A Blind Fall

chapter six

"Mademoiselle Gabrielle Oliver?" The porcelain doll-looking receptionist with one of those enviable, white smiles, dressed in an immaculate maroon dress inquired politely.

She nodded, feeling extremely cautious of herself. Herself she was in black jeans and a crème cashmere top and unlike the receptionist's neatly gathered bun, her curls bumped recklessly on each other before toppling over her shoulders like cooked spaghetti. Already feeling miserable on the first day in France, she attempted a fake smile. "Yes,"

The spectacular woman elegantly handed Gabrielle a keycard. "Your room is on the west wing of third floor. Number eight 'O' two." The receptionist continued with a load of accent.

Gabrielle scrunched her brows in confusion, her brain evaluating everything that had occurred since she arrived at the airport. She'd planned to hail a cab but some buff man in a lavish suit had immediately approached her, greeted her like royalty before he picked her luggage and made for this ridiculously flashy car. She'd of course fallen into a quick mistaken identity explanation but the gentleman had only smiled graciously and confirmed whether her name was Gabrielle Oliver and at verifying the same, he'd advanced to the presidential ride and held the door open for her. Fingers crossed that she wasn't being kidnapped she'd hesitantly entered the car and it had taken off, stopping before some opulent hotel with valets, grand front steps and reception, exquisite decoration and everything else five star. Again she'd made a futile attempt to explain the mistake -she was on a vacation yes, but on a manageable budget and she doubted after buying that house and financing her vacation she could afford such a luxurious hotel- but the chauffeur had directed her to the reception and excused himself to get her luggage.

And that's how she wound up conversing with the painstakingly gorgeous receptionist who acted like she'd expected her, names, keycard and all.

"Ah!" The receptionist beamed breaking into her confused thoughts. "Monsieur Pascal will escort you to your room."

Gabrielle turned to catch the man who'd chauffeured her to the hotel pushing her bags. He gave her a courteous nod, exchanged a few words in French with the French goddess and gestured with his hand for Gabrielle to follow. The elevator ride was pretty fast and soon she was treading on a hallway with polished, marbled floors and tall walls painted a pale yellow and on them dangled art pieces she couldn't help admire.

She was still greedily taking in the extravagance of the surrounding, utterly mesmerized when someone cleared their throat awkwardly, bringing her back to reality. Her gaze settled on the man -Mr Pascal, she'd heard him called- who stared at her expectantly. When she furrowed her brows in confusion, he pointed at the door he stood directly in front of. Practically kicking herself, she quickly apologized and handed over the keycard. Mr Pascal chuckled and brushed off her apology.

With the door held ajar, he gestured for her to enter first. And she did, eyes wide open trying to take in the opulence of the suite all at once. It was breathtaking. The modern furniture were polished and nicely arranged about what looked like a living room set up, there was a large TV screen mounted on one side of the magenta wall.

With timid steps she walked further into the room as if afraid to taint the white and grey Indian rug beneath her flat shoes. Her eyes took in the ceiling which was white with a small, crystal chandelier suspended at the center. There was an extension that led to the kitchenette, sparkling clean and fully equipped. Deciding to turn back, her eyes caught the floor-to-ceiling window and childishly she hurried towards it. She gasped when it automatically slid open leading her to a balcony that overlooked the streets of Paris. The city of love.

Surely there was a mistake. She racked her mind for a memory where she'd booked a hotel but none surfaced. Even if she had, there was no way she'd done so this particular one. It was too luxurious.