Author's Note: I'm not dead yet! I'm actually feeling somewhat better! My deepest apologies for the extended delay in posting my next chapter of Drawn Together. There is an extended Author's note at the end of the chapter about the delay and about current events.

Please enjoy the latest installment!

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Chapter 16: A Proposition…

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Adrien was leaving his second meeting of the day and already feeling incredibly frazzled.

His morning had started off well enough: his time at the gym that morning had been great and he'd gotten in a really good workout with his personal trainer, followed by some time doing extended free-running on the parkour course. It wasn't quite as effortless as it was when he was suited up as Chat Noir; parkour as Adrien left him winded much more quickly and he couldn't leap as far nor as high, his muscles had to work harder than they did with the magic of the transformation enhancing them.

After a quick shower and a stop at that lovely coffee shop that had given him the free cheese Danish last week (those baristas were so nice, but this time he insisted on paying them for his breakfast sandwich, and also left them a generous tip) he'd headed to the University for art modeling. There had been that near-miss snafu with his evident lack of self control in the face of Marinette's apparently incredibly delectable personal aroma whenever she was even slightly excited by something.

It was… embarrassing; the way he responded to her. They were friends, and not even all that close of friends, though he did hope they could be closer now than they had been as kids. Marinette had said the same to Chat Noir; that she wished to be better friends with Adrien.

Hopefully his acute response to her was something temporary, and as he got used to being around her it would grow less severe. Plagg had said when his sense of smell first became so acute that it could take time to adjust to some smells, even that there would be some smells he used to like and could no longer handle, or the other way around. With a little luck, it would just take him some time to become less sensitive to her.

Then had come Roland's text message and request for his emergency meeting; Adrien had scurried to work immediately in order to make it to that meeting, only to get here and feel like the rug had been pulled out from under him.

'Two weeks before Fashion Week, too.' He lamented. He was walking through the lobby of Agreste Fashions now, on his way from meeting number two with umbrella in hand to take his lunch, having been delayed in eating by Roland's emergency meeting. 'When am I ever going to find time to schedule interviews? This is a nightmare…'

Years as a superhero rescuing people from their own emotions had taught him to be sensitive to the mood of a crowd. Something in the tone of the conversations of the people around him caused him to glance up. Many eyes were focused on the doors, and Adrien followed the gazes to spot a group moving toward the exit doors: two security guards hung back, while a middle aged man with a receding hairline and an unpleasant expression spoke to a small pale woman with hair the color of ink.

'Marinette?'

The unpleasant looking man grinned in a manner that made Adrien's hackles rise and the uncomfortable pinch of a growl start low in his throat; the man then struck the button to open the automated door.

Marinette turned her face away from the man, and Adrien could see that she was white as a sheet of paper. She was carrying a box.

'What is going on?!'

Marinette slowly walked out the door and into the rain. Her head was uncovered, but she didn't seem to so much as flinch.

As the door slowly closed, the man who had grinned evilly at Marinette watched her through the door with a smugness that made the incipient growl in Adrien's throat almost leak out, before he turned and walked back through the security gates.

Uneasy, Adrien decided caution was the better part of valor. He stepped quickly sideways and took a position in the shadow of a potted tree display. This was another useful ability that had bled over from his super hero persona: when he wanted to avoid notice, he could find a bit of shadow and remain still. Unless someone was searching specifically for him, their eyes would have a tendency to just slide by: one of the benefits of being a black cat.

Adrien was glad it didn't seem to matter what he was wearing. Today's ensemble was a sage green button up shirt and gunmetal tie with a silvery grey suit, so he just stood still and watched as the skeezy man passed him by. He smelled metallic and dirty, like coins picked up off the street, and Adrien's nose wrinkled in distaste.

Once he'd gone, Adrien quickly crossed the lobby, passed through the security gates and pushed through one of the rotary doors. The sky had opened up, and a heavy chilly downpour was sheeting across the city toward them. He popped his black umbrella open as he quickly scanned the plaza. There.

"Marinette!"

She didn't seem to hear him as she slowly walked away. Her hair was getting wet, the soft curl she'd had to her ponytail beginning to sag down her back with the weight of accumulated water.

"Marinette stop!" He tried again, carefully jogging down the steps as quickly as he could without falling on his face.

Her steps began to slow, but she was still walking as though in a daze.

His heart pinched. "Marinette, please wait!"

Finally she staggered to a halt. Adrien hit the bottom of the stairs as the downpour reached the plaza and started dumping heavily on everything, so he jogged quickly through the darkening haze and crowded close to her on one side, extending his arm so the protection of the umbrella would shelter her too, though the damage had already been done; she was soaked.

"Marinette, are you alright?" He tried. "What's happened?'

She didn't seem to really acknowledge his presence. She was staring down at the wet lid of her box, bangs sodden and heavy and hiding her eyes.

Leaning down so he could peer at her face, Adrien frowned at how ghastly pale she was, eyes wide but unseeing and rimmed in pink from tears. Her makeup had begun to wash away from the rain, and because of how horribly pale she was her bruise from Friday stood out against her fair skin all the more visibly. He cast a worried glance around the plaza but it would be impossible to spot a tainted butterfly coming through this torrent; instead his eyes snagged on the coffee shop across the street.

