UAPDR - Chapter 2

Un Amour Plein De Richesse

Chapter Two
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In the meantime Fayette, Victoria and Madison were still sitting in the studio flat. The English girls were still looking around them. This hotel was pretty huge and they had met four new people in just a few hours time. It was a lot to take in.
“Sorry about the rush. Jacques and Damien are a bit random. But you’ll get used to them soon enough,” Fayette said.
“That’s okay,” Victoria excitedly reassured her, “we’ll see them around”.

Jacques stood in front of the door that leads to the office of his parents. He gulped as he reached for the door knob and entered. He had a bad feeling about this.
His parents were as serious and distant as usual, his father standing behind his desk, arranging some documents which looked like letters. His mother was sitting in the chair by the window, staring into the distance. They were as serious and distant as usual. They didn’t even look up as he entered the room. He had been in their office for only one minute and a very awkward silence filled the room until his father broke it.
“You’ve finally arrived. Took you long enough,” he said.
Jacques turned away from his father and rolled his eyes, to make sure he wouldn’t see it. That would only make his mood worse.
He felt reluctant to interrupt his father’s concentration but decided to speak up anyway
“Why exactly did you summon me? Was it just to test my rapidity?”
His father ignored the remark and continued; “Your mother and I have made an important decision. A decision that will benefit all of us.”
When he heard benefit, Jacques thought this conversation might not be as bad as he expected.
“But,” his father continued ,”it will especially benefit our hotel and wonderful business.”
Jacques sighed. “Of course, everything’s always in favour of the family business.” To somebody who had been living in a hotel suite all his life and raised by nannies, including Madame Victoire, this shouldn’t be surprising. He decided to keep his mouth shut because he knew it would only make things worse.
Jacques began to wonder what his parents were up to this time. He had heard his father talk about these ‘improvements’ before, but in the past they had only resulted in his parents spending even less time with him than the few moments they already spend together.

His father then continued, “We were able to contact the Charette family and we all agree on the following. We believe you and Claire would make an excellent match.”
Jacques looked up to his father with a puzzled expression “Wait…who’s Claire?”
“Her name’s Claire Charette. She’s the daughter of Mr. Charette, the man who owns the largest catering company in the centre of Le Havre. They take care of all kind of big events, from business events to important meetings in Northern France. The company has earnt great respect and they’re quite successful. Claire is a business student, a very clever girl indeed.”
“And you’re telling me all of this because…?” Jacques asked.
His father sighed, “Because you will meet her tonight. The Charette family has put everything in order for tonight’s dinner.”
Now Jacques was even more confused, “There’s a dinner? What for? And why didn’t anyone tell me about this sooner?”
“The dinner is to inform everyone about the engagement. It’s a private event, only we, the Charette family and the staff will be attending it.”
Jacques heard the word ‘engagement’ echo in his head. He was quite silent for a few minutes, until he realized what his father had just told him.
“So what you’re saying is that…this is an arranged marriage?!”
It didn’t seem like a big deal to his father.
He calmly continued his speech, “Once the two of you take over the hotel, she will be able to assist you perfectly.”
Jacques kept staring ahead of him. He looked baffled after hearing that his father arranged all of this behind his back.
“Everything is and has always been in favour of the hotel” he thought to himself. He couldn’t hide the disbelief he felt.
His mother was still sitting by the window. She hadn’t said a word, and this made him feel a bit disappointed in her. His mother had always been the softer parent when it came to things related to business, but she hadn’t made a single remark about this situation going on.
Jacques’s father looked at his watch, then turned to his son and said with finalty, “You should go, Madame Victoire awaits to help you get ready for tonight. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend.” Without even waiting for a reply, he walked swiftly across the room and left the office, the closing door marking the end of the discussion.
Jacques was left with his mother, who had been quiet during the entire speech Jacques’ father had given him. She stood up and walked to her son, smiling and trying to reassure him that everything would be alright.
“I know this may all seem sudden, “ she said “but, I’m sure the two of you will get along just fine.”
Jacques returned the smile, deciding to hide his true feelings. He turned away from his mother, and left the office, the door’s muted thunk echoing in the hallway beyond.

