Unexpected Angel

4

On Monday, Carrie smiled and made her way to Marinette's desk, but she wasn't there. She looked around, but no one else seemed to be concerned. Carrie saw one of the girls that Marinette usually spoke to her and made her way over.

"Felicia, where's Marinette? I haven't seen her yet." Carrie whispered, "Was she fired or something?"

Felicia giggled, "Marinette? Didn't you know; she's the lead designer for the Wayne collection. She was moved to a secure room to start working."

'What? That litle high schooler was a designer? How did she get to work on the new collection?'

"Isn't she a little too young?" Carrie questioned.

Felicia looked at the secretary confused.

"No. I'm pretty sure Bruce and Tim had to pay a pretty penny to get her to come here from Gabriel and Paris." Felicia stated, "She's had her own clientele since she was thirteen; all big names, too. I heard Tim was such a fan of her work and that's why he wanted her to work here. I mean, he would have access to her and could ask her to make a set of his own clothes, too."

Carrie smiled and quickly walked away. She couldn't believe that her new go to had been taken away. She knew no one there would listen to her. She would have to do all her work on her own. She hated it.

Carrie smiled as she was called up to the top Wayne offices.

'This could be it! A promotion!'

Carrie smiled as she was brought in front of Bruce, Timothy and Damian Wayne.

"Carolyn Briggs, you are fired." Damian declared.

'What?'

"E-Excuse me?" she stuttered out, "Is there layoffs? Have I done something wrong?"

Tim smiled and asked her to look at the monitors. Curiously, Carrie turned to the screen on the wall. She watched in horror as she watched herself force Marinette do her work for the last month. They even had the audio of her calling their designer: useless, waste of space, irresponsible, and doubting how she was hired. The next thing she knew, she was slapping Marinette in the face.

"Security saw it happening on their monitors and brought it to our attention a few weeks ago." Bruce spoke up.

"We thought Marinete would come forward, on her own." Damian declared.

"When you assaulted her, we had to take action." Tim explained, "Marinette Dupain-Cheng is a huge asset to this company."

"This obviously isn't the first time you have pulled this sort of stunt." Bruce continued.

Again, Carolyn watched in horror as her 'relaxation period' came up. They had video eveidence of her sitting around and doing nothing. She sat at her desk filing and painting her nails. They showed her proof of her going back to her old department and flirting with her old supervisors. She shrunk in on herself as her screen came into view and they saw her purchasing things online, on company time. It was even more humiliating to watch her run to the printer and try to copy the papers that needed to be done. Finally, the Waynes showed her crying in an empty room. Carolyn had mascara running down her face, as she blamed Marinette for getting yelled at.

"It shouldn't take five years for someone to figure out how to work a printer." Tim stated, "Most people get the hang of it after one month. We have every right to take you to court and sue you. You would have to pay us back all the money you earned over the last five years."

'There's no way I can pay all of that back.'

"Or" Damian spoke up, "you can take being fired and leave without a word."

Carolyn stood up from her seat and walked out of the office. She grabbed a box from the fashion department, where her boss said nothing. Likely, the Waynes had told him already. Carrie cleaned out her desk, quietly. No one stopped her to ask her what was going on. They were too busy running around, pulling fabrics, or sewing.

Carrie took a step off the elevator. There was Marinette talking to one of the tailors. Before she could utter a word, she spotted Damian Wayne walking over to Marinette. The tailor quickly left, as Damian handed Marinette a coffee cup.

"Oh, thank you for the coffee. I really needed it." she smiled, " I didn't know you worked here. Thank you for the advise. I got all my work done and I didn't stress out. Even my boss said I was doing better. I don't have to force myself to eat anymore."

"And your sleep?" he asked.

"I've been sleeping later, but feeling more refreshed. I'm also getting so much done." Mari answered, "So, will I get to know you name this time?"

"Another time." he stated.

Marinette smiled, "Maybe another cup of coffe? It would be nice to have a friend in Gotham."

"Perhaps." the young Wayne replied.

Satisfied with his answer, Mari walked towards the elevators on the other side of the room. Damian turned towards Carolyn and glared at her. She quickly rushed out the doors of Wayne Enterprise.

'They were protecting her. If those rumors really were true, I would have been found out eventually.'