𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐑, miraculous au

Chapter 25

"So you must be Marinette." 

Gabriel Agreste gave me an oddly appraising look as he stood up from the rather large dining table in the even larger dining room of Adrien's house. Hopefully nobody would blame me for looking as nervous as I did.

Gabriel Agreste's lips were set in a tight, thin line and his shrewd businessman gaze was on full blast. 

"I am." I replied with a nod. 

"Gabriel." Gabriel Agreste introduced himself, leaning forward to shake my hand. 

Oh, how I would love to rip that hand of his right off.

"Pleasure." I said, my voice calm and as smooth as ever.

While shaking Gabriel's hand I turned to Adrien, there was a tic going in his cheek and his fingers were curled into a fist. 

"You seem rather young for a Junior in high school." Gabriel said, examining me further.

"Actually, I'm the perfect age," I answered. "I turn seventeen in July." 

God, this was awful.  

I couldn't believe that Gabriel Agreste had actually insisted that he meet me before he would be okay with Adrien and I spending the day in the city together, like I were the one who abused Adrien. Never mind the fact that Adrien and I had spent plenty enough time alone together since December. Nothing had really changed.

"Well, shall we have lunch, then?" Gabriel said, gesturing towards the dining table. "I hope you dont mind the haute cuisine." 

"No," I said quickly. "Not at all." 

"I didn't know Gordon Ramsay worked for your father." I whispered to Adrien as we made for the dining table. 

"Ha, ha," He muttered back. "We'll get horrible, grease clogging food later." 

I took a seat beside Adrien while Gabriel sat at the head of the table. There were plates of roasted chicken and bowls of boiled potatoes spread out on the table along with the few glasses of water.

Not too shabby. 

"You didn't start lunch without me, did you?" The woman I had seen in Adrien's car the first day we had hung out waltzed through the dining room as we were all dishing out our food onto our plates.

She didn't look surprised to see me sitting at the table at all, which was definitely a relief. Gabriel's less than pleasant behavior so far was a little off putting. 

"Marinette," She said with a polite smile. "Pleasure to see you again." 

She knew who I was?

"And you.." I returned, shaking her hand, my voice trailing off,

"Nathalie." She finished sweetly. "You've been looking after my favorite boy, I hope?" 

My cheeks immediately flamed red out of embarrassment. Nathalie didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with what she'd just said. She looked pleasantly at ease as she dished out her own lunch. 

"It's no easy feat," I said. Hoping deep down they knew I were joking. "but I'd like to think so." 

"Good, good." Nathalie's mind was clearly somewhere else as she dug into her meal and fiddled around on her iPad at the same time. 

I sighed, picking at my food, feeling horrible. This is what Adrien had to deal with when he wasn't with Linda and the twins?

I kept glancing at Adrien out of the corner of my eye as I ate, hoping he wasn't too mad about this.