Criminal

Chapter 23: Alliance

Marinette looked at herself in the mirror that morning, utterly baffled. Adrien Agreste was the infamous Chat Noir- a criminal, who she was undeniably in love with. They made love... and she was the only person who knew his identity.

She zipped up the back of her dress, the fabric color a luxurious noir. She had designed the dress herself, specifically for work. The end of the dress was a flowy and loose fabric, and could easily be lifted up. Marinette sighed and lifted her lacy black panties up her legs, she wanted to look nice today, and feel good.

The bluenette rummaged through her makeup until she found the unopened red lipstick that stood collecting dust at the bottom of her cabinet. She looked carefully in the mirror, and after applying eyeliner and a generous spritz of perfume... Marinette coated her full lips with a seductive red.

She also covered the bruising marks on her neck with concealer and the right foundation.

Shortly after she was out of her apartment door.

***

Marinette smiled when she was pleasantly surprised with a small flower attached to her favorite pen. Her sketchbook lay opened right beside it, with a short note written on the first blank page.

Je T'aime

Her chest tightened at the thought of the mischievous blonde, who had seemingly fooled everyone in Paris. The modeling career was just a ruse for everyone to dwell on, and Chat Noir was the real side of him he never let anyone else see. Anyone else besides Marinette Dupain-Cheng that is.

Adrien was clever, charming, sneaky, ridiculously attractive, and flirtatious. A gasp escaped her lips when someone knocked on her door, and she immediately closed her sketch book and hid the pen in a drawer. "Come in!" She shouted, settling herself at her desk while signing into her computer.

She didn't even offer a glance to Lila who walked in expectantly, standing in front of Marinette with her arms crossed. "Yes, Lila?" The bluenette asked softly, folding her hands in front of her. The olive eyed girl scoffed, "Really, Marinette? You think you're all that just because you scored a job designing here out of luck?"

Marinette stared at Lila with disinterest, preparing herself for whatever low blows came next. "What happened to keeping things professional, huh? Clearly there's something going on between you and Adrien, and I won't hesitate to alert Gabriel that you're a distraction-- you're a fucking slut, Marinette!"

The bluenette felt a guilty pang in her chest, and she couldn't explain why. It was just Lila, and after high school she should've been used to all of her absurd comments and name-calling. Still, apparently Lila wasn't finished yet. "I'll make you lose your job, Marinette. Everyone will hate you and Adrien... will soon be mine."

Marinette stared at the angered woman, relaxing her shoulders before speaking. "We'll see about that Lila... We'll see." She spoke softly, and the olive green eyed woman shot her a glare before turning around and freezing. Adrien stood against the door frame, his arms crossed and a slight smirk on his lips.

"M-Mr. Agreste I-- was just about to check if you'd like a coffee." Lila offered in a sickeningly sweet tone, which made Adrien chuckle at the fake smile plastered across her matte lips.

"Actually Ms. Rossi, I apologize for such short notice-" the blonde said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "But after that performance... You're fired. Oh and if you ever threaten or contact Ms. Dupain-Cheng again, I'll personally see to it that you're never hired anywhere else." He spoke with indifference. "Oh and I'll never willingly be yours, Lila."

"I'm afraid my heart belongs to someone else."

Lila stood there, embarrassed to the point she couldn't speak or retort. What was there possibly left to lie about when he had witnessed the entire scene? "I..." Her mind was racing to come up with something- anything. "I think you've misunderstood Mr. Agreste. I was role playing- you see, Marinette and I have this thing where we-"