Fake Dating

19 - Bad news

Marinette was staring into space outside the window of the plane rushing along the runway, but she could barely see anything there through tears in her eyes. The window was covered with raindrops, as if it sympathised with her despair. She had been struggling with tears all day, but she felt tired of keeping from crying. Too many emotions gathered in her heart not to vent them finally. However the plane wasn't the perfect place to burst into tears. Who knows how the rest of passengers would react? What if they panicked onboard?

That proved again that Tikki always knew what to do. She'd chosen most crowded places to keep her protégée from breaking down. Because sinking into despair was the only thing Marinette had wanted to do since breakfast. Since the moment when all her hopes had been ruined.

At first, she hadn't suspected anything worth worrying, when her manager visited her early in the morning. She didn't notice Tikki's pale face nor concerned look.

"Hello, my dear..." the manager greeted in a saddened tone.

"Something happened?" Marinette asked, while eating croissant.

"I have some news."

"Give me the bad news first."

"Both are bad." Tikki said and put a tabloid on the table.

There was a huge photograph of Marinette and Adrien's kiss on the frontpage accompanied by a headline announcing the reveal of a secret relationship of two celebrities. The girl shrieked in horror and grabbed the newspaper. She found the article and she scanned it quickly. The title 'Ladrien ship has sailed' and initials of AC could mean only one person – Alya Césaire.

Marinette gritted.

"And the second bad news?" she asked in whisper.

"The contract has been cancelled."

"But... Wh-What ha-happened?" the girl stuttered. That was worse news, for sure.

"It seems that things have gone too far. I received a call..." Tikki hesitated for a moment, then cleared her throat and continued: "A call from Adrien's agent and he informed me that the goal had been achieved, so continuation of the play was pointless."

Saying that Tikki avoided the girl's eyes. She concealed from Marinette the information who else had called her this morning.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have agreed on that plan." The manager admitted.

"It's not your fault..." Marinette whispered and put her hand on Tikki's shoulder to comfort her. "We all have known from the beginning what was a purpose of that whole play. No one could foresee that..." she stopped suddenly, but they both knew what she wanted to say.

That was in the morning. Soon after they packed and went to the airport. Tikki bought some plane tickets to Nice and before they reached the airport she managed to add Marinette as a singer at a charity concert before the International Music Market Midem. Some time ago they had planned to join that show, but they were postponing the journey because of the agreement with Plagg. Now, it didn't matter anymore.

At the airport Marinette tried to call Adrien, but his phone apparently was turned off. Nino was also unavailable. She could also call Plagg, yet Tikki forbade her, only telling her that it would be a mistake which could finish them all. Nothing more.

However, all those fears and hidden threats that Tikki didn't want to share led Marinette to the only one logic addressee. The young singer knew the world well enough to guess who was so powerful to make her dauntless manager leave Paris immediately. With her protégée onboard. Gabriel Agreste apparently didn't approve his son's choice.

Marinette sighed sad, and Tikki glanced at her in concern. Maybe she should give her that damn number to Plagg? No, she abandoned that thought instantly. That would be a business suicide. The career of the young singer would be ruined within five minutes. The main task of every manager was to protect the business of their clients. Even when a broken heart was a price.

The plane sped up, and raindrops on the window started passing at a slant – almost horizontally. Marinette left her sad thoughts and focused on a take-off. She always tried to sense when an aircraft left the ground. And usually she managed to feel the right moment, as if she was a pilot herself.

So, they were in the air already. Just a last noise of hiding the landing gear and she could relax now and admire the view of the city below. Suddenly a thought occurred to Marinette that maybe everything that had happened was exactly what should have happened. Maybe leaving Paris behind was the right thing now? Maybe she should forget about those three magical days? Maybe those three days were all she could hope for?

Yet, at the bottom of her soul she felt that despite all that fake dating, something between Adrien and her was true. And it was impossible that it ended so suddenly and senselessly.

She smiled under her breath, when the plane passed the layer of clouds and the sun dazzled her. It didn't matter anymore that there was raining on the ground. Wasn't that true that a day came after the night and the sun broke through clouds after the rain?