Resolved, Adrien placed a gentle hand on Marinette's lower back and cautiously urged her to begin walking again with a few soft words. He made sure they were both covered by the umbrella and guided them across the street and into a warm, cozy coffee shop he stopped in quite frequently on his way to work.

Once inside and out of the rain he paused and released Marinette long enough to close his umbrella. She stopped immediately, still not responding much, and Adrien was deeply, intensely worried for her. She was acting like she was in shock. He kept glancing at the doors, expecting to see a black butterfly with glowing purple markings headed their way. He didn't know what he would do if Marinette were to become an akuma: somehow the very thought filled him with indescribable dread.

None came though.

Umbrella discarded in the rack near the door for now, Adrien reached out and lifted the box from Marinette's arms.

Finally she responded. As soon as the box was moved, Marinette flinched and looked up at him. Her blue eyes began growing glassy and bottom lip gave a slight tremble.

"Shh, it'll be okay. C'mon, this way." Quickly, Adrien shifted the box to one arm, and again placed a hand at the small of Marinette's back to guide her through the coffee shop to the most secluded corner. By some strange stroke of luck the coffee shop was completely void of people at this exact moment; there were no patrons sitting at the bistro tables nor lounging in the comfortable armchairs scattered around the floor. The barista was even missing from behind the counter at present, off in back fetching something to refill behind the counter.

The private little corner of the coffee shop was his favorite place to sit because it was out of the way, hidden from all the doors and windows, and it allowed Plagg some ability to move around so long as he stayed out of line of site from the opening to the alcove. Once there, Adrien set the box on the small table and gently pressed Marinette down on the deep squashy couch with a hand on her shoulder. He sat down on the edge of the low table and plucked the handkerchief from his breast pocket, pressing it into her hands. "Here use this. I'll go see what else I can find to dry off with, and get us some hot drinks. Is cocoa okay?"

Looking at the handkerchief in surprise, Marinette blinked up at him and nodded. Her lip quivered again and some tears spilled down her so-pale cheeks. Had her eyes always been so very blue? "Stay right here. I promise I'll be right back. Okay?"

She nodded again, and managed to whisper, "Okay."

He squeezed her hands once more before releasing them and standing. "I'll be right back."

Adrien left the alcove and headed for the counter. The man there now was the owner of the coffee shop, a heavy set Middle Eastern gentleman with a luxuriant dark beard and a ready smile. Faseeq Hassan offered that smile immediately when he spotted Adrien approaching the counter. "Good morning, Adrien! What can I get for you today; the usual?"

Adrien returned the smile and drew breath to respond, but Faseeq must have noticed something in his face because he immediately set down the bag of espresso beans he was using to refill the hopper of the mill. "Adrien, what's the matter? You look distressed."

Surprised the man had noticed, Adrien guessed he must look more out of sorts than he had realized. "Do you have a few towels I could use, actually? My friend was caught in that downpour and got quite soaked. We'll take two large hot chocolates, as well."

Faseeq was already nodding and reaching below the counter, from whence he produced a hand full of clean white bar rags. "Will these do?"

"Yes, perfectly. Thank you." Adrien accepted the towels and swiped his card over the pay terminal for the hot chocolates. "Just call my name and I'll come grab them when they're ready, okay?"

"Of course." Faseeq smiled. "Let me know if you need anything else."

"I appreciate it." Adrien took the towels back around the corner into the little secluded alcove and found Marinette staring out the window into the heavy rain, her face turned away from him. She didn't seem to have heard him return. He paused there for a moment to observe her.

Her midnight ponytail was plastered to her neck and jacket, all the curl fallen out of it from the weight of water. Her already narrow shoulders still seemed so small and sharp, even encased by her dark grey rain jacket, and he suddenly wondered if she had eaten anything yet today. She was clenching the pocket square to her mouth, and Adrien just felt his heart tearing for her.

"Hey." He said softly, as he stepped further into the alcove.

Marinette turned to look at him, and her tears spilled over again when her eyes moved. "Hi." She whispered from behind the mottled green silk.

Adrien slowly sat down again on the edge of the coffee table and rested his hands on his knees, watching her face with wary eyes. He didn't want to upset her, but he had to ask. "Can you tell me what's happened?"

Marinette nodded. She lowered the handkerchief from her mouth, hands shaking, took a breath and it snagged on a small sob.

She let that breath out on a huff of air and took another, which became another sob. Then she was shaking her head 'No' and crying.

Adrien instantly moved from the table to the couch next to her, putting his arm around behind her shoulders and pulling her into a side hug. Marinette curled into his side, crying and shaking, her face pressing into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her in a hug and rubbed up and down her upper back in a soothing gesture, telling her, "Shh, you'll be alright. I'm here. You can tell me when you're ready."

Privately, Adrien was burning the memory of the sleazy, shark-like grin the man had given Marinette into his memory; somehow, he felt certain that man wasn't innocent of causing Marinette's distress.

A few minutes later, as Marinette's crying was growing less and her body was beginning to sag into Adrien's side in exhaustion, Faseeq popped his head around the corner with two paper to-go cups in hand. He took in the situation with one glance and quietly set the cups on the edge of the coffee table, with a nod to Adrien when he mouthed his thanks, and the coffee shop owner ducked back out of the alcove again quietly.

