Fake Dating

7 - Three days

"Well, well, well..."

These were words said by happy Plagg who couldn't believe in what he saw after he came back to the room. Adrien was leaning in Marinette's direction, holding her hand, staring at her eyes. What a picture!

"See?" Tikki smiled meaningfully. "All we needed was to leave them alone."

Meanwhile both pretenders looked at their managers surprised and embarrassed. It wasn't that they'd been doing something improper. It was rather like a sudden reminder why they were there and what was going to happen in the nearest future. A pretending. That's all.

"It's not what you're thinking..." Marinette began.

"We didn't..." Adrien muttered at the same time.

Tikki and Plagg burst out laughing.

"You don't have to excuse yourselves!" Tikki said.

"That was perfect. I wish I had my camera with me!" Plagg put a tray on a table and grinned at Adrien. "Perfect!"

Adrien glanced at Marinette sideways. She was sitting with head hung, so terribly blushed. He felt so sorry for her. Up till now he'd thought mainly about himself – how he'd let Plagg talk him into this whole plan. Now he could think only about her. That was their – his and Plagg's – fault that she was involved in solving his problem. Of course, she was adult and she knew what she was doing. Before he met her he had been sure that she had agreed because she needed him for her purposes as well. But he changed his opinion when she'd told him about her fears that people would think about that fake dating.

So... Why had she agreed? He didn't know the answer so far...

"Let's talk about details!" Plagg ordered.

"Marinette, your tea..." Tikki whispered, putting a cup of tea in front of the girl. By the way she placed her hand on Marinette's shoulder for a moment, as if she wanted to support her. Adrien noticed that from a side.

"Thanks..." Marinette murmured and took a sip. Tikki sat down next to her and looked carefully at Adrien. He looked away immediately, as if he was caught red handed.

"The story must be believable." Plagg began. "You have to figure out how you met. Your versions must be identical. For instance, if you met on LadyBug's concert, you have to find out how she saw him in a crowd, or what he was doing backstage."

"We'll work on that." Adrien interrupted. "You'll better tell us how you see it later."

"A classic set-up. We'll ask an informer to let the media know. At a push we could do it right now, when you'll be leaving the building. But we can set you up tomorrow at a club. I'm thinking about a nice restaurant. It's a quiet, discreet place. Perfect for secret dates. We could organise a set-up there."

"What's a set-up?" Marinette asked suddenly, and Plagg only laughed. She was so naïve...

"A set-up is a planned paparazzi action. Celebrities often do that to control their appearances in tabloids." Plagg explained. "It's like surprising a star at a grocery, you know, without a makeup and wearing casual clothes. In fact, they're good looking, and their 'casual' clothes were more expensive than my car."

"A set-up is like feeding tabloids with anything, but under control what we give them. Celebrities do this to keep media interested in them." Tikki added.

"And we're going to use this mechanism to catch you on your 'secret date'." Plagg finished. "Everything will be under our control, and we'll achieve our goal which is to start a rumour that you're together. Before we do that, we have to prepare ourselves for journalists' storm who will have hundreds of questions to you both. You have to foresee all details, because if you're caught, the whole plan will fail."

"Uhm... Can... Can I suggest something?" Marinette asked shyly.

"Sure!" Plagg agreed kindly.

"You said that the set-up would be ready for tomorrow."

"Yes."

"Could we postpone it a little?"

"I've already told you that time isn't working to our advantage." Adrien's agent sighed theatrically.

"I mean that we should know each other better. To be convincible. You said that we looked like a disaster. Nobody will believe in our story if we act like two robots..."

Adrien stared at Marinette in admiration. She was brilliant! And that made him worry – she was too close to be ideal.

"I'm not sure..." Plagg hesitated. "What do you think, kid?"

"It's a good idea." Adrien admitted.

"So be it." his agent nodded. "Three days would be enough?"

"Only three?" Marinette was surprised.

"What? Too few?"

"W-Well... I'm not sure if it's enough..." she stuttered a bit unease when she heard Plagg's tone.

"It must be enough. Don't you get it?" Adrien's agent was irritated. "The plan was to organise your date this evening. After your 'lovely' introduction we've already postponed it for tomorrow. Now you've negotiated next three days. What more do you want?"

"Time."

"I can't give you more. I'm still wondering how the heck you managed to gain so much..."

"Three days are enough." Adrien cut in.

"I agree." Tikki added and winked at her ward meaningfully.

"It looks like I'm outvoted..." Marinette sighed. "All right. Let it be in three days."

"Great!" Plagg rubbed his hands. "Now, we need a detailed plan. Oh, by the way, girl, we have to introduce you to Nino."

"Who's Nino?" she asked.

"Adrien's bodyguard. He'll hover around. You have to get used to a shadower."

"It's getting quite a long list..." she replied wryly.

"Of what?" Adrien asked.

"Of things I have to get used to." she explained. "And I have only three days for all of that. Great, just great..." she commented ironically.

"We can do it. I'm sure about it." He said and smiled warmly at her.

She answered with a heartfelt smile forgetting for a moment that everything was to be fake.