"How are you holding up?" Alya asked, her voice muffled by the conversation at one of the nearby tables during the lunch rush.
Marinette grumbled into her glass of water. The wine was tempting, but she was already struggling to keep her wits about her. "I keep having to avoid Adrien."
Alya frowned, setting her fork down as she finished chewing. "You mean your boss? Why?"
"Considering everything, I'm having trouble remembering to call him anything but Adrien."
Her brows arched high. "You mean because you were flirting with him?"
"Alya... You know I had no choice but to push him away from any talk about designers."
"Uh-huh. And I'll note that you shifted efficiently into flirting with him."
"That's different," Marinette blushed. "I've been talking that way with Chat so long..." she trailed off into a hissed whisper. "It was easy enough to pretend Adrien was Chat Noir. It was almost too easy to talk to him."
"I'll assume Kagami showing up at the concert signaled the date went well enough." Alya dabbed her napkin over her lips. "She didn't say anything to you?"
"Not a word." Marinette nodded.
"So, you've dodged a bullet on the date." Alya ticked out the tally on her fingers. "You've befriended — and flirted with — your new boss.
"You don't have to say it like that." Marinette fidgeted under her friend's too-observant gaze. "Considering what I am hoping to do with the store in the next few years, it wouldn't be bad to make a friend like him."
"So what is scaring you at the office?" Alya's eyes narrowed. "I know you tend to clam up when you panic."
"You haven't had his dazzling smile directed straight at you."
"Life's so hard," Alya snorted.
"He was a model. He's too good at that." Marinette shut her eyes. "Anyway, the smile isn't the whole of the problem."
"Then what is?"
"His secretary?"
Alya's jaw dropped. "You mean, Lila."
Nodding, Marinette's nose wrinkled. "I... might have been a little melty when the full force of Adrien's smile hit me that I forgot she was his constant shadow. The death glare she shot at me..."
"Okay, girl." Alya patted her shoulder. "I get it. But what are you going to do if he comes to you directly? You said he asked you to keep watch right?"
"Aside from blind panic?"
Alya shook her head. "Just come up with something to wave Lila off about him if you're so worried she'll target you again."
Marinette frowned. "That might work."
That evening, Marinette stayed a whole hour and a half extra. It was the safest way to ensure almost everyone else had gone home so she wouldn't have Lila corner her to ask questions she still wasn't prepared to answer.
She was sorely tempted to ask him for advice... Except that she'd have to explain a lot more about what she was dealing with.
Her red sweater was plenty warm enough for the evening, so she didn't bother with the jacket she brought this morning. Shutting her computer station down, Marinette grabbed her purse and turned off the lights in the design space.
The hallways were vacant.
Relieved, Marinette didn't even bother peering around the corners as she tried to leave, as she had done before lunch.
Smiling, she pressed the elevator button. It was taking a while.
"Hello, Marinette!"
She blinked. Adrien smiled warmly, gaze focused solely on her. "A— Mr. Agreste."
Petulantly, he pouted, tucking his phone into his pocket. "You know you had it right the first time."
Suddenly, her phone felt heavy in her hands. Awkwardly, she put it into her purse. She could see what Chat Noir responded once she was on the metro. "Why are you here so late?"
"I could ask you the same." He grinned, holding the door open for her to step inside. "I'd a business meeting planned, so it wasn't worth heading back to the hotel."
She stepped in. "You're not staying with your father?"
He exhaled slowly, peering over at her. "The mansion hasn't felt like home in a long while."
Marinette frowned as the elevator lurched downward. "I'm sorry to hear it."
He rubbed the back of his neck, awkwardly. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"
Marinette didn't have time to answer before the elevator lurched to a stilted halt, plunging them both into darkness.
"Huh!" Adrien murmured, pulling out his phone flashlight to help navigate to the buttons.
"Will anyone even be able to answer if the power is out?" Marinette wondered aloud.
He pressed the button. "Only one way to find out."
Staring at each other as the low hum preceded the backup lights flickering on, throwing a dim ambient light to the elevator.
Marinette backpedaled, after realizing how close together they had been.
After all, they were still at work.
Adrien sighed. "Do you always run off or is it just me?"
Marinette blinked. "Was that your question?"
"Honestly?" he murmured. "It kind of was. It seems like you've been running away from me. Today, especially." His hand raked through his hair. That had to be a nervous habit.
"Today?" She blinked. "Well, today I've been avoiding you mostly because of Lila."
"Lila Rossi?" His eyes narrowed. "Why would she scare you off?"
"Well, for one, I was a little worried I'd remember your request here at work. And Lila... doesn't take kindly to intrusions on her territory."
"Oh, good." He murmured. "Then I haven't been making you uncomfortable."
She nodded. "I'm only uncomfortable now because I was hoping to grab something to eat, yet, we're both still stuck here at work."
"Well," Adrien's gaze turned to the ceiling and the elevator control panel. "If it makes any difference, I don't think there is any power to the camera that's in here."
She exhaled slowly. "That's a relief."
"So... Can I ask the real question, then?"
Marinette could help but giggle. "It's not like I'm going anywhere for a little while."
"It occurred to me last night," Adrien admitted. "That you look an awful lot like the surprisingly pleasant blind date my father forced me to attend."
Marinette breathed easier. That part was at least explainable... But pleasant? "What?"
"It was you, wasn't it?" He prodded.
She gulped, entirely unprepared. Kagami hadn't mentioned a thing. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."
Adrien chuckled. "It would be a lot more believable if that same voice wasn't the one echoing back from the elevator walls."
Marinette nibbled at her lip. That didn't sound like he was angry, which in itself was a relief. "I wasn't trying to trick you."
"What were you up to, then?"
"I was trying to ruin the date." She shrugged.
His sudden guffaw surprised her. "Well, that's one heckuva coincidence."
"You didn't want to go on that date either?"
"It was Father's doing. I've hardly had time to think about dating, but he seems to want to push me to move back to Paris."
"You don't want to?"
"I like my freedom. I even like my responsibilities back home. Nathalie's accident aside, it's been a surprisingly nice visit, though."
"So you didn't mind the date part?"
"I wasn't looking for a date." He smiled softly, staring down at his phone. "To be honest, I've been realizing that I've had this awful crush on a friend of mine for the longest time. It's only recently that I've realized I should have acted on it."
Her shoulder slumped back against the elevator wall. "Does she like you, too?"
"I'm not sure. I didn't want to tell her and risk scaring her off. Her friendship is what got me through some lonely years and encouraged me to break out on my own."
Marinette felt her stomach plummet as if the elevator had finally sprung to life and dragged her ridiculous hopes down with it. Which was ridiculous. They'd only known each other a few days. "That would be nice if it would work out for you."
His sweet smile broke her heart a little. "I just have to hope she will give me a chance."
Marinette shut her eyes, hoping the dim light would help hide her disappointment. She had to distract herself now. "You know what's funny?"
"What?"
"Your voice sounds familiar, too."
Even his laugh was endearing. "I get that a lot."
Alya was right. She was a sucker for Chat Noir, no matter the form. "Be honest. How many Ladybugs did you watch as a kid?"
"Probably far more than my fair share,'' he admitted with a cheeky grin.
Or at least she was pretty sure. It was hard to see in this super dim light.
He didn't seem to notice, breaking out his phone to check the screen. "It looks like I don't have much battery left."
"It's better than nothing." Marinette smiled. "Are you getting any service?"
"Not enough to get a call out. Just one bar and the signal isn't likely to connect." He took his suit jacket off, setting it down on the floor and patting it beside where he sat down. "We might as well be comfortable while we wait."
Marinette blinked at the 400 euro jacket he set down on the ground. "The floor isn't that dirty. Besides, won't you get a cold?"
"Honestly, I've been wanting to get rid of that all day.."
"Doesn't that go against your super professional image?"
He inhaled slowly. "That's my father's image. I would run around here in jeans and a hoodie if the word wouldn't get back to him."
"It definitely would be around here."
"Ms. Rossi isn't exactly subtle about it, is she?"
"At least you've noticed."
"So you weren't just avoiding me?
"Can I be honest?"
"Always."
"I've known Lila since school. I called her out for lying and she tried to turn all my friends against me. Eventually, they figured it out when her lies started to contradict themselves, but that time was very lonely for me. I would have been perfectly happy too never see her again."
He whistled. "So she suspects you'll undermine her again."
"It was her fault last time, but I wouldn't want anyone else to suffer like I did again." She sighed. "If she did something, anyways. So I've watched her more carefully than most. I want to hope that she's changed, but I can't count on it."