Hotel Vendome

He liked the sound of that. It was far less expensive than the suggestion of the other decorator, who wanted to throw everything out. And they had beautiful things in the rooms now. They just needed some freshening up and new touches. He liked the way this woman thought. And he also liked the idea of trying her out on one suite instead of plunging ahead with four. And despite her reputation, because she was considerably younger than the first one, she was willing to make adjustments on fees and price, and she had more time, although she had a considerably smaller staff and did most of the work herself. She said she had two assistants and a design assistant, so she kept her overhead low. The other woman had a twelve-man office with three young designers working for her, and a color consultant on staff. When Hugues asked, Natalie said she did all the color work herself, and her clients had been happy with it so far. He had heard good things about the hotel she’d done in Washington, and he asked her to give him an estimate for the first suite if he decided to move ahead. She promised to have it on his desk within a week. She seemed hungry for the job, and he liked that about her too. She was matter of fact and down to earth and didn’t put on airs. She stood up then and thanked him for the meeting, and said she didn’t want to take more of his time. And they had already arranged for Jennifer to show her the suite before she left.

“I’ll try to get the estimate to you this week. And if you decide to do the project with my office, I have some free time at the moment while another client is still building her house, and I think we could get off to a pretty rapid start, since there’s no construction involved. But I work with a great architect if you ever decide to go in that direction.”

He had actually enjoyed the meeting and smiled as he shook her hand and then walked her to the door. Jennifer was waiting to take her upstairs and was back twenty minutes later, looking pleased.

“I like her,” Jennifer volunteered before he asked her, after the decorator left. “She seems sensible, energetic, and young.” She was old enough to have experience, but young enough to be flexible and not too set in her ways.

“So do I,” Hugues admitted. “I think Heloise would love everything she said and would enjoy working with her. And she wants to use the furniture we’ve got. That’s a big plus.”

“Did you hire her?” Jennifer was happy to see him smiling again and in a better mood. He was excited about doing something that would make his daughter happy when she got home.

“Not yet. She said she’d send me an estimate this week. But she came very well prepared.” He had been favorably impressed.

And true to her word, Natalie had the estimate on his desk in three days. Her price was reasonable for the design work and to oversee the project, and the costs were going to be even more reasonable since she had suggested they use the painters he had on staff at the hotel.

“What do you think?” Jennifer asked him after he’d read it, and he was smiling again.

“If she sticks to it, the estimate is great.” He was about to tell Jennifer to call her, and then decided to do it himself. Natalie was quick to come on the line. She sounded like an upbeat, happy person, and he liked that about her too.

“It’s a deal,” he said simply. “I like your estimate. When can you start?”

“How about next week?” It was going to be a scramble for her, but she wanted to impress him so she’d get the other three suites to do after this. “We’ll get started. I’ll work on fabric samples and color swatches this week.” She suggested doing the bedroom in pale yellows, and the living room in warm shades of beige and taupe, if that appealed to him. He liked that, and she suggested a meeting on Monday morning, unless he had time over the weekend.

“There are no weekends in my life anymore,” he explained, especially now that Heloise was gone. When she was at home, he would take breaks occasionally to spend time and do things with her, but now he worked seven days a week. There was always something for him to do in the hotel.

“There aren’t in my life either,” Natalie said simply. “That’s the advantage of not having kids.” Or a husband, she almost added and then didn’t. She had never married but had lived with a man for eight years, until he ran off with her best friend three years before. Since then she had done nothing but work, and she didn’t regret it. Her business had been booming ever since, and she thought that getting a sample suite to decorate at the illustrious Hotel Vendome was a major coup. “How about Sunday afternoon? I just don’t want to come too late. I’d like to show you the samples in the room, while it’s still light. They have to work in electric light too without washing out, but you’ll get a truer sense of the palette if we look at them in daylight first.” She was very professional with him.