Damian sat at his desk and briefly scanned the files of the new departments he was overlooking. One of them was the art department, which he was greatful for. The only thing that bothered him was the fashion department. He didn't agree that it was art. It was business. Clothing was a necessity, not a luxury. Clothes could be sold in stores. Art was meant to be displayed and shared. The Wayne heir scanned the file again.
'Head of fashion department was listed as Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I'm sure I can get rid of her and move the department. Nothing will get in Damian Al Ghul-Wayne's way.'
The Wayne heir approached the fashion department. He saw the office door open and observed the inside. There was a small woman with blue hair drawing on a tablet. He could see a gown forming under the movement of her stylus. Damian stood tall as he knocked on the open office door, but she never turned around.
'Brat.'
"Miss Dupain-Cheng!" he shouted.
To his surprise, the designer slammed her hand down on her desk and glared at him.
"You made me mess up." she snarled, "Who the fuck so you think you are to come in here and bother me?"
This wasn't the type of meeting he had been expecting at all.
"Damian Wayne." he answered, not use to people glaring at him, "I wanted to inform you that I will personally be keeping an eye on the department and see if it's truly necessary."
"Fine." Marinette snapped, "There's the door. I'm busy; you can show yourself out."
Marinette turned back to her tablet and began ignoring him, again. Damian couldn't believe that she didn't get scared by his name. She talked back to him! Damian walked out and slammed the office door.
'What a horrible person. I'm not just gonna get rid of her; I'm gonna fire her entire department! I'll just exploit her weaknesses and show that she's incompitent at her job.'
Marinette had noticed that Damian taking to lurking around her department. He had inserted himself into meetings and questioned everything: Is what you're buying necessary? How could it help Wayne Enterprise? Why did you choose this fabric? Why this shade? Why not vermouth?
It had been six months and she was ready to punch him. Mari had heard rumors that he was starting to neglect other departments he was covering. She couldn't understand his fascination and distaste for hers. After another grueling meeting, everything came to a head.
"Miss Dupain-Cheng, I highly suggest rereading the code of conduct." Damian stated, in front of the entire department.
Marinette could feel everyone's eyes on her, "And what have I done now, Mr. Wayne? I don't believe 'bow down' is a rule."
"Your behavior and attire are innapropriate in the work place." Damian commented, irked that she still went against his authority.
"Excuse me?" Mari shouted, "I am completely professional!"
Damian snorted, "You regularly seduce your staff."
"I wish." someone whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Mr. Wayne," Marinette spoke, "please, tell me how my business attire is innapropriate so that I may correct it."
Marinette knew she had him this time. She still made all her own clothing and inspected them the day before for any rip or loose seams. She wore button up blouses with short sleeves and a blazer. She made sure to wear pants as she didn't want to kneel in a skirt. Was this about her heels? Sure she didn't wear four inches like everyone else; she preferred something that was easy to move in. Especially if something had gone wrong and she needed to hurry to the other sde of Wayne Enterprise.
Damian's eyes roamed over Marinette. Her clothes were the same as they had been for the last six months, they hugged her curves. When she took off her blazer, he could see how her neck curved, especially when her hair was puled up in a messy bun or ponytail. He had seen her hair that way, too many times, when she was busy designing. Not to mention how her pants accentuated her when she yelled at an employee for ordering the wrong fabric. Those stupid tops that she crossed her arms under her chest when someone contradicted her.
"Well, Mr. Wayne." Marinette called out, "I'm waiting. Tell me which part of my outfit is the problem, right now. I'm buttoned up and tucked in. My pants go all the way down to my ankles or are my ankles distracting someone? I certainly can't be distracting someone with a foot fetish, as I don't wear anything open-toed. There are many more employees, here at Wayne Enterprise, that dress provocative."
"Are you sure?" the Wayne heir questioned.
"I can name five ladies on this floor alone!" Marinette growled, "Two are wearing corsets with a blazer. Another is in a mini skirt and if she sits, you can see the garter straps. Another is wearing the same outfit as yesterday and reeks of cigarettes, sweat, nd bad cologne. The last one is wearing last seasons Belmere cocktail dress with tulle bishop sleeves! Thy are sewing a collection and if that sleeve gets caught, we have to destroy that fabric and her sleeves will be ripped off. I am not losing product because someone decided to be stupid this morning, Carol!"
Marinette glared at Damian Wayne, "So, tell me how innapropriate I am or you can fuck off!"
"The clothes you wear demean you and suggest you are welcoming others to join you for a night." Damian stated.
Marinette felt all the rage bubble over and she punched him in the face, sending him across the floor.
"I quit!" she snarled.
Damian looked on as Marinette walked away.
'I won.'
What he didn't expect were the not so hushed whispers of the fashion department.
"I think Mr. Wayne had a crush on her."
"I wish she would seduce me."
"You and me both."
"Apparently, she was very popular in Paris with both genders."
"Wait, what?"
"Really?"
"I heard she dated Jagged Stone's only son."
"Wasn't Adrien Agreste trying to date her?"
