Trouble finding Blondie (3 page)

He was tempted to call her at the hotel but felt she wouldn’t even take his call. He forgot to ask for her cell phone number again last night.

Simona always walks off pain. Andre decided to try her walking therapy. He walked the city and had a nice lunch at his favorite seafood restaurant. After lunch, he went to the hotel.

I feel like a stalker already. But what is my other option? I don’t know where she lives. I don’t even have her phone number. So basically, I’m screwed and this is my only option. How the fuck did I get myself into this position? I don’t allow women to have the upper hand. What the hell is wrong with me? Nothing is wrong with you, moron, this is the woman that you never had an upper hand on. Neither of you did. It was out of both of your controls, and you were pretty pissed off about it. God’s hands? Well, God, you better be on my side this time because I’m not fighting here for some sorry ass ‘too late’ kinda deal. And I don’t give a shit how many men are around her either.

Processing all this in his head, he walked into the lobby and asked for her. The front desk girl was a strikingly beautiful Asian girl. She called the back office and was told that Mademoiselle Simona already left for the day.

“Left? What do you mean left? It’s 3 PM.”

“Yes, sir. She left early today.”

That meant a dead end. He was not going to see her or talk to her today. He held his head in disbelieve. The receptionist was uncomfortable about the whole situation and didn’t quite know what to say or do. Then the red-haired lady from the day before arrived with a look saying ‘Oh my God YOU again?’, and then she noticed his sadness and took pity on him.

“Listen. I have no idea who you are, but I know love when I see it. She had tears running down her face yesterday, coming back from the talk with you. You were incredibly nervous, and now you look genuinely sad. So, I’m going to go on a leap of faith here and tell you that she usually goes to Parc Monceau, not too far from here.”

“God bless you. I will pay you back, I promise.”

He rushed to the door, then ran back, jumped up to the counter and kissed the blushing red-haired receptionist.

“Merci. Que Dieu vous bénisse.”

Andre ran all the way. He was out of breath when he finally reached the park. He was still trying to catch his breath, looking around, when he saw her. She was with another woman and a baby. They were laughing and talking, while Simona was taking her heels off and sliding her skirt off. In 30 seconds she was in casual pants, shirt, sneakers, and pulling her baby fine hair up into a clip.
 
She looked like a teenager, acted like one, too, goofing off with the baby.

The other woman was leaving. She kissed the baby, hugged them both, and waived good bye. Andre started to walk towards them. Then he stopped.

Simona was holding the baby on her left hip, and she started to dance. She was singing, too. The baby was laughing out loud, and she was goofing off. Andre was enjoying the scene. He sat down on the grass in the distance.

She pulled out a blanket and spread it on the grass, took the baby’s and her shoes off, and laid down. The baby was crawling up and down, all over her. She was pulling, squeezing and kissing what looked like a HIM. She was constantly talking to him, too. She laid on her back with her legs up, put the baby on her feet and held his hands. She was flying him like an airplane. The baby got a kick out of that, and Andre was laughing with them on the other side, mesmerized.

After a while she packed all the stuff, put the baby in the stroller, and started to walk.

She slowly walked the streets, stopping by the birds, throwing them crumbs, smelling the blooming flowers, and constantly talking to the baby. She didn’t care what anybody thought. In fact, she didn’t pay attention to anybody else. She didn’t even notice that Andre was following her.
 

She stopped at a garden restaurant, sat at a table outside, ordered Perrier and salad, and asked for bread and olive oil. She pulled the stroller closer and took a cooler bag out with some container inside, the baby’s dinner. She put a dinosaur’s bib on him and started to feed the baby. She was making funny faces and noises. The baby was opening his mouth, smiling the whole time. By the time her food came, the baby was fed, happily playing with a spoon.

Andre was watching all of that from another table inside the restaurant. Surprisingly it was the best entertainment he had in a long time. He went to the bathroom. By the time he came back, she was gone. He ran outside in a panic, looking in all directions. “God dammit.” She was gone. “This woman drives me nuts.”

❖ ❖ ❖

The next day, he decided enough was enough. They need to talk. He went to the hotel at 2 PM just in case and waited for two hours, reading newspapers. He made small talk with the valet boy, and tipped him to let him sit on the bench next to their station.
 

At four o’clock an orange polished Aston Martin Virage Coupe pulled in. The valet boys rushed to the scene, fighting over the privilege of parking it. The two of them ended up by the door with confused looks. It was almost comical, as if to say ‘com’on seriously? Let’s do rock, paper, scissors.’.
 

Four Seasons’ training persevered. One of them politely smiled while the other held the door. The man wasn’t getting out. Amused by the scene, he called the other valet boy back and tipped them both. He explained that he just needed to park there for a little bit, waiting for somebody. The boys happily agreed, showing him to pull to the side.

Now, they all had a fabulous view. The Virage was a new contemporary design, a beautiful and functional V12 engine, with many meticulous details. What did the commercial say? ”It’s a new breed of a handcrafted luxury, the pinnacle of stylish discretion.”

While they were all still drooling over the car, Simona walked out, thanked the doorman and wished him a good day. She would have walked right by the valet and Andre, but she noticed the car, too.

Wow, what a beauty. And my favorite color, too.

The man stepped out of the car, put his hands on the top of the roof, and smiled.

“Need a ride?”

“Oh my God. What are you doing here? Jacques.”

“Waiting for you. Let’s go.”

“I can’t. I have plans.”

“I know you are going to the park. I will give you a ride.”

“It’s around the corner. But thank you, I won’t turn this beauty down.”

She jumped in, the ‘beauty’ took off, and Andre stood there speechless.

“Are you kidding me? TAXI, s’il vous plait.”

