The Agreste Internship - Book 2

Chapter 16: Rumors and Fashion Shows

That evenight at the business meeting Bridgette wasted no time getting straight into the fashion campaigns and events. Adrien tried to keep up as she put page spread and page spread in front of him. There were also two other men and women in the room. Adrien introduced himself to each with a handshake before they told him to sit down.

"And we also have a special Bridal photoshoot planned, so we'll need Mari to model all of our most popular designs later this weekend," one of the suited men said.

"But she may want to design her own dress for our wedding," Adrien said, not completely sure since Mari never answered him.

Another suited man dismissed the thought with a flick of his wrist. "It doesn't matter if she'll wears any of our dresses for the big day. Just think of it like any other photoshoot. Oh, and while we are talking about your upcoming nuptials, we've gotten so much free press that the board has decided to capitalize on it and launch a new fragrance and underwear campaign. You and Mari with 'his and her' matching scents and underwear... which will be twice the profits..."

 "Wait,  Mari is not gonna like that," Adrien said.

One of the older women slid her glasses down her nose and stared at Adrien. "It doesn't really matter what she wants. She signed a contract she's an employee and so are you, technically. Even though you are a part-owner-- you are still beholden to the board of directors." With a flourish she indicated everyone sitting at the table. "You are to participate in decision making, but you are not in charge until your father is legally declared..." she stopped suddenly.

"Declared Dead you mean?"

She nodded.

"So, I had no control over my life before when my dad was in charge-- and now that he's not here anymore, I still have no control." Adrien ran his hands through his hair. Why did this always happen? Who knows what Hawk Moth was doing. He hadn't gotten his wish-- Adrien's mother was still locked away and comatose in the secret basement-- so he either was still working on figuring out how to alter reality, or he's dead. 

Should he care? He was a father in name, but he hadn't been a father to him for years. Honestly, he felt like he had been Orphaned when his mother... 'disappeared.'

Bridgette gave him a sympathetic look. "Look, Adrien, at least you aren't living paycheck to paycheck with a terrible boss who criticizes every little move you make with little to no hope for a promotion anytime in the future. You are famous. People love you. People who don't even know you love you. I mean a lot of people would die for that."

 Adrien sighed. "Yeah, I'm lucky." But it sure didn't feel like that.

The first suited man spoke again. "Good. Now, we need you both to start full-time right away, starting tomorrow. We need to get things in print as soon as we can send them out before the wedding which means this week. You'll talk to Mari for us, right?"

Adrien nodded because what else was he supposed to do about it?

When the meeting ended, Adrien left and got into the limo. With his extra responsibilities and the extra photoshoots and fashion shows being rushed to production, the next two months were sure to be exhausting. He tried not to think about it and instead turned his thoughts to the upcoming wedding. Although it was the one thing he had been dreaming of since he practically first met Mari as Ladybug, it was coming really fast. His life was already stressful enough before having to deal with planning for a wedding that he didn't even remember proposing for.

*****The next morning at Chloés Hotel******

Luka winced as he sat down in a padded chair in the hotel restaurant. His shoulder was still sore and acted as an ever-present reminder of Kagami's betrayal. Just as the doctors had predicted, he wasn't able to comfortably hold a guitar-- not that he was in the mood to play any kind of music.