Marinette must have heard something though, because she stirred and sat up slightly, pushing away from Adrien's chest. It took her two tries at clearing her throat and a juicy sniffle, but finally she got out in a tone of bemused despair, "I've ruined your shirt!"

Adrien's responding noise was halfway between a laugh and a scoff as he looked down to inspect the damage: there was a stain from the concealer that had been covering her bruise and her mascara, plus a sizable damp patch from tears and snot. "I don't care about my shirt. Are you okay now?"

Her eyes were swollen and pink, her mascara had smudged, and her face was pale and splotchy from all her crying, and Adrien's heart just ached for her: she looked so tired and miserable. Sick and injured last week, now crying her eyes out… Couldn't this poor woman catch a break?

Marinette finally began using the handkerchief that he had given her to blot at her eyes and wipe her nose. "No… I'm not okay. I didn't come to work on Friday, so…" She took a deep shuddering breath and tried to continue, but couldn't seem to find her voice again. She just shook her head, more tears trickling down her flushed cheeks as she stared at him helplessly.

The evidence was all there though: escorted out by security, carrying a box, and her former boss's sadistic grin… "Marinette… Were you fired?"

Marinette's faced blanched white and he worried momentarily that she might faint, but she just hid from him by covering it with her hands. She shrank into herself on the couch, trembling, and trying to lean further away from him.

Adrien's eyebrows came down. "Why?" He couldn't help the bass growl that rumbled in that question, and he didn't let her retreat from him too far. He still had one arm behind her back and he used that to stop her from withdrawing completely.

She cringed and shook her head, some embarrassed color coming back into her cheeks. With it her scent spiked slightly in his nose, raw and edgy, and he could almost literally taste her distress.

He gently squeezed her shoulder with the hand he still had around behind her back and sought to reassure her. "Please, Marinette, talk to me… We're friends, aren't we? I want to help you. I promise, there's nothing you can tell me about this situation that will change that." He forced his voice to remain smooth, gentle and reassuring, for her sake. There would be time to be angry, to roar and rage and break things for hurting his friend, after he'd gotten to the root of her problem. After he knew where to direct that destructive energy.

She took a slow deep breath and released a shuddering sigh before lowering her trembling hands to her lap. Her face was glowing bright pink again, and she didn't look at him as she took another slow breath, and finally whispered, "I- I had been late s- several times and I had been warned that… if- if I missed any more time, it would mean my… my d- dismissal… So when I didn't show up on F- Friday… I was fired."

Suspicions confirmed, Adrien's eyebrows came down in a scowl. "I had my secretary relay the message that your absence was to be excused due to medical emergency." Adrien told her, leaning forward in his agitation.

Marinette shrank back, twisting the handkerchief in her hands, and Adrien immediately eased away from her again. 'What's this about?' Her body language and scent screaming discomfort, and it had him on edge too. He tried to breathe it out and stay focused on her words.

"I'm sorry," she said, blush deepening and spreading across her whole face and even down her neck, "I don't know what happened. I don't know if the message was lost or… Or what happened." She wouldn't meet his eyes, hadn't looked at him since confessing to having been fired.

There was something that had been said that she wasn't telling him, and it made him deeply uneasy. Her former manager's sadistic shark-like grin and cold eyes floated through his thoughts again and Adrien felt the growl building in his throat again. 'What did he say to her?'

In any case, he wanted Marinette to relax again. He didn't like her being so tense and uncomfortable in his presence. He released her shoulder and withdrew his arm from behind her, standing briefly to grab the two cups of hot chocolate and pull them closer.

He was about to hand one to her when he realized that she was still soaked through to the bone. "Oh! Marinette, you're still soaking wet! Here, have some of this to warm up, and then take your rain jacket off."

Marinette haltingly obliged, accepting the paper cup of cocoa and carefully taking a sip to test the temperature, before taking another longer pull on the cup after finding it to be comfortable to drink. She cradled her hands around it for a moment to draw in the warmth it had to offer, and then set it down on the table. She began shrugging her rain jacket off her slim shoulders and laying it beside her oversized tote purse on the couch next to her. Her rich pink blouse was drenched around the collar and all down her front, sticking to her camisole and to her skin underneath that. She really was a wreck.

"Here," Adrien passed her one of the bar rags, "You can use this to start blotting your shirt off with. If it's okay, I'll start on your hair."

She accepted the rag with a nod, meeting his eyes again shyly, he was relieved to note. "Thank you."

As Marinette began wringing her shirt with the rag, Adrien perched on the arm of the sofa behind her. Gently he gathered her ebony ponytail into one hand and slid it over the towel so he could begin squeezing the rain water out of it.

"So what will you do now?" He asked as he focused on his task.

Marinette sighed, slim shoulders drooping. Her voice was little above a whisper when she responded. "I don't know… Without this internship, I may not be able to graduate on time, since I was receiving credits for the work experience. But otherwise…" Her voice caught, and Adrien stilled, ears straining to hear her.

