Hotel Vendome

The male employees of the hotel had given Hugues a surprise bachelor dinner the month before, with Moroccan food and belly dancers, but in spite of that it was a pretty tame event. They had also invited his few friends, all of whom worked or ran other hotels. Given the amount of time he spent working, it was hard for him to maintain friendships with anyone, which was the nature of the business. The hotel and the people in it became your life and left you time for no one else. But the bachelor party had been fun, and Hugues had danced with several of the girls, but no one had done anything embarrassing or gotten out of line, which wasn’t always the case with other bachelor dinners they’d had at the hotel, where hookers were often involved and paid for by one of the guests. No one would have dared do that to Hugues, he wasn’t that kind of man, and it was all good fun.

By the day before the wedding, Natalie was a nervous wreck. She had taken a room on another floor to hang her wedding dress and where she would get her hair and makeup done the day of the wedding. And her brother and sister-in-law were staying at the hotel. Only their two boys had come; their twin sisters were still too sick with mono. And the day before the wedding, Natalie had booked a massage and a manicure and pedicure. Heloise saw her at the hairdresser that afternoon, wearing a masque. She stopped in to say hello, and Natalie opened her eyes when she heard her voice. She had hardly seen her in days.

“How’s it going?” Heloise asked politely.

“Terrible,” Natalie said, trying not to move her mouth too much so she didn’t crack the masque, which looked like green clay. She felt like the witch in The Wizard of Oz. “My face is breaking out. My stomach is upset. The singer for the band is stuck in Las Vegas and isn’t coming. And I wish we’d eloped.” She looked like she was about to cry.

“It’ll be fine,” Heloise reassured her. “Just try to relax.” And then, with a sigh, she conceded silently. She knew a lot more about these things than her future stepmother, and she had done nothing to help so far. “Do you want me to talk to Sally?” she asked softly. Natalie stared at her and nodded.

“Would you mind? I have no idea what I’m doing, and I’m so nervous I feel nuts.” And she was taking medication that made her feel more so, but she didn’t tell Heloise that. Hugues was aware of it and trying to do all he could to calm her down. But the medication, coupled with the normal stresses of planning a wedding, was overwhelming her, and she looked it.

“I’ll go up to her office in a few minutes when I have a break,” Heloise promised with a smile. “Just concentrate on your hair and nails. Leave the rest to us. And take a nap.” Natalie nodded and watched her leave the hair salon. She had the feeling the war might finally be over. She wasn’t sure that it had ended, but she hadn’t heard gunfire since Heloise and Hugues had returned from Lausanne.

Half an hour later Heloise was upstairs with Sally, going over the details of the wedding. Most of it was under control, and she and the very competent catering manager discussed what wasn’t and made a few changes that no one would notice, about placement of tables, and the size of tabletops. Someone had ordered the wrong chairs, and Heloise asked for the best ones. The flow of guests, the timing, seating charts, where to place the ceremony so everyone could see it—they were subtle changes, but they made a difference. Together she and Sally corrected it all. And Sally said it was nice of her to do it.

There was supposed to be a rehearsal, but it had been canceled because her relatives were coming in too late and there was no time before the rehearsal dinner. And Heloise told Sally to have all the flowers for Natalie and her sister-in-law, for Natalie’s hair and both bouquets, sent up to the suite that Natalie was using for her dress. And the sprig of lily of the valley for Hugues’s lapel should go to his room, not hers. Suddenly it no longer made Heloise feel sick to think about the wedding. She had made her peace with it and wanted to help.

“What about you?” Sally asked her cautiously. There had been no flowers ordered for her. “Are you carrying a bouquet?” She hadn’t dared ask Heloise anything about the wedding until then. Now she seemed to be on board.

“I’m not in the wedding,” Heloise said quietly, looking a little sheepish.

“You’re not?” Sally looked surprised, and realized she had never discussed it with the bride. She didn’t ask Heloise why. She knew. And so did everyone in the hotel. Heloise had made no secret of how much she disapproved of the marriage since it was announced.