Chapter Twenty-Six #3
As they left through the lobby of their hotel, Piper glanced at the sofa against the far wall.
When she’d come home from dinner with her mom the night before, there’d been a man deep in conversation on the phone, his head in his hands, saying something about not having time to talk to every blogger who came calling.
He hadn’t looked up at her when she’d walked past, but Piper could have sworn the man looked just like Jackson Quick.
That didn’t make any sense, though, did it?
Rock stars probably stayed in the swankiest hotels wherever they went, and the hotel Piper and her mom were staying in was not exactly luxurious.
It was fine, but it didn’t really seem like the place you’d spot a celebrity.
“There was a guy in the lobby last night,” Piper said, anyhow, as they headed out onto the street, “who looked just like Jackson Quick.”
Her mom laughed. “How would you know what Jackson Quick looks like?”
Piper rolled her eyes. “Duh, Mom, the internet? I looked the guy up before I bought our tickets.”
“And does he still have Billy Idol hair?”
Piper looked at her mom in confusion. “Does he have who what?”
Her mom smiled. “Never mind.”
“Anyways, you’re the big Jackson Quick fan, not me,” Piper pointed out.
“Right,” her mom said, her eyes sliding away. “I definitely am.”
“Anyways, the guy last night obviously wasn’t him, right? Like, what would a rock star be doing in the lobby of our hotel?”
Her mom laughed again. “Can you imagine, though? Hey, we could hitch a ride to the concert with him.”
They reached Café Le Petit Pont a few minutes later, and Piper felt a current of electricity sizzle through her body when she noticed Nicolas across the room.
He looked at her at the exact moment her eyes found him, and they held each other’s gazes for a long, charged moment.
When she finally exhaled and looked away, her mom was watching her with an arched eyebrow. “What?” Piper asked, embarrassed.
“Are you sure you want to go to a concert with me tonight when you could be spending your last night in Paris with Nicolas?”
Piper’s eyes widened. “How can you even ask that? Of course I want to go with you.”
“Okay.” Her mom held up her hands. “Just wanted to give you an out if you wanted one.”
Piper started to protest, but she was interrupted by the arrival of Nicolas, who offered her his arm and ushered her and her mom to a table just outside, overlooking the quai and Notre Dame across the narrow sliver of river.
“I’ll be out with cappuccinos for you both in a moment, but first, I have a bit of a surprise,” he said with a smile after kissing each of them on both cheeks and handing them their menus.
He glanced at Piper, and then his smile widened as he turned to Piper’s mom.
“I have a friend who owns a limousine company. He has offered to drive you two to the concert tonight, on the condition that I come along to keep him company. So, ladies, if you’d like, you’ll be going to the Jackson Quick show in style. ”
Piper squealed. “No way!” She turned to her mom, who raised her eyebrows with a smile. She turned back to Nicolas. “This is seriously amazing!”
“Nicolas, are you sure?” Piper’s mother asked. “You don’t have to do this. We’re totally okay just taking the metro.”
“Please,” he said with a smile. “I want to help make it the most memorable evening possible for both of you.”
Piper’s mother shook her head. “I don’t know what to say.”
Nicolas glanced at Piper again. “You don’t have to say anything. But if you want, maybe you can say I have your blessing to spend time with your daughter in the future.”
Piper could feel her cheeks heating up. “But, Nicolas, we live an ocean apart.” She wasn’t going to say it aloud, but she had begun to wonder if this was just a weeklong flirtation. What future could there possibly be in it?
“I’ve always wanted to visit the States,” he said. “And I hope you’ll come back to Paris one day, too.”
“I will.” Piper swallowed the lump in her throat as she glanced at her mom.
“Good, then,” her mother said. She turned to Nicolas. “You don’t need my blessing, Nicolas, but of course you have it. Piper will need all the support she can get in the next few months.”
Piper blinked back tears. Nicolas put a hand on her shoulder and gave her mom a solemn nod.
“I promise you, Madame Glover—”
“Julia,” her mom corrected with a small smile.
“I promise you, Julia,” he said gravely. “I will do all I can to make sure that Piper is all right.”
Piper’s mom held his gaze, and Piper had the strangest sense that, in that moment, something passed between them, an understanding of sorts, a sacred vow. Finally, her mom nodded, and Nicolas turned back to Piper.
“Shall Bastien and I pick you up at six at your hotel?” Nicolas asked.
“If you’re sure,” Piper managed to say. Nicolas smiled and hurried away to get their coffees, and Piper turned back to her mom, drinking in the sight of her, unable to imagine a world in the not-so-distant future where she simply didn’t exist anymore.