The Seaside Hotel

by Agnès Ruiz

  “And we don’t count for anything now”, she mumbled.

  In the lobby, she noticed Mélanie was still absent. She checked her phone. There was no reply from either her brother, or from the young receptionist.

  She asked other employees that she saw in the hotel. Nobody had seen them.

  “But Marguerite was walking around in the corridor with the offices, last night.”

  “Why do you say that?” Joanna was surprised.

  “Well, it was as if she didn’t want anyone to notice... I thought it was strange. And then this morning, Mr Gaspardin was angry.”

  Joanna confirmed it, her lips pinched. The employee then explained the scandal Rodolphe G. Gaspardin had made when he discovered that somebody had been rummaging in his office.

  “I think he rounded up the whole hotel”, he said. “So obviously, I made the connection with Marguerite in the area.”

  “And have you told my father what you’ve just told me?”

  “No. I don’t want any problems. And I don’t want to cause trouble for Marguerite. She was always legit with me. It was probably nothing, anyway. Just coincidence...”

  “Thank you, Lilian.”

  “If I can help... But don’t say anything to the boss... You’re not the same.”

  Joanna let her leave, a bitter taste in her mouth.

  What did that mean, “you’re not the same”? She thought she was an insignificant piece in the cogs of the seaside hotel.

  A parasite! Her father’s distant voice repeated in the back of her mind.

  Pushing the difficulties away, she wondered what was going on. Did Marguerite really want to get into her father’s office? What could she have been looking for? Him, perhaps. Did she want to speak to him before leaving completely?

  Once again, she thought of Guillermo. Perhaps he had seen her, too?

  47

  A smiled spontaneously appeared on her lips, which she tried to stop. No. She couldn’t do that: Drop by at Guillermo’s place to find out. Incidentally, was it really for that reason or simply to see him and to take away her father’s painful accusations?

  Parasite! How could her father have come out with such wickedness without realising how much he was hurting her?

  Despondent, she forced herself to evaluate the situation. Joanna thought she gave her all to the seaside hotel. But maybe she wasn’t doing it right?

  She thought about what she could improve. Again, she thought about Guillermo. What would he have to say about it?

  Joanna sighed, realising that she had forgotten her responsibilities. And that was when it hit her.

  Her father was right on all fronts.

  She was losing control. She must absolutely focus on her work and forget about her need for gentleness, for attention... She had let herself soften for her feelings for Guillermo for far too long.

  After all. He was only her neighbour. Well, OK, they kissed on the beach. That was no reason to... to ruin everything.

  Incidentally, perhaps it would better to stay there with him. That way she could remember the sweet memories rather than watch their romance deteriorate.

  Joanna felt sad about her decision.

  She forced herself to repeat that the seaside hotel was important. The rest was just a web of confusion.

  Then she thought of Zoé. Her daughter reproached her for investing too much of herself in the hotel. Joanna brushed her comments away with the back of her hand. She thought her daughter didn’t know anything about life. She was still too young.

  Almost as young as she’d been when she fell pregnant. And she had disappointed her father.

  As much as she disappointed him today. Again and again.

  Joanna still chastised herself.

  If she had been more watchful, she would have seen if there had been someone shady lurking around the corridors, rather than doing nothing. She thought about what the employee had said about Marguerite.

  And what if Guillermo could confirm those words? She would solve the problem by going to see her father and explain. He would see she wasn’t a parasite.

  A terrible migraine was starting to get to her. If she did nothing but think about it over and over, it would make her go mad.

  Without further ado, Joanna went to knock on Guillermo’s door.

  There was no reply. Yet, he was meant to be there. Where else could he be? Of course he was free to go wherever he wanted, even with his leg in plaster.

  Her heart thumping, she turned the door handle to find the door wasn’t locked. Well, she could wait for him inside.

  She quickly realised that Guillermo was in his room. The moment she went in, he came out of the bathroom.

  He was topless with a towel around his waist. With a strong hand, he was drying his hair when their eyes met.

  “I... I knocked but there was no answer”, Joanna quickly said, her face purple.

  She stepped back, already about to leave quickly, but Guillermo asked her to stay.

  “Just give me time to throw something on.”

  Joanna agreed, unable to look away, her hungry eyes wondering uncontrollably.

  She had already forgotten the real reason she came here.

  She wanted to put her hands on his damp chest and his broad shoulders. She wanted to run her fingers along his arms where his muscles jutted out. She could easily slide that unwanted towel off, she thought, frenzied and unable to stop her crazy ideas.

  She noticed that he had wrapped a special bag around his plaster.

  “It must be difficult to take a shower”, she commented in one breath.

  Perhaps she unconsciously wanted him to stay like that a moment longer, and enjoyed the show in front of her before he dressed, as he told her.

  Guillermo glanced at his foot, as Joanna moved towards him.

  Her distress inhibited her reason which allowed her to go with the flow.

