Chapter Text
Once again, Paris was saved from an unexpected akuma attack. And once again, Marinette was late for work.
Detransforming a building away, she quickly patted her blouse down and turned out of the alley as casually as possible-he pace a little more rushed than casual though. She grabs her phone out of her clutch instinctively just as it begins to ring.
"Girl, I'm telling you, just say the word and I'll fill in for you. You can't keep risking getting fired, this isn't high school anymore."
Marinette sighs, recognising the usual admonishment from Alya. She glanced around, always self-concious of talking Ladybug in public, despite never saying her name.
"It's too risking sending the Miraculous back and forth between us. Besides, you have a job too. It's my responsibility, I wouldn't want to put that on you-"
"A responsibility too heavy for a single set of shoulders-"
"I have Chat Noir." Marinette rolls her eyes as she quickly grabs the front door of her office building from another rushed person too impatient to hold it for her.
"Whatever, I know I can't convince you." Alya lets out a chuckle. "But hey-"
"Hold on, gotta sign in." Marinette drops her phone from her ear to fish her I.D. out of her bag. She scans it and impatiently hops as the waist-high doors slowly retracted. Every day the same thought of jumping over them occured, but she refrained. "Okay, I'm almost to my office, so I gotta-"
"Wait one more thing!"
Marinette clicked the button to the elevator repeatedly.
"You know that ceremony you were supposed to have this morning? To welcome the new president of the company?"
Marinette quickly shuffled into the open elevator. "What about it?" And then moving her phone aside, said "8th floor" to the others on the elevator.
"I heard he didn't even show up. Adrien, I mean. The new president. Didn't show up to his own ceremony!"
"You're kidding!" Marinette looks around self consciously and continues in a hushed voice. "Maybe he just got swept up in this morning's akuma attack."
"Who knows, but people are pissed about it. Lot of people complaining he's gonna be just like his father."
Marinette hurriedly stepped off the elevator. "Wouldn't surprise me, apple and all, but I guess we'll just have to see. Alright Alya I really gotta go now, see you tonight?"
"We'll talk details when you get out."
Marinette hung up the phone and took a deep breath before walking into her office. Her coworkers all seemed to be busy and hadn't noticed her arrival. She sighs in relief as she scurries to her desk.
"Marinette."
Busted
Her coworker Colin, previously talking to Leslie in the corner of the room, was now staring straight at her. "What's the excuse today?"
Marinette chuckles awkwardly as she sets her things down on her desk. "The akuma attack. Shut all transport down temporarily. What I get for not leaving early, I guess."
"You're lucky there's a better topic of gossip today." Leslie chimes in. "Did you hear about Mr. Agreste?"
"Yeah, Alya said he didn't show up to his own ceremony, I figured-"
"Not that one!" Lucille interrupts, pinning fabric to a mannequin across the room. "Gabriel. Now that his duties have been taken over, he's become a total recluse."
"How's that different than usual?" Marinette smirks.
"Right, but it's worse. He's basically boycotting Adrien." Lucille explains, although what it explains Marinette isn't sure.
"Can you even boycott a person?" She turns to look at Leslie. "Is that the right usage of the word?-"
"Okay so here's what I heard. He said he won't leave his house or talk to his son until he gets married." Lucille explains with a loud laugh.
"You're kidding, no way Gabriel cares about that stuff." Marinette counters in disbelief.
Leslie makes her way back to her desk, the one opposite Marinette. "There were rumours about why Gabriel would step down at the peak of his brand, right? I mean stuff overseas is going great. If Adrien wanted to step up, Gabriel could still co-run or something like that right?"
"So people got suspicious-" Lucille interrupts again, coming up to lean on her desk next to Marinette's. "What's more important than the single most important thing in his life! This whole marriage expectation is a rouse. No way he retired of old age. No way he wants a normal family life now after all these years."
Marinette sits in thought. What could they possibly be implying? Why would the cold-hearted Gabriel Agreste need so much free time: and all of it just to stay home. Her coworkers may be dramatic, but they were certainly on to something.
"For a long time, people suspected him to be dating his secretary, Nathalie." Colin spoke, joining them at their desks. "But if that were the case, this change would've happened forever ago. Couldn't be her doing."
Another spout of silence as they all thought. Marinette thought about the times Gabriel was considered as Hawkm-no, that was debunked multiple times. For a while now, Marinette has been trying to separate her sour feelings for people with accusations of being Hawkmoth (or whatever iteration of the name used at the time). Her emotions had more than once gotten her in trouble that way. Gut feelings were one thing, which she could for the most part trust, but hard evidence was far more conclusive in this case. The fate of Paris depended on it.
The silence lasted long enough for them all to assume the conversation died, and so they all one-by-one got back to work.
"Yeah I'm just getting out, where do you wanna meet?" Scanning her I.D. Marinette walked out into the plaza and then lingered by a pillar.
"Bar? It's been a bit."
