Until I Make You Mine

Chapter 5

The whole day was more than just a little hectic. Most of it was spent at the Gabriel Shanghai headquarters meeting with the investors and generally making sure everything was ready for the official launch at the gala which would take place in the ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria. There was an official cutting of the red ribbon outside of the new store before Marinette and Adrien were ferried back to their hotel room with a full prep team to get ready for the night time events.

While hair and makeup started on them, Adrien finally had a chance to check his messages, including an email from Alya. "Remind me to buy something special for Alya before we leave."

Marinette came over, her hair wrapped up on her head. Adrien showed her the email. Alya found the gossip insider was a girl name Lenka. While Lenka claimed not to know the true identity of her source, the informer had promised her that she would be at the gala tonight and would be able to provide further 'evidence' of the Marinette and Luka affair. Marinette felt sick to her stomach. However, Alya had convinced this Lenka that the 'insider' was feeding her nothing but a bunch of lies and Lenka agreed not to publish anymore information from this source. However, they were not going to say anything just yet since the informer would be at the gala tonight.

"Maybe we can figure out who they are?" Marinette wondered out loud. Adrien nodded, forwarding the email onto Chloe who fired back an outraged reply. Adrien hoped that between the three of them, maybe they could find out something.

After what seemed like forever, Adrien finally stepped out from behind the privacy screen and felt like he stopped breathing when he saw Marinette. She was in a deep red floor length gown, off the shoulder with a low cut back and matching heels. She had a light silk scarf wrapped around her shoulders and a small matching bag. She had her hair down in soft curls and stepping closer, he ran his fingers through it. "It's not fair you look this beautiful m'lady." He purred, lifting her hand and kissing the inside of her wrist just above the bangle, sending a shiver down her spine. "You're going to be the death of me you know." Marinette flushed pink across her face, earning a smirk from Adrien. He could still melt her into a puddle of goo with that look. As the prep team cleared away, he offered his arm to his Lady as they headed for the ballroom.

The ballroom was set up with a runway and rows of chairs and some tall tables towards the back for drinks and canapés. Adrien and Marinette were early as they would be greeting the official party as they arrived. Chloe came soon after wearing a Gabriel original in her signature yellow, a look of determination on her face.

"If you like, I'll try to keep Luka occupied through the evening. If he's seen talking to me, they can't link him back to you." Marinette held on tighter to Adrien's arm.

"I can't ask you to put yourself in the way of gossip like that Chloe." But the socialite just waved dismissively.

"We'll play it by ear, but honestly, the gossips can't do much to me. Not unless they want to deal with my daddy."

Slowly the dignitaries and officials began to arrive. Marinette smiled and nodded and kissed on the cheek looking overwhelmed at Adrien who gave her a small wink for encouragement before someone caught his eye. Marinette looked over to see Kagami approaching on crutches with her leg in a moonboot. Adrien immediately went over to her, offering her a hand.

"I wasn't expecting to see you here Kagami, I thought you were training with the Olympic fencing team in Japan."

"I won't be competing." She said it so sadly Adrien felt heartbroken for her. He knew better than anyone that this had been a dream she had strived for, years in the making. "I broke my ankle in the trial match and missed the selections." Marinette could see she looked like she was going to cry and put an arm around her. "Mother insisted I come here for the Gala. Some nonsense about showing Tsurugi's not taking things lying down or something." Adrien and Marinette shared a worried look. Neither of them had ever seen Kagami look so dejected before. "I think my mother was just so angry she didn't want to look at me."