  48

  Joanna followed her instinct and placed her hand on Guillermo’s arm which was still damp. He didn’t move, letting her caress him, plunging his eyes into hers as if drinking in their mounting desire.

  “I should go”, Joanna murmured.

  “You are fine here. I’ll take a shower more often if it means I have the pleasure to see you show up each time.”

  He kissed her as she glued herself against his skin as she wanted more; always more.

  Her blouse dampened with their contact, but she didn’t really care. Instead, she helped Guillermo undo it then he left her lips to kiss her neck and shoulders.

  He unfastened her bra easily. She felt it fall to her feet.

  Both of Guillermo’s hands delicately took hold of her chest which he lifted and held then pushed his face into her creamy, soft flesh. She felt his nose caress her, his lips tease her.

  Joanna was filled with a delicious joy.

  Their hands explored each other, slowly and sensually. Sometimes eagerly as every embrace became more passionate and demanding.

  Guillermo seized her with his lips again. Joanna answered to all of his demands with the same enthusiasm, even ignoring her mobile phone which was ringing in vain.

  From the corner of her ear, he nibbled her earlobe before whispering:

  “Aren’t you going to answer?”

  “I don’t want to. I’m good here and I don’t want to think about that right now.”

  They were both naked and the bed wasn’t hard to reach. Carefully, because of the plaster, they tumbled onto the mattress which took both of them without groaning.

  Joanna’s phone began to ring again insistently. Once more she deliberately ignored it. She even laughed at her own audacity; she usually answered promptly on the first ring.

  She felt free.

  Even her migraine had left her. She listened only to her body which was thirsty for Guillermo’s. She didn’t want to think about anything else.

  * * *

  Much later, Joanna lay next to Guillermo. She felt calm and her body satisfied. They talked and laughed. They
didn’t want to part from each other.

  “You seemed upset when you got here”, Guillermo commented softly.

  Joanna turned her head towards him, hesitated then confirmed with a nod.

  “My father thinks I’m a parasite. Do you think so?”

  “I won’t say no if parasites are like you.”

  Guillermo kissed her with ardour and Joanna started to laugh as his hand caressed and tickled her.

  “It’s not funny”, she insisted, yet unable to keep a straight face.

  “I’m glad you came here to complain about it. The customer is always right. And I say you are no parasite.”

  A bitter smile appeared on Joanna’s lips as she became serious, slowly coming back to reality.

  “I should be at work.”

  “You’re close enough”, Guillermo persisted. “You’re with a client of the seaside hotel.”

  “And I suppose I’m checking the state of the bedsheets?” Joanna attempted a light tone.

  “Indeed. And perhaps they should be checked more often, in that case.”

  “Because sir finds the service less than desirable?”

  “On the contrary, I find it is getting better every day.”

  “I’m going to shower then go back to work”, Joanna announced.

  Her words were strong, but her movements weren’t. Guillermo hugged her, kissed her shoulder then slowly let her go.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Don’t do that, Guillermo...”

  “What am I doing?”

  They laughed once more as they fell back into the sheets. Emboldened, she was straddling him when her phone was heard again.

  “This is getting ridiculous!” she protested.

  49

  Joanna’s mood changed. Guillermo saw the subtle difference.

  “I think you ought to go. We’ll postpone it for now.”

  “Really?”

  “Really!” Guillermo confirmed, kissing her fervently.

  He remained lying down on the bed as she got up to take a quick shower. When she came back a few minutes later, she moaned at the state of her blouse.

  “I can’t put this back on, it’s all creased.”

  Joanna bit her lower lip. She should have thought of that earlier. Taken the time to place it on the chair, or something like that... Except everything happened so fast.

  “You can take one of my shirts”, Guillermo suggested.

  “It would be too big.”

  “You only need to roll up the sleeves for a more relaxed effect.”

  Guillermo got up and offered her a blue shirt. She put it on and checked it in the mirror.

  “It’s not too bad, actually.”

  “It’s very sexy, you mean... There’s only one thing I want: to kidnap you.”

  “I think you are taking your desires too far”, Joanna laughed.

  “It’s a shame. Anyway, you didn’t tell me why you came to see me.”

  “It’s not important. Well, I don’t think so...”

  Joanna hesitated. Did she really want to ruin the moment...

  “Say it anyway, I’m a big boy, I can take it...”

  He watched her reaction. Was she being defensive? Joanna overlooked the fact that she wanted to stop everything between them. She knew she couldn’t say it like that, especially after everything that had just happened.

  She preferred staying with the major events of the day and the break in.

  “It seems that somebody introduced themselves to my father’s office, last night.”

  Guillermo frowned as he also got dressed.

  “What do you expect me to do with that information?” he asked prudently.

  “I bumped into you near his office, yesterday”, she explained.

  As she spoke, she tried sorting out her hair.

  “Do you really suspect me?”

  Guillermo had lost his smile and watched Joanna in the mirror.

  “Of course not. I wanted to know if you had seen anybody else. That’s all. Marguerite for example...”