"Sure, but it's a weekday so don't let me dri-" She stops, feeling a vibration on her cheek. She lowers her phone to look and then returns it to her cheek. "Chloe Bourgeois is calling me..."
"Weird. Take it, I'll see you at Bronze."
Marinette switches the call over to Chloe.
"Chloe, long time. What's up." Marinette asks, now heading for the door.
"Dupain-Cheng, I have a favour to ask."
"Sure. I'm on my way to Bronze, wanna meet there? If you don't mind Alya being there."
There's a pause for Chloe's end. Marinette hesitates getting in a cab as waits for a response. "Yeah that's fine. See ya."
"You think Chloe's ever been here? Seems too cheap for her taste." Alya asks, the two sharing a table in their go-to bar.
Marinette shrugs. "She's gotten much better over the years. A lot of her friends are poor folk like us now." The two of them giggle. Their attention is drawn away as the door opens and in walks the blonde in question.
"Hey Chloe!" Alya waves, grabbing her gaze from previously searching the room.
"Cesaire. Love the haircut, short hair so suits you, you girl-boss." The two greet each other with a friendly peck on each cheek. Chloe sits beside them.
"So what do you need from me?" Marinette asks once she's settled.
Chloe lets out an exasperated sigh and leans her arm on the table. "Daddy's been making me go on these horrendous blind dates for the past few weeks and it's exhausting." She says with her usual amount of dramatization.
"Ugh that sounds like the worse, girl."
"It is. There's only so many things I can think to say to scare them off, but I can't help being so charming. Besides, they're all just in it for the money, so they overlook it all and instantly want to marry me. I hate it."
"I'm surprised your father's making you do this, doesn't he usually follow your every command?" Marinette asks, sipping on a strawberry daiquiri.
"Yeah, well the orders aren't really coming from him." Chloe emphasises, and the other girls immediately get an image of Chloe's stone-faced mother that sends a chill down their spines.
"Have you tried just telling her you have a boyfriend?" Alya asks.
"She wants the hard evidence. I could always hire an actor but that wouldn't last a whole marriage." Chloe sighs. "Look, these things are pushing me to my limit. I just need a night off. So I figured Marinette, the queen of awkward and clumsy, would be the perfect role for the night."
Marinette scoffs. "I'll have you know I outgrew the awkwardness!... okay but yeah I'm still a total clutz." She pauses to take another sip of her drink. "Sure I'll fill in for you. What do I get out of this?" She asks with a smirk, not actually expecting any reward but curious if Chloe had thought that far.
"You already know I can get you anything money can buy, but I figured you'll need a makeover to look the part, so that's payment enough, right?" Chloe smiles mischievously, knowing she hit a weak spot.
"Like... high end fashion type makeover?" Marinette asks, trying to contain her excitement.
"Well duh," Chloe waves over a waiter and orders a drink. "you can't be Chloe Bourgeois on your sore budget and Frankenstein creations."
Marinette ignores the last comments and nods. "Deal."
"Damn, look at you Marinette, going all Pretty Woman tonight." Alya winks.
Marinette deadpans, "Mm, not quite."
Her mouth is completely agape as Marinette walks into the clothing store, which seems to have an area reserved just for her. Around her are racks of outfits, no single one repeated but all of the highest quality and most recent fashions. She prances to each wrack, hesitantly fingering through to see each individual outfit.
"Never been one to be religious, but if there's a heaven, I think Marinette found hers," Alya chuckles, looking around casually behind her friend.
"It's nothing much," Chloe dismisses, clearly familiar with her surroundings as she talks to a few workers about getting certain outfits out, "you should see the boutiques over in New York."
A worker comes out and hands a tablet to Marinette. "Just scroll and select the ones you would like to try on.
Marinette's eyes widen, and she began fervently tapping the screen.
Alya watches her friend with a chuckle. "This might take a while."
After what can best be described as a montage of dressings, the three girls finally decided on a look. Marinette appeared wearing a black blazer with accentuated shoulders, and underneath dawned a dress shirt with a deep-cut neck that had thin black and white stripes. On the bottom, she wore what appeared to be a modest, calf-length black skirt, but had x's cut out from top to bottom on either side. Her shoes were simple short black heels.
"The perfect blend of modest, rich, and sexy." Chloe claps, as if she had designed it herself.
"Damn girl, I thought you were trying to scare him away, not getting him on his knees instantly." The two stare surprised at Alya. "On his knees-on his knee, like a proposal, what did... what did you think I meant?"
Marinette was swiftly brushed away by workers who sat her at an elegant booth and began messing with her hair and makeup. The finished look was far heavier than her normal neutral look, but was flashy and modern. The women opted for giving her a wig, identical to her natural colour but longer, wavier, and ombred into a light purple. Overall she looked young and lively, but rich and important.
"You're ready." Chloe beams.
