Indecision is Hurtful

Chapter Twenty

It had been already a few months since Nathalie and Nadja became closer friends than they intended to be. Within the said span of time, Nathalie would often find herself looking after her friend's child while she was working. Manon wasn't any trouble though. She would only play in her spot whenever she feels like Nathalie needed to take care of something important. She would often accompany her to drop-offs, pick-ups, surveys, department conferences and so on. She even took pleasure in questioning those who wanted to enter the mansion for certain purposes and buzzed them in herself. But most of the time, she would stay at Marinette's to spend time with her.

Nadja and Manon were the only ones who knew about her soon-to-be public career apart from Gabriel and the selected staff. The two even encouraged her in every lesson she had with the experienced trainor hand-picked by Gabriel himself. The fashion designer appeared during her training sessions as well as her photoshoots. He often brought snacks along too. The photographer, Vincent, was more than ecstatic when he was the one appointed to taking her pictures for the magazine for her upcoming debut. He only ever handled Adrien mostly with his photoshoots. Having Gabriel choose him to capture the beauty of his assistant slash model was exhilarating. During the first ever photoshoot session, the photographer arrived with his crew with Nathalie still in her work clothes. She was immediately brought to one of the guest rooms and taken care of- with makeup and the clothes all in all.

Nadja arrived with her child a few moments before she emerged and she passed the time with talking with Vincent while she waited for Nathalie to finish and walk out through the elegant curtains. Not long before she heard Manon squeal in amazement and they immediately turned their heads towards her. When Nathalie came out with her hair down in stylish curls wearing the first outfit which was the amazing high-low gown, everyone froze in awe. The make-up applied to her was just fantabulous and enhanced her beauty in several notches. The photographer went crazy with all the shots and went beyond imaginative with the poses. He even took the behind the scenes photos as an addition on one of the pages and specifically captured the moment Nadja and Manon helped her set up and laughed when they almost tripped on one of the cables. In the middle of the photoshoots, Gabriel would suddenly appear to wheel in the food for their break. He always sat next to her when they stopped to take a moment of relaxation and made sure to let her drink her usual coffee without smearing her make-up.

The months went on like usual and often, the memories appeared to her. But as always, some things were vague that she couldn't truly comprehend. She heard Emilie's voice, constantly saying some sort of promises and apologies. She never knew what she was apologizing for and she still doesn't know why she kept appearing in her head. Tonight, she sat on the edge of her bed, sipping her cup of coffee, still unable to sleep. Duusu flew towards her, sensing her worries.

"Ms. Nathalie..."

"It's nothing Duusu. It's just that... It's been a long while already and... My memories still haven't emerged entirely. What am I missing?"

Duusu sighed, "Gabriel still has some things he hasn't told you yet and I'm pretty sure you are aware about that, Miss," Nathalie nodded.

"Don't worry. Gabriel promised to me that after the fashion show, he will tell you everything else you needed to know."

"He will?" Duusu nodded.

"Duusu... Why did he choose to become Hawkmoth in the first place? He never really said anything to me regarding that matter."

"It is not me that should tell you about that Miss Nathalie. I promise you. Gabriel will tell you everything. And if he can't bring himself to do it, I will tell you myself," Nathalie smiled and gave the remainder of her coffee to her kwami as a sign of her gratitude.