If she had slept more than a few hours, Marinette wouldn't be madly scrambling to work. She'd spent half the night hunched over the sewing machine because she couldn't figure out how to tell Kagami that she hadn't totally ruined the date.
Alya had yet to check-in.
She didn't even have time to shower or to answer Chat Noir.
She'd left him to read for a while now. Maybe she could answer Chat's morning text once she was safely at her desk.
Wincing, she ducked behind her favorite plant at first sight of Lila. There was no doubt in her mind that Lila would rat her out.
Kim was a traitor! He hadn't even warned her she was here. She glanced back to glare at him.
He waved, then looked anxious when he was pointing behind her. Okay, Kim. You tried, I guess?
Thankfully, Lila was on a mission to personally usher their temporary boss up the elevator to his office.
Clearly, it was actually a mission to annoy the heck out of Adrien Agreste if the fleeting look of irritation on his face was anything to go by.
Drat. He spotted her. Meanwhile, Marinette thought her heart was about to leap out of her chest, fearing she had been recognized.
With a half smile on his face, he had the grace to only glance back once before he reluctantly followed Lila into the elevator.
She smirked, stepping out from behind the plant once the elevator doors had safely closed, the elaborate fronds hiding her from view. Wouldn't Lila just hate it to know that she was the one who had dinner with him the night before?
Not that she could actually tell anyone.
She tapped her pencil on her desk for 4 whole minutes straight, debating whether or not to ask which one.
After all, several only had one copy ever made. She snapped a photo of them on the mannequin before she shipped them off.
Meaning there was a chance she could pinpoint where he likely was right now.
Wouldn't that be creepy, though? It was weird enough just knowing that beneath his sillier side, Chat Noir was actually serious enough to work on projects at work.
Finally, she settled for keeping their veil of secrets.
She expected to not see Adrien Agreste for days. After all, Nathalie Sancoeur made a monthly appearance at most.
Unfortunately, his being there meant Lila had come as well.
"Ah, Miss Richard. Very clever." Lila looked very closely at the details. "Did your friend steal this one, too?"
Marie-Hélène's jaw dropped.
Marinette scowled. She might not have heard if she hadn't been standing so close.
In a moment, she walked over to stand beside her fellow designer. "She's not worth it."
Adrien frowned at the three. "Miss Rossi."
"Yes, sir?"
"Could you please go get the design criteria that Nathalie set forth from my office?"
LIla's icy smile slipped. "Someone else will have it on their computer, I'm sure."
Adrien tilted his head. In a stoic gaze that mirrored the very image of his father plastered upon the office walls, he also even spoke up. "I need the version with my notes."
Her lips pressed into a thin line. "Very well."
Once she left the room, both Marinette and Marie-Hélène were breathing easier.
"Are you alright?" Marinette whispered.
MH frowned. "She should be the last person throwing around accusations of theft."
Without Lila hampering him, Adrien floated around, looking at what everyone was working on. "Tell me what you've been working on, Sylvie."
Her manager beamed. Clearly, she knew he was coming, which is why she let them work with the pressure off. "Today, I've had everyone taking one of the more basic selections of our past lines. An exercise really to get everyone thinking about their ideas for their design submissions."
"The idea being how to make old feel new?"
"Exactly."
"Let's take a look."
Marinette breathed a little easier since he headed the other way. She kept eyeing the door, wondering if she could quietly sneak out to the bathroom without running into Lila along the way.
He wove through the other dresses, making comments here and there.
Adrien had been lovely, but Kagami could get into major trouble if his observation skills were as good as they appeared from across the room.
She had made a solid effort on her assigned piece: it was a pretty basic little black dress with a classic A-line skirt. Subtle pops of color would go a long way, but it was not overdone. She'd added a bit of tulle with a lace edge to the base and a wide metallic belt to give the form some more defined shape.
She had been debating on playing with a bit of lace near the top, but considering the dress she had worn last night, she was relieved she hadn't made the look resemble it. As he moved around the room, she gathered the lace, making it an impromptu rosette. It wouldn't hold for long, but she could pull it through the belt to make it more of an accessory in a pinch.
"That's a striking color," Adrien spoke thoughtfully once her time had arrived.
She bowed her head, focusing on fluffing the skirt to swing with the best effect.
Mostly so he didn't see her face up close.
"I wasn't able to do too much with the timing, sewing the skirt without having it look added took some time and care."
"You would never know it," he murmured with approval. "But I don't think I spotted the rosette before." He beamed. "It's a nice matching touch."
"Thank you," she grinned in spite of herself. That was now twice in less than 24 hours he had praised her work.
Better yet, Lila had come in with his notes sometime during his compliments and looked positively irritated by his attention not being on her.
That alone called for celebration.
When Alya mentioned the girls were getting together and going out after work, Marinette hadn't hesitated.
She hadn't asked who was coming either.
Sitting a few tables back, Marinette nursed a drink, watching the band tune up on the main stage to the side of the noisy room. Service was slow, so Alya had just gone up to the bar to get one of her own.
Marinette warily watched as Kagami shouted and cat-called her boyfriend on stage.
She'd made it her personal mission to make her longtime boyfriend blush, on stage. Whenever possible.
Much to Kagami's delight, she was clearly winning.
Marinette sighed, taking another long sip. During the brief period she had dated Luka as a young teen, she had learned that his father was a famous artist, but he had been very careful not to take anything more from him than an instrument when he had been old enough.
