’t sneak back into the room. And Jennifer kept her busy after that and showed her how to use the Xerox machine. She liked Jennifer a lot, almost like an aunt.
Jennifer was a little older than Hugues. She was a widow and had two children in college, and she was very sweet to Heloise, and brought her small thoughtful gifts from time to time, like barrettes for her hair, or a game, or a pair of funny mittens with faces on them, or fluffy earmuffs. Her heart went out to her, and Hugues confided in her
