“A room with a bunch of mirrors?” Zane looked surprised. “Okay.” He rolled his eyes and I saw the taxi driver shaking his head in disgust and stifled another laugh.
“It’s not just some cheap ten dollar mirror you get at Walmart or Target, Zane.”
“I don’t shop at Walmart or Target.” He scoffed.
I pinched him for being a snob. “Zane, that’s not important.” I rolled my eyes. “The point is, it’s not just a room full of crappy cheap mirrors. These are opulent, gold-framed and gilded mirrors. And the hallway is huge and it overlooks the gardens. It’s beautiful.”
“You’ve seen them?”
“No, but one of my ex-boyfriends went with his family and he showed me some photos.”
“Oh.” Zane pursed his lips and frowned. “What ex-boyfriend?”
“My first boyfriend, actually. He was my high school love.”
“I see.” His voice turned cold. “Why did you break up if you guys were in love?”
“Oh Zane.” I shook my head at his obvious jealousy though it made me feel warm inside. “We broke up because I got pregnant and he didn’t want to help me look after the baby.”
“What?” He looked furious.
“Sorry, that was a bad joke.” I touched his shoulder. “He went to Princeton in New Jersey and I went to UM. Geography made it hard for us to keep dating.”
“You could have tried long distance.”
“We could have, but we didn’t.”
“I guess the love wasn’t that strong then.” He looked into my eyes searchingly.
“He was my high school boyfriend, Zane. Our love was juvenile and nothing more than a crush. I mean I was devastated when we broke up and I cried for a week straight but as soon as I got to Miami and starting make new friends and hanging out I forgot about him.” I laughed. “And now, I can barely even picture his face.”
“I guess it’s easy for you to get over guys huh?” Zane’s face was cold and I sighed. He really was a big baby sometimes.
“Zane Beaumont, are you really going to give me a hard time about my high school boyfriend? Especially after I forgave you for not telling me that you slept with Angelique.”
“I didn’t love Angelique; that was just sex.” He frowned at me and his voice was matter-of-fact.
“That doesn’t make it better.” I glared at him. “In fact, that’s worse.”
“How is it worse?” He glared back at me.
I rolled my eyes. “Are you kidding me? It is …”
“We are here. Hotel Opera Pelris.” The taxi-driver interrupted our conversation as he parked. “That will be 60 Euros please.”
“Here we go.” Zane opened his wallet and handed the man some notes. “Keep the change.”
“Merci.” The taxi driver gave us his first smile of the day as he glanced at the notes and hopped out of the car in order to open the door for us.
“I guess money talks everywhere.” I whispered to Zane and he laughed.
We walked into the hotel and I looked around in surprise at how normal it seemed. I had expected Zane was going to go all out and take us to some 5-star glittery hotel, but this was far from 5-star.
Zane walked up to the front desk and a man jumped up. “Bonjour and welcome to Opera Pelris.”
“This is Opera Pelris?” Zane’s voice was gruff and the man’s face paled a little as he nodded. “This is the Opera Pelris where all the biggest stars in Europe stay?” Zane’s voice rose. “This is the hotel of choice of all the aristocracy?”
“Yes, monsieur, this is Opera Pelris, one of the finest hotels in Paris.” The man gulped and looked down at the desk in front of him. It seemed to me that even he had a problem saying that mistruth.
“Is this a joke?” Zane’s voice grew louder and the man looked like he was about to faint. “This doesn’t look like the photos on your website.”
“Non, monsieur. Checking in?” The man averted his gaze and looked down.
“Where is the Seine?” Zane frowned and his voice was spiky. “Where are the crystal chandeliers in the lobby? In fact, where is the grand lobby with the doorman?”
“I, uh, I’m not sure I understand you, sir. My English is not that good.” The thin man swallowed and looked at me with a wide smile. “Madam, welcome to Paris.”
“Thanks.” I nodded and smiled back weakly. I felt bad for the man; Zane looked like he was about to blow a gasket. I laughed at the analogy I had made and bit my lip as Zane turned around and glared at me.
“I want to see your manager.” Zane glared at the man. “This was a case of fraud. I am not staying here.”
“Come on Zane. It’ll be okay.” I touched his shoulder. “I just want to go lie down for a bit.”
“Oh?” His eyes darkened as he stared and me and sighed. “We’ll take the room for now. But we may be checking out tomorrow.” He turned back around and glared at the man. “You better give us your best room.”
“We only have one room left monsieur.” The man swallowed, but smiled at me gratefully.
“Well, then you better hope that it meets my satisfaction.” Zane looked around the drab entryway we were in and sighed. “Sorry.” He mouthed at me.
“It’s okay.” I squeezed his arm and smiled. We were in Paris, that was all I needed. It didn’t have to be perfect. We didn’t have to have a room at the Ritz. We didn’t have to hobnob with the stars. I kept my mouth shut but I was a little worried we would be sleeping with the rats instead.
“I love you.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “You’re such a sweetheart.”
“Hey, I like hotels with character.” I put my arm around my waist. “I’m just happy to be here with you.”
“Madam, you will love it here.” The man smiled at me again. “We also have breakfast in the restaurant from 7 a.m. - 10 a.m.”
“Is room service open before and after then?” Zane interrupted.
“Well, we don’t have room service.”
“Are you joking?” Zane’s voice rose and I pinched him.
“Be nice.” My face flushed in embarrassment. “He’s just the front desk clerk Zane.”
“Just give me my keys.” Zane muttered and the man quickly gave us a key attached to a piece of wood.