“I want to finish school. But I still have a little over a year. I’m pretty sure my parents will help me with an apartment. But I would need to get a job, I can’t just rely on them.”
“You could work here at the hotel.”
“You’ve done so much for me already.”
“And I’ll keep doing everything I can for you.”
“Why?” she whispers.
“Do you want the truth?”
She nods at me.
“I don’t know how I know, but I know you’re the one for me.”
“‘The one’? You mean like a fairytale ‘the one’?”
I chuckle. “Sure, which fairytale is that from?”
She smiles. “I don’t know, it’s just that everything you do is like I’m in a fairytale. Like the birds and mice in the wicked stepsisters fairytale.”
“Wait…are you saying I’m a mouse? Or a bird?”
Genevieve giggles. “Maybe.”
I chirp at her as she laughs. I watch her as she takes a bite of the food. She closes her eyes and moans. Holy fuck…she’s moaning more and can’t help staring at her. She finally stops and looks at me.
“Uh. Why are you staring at me?”
“I’m staring at you because you’re beautiful.”
“Now I know you’re crazy.” She smiles. “But thank you.”
“But seriously, you can work here if you really feel that you need a job. You can even choose what you’d like to do.”
“I might just take you up on that.”
We spend the rest of the evening talking and getting to know each other. She told me about her family and how they’re going to be here in a few days. I suggested that her family meet mine. Maybe knowing that she has help, they’ll feel better about her staying here in Storyville.
CHAPTER FIVE
Genevieve
It’s been five days since I left Julian. My family was supposed to be here two days ago, but they couldn’t get a flight out and they needed to take care of things at home. In the meantime, I’ve been able to get the rest of my things out of Julian’s house. And I’ve gotten to spend time with Michel and his family. His parents and siblings help my sadness from missing my own family. Once in a while, I even miss Julian. I’ve talked to Michel about it. I know he has feelings for me and if I’m being honest, I have feelings for him too. But I’m so afraid of making the same mistakes I made with Julian.
Today, I’m starting my new job. Michel’s parents told me that I could pick any job I wanted. I chose the concierge position. I thought about working at the pool, but Michel did his growly thing. It makes me gigglewhen he does it. I asked him why he didn’t want me to work in the pool area. He said it was because he wouldn’t be able to see me as often. I have to admit, that made me a little sad too. Michel is the one who trained me at the front desk. And he’s made sure that I never work alone, in case Julian shows up again. But so far, I haven’t heard from him. Part of me is worried that he’s going to pop up again and cause problems. But the other part is hopeful he’s finally given up.
Michel: Have lunch with me?
Genevieve: Sure. I take lunch in 10 min. Meet you in the restaurant?
Michel: I’ll come and get you. See you in 5
I smile as I read his text. Spending all this time with Michel has made me realize just how much I was missing with Julian. I thought I had the best relationship, but Michel constantly shows me what I was missing. Someone who makes me smile all the time. Who makes me feel like I’m important no matter what he’s doing. He always texts me to ask me how my day is going or comes by the front desk to check on me. I used to think that having someone like that would be stifling. But it’s not. It feels good to have someone that wants to make sure I’m okay, especially after what happened with Julian.
I’ve even made a few friends here and that’s been different for me. When I was with Julian, he didn’t want me to invite people over. Didn’t matter who it was. So Ifelt like I couldn’t make friends, because how can I make friends that I can’t invite to my home? I was talking to Noëlle the other day and I told her that. She said that it’s odd he felt that way. She asked if he had any friends that would come over. I told her yes, it was just me who couldn’t invite people over. He and Randall had friends over all the time. And now that I really think about it, it did seem weird. Julian never wanted to do things with me in public either. We rarely went out to dinner or just out for drives.
I see Michel walking over to me and I can’t help the smile on my face. He’s gorgeous, with dark, wavy hair and electric-blue eyes. They look like they’re glowing as he’s walking towards me, and I love it. I watch women stare at him as he walks around the hotel. Every once in a while one will come up and talk to him. But I’ve never seen him do anything more than be polite to them.
