Wish Upon a Star. Olivia Goldsmith

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       THIRTEEN

      At Heathrow they didn’t have to wait to get through customs – there was a speed line for VIPs. Claire was thrilled to get her passport stamped but more thrilled to breathe British Air, not the airline, the real thing. And of course there was a driver – Terry, who apparently was Michael’s regular chauffeur – who took their bags and ushered them into a Mercedes. Her first glimpses of London were through the rain on the back windows. Claire did her best to hide her excitement.

      Though the day was dreary, the closer they got to London the more interesting the landscape became. First it was rows of connected houses. Then the houses got larger and they had front gardens. She was surprised to see so many flowers in bloom though it was only March. Daffodils waved their cups at her and her mood matched their sunny color. Then there was an entire block of houses with huge windows. They looked very old and the leaded glass and brickwork were complicated and beautiful. ‘What are they?’ she asked.

      Michael shrugged. ‘Just houses,’ he said. ‘I think they were once artists’ studios.’ He bent over and gave her a kiss on her forehead. ‘Do you know how cute you are?’ he asked and Claire blushed.

      She couldn’t help it. His eyes on her, approving, gave her a little rush. ‘I think so. But I was going for glamorous.’

      ‘For glamorous you need a hat,’ he said and laughed.

      She leaned back into the deep leather seat and, despite the driver, was brave enough to put her hand on Michael’s. ‘I’ll remember that,’ Claire told him and thought I can do this. It’s fun. I can flirt. She turned back to the passing scene. A sign pointed to Hogarth’s House, then on a raised highway they passed a modern glass building shaped like a lozenge.

      ‘Ugly, huh?’ Michael asked. ‘They call it The Ark. It does look a little like a ship.’

      ‘Have you been to London often?’

      Michael shrugged. ‘It depends on what you mean by often. A couple of dozen times?’ A couple of dozen times! That was twenty-four or more visits and he didn’t think that that was often. He shrugged again. ‘Do you like London?’

      Claire had known this moment would come, and though she had thought of other strategies, she had decided there was no option but the bare-faced truth. ‘I’ve never been,’ she said.

      ‘Really?’ He paused. ‘How old are you? If you don’t mind me asking.’

      Claire knew he was thirty-one. The difference in age between them wouldn’t account for twenty-four trips: unless he had made all his visits in the last seven years. ‘I’m twenty-four,’ she told him.

      He smiled. ‘You don’t look a day over twenty three and a half.’

      When the road lowered she nearly gasped at the view in front of her: this was the London she had expected, the one she had seen in movies. On the right there were Victorian buildings, most of them with signs advertising hotel rooms. On the left there was one monumental building after the other. She was dying to ask what they were but was far too shy. Luckily, Michael followed her gaze.

      ‘That’s the Natural History Museum. Never been there. And this one’s the Victoria and Albert. Big sucker. Full of furniture and musical instruments and decorative arts.’ The traffic was heavier and so was the rain. ‘That’s Brompton Oratory,’ he said. ‘Pretty inside.’

      Claire looked at the pillared building and had no idea what a Brompton or an oratory was but she didn’t feel up to asking.

      ‘We’ll be at the hotel in another ten minutes, sir,’ Terry said.

      ‘Do you mind if I just change and run out on you?’ Michael asked.

      ‘No.’

      ‘Thanks,’ Michael said. ‘My meeting today will be a ball-buster. They don’t send me over here to play Mr Nice Guy. Except, of course, to you.’

      Claire stood in the center of the room slowly turning around and trying to take it all in. It was spectacular, yet very restrained. How was it possible? she asked herself. It looked as if the walls were made of cloth and when she went over to touch one she found that they were, indeed, upholstered with a striped silk in beige and green. Where the fabric met the wooden paneling a silken cord divided them, the exact color of the green fabric stripe. There was a damask-covered sofa with a plethora of fringed throw pillows, an antique sideboard with a huge gilt mirror over it, and real paintings in carved frames. At the entry there was an alcove with a huge bunch of flowers in a Chinese vase, lit by a tiny light above. But most spectacular of all were the two windows that extended almost from the carpeted floor to the ceiling. They opened onto a tiny balcony that overlooked a beautiful, green park.

      The curtains were green damask, like the sofa, but that was only the top layer. Underneath there was another pair made of filmy cream lace, and behind those there was a net curtain that let the light in. Claire was about to open the window and step out onto the balcony when there was a knock on the door. She jumped and before she could react there was another knock. She wasn’t sure what to do but since Michael, in the shower, certainly couldn’t hear she went to the door. A man in a blue uniform stood there, a brass luggage carrier behind him. ‘I have your bags, miss,’ he said.

      ‘Oh, thank you. Bring them right in.’

      One by one he carried each through the living room and into the bedroom, which was decorated in blue and white. She followed him. The noise of the shower here was louder and Claire became nervous that Michael might step out of the bathroom undressed. Luckily, he didn’t.

      ‘Shall I hang this up for you?’ he asked holding Michael’s shoulder bag. Claire had no idea and just nodded. He opened a door that was also upholstered in the blue and white fabric of the rest of the room and revealed a large closet with fabric-covered hangers, drawers, shoe racks, and – for all Claire knew – a little man who ironed clothes as part of the service. ‘Shall I put your case on the luggage rack?’ he asked. She nodded again and he pulled out a contraption that СКАЧАТЬ