Thank you so much to Crissa for being my beta, you are awesome-sauce :)
CHAPTER 9
They arrived at 7.30pm Parisienne time and were at the front desk of the hotel Plaza Elysee an hour later. It was situated in a five story, 'Huassmann' style building made of cream coloured limestone in the 8th arrondisement. The reception area was elegantly fitted out with classic late 19th century decor. Marble flooring gave way to a solid granite top reception with a flower arrangement of pink lily's. Impressionist paintings of Paris hung off the embossed wallpaper, illuminated by strategic soft lighting and a carpeted marble staircase with a black wrought iron balustrade that lead up to the rooms. It was comfortable. Small without being quaintly so.
"Bonsoir." she said to the receptionist "J'ai une réservation au nom de Marina Mareille*."
A smart looking woman in a crisp white shirt and black waistcoat consulted their guest list.
"Oui, nous avons deux chambres supérieures doubles reserve à ce nom **."
Marina turned to Clara who stood with the luggage. "They have two rooms for us..." she trailed off the question implicit in the statement. Clara shifted on her feet and flipped her fringe out of her eyes.
"Uh... That sounds good to me..." she said "so that, you know..." she trailed off confused and stared at her hands.
Marina couldn't deny it wasn't what she wanted to hear but she smiled anyway and nodded. "Oui, c'est bien ça, deux chambres supérieures doubles." *** she told the receptionist.
[Translation *: Good evening, I have a reservation under the name of Marina Mareille.
Translation **: Yes, we have two luxury double rooms under this name
Tranlsation ***: Yes, that's right, two luxury double rooms.]
XXX
Marina knocked on the door that linked her room to Clara's. Neither of them were hungry, but after an eleven hour flight they felt like stretching their legs so they'd decided to go for a walk. They'd gone to shower with the promise of meeting again in half an hour.
"Come in!" Clara called out.
Marina opened the door and stepped through. Their rooms were almost identical. In similar style to the reception area, they were fitted out in a classical 19th century style. A queen sized double bed dominated the room against a red feature wall, embossed with the fleur de lis, heavy curtains fell from the ceiling to the floor, framing the double doors that gave onto the balcony overlooking the quiet cobbled street below. A writing desk was tucked into a corner next to the wall mounted flat screen, leaving enough room to comfortably navigate the bed but not much more.
Clara was putting on her shoes. She looked up and smiled.
"I'm sorry about the hotel," Marina started, "Usually we would stay somewhere nicer, like Hotel Blazac but with our budget so tight we accepted the accommodation Edourad gave us. Normally we would just pay for the hotel ourselves. We're just around the corner from the gallery incidentally."
"You're apologizing for the hotel? Marina, this is beautiful! I guess you're used to five stars but this is definitely one of the nicer places I've stayed in." She stood up and held out her hand. "You ready to go?"
They stepped out into the cool spring air.
"This way," Marina said. Down the one way street they went, arm in arm, residential apartment buildings crowding the narrow road, a few shops, all shut up. Within a few minutes they had reached the end of the street. A steady stream of cars and pedestrians made their way down the bisecting boulevard.
"Look, Clarinha." Marina said pointing to their right. "It's l'Arc de Triomphe"
Trees lined the way up les Champs Elysee to the Place Charles de Gaulle where the arc stood, its stony edifice thrown into relief by lights that shone up from its base.
They walked up the boulevard, weaving in between late night tourists with their cameras and Parisians walking briskly past, speaking in rapid-fire French.
"I love the sound of the French language." Clara said as a svelte woman in a pencil skirt and high heels swung past, her hands animated as she explained some detail to the man she was with.
"Vraiment, mon amour?" Clara purred smoothly.
"And you know what? I didn't even know you spoke French, you sly thing!"
"I've spent a fair amount of time in Paris, on and off. Photography is popular here. I'm not fluent, but I can get by."
"See! I never knew that. I've read a little about you, I knew you'd exhibited in London, I knew you spoke English, but there is so much I don't know."
"And there is much I don't know about you, Clara."
"What is there to know? I married, had a child and was a stay at home mum. I speak a couple of English words and that's it!"
"Details are not relevant. What is important is the heart. I want to know your heart, Clara, and I suspect that that is endlessly fascinating."
She hugged Clara's arm and smiled.
"Do you have any idea how beautiful your smile is, Marina?"
"No, I don't." Marina said pulling Clara into a darkened doorway. She curled her arm around Clara's neck, "I think you may just have to tell me." She said and arched a saucy eyebrow.
"You have a smile that takes my breath away." Clara said her arm circling her slender waist. She looked quickly to see if anyone could see them and then leaned in. She kissed her slowly. Marina sighed, relishing those warm lips, her hands running over her jeans to grasp her bottom, delighting in the gasp it elicited.
