Until Next Time, My Lady

Red or Black?

"I understand, Madame Antoine. Let's see if we can find the problem. Could you please click on the cart icon for me."

Adrien twirled a pencil over his fingers as he waited for her confirmation on the other end of the line. Being part of the online customer service was one of his many side jobs within Gabriel. His father wanted him to know all the odds and ends of the company for when he'd have to it take over. Everything from customer service to designing seemed to be programmed into his DNA at this point.

"Okay, I'm on the cart page now, but it still says that the total for one top is over 500.00€. That can't be when it says that it's only 80.00€," Madame Antoine insisted.

"Hmm. Could you please tell me the number in the quantity box?" He asked.

An audible smack, to what must've been to her forehead, came through his headset.

"Oh my! There's a six in the quantity box! No wonder it was saying it cost so much! I'm sorry to have called you about something stupid like this!" She exclaimed.

"It happens all the time," Adrien chuckled. "But I'm glad I could be of service to you."

"Well, thanks for helping me with my obliviousness," she laughed. "Have a good day!"

"Thanks, you too."

Another call on the dash flashed in. He answered it quickly in hopes of it being another easy call.

"Thank you for calling Gabriel's online customer service center, this is Adrien. How can I be of service to you today?"

"Well, personally I'd love it if you came up to the seventh floor and helped me with some accessories for this dress."

He jolted upright in his chair, shocked to hear her voice on the other end of the line. She would usually just text him if she wanted his help. Why was she calling him?

"Marinette?"

"Who else would it be, silly?" She giggled. "Are you coming up or not?"

"Sure, I'll be up in a few minutes."

"Thanks! I may also need your opinions on a few other things, too."

A soft click let him know that she'd hung up, but he didn't move right away. The thoughts racing through his mind kept him planted in place. Why did she want him to help her? Wasn't Charlotte helping her with accessories and fabrics? Charlotte was a decent designer and knew how to accessorize designs almost as well as Marinette. He knew his opinions would be helpful, but did she really need two different judgment calls?

Slowly he got up from his desk chair, making his way towards the elevator. In all honesty, he didn't know what to think of the events that happened in the last few days. He was ecstatic, in a way, that Marinette had admitted that she loved him. The only problem was that he couldn't decide how he wanted to approach her now. Everything seemed to have come so naturally before, but this sudden change in her mood was making him uneasy. Was she flirting with him just now on the phone or was she just being her loving Marinette self?

The up button glowed dark orange as he touched it. He pressed his forehead against the cold wall next to the elevator. Did she know what she was doing to him? All he could think about during his Thermodynamics class was that little red and black dress. Apparently, he'd been so distracted, that his teacher even noticed. She'd stopped him after class to ask if something was wrong. He ended up telling her that he had just had a lot on his mind with work. That seemed to throw her off his case, but she still looked worried.

The ding from the elevator didn't register in his mind. The only reason he knew it had arrived was seeing movement out of the corner of his eye. He quickly got in and tapped the button for the seventh floor.