Then There Was You

Chapter 7

The day turned into quite a hectic one. Nathalie was frustrated with the missing shipment and had been on and off the phones since early morning with the distributors. Add to that Gabriel skulking around the building watching everyone, and the whole staff felt like it was walking on eggshells. There didn't seem to be a single person or department that Gabriel didn't criticise, nitpick or find fault with in some way. Nathalie tried to avoid him as much as possible. It's all very well to find fault when he hardly came near the place. She was relieved to hear from Adrien that at least everything seemed to be organised at Felix's end, with the new store opening on track for a summer collection launch.

Adrien also spent most of the day avoiding his father, instead keeping busy by running errands for Nathalie. It also gave him time to think over the conversation he'd had with his cousin. In a way, his relationship with Ladybug had always been safe and predictable. She was in love with another boy, and had always been clear on that. Even if they defeated Hawkmoth and revealed their identities, would anything really change? She'd still like the other boy, and she also said she was spending more time with him. Truth was, she was even more out of reach than ever. Of course Ladybug cared about him, he knew that, but only as a friend and partner and he was okay with that because her friendship and respect meant everything to him.

Then there was Marinette. Even just the thought of her made his pulse start to race. He knew that she had been spending a lot of time with Luka lately, but he had learned from Nino that Marinette never accepted Luka's advances. He wouldn't have blamed her if she had dated him though, Luka was a good guy, but Nino insisted that she had said numerous times when he or Alya asked about it that Luka was just a friend. Adrien had to admit though, that didn't make him feel a whole lot better about it. After all he'd said that about Marinette for how long now? Man he really was an idiot! He wasn't sure though whether she only saw him that way though.

In the past she was always kind of nervous around him, and Adrien didn't really know how she felt. Lately though, and especially over these last few days, he felt as if something between them had shifted. The way she looked at him after his father had left the office that morning, the care in her voice, the deep sincerity in her eyes, those captivating and intoxicating bluebell eyes, there was something so...so...Ladybug about her. No, he scolded himself, no, Ladybug likes someone else, they can't be the same, that would just be wishful thinking. Yet somehow it kept bugging him. Bugging...how apt he thought. A loud sigh escaped him as he stood waiting for the elevator.

"Rough day for you too?" Adrien felt like his heart flipped when he looked over to see Marinette struggling to carry a large bolt of fabric.

"Yeah, busy. Here let me take that." Adrien took the fabric from her and handed her the papers he had been carrying. "Those are for Sasha. I was just on my way down there. Nathalie thinks she's finally sorted out the missing shipment. She's been at it since early this morning."

"Oh, this will make his day." She declared. While waiting for the lift, Marinette started reading the paperwork. She was biting her bottom lip as she concentrated, and Adrien was suddenly feeling very hot around the collar. Oh he had fallen hard, and now having her so close to him, it was driving him crazy wanting to reach out and touch her. He needed to fill the silence quickly.

"So, aside from Lila and Veronica, how have you been finding the placement?" Marinette looked up from the paperwork. He expected to see excitement on her face like earlier in the week, but she looked worn out, exhausted even.

"Honestly, it's not what I thought it would be. I know it's only been a few days, and I'm very green to all this, but I feel so overwhelmed. Sasha has been really lovely and patient with me, but the restrictiveness of working to a company policy wasn't what I expected and although Sasha loved my idea for the challenge dress, he did point out that it wasn't 'Gabriel style' and would have been altered had I been submitting it for real. I guess I just didn't expect that." The lift door dinged, and the two stepped into the small space. Marinette was clearly in need of some pampering, and Adrien knew he was just the cat for the job.