The Artist and the Flower

Part 2: chapter 2

Mari and I were walking to the Bougiose hotel after school. We decided to stop at a cafe to quickly order a coffee before I had to enter hell and work with the she devil. I ordered an iced coffee and Mari ordered an iced mocha.
I looked over at Mari and she was sipping her coffee. "Flower, can I try some of that coffee?" I asked.
"W-what? But then-" Mari started to blush.
"But I wanna try some!" I pouted at her.
"Well, okay, just a little." She held out the cup for me to take. I placed my hand over hers on the cup and sipped her coffee. "That's actually pretty good, I should get it next time." I looked up at Mari and saw that her face was red. "Do you... want to try some of my coffee?" She silently nodded. She's just too cute!
   I handed her my cup and she drank some. "This is good, but I think my drink is better." Mari said.
   I pulled Mari's cup out of her hand and brought it above me so she couldn't reach. "You have to kiss me if you want it back." I teased.
   "If you say so." Mari stood on her tiptoes and gave me a small kiss on my cheek. I was too stunned to register what happened and lowered the hand that had her cup in it. Mari giggled and took her cup back. "How was that?"
   I covered my cheek with my hand where she had kissed me. "That was, sweet." I said. I felt my face get hot. I instinctively looked down so she couldn't see me blushing. "A-anyway, we should get going. I don't want Chloé to be too pissed at me."
"... I guess so." Mari said with no emotion. Is she really okay with this? I decided to ask her later.
We reached the front of the hotel. I hugged Marinette goodbye.
"I'll see you tomorrow at school, my Flower. Walk home safely." I said.
"...yea. See you tomorrow." Mari looked down and but her lip. Then she turned around and started to walk away. She's definitely not okay with this. I ran up to her and turned her around so she was facing me.
"Are you sure you're okay with this?" I asked.
Mari looked at me with sad eyes. "Not really... I wish you didn't have to be with Chloé in her room alone! I want you to stay with me!" She said, her voice shaking a little.
How should I calm her down? I decided to give her a kiss, and I kept my lips against her soft lips until I couldn't feel her shaking anymore. When I let go, she seemed calm. I gave her another gentle hug.
"Don't worry, Flower. Chloé hates my guts and I hate hers, so there's nothing to worry about. You know I love you, Mari." I said as I hugged her tighter.
"Yea... I know. Thanks Nath." Mari said as she smiled at me and hugged me back. "I'll trust you." We let go and waved goodbye. She headed home and I went inside the lobby towards the doorman.
"Um... Excuse me?" I whispered. I had to compose myself since I still felt warm from that kiss. The doorman hadn't heard me, he was arranging keys onto little hooks. "Um, excuse me, sir?" I said a little louder. I get really nervous around strangers. The doorman finally heard me and turned around to face me.
"Hello there, kind sir. I'm going to have to see your ID and proof that you scheduled a stay here at the hotel, please." He said.
"Um, actually, I'm here to see Chloé. Chloé Bougiose. Is she here? She told me to come here and to tell you that I'm here to see her-" my rambling was cut off by the doorman.
"Here to see Ms. Bougiose? If I had a dollar for every time a love struck boy came in here and used that lame excuse, I wouldn't need a job. Now get lost, those of a lower status aren't worthy of hers truly." The doorman shoed me off.
"Actually, sir, I'm here to work on a science project with her. Trust me I do not have feelings for her. So if you could please, maybe, lead me to her room, that would be-" I was cut off again, but this time by someone other than the doorman.
"What is going on here? I'm trying to eat my parfait and I can't with you people screaming all the time!" Chloé scolded the doorman and looked angry. Then she saw me and her face lit up. "Oh hi there Nathaniel! You came! That surprised me, I didn't think you'd blindly do whatever I said and actually come. Now, let's head up to my room and start!" She said as she turned around and headed for an elevator. I followed her silently. I have a bad feeling about this.
In the elevator, it was really awkward. I wasn't comfortable being so close to her in such a small space, so I tried to press myself against the wall as much as possible. Chloé was checking her hair with a small compact mirror and didn't say a word.
Then she suddenly snapped her mirror closed and whipped her head to me. "Why are you acting as if I'm some beast that's about to bite your head off? You don't need to put so much effort in to be so far away from me!" She snarled at me.
