Undiscovered Melody |COMPLETED|

Chapter 11

The next day, Luka arrived at the bakery with a picnic basket.  He waited for Marinette's mom to finish helping customers so he could ask if Marinette was home.  He hoped Marinette hadn't felt like he was pressuring her and decided not to come.

"You must be Luka," said Marinette's mother after the last customer left.

Luka nodded.  "Is Marinette here?" he asked, feeling the slightest bit embarrassed that he had to ask the question when he wasn't sure of the answer.

Sabine smiled gently at the uncertainty that was barely visible on the young man's face.  She had to admit, she was surprised when Marinette said she was going on a picnic with a boy who was not Adrien.  Sabine was very well aware of her daughter's crush on the Agreste boy and she was relieved to hear that Marinette was considering other boys, too, as wanting to date a famous model, especially one with a controlling father, would potentially bring a lot of complications.  Normal boys were much simpler to date.

"She should be down in a moment.  Here are the things she packed for dessert," said Sabine, handing Luka a small box.

Luka took the dessert and placed it safely in the picnic basket.

"Marinette!" yelled Marinette's father up the stairs that led to their house.  "The non-model boy is here!"

"Tom!" admonished Sabine.

"What?  You're not a model, are you?" Tom asked Luka.

Luka shook his head.  "No, just a student who plays guitar."

"Guitar!" said Tom, wiping his flour covered hands on his apron and approaching the counter.  "I always wanted to play guitar in a band, but my father had me spend all of my time in the bakery, which I guess worked out for me since we own one now.  I suppose since you are busy with your guitar, you have no interest in baking?  I'm always looking for new young bakers, maybe someone to take over when—"

"That's enough, Tom!  No need to quiz every boy Marinette knows about whether they want to become bakers," said Sabine.

"How will I ever find—"

"I'm here!" Marinette sang out as she rushed down the stairs to prevent any more embarrassing talk from her dad.  She raced past her parents saying "Bye!" and then grabbed Luka's free hand to pull him out of the bakery. "Let's go, Luka, before you find yourself on a new career path," whispered Marinette as she pushed at the door and they escaped before more questions were asked.

Marinette slowed her pace once they were about a block away and Luka finally let out the amused laugh he had been holding in.

"Does your dad really ask everyone you know if they want to be a baker?" asked Luka.  He wondered whether Marinette realized she was still holding his hand or whether she had chosen to keep holding it after they ran away from the bakery.

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Yes, he's very persistent.  He knows that that's not what I want to do with my life but he wants to find someone to pass the business onto.  So he asks all of my friends," she said.  Marinette hadn't noticed that she had been holding Luka's hand at first, but when she did, she acknowledged she liked holding it and decided to go with it.

They walked in silence for a bit, enjoying each other's company, until they came to the park.  Marinette scanned the area and found a perfect place under a tree.  She pointed the spot out and they walked hand in hand over to the shady area.  Marinette reluctantly let go of Luka's hand so she could spread out the blanket Luka had packed and then she set out the food.

Marinette and Luka chatted about a variety of things, from what was in the rest of the rock star exhibit, to what Luka thought he would do next time he met Jagged, to Marinette asking him what he liked about having a sister, something Marinette was envious of.  It seemed like all of her friends had siblings and she felt like she missed out.