‘Think so.’ I typedRiver Seineinto my phone and showed him the screen. He nodded.
‘You send the reply then we can go.’
‘Done!’ I tapped the screen. ‘We need to go and collect our photos first though.’
‘I picked them all up this morning,’ Gabriel replied. ‘Sammie offered to carry them and said that she will give them to us to look over together at dinner.’
‘Oh.’ My eyes widened.
‘Come.’ He gestured for me to follow him to the lift. Thankfully another couple were heading towards it too which meant we wouldn’t be alone.
Once we all got to reception, we were directed to a luxury, shiny black coach. The word ‘coach’ didn’t quite convey how high-end it was. It had plush leather seats with loads of legroom, polished wooden floors and tinted windows. I should’ve known the Love Hotel would pull out all the stops.
‘After you.’ Gabriel gestured for me to take the window seat.
‘Merci,’ I said. ‘So my guess is we’re going on a cruise.’
‘Oui. I am sure it will include dinner too,’ Gabriel added.
‘Amazing!’
On the one hand it was. I’d always wanted to do a river cruise and having dinner whilst taking in the sights of Paris sounded like a dream. But how was I going to keep my cool on a romantic cruise with temptation sitting right in front of me?
20
LAILA
‘What did you do today?’ Gabriel asked, taking me away from my panicky thoughts.
When I explained where I went, his face lit up with enthusiasm and he seemed genuinely interested, so I showed him photos. Then he asked me questions about the places I’d visited and what I thought about the food.
‘How about you? What did you get up to today?’
‘I just relaxed,’ Gabriel said. The coach came to a standstill. There was a lot of traffic in front of us so it looked like we’d be here a while.
As I stared out of the window, taking in the sights, I was overcome by a wave of happiness because I was here, but also a sense of regret that I’d missed out on seeing so much of the world.
‘Have you travelled much?’
‘Oui. I spent a lot of time in Europe and also the US.’
‘Yeah, your mum mentioned you were in the States.’
As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them. I didn’t want to think about Juliette. I’d promised that I’d call her yesterday, then told myself I’d do it today. I’d send her a quick text later. I was sure she’d understand.
‘That is correct. I was mainly in San Francisco, but I also visited New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta.’
‘What a dream! Was that for work?’
‘Oui. Do you still work in insurance?’
‘Sadly, yes,’ I sighed.
‘And what do you like to do for fun? Do you still enjoy watchingColumbo?’
‘Wow, you really are an elephant, aren’t you?’ My eyes popped.
‘Are you insulting me?’ Gabriel’s face turned to stone.