"Stop it!" Clara chided but only seemed to half mean it as she nuzzled the spot beneath her earlobe. "You smell good, right here" she murmured.
"The rest of my body smells like that too." Marina whispered wickedly.
Clara laughed, remembering when Marina had said that to her once upon a time.
"I bet it does." She slipped her hand into Marina's. "Come. Let's take a closer look at this Arc de Triomphe." she said trying her best to burr the r's correctly and failing.
xxx
Clara was up against the hotel room door, Marina's mouth insistent and hungry upon hers. Their bodies were flush, her arms gently but firmly pinned and Marina's leg pressed against her center, making coherent thinking difficult.
The moment they'd entered the room, Clara knew she was in trouble. Marina had looked at her in a way that made her tremble and without a word she'd swung Clara around. A hand made its way under her top rubbing circles on her skin, making its way up her side and when a thumb traced the underwire of her bra, she squirmed and pulled back, breathless.
"Oh, God" she groaned as Marina trailed kisses down her neck. She arched against the wall.
"Stay with me tonight." Marina said against her ear, her hand sliding over her bra to cup a breast "Let me make love to you..."
"Oh, God, wait," Clara said and bit her lip as Marina's thumb skimmed over a hardened nipple. "Please, Marina, wait!"
Marina became still, her hand on her breast, her lips on her neck and then she pulled away. They were both breathing heavily. She looked at Clara, confused.
"Clara...?"
"I'm sorry, Marina, I can't, not right now..."
Marina stepped back, running a hand through her hair. She walked to the other side of the bed and sat down.
"I'm sorry, Marina... It's just moving so fast..."
Marina removed her jacket, her shoes and lay down on her side, her spine stiff. Clara climbed onto the bed behind her, her hand tentatively reaching out, tracing the length of her arm.
"Marina - I'm not saying no. This is all new to me. I've never been with a woman before and I want it, oh God, believe me I want it... but I need to do this right."
Clara waited to see if Marina would respond but she lay there, immobile.
"Speak to me, Marina..."
Slowly Marina turned around, her face serious. She tugged Clara down onto the pillow, moving in close until their faces were inches apart, their legs intertwining, their hands interlacing.
"I'm sorry." she whispered, "I just...patience is not my thing."
"Why are you apologizing? You have been incredible. You've been nothing but patient with me and my situation." Clara said softly, a hand stroking Marina's cheek.
"I get it, Clarinha, this is new. You're scared. And I keep pushing but you're right, this isn't something to rush. We can take all the time we need and do this right."
Clara felt tears prick in her eyes. She leaned over and kissed Marina.
"You are a saint."
"Oh trust me, I'm no saint." Marina said, cracking a smile "Once you're ready, Clara, you better watch out because there are things that I'm planning to do to you..."
Clara bit her lip and laughed "Oh God, Marina, stop!"
"I won't let you leave the bed and I'll make sure you can't remember your own name."
Clara buried her head in the pillow before looking up at Marina's mischievous eyes.
"You promise?"
"I promise. But I'm going to let you set the pace, okay?"
"Thank you." she said, moving in until their noses touched. It felt so good to lie there together in the silence, sharing their breath. Clara's heart felt like it was surrounded by a warm golden light, it felt so healing and right to be here like this. She drifted.
"Do you know what I'm afraid of, Marina?" Clara said as she felt the tendrils of sleep wind themselves around her senses.
"What?" Marina murmured
"I'm afraid that I'll make love with you and then you'll grow tired of me."
"Clarinha... look at me" Marina said pulling back to look into her eyes, "Remember how I said once that I had been looking for you in every woman I'd met?"
Clara inclined her head.
"I wasn't lying. I didn't just say that."
"And Ivan?"
"What about Ivan?"
"You know that he's part of the deal, right?"
"Yes. I do. And I think he is a delight."
"That doesn't... I don't know – scare you?"
"Why would it scare me?"
"Because this is not part of your life, children. You're an artist. Carefree and impulsive. And what I offer is... a quiet home life."
"And family."
"Yes. Family."
"Have you thought that maybe that is what I want?"
"Is it? I mean we've never talked about it and I've not asked because what if you don't? What if -"
"Stop. Clara. I want you. And everything that comes with that, Clarinha, my darling, my love."
She punctuated each endearment with a soft kiss and lay her head back down on the pillow.
Clara felt something so tender unfold inside her for this woman, her heart ached with it. She pulled her into her arms, her chin resting on the crown of Marina's head, holding her close, savouring the sensation of this embrace.
"I love you, Marina, so much. So much, so much."she said her voice chocked with the immediacy of her feelings. She could feel Marina smile against her neck, feel the wetness of her tears.
"You have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear those words, my love." Marina murmured squeezing her tight.
They lay there, unwilling to let go, sleep stealing them away by fractions, as their bodies relaxed, their eyes closed, their breathing deepened.