“I can’t wait to meet her,” Natalie said, as they strolled along next to each other, enjoying the warm weather. He had left his suit jacket in his office, and she was wearing a T-shirt and jeans. “It sounds from what I hear from everyone that she’s part of the life force of the hotel.”
“I bought the hotel when Heloise was two. And her mother left two years later, when she was four. She’s had free run of the hotel ever since, and she loves it as much as I do.”
“It must have been hard for both of you when her mom left,” Natalie said gently, and he nodded, thinking about Miriam, which he seldom did. He hadn’t cared about her in years. Heloise had filled a void for him. He didn’t have a serious woman in his life, but he had a daughter he adored.
“Unfortunately, Heloise doesn’t see much of her mother. She leads a very different life now. She’s married to Greg Bones.” Natalie couldn’t imagine the handsome Swiss hotel owner married to someone who would be married to Bones. “That was a long time ago. It’s been almost fifteen years. And she has two other children. She and Heloise don’t have much in common when they get together. I guess she’s too much like me.” He smiled at Natalie. He liked talking to her.
“That sounds like a good thing to me,” Natalie said, smiling at him. Greg Bones was well known for his cocaine and heroin addictions and his frequent stays in rehabs, and even visiting in their world didn’t sound wholesome to Natalie.
“Thank God she didn’t try to take Heloise with her. And I think she’s been happy with me here at the hotel. Everybody loves her, and it’s a safe, protected little world. Kind of like growing up on a ship.” It was a funny way to put it, but Natalie could see what he meant. The hotel was totally self-contained, almost like a town unto itself.
“She must miss it,” Natalie said sympathetically. Hugues sighed as they sat down on a bench in the park.
“Not enough, I’m afraid. She just started going out with a French boy at the hotel school, and she sounds like she’s falling in love. My worst fear is that she’ll stay over there.”
“She won’t,” Natalie said confidently, “not with all this to come home to. It sounds like she’ll run the hotel with you one day.”
“I didn’t want her to. I thought she should do something else. But once she decided to go to hotel school, that was it. She fought me like a cat about it when I tried to dissuade her. This isn’t the life I wanted for her once she grows up. It doesn’t leave room for much else.” She could see that that was true. Whenever Natalie called him, at any hour, he was at work.
“Were you never tempted to marry again?” She was curious about him. He was very reserved and a little bit aloof, except with her. Natalie made him feel comfortable and at ease, and he did the same for her.
“Not really. I’m happy the way things are. I’m too busy to be married, and I’ve had Heloise for all these years. That’s been enough. What about you?” He turned to look at Natalie then. She was a beautiful woman, and she had never married. She lived for her work, as he did, and she had no children. In some ways, it seemed like a sad life to him, especially without a child.
“I lived with someone for eight years. It worked for a long time, and then one day it didn’t. He never wanted to make a commitment, other than living together. Eventually we just led parallel lives with very little connection.”
“And then what happened?” Hugues could sense that there was more to the story, and she met his eyes squarely with her own.
“He left with my best friend. Three years ago. Things work out that way sometimes, like your wife and Greg Bones.”
“The funny thing is that if she’d stayed, I don’t think we’d have been suited to each other. I was dazzled by her when we met, and fell madly in love with her. But I was young, and in the long run it takes a lot more than dazzle to make a marriage work.”
She smiled at what he said. And it was obvious that he didn’t want marriage or even a serious relationship. He seemed content with his life the way it was. She wondered too if Miriam’s betrayal had wounded him too badly to ever trust a woman fully again. She didn’t inquire about his life in the ensuing years, and didn’t think it was her place to do so.
“You’re right. I’m beyond dazzle at this point too,” she said as he slipped an arm around her shoulders, and they sat there for a long time, peacefully, side by side. He liked the way he felt whenever he was with her. She was a kind, easy, open person, who worked hard, spoke honestly about herself and others, and seemed to accept life as it came. It was comfortable being with her, and she felt the same way about him. It was as if they had always been friends, and they worked well together. They had made quick decisions and seemed to have similar tastes and opinions about many things.
“How about an ice cream before I go back to work?” he suggested as a vendor pushed his cart past them, and she smiled at the idea. He bought two Eskimo bars, and they walked on for a little while watching families and children, and lovers kissing. The longer he stayed with her, the less he wanted to go back to the hotel. “Would you have dinner with me one night?” he asked her, as they slowly wended their way back, and she nodded.
“Sure. But let’s not do it at the hotel. People talk.” She said she could already tell that the hotel was a gossip mill. “Neither of us needs the headache.” He appreciated her discretion. He wasn’t sure what this was with Natalie, but he liked her, even if they just turned out to be friends. She would be a good friend to have. And without saying more about it, they walked back to the hotel, and she left him there, after thanking him for brunch again.
He called her at her office the next morning and invited her to dinner. He said he’d pick her up at her apartment and suggested a restaurant in the West Village. It sounded like a perfect evening to her as well. And she was in good spirits when he picked her up on Thursday night. They had a great time together and were the last to leave the restaurant. The night was warm, and they wandered down the street arm in arm before he hailed a cab.
“I had a great time with you, Natalie,” he said, smiling down at her.
“Me too.” It had been a long time since she’d spent such a pleasant evening with a man she barely knew and felt as though they were old friends. They exchanged ideas and talked about things they wanted to do and hadn’t had time to do in their extremely busy lives. Most of all, the evening had been relaxed. It did them both good to get away from their desks and the pressure of their jobs. She ran a busy office too and was juggling many projects, not just his, although she loved working for him at the hotel, but she had other important clients.
“When am I going to see you again?” he asked as he stood facing her. He had an overwhelming urge to kiss her, but he thought it was too soon, and he didn’t want to scare her off. She admitted to him that she hadn’t dated in quite a while. If nothing else, he wanted to be her friend.
“Tomorrow afternoon,” she said, laughing in answer to his question. “I want to check the final paint samples with you again.” He was beginning to think he should give her the whole hotel to redo so he had an excuse to keep her around. He loved spending time with her. He could smell the delicate scent of the perfume she wore, as he moved closer to her and touched her hair. He wondered if she thought he was too old for her; he was thirteen years older, and he was nervous that she might think there were too many years between them. Suddenly it was important to him what she thought.
“Maybe we should do something together this weekend. Would you like to go to a movie?” he asked cautiously.
“That sounds like fun,” she said softly, as he pulled her closer and looked into her eyes.
“Being with you is always fun,” he whispered, and then their lips came together and barely touched. And the kiss they shared after that seared them both. She looked at him in surprise afterward, wondering if it had been a mistake. He was a client after all, but for a delicious instant she forgot, and when he kissed her a second time, she forgot again. “Is this okay with you?” he asked, and she nodded, and they kissed again. It was hard to stop, and then he just stood there holding her and smiling. He hadn’t been this happy in a long time. He had forgotten what it was like to care about a woman and have her be important to him. “I’d better get you home,” he said finally, and raised his arm to stop a passing cab. They both had to work the next day, and it was late.
They snuggled together in the taxi, and he kissed her again when he dropped her off.
“Thank you,” she said, looking at him with a smile. “I had a wonderful time.”
“So did I,” he said, and then she turned and walked into her building as the doorman held the door open for her. She waved and went inside, and he closed his eyes and thought about her all the way uptown. It was two in the morning by then, and he wasn’t even tired when he walked through the hotel, went to his apartment, and got undressed. He couldn’t wait to see her again.
