Future Tales of the Miraculous

Chapter 3

The early sunlight spilled into the attic hatch window, setting Marinette's room aglow that Saturday morning.  She woke from her hazy slumber, greeted with the smell of her father's massive batch of freshly baked goods and mother's stews simmering downstairs. The large smartphone screen resting on her nightstand read 8:45 AM, leaving her just enough time to stumble into the shower before rushing downstairs to help her parents with running the bakery. 

"Good morning, Marinette," Tikki beamed.  "Wow, it looks like there's quite a crowd of customers already!" The red and black kwami observed, phasing out of her room and to the rooftop to watch the morning crowd gather around the shoppe's doors. Marinette nodded at Tikki as she hastily pulled her damp midnight blue hair into a loose bun and heading downstairs.  She quickly pecked her mother's cheek as she passed by the pay counter, and headed in the kitchen.  Marinette collected a quick hug from her father as he loaded the baking racks with delicious breads, pastries and tarts, stealing a slice of his famous Quiche Lorraine on her way to collect her apron from the wall.  Her kwami cheerfully accepted a butter cookie she snuck off another rack and into her apron pocket. 

Within the small mass of morning customers coming through the shoppe's doors was a tall, slender teen with an auburn man bun, carrying with him a worn out messenger bag. His deep cerulean eyes found Marinette immediately as she quickly seated the dine-in guests and got their orders. Nathaniel patroned the bakery most weekend mornings, usually finding material for his sketch-work from the constant bustle of different people flowing in and out of the bakery. The bluenette casted a quick smile as she sat him in the rear, his favorite spot.

"Hey there. Long time no see," she greeted jokingly; Marinette couldn't remember the last time he didn't grace her presence at least once in a day, especially after he asked her out for the first time two months ago. "Café and croissants, right?"

Nodding to the order, the redhead grinned brightly. "You know me so well, Marinette." She returned the grin before heading off to serve drinks and orders her father was fulfilling in the back.

All morning Marinette buzzed around the bakery, running dine-in orders to the small shoppe's outdoor seating, bussing tables, and covering the register when needed. She welcomed the distraction of the bakery's bustling traffic today; it kept her mind off last night, with Chat Noir. With Adrien Agreste. Coming to terms with the two being the same person wasn't coming naturally to Marinette just yet.

As the afternoon hours approached, Nathaniel began packing his pad and pencils away. He paused to watch a familiar blonde stride through the doors. Adrien pulled his sunglasses up, casually approaching the food counter and leaning in, amusedly watching a distracted Marinette stand on her toes to pull out cups from the shelves above her. She turned around, almost dropping the stack in her hands when she was facing the very boy she was so desperately trying to push out of her mind today.

"Hey there, Mari," he greeted with a signature smirk belonging to a certain feline crime fighting partner.

She felt her cheeks begin to flush and was about to muster a greeting when an uncertain looking Nathaniel joined the two.

"Hey Adrien."

The blonde nodded back curtly, his ambivalent smirk unaffected by Nathaniel's arched brow while they sized each other up.  The redhead broke his suspicious stare from Adrien, and then sidestepped in between the two, turning his attention to the wide eyed patisserie worker.

"I'm heading out now, see you later." Marinette was taken off guard when she was unexpectedly pulled into him for a quick hug. She watched quizzically as the two boys then exchanged an awkward final nod before Adrien's gaze and smirk returned back to her.