"So was Zoe Lee."
"The actress!"
"Mmhmm and she's the second daughter of Style Queen."
"Damn! Why is she here then?"
"She could have gone with one of them and likely inherited a fashion label!"
"Marinette always yells at us when we dress innapropriate."
"Carol."
"I pushed my sleeves up, okay!"
"I think she wrote this years dress code herself."
"I wish that I could see what Mr. Wayne saw."
"Why?"
"Are you kidding me? Stuck up Dupain-Cheng as some sexy thing and not yelling a us? Talk about a perfect fantasy!"
Damian sat there blushing as the employees talked amongst themselves.
'Did no one really see what I saw? They hadn't seen the way her clothes accentuated her? They didn't see the way her body called out to others? Was I the only one who wanted to pin her down to gain control?'
Damian stood up, admitting defeat. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the person who irked him for months, hadn't been at war with him or seducing him; he liked her. He couldn't tell until the evidence was stacked against him. As the other employees said, she didn't even need to be there. She could marry into money, likely immediately, and run a corporation against them.
'She's not going to get away from me that easily.'
By the time Damian found Marinette, Tim was already on his knees begging her to stay and his father was apologizing about his attitude.
"I can personally guarantee that Damian will be moved departments and you never have to see him again." his own father pleaded.
Tim noticed Damian out of the corner of his eye and stood up.
"You!" Tim shouted, stalking over to his younger brother, "What the hell? Marinette is dressed perfectly fine for her job!"
"Please reconsider, Miss Dupain-Cheng." Bruce spoke.
"I will work from my own home." Mari stated, "I will come to the office only for meetings; everything else will be paper trailed through emails and run by one of you."
"That is perfectly doable." Bruce answered, "We can send any equipment you need and-"
"I have everything already."
Damian looked on confused. He had never known them to suck up this badly, not even to board members.
"You don't even know who she is; do you?" Tim exclaimed.
"An employee by the name of Marinette Dupain-Cheng." Damian answered.
Bruce sighed. Apparently his son had never read her file and background information as to why she was the head of her own department.
"She is Jagged Stone's personal and exclusive designer." Tim snarled, "She designs for many different celebrities world wide. She is known throughout Paris! You can obviously see why we wanted her here."
Damian had no clue that the she was that well known or that his family was that desperate to have her.
"What can we get you to continue to work here?" Bruce questioned, "We can pay you how ever much you want."
"I'll bump your salary to $65,000 a design." Tim offered.
Marinette shook her head, "I only want one thing and I want Damian Wayne to apologize to me."
"80,000 a design!" Tim quickly shouted.
Damian could clearly see his family was horrified. They had zero faith he would apologize or admit his mistake. Damian swallowed his pride and bowed down, as he would to his mother.
"My apologies for making my own personal assumptions." He began, "They were baseless and you truly did nothing wrong. It was my own assumption that you were attempting to seduce me that caused this."
Marinette's cheeks turned red as she listened to his in shock.
"My parents did not conceive me naturally. My mother drugged Father. I was raised and taught by her, from an early age, that women will use any means necessary to seduce who they value as someone of interest; even wear revealing clothes. They will cling to those they desire. They will feign innocence when confronted." Damian continued, "I only observed what I was told, but my family is alos correct. Your clothing is appropriate for the work place. You have never touched me inappropriately. You also have never tried to suede me. You treated me as everyone else in your department and yet-"
Damian was smacked upside the head by Tim. Damian turned to glare at him, but when he looked up, she saw Marinette covering her face with her hands and her ears were bright red.
"Miss Dupain-Cheng?" Damian spoke softly.
Marinette looked between her fingers at him, nervously.
"Miss Duapin-Cheng?" Bruce questioned, cautiously.
"I-I don't understand how-how you can like me." She stammered.
"Well, for one thing, you have a killer right hook." Damian stated.
Out of all the things, he could have answered, that was not one of them. Marinette began laughing and her hands fell away from her blushing face.
The Wayne heir smirked, "I'm also not use to people telling me to 'fuck off'."
Marinette snorted as she thought back to the first day they met. Bruce and Tim nodded as they slowly made their way away from the young adults.
"Everyone back to work." Bruce commanded, "If I see this online, I'll personally make sure whoever posted it, is fired."
The fashion department was quick to get back to work, leaving Damian Wayne to confess to their blushing designer.
"So, what is to become of Miss Dupain-Cheng?" Bruce questioned.
"Marinette will continue to work on site and I have promised to leave her alone, at work." Damian stated, "We have a date scheduled in two weeks, when our schedules are more manageable."
"And?" Bruce pushed.
"I think Mother would like her." his son answered.
Bruce sighed in defeat, "As long as you focus on your own work."
"I am capable of doing my own job, Father." Damian sneered.
Bruce smirked, "You have been neglecting your other sections for two months. If you continue to be a problem, Son, I will personally supervise Miss Dupain-Cheng's department. Why do you think I took Tim off her case?"
Damian felt his face flush and he stomped out of the office to deal with his backlog of work.