Adrienette Love Story

Chapter 6

Marinette frowned, not daring to speak until she had closed the door behind her. "Is she going to be okay?"

"I'm not sure why HR called her in." The lead designer shrugged. "Let's get back to this fabric choice order."

Marie-Hélène was one of the best mentors they had on the team. Only two years older than Marinette, she had the fitting rooms immaculate. The trouble was that all the other junior designers weren't what she studied for.

They all had sketchbooks filled with hopes and dreams. In fact, the whole hiring process for any junior designer demanded a robust portfolio. They expected a job at the prestigious Gabriel house meant that they would help to drive the lines, not clean up after the models and sort the fabric rooms.

Not that they didn't expect to do some of the grunt work. They just hoped to be able to do a little bit of design.

Marie-Hélène was three years into her career with Gabriel. Watching her and the other designers about her age not moving forward and seeing that the job of both Intern and Junior Designer was virtually identical made Marinette very leery about her future in Gabriel, however long that might be.

As it was, they still got to sew, but it was more hem/tailor/repair work during photoshoots. Only the upstairs team did the actual design work.

That was why the contest gave her hope.

After Marinette spent nearly an hour watching the door out of the corner of her eye, Marie-Hélène did return to the office.

She looked exhausted, prompting the whole team to take a much-needed break.

When Marinette could find a moment, she pulled Sylvie to the side. "If it's alright, I'm going to take M-H to get coffee. I think she could use it."

"Alright," the manager sighed, waving them both off. "Just don't be gone for too long."

Though Marinette wanted to pry, Marie-Hélène wouldn't respond until they were out of the building at a park, far away from any other Gabriel employees.

"What happened?" Marinette asked breathlessly. "You were there so long I was worried you weren't coming back."

She sighed and plopped down on a bench. "They wanted to know why I asked that question during the assembly."

Marinette sat down beside her. "What did you say?"

"That I had reason to believe that ideas were not safe at Gabriel."

Her brows rose high. "That must have gone well."

"Luckily, I had proof." Wearily, Marie-Hélène took a longer swig of her coffee. "My friend was fired last week. Without cause, she said."

"You believe her?" Marinette's brows rose.

"I have no reason to doubt." M-H shook her head, pulling out her phone. "Not after she showed me this."

Marinette shifted the screen open wider, looking at each picture one by one. "Wasn't this part of the spring line?"

"You've got a good memory." MH nodded. "But do you see that blue and white check around the side? And that signature there?"

"Yes." Marinette glanced up at her, noting the dark bags under her eyes. "Marie-Hélène... What aren't you telling me?"

"I was her roommate throughout most of university. I've seen that sketch before. That book is the one she carried... Maybe a sophomore year?"

Marinette gaped. "Her design was stolen?"

"Worse." MH sighed, taking another sip. "She brought it in a year ago and it disappeared from her locker. She didn't think anything of it. Her desk was always messy, so she assumed it was misplaced."

Marinette inhaled. "Until spring..."

MH nodded. "She told her lead designer but was told that there was nothing she could do. The designs were final and made. Worse, the designer said that without the book, she had no hope of getting any credit."

"Has she been looking for the book then?"

"For months."

"Then why did she get fired?"

Sighing, MH finally answered. "Someone on the admin team found her searching her desk."

Marinette's eyes narrowed. She had a solid guess as to whose desk it had been. "Then, she must have suspected she would find it there."

"I imagine so. I've only got the old snapshots she took that were saved into an old hard drive. She had them on her phone when she talked to HR. Before being escorted out of the building."

"Did HR believe you?"

MH nodded. "Eventually. Afterward, I shared a picture from our dorm room that showed her sketchbook."

"That's awful for your friend." Marinette frowned. "Are you doing alright?"

"I will be."

After the day she'd had, Marinette needed a drink.

Thankfully, Alya's apartment was actually only a few blocks from home...and she was offering a bottle of wine for sacrifice.

Settling in on the couch, clasping the wine glass in both hands. "I think she's finally done it, Alya."

Alya glanced over her shoulder from the kitchen. "Who?"

Marinette grinned. "You know who."

"Why won't you leave Lila alone, Marinette?" Alya rolled her eyes and took a deep sip from her own glass as she closed the fridge. "I swear, you've been holding a grudge against her since Francois Dupont."

"She lied to all of us, but I know you still don't believe me."

"Marinette..." Alya took off her glasses and rubbed her temples. "She did end up modeling for Gabriel. You can't deny that."

"No, I won't deny she ended up being a model. For a whole season." Marinette shook her head. "Then somehow she ended up the assistant to the vice president at Gabriel? The nice lady who had been there before her wasn't even that old enough to retire. It's seriously suspicious."

"Maybe she's just good," Alya sighed heavily.

"She's good at something, for sure." Marinette scowled. "One of my co-workers today told me that her friend on another design team was fired."

"And this is Lila's fault because...?" Alya prompted.

"Because the girl was caught searching one of the admins' desks for a stolen sketchbook."

"Marinette," Alya's shoulders slumped. "Did your co-worker say it was Lila?"

"Well, no..."

"Then you shouldn't automatically suspect Lila."

"Alya, I've bent over backward to stay out of Lila's way." Marinette sighed. "Working at Gabriel was always my dream. She knew that." She shook her glass at Alya. "You even heard me say it in class."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean Lila tried out to model with Gabriel because of you." Alya let her head slump back against the couch. "Her successes don't have anything to do with yours."

Marinette sighed, taking a larger swig. At least there was wine if there was no support. No one from school ever thought Lila was as shady as she definitely was. She took her successes at the expense of anyone else and didn't care who she hurt.

That was the one thing that hadn't changed about her. She wasn't happy unless she was making everyone else around her miserable. She was wholly unpleasant if you ever found yourself in her way.