"I guess I'll have to accept that answer for now", he sighed and got to his feet. Then he bent down and held out both hands for Nathalie. "May I?"
She took them with a small smile and let him pull her up. Both not wanting to hurt the other they put too much strength into the movement and it ended with the assistant crashing into him, her breasts squeezed between his chest and her body.
"Ouch", she blurted out and pulled a little bit back.
"I am sorry, are you hurt? Where did you get...", he exclaimed with concern to be stopped by the female, saying: "I'm fine. Just crashed into you a little hard."
She giggled nervously. Neither had let go of the other yet.
Gabriel cleared his throat and began: "What would you say to having lunch with Adrien and Marinette? Because they are staying here for the next time."
"Did they have trouble with the girl's parents? I can hardly imagine, they are so nice people", she asked.
"Kind of", and chuckling he told her about their conversation. "Mr. Dupain caught them in a, as they called it, 'not so innocent situation' and doesn't feel good with leaving them alone at home while they'll be gone for the next two weeks, or even shut the door of the room they're in."
"What kind of situation?"
"I didn't ask. But I asked him if we should have this talk, that he said he didn't need. Marinette turned crimson red, but she could at least tell me, that they haven't gotten this far yet. Can you believe that 'Adrien', 'my son', then told me, to the question what if, you know, that in case they would find themselves in this situation they had a box of condoms in each of their rooms! I mean, I am an adult and I'm less well prepared for that than my son", he uttered his voice getting higher and louder as he did.
"Yeah, I know", she said with a mischievous smile. "Neither was I!"
They both blushed and avoided the other's eyes.
"Yes, uhm, I guess we, uhm, were lucky then", he mumbled. "Lunch", he suggested again without waiting for an answer.
Nathalie agreed, glad he didn't start talking about helping her mother to some grandchildren again, and let him pull her out of the room by her hand.
It felt odd to each of them, except Marinette who was used to family meals like that. The other three, who usually ate at different times and in different places, couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the connection they began to feel.
"It's nice to eat together", Nathalie said after the meal. "To bad, it's already over."
But the designer raised his hand to take the word.
"Actually, there will still be some dessert. And if Adrien and Marinette like, we could just stay here for a bit and I don't know, talk?"
The teenagers looked at each other and smiled sheepishly.
"Actually", Adrien began, while he rubbed the back of his neck, "we were just on our way to meet with some friends"
"But why don't you just stay a little longer here and talk?", his girlfriend suggested. "Maybe about loosening up Adrien's schedule a little, so he will have a little more time to himself?"
She gave the adults a wide grin.
"I have an idea about that", Nathalie now said, "but let me discuss that with Mr. Agreste first."
"You are both excused right after dessert, so I can have that conversation with Miss Sancoeur", the designer said with his anger noticeable in his voice.
"Uhm", Adrien now cleared his throat, "maybe we should take our dessert to my room?", he suggested.
Marinette agreed instantly and they quickly left the room to get out of the danger zone.
"Why are you angry now?", Nathalie asked as soon as they were alone.
"Really? You have to ask?", he growled.
"Please don't tell me, it's because I accidentally called you Mr. Agreste! I can't deal with a grown man acting like a child on top of everything right now. I...", she stood up and clang to the table with her hands. "Would you excuse me please? I don't feel so good suddenly, and as I still have some work to do, I would like to lie down and rest a bit before I get back to my desk."
He got up from his chair too and followed Nathalie through the large dining hall and into the corridor.
"Gabriel, what are you doing? Why do you follow me?", she asked while she turned around and looked at him.
"Just go, I am taking care that you get to your room and don't pass out or something like it. And I don't think that conversation was finished yet, so I'm coming with you and we can talk while you lie down", he spoke much calmer now.
"Fine, you won't give up anyway", the young woman snarled at him. They walked the remaining few steps side by side. Gabriel was unusually reluctant and let her choose the pace, held the door open and even stayed in the hallway until she asked him to come inside.
"Would you please come in and close that door, Gabriel? I won't get any rest if you keep stalling. Didn't you give me the order to take better care of myself?", she now even mocked him.
The still concerned man now began to realize, that he might have been a little overreacting and that he only made it harder for the woman he so adored. So he just entered and shut the door, waiting for her next move.
He stood there now and gazed out of the window while Nathalie went into her little bathroom. She came back a few minutes later, kicked her shoes off her feet and climbed into her bed, stretching in relief to then turn to her side and place her right arm under her head.
The assistant cleared her throat quietly.
Gabriel turned around and looked at her, a soft smile playing his lips, as he saw her relaxing as soon as she had curled herself up into her sheets.
"May I sit down?", he asked calmly and pointed at a spot right next to her on the mattress.
Now the young woman rolled her eyes.
"Do I have to say 'really' now?", she scoffed.
The tall man chuckled lightly, as he sat down beside her.