Jacques had left their office and was staring ahead of him, down the long white hallway. Madame Victoire walked over to him. She came up from behind, quickly taking him by his arm. Jacques hadn’t noticed her at first since he was still in a daze.
“Come with me,” she said rapidly.
“I’m sorry, but there’s a dinner I have to attend,” Jacques replied. He still looked confused and sad after the conversation he had just had with his parents.
“You think I’m not aware of that, you silly boy,” She laughed.”Why do you think I’m here,” Madame Victoire said firmly, “Your parents said I have to make sure your outfit looks exquisite!”
“I don’t even want to atte-“
“No struggling! The faster you cooperate, the sooner it’ll be over!”
Jacques shrugged and then sighed. “Fine, but I’m going to complain the whole time,” he joked.
He was still feeling down, but not being in the office anymore made him feel slightly better again.
“Off we go,” Madame Victoire laughed boisterously.

In the meantime Fayette had been helping at the reception in the entrance hall, Damien came running down the stairs. She looked at him doubtfully.
“Wow, you’re really energetic all of a sudden. Let me guess, you’ve napped all afternoon?”
A grin appeared on Damien’s face. “Aww, I’m busted,” he joked. “But that’s not why I came her.!” His eyes started sparkling a bit.
“You wanna hear the latest gossip?”
“Sure. It’s time for my break anyway.” Fayette stepped from behind the counter, and they went for a stroll through the hotel.
After a few minutes of walking, Damien continued, “You know who Jacques’ new love interest is? The British girl! You know, uhm…Marie? Or what was her name again?”
“You mean Madison?”
“Yes, her,” he replied.
“Is that what Jacques told you?” Fayette asked. She didn’t know whether she should believe Damien or not. He wasn’t really the serious type of person.
“Well, no.” Damien looked a bit uncertain now himself.
A grin appeared on Fayette’s face. “Then you shouldn’t just make assumptions like that!”
“But I can tell he does, mark my words.”
“If you say s- …Oh!” Fayette looked to her right and saw Madame Victoire at the other side of the entrance hall, waving at them.
“Come on,” she said to Damien, “time to get ready for the dinner.”
“What’s that dinner for anyway?” he asked.
Fayette turned back to him and shrugged. “No idea, but I guess we’ll find out soon.”
Then they both headed to the dressing room.

The interns were also getting dressed. Victoria couldn’t hide her enthusiasm.
“We’ve only arrived here a few days ago and we already get to participate in a big event.” She pouted for a few seconds. “Too bad we can’t wear pretty dresses like the women who will be attending, though.”
Madison was still tying her apron string. This dinner would be their first big job during their internship at the hotel, and she wasn’t a just bit nervous about it.
“I just hope I won’t drop too many plates tonight,” she said, staring out of the window. She wasn’t really paying attention to her friend. Madison kept staring outside the window, watching the view, until Victoria snuck up behind her and nearly gave her a heart attack,
She grabbed her by the shoulders. “Time to stop daydreaming, we have to go to the dining room to help finish preparations.”

Jacques was in his room, waiting for Madame Victoire to knock on his door and come and get him. He looked at his reflection in the mirror, all dressed up. He was wearing the white suit his mother had apparently picked out for him weeks ago. Sure, it looked nice and was a perfect fit, but he never really felt like himself. After all, whenever he attended these kind of events, he felt like they just put on a show. Tonight he would pretend he was happy and agreed with this entire situation his father arranged for him, whether he wanted to or not.
About ten minutes later, Madame Victoire knocked the door, and he answered it.
“Time to go,” she then looked at Jacques carefully. “Ah, you look exquisite indeed. Looks like I did a great job after all.”
She then takes him to the entrance hall downstairs, where his parents and the Charette family await him.
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A/N: Ah, this chapter took me pretty long because I’m not very good at using very formal language. From casual first chapter to this. Everything is a lot more serious in this chapter. Very sudden change of the story, I know. I don’t have names for his parents yet, so if anyone knows (French) first names, feel free to propose some. =w=