The Alchemists

Inwardly, she tried to remember the name 'Jean-Marie' that Vega had mentioned. Who was Jean-Marie? What did Altair have to do with her? Why did it seem that Altair was so eager to meet her?

Gosh ... she felt wrong for suddenly being overcome with jealousy like this. Altair had always had many fans in school, even some girls in their French Club also went to Paris because Altair was going, but the young man never showed that he liked anyone.

Was that because she liked this Jean-Marie girl?

Ahh ... Tatiana really wanted to find out.

"Altair, my friends want to explore the area around the Nobel Hotel too. Tatiana invited us to go together," Vega said as she approached her brother. "What do you think?"

Altair shook his head. "Let's take a taxi, it's quicker that way. Even if they go are willing to pay for taxi, we still have to take a different taxi. One car won't fit us all."

"Haha ... that's right." Vega then turned to Tatiana and shook her head, "We are taking a taxi. Can you go on your own? I'll see you tomorrow morning at breakfast place."

Tatiana, Sharon, Jeff, and Stu looked at each other in surprise as Altair and Vega walked out while waving to them.

"They looked so confident. They acted like we are in New York. Don't they know that public transportation in Paris is very complicated?" Sharon asked. She opened her cellphone and showed Tatiana various confusing metro lines.

"She said they are taking a taxi," Tatiana answered.

"Still ... they are very relaxed even though this is their first time in Europe."

Tatiana frowned. Actually, Sharon's words made sense too. She then gave a signal to her friends to join her.

"Let's take a taxi too and we follow them."

***

It's no secret that Altair really liked Jean-Marie since childhood. He was always fascinated to see Jean-Marie's quirks and naughtiness, even though her outward appearance was graceful. The girl was brought up by her parents to look elegant, but she was actually tomboyish and naughty by nature.

To keep Jean-Marie busy and force her to act like a graceful woman, her parents put Jean-Marie in modeling school. They supported her to pursue a career in fashion.

When she was 14 years old, the girl had grown to 172 cm tall and looked stunning. Her curly hair grew down to her waist, and Jean-Marie would look like a princess from a fairy tale if she let it loose.

Who wouldn't fall in love to see the face of an angel and the beautiful body of a model? She quickly became famous in the industry, and job offers soon came knocking on her door. She officially quit studying in public schools earlier this year and now only took homeschooling with private teachers.

"Do you want me to wait for you at the hotel lobby or do you want to go straight to my suite?" Jean-Marie asked while the twins were still in the taxi.

As the grandson of the hotel owner, it was actually easy for Altair and Vega to tell the receptionist to give them access to the suite occupied by Jean-Marie. Nevertheless, Altair felt there was no need to reveal their identity here.

Besides, he was happy to see JM coming down to greet him. So he answered that he preferred to meet JM in the lobby. "Just wait for us the lobby."

"Of course. See you soon!"

Since the Nobel Hotel was not far from the Amarylis Hotel, the two teenagers arrived shortly after. When they entered the hotel lobby, JM was waiting in a pretty chair near the door and immediately jumped joyfully to greet the two.

"Hey ... it's been a long time!" the girl exclaimed enthusiastically. She hugged Vega and Altair alternately. The last time they met face to face was at year-end holiday, about six months ago in Switzerland.

The Schneider and Medici extended family always met at the end of each year for a vacation together. Jean's family would also join whenever they could. This made their children and grandchildren grew up together and became very close.

Even JM's five-year-old brother was very close to Ireland and Scotland, Altair's brothers, because they grew up together. Oh, don't forget, there was also Lily, London and L's daughter who was the same age as Ireland and Scotland.

"You look more beautiful!" praise Altair. Vega just rolled her eyes at that.

Typical, she thought. Every time Altair met JM, he would always praise her for looking more beautiful. Although Altair certainly knew what JM looked like, they at least chat through Virconnect once a week.

"Hahaha .. thank you. It's because I'm still wearing makeup from the photoshoot earlier," JM said. "Want to go straight to my suite?"

"Wait a minute ..." answered Vega. "We can order drinks in the lounge, right?"

She pointed at the small lounge in the lobby area.

"Why? Are you thirsty?" asked JM. "There's a drink in my place too."

"I'm thirsty now," Vega said nonchalantly. She immediately stepped into the lounge she was referring to and sat on the sofa.

Altair and JM looked at each other and then could only follow Vega. They didn't mind drinking here or in the suite at all, but in the suite they could get privacy and chat freely.

They finally ordered drinks and ended up sitting chatting in the lounge for 15 minutes. Vega glanced out several times while they were in the lounge. After getting what she was looking for, she patted her brother's shoulder and told him to go to the suite with JM first.

"You don't want to come with us?" Altair asked in amazement.

"I'll follow you later. Which suite are you in?" Vega asked, turning her head towards JM.

"2525," said JM. "Then you can keep one of my keys ... You can go up to the 25th floor yourself."

"Okay," Vega said. She then pushed them out of the lounge. Altair naturally took JM's hand, and the two walked intimately to the elevator to go up to her suite on the 25th floor.

Vega peeked again, and a satisfied smile appeared on her face. She had seen Tatiana's face spying on her brother from the lobby looking surprised.

Tatiana quickly took a few photos as Altair came out of the lounge and walked hand in hand with JM to the elevator.