"Miss Cheng, your chauffeur is here. Would you like me to have your room ready for your return tonight?"
"Non, merci. I do not know when I will return tonight, but I will call and confirm my leave if so. I might also return with a guest so please have something ready for him if he comes."
"Of course, Miss Cheng." The doorman bowed his head as he opened the grand entrance to L'Hotel in central Paris. I walked out slid into the automobile. My small black clutch was rested against the seat, and I looked out the window, and gazed at the Eiffel Tower, its lights shining over all of Paris.
"Do you have his picture? I know him personally. We are childhood friends. But we wouldn't want what happened last time. I think you scared that poor young man for life by your large collection of knives, Mari."
"I know what I am doing Nino. He has that dumb blond hair and 'summer green eyes' as all those annoying wanna-be celebrity girls say. And you said the same things, just without the dumb and summer parts in there"
"I do hope you don't talk in such a manner in front of these politicians. Your demeanor as a young girl raised by Chinese pirates might show."
"No one would guess Chinese pirates. Maybe just sailors in general." I smiled at Nino and he grinned back at me. The car started to rumble inside and inch away from my current residence. I grabbed the clutch next to me and pulled out my targets picture. It was him standing next to the officials from NASA, and I could easily tell by looking at his smile, he did not enjoy his job. Everything about him looked fake. His smile, his hair, and even his shoes were overly shined. I sighed and slipped the fake prince's photo back into my bag as we pulled into the Agreste mansion. Lights blinded my eyes as I slowly stepped out. People were so packed I was already brushing their shoulders five feet away from the car. Time to find monsieur Adrien. I heard a laugh similar to his from what I gathered from his interviews. Glancing in that direction, I spotted that blond hair. I reapplied my lipstick and sashayed over to talk to him.
"Bonjour, Miss..." He smiled at me with his little fake smile.
"Cheng. Marinette Cheng. I am the ambassador for several of the major shipping companies in China."
"Of course! I should have remembered you from the pictures." Liar. I just made that up. Stupid royalty. I thought.
"But Monsieur Agreste,how are you doing this evening? Hosting giant parties like this can never be fun. But out of the blue? I don't remember hearing about anything big to be released in the future."
"Oui, but this was actually my father's idea. But before I get ahead of myself, and pardon me for asking this, but how old are you again?"
I was confused at the question. "I'm twenty-four, like yourself."
"Really? That is just lovely," He blushed. "Uh, you should come meet me by the uh… the parlor! I think we have one over by the powder room." "Sure. Will anyone notice your absence?"
"Not if we keep quiet." He smirked. I found that my face was starting to flush. Why was he looking at me like that? Did he know my identity? If so I was screwed. He would know I was trying to kidnap him. And he would hire his bodyguards to come kill me. I decided to just go with what he told me to in hopes of him not suspecting me.
~0.o.0~
Wow. She was so pretty. Her eyes shined bright cerulean blue as they gazed at my face. I was starting to see the logic in my father having a party for me to find a wife. I could marry Marinette Cheng! She was so beautiful and just by looking at her she was so sweet and innocent. I knew she was the one as soon as I saw her face. Wait, I did recognize her face. Wasn't she that Chinese street performer, Piáo chóng xiǎojiