Beach Side Romance

Chapter 17: Sabotaged Bookings

Julian POV

The drive to the airport was fairly fast, we got there in 30 minutes just talking about Andrea bawling again when she was told that Olivia was going away for a few days to a different country. The security checks were okay since I had TSA and though Olivia didn’t, she was able to go through the normal way smoothly. I wanted to upgrade our flight to first class, but business class was already comfortable enough, I assumed.

“Care to share?” Olivia asked, as we settled in the business class lounge sitting side by side. “Jealous are we?” I teased making her laugh. “Me? As if,” she said but cleared her throat, “why was she there anyway?” I opened the bag of trail mix I got from the snack bar and answered, “don’t know really, when she called me, you showed up as soon as I said ‘hi Karen’ so she wasn’t able to do or say anything, but I bet she had a mini heart-attack seeing you like that with me earlier”. “Like what?” She asked, trying to look innocent crossing her legs flipping her hair. “Like you owned the world. I really have to thank you for that really.” “So, blondes?” She asked. “A mistake.”

The wait was less than 2 hours before we were asked to board the plane. Since we had business class tickets, we were first to board and settle in. Dom Perignon made Olivia so happy I swear she was already on her 3rd glass while we were just taxiing the runway. We were in the middle aisle so the only thing that separated us was a divider. Originally we had window seats, but for some reason, they moved us to the middle seats which was okay still since we were flying at night anyway. 

“Hi, may I offer you a cheese platter and some wine samples?” A flight attendant said approaching Olivia as soon as the captain cleared the seatbelt sign so they could start the service again. “Yes, please,” she said and peeped over the divider, “did you want one too?” I nodded and Olivia proceeded to tell the Flight Attendant that she needed two platters. The flight to Paris was 10 1/2 hours long, I’m pretty sure when we arrived it would be around 3PM, and we still needed to travel from Charles de Gaulle Airport to the Pullman Hotel where we’re staying.

Around 3 hours into the flight and after dinner, the Flight Attendant who asked if Olivia wanted a cheese platter earlier, Franco came back to ask if she wanted to rest. She gladly said yes, and I was approached by another FA, Colene and I told her if she too could set up my bed, and provide a toiletry bag for Olivia and I. “Olivia, here’s a toiletry bag in case you need to freshen up before we land later,” I said handing over the Bric’s pouch from Colene. “Thanks, I’ll sleep for a bit, I asked Franco to wake me up 3-4 hours from now,” she said tucking herself in. I followed suit and after a little while, I passed out.

I woke up to Colene tapping me awake and giving me a glass of orange juice, “Mr. Collins, it’s about 3 hours before we land. Would you like for us to serve you your second meal?” She asked. I pushed the recliner to fix my seat and peeked to check if Olivia was awake. As soon as I wanted to tap her, Franco appeared. I couldn’t understand why I was annoyed at this guy, he was just doing his job. “Miss Mason, are you ready for your meal now? It’s about 3 hours left before landing,” he asked. I tried as much not to notice him and pretended to browse through something on the screen. But when Olivia stirred, I had to look again. “Hi Franco, sure, thank you” she said as he turned to leave again. “Morning, Sunshine. It’s about 2AM our time, 12NN in Paris.” I told her as Colene and Franco were placing our breakfast. “Really? Have you ever been?” She asked as she nodded to thank Franco and I did the same to Colene before going back to our conversation, “nope, this is a first for me.” After our meal she pushed the divider down with a button, “how is this date so far?” I asked. “Well, we’ve checked the ‘meet your ex’ earlier today, and now I’m having some breakfast and had a good sleep considering we’re on a moving plane going to Paris. I’m not complaining,” she answered poking a sliced cantaloupe from her bowl.

We landed a bit early since air traffic was light for a Monday. Customs was a breeze, and I even got a “enjoy your date” from a French Customs Officer while being asked why I was in Paris for 5 days. We only had 2 luggages checked in, one for me, and one for Olivia. We headed to the arrival bay to see a man holding a sign ‘JULIAN MATTHEW COLLINS’ with a smaller printed word ‘deux personnes’ (two persons) and a Pullman logo. “Monsieur Julian?” The man asked, “Oui, c’est ma petite amie. (Yes, and this is my girlfriend)” I led Olivia out the bay with a car waiting, “you speak french?” She asked me as I got inside the opposite side of the car where she was seated. “A bit, I was asked by a former boss to learn a few basic phrases.” The journey was an hour long, thankfully Arthur who was our driver had some bottled water, and coffee inside the car. “Does Arthur speak english?” Olivia whispered, I nodded, “Arthur, is the traffic bad today?”. “Oh mon dieu! Traffic here is bad during lunch time Monsieur, but at this time it is fairly okay.” He said as he tore through the streets of Paris. Olivia was taking pictures of everything she found beautiful at every stop. I quickly texted my dad, and her mom that we’ve landed, and we were on our way to the Hotel. Her mom quickly texted me “have fun you two, and lot’s of pictures please ”, and my dad responded shortly after that to stay safe and bring him back a small figurine of anything that’s from Paris.