Sure there was probably all his education, but the relationship was strained at best and he didn't want the claims of nepotism.
They both wanted to do it all on their own merits. This bar was where Luka could play all the songs he'd written for Kagami while under the radar of her disapproving mother.
He had encouraged Kagami's artistic endeavors when her mother wanted to quash them to have her eventually take over the company reins. Luka was exactly what Kagami had needed once she found freedom at university.
Marinette sighed: big sucker that she was, she wanted to protect that almost as much as she needed the funds to help manage the still-growing order list.
Alya sank down beside her, a large glass of red wine in hand. "You never told me what we are celebrating tonight."
"Do we need an excuse?" Marinette's brows furrowed.
Alya smirked. "Well, I don't. But you don't often come out with us since the shop keeps you so busy."
Marinette sighed. "After yesterday, I needed to unwind."
Alya's brows rose. "How did that go?"
"Not as well as I would have liked?" Marinette hedged, before taking as long a sip as she dared.
"The guy was rude?" Alya frowned.
"Worse," she deadpanned. "He was my type. Totally sweet and polite. Even complimented my dress."
"So he's a player?"
Marinette shook her head, swallowing a big gulp. "He said it looked nice on me... But he also spoke of how well it has been made."
"Marinette..." Alya leaned in and whispered. "Was he gay?"
Marinette snorted, a little too amused to tell Alya at this point. "I don't think so. Although he didn't hesitate to push Lila away."
"Get out!" Alya chuckled. "Wait, but when did he happen to meet her? Ohmigosh, Marinette, she didn't show up at the restaurant, did she?"
"She didn't have to." Marinette exhaled slowly. "Alya, Kagami's date last night was my boss."
"Gabriel Agreste?" The look of horrified disgust on Alya's face was priceless. "No... Wait. I thought the person at the top was female?"
Marinette nodded. "Nathalie Sancoeur. She needed to take some personal time, so Gabriel's son has come back in the interim."
Alya was already down looking at her phone, clearly looking up the faces to match the names she didn't already know.
Glancing at the stage, Marinette saw that the band was finally about to start playing.
"Girl!" Alya screeched, not at all quietly, drawing the attention of nearly every table. And most definitely Kagami's.
Marinette flinched. "I'm afraid to ask what you're freaking out about."
"You could have mentioned that he is a model."
"Was," Marinette clarified confidently. She'd looked it up herself before panicking into a spiral of anxious progress on the first two dresses in the order. "He stopped while he was a teenager."
"Still, though," Alya's brows rose. "I guess you do have a type."
"Anyways, the thing I wanted to celebrate today was that he actually complimented my work again today in the office." Marinette smiled softly. "Wanna see?"
Alya grinned, "Always!"
Marinette pulled up the gallery and handed over her phone.
Alya scanned through the first three images. Then she didn't stop.
Her smirk was plastered all across her face. "You didn't tell me that Chat has sent you a few more pics..."
"He was drunk." Marinette sat back in her seat. "Apparently."
"Clearly, but you didn't delete it."
She exhaled slowly. "I'm not sure why I didn't. It certainly couldn't be posted in the online shop or in my portfolio."
"Nope," Alya grinned, resting her chin on her hand. "Just a very special place on your desktop. I suppose the coy smirk and wink over his shoulder while he shows off his better side is just a bonus for you."
Blushing beet red, Marinette shoved more wine into her mouth to keep from uttering anything more incriminating. Clearly, Alya didn't need any help.
Alya rotated her phone. "I mean... Were you thinking of starting an underwear line? Because if not..."
Marinette reached across the table, putting her hands over Alya's mouth. "Please?" she begged.
Reluctantly, Alya handed back the phone. "Alright..."
"Thank you."
"I'm proud of you, you know?" Alya solidly nudged her. "You're that much closer to meeting your boy."
"Alya," Marinette whined into her glass of red. Of course, she couldn't help the smile. Chat would have loved to know she was entirely unsuccessful while trying way too much to not even think of him.
Scratch that, Chat Noir was never allowed to know.
He'd be intolerable.
"Okay." Alya conceded. "I'll let it go for now."
"Thank you."
"But only because I have to know: did your boss recognize you again?"
"I don't think so," Marinette's nose wrinkled up. "I was studiously looking at the work and not at him. Plus I wore a wig last night so my hair looked more like Kagami's."
Alya shook her head. "Do you think it's even possible to keep away from him long enough that he doesn't recognize you?"
"That's what's worrying me." Absently, Marinette swirled the wine in her glass. "Nathalie didn't come around much at all. I've seen him three days in a row."
"Three?" Alya blinked, pointing her finger at Marinette. "Wait. You never told me how the date ended."
Marinette shut her eyes, wincing at the recollection. "I tried to get some advice when my attempts to scare him off kept failing. Chat Noir even helped."
"You did not ask him."
"I didn't really have any choice." Marinette's hands pressed against her cheeks. "Kagami told me to make out with the guy... And Chat Noir said she wasn't wrong... But to scale it down to just touch."
Alya nodded along. "So did you do what they recommended?"
"I never got a chance. Not before I heard the waiter say his full name." She shut her eyes. "Then I came up with an excuse and left."
Shaking her head, Alya stood up, tapping the rim of her nearly empty glass. "You need more than this tonight."
Marinette nodded. "You're not wrong..."