1950 – My finally successful holiday to France...

I remember being incredibly nervous when I finally arrived at my hotel in Paris. After my run of bad luck in France during the war, I wasn't sure my luck would be any better now. Especially when I was greeted by the owner of the hotel himself; Louis LeBeau, formerly Corporal LeBeau, a prisoner of Stalag 13 who was one of Colonel Hogan's main trouble makers. He is also an excellent chef, and used to cook for myself and guests occasionally, but I knew to never fully trust him.

"Monsieur Klink!" he greeted me cheerfully. If I still had my monocle, it would have fallen off my face. "Welcome to my hotel! Decided to try your luck in France again, have you? If you leave your bags by the door here, Claude will take them to your room for you."

I clutched my bags tighter, having had too much experience with my items being stolen in France. Seeing as the perpetrators had always been the Gestapo, the French underground or Colonel Hogan (mostly Hogan I suspect), I really shouldn't have had cause to be worried, but unfortunately old habits die hard and I chose not to let my bags out of my sight.

LeBeau smirked, although he tried to hide it. "Would you like me to take you up to your room now, monsieur?" he asked politely. Almost too politely I thought suspiciously, but I nodded and agreed anyway.

He led me up a flight of stairs, asking me on the way whether I could now see without my monocle.

"Not that it is really any of your business," I answered, not sure I wanted to divulge too much personal information to a man who had spent years tormenting me (even if it was for a good cause.) "But I have always been able to see just fine. I only wore the monocle for my own amusement." It also annoyed people, but I decided not to tell LeBeau everything.

LeBeau didn't respond; instead he had a thoughtful look on his face as he led me down a hallway and unlocked the last door on the left. He opened the door and allowed me to enter, handing me the key on my way through.

"Would you like any food or drink brought up to your room, monsieur?" he asked, still with that same suspiciously polite tone of voice.

"No, thank you," I responded, trying to sound equally polite. Unfortunately my voice was beginning to come out in the same terrified tone I had adopted around Hogan and his men during the war, and LeBeau noticed. He tried his best to hide his amusement, but I could see the gleam in his eyes and the slight twist of his lips. As he exit the room I sighed, knowing already that I was not looking forward to this holiday as much as I had been.

I sat down on the bed, telling myself that I could still make the best of it and avoid LeBeau as much as possible. I figured if he owned the place, how much time could he spend anywhere near me? Well, as it turned out, quite a lot, but I'll write about that later.

The room I had was quite simple, but still very nice, and it had everything I needed. The bed was a small double with a colour close to sky blue blankets and sheets, and matching pillows. The walls were a pale cream colour, and they looked like they had been painted recently. To the right of my bed was a window which overlooked the street outside – if people watching had been more of a hobby to me I could have amused myself no end without even having to leave my room. Above my bed hung a simple painting of some blue flowers; I guess that was to match the covers. I also had a small bedside table and a cupboard opposite my bed, which for me was ample storage.

I lay back on the bed, testing its level of comfort. It was amazing! It felt like I was floating on clouds, except with the added bonus of being solid enough that I wouldn't fall through. I looked around me again, and spotted a beautiful, black haired woman walking up to me wearing her bathing suit and carrying two glasses of champagne. I took the one she offered me, smiling my thanks and shifting over so she could join me on my cloud. Another woman then approached and, with a smile, began to massage my feet.

The feeling of her hands was divine! I almost forgot about the first woman until she reminded me of her presence by kissing my cheek. I turned my face towards her in hopes of a more intimate kiss, but unfortunately at that moment I was awoken by a knock on my door.

I groaned, opening my eyes and realising that I wasn't on a cloud and that I most certainly wasn't surrounded by beautiful women. The knock sounded again so I stood up and quickly checked my reflection in a small mirror attached to the cupboard. Every hair in place, I made my way over to the door, opening it slowly and feeling a little cautious in case it was LeBeau back again.

It wasn't.

I was greeted by a woman more beautiful than the ones in my dream. More beautiful in fact, than any other woman I had met before. She looked around my age, and was a little shorter than me. Her eyes were a stunning shade of blue that put my bed covers to shame, and her hair was flaming orange with just a few streaks of grey. She wore a simple blue dress to match her eyes, and when I noticed how well it showed off all the right features on her body, I realised I was possibly admiring her a little too closely. Oops!

"H... how can I help you?" I stammered, not knowing what to say and hoping she hadn't said anything to me while I was examining her body.

She responded with a small smile and a laugh, and I decided I liked her for even more than just her stunning looks. That smile and laugh made her seem like she was permanently in a state of delight. I then tuned into what she was telling me.

"I am so sorry monsieur; I do beg your pardon. I thought this was the room my sister was staying in, but obviously I must have got the number wrong."

And yes, I do remember what she said word for word because they were the first words she ever spoke to me.

"Oh," I answered, not actually sure what to say. "Well, umm, maybe she is in another room then?"

Oh yes, way to state the obvious Klink.

"Yes, she must be," she responded.

We then proceeded to stare at each other awkwardly for what felt like hours, although most likely it would have only been a couple of seconds. I decided I should probably say something more appropriate and charming.

"Uhh, my name is Wilhelm. Wilhelm Klink."

She smiled and laughed again, while I continued to stand awkwardly.

"Nice to meet you Wilhelm," she responded. Gosh, her voice was just so sweet; for some reason it made me think of spring and flowers and fresh water. "My name is Anne. Anne Marie Dubois." She offered me her hand.

I decided to try for being gallant, even though that had failed for me on my past attempts. "I'm absolutely honoured to meet you Anne," I said, accepting her hand and kissing the back of it (and at the same time cleverly taking note that there were no rings on either hand). She smiled again, laughing a little louder than before. Her eyes were even more beautiful when she laughed.

While I was thinking about Anne's eyes, the door opposite mine opened and a younger version of Anne stepped out, shutting the door quickly behind her. This woman had the same red hair as Anne, but I immediately took note of looser fitting garments that hid her shape from view. Almost her entire body was covered and she wore a thick layer of makeup, although I could see traces of a bruise around her right eye. I later learned what that was from, but at the time I had no idea. She also looked exhausted and run down, and appeared to be favouring her left leg a little. Her face did light up when she spotted Anne though.

She greeted Anne fondly. The two sisters (with their looks it was quite obvious that they were) hugged in what was clearly delight, before making their way into Anne's sister's room, Anne once more telling me it was nice to meet me before shutting the door.

I stared at the back of the door in a daze for quite a few minutes, thinking over my meeting with Anne and realising over and over again that she was the most beautiful, gorgeous, stunning and sweet woman I had ever met. I also realised I was staring at a stranger's door and headed back into my own room to continue my rest. I dreamed I was on a cloud again, but this time the only woman there was Anne.

oOoOoOoOo

Author's Note:

Sorry I didn't get this updated as early as I would have liked – I had intended to post chapters weekly. I managed to get very sick and land myself in hospital for a short time, but I am on the mend now, so I hope you all enjoyed chapter 3!

As always, reviews are very welcome. Hopefully I can get chapter 4 to you all a little sooner!