"I don't know… I was fired. I have no references. No one will hire me. And I signed non-compete clauses…" Her voice wobbled again, and Adrien abandoned his perch on the arm of the sofa to sit in front of her again on the coffee table, shoving the cups of cocoa out of his way and taking her hands in his own to offer support. "I can't work for any competitor of Agreste Fashions for three years." Her eyes were glassy and full of tears again, gazing at him soulfully and full of distress. "My career in fashion is over…"

She squeezed her eyes shut, and tears spilled down her cheeks. "My life is over."

Adrien felt like he'd been punched in the stomach.

Marinette was the sort of person who was just exploding with talent. Bursting with it! Removing her from the fashion industry was an affront against nature. He remembered how she would sit at her desk in Madame Bustier's class and sketch away in that notebook of hers between classes, and the hat she had created for his father's design competition in the same year. A competition she had won! He remembered that when he had come over to her house to practice for the video game tournament as well, there had been a dress form in her bedroom with a half finished project pined to it and a mountain of bolts of fabric piled in one corner.

From things he had heard second hand through Nino and Alya in the years since, Marinette had continued to work on developing her talent. She entered contests, she submitted design samples, she created gifts for friends and family that they adored, each gift uniquely suited to the recipient: both Nino and Alya raved about how much they adored Marinette's presents. Adrien had always wished that he could have been close enough friends with Marinette that she would design and gift him with such a thoughtfully rendered unique creation just for him. It would be something he would treasure.

Her talent for fashion and design was woven into the very fiber of her being, part of the warp and woof of her soul. To deny her a place in the fashion industry would be to make the world's fashions less somehow. Less wonderful. Less beautiful.

It could not be allowed.

"Come work for me," he said.

Adrien blinked.

Marinette opened her eyes and looked at him in surprise, tears still glossy on her cheeks.

Now that he'd said it, he realized it was the perfect solution to both their problems! After all, Roland's meeting just this very morning had been to tell him that he was putting in notice and would be leaving Paris after Fashion Week was over.

"What?" Marinette whispered.

Adrien nodded, a tiny smile curling one corner of his mouth. "Come work for me. Be my personal assistant."

Marinette blinked at him vacantly for a moment before frowning bewilderedly. "But… Don't you already have a personal assistant?"

Getting excited by the idea now, Adrien's little smile became a full blown grin. It stunned Marinette slightly (not that he realized that) and he told her in a rapid rush, "No! Well, yes, I did. But the reason I had to leave the university so quickly after volunteering this morning was that my current personal assistant had scheduled an emergency meeting with me to inform that his spouse had taken a new job in Madrid and they'll be moving at the end of the first week of October. With Fashion Week coming up in just two weeks, I was just getting ready to really freak out about where in the world I could find time to create a job posting and comb resumes and schedule and conduct interviews… My schedule is packed solid until after Fashion Week is over, I don't have time for all that! But you, Marinette…" He trailed off, gazing into her ocean blue eyes, and feeling satisfaction and hope and something like rightness bubbling in his chest… "You are the perfect candidate for this position!"

Marinette blinked at him in surprise, and trying not to gape at him unattractively like a landed fish. "But… I'm not qualified to be an executive level personal assistant!"

"Nonsense, you're very capable!" Adrien told her. He released her hands, and Marinette realized belatedly that he'd been holding her hands in his for several minutes, gently rubbing his thumbs across her knuckles. She shivered at the loss. He passed her cup of cocoa to her with another excited smile and earnestly said, "You're an incredibly gifted seamstress, you're smart and a sharp thinker, you're quick on your feet and adaptive to change, you're resourceful and don't take any crap from anyone so you'll be fine back stage at the fashion shows when all the models start having meltdowns… Actually, when they all see how amazing my new personal assistant is, I'll have to beat them off with a stick to keep you for myself. They'll all want to hire you away from me." He chuckled, and Marinette knew he must not know the kinds of things he did to her heart, as a rush of warm affection flowed through her for him.

A note of honey sweetness popped in Marinette's scent suddenly and Adrien's eyes flashed to her face in surprise. Her expression though was a puzzle to him, as she almost looked like she was about to cry again; her cheeks were softly rosy now, and though her eyes were still pink and slightly swollen from her earlier crying and haloed by her smudged mascara, they shone with so much warmth and fondness he felt a little humbled.

Adrien cleared his throat. "Anyway, you would really be doing me a huge favor. With Roland leaving, I will need a new personal assistant; I definitely won't survive Fashion Week without one. You already know everything you would need to know about sewing to maintain my wardrobe for fashion shoots and public appearances. The rest we have a month to train you on before Roland's last day, and Marie can help after that too… She's my secretary. But what do you say? Would you like to come back to Agreste Fashions to be my personal assistant?"

This was a golden opportunity of legendary proportions: this was like winning the lottery or finding a hidden treasure… Marinette could hardly believe her luck. Fired and career ending for good to receiving a promotion to executive assistant for her dear friend?! The answer was obvious.

"Yes," she told him.

He grinned. "Yes?"

She smiled too. "Yes, I'll come back and be your personal assistant. I don't know that I really feel qualified to be an executive level personal assistant, since I was just an intern this morning, and there's still my art class in the mornings three days a week… But I promise you I will work hard to learn everything I need to know from Monsieur Roland before he leaves for Madrid. I will apply myself, and I'll work really hard, and I'll just be the best assistant ever!"

