Helpless | A Modern Hamliza Story

Chapter Fifteen

The long plane ride to Paris was not in vain for Alexander and Eliza. The view as they rode out from Charles de Gaulle airport to their hotel was absolutely breathtaking, and Eliza was constantly taking pictures of the pretty views and buildings she was seeing. She had seen all of the pictures and Lafayette had told her all about the beauty of Paris, but it was even more breathtaking in real life.

The cab stopped at a particularly cute, small restaurant in the middle of Paris. It was lunch time by the time they finally arrived after taking forever to find their luggage and getting a cab, even though the restaurant was only thirty minutes from the hotel.

"Le Parme," Eliza read, looking at the front sign, trying to use her best French to pronounce the restaurant name.

She looked to her husband, who was taking their luggage out of the cab, taking hers from him. She was too excited, her smile beaming from ear to ear as she took in the feel and smell of the city.

"Is it what you imagined?" Alexander asked, paying the cab driver and rolling her luggage up with him. He was smiling too, mostly looking at his wife, who was now sitting in a chic little chair next to a small patio table taking selfies to send to her sisters. "We've been outside for two minutes in Paris, and you're already a tourist," he laughed.

"How could I not? It's the aesthetic, darling."

He laughed again, agreeing with her long enough to get their first picture together in Paris before the scent of the food lured him in to the restaurant.

"Let's get something to eat," he suggested, leading them inside.

They sighed when they entered the restaurant, clearly feeling deprived of a good meal since before the fight. It was a small little bistro, but it was perfect for a quick lunch before they were able to check in to their hotel. That was another surprise within itself. Lafayette had specifically recommended the hotel they would be staying at. Alexander could hardly wait to bring Eliza to the hotel and show her everything he saw in the pictures online, but for now, all he could focus on was getting food.

After they finished eating, they walked to their hotel. It wasn't far from the bistro, and the road there was romantic enough in its own way. It was the perfect opportunity to take in the scenery, stopping when Eliza found something particularly pretty that she wanted to check out further.

Finally, they stopped in front of a tall, beautiful building. It was tan, and would seem pretty plain to those passing by in the morning, but there were colored lights that beamed up, blue and purple, when it got dark out. It made something that looked like the average Paris building, though already beautiful, look ritzy and spectacular.

And that was just the outside of the hotel. Eliza was in for a treat.

Eliza gasped when they entered the hotel, the spacious and luxurious lobby overwhelming her. The clean design and fancy layout surprised her. She knew Alexander was good at planning trips for them, but she didn't know that he was this good.

Alexander checked them in to the Hotel Design Secret de Paris, then led her to the room, which was even fancier than the lobby.

The theme of the room was the Eiffel Tower, so the headboard of the bed was designed to look like you were inside a floor of the Eiffel Tower looking out at the view of Paris. Pillows lined the bed and a bottle of champagne was placed on one of the end tables. The room was romantic, cool greys and blues filling the entirety of the room. Vases of flowers were placed strategically across the room, and the view outside the large window was everything and more.

"Alexander, you didn't!" Eliza shrieked, looking around the room with her mouth agape. "I can't believe you did this!"

She turned to him, tears of joy stinging her eyes.