  With that, she explained what the employee had confided in her. Guillermo remained worried.

  “Did he call the police to look for fingerprints?”

  “What do you think! My father was too busy thinking it was one of us for whatever reason. Anyway, since he is with this Cécile, he seems to have such mixed up ideas.”

  “She’s got character and knows how to use her charm, there’s no doubt about that”, Guillermo commented.

  “Oh, no, don’t get into all that. I don’t have a good feeling about this girl. I’d really like to know where she’s come from. Except I don’t know how to find out.”

  “Which is where you got the idea to rummage in your father’s place.”

  Joanna looked at Guillermo, ready to turn red when she realised he was laughing at her gently. She calmed down, even gratified him with a smile.

  “You’re impossible sometimes!”

  She picked up her phone and found several messages.

  “Well, I really have to go, this time.”

  “When will we see each other again?”

  “I’ll give you my whole weekend if you want”, she decided off the top of her head.

  “You’re becoming daring, fair lady, and I like it. But what will your daughter say?”

  “She’s spending the weekend at a friend’s.”

  “How convenient. A bit more and I’d say you’d already planned it all.”

  “I’m not as cunning as that. You’re making me late. My father will have me shot if I don’t get back to him.”

  “You told me he was already furious. A bit more or a bit less won’t change much.”

  “You’re right. That’s how I should get through my days.”

  50

  Joanna felt lighter as she arrived at the lobby. She discovered Joshua who shouted at her shamelessly.

  “Where were you? Everybody’s looking for you.”

  “I’m very well, thank you”, Joanna commented simply keeping her smile. “Did you get my messages?”

  Suddenly, Joshua calmed down. Did he only just now realise that it was he who was initially inconsistent by not showing up at the seaside hotel?

  “I had a rough night. I couldn’t wake up this morning.”

  “I noticed. And you look terrible, indeed.”

  Joanna knew her brother had had too much to drink the night before. Yet, she avoided aggravating the situation, mostly as she didn’t want to bring up her own absence. She wanted to keep her own absent moment to herself, preciously. It was her breath of fresh air.

  “Do you know about Dad?”

  “He’s lost his mind. He says somebody went into his office, but nothing was stolen. It’s mad.”

  “The doctor came, too. He had a dizzy spell.”

  Joanna noted her own feeling of detachment as she said it. How was it possible as she had been so worried at the time. And so angry, too, she thought to herself.

  “I have to see him, actually. He was with Cécile, earlier. He seemed fine. And the doctor had already left.”

  “Case closed, then”, Joanna shot.

  Joshua gave her a surprised look.

  “What’s up with you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Normally you would be raising hell. Now you’re zen-ness incarnate.”

  “I’m having lessons, it’s still new”, she lied.

  “It suits you quite well”, her brother approved. “Well, I’m off to see Dad. He must be free now.”

  “Keep your cool, he’s really wound up”, she warned him.

  She wondered if her father would dare to call him a parasite, too, or if his anger had dissipated despite it all.

  Inside, however, she was convinced he had voluntarily kept him in his good books. Joanna took it on the chin; she said nothing, or almost nothing. Joshua would be a whole other story, no doubt...

  “He seemed fine on the phone,” Joshua replied, as if echoing her words.


  Before he left, Joanna asked him if he had seen Mélanie.

  “No. But I just got here. Maybe she’s upstairs, with a guest...”

  “She hasn’t been here all day”, Joanna informed him. “I couldn’t reach her.”

  Joshua shrugged his shoulders then went in his office.

  “We can manage without her for one day. She’ll be back tomorrow, I imagine.”

  “That’s all you have to say!” Joanna protested.

  “I’m not her father!”

  “Of course! There’s an idea”, Joanna said.

  Joshua stared hard at his sister before going upstairs with nothing else to say.

  “Who’s going to watch the reception”, Joanna complained again.

  Her brother either didn’t hear her, or pretended not to.

  Joanna checked her messages for the umpteenth time, but there was still no news from Mélanie.

  She slid behind the counter and sighed. Everything was in place and her brother, true to form, took care of his own petty little self.

  Typically, the seaside hotel was always on its feet despite his long absence.

  But the assessment wasn’t all pleasing. She would have liked to be an essential element. A much needed one.

  Insidiously, her father’s words came back up to the surface. “A parasite”.

  Why did she have to think about that rather than diving into those moments of bliss that she’d just spent with Guillermo?

  Was it a mistake? Had she gone too fast? She thought not. They were two consenting adults. She refused to feel remorse and wanted to feel good; not spoil anything.

  Instead she thought about what her brother had said. There was an interesting lead. She was going to contact Mélanie’s parents. She must live with them still; she was only 18 years old. She would only have to check the address. Maybe give them a ring first.

  And everything was falling into place, she told herself.

  51

  Lorelli pushed the door of the seaside hotel and went straight towards her daughter who she discovered at the reception desk.