Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Michel
“Don’t worry about it,” I say to her.
I’m not sure why I’m doing this. But as I watched this gorgeous creature walk off the bus, something inside of me said that I need to know her.
The tone in her voice when she was talking to Sasha, our head concierge, pulled at my heart.
She sounded so fucking sad, and the look on her face…
I don’t know what happened to her, but I’m going to find out.
Sasha gets the key cards ready and hands them to me. I write my number on the key holder.
“My name is Michel, if there’s anything you need, you call me. I’ll help you get up to the penthouse.”
I walk around the counter and take her suitcases from her. I start walking, but I realize she’s not following me.
“Are you coming?” I smile at her. She’s still not moving.
“I can’t afford the penthouse,” she says again.
I sigh and walk back over to her.
“Please don’t worry about that. Come on, you’ll love the room.”
“Why would you do this? You don’t even know me. And I’m not going to sleep with you for the room.”
I laugh. “I’m doing this because you look like you need help. And it never crossed my mind that you would sleep with me as payment.”
She frowns at me more, but starts to follow me to the elevator.
“You need to use your key card to get the elevator to go to the penthouse. There are seven of them in the hotel. You’re in penthouse number seven.”
“I still don’t understand why you’re doing this for me,” she says as we wait for the doors to open.
I lead her to the door of her room and open it. I put her two suitcases in the bedroom and come back out to find her looking out the window, sobbing. I go over to her and take her in my arms. I wish I knew who did this to her.
After a few minutes, she backs away and looks up at me.
“I’m so sorry,” she says as she looks at the damp spot on my shirt.
“There’s nothing you need to be sorry for. I’d also like to offer you dinner. You can either order room service or come down to the restaurant.”
“You’ve done so much for me already. I’ll never be able to repay you.”
“You can start by telling me your name.”
“Oh my god.” She smiles and shakes her head. “My name is Genevieve Bardot.”
I smile and shake her hand. “I’m Michel Rousseau.”
“Wait. Rousseau? As in the Rousseau that owns the hotel?”
I chuckle as I nod. “My parents own the hotel and my siblings and I run it. Where in France are you from?”
“I’m from Beblenheim. Is your family from France too?”
“We’re from Riquewihr.”
I watch her sapphire-blue eyes get really big.
I feel like this is fate. Like we were supposed to meet each other.
The towns we grew up in are less than ten minutes from each other.
If my family had stayed in Riquewihr, we might have met sooner.
I don’t know how I know, but I know she’s my person.
And I know something’s happened to her. I just need her to trust me and tell me what it was.
And then I’ll make sure no one hurts her ever again.
I don’t want to push her, but I also feel like if I don’t take a chance, she’s going to slip away in the dead of the night.
“Would you like some company for dinner?”
“I don’t think I’d be very good company,” she says, sounding sad.
“It’s okay, we can even order up room service. That way we could watch TV if you’d like.”
I can see the war going on inside her as she thinks about my offer.
Genevieve
I don’t understand why Michel is offering to hang out with me.
And why he gave me the penthouse room. The only thing I do know is that I shouldn’t be feeling what I feel around him.
Up until three hours ago, I had a boyfriend and a home.
Now I’m homeless and single. I can’t tell Michel what happened because I feel like an idiot.
The more I think about it, there were signs that I just ignored.
Nights that he would call and tell me he had to stay late.
Or days like today when he said he was called in early.
Were they all a lie? How could I have been so wrong about Julian?
My sister asked me if I thought he was leading me on.
I told her no way, he was a great guy and made me feel so loved. Fuck love.
And now I meet Michel and he’s from the town right by mine.
Is this what people call fate? Or am I just setting myself up to get smacked in the face again?
I hate that my heart is telling me that it’s okay to take chances.
But it’s so fresh that I wonder if I just don’t want to be alone. Or what if he’s a serial killer?
“Dinner would be nice. But maybe your room service idea?”
“Anything you want. Take a look at the menu, it’s on the table by the phone. Then text me and let me know what you want. I’ll put it in and see you around six?”
I nod. “Thank you. I still don’t understand why you’re doing this for me. But I appreciate it.”
“We all need help sometimes. Even if we don’t want to ask for it.”
Part of me hates that he’s right. When I walked out of Julian’s house, I had no idea where I was going to go. Something told me to go to the hotel. I still haven’t called my parents or siblings. I’m so scared of admitting I was wrong about Julian.
“I need to get back to work. Text me what you want for dinner and I’ll get the order in, then bring it up to you.”
“Thank you. I really do appreciate this so much.”
Michel comes over to me and hugs me.
“I got you. Rest up, there’s lots to do here. With your key, you have access to the pool, the gym and the code on it lets you watch any of the movies that we have.”
Listening to the rumble of his voice is relaxing to me.
I follow him to the door and watch him walk to the elevator.
I wave at him as the doors close. I take a moment to look around the room.
I’ve never stayed in a penthouse room before.
It has a kitchen, living room and three separate bedrooms. Each bedroom has an attached bathroom.
The layout feels bigger than Julian’s house.
Julian. How could he have done this to us?
I finally sit down and feel all my energy leave, and I start sobbing. I jump when my phone rings. I see my sister’s name pop up. I take a deep breath and answer it.
“Hey, Céline. What’s up?”
“Are you okay?”
“Of course I am, why?”
“Well, Julian called and said that he hasn’t been able to reach you. He said you two had a fight and you just left.”
What an asshole. I can’t believe he called my sister and lied to her.
“You can’t tell Maman and Papa what I’m about to tell you.”
“Are you pregnant?” I hear my maman ask. Merde.
“No, Maman. I’m not pregnant.”
“Then what happened? It’s not like you to just leave and not tell anyone where you’ve gone. What did he do?”
“I came home early and found him in bed with a woman he works with.”
“Ce salaud,” I hear my papa say.
“You should come back home.”
“But I have classes still, I don’t want to give that up.”
“Then we’ll help you with an apartment. We’ll be there in a few days. Is there somewhere you can stay until we get there?”
“I’m at the Rousseau Paradis, you remember you stayed here when you visited.”
“Oui. We will pay for your room when we get there.”
“D'accord, Maman.”
“On t'aime, mon c?ur.”
“Je t'aime.”
I don’t know why I didn’t tell them about Michel and the room he gave me. But that’s a problem for when they get here. I look at my phone and see a ton of missed calls and my missed texts say over one hundred. I put my phone down and lie down to nap. Suddenly I’m exhausted.