It was so sudden I froze and stared at her. Not knowing what to say, I went with my usual response: "I-I'm sorry!"
She stared at me and then started laughing. " 'I'm sorry', where did that come from?" The elevator finally stopped and the door opened. "Well, are you coming?" She asked in an annoyed tone.
"Um, sure!" I said and followed her.
She sashayed to a tall white set of doors and pushed them open. There was a big room filled with shades of pink with black and white accents. Her room was so big! I walked up to the window and there was a beautiful view of the city. "Woah!" I said softly in awe. I was dying to take a picture and draw that scene later.
"Oh, you like that, huh? It's okay, but you get used to that sort of thing when you see it everyday." Chloé was right next to me, she was so close I could see her long eyelashes. I could also smell her perfume (and hairspray) lightly. I forgot that Chloé was also a girl despite being a complete drama queen and really mean to everyone. Then I realized I was in a room, alone, with a girl. This is so wrong! I suddenly became even more nervous.
I backed away from both the window and Chloé and I started to tug on my bangs. "So um, I think we should maybe get started. I uh- have something to do at around 5, so... can we please get a good amount finished before then?" I asked nervously.
"This is my house, that means you follow my rules. We're done when I say so, okay?" Chloé asked with her arms folded. "Now get started already. I'm thinking we do something about makeup, since that's my specialty." She bragged.
"Um, I'm sure we could find a way to fit that in... somehow." I have no idea what we can do for a science project that had to do with makeup!
"Hold on, if I say it's going to be about makeup, then it's going to be about makeup." Chloé went to her bathroom and began rummaging through drawers and closets. What is she doing in there? Then I heard something crash and her scream. I rushed into the bathroom and saw here on her knees, leaning over a broken glass makeup bottle.
"MY CHANEL FOUNDATION! ITS RUINED! RUINED!!!" Chloé started crying with lots of other makeup products scattered around her. Tears with mascara stained her cheeks. I had no idea what to do.
   "Um, Chloé, are you okay?" I asked gently and I stood at the doorway.
   "CANT YOU SEE IM DEFINITELY NOT OKAY?! MY CHANEL FOUNDATION IS RUINED AND I DONT HAVE ANOTHER ONE!" She began to cry some more.
   "Well, we can go buy some right now. I'll go with you if that makes you feel better." I suggested. Chloé isn't exactly my favorite person, but she's still human. Like 50% human.
   She gave me a disgusted look and sniffled. "Are you actually being serious right now? That Chanel foundation is worth more than you, how can I get another one just like that?" She asked.
   Like I said, 50% human. I had enough of her for one day. "Well fine, just stop crying already. I'm going to come up with some real ideas for the project, come help me when you're over that makeup mess." I said sternly as I threw a hand towel at her that I saw nearby. I can't deal with her, she's so vain!
   I sat on the floor and took out my notes from my bag. I'd rather do the project without her at this point, I don't know if I'll be able to survive after going through something like that every day. My temper was stabilizing again when Chloé walked out of the bathroom.
   She hugged herself and looked away from me. "Um tomato boy," she said. "I just- wanted to, you know, say th-thhhh" she looked like she was struggling a little. "Th-thanks. For the towel and stuff. I'm going out to buy another Chanel foundation, you stay here and do the project." Was she, blushing? Maybe she was embarrassed about apologizing. "Also don't think you're special just because I apologized! I'm not an evil monster, I can say 'sorry' too!" She turned around and picked up a purse, then left the room.
   I sighed after she left. I had no energy left to do anything properly. I decided to go home and work on the project there, plus I had a good idea on what to make the project about. Before I left, I stared out the window again at the view of the city. I couldn't resist, I quickly ran up to it and snapped a picture of the city with my phone. Then I went home (and tried my best to avoid the doorman).

A/N: lol that was hella long, but I didn't want to cut out anything from this chapter bc I think it's all important. Sorry if the chapter lengths become inconsistent with each other. Also if you have any suggestions, comment them or DM me and I might put it in the story! Thanks for reading up until now, it means a lot to me 💕