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“Shall we?” I take Roxanne’s hand in mine and we make our way toward the entrance, thanking the doorman as he welcome us in French, his head bowing slightly at us.
The palatial entrance takes their breath away, and I must say, despite having been here before with my parents, the immaculate beauty of the lobby and its Belle Époque decoration doesn’t leave me indifferent either.
The porters take our bags and we are ushered toward the front desk. While I’m finalizing the check-in process, I watch Roxanne take a few pictures of Yao and Lili standing behind the marble staircase covered with a red carpet and tapestries spread on the paneling walls. They are smiling up to their ears and I find myself mimicking their smile. We’re going to have such a good time here. I’ve booked a table at La Tour d’Argent—one of the most iconic establishments in Paris and already two centuries old—for the evening. Before we go, though, I need to find a moment to Yao before proposing to her daughter tomorrow.
Once the checkin has been made, I hand one key to Yao and another to Lili and let them know they are staying next to each other. I had asked Lili if she wanted to invite Robin along, but he already had plans to spend Easter with his family. Roxanne and I, on the other hand, are located on another floor.
When we reach the suite I've booked for us, my heart is pounding anxiously fast. I just hope she’s going to like it.
Standing in front of the white double doors, I go and open them, inviting her in.
Roxanne paces slowly inside, taking in her surroundings, she scans through the high ceilings, the crystal chandelier centering the living room, the marble fireplace situated on her right, and the overall opulence of the place.
“Oh my gosh, Andries, this is…” she lets her words trail off as she paces around the ample living room. The décor highlights Asian lacquer pieces, gold-framed mirrors, and velvet furniture in beige and brown tones. “I…”
“Remember when you told me your perfume was Chanel Number Five, and that it was your favorite fragrance?” I ask, and her attention returns to me when she nods, visibly smitten. “I figured you might enjoy being in a suite that once belonged to its creator.”
“You mean?” She blinks twice, her mouth gaping as she processes what I just told her. “This is Gabrielle Chanel’s suite?”
“She lived here for thirty-four years,” I say, causing her to gasp. “It was pretty hard to make a booking on such short notice, not going to lie, but I wanted us to stay here. I knew it’d be a special place for you.” I conveniently leave the part where I had to contact the hotel manager who knows my father well. Being a Van Den Bosch had never been so helpful.
“You are totally crazy, this must have cost a fortune!” She walks in my direction, ready to rebuke. “Andries, you didn’t have to—”
But I hold a finger to her lips, shushing her. “Hey. You deserve this and much more. This is just a one-time splurge to celebrate what you did for me.”
She clasps her hands over my neck, her features softening. “I know but you don’t need to spend so much, especially after what your parents have done.”
“Don’t worry,” I tell her and seeing the frown forming on her face, I explain a bit further. “Oma found a few properties undermy name that my mom had supposedly forgotten to tell me about.”
She furrows her brow in confusion. “Wait. You own real estate that you knew nothing about?”
“I know it sounds silly, but yeah, Oma is a Van Dieren—another noble family that has been around for centuries and they own thousands of properties around the world. Most of them are being managed and rented out by their family office but I remember Mom telling me when I was younger that once I turned eighteen, a few of them would be transferred to me so I could have something that belongs entirely to me.” I pause for a beat, observing her attentive gaze. “But since I left for a year and spent my eighteen birthday abroad, I guess she took it upon herself to never mention it again as some form of revenge.”
“Wow,” she utters in shock at the revelation. “What a petty thing to do. Your family is really something.”
“That's why I don’t really care if they disowned me.” I shrug and before the mood gets too heavy due to such a serious subject, I take her hand and say, “Well, let’s put this behind and check the rest of the suite.”
We continue checking the suite like we are exploring some sort of museum. After all, this place has been decorated by Gabrielle Chanel herself. We find some of her personal objects such as portraits, drawings, and unpublished photographs, still unknown to the public. Then we walk into the bedroom and my first thought is to kiss her, to throw her down on the bed and make furious love to her because I’ve been craving her for days, but this will have to wait for now, as we have got ourselves a busy schedule ahead.
When she finds her luggage lying by the closet, she starts to unpack a couple of things including an elegant dress for the evening, which I’m thrilled to see is one of my favorites. It reveals just enough, but not enough to make her mother’seyebrows raise. When she catches my eye, I see her grin at me. “Don’t get any ideas. I’m going to have a shower and get dressed. You promised Lili and Mama to take them to Shakespeare and Company upon our arrival.”
It's refreshing that she can read my mind, after all.
The temptation to simply open the bathroom door is there, and I want to climb into the shower with her and soap her naked body down. But there will be time for that later. Instead, I take this opportunity to go and talk to Yao in private. Arriving at her room number, I knock a few times, and when she opens me the door, she seems visibly surprised to see me.
“Hey,” I greet, slightly nervous at what I'm about to do. “Is the suite to your liking?”
“To my liking? My dear, this suite is even bigger than my apartment. Come in, come in,” she ushers me inside and I giving her a polite smile, stepping in.
“See? It’s huge!”
“I'm glad you are enjoying it, then,” I find myself saying, and before I can place another word, Yao takes over.
“I’ve never been able to afford anything like this for my girls, so I hope you know how much I appreciate you taking us on this trip.”
“You’re welcome. I’m truly glad that you could all be here together, and I’m really excited for the future.” Taking a deep breath, I know what I’m about to ask her will come out of nowhere.
“Speaking of which…Ms. Feng, I came here to ask you for your blessing, if I were to ask Roxanne to marry me.” Her eyebrows raise immediately in confusion, and that doesn’t help one tiny bit. “It’s kind of a silly old tradition, I know, but you’re the only parent she has. It’d mean a lot to me to know that you were okay with me proposing.” The funny thing is, I don’t really even care about my own family’s blessing. I know mygrandmother cares enough to be part of it, and that’s all I need. If I need to build a life without the rest of my family, I’ll figure it out.