Adrien's smile was absolutely radiant. He gently patted her knee with one warm hand and said softly, "I know: that's why I'm offering the job to you."

Marinette felt like her heart was glowing. She was so relieved and hopeful.

Adrien glanced at the cup of cocoa in her hands and nodded at it as a reminder. "Let's finish up here. You should take a few minutes in the restroom to refresh yourself, but then we should hurry back to the office and get you started in your training. You have a lot to learn and only a month to do it in."

Marinette glanced down at her half full cup of cocoa and caught sight of her damp blouse again. "Oh geez… I must look like a drowned rat…"

Adrien just huffed a laugh. "Nonsense, you've just had a really rough morning." He stood from his perch on the edge of the coffee table and moved out of her way, offering her a hand up off the couch. Marinette accepted his assistance, grateful for it as she still didn't feel terribly steady on her feet and honestly wasn't sure she could have stood on her own at that moment. She shouldered her tote purse, and cautiously peeked out of the tiny secluded alcove she and Adrien had been sitting in. There were a few people there, but they were all engrossed in their own matters, and no one so much as glanced her way when she stepped out from behind the partial screen.

She glanced back at Adrien to see him picking up her raincoat and shaking it out to lay over the damp cardboard box containing her personal effects from her cubicle in Teen Fashions. "I'll try to be quick."

Adrien's answering smile was kind. "Take what time you need. I'll be here when you're done."

Marinette returned his smile with gratitude, her face feeling tight from crying, and ducked around the corner and down the hall to the restrooms. Once she turned the lock on the door to the private ladies room, Tikki floated free of her tote bag.

The kwami's fathomless cobalt eyes said everything, and Marinette had to breathe deeply and look up at the ceiling to stop herself from crying again.

"Oh, my poor, beleaguered chosen." Tikki snuggled in against Marinette's collarbone and pressed her face into the young woman's neck. "This day has been very hard on you, but things are looking up now, right?"

Marinette cupped her hand around Tikki to return the embrace. "Yes, things are looking up. Thank you. Thank you."

"Me?" Tikki queried. "What for? I haven't done anything today."

Marinette scooped her up and lifted the tiny scarlet goddess where they could see each other. "For this good luck."

Tikki's smile was soft and filled with ancient wisdom. "No, Marinette. This was not luck. This was something else entirely."

"What do you mean?"

There was a peculiar glint of mystery in her eye. "Another time, perhaps. For now, let's get you cleaned up."

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While Marinette was ensconced in the ladies' room, Adrien sent a few emails on his phone. The first went to Marie asking her to contact Human Resources and see where in the process of termination was the employee record for Marinette Dupain-Cheng. He also instructed that she was not being terminated, but rather was to be transferred from Teen Fashions to begin under Adrien as his new personal assistant; he included for Marie's benefit an explanation that Marinette's termination was a misunderstanding due to a difference in working styles between Marinette and her former boss.

His second email went to Agreste building security instructing that Marinette's building access needed to be reinstated immediately and executive assistant level access granted so that Marinette would be able to gain entry to the building again. They would have to stop back at the front desk on their way into the building to confirm activation and pick up a new access badge for her, and Adrien would also have to log into the human resources system to put in more specific access requests to be sure she could get into all the various areas of the building and various satellite locations required for photo shoots.

As he was sitting there trying to think of anything else that needed to be done, Marinette returned from the ladies' room looking much improved: her hair had been combed and redone into a neatly twisted bun at the back of her head, and her makeup was retouched with all traces of her rain damaged mascara gone. Her bruise was once again hidden by pale foundation and her dark bangs. Her eyes when she shyly peeked at him through her lashes seemed a darker blue than usual, though he supposed that must be because the whites of her eyes were still stained slightly pink from her earlier tears. She had cleaned up pretty well, given only a few minutes in a public bathroom and the contents of her purse.

He smiled at her. "You look like you're feeling better."

She returned the smile, cheeks pinking slightly. "I think I am." She glanced at the edge of the damp patch on his shirt that was visible around the edge of his suit jacket, and her brow crinkled in minor distress. "I really am sorry about your shirt though. It's a mess."

Adrien just shook his head, dismissing her concerns. "It's not a problem." He stood from the sofa and buttoned his pale gray suit jacket. Buttoned, the stain was completely concealed. "See?" He grinned slightly. "I'll just change shirts when we get back to the office. Are you ready to go?"

Marinette took a deep breath through her nose and released it through her mouth, nodding slowly. "Yes. Yes, I'm ready."

Adrien picked up Marinette's damp box of belongings and gestured her to precede him out of the alcove again. They passed through the coffee shop and Adrien passed Marinette's box to her so he could collect his umbrella from the stand near the door. While they had been inside the rain had eased up considerably, though it was still a steady downpour, it was nowhere the torrent that had caught them earlier. Adrien made sure they were both shielded by the umbrella and together they dashed quickly across the street and across the plaza and up the steps to Agreste Fashions. Marinette ducked inside when Adrien tugged the door open and waited for him while he collapsed the umbrella and shook it free of excess water. Together they approached the security desk.