This is just great. What else? This woman is going to give me a heart attack. This is it. I don’t give a shit, what else can possibly happen? The day is today. We have to talk. I’m sick of this shit.

He got out of the taxi and walked towards the entrance of the park when he saw the same woman with a stroller from the day before.

“Bonjour! Vous attendez Simona?” /“Hello! Are you waiting for Simona?”/

“Oui, comment savez-vous?” /“Yes, how do you know?”/

“Je m’appelle Andre, je suis un ami de Simona.” /“My name is Andre, I am a friend of Simona’s.”/

Before she could respond, the Aston Martin pulled up, Simona got out, rushing to the park. The driver jumped out, left the car running on the street, and ran after her.

“Tu ne m’a pas répondu.” /“You didn’t give me an answer.”/

“Es-tu cinglé? Ta voiture!” /“Are you nuts? Your car!”/

”Bien, bien, je vais t’appeler ce soir!” /“Ok, ok, I will call you tonight!”/

“Salut, Reni.” The driver greeted the woman Andre was standing next to.

“Bonjour, Monsieur Villeneuve.”

“Reni, s’il vous plait, appelez-moi Jacques.” /“Reni, please, call me Jacques.”/

“Très bien, je promets.” /“I will, I promise.”/

Simona turned towards Reni and finally noticed Andre. She was in shock, trying to calm herself down. She turned away to wave to Jacques and catch her breath.

She walked slowly, trying to figure out what she was walking into while looking at Reni and Andre at the same time. Reni was smiling with no signs of stress, Andre was mysterious. She couldn’t read him at all.

“Hello. What are you doing here?”

“I came to see you. Yes, the front desk lady told me you come here after work.”

She made a mental note to kill whoever told him that. A slow, painful death.

“I see you two met already.” She was speaking in Slovak, confusing Andre completely.

“This is my cousin, Renata. This is Andre, an old friend of mine.”

They started to exchange compliments about their French and how neither of them realized that they were foreigners since they were speaking perfect French.
 

While this conversation was going on, Simona was looking at the baby, processing her thoughts. She finally said, “I’m sorry Andre, but I’m babysitting tonight. Reni and her husband are going out. I’m going to play Aunty this evening.”

Andre almost said
like yesterday?
, but thankfully he didn’t. Renata was looking at Simona with confusion but didn’t say anything. Simona started to swear that she forgot she was babysitting and was wearing dress pants.

“Oh well, no matter. You have seen me naked before. I have to change. Stand still, please.”

Before Andre figured out what she was trying to say and do, she pulled her pants down. She was standing in beautiful lace underwear with her butt sticking out right in front of him.

“Stop staring at my ass.”

“If it’s sticking out, it’s allowed.”

“Very funny. Well, I hope you got your fix.”

“No, I didn’t. Can we do it again?” She smiled. It had a double meaning to them.

“Very funny. Reni, do you have a hanger? Of course you do, because you are the best. And I love you.” She hung her pants and jacket on the hanger.

“Listen, if you guys want to go out tonight, I don’t mind staying.”

“Don’t be silly, Reni. I was looking forward to this all day. My lovely nephew and I are going to have a blast. You better go before he starts crying for mommy.”

“Are you sure about this?” Reni was looking at Andre, then Simona, as if she didn’t trust either of them. She finally kissed the baby, then Simona, and said, “Nice meeting you, Andre.”

“Hope to see you again, Reni. The pleasure was all mine.”

“Oh, Reni, could you please take the suit home? I will get it from you later. And don’t worry about us. We are going to be fine.”

“What time do you have to be at work tomorrow?”

“Eight. Please come around 7:15 AM to pick him up.”

“Pick him up?”
 

Reni looked confused, but Simona continued, “It will be easier. You can just stay at my place until he wakes up.”

Simona picked up the baby and waved. “Bye bye mommy. See you in the morning.”

Reni walked away with a confused look on her face.

“What is his name?”

“Reni.”

“Not your cousin, the baby.”

“Oh. Rene, after his mother. Renata, Rene...”

“Hello, Rene. Can I hold him?”

“I have to change his diaper, sorry.”

Simona’s hands were shaking. She knew very well that the baby didn’t need any diaper change, but she needed to do something with her hands.

“So, what are you doing here again?”

“I didn’t get your number last time. I had no way of getting a hold of you.”

She didn’t say anything, pretending to be busy with the baby. She was afraid to look at him. He would know how freaked out she really was.

“Blondie, we need to talk. Pretty, pretty please. I deserve to know. Why?”

“Look, tonight is probably not the best time for this discussion.”

“Why not? Can I walk you home?”

‘NO.” She said it in a tone that scared them both.

“I get it, you don’t want me to know where you live.”

She felt awful, but she couldn’t help it. She was panicking.

Ok, ok, get your shit together, Simona! Calm down! He is just being nice. It’s ok. Calm down! Think! He is right. You need to talk. He is not going to go anywhere and will keep coming back. So, figure it out. Talk to him.

“You are right. Let’s talk. Do you want to walk with me?”

“I would love to.”

They walked through the park and the streets of Paris, catching up, talking about mutual friends, Maui, family, the boys. The hours were flying. Simona realized that it was time for the baby’s bath and to go home, but she didn’t want to. It felt like before. It was amazing, and she didn’t want to leave. Then she remembered.

“Andre, do you remember years ago, I came to Paris for Roland Garros? With Patrick and the kids?”

“Yes, I remember. I was on Majorca at the time.”

“I went to the park by the Eiffel tower by myself for the evening show. I texted you, back then, saying that I would love to have a picnic with you there.”

“Is today THE day? I would love to is my answer.”

“I have to go home to change the baby and give him a bath. Can we can meet there at 8:30 PM?”