Arriving at the Pullman was extravagant, and I’m thankful I was dressed decently, I thanked Arthur who loaded the two luggages to a bell cart and entered the lobby. It was very modern, contrary to Paris itself. Olivia was still mesmerized walking slowly inside, I held her hand and slowly pulled her towards the Front Desk. "Bonjour! Réservation par le nom, Julian Matthew Collins (Hello! Reservation by the name, Julian Matther Collins),” I greeted the lady in the front desk. “Pour un moment, Monsieur (For a moment, Sir),” she said typing away my name as I gave her my passport. “Monsieur Julian, cinq jours et quatre nuits Suite King avec balcon (5 days four nights, King Suite with balcony)?” She asked. “Non, chambre supérieure, deux lits (no, superior room, two beds),” I corrected, causing her to check again. "Désolé, mais c’est ce qu’il dit ici (sorry, but this is what it says here)” she said. “Is everything okay?” Olivia asked a bit worriedly. “Yeah, it’s just that I booked for a superior room and two beds, but they seem to have placed us in a king suite,” I said, wondering what she’d say. “Oh okay, then King Suite it is then. We’ll discuss the arrangements later if need be,” she said smiling at the staff who was looking so embarrassed.

Olivia swiped the key of the room, and entered with me trailing behind. As she said, we settled for the 1-bedroom King Suite with a good view of the Eiffel Tower from where we were. As soon as the bags were sent up, I sat on the couch trying to figure out what had happened. “We’re in Paris, and you look like you’re thinking of something unwanted,” she said sitting beside me. “Oh, no. I’m happy to be here. Especially with you, I’m just weirded out by the room reservation that’s all,” I admitted. “I was weirded out too, especially those seats on the plane, but, I feel like I now know what’s happening,” she said before continuing, “someone sabotaged your bookings,” she concluded. That’s when it hit me. Mae and Pierre were all for taking over Olivia’s project, and my boss was no less than pushy to tell me to ask the secretary to help me plan this trip. “s**t. You’re right. When did you realize?” I asked her. “When we landed, I got a text from Mae that she checked my flight to see that we’ve arrived. So, I had a feeling that she was monitoring until we arrived,” she said casually.

“I want to stroll around the Pullman, grab some groceries and dinner on the way back,” she said. She was okay to sleep in one bed, it was a King Sized bed anyway, but I wasn’t too comfortable, well probably not on the first night. We freshened up, and headed out leaving the debate of sleeping arrangements dangling. We no longer bothered to change clothes, but I now carried a clutch with me for my essentials. It was about 7PM when we got out, the street lights were starting to open, and the Monday rush was about to die down. We went into a grocery store a few streets from the Pullman, Olivia went crazy with chocolates, and chips. There was also fresh fruit and cold cuts that she wanted to buy. I scored three bottles of Moet and Chandon Rose to take back with us. “I’ll pay for this one,” she said, handing over her black AmEx card to the cashier. “Okay, but dinner is on me,” I said as we bagged out groceries and started to stroll down back to the Pullman. We asked the bell service to bring the bags up into our room, and headed out again now for dinner. We found a quiet little bistro about 10 minutes walking distance from the Pullman, opposite from where we got our groceries. “Lobster Bisque, and Nicoise Salad for me please,” Olivia ordered, “Duck Breast with Green Salad and Goat Cheese, and some Seafood Bouillabaisse for me, and 2 glasses of your house wine later with Moelleux au Chocolat (chocolate cake) please” I said.

The food was okay, it wasn’t over the top but it’ll do. “So, itinerary tomorrow?” Olivia asked while poking on the chocolate cake. “Tomorrow, we do historial sightseeing for our first day in. Churches and Museums for the most part, next day we’ll visit the touristy spots, since we’re in the city the boutiques would be spread around,” I said. “The cake and wine is good. Thank you for dinner.” She said, while I was paying for the bill she was looking around. “Let’s go?” I asked, earning her nod. We walked back to the Pullman with hands in our pockets, though the weather was playing within 13-15C, the night sky played a different game.

We got back to the room and shrugged off our jackets. I took hers to put into the coat hanger near the door. “Olivia? We need to get something settled,” I called as she was taking off her boots and opening a pack of hotel slippers. “Yes, I know, I’m okay to sleep anywhere really. The room is spacious enough, but I prefer you and I sleep in a bed.. because it’s more comfortable and we get what we pay for,” she answered now unpacking the groceries we got. She went to the bathroom and closed the blinds so she could have some privacy, and I soon followed after she was finished. When I got out, she was cooped up in the living room flipping through Netflix with the curtains open seeing the view of Eiffel Tower. I got my work laptop out just checking if Joe had anything for us, but saw an email from Lizzie instead.

J,

    Dad said not to tell you but Karen went to us on campus this morning asking where you’ve gone. I told her I haven’t seen you since school started. Wasn’t sure if you’re using a Parisian number or what so thought I’d e-mail it to you instead. Dad told me she saw Olivia before you left. Hope you landed safe.

    Oh and Luca told me, you jerk. You better come home with success.

xx,

    L

Shit. I’m honestly happy that I wasn’t in the country when Karen decided on visiting Lizzie. I quickly replied to her

L,

    Yes, we’ve arrived and are winding down for the night before the full itinerary tomorrow onwards. Karen did see her, not sure what she felt but don’t really give a f**k or two about that woman anymore. Hopefully she doesn’t cause any trouble.

    Yes, I will try to come home with success.

J.

As soon as I finished, I quickly put away my glasses and headed for my side of the bed. Olivia was already passed out, and shortly, I was too.