Marinette couldn't help the way her stomach clenched and began churning during that approach. Not even an hour earlier she'd been escorted out of here in an unnecessarily public spectacle, with Guy Bredeauteau's lifeless cruel eyes and nasty grin on her back. Coming back so soon, let alone ever, was nerve wracking. She stuck to Adrien's side like glue though, knowing he had the clout to see this through.

At the security desk, Adrien smiled at one of the guards; a different one than either of the two who had been escorting her around earlier that day. The young woman blinked at Adrien in slight surprise. "Mr. Agreste, how can I help you?"

"There was something of a rather severe mix-up earlier," Adrien began. He gestured for Marinette to join him, and she stepped forward and slid her box onto the counter beside him. "Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng is being transferred today to begin as my personal assistant. There was a communications error that resulted in her being wrongfully terminated this morning. I sent an email a little bit ago indicating that she will be needing executive assistant level access and a new badge reinstated as a permanent employee. Can you work on that, please?"

The young security guard nodded compliantly, dark eyes shining. "Of course, Mr. Agreste. I'll get right on that. Did you want to wait here for the badge, or would you like me to bring it up to your office once it's been programmed and activated?"

"If you would bring it to my office, I would appreciate that very much. Thank you." Adrien smiled at her again. Marinette was a little impressed with how easily that had all gone: both that the guard had been so amiable and that Adrien had flashed his charm so blatantly to grease the cogs. She didn't know he knew how to do that… 'You learn something new every day…'

The guard's cheeks darkened slightly in a blush severe enough that it was visible even on her dark skin at Adrien's second approving and thankful smile. She blinked and shook her head a little as Adrien walked away to badge himself through the turnstiles, then refocused her dark eyes on Marinette. "I can open the gate for you, Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng," She smiled politely. "And we'll have your new badge brought up to Mr. Agreste's office as soon as it's ready. I'm so sorry about the error this morning. I'll make sure the rest of the security team is informed so you don't encounter any further issues." She reached over the counter and pressed a button which opened the nearest security gate for Marinette to pass through.

Marinette quickly collected her box and offered her thanks to the guard for her help. Adrien was waiting for her on the other side, a small, friendly smile on his face, and he gestured with one arm. "Let's head up to my office, shall we?"

He began by turning, but he didn't stay the leader with her walking a step behind. Rather, he kept his pace where she could easily match it, even with his six or seven inches of additional height and the longer legs that went with that, and walk beside him. He led them to the bank of elevators at the far edge of the lobby and pressed the call button while Marinette glanced around surreptitiously. No one in particular seemed to be staring too obviously, though they did have a few eyes on them. She supposed that was to be expected. Adrien was an eye-catcher no matter what the circumstances; breathtakingly gorgeous, tall, fair, and the son of the company's founder. It was a wonder there weren't more eyes on them. She wondered how many were staring at her and her soggy box….

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Adrien's hand lightly brushing the small of her back encouraged her inside, where he pressed the button for the top floor. She was both happy and uncomfortably aware that they were in the elevator car alone. She could faintly smell his woodsy cologne in the enclosed space, and from the way she'd been embarrassingly blubbering all over him like a total wreck in that coffee shop. 'Ugh, how embarrassing…' She was too exhausted and worn down emotionally to respond in any physical way, so even though her thoughts went poetic they were dry. 'I had a total sobbing breakdown all over Adrien's chest. His magnificently sculpted, golden tan, Adonis-like chest, that I know exactly what it looks like because I've been drawing him naked for the past week! Ugh, STOP IT MARINETTE, that is your new boss! No being weird! Don't be like teen you! Don't be like last Wednesday you! You can't make a mistake and screw this up! Don't make it weird!'

Her snarky mental pep-talk completed just as the doors opened on a very nicely appointed elevator lobby. Things up here were quite a bit warmer feeling in ambiance than the main lobby. Adrien held his arm out and smiled at her in invitation, and she stepped from the elevator. The floor was made of a pale beige limestone tile, while there were columns surrounding the lobby of blue veined ivory marble, interspersed with green and flowering foliage. There was a vertical touch-screen directory embedded in the wall immediately across from the open elevator doors, and a domed skylight overhead that would let in a warm natural glow on a sunnier day. Today it was speckled with rain and showed only the dim grey overcast that had been present for the past week and a half.

Marinette glanced around again to find Adrien waiting patiently near one of the halls leading away from the elevator lobby. She noted the placard beside the hall indicating the departments in this direction, and the presence of that touch-screen directory, having a feeling she was going to need that for the rest of this week at least.

"Our offices are down this way," Adrien told her. "My father never comes into the main office, like ever, so he set me up in what would have been his office." He passed his badge over an access terminal and pulled a door open to allow them through, then resumed his place beside her. "Do you want me to take your box, now? We're through all the security doors…"

"There's no need, I'm fine carrying it. It's not heavy," Marinette assured him. Truly it wasn't, she hadn't had much in her desk; a couple mugs, a bowl, some boxes of tea and emergency cookies for Tikki. She was wishing the acetaminophen she'd taken in the restroom would take effect. Crying always gave her a headache, and her forehead and eyes ached.