Staring herself down in a bathroom mirror, Marinette takes a deep breath. "You got this. Just go up there, make him uncomfortable, leave. Easy. Just be Chloe from high school mixed with some gaudy adult tendencies. No man would want to date, let alone marry, someone that annoying." Chuckling to herself, the exits the bathroom with new-found confidence and addresses a hostess, who leads her to the only table in the restaurant occupied.
There sits a young man with golden hair and bright green eyes, in a simple but expensive looking black three piece suit. He sits with precise posture, his hands clasped on the table before him. His gaze is set ahead of him, not at anything particular, as his mind is clearly elsewhere. His face is otherwise expressionless.
Marinette shuffles over and waves to grab his attention.
He blinks and glances up with a smile too perfect to be natural. "You must be my date for tonight."
"I'd be lying if I said I recognised you as my date. I see so many men these days the faces all just-" She exaggerates her hand motions as she holds them up and the clasps them together. "morph together, you know." She laughs, far too loud for just the two of them, and sits down across from him.
"Mm, yes, the numerous blind dates must get exhausting." The man comments, extending his hand out. "You're a Bourgeois, correct?"
"The one and only. Besides my parents and that accident my mom made in the states. But you know, the only important one. I'm sure you've heard all about me." Marinette extends her hand to shake his, but instead, the man kisses hers, lingering as he captures her gaze.
"Of course, Chloe Bourgeois, how could I forget. I believe we met once as children, my father has brought it up once or twice but faces are so blurry from back then." He finally lets go and resumes his previous position.
Marinette leans back in her chair. "Did we meet? I've done so many drugs since then I hardly remember having a childhood." She lets out another obnoxious laugh.
"Well then I'll re-introduce myself. I'm Adrien Agreste. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Marinette's heart drops. Not Adrien Agreste, the Adrien Agreste, only son of Gabriel Agreste, who owns the brand she works for? Not Adrien Agreste who, if you follow the chain of command up a bit, is practically her boss? Practically owns her ass? Shit. It's fine. It'll be fine. He clearly barely remembers Chloe more than being a kid so he hasn't noticed she isn't her, and he doesn't know who Marinette Dupain-Cheng is so there's no way she can get in trouble. Stay calm, take a deep breath. Just continue naturally.
"Ahh, I remember now, Gabriel's little playboy. How could any girl forget having their sexual awakening to you as a pre-teen." Marinette raises an eyebrow suggestively, internally disappointed in herself that she may have been one of those who owned far too many magazines full of teen celebrities.
Adrien lets out a short chuckle. "I'm flattered, Miss Bourgeois."
"So was she," Marinette points down to her lap with a wink, "if you know what I mean." Once again, she internally cringes. Surely that was embarrassing enough for him to be turned off, right? She glances to see Adrien's reaction only to find he has taken out is phone. You're kidding me, right?
"Apologies, work never ends." He sighs, returning his phone to his pocket.
"Heh, right." Marinette mutters, unsure of her next move. "Ugh, it's so hot in here, are you hot?" She groans dramatically, taking off her blazer to reveal her dress-shirt is sleeveless.
"I can have the temperature adjusted if you'd like." Adrien suggests.
"No, it's fine. It's about now I start showing skin anyway, although we typically aren't still in public for it." She smirks, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. "I've always been thrilled by the 'what if someone sees us,' trope but if you'd prefer we can go snag a room-"
"Sure." Adrien nods.
Marinette nearly chokes as she watches Adrien stand and motion for her to lead the way.
"Shall we?"
Marinette paces in the lobby adjoined to the restaurant as Adrien speaks to a man at the front desk. She curses under her breath, repeatedly using the words "dumbass," and "slut," in reference to herself. How the hell was she supposed to get herself out of this one? Surely she wasn't willing to go this far on the first date, let alone with someone she didn't care about. Wasn't this counterproductive to the initial plan anyhow? How had he not been scared away by now? She had to think of a way out. Biting her lip, she contemplates an idea and nods to herself once it feel s developed. She runs up to Adrien and taps his arm.
"Um, Adrien-can I call you that? We were about to sleep with each other-uhm, I just remembered my ex works here and it'd be hell if we ran into each other so I think I'm just gonna dip-" And with that she scurries out of the building yelling "Have a good night!" back to him. Once on the curb, she glances around for a taxi. Suddenly a hand spins her around, and she's once again face to face with Adrien.
"I'm sorry, I didn't want to end the night on a bad note." Adrien admits, letting go of Marinette but maintaining their proximity.
"All good in the hood," she looks around again, praying for an out to present itself because she's at a loss for options, "can't be helped when you've slept with half the city."
Adrien doesn't catch on to her urgency. "We can always relocate if you'd prefer, there's still something I'd like to discuss."
"Eh, I definitely killed the mood back there. Don't worry about it." She punches his shoulder uncomfortably. "I'll just get going-" She turns to leave but Adrien spins her around again.
"Wait!"
Once Marinette is fully facing him again, he lets go.
"Marry me."
"...what?"