Hotel Vendome Read Online Free

room, once she was dressed, and took out her math book, and the notebook from school.
    “Make sure you do all of it. And call me when you’re finished. I’ll come up and have dinner with you if I can. I have to make sure everything has calmed down first.”
    “Yes, Papa,” she said quietly as he left the apartment to go back to the reception desk and check on things there.
    Heloise sat looking dreamily at her math book for a few minutes, and then tiptoed to the door. She opened it a crack and looked out. The coast was clear. He was back in the lobby by then. And with an elfin toothless grin that made her look like a pixie with her freckles and red hair, Heloise let herself out of the apartment and slipped down the back stairs in her jeans and pink ballet shoes. She knew just where her favorite night maids would be. And five minutes later she was helping them push the trolley with all the creams and shampoos and lotions on it, as they turned down the rooms for the guests. She loved turn-down time, when they delivered little boxes of chocolates to each guest, from La Maison du Chocolat. The chocolates were delicious, and as they always did, Ernesta and Maria handed one of the boxes to her, and after thanking them, she helped herself to the chocolates with a grin.
    “We had a lot of work to do in the basement today,” she informed them seriously in Spanish. They had been teaching her Spanish ever since she could talk. She had been fluent in both French and Spanish as well as English before she was five. It was important to Hugues that she speak several languages. And he spoke Italian and German too, since he was Swiss.
    “So I hear,” Ernesta, the motherly Puerto Rican woman, said to her and gave her a hug. Heloise loved being with her and held her hand. “You must have been very busy this afternoon,” Ernesta said with a twinkle in her eye, as Maria, the pretty young second night maid, laughed. She had children of her own the same age as Heloise. And they never minded having her join them for their turn-down service to every room. She was always hungry for female companionship and got lonely alone in the apartment.
    “The water was up to here,” Heloise said, showing them a place just above her knees. “But it’s all fixed now.” Both women knew there would have to be more extensive repairs in the coming days. They had heard it from the engineers.
    “What about your homework?” Ernesta asked her then, as Heloise avoided her gaze and played with the shampoos. They had recently changed brands to a more luxurious one, and Heloise loved the way it smelled. “Did you do it?”
    “Yes, of course,” Heloise said, grinning mischievously, as they pushed the cart to the next room, and Heloise handed her two more shampoos. She followed them on their rounds until an internal alarm went off for her, and she knew it was time to go. She kissed them both good night then and scampered up the back stairs, just in time to get back to their apartment and sit at the desk again. She had just finished her last math problem, when her father walked in to have dinner with her. He had ordered it from room service, as he always did, although later than usual tonight. Her schedule had to be flexible to adjust to his, but having dinner together was a ritual that was important to them both.
    “Sorry I’m late,” he said as he walked in. “It’s a little crazy downstairs tonight, but at least everyone has water again.” He was just praying they didn’t spring another leak, but things were holding for now, as long as they did the necessary repairs soon.
    “What’s for dinner?” Heloise asked as she closed her math book.
    “Chicken, mashed potatoes, asparagus, and ice cream for dessert. Sound okay to you?” her father asked her with a loving look.
    “Perfect,” she smiled at him as she put her arms around his neck. She was the woman in his life, and had been the only important one for the past three years since her mother left.