The love dare

Day21 (chapter-15-)

Day 21

Marinette marked her calendar with four interviews she had lined up. For all her faults, Chloe had been immensely helpful with telling Marinette everything she needed in an assistant. Then Alya had kindly jumped on the bandwagon and put Marinette's ad on a couple social media sites. The results had been immediate.

"I'm so proud of you, Marinette," Tikki said. "This is a step in the right direction."

"Chloe said I need to hire two assistants," Marinette said.

"And I fully agree," Tikki said. "You need time to design again because that's your passion. You also need someone to help you run the company. Doing it all on your own isn't an option anymore because you need time to spend with Adrien and take care of yourself."

Marinette nodded, frown tugging at her lips. "He's been gone so much lately with the academy. What if this doesn't work, Tikki?"

Tikki gave her a soft smile. "Marinette, there is only so much you can do. But tell me: would you regret doing this even if Adrien wants to give up?"

Feeling tears prick at her eyes, she turned away from her kwami but shook her head anyway. "No. No, I wouldn't regret it."

Tikki floated down to rest on Marinette's shoulder. She didn't say a word, simply patted Marinette's shoulder in support.

Feeling the tears coming, Marinette quickly wiped them away then turned to see what other work she could do for the day before heading home.

________

"I'll be gone tomorrow," Adrien warned her.

"Oh?" Marinette asked. Again?

Adrien nodded. "I have a training day for the national team, then there's a welcome dinner of sorts. It will last all day."

"Oh," she said. "O-okay. I hope you have a good day." She added a smile. "And that you have fun."

He gave her a smile, a real one that surprised Marinette a little, but she couldn't say that it didn't make her feel surprisingly warm inside. "Thank you."

________

"Can I shove them together already?" Plagg grumbled.

Tikki giggled, "I know. Patience is hard."

Plagg growled. "Adrien's so close to being ready to pursue her to the ends of the earth again. But it's hard when Kagami is doting on him at work. Even after twenty-four years, the idiot doesn't know what a flirt is."

"Well, as long as he's not returning it."

"He's not. Not purposefully, anyway. He thinks it's friendly banter. Kagami may not be perceiving it that way."

Tikki could only roll her eyes. "I'm trusting you to keep him focused."

"I'm not going to drop the ball when we're this close. Trust me, Tikki. Soon enough, he'll have that ring back on his finger, and they'll be back to being the lovebirds they always were."

_______

Day 22

Adrien had to leave first thing in the morning, so Marinette's dare consisted of journaling why she loved Adrien in the first place and why she was pursuing him again on top of texting him in the middle of the day "I love you."

Because she did. Even if he didn't love her in return, she did love him.

And then, to prove it, she cleaned the house.

She was dusting the master bedroom when she found it: a little card addressed to Adrien wishing him luck as well as the courage to get out of a bad relationship.

Marinette's heart sank for a second. But the more she stared at it, the hotter a fire burned in her belly. Who the hell was this Kagami and what did she know?

"Tikki!" she shouted.

The little kwami came rushing into the room. "What?"

Marinette waved the card in the air. "Did you know about this?"

Tikki stared at the card, but Marinette continued shouting before she could answer.

"And who the hell is this 'Kagami'? And why have I never heard of her?"

"She's the new fencing instructor Adrien hired so he could be freed up to be on the national team."

All she was seeing was red. The world zoned out, and she could no longer hear Tikki, that is, if she was talking. She only stared at the card with a fury boiling inside her.

"Come on, Tikki," Marinette growled, marching out of the room.

"Where are you going?"

"To tell this woman to shove this card up her presumptive ass!"

"Marinette, simmer down!"

"Simmer down?!" Marinette challenged. "This woman is telling Adrien that he should end the relationship with me and you expect me to 'simmer down'?"

"You are not going to drive all the way to the fencing academy to yell at that woman, are you?"

Marinette paused. Tikki had a point: driving to the academy for five minutes didn't sound appealing. But as she looked at the little red kwami, an idea sparked in her mind that had her feeling pretty smug. "No," she said. "I'm going to fly there."

Marinette had the pleasure of seeing Tikki's eyes widen in shock.

"Tikki, spots on!"