"I am very sorry Nathalie. I shouldn't have been so....well....annoying all the time. I would never forgive myself, if I made you more miserable with my...rather....."
"Childish behaviour?" the female suggested.
He raised his eyebrows.
"I would've said 'immature' but well, yes. I didn't mean to hurt you even more with my behaviour anyway."
"It's alright, I hurt you too", she whispered her voice a little rasp now.
Gabriel gazed down at her halfway closed eyes and her deepening breath and gave her another loving smile. Then he caressed her cheek and placed a quick kiss on it.
"We can talk about Adrien later, you just get some rest", he hummed gently.
The exhausted woman wanted to object, but then just thought, she would be far more capable of having a discussion with him after a little nap. So she just made a tiny noise to show she agreed: "Mhm", then closed her eyes and was already drifting off to sleep.
Taking a blanket and spreading it over her, he watched her for a moment his heart aching. Then he pecked her temple and closed the curtains, to keep the sunlight out. Silently he sneaked out into the hallway, closing the door as soft as he could.
The famous designer walked towards his office and suddenly he had an idea. Instead of entering the room, he walked past it and stopped in front of his son's bedroom. He knocked on the door and waited for one of the teenagers responding.
"Just a minute", Adrien called out. He sounded out of breath. Inside he could hear giggling and squealing, then a whisper from his son, sending his girlfriend into the bathroom to get dressed. Then:
"Come in", the model panted. As his father opened the door and stepped inside, he was still looking around, searching for something.
"Father?", he was shocked, as usually Nathalie brought his orders to the boy. "How can I help you?"
"To be honest, I would rather talk to your girlfriend right now", the man demanded.
"Uh.....well....she...is just, uh.....looking for something, but....what?" he stammered and looked at his father in disbelief when the latter began to cackle.
"I'll wait for you two in my office", he whispered, and the piece of clothes you are looking for, has fallen on the floor on this side of the sofa!", he said with a wink. "I wouldn't tell her though, that I found it."
After the adult had left his room, Adrien called for Marinette.
"I found it", he exclaimed. "It was behind the couch."
Her face scarlet red, the young woman ran to her boyfriend and grabbed her bra, to then rush back into the bathroom and get dressed properly. The blond boy chuckled.
"My father wants to talk to you!", he shouted so she could hear him through the shut door.
"What?", she came back into the room her eyes wide open.
He looked her up and down with a mischievous grin.
"Well M'lady, even if I wouldn't mind seeing you like that all day, you should put something over that bra when we get into my father's office."
The teenage girl gazed down and started to giggle.
"You're right, Kitty, I should wear more than my bra!"
Gabriel waited for them in his office.
"Come in", he said pensively as they knocked on the door.
"Father? You wanted to talk to Marinette about something?"
He turned towards the teenage couple and observed them for a moment. Then he began to explain what had been developing in his head during the last 20 minutes.
"It's not a secret, that you, Marinette are extraordinarily talented. What you don't have, is experience. Maybe there is a possibility, that you spend some of your time, assisting Nathalie and me, while Adrien does his extracurricular things like fencing and Chinese."
"And piano lessons", Adrien added quietly, but his father did hear him anyway. He looked at him disapprovingly.
"I actually wanted to allow you, to play the piano from now on only for fun!", he suggested with a smile, then turned back to Marinette: "As I was saying, while Adrien is busy with his tasks, you could help out Nathalie and me, so she can get some rest eventually without feeling guilty for being human! Mainly it would be things like running some errands, ordering fabrics, making appointments. In the beginning you would be just observing, but hopefully soon, you will be able to do quite some of those things on your own. Of course I don't want you to work fo free, so I of course offer you a salary. And before you object to that, I would like you to hear what I offer you."
The teenage girl nodded open mouthed.
"You can choose between a normal payment, every intern would get, or, if you prefer, instead you will work with me one day each week, learning how to make your talent and hobby to a world wide known business. And a little bit of pocket money on top of that, whether you like it or not."
The half Chinese girl began to stammer: "I...Sir....I mean....Gabriel.....I don't know.....what.....to say. That is too....I mean, I would love to.....but......I would be just as happy to do that for free....I.....the opportunity alone......I...."
The designer chuckled, as he approached her and laid an arm around her shoulders. So we have a deal? I will of course talk to your parents about that and ask for their permission, but I don't see a problem there, do you?"
Marinette shook her head vigorously. "No, not at all!"
"Great. How about you start Monday after school? Just to have a first look into the programs Nathalie uses and stuff like that, because, I can barely log in to the most of them, so she has to show you."
"You can count on me!", the young woman proclaimed happily.
Enthusiastically she pulled Adrien with her to meet with their friends, to what they were already late after their little encounter on the sofa.
"I have to tell Alya right away!"
"Don't forget to say it loud enough, so Chloe and Lila will be able to hear you, Bugaboo!"
"You're being mean. but I had the same thought", she snickered and dragged him further with her.