"Faceless Future" Book 2 of "Secrets Unraveled" Trilogy |COMPLETED|

Chpt 36: Marinette's Mystery Date.

"I think I can figure something out," he said. "When might this something be happening?"

"Around five."

"I can't wait!" he said, picking up their pace in his anticipation of the evening.

- - -

Adrien was waiting for Marinette near the door at exactly five. His somewhat dressy outfit was made up of very dark, slim jeans, a white dress shirt with a banded collar, and a black fitted suit coat that accentuated his shoulders and waist. He hoped he chose something appropriate. His outfit did have multiple pocket choices for Plagg, but he told Adrien he wanted to be in the purse with Tikki.  Adrien did think the purse was probably more comfortable and it had better company, so that was fine with him.

Adrien heard Marinette starting down the stairs and looked up. She was wearing her signature pink color and Adrien thought she looked beautiful. Her v-neck dress was knee length and sleeveless with black piping around the neck and arm holes. A black ribbon emphasized her narrow waist. But, the most striking thing about the dress was the Art Deco style black cats that adorned the skirt.

"Do you like it?" she asked him, giving the full skirt a twirl once she reached the bottom of the steps.

"I love it! Is this what you've been working on?" he asked, amazed at her creation.

"Yes, I wasn't sure I would finish it in time. It took me awhile to get the material in the correct shade of pink."

He came closer to Marinette to look at the cats. "Did you paint these on?" He was tempted to reach down to touch the cats, but didn't want to know what Marinette's dad would do to him if he saw Adrien doing that!

"Yes and then embroidered their green eyes. I really like how they turned out." She could see the appreciation in Adrien's eyes. "I'm glad you like them, too!"

Marinette walked over to the closet to get her cropped black sweater to bring in case it got cold later. "Ready?"

Adrien dragged his gaze away from the dress and met Marinette's eyes. "Yes!" He offered her his arm and they headed out on their date.

They walked a few blocks to the metro station and got on the next train. Marinette chose to stand as she didn't want anything to happen to her dress. She made sure to stand near one of the poles, so she could hold on and not fall over.

"Anything you can tell me about tonight?" Adrien asked her as the train started off. He gripped the pole above Marinette's hand as the train gave a jerk.

"Well, the first place I've chosen isn't exactly where I would have chosen, but I used my money on something more important that we will be doing later," she said.  Marinette had spent a good chunk of her recent babysitting money on the night's date.

"Hmm . . . mysterious. Have we been to this place before?" he asked, seeing how much she would let him get out of her.

"Yes, it isn't too expensive and I liked what I saw listed on the menu the last time we were there," she said. She felt the train slowing. "Oh, this is our stop."

"Already?" Adrien looked to see where they were as his attention had been completely on his questions and not their location. "I am very familiar with this stop," he said as they got off at the station that was right across from his house.

"Ha, ha! Yes, of course. Um, we are not going to your house, in case you're wondering," she said awkwardly, glancing at him. "Sorry! But, it's close by."

"Ah, I know where we're going then," he said triumphantly.

"But, you will have no idea what we are doing next!" she returned, unwilling to let him know anything about her surprise until they arrived there.