Adrienette Love Story

Chalter 21

Adrien tilted his head. "Did you find something?"

"All I know for sure is that she happened to move up after Ms. Sancoeur's previous assistant retired suddenly. One of the best mentors of the design staff left shortly after and HR got very close-lipped about anything."

Adrien exhaled heavily. "So it hasn't exactly been the best place to work?"

"Junior designers don't seem to matter."

"That's surprising. I modeled through middle school and most of high school. I never heard any complaints from the designers."

She side-eyed him. "No offense, but I"m pretty sure you definitely wouldn't have heard it."

"None taken. I'm aware of how much grace I'm sometimes given. I moved away to try and do a lot more on my credit. Gabriel Agreste casts a surprisingly long shadow." He sighed heavily. "I was used to being so quiet in a changing room to keep my father happy that they'd sometimes forget I was there. I'd constantly see new junior designers. I knew they were still there years later because I would see their names on emails."

"Well, that's not how it works anymore."

He shook his head. "I know how Nathalie works. And thinks."

"I don't have any reason to doubt you.

"It's still a problem." His brows furrowed. "Are you looking for a new job?"

Marinette sat back, blinking. Arms crossed over her chest. "That's more direct than I would have expected."

"I won't be telling anyone else." He admitted, leaning his head back against the elevator wall. "We've just got a massive issue right under Nathalie's nose if it might lead to losing a lot of talent."

"I can't speak for anyone else. But I've been waiting until I have enough money saved up to run my shop."

His shoulders fell. "It would be a massive shame to lose your talent, Marinette."

She blinked, turning her head over her shoulder. "You're not trying to talk me into staying?"

"If you have your heart set on breaking out on your own, there isn't a thing I could say to persuade you." He chuckled. "I can only do my best here to see if I can clean up some of the mess you just mentioned."

"Then you believe me?"

He smirked. "I mean, you've only lied to me once..."

"You're not going to let that go are you?"

"I will. Eventually."

Marinette scoffed.

"Can you at least help me figure out what I need to fix?"

She sighed. "Well, I've had ideas. But there have been... things that happened that made me doubt that my ideas would be credited to me."

"That should never happen!" He was scowling furiously. "It makes me worried about what else was happening right under Nathalie's nose." He scrubbed a hand over his face. "Clearly whoever is pulling those strings is still here."

She patted his shoulder. "Look. I might not be here for the long run, but at least I can see you want to do right by people."

"That's the thing. I can't show people that. The old staff expected the young boy who modeled for them. The new staff like you now think I'll run straight to my father."

She chuckled. "I guess that was the one positive from that ill-fated date. I know you're nothing quite like what I expected."

He smiled. "Honestly, it's nice to just have someone to talk to."