A Perfect Paris Christmas - Mandy Baggot Page 0,38

stop a dam from bursting. It wasn’t the blood flow she could feel now, it was the weight of dozens of gazes resting on her and her drama.

‘Shall I get someone?’ Louis asked, standing and hovering like he was at a complete loss as to what to do. Not quite so heroic when confronted with bleeding rather than the mechanics of entry and exit apparently.

‘Yes,’ Rach responded.

‘No!’ Keeley retorted immediately. ‘It’s a nosebleed. I… might have knocked it when I…’ She stopped talking then. It was quite hard to talk when your nose was being clamped with Kleenex and you were using only your mouth to breath. And she couldn’t possibly admit that she had got injured running after a penguin. The only doctor they would be calling for then would be a psychiatrist.

‘Is this because you’re not taking your tablets?’ Rach whispered, eyes a little frightened.

‘I am taking my tablets,’ Keeley answered. ‘Forever. Just at a reduced dosage.’

‘But could it be…’

Keeley shook her head. ‘No, Rach. It’s just a nosebleed.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes!’ She shrugged off Rach’s attentions, putting her own hand to the wad of tissue and easing herself back into the chair.

‘I should make a move,’ Louis announced, looking at his watch. ‘If you are sure that I cannot do anything and that everything is OK.’

‘Oh, do you have to go?’ Rach asked, finally moving her attention from Keeley. ‘You haven’t even had a cake and there’s plenty.’

‘The cakes are excellent here,’ Louis responded. ‘World-renowned.’ He smiled at them both. ‘I am sure I will see you again. I am here for a few weeks.’ He waved a hand. ‘À bientôt.’

‘I’ll try not to get trapped in any doors again,’ Rach began. ‘But if I do…’

Louis smiled and left the table, heading in the direction of the lobby. Rach’s attention seemed to go with him and Keeley just watched her friend while she attempted to thwart the bleeding.

‘He was nice,’ Rach said with a sigh.

‘You think he’s hot,’ Keeley replied, her h’s coming out as d’s, her nostrils still held closed.

‘Don’t you?’

No, she didn’t. She could see that Louis was an attractive man but he wasn’t attractive to her. Unlike Ethan. Even that name was sexy. Not quintessentially French, perhaps, but sexy all the same. She shivered then, probably in reaction to the blood loss…

‘Where did you go?’ Rach asked, suddenly cramming an éclair in her mouth.

‘I told you,’ Keeley said. ‘For some fresh air.’ She swallowed. She might have had a little cry if she hadn’t had her feet taken from under her right outside the entrance. It only went to prove that she was hanging a lot on this connection with Silvie Durand, maybe more than she should. Why was finding out about Ferne feeling almost crucial? Should it be?

‘Listen, we both need to chill,’ Rach said through her mouthful of pastry and cream. ‘We’ve had a big day and we’re train-lagged. Your woman probably thought she’d give us a treat with this tea and let you settle in before she meets you. I’m sure she’ll make contact tomorrow.’

Keeley nodded. What else could she do? She was the visitor here. What happened next was up to Silvie.

‘Have a cake,’ Rach urged. ‘And a sandwich. And tell me what my best outfit will be for loitering around a hotel looking romance-ready.’

‘The elf costume,’ Keeley said, finally feeling able to take the tissue away from her nose. ‘Or, if we’re testing your “looking for a long-term boyfriend” theory, maybe your pyjamas.’

‘Did you see they’re setting up some kind of Christmas-themed ice rink in the bar area?’

Keeley shook her head. Her body had been aching so much when she got back inside she hadn’t really seen anything.

‘Antonie was there and another guy who looks like a slightly chubbier version of him. They were both being all stiff and French and telling children not to touch anything.’

Keeley tried to stifle a yawn. She was tired. She hadn’t been sleeping that well lately and she had been taking out her frustrations with Lizzie’s overprotectiveness at the gym, maybe deliberately pushing things too hard.

‘Listen, Keels, you can tell me if there’s anything wrong, you know, with your health.’ Rach had leaned forward now, her sleeve dropping into the jam pot.

‘You said I wasn’t allowed to mention my kidney,’ Keeley reminded.

‘Out loud,’ Rach said. ‘In company. You know, as a meet-and-greet.’

Keeley smiled and picked up a delicious-looking egg sandwich from the silver platter. ‘I’m fine, honestly. Nothing to see here.’ Except a little