"We're just around the next corner." Adrien smiled at her. "It's the CEO office, so we get a nice view. Your office has windows too, though you'll have to get rid of the plant I gave Roland that he viciously murdered after his last birthday." He quipped with a grin.

Marinette chuckled softly. "I'm pretty good with plants, you know. You've seen my apartment. Maybe I can bring it back from the grave."

"I'm pretty sure it's a lost cause, but he probably won't mind if you try." Adrien laughed as he rounded the last corner and pulled open one more door, this time to suite 12-013; the placard read 'Department of Philanthropic Pursuits: Dir. A. Agreste'. "Here we are."

Marinette followed him through the door into the suite and took her first look around what was to be her new office home.

The door let into a room with a long receptionist desk, the front of which was emblazoned with a shiny silver Agreste logo backlit in soft palest purple. The woman behind the receptionist desk glanced up and smiled at them as they entered. She was middle aged with fair skin and rosy cheeks and glowing kind brown eyes. Her hair was a medium auburn with a gorgeous graying pattern at the fringe and temples, twisted back into a set of combs and curled neatly on her shoulders.

Her smile was as warm and sweet as cookies pulled from an oven. "Welcome back, Adrien. I got your emails and I've done as you asked. Everything should be all taken care of, you'll just have a few approvals to review and authorize with Human Resources." As she spoke she stood and moved around the end of the reception desk to come greet them. "And this must be Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng," she reached out and lightly lifted the box from Marinette's hands before sliding it onto the tall edge of the reception desk. As soon as her hands were free, the kindly woman grasped both of Marinette's hands in hers and smiled gently at her as though she were a long lost daughter come home from years abroad. "Welcome to the team, dear. I am Marie Delacœur."

"It's so nice to meet you." Marinette couldn't help but smile just as warmly in return.

"Marie is my secretary," Adrien said by way of explanation. "She handles my Agreste Fashions event scheduling, travel plans, scheduling meetings and coordinating office hours here with my modeling gigs between Agreste Fashions and the fitness modeling I do, as well as graciously obliging me with time for my course work for university."

"You're lucky I allow you time for any extracurricular activities, like eating or sleeping," Marie chortled. She shooed Adrien away with a smile and a fluttered hand in the direction of a pair of doors on perpendicular walls behind the reception desk. "Go pull the headphones out of Roland's ears and tell him the good news!"

Adrien's grin was impish as he turned and entered the left-hand of the two open doors in the corner.

Marie watched him for only a second before turning back to Marinette. "Here, let me take your jacket."

Marinette shook her head, pulling her eyes dazedly from the door through which Adrien had passed and obediently began shrugging off her raincoat. A shiver chased down her spine immediately.

"Oh, but look at you, Marinette, dear; you're drenched to the bone!" Marie exclaimed softly. She helped pull the raincoat from Marinette's shoulders and gently captured one of her hands to lift it out and away from her body. "Darling girl, what happened?"

"I was caught in the downpour a little while ago." She replied softly. Her head was finally feeling better, the acetaminophen had finally taken effect, and now she just felt tired. Embarrassed at the attention, though… "I wasn't expecting the sudden rain, and my hands were full." Her eyes drifted to the damp box and away again.

Marie clucked her tongue softly. "You'll catch your death of cold, a slender thing like you. Come here." She gently pulled Marinette around the end of the receptionist desk and over to a wall of pale wooden cupboards, before opening one and tugging a soft green and pink afghan blanket off the shelf inside. "Here, let's bundle you up in this for now, and I'll run down to Misses Samples to find you a different outfit to wear for the rest of the day." As she spoke she pulled the thick warm yarn blanket around Marinette's shoulders. Her fingers gently tugged on the sleeve of Marinette's damp blouse. "I can add these to Adrien's dry cleaning and I'll have it back to you by the end of the week, okay?"

Blinking at the onslaught, Marinette shook her head. "That's not necessary." She tried to protest.

Marie just smiled and benignly steamrolled her. "Nonsense dear, we can't have you sitting around this cold drafty office in wet clothes. It's no trouble. Now, how are your under things; also wet? Should I find you a new bra and panties to wear too?"

Marinette's face began to burn pink, because at that moment Adrien strolled back out of the office he'd entered with another person in tow. She whispered, "No, those are fine. Just a blouse and slacks."

Marie patted her on the hand, which Marinette just now realized she'd held captive since wrapping her in the warm afghan, and winked. "I'll go find you something and be right back." Marie toddled away and out of the office.

Adrien approached with another man in tow. "Everything alright?"

Face still pink, Marinette busied herself with adjusting the afghan around her shoulders and tucking it in so her hands could be free in order to avoid making eye contact for the moment. "She offered to find me some dry clothes to change into from some samples…?" Her voice trailed off.

"Of course!" He exclaimed. "I should have thought of that! It wouldn't do for you to relapse so soon after being sick last week. She got you that afghan, though, that's good… Are you warm enough?"

"I'm fine!" She assured him. She finally glanced up and was arrested by the tender concerned look in his eyes. "I'm fine, Adrien. Really… Now, please introduce me to this gentleman who's been waiting so patiently."

