Chapter 50
NOW
‘You know, I should really have you arrested,’ Claudine said the next morning when Bella nervously entered the office and confessed to what they’d done.
She looked tired, her eyes edged in grey.
‘Seriously?’
‘Why not? You are telling me that you broke into my hotel, made material changes without consent?’
‘But criminals don’t usually—’ Bella’s words faded under Claudine’s severe gaze.
‘What? Gain entry without permission?’
‘Paint,’ she finished lamely. ‘Sort out the decor.’
Claudine snorted. ‘Perhaps not, but what you did was still wrong.’
Bella maintained eye contact, hoping to see her friend’s eyes soften. ‘Claudine, it was the only way we could help. And I honestly think— Look, just come and see.’
With a world-weary sigh, Claudine stood and made her way to the door, passing through it so quickly Bella had to rush to keep up.
As they approached the rooms, Bella began to be plagued with doubts. Had the rooms really looked that good? Would it really be enough to sway Claudine into at least trying to move forward?
They opened the door and the pair of them stood, peering in.
‘So, what do you think?’ Bella asked after a painful moment of silence.
Claudine walked into the room which still smelled of fresh paint and fabric, of polish and cleaning products. And as she watched, trying to see it through Claudine’s eyes, Bella felt her heart soar again – had this really been the burnt, foam-soaked shell she’d despaired over just a few days ago?
‘It’s— you have worked so hard,’ Claudine said, her voice catching.
‘So… you think we can go ahead with Hotel Club?’ she asked timidly.
‘Non.’ Claudine shook her head sadly, defeated.
Something inside Bella plummeted. ‘But… I mean, it’s great. And we still have the presentation. Everything could—’
‘Non,’ Claudine said firmly. ‘It is too late. I have cancelled the Hotel Club representatives. Nobody is coming, the caterers, the string quartet. It is all cancelled.’ She turned to Bella.
‘Bella, what you have done is beautiful and I should have had more faith in you. But we cannot proceed with Hotel Club. I will have to sell the hotel.’
‘Oh, but… Claudine!’
‘There is nothing to be done.’
‘But that’s just it, Claudine. It’s not cancelled.’
‘What do you mean? We sent emails to everyone, Yves called… I—’
‘Nothing was sent. Yves— he kept everything back.’
Claudine’s eyes widened. ‘Yves knew about this?’
‘Yes, but don’t be angry. He— I mean we very much coerced him, and he was worried.’
‘Angry? I am not angry! I am amazed. You did all this, took this enormous risk. For me?’
Bella shook her head. ‘Not entirely. It was for me too.’
‘Of course. Your job.’ Claudine nodded.
Bella shook her head again. ‘Not really. I mean, I love my job. And I hope it goes well and things can… carry on. But I did it because I— well, I know what it is to be abandoned. I know what it is when people walk away. And I didn’t know if I’d be able to fix it, but I wanted to at least try.’
Claudine walked forward, her eyes shining, and placed a hand on each of Bella’s shoulders… ‘Then you are truly admirable.’
‘It’s not just me,’ Bella said hastily. ‘Brad, Henri, Odette – I had so much help. Oh, and Madame Roux!’
‘I’m sorry?’ Claudine said, shaking her head a little as if doubting what she’d heard. ‘You had help from Madame Roux?’
‘Yes, Claudine. Perhaps I am not so very useless, so very old after all,’ said a sharp voice.
It was as if the very mention of her name had summoned her. They both turned to see the diminutive woman, this time dressed in turquoise, her make-up perfectly done, hair coiffed, Coco on a lead. ‘I do have some skills; perhaps I am not yet ready to be consigned to a home after all.’
Claudine flushed. ‘Oh. I’m— I know you have skills. Of course.’
‘Then why do you never ask me for help? For anything?’ Madame Roux’s voice shook slightly with emotion.
‘I—’ Claudine looked down. ‘I suppose I didn’t realise you’d want to.’
‘Nonsense! You thought I was past it! Just a silly old woman who needs to be consigned to an old people’s facility.’
‘No. You have to believe that I thought the home was a good thing! I wasn’t trying to—’
‘Ah, it is not just your fault,’ Madame Roux said, her eyes suddenly downcast. ‘After George died, I was not myself, when I first came here.’ She waved her hand as if filling in the blank in her sentence.
‘But time passed, and I became myself again. Only nobody realised, and I had forgotten how to show them.’
‘If you didn’t want to go to a home—’
‘I know. Perhaps I accepted my lot too much,’ the old woman continued. ‘People forgot to listen to me, but I also forgot to speak. It was only Bella… When I saw that she took my advice, I began to wonder whether I was complicit in my own downfall because I had not raised an objection.’
Claudine nodded. ‘Well, nothing is fixed,’ she said.
‘And Bella, she gave me a chance to show what I could do. When I had forgotten myself. And I had forgotten what a joy it is to create something from nothing.’
Bella found herself welling up.
‘Of course she has not taken my fashion advice today,’ Madame Roux said, her eyes darting up and down Bella’s skinny jeans and loose blouse. ‘She looks as if she is here to collect the trash. So I suppose I still have a lot of work to do.’
Claudine and Bella looked at each other momentarily before both started to smile. ‘Well, thanks, Madame Roux, I think…’ Bella said.
‘Non. Thank you.’