“Are you pregnant?”I hear my maman ask. Merde.
“No, Maman. I’m not pregnant.”
“Then what happened? It’s not like you to just leave and not tell anyone where you’ve gone. What did he do?”
“I came home early and found him in bed with a woman he works with.”
“Ce salaud,”I hear my papa say.
“You should come back home.”
“But I have classes still, I don’t want to give that up.”
“Then we’ll help youwith an apartment. We’ll be there in a few days. Is there somewhere you can stay until we get there?”
“I’m at the Rousseau Paradis, you remember you stayed here when you visited.”
“Oui. We will pay for your room when we get there.”
“D'accord, Maman.”
“On t'aime, mon cœur.”
“Je t'aime.”
I don’t know why I didn’t tell them about Michel and the room he gave me. But that’s a problem for when they get here. I look at my phone and see a ton of missed calls and my missed texts say over one hundred. I put my phone down and lie down to nap. Suddenly I’m exhausted.
CHAPTER THREE
Genevieve
My alarm wakes me up and I stretch. For a minute, I forgot where I was and then it all comes back to me. Julian and Amber. All of a sudden, I can’t stop my tears from falling. I still can’t believe he did this to me…to us. What is wrong with me that he wasn’t satisfied with how we were? How did I miss the signs?
I look at the time and it’s 2 p.m. I grab the room service menu and look it over. I need to find a way to thank Michel for everything he’s doing. I wonder if he likesKougelhopf, it’s a traditional, brioche-like cake with raisins and almonds. My maman makes it every week. I’ll have to ask my her if she can bring some with them. Even if Michel doesn’t like it, maybe his family will. As crappy as I’m feeling about what’s happened with Julian, the way Michel looks at me makes me feel good. Thehardest part is that I wish I had met him first. I’ve only known him for a few hours and he’s already made me feel like I matter. Something that I lost when I walked into the bedroom and saw Julian with Amber. I stand up, take a deep breath and wipe my tears. I know he doesn’t deserve my tears, but it’s so hard to get that image out of my head.
Genevieve: Hi, are we still on for dinner?
Michel: Yes. Did you look at the menu? If you want something that’s not on the menu, we can do that too
Genevieve: Do you know what I miss? Choucroute garnie. My maman used to make it for our Saturday family dinners
Michel: I have an idea. I’ll see you at 6. Don’t forget, you have the use of the spa, you can get a massage or use the sauna
Genevieve: Thank you so much, see you at 6
I sit and wonder what Michel’s dinner plan is. Just the thought of dinner is making me hungry now. I head down to the restaurant to grab a sandwich. As I’m heading back to the elevator, I see Julian at the front desk. Before I can turn around, he sees me.
“Gen. Come on, Gen,” he says as I keep walking.
“Leave me alone. We have nothing to talk about.”
“I love you. You know that. I made a mistake.”
I whip around to face him.
“I never want to see you again. I don’t care how many times you apologize. It’ll never be enough to make me forget what I saw. Obviously you wanted to be a free man. Well, now you are. I will say one thing, thank you for doing this now. And not waiting until we were further into this relationship.”
I turn towards the elevators, Julian grabs my arm and tries to turn me to face him, but I stand my ground.