Adrien blinked at her for a moment, as if trying to decide whether she was telling the truth, eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Finally he nodded. "Of course. Sorry about that… Marinette, this is Roland Rothschild. Roland, this is Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

"Marinette, a pleasure to meet you," Roland's voice was deep and smooth. He was good looking in an everyman sort of way, with tan skin and dark brown hair cut short and spiked artistically forward and a neatly trimmed beard. He offered a slender hand to shake and took Marinette's hand in a gentle but assertive grip.

Marinette smiled. "Likewise."

"Roland has been my personal assistant for… what is it, four years now?" Adrien asked.

Roland's grey eyes glinted with amusement when he softly answered. "Three, I think. And that's been more than enough."

Adrien mockingly put a hand to his sternum. "Ow! That hurts! You're so mean to me."

Roland finally cracked a full smile and just shook his head. "Drama queen."

Marinette ignored the slight flutter of her heart at Adrien's laugh when he exclaimed, "Ugh, I just can't deal with you right now!" Both men chuckled together for a second, before Adrien spoke again with a grin still in place. "Roland's husband has taken a job in Madrid and they're moving there in the first part of October. He'll be training you starting today to take over for him once he leaves."

Roland nodded agreeably, "I'll get you all trained up and ready to make sure this guy's wardrobe fits like a glove and follows him around even more closely than the paparazzi do."

"I'm very excited to learn." Marinette assured him. "My mind is ready for molding!"

Marie's hand dropping onto her shoulder startled her into jumping. "Goodness, dear, I'm sorry to startle you!" The kind woman was holding a fist full of clothes hangers hooked around the fingers of one hand and draped down her back. "Before you start with Roland, you must change out of those damp clothes. Pick something from these samples and just leave your wet things in the bathroom. I'll take them with Adrien's items for dry cleaning."

"That's a good idea, Marie." Adrien praised.

"Of course, Adrien. All of my ideas are good." Marie's smile was teasing. "And unless I've missed my mark, you two never ate any lunch. Am I right?"

She hadn't, Marinette realized, and suddenly she was aware of feeling absolutely famished. "No, with everything that happened, I never had a chance."

"Same." Adrien agreed.

Marie ushered Marinette into a restroom she hadn't previously noticed tucked into a corner of the tiny seating area in the receptionist lounge and hung the hangers from a hook on the back of the door. "Here, you just pick whatever you like. I'll order something for you for lunch. Any allergies? Preferences?"

Feeling like she was being politely manhandled again, Marinette shook her head. "No allergies, I like most things."

Marie's smile was downright motherly, and Marinette couldn't help but feel like she'd done something right and pleased a favored auntie. "Wonderful! We'll get you something warm and filling to put some meat on those bones! Hurry now, Roland is waiting to get started on your training!"

And she pulled the door shut behind her.

Marinette blinked at the door for a moment in bewilderment before gently shrugging the afghan off her shoulders and sliding her tote purse onto the green marble counter. Tikki's head popped out of the tote bag and watched as Marinette began undoing the buttons of her damp pink blouse.

"Are you still doing alright, Marinette?" She asked softly.

Marinette took a deep breath and sighed slowly as she nodded, focused on her task. "I think so. I'm tired, but I think I'm going to be okay."

Tikki propped her little arms on the edge of the purse and smiled gently. "You are so strong. I'm so proud of you. Make it through today and you'll be just fine." As Marinette was selecting a dove gray pair of narrow legged slacks Tikki added, "Oh! I know! You should send Alya a text message and catch her up on everything that's happened!"

Marinette dropped her damp black trousers to the floor and stepped carefully out of them as she replied quietly, "Oh boy… Do I really want to open that particular flood gate?"

Tikki giggled softly. "If you don't tell her right away and she finds out later you didn't, are you going to want to face her then?"

"…Fair point." Marinette conceded. She pulled the grey slacks on and did up the buttons and zipper before slipping on the ivory blouse with lavender pinstripes that she had selected from the samples. She shivered at the cool feel of the silk, and decided to also don a royal purple cashmere cardigan with pearl buttons for the extra warmth. She quickly tied the bow on the collar of the silk blouse before accepting her cell phone from Tikki and beginning to compose a condensed version of her morning and early afternoon's events for her best friend.

.

-oOo-

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Author's Note: I hope this satisfies everyone as a continuation for where it was left in September. Again, I apologize for the delay.

Last September I was informed by my now former housemates that I needed to move out... What followed was several whirlwind months of frantically searching for a new place to live, packing to move, downsizing my possessions, actually moving in January, followed by unpacking and further downsizing. Amidst all that, my now former housemates were being... less than pleasant as well as pretty unreasonable about the whole demand to move, so the past eight months have been very stressful. I fell out of the habit of writing regularly and haven't made much progress since then. Now that I am settled in my new apartment, and with all the at-home time that will be enforced due to current events from the spread of the novel coronavirus, I should have a bit more time to focus on writing.

These are tumultuous, bizarre times. Simple things that bring you joy have even more value.

Please, my Gentle Readers, keep in touch with your loved ones. Take care of yourselves and stay healthy. Send me a kind thought as I will send mine to you.

Be safe.

~Malkharah