Post by Emma Louise on Jan 21, 2023 19:59:19 GMT -6
Tiff tries to remember last night. She can remember getting out the cab with the rest of the girls at the start of the night. She remembers music. ‘Acceptable in the 80’s’ played at some point. As did ‘Born Slippy’. Drinks? Tiff remembers bottles of beer, shots and ice rattling in her glass. Men? There was the one at the front of the club that laughed when she dropped her bag. There was her ex, Nick who was there with his new girlfriend. There was the guy at the bar that paid for a round. There was the kiss she had with Nick in the ladies. There was the barman that gave them free drinks just because she was willing to kiss her friend Shannon. Then there was the series of randoms that shared a dance on the floor.
So where was she?
The men, the drink, the music was all melding together in a mass of noise and colour like the bat signal.
Tiff got to her feet and walked around the bed. Her shoes were on the floor. Good. She got to the window. The curtains were shut. As she reached her hand out toward the curtain, the room door opens. A tall man walks into the room. He stops when he sees Tiff.
“Qui es-tu et pourquoi es-tu dans ma chambre d'hôtel?“
“What?”
“Qui es-tu et pourquoi es-tu dans ma chambre d'hôtel?“ The man repeats.
“Erm…”
“Que fais-tu ici?”
“Easy? You think this is easy? You think I’m easy?”
“Pourquoi es-tu dans ma chambre?”
“Chomb? The hell is Chomb? Chomb? Chomb?…. Ah! Charlotte! My friend Charlotte let you in. Seems like something she would do.”
“Sécurité! Sécurité”
“OK. Security. I got that one! That the call word for Charlotte? Funny! You can come out now Lotte! Has she got hidden security cameras in the corners of the room?”
“Qu'est-ce que tu racontes?”
“Racoons? Why are you talking about?”
Tiff looks around the room.
“Where’s my bag? My phone?”
“Comment es-tu arrivé ici?”
Tiff finds her bag on the other side of the room. She grabs it and digs in it. She pulls out her phone.
“It’s alright! It’s just a phone. Not gonna shoot you!”
“Un téléphone? Qui vas-tu appeler?”
“Yes! A phone! I’ve got Google thingy. It will sort this all out.”
She presses buttons on the phone.
“Hello. My name is Tiff. What is yours?”
She holds the phone to him. He reads the French translation.
“Thierry. Thierry Dupont.”
“Nice name.”
Phone.
“Je n'aime pas vraiment. Cependant je suis coincé avec ça.“ [I don't really like it but I'm stuck with it]
Phone.
“You don’t like it.”
“Non. Je préférerais Jacques.” [No. I’d prefer Jacques.]
“So what happened last night.”
“Je ne sais pas. J'étais dehors hier soir pour rendre visite à ma mère. Je suis revenu te trouver dans ma chambre d'hôtel.” [I do not know. I was out last night to visit my mother. I came back to find you in my hotel room.]
“So this is your hotel room? Where are we?”
Thierry walks across the room and opens the curtain.
“SHIT!”
“Comme vous pouvez le voir, c'est Paris. J'habite à Strasbourg mais ma mère habite à Paris. Je suis donc ici depuis deux semaines.“ [As you can see, this is Paris. I live in Strasbourg but my mother lives in Paris. So I've been here for the last couple of weeks.]
“I’m from Chelsea. London in England. I was there last night. How the fuck did I end up here?”
“Je ne sais pas. La fenêtre de la chambre est ouverte donc je suppose que tu es monté. Comment es-tu arrivé d'Angleterre, je ne sais pas.” [I do not know. The bedroom window is open so I guess you climbed in. How you come from England, I don't know.]
“It may have been my friend Nic. She’s likely do do a prank like this.”
"Quels amis étranges vous avez qui vous laissent dans un autre pays." [What strange friends you have that leave you in a different country.]
“They are a bit. This is your room. I should be going. I have my bag. My cards are all in there. I have money. I can fly home. Bit of a hassle but I should go.”
She puts on her shoes.
“Voulez-vous un ascenseur à l'aéroport?" [Would you like a lift to the airport?]
“Thank you but no. I might do a little sight seeing on my way. Can’t come to Paris and not have a croissant and see the tower.”
"Si vous êtes sûr." [If you are sure]
“I am. I’m going to be making quite a few calls to find out who is responsible for how I got here. And thank you, merci. Quite a lot of people would not have been as kind or as calm as you have at finding someone having broken into their room. Au revoir.”
Tiff blows a kiss at Thierry and walks out of the hotel room.