Short Story

Our Little Rendezvous

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Written for The Unicorn Challenge where we are asked
to get creative in 250 words or less using the photo
prompt below for inspiration. Here is my story.

© Ayr/Gray

“Woods. Roger Woods. Please check again” I implored the desk clerk at the Hotel Moderne. 

“I’m sorry, madame, there is no reservation for that name.” The young man looked at me with a mixture of embarrassment and pity.

“You must be mistaken” I replied, my voice shaking. 

“There is no mistake, madame. Perhaps you have the wrong hotel” the clerk suggested, offering me an out. 

Of course I didn’t have the wrong hotel! Roger and I had been meeting here the second weekend of every month for three years.

I checked my phone for missed text messages or calls from Roger; there were none. Rather than stay in the lobby looking distraught and abandoned, I sat in the lounge and ordered a martini. I had a clear view of the front desk on the left and the entrance on the right. I’d be able to see Roger the moment he arrived. 

After thirty minutes and two martinis, I began feeling paranoid. It was painfully obvious, at least to me, that I looked like a lonesome and tedious woman who had been stood up. 

I became aware of someone approaching. Expecting to see Roger, I looked up, smiling; it was the concierge. Whispering discreetly, he handed me a note: “Dearest Cecile. I cherish our little rendezvous but it’s time to go our separate ways. Farewell. Roger” 

‘Our little rendezvous!‘ I was shattered. Just like that, as unexpectedly as it began, it was over.

Looking straight ahead, I gracefully exited the hotel.

NAR©2024
250 Words

The Unicorn Challenge-26/07/24

This is “Non, Je ne regrette rien (No, I do not regret anything)” by Edith Piaf

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and are not to be used without permission. NAR©2017-present.

41 thoughts on “Our Little Rendezvous”

  11. It is interesting to read the comments on this fabulously written piece.

    Why does everyone assume she is a married woman dallying with her lover on the side? Maybe it is (sorry, was) just a convenient meeting place in the middle?

    Roger is an asshole. He should have manned up and told her before she made the trek. Or told her to her face.

    Bless the concièrge who treated her with more respect than Roger.

    Perfect tune, of course. I adore Piaf and now I’m even madder at myself for not watching our Céline Nationale sing Piaf’s L’Hymne à l’amour at the Olympics. Ah misère!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Dale, as you can see in some of my responses, I said as much. Well, I stand corrected …. I failed to say anything about the possibility they were unmarried but I was thinking it!

      Some people were quick to blame Cecile; I strongly disagree with that opinion.

      I totally agree with your description of Roger and the concièrge as well.

      If TV channels are anything like the ones in the US, you’re likely to find a replay several different times and days.

      Merci beaucoup, mon amie.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Haha! Great minds, cara mia!

        People are always way too quick to blame the woman. Bugs my ass something fierce.

        Of course you do… see first line of my response 😉

        Do not get me started on the shit that plays in a loop on TV.

        Toujours un plaisir!

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  14. Bastard!
    But then that sentence: ‘Just like that, as unexpectedly as it began, it was over.’
    So what else should she have expected, silly mare?
    Love Piaf, love the song – and I hope your MC finds someone to sing the end of the song for:
    ‘Non, je ne regrette rien
    Car ma vie
    Car mes joies
    Aujourd’hui
    Ça commence avec toi.’

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. We’ve all been there, to one degree or another. It’s incredibly easy to slip into a state of denial when we find ourselves passionate about someone. Should the ‘mare’ have been more ‘aware’? Certainement! But remember the old adage – “love is blind”.
      Yes, he’s a bastard of the 1st degree; he was living the life while she was falling deeper, looking for the lovin’ she wasn’t gettin’ at home.

      It’s a great song, isn’t it, and no one sings it like Piaf. Good luck to my MC!

      Thanks, Jenne.

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      Reply

  18. Oof someone got stood up bad!
    Oof someone better get their priorities straight.
    What a wake up call! I’d love to know how C lives the other days of the month. Her time with R couldn’t / shouldn’t be the highlight of her life…
    A blessing in disguise 🥸 I hope.

    This storyteller/storytelling is genius. I love it to pieces.

    I know this storyteller has fabulous plans for C now that C has awakened to a reality that was inevitable from the start.

    C needs to live up to her values. And if she has none, she better get some.

    Thanks for this gorgeous read. Wow. Unicorns 🦄 in the horizon. Wonderful. Blessing you. Happy weekend my lovely friend.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you, cara mia!

      It’s interesting how everyone so far feels Cecile is the one who did wrong when she should have been home doing her “wifely duties”. Maybe life at home was intolerable and Roger was her salvation. It seems that now Roger is no longer interested in Cecile and has chosen to move on to “greener pastures”. What will happen to Cecile?

      Storytelling is amazing; reading people’s takes is fascinating.

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