Guy for rent

Chapter 38

A sudden realization hit Marinette.

The wall between them... was finally... crumbling.

Seeing Adrien now in front of her and the one she knew till yesterday are... different.

He is still the same as before but the only difference is that... the mask that he always wore in front of her was finally gone.

Now that she thinks about it, Adrien always made sure that his actions and words around her were always controlled. Like he only showed her what he wanted her to see.

The mask he put on in front of her would only occasionally fall when something related to his past happened.

But now that the cat is getting out of the bag, he is letting go. He himself has pulled the mask off.

He finally wants her to see the real him. And he said himself that he was scared that what decision she would make after she knows everything about him and his past.

He wants her to know and she can't be happy enough about it.

She already knows her decision but she is going to let him continue.

"What are you thinking?" Adrien asked still admiring her face when he saw her in deep thought.

"Nothing much, just that when will you stop teasing me and continue" Marinette said.

Adrien cradled her to his chest again and this time put his chin on her head.

"Okay so... other than being a gym freak. I also tried to become the son my mother actually deserved. I was so scared to go and meet her after missing for months. But she just-just welcomed me with open arms and apologized for shouting at me that day. I was dumbfounded and literally crashed into her arms. Apologizing to her for everything, I had done in my entire life but she just forgave me... just like that. We promised each other that day that we will try our best to move on"

Replacing his chin with his cheek on her forehead, he continued speaking "after that, I made sure to look after her each and every moment of my life. To make sure no harm comes her way anymore and if it does come, I will do anything to protect her. I found out she made certain decisions while I was away. She decided to sell the company and our mansion and donate all the money, and keep only the needed amount. I asked her why on which she told me that she had always thought about this... that one day when she will get retired she will donate some properties to the charity named after her and give some to Felix and me. And other than that she always dreamed about having her own little cafe too which she will look after, after she would have retired"

"That cafe which my Parents mentioned, is your mother's?" Marinette asked him.

"Yes..." Adrien said "I didn't go against her wish. At the back of my mind, something nagged me that maybe we shouldn't sell or donate it all. Maybe we should keep some for security or insurance. But I just shooked off that feeling thinking that maybe I am being greedy again. I told my mother to go along with it and soon everything was just... gone. We shifted to this nice little apartment and mum bought a cafe she wished for, everything else was donated. She put her heart and soul into the cafe while she was getting it refurnished as she had wished and imagined. And after it was done and ready, I started working on it and taking care of it. Trust me, it was a huge mess. I would literally mess up everything whether it was making drinks or making food or even serving"

"I am having a tough time believing this you know. You... struggling to cook. You are so good at it" Marinette said to him.

"Well... every master was a student once. But as I had said that I only wanted to take care of mum and her dream, her cafe. So yeah... I worked hard and soon got the hang of it. I took a liking to cooking. I started trying out new recipes and even started baking. My baking is not good as your parents but not even bad. But yeah... I liked cooking. It took time again but I got used to my new life"