Hotel Vendome

Hugues wanted her to realize how blessed she was and that there was more to life than just living in a fancy hotel. She lived in a rare and unusual world, but she had a social conscience as well. She volunteered in a soup kitchen through school, and collected toys for the fire department on her own at Christmas, asking hotel staff to donate old toys discarded by their children. She was acutely aware of how lucky she was and grateful to her father for the life they led. And she was generous with her allowance and collected money for UNICEF at school. World disasters, particularly those that affected children, went straight to her heart. More than anything, as difficult as it was in their surroundings and circumstances, Hugues wanted Heloise to have balance in her life and remain aware of those who needed help, and the suffering of mankind. She was a good girl, and more aware than many children her age.

She had been working in the florist shop all afternoon, helping Jan cut flowers and snapping thorns off stems, when she left finally and went upstairs to do her homework. She had a big assignment due at school. And there was a big wedding scheduled in the ballroom the next day that she wanted to attend. As usual, Heloise was planning to “drop in” and check it out. Her father assumed that she had been watching the room being set up when she came in late for dinner with him that night. Everyone was talking about the wedding, which was going to cost a million dollars between flowers, catering, decor, and the bride’s Chanel haute couture gown.

“Where were you?” he asked her casually as the room service waiter brought their dinner in on a rolling tray. Hugues would have liked to cook for her himself, but he never had time. There was always some crisis he had to manage, or the constant overseeing of the hotel. The Vendome was a huge success because he was always there himself, attending to every detail. And his staff knew that he was ever present, aware of everything that went on and everything they did. It kept them on their toes.

“I was with Jan all afternoon, working on the big wedding. She has a lot of work to do. She hired four assistants and she’s still afraid she won’t get it all done. I was lending her a hand,” Heloise said vaguely, as the room service waiter served them lamb chops and haricots verts. Hugues was careful about what they ate and spent an hour in the gym every morning before he went to work. At forty-five, he looked younger than his age and was in great shape.

“I went by there, and I didn’t see you,” her father commented.

“I must have been up here doing homework by then,” she said innocently.

“A likely story,” he teased her with a grin. Her grades were decent even if they weren’t great, and it was a difficult school. She was equally proficient in English and French, and her Spanish had remained fluent, due to her long conversations at the hotel. “So what are you doing this weekend? Are you having friends over?” he asked warmly. He had four VIPs checking in that weekend and a foreign head of state on Saturday, which meant additional security and Secret Service in the lobby and all over the hotel. The foreign dignitary had booked an entire floor, save for Hugues’s private apartment on that level, and they had to close off the floors above and below him, which was annoying since they couldn’t use their two penthouse suites on the floor above, nor the presidential suite on the floor below. And those three suites alone were big revenue sources for them. They charged fourteen thousand dollars a night for the presidential and twelve thousand for each of the two penthouse suites. They had two dead floors on their hands for the weekend, although they were charging the foreign government a fortune for their occupancy but the hotel’s security costs would be high too, with their entire security staff working overtime all weekend.

“Yes, I think I’m having a friend over, maybe two,” Heloise said, staring at her plate. Hugues thought she was unusually quiet, but she’d had a cold and he assumed she was tired. They both had had busy weeks. It was January and bitter cold outside, and everyone was sick. Illness spread like wildfire through the hotel in flu season, with so many people working there. Signs everywhere reminded employees to wash their hands. “I think Marie Louise is coming over tonight, and maybe Josephine. We’re going to sleep downstairs.” It was a privilege he accorded her, particularly at this time of year when the hotel wasn’t fully booked. There was a small room on the second floor that people used for their assistants or bodyguards.

“Just don’t drive room service crazy with a lot of requests. No grilled cheese sandwiches at four in the morning, or banana splits. Order before midnight, please. The room service staff is too small after that to take care of you girls too.”