Hotel Vendome

“Thank you, Papa,” she said quietly. She had seemed to calm down in the last few days. She was excited about her graduation and felt very adult suddenly. Working in the hotel, even for her father, had taught her a multitude of new skills. It was different than just running around as a kid. She had real responsibilities now, occasionally challenging situations to handle, and supervisors to satisfy, who were sometimes stern with her and always demanding, even if they’d known her for years. She had to meet the Vendome standards now, not just those of the Ecole Hoteliere. “See you Friday,” she said, slipping into the car, carrying her graduation dress in a garment bag, and she waved as they pulled away from the curb. He looked pensive as he watched the car drive away, thinking of all the years they had shared and the strange life they had led, safe in the cocoon of the hotel. He knew how hard it was for her to include someone else in that life, which made him more tolerant than he might have been otherwise with her behavior of the past many months. He knew that underneath her anger and upset over Natalie, she loved him, just as he loved her. It was hard for him to believe that she was grown up now and almost twenty-one, and about to be a graduate of the same school he had gone to. He smiled thinking about it as he walked back into the hotel.

When Heloise got to Lausanne, she met up with her classmates of the year before. All of them were equally excited to be graduating, and full of stories about their internships around the world. Heloise’s had been quieter than most, in her own familiar world, which made her happy that she had had six months before that at the George V. And she saw Francois for the first time in six months. He had a new girlfriend with him, which ruffled Heloise’s feathers. Several of them had brought significant others along. She hadn’t been dating anyone since her return to New York. Working double shifts at the hotel, she hadn’t had time.

They all went out to dinner at local restaurants every night, including the ones on campus and the two student-run bars, and attended final seminars and a rehearsal for graduation. It was an emotional time. Some of them had signed up for an additional two years in the International Hospitality Management Programme, and still others were planning to go on for a master’s degree at the school after that. But Heloise was ready to go home and get the rest of her training at the Vendome.

And on Friday her father arrived and checked into the hotel attached to the school, which it ran as a learning experience for its students. It was a treat for any visitor to stay there, and Hugues had worked there himself for a few months as a young man. It was always fun for him to come back here and see how things had changed. His own time at the Ecole Hoteliere had been among the best years of his life before his career began. He couldn’t help wondering as he walked around the familiar, immaculate campus if one of his grandchildren might even come here one day. It was hard to imagine, but with Heloise’s deep love for the business, he could almost see that happening sometime in the distant future. He suddenly felt like the head of a dynasty as he thought about it, and not just the proprietor of a small hotel.

“What were you thinking about, Papa?” Heloise asked him as she caught up to him. She had seen him walking along alone when she went looking for him. She had put her nuclear weapons away for these few days, particularly since Natalie wasn’t there. It was almost like old times.

He looked up and smiled when he saw Heloise and put an arm around her. “It sounds silly, but I was thinking that maybe your children will come to school here one day.” He had never expected her to do so, and suddenly it had become a tradition as she followed in his footsteps. He wondered what his parents would say. This had never been their dream for him, but it had been a good life and a career he still loved.

“I don’t think I want children,” she said pensively, as they walked along arm in arm, and he was surprised to hear it. He had always expected her to marry and have babies, even now that she would be working at the hotel.

“Why not?” he asked, watching her eyes.

“They’re too much work,” she said, brushing the idea away, and he laughed.

“So is a hotel. And let me tell you that no matter how much work children are, they’re worth it. My life would be nothing without you.” The emotion he felt for her was strong in his voice.

“Even now, with Natalie?” Heloise was haunted by her. Her eyes were sad when she looked at him, and he nodded emphatically.