The Tale of Two Hearts || Adrienette || Miraculous

Twenty Four - The Greatest Show

*Saturday - 5:15AM*

The noise pierced into her ears and screeched loudly causing a sudden jolt throughout her body, her eyes darting open to look at the dark room around her. The shrill continued as she lifted her lifeless body from her bed, she looked around lost for a moment before knowing her surroundings and relaxing a little, she huffed carrying her heavy body across the room to the sound of the noise. She picked up her phone and turned off the alarm, moving her other arm to turn on the light switch, with a yawn it was on and she was wide awake. Today is game day. Paris will see her today, notice her. They will be exposed to her designs, and see her face on live television, in the newspaper tomorrow morning and on the weekly magazines on Monday. Today was the start of something new, something foreign and scary. Today could determine her career. She slowly approached her dresser, gently placing herself in front of a mirror.

"Today is the day." Marinette whispered to herself, blue eyes staring back at her through the mirror. She looked back down at her phone and noticed she had but 15 minutes to get ready for the busiest day of her life so far, and she still had drool on the side of her lip.

Marinette closed her eyes and took some deep breaths: inhale and exhale, inhale and exhale, inhale and exhale. Calm. She stood and stumbled to the bathroom, she washed her face with cool water - inhale, exhale. She brushed her teeth - inhale, exhale. Then bushed her hair, it was letting longer, it laid across her shoulders - inhale, exhale. She went back into her room and looked through her bag, which she packed last night knowing she wouldn't have much time, there she found note books, pencils, sewing kits, and another bag had a lot of her designs in, fabrics of all colours and a few essential make up pieces - inhale, exhale. She went to her wardrobe where she put on an everyday outfit, knowing she will have to change later. Just as she tied her shoes, she heard a car pull up outside. Inhale, exhale. She collected all her things and she left her room, looking back to turn off the light as she left. She went down the stairs and saw her father rolling sourdough, as her mother got the shop ready to open for another day in the busy streets of Paris, they smiled, wishing her luck as she left.

There on the road was a silver 2003 Rolls Royce Phantom, a quiet hum of the car idling was the only noise on the street besides the three magpies in a tree not too far away. She lugged her bags into the car and got in the back without a sound.

*6:00AM*

"Madame, we are here," The driver spoke with a deep voice, all Marinette could see was a tall, thin shadow.

"Thank you monsieur," Her voice sounded like a whisper, she was once again nervous, she grabbed her things and got out of the car, walking towards a large palace-like building. It was tall and proud, it stood with meaning and every detail was mesmerising, from the large arches to the intricate details on the gargoyles that guarded the building. A true masterpiece, that held many important events for Paris, from the Mayor's speeches to fashion designer shows. This building was a staple of power. Marinette felt so small near it. Inhale, exhale. She walked up the stairs to where there were security guards.

"Hi, what's your name?" The man who spoke was built like a gorilla, he had a stern face that when he spoke turned into a shadow of a smile.

"M-Marinette... Marinette Dupain-Cheng, sir," Her voice was still small, almost weak. The other security guard, who was much taller wore sunglasses and stared at Marinette as the Gorilla guard searched his papers.

"My mistake, Madame, please, my colleague, Justin, shall escort you to the conference room, everyone else is present." He spoke softly to her, making Marinette feel more at tease, he put his papers to the side and took a land yard from a bag that was near the door. He handed it to Marinette with a smile, who took it, it read "VIP - Marinette Dupain-Cheng", she put it around her neck and thanked the guard before following the other, they went through the great hallway, the interior of the building was even more impressive than the outside, marble tiles on the floor were covered in a red carpet runner with gold trimming, there were no doors in this palace, but archways instead, the hallway led to a foyer that had a stone table and on the table was tulips, pale yellow, pure white, and deep maroon splattered around the glass vase. Behind, was a hallway that seemed to lead to a courtyard. On the right seemed to be a ballroom, many people were fluttering in and out of the room, buzzing around like bees. Marinette was taken up a spiral staircase on the left, which lead to the second floor, all around her was mosaics on the walls and carved statues. She was taken to a room which had a sign outside that read "Conference Room", there was many rooms with closed doors on this floor, some she could make out read "Dress room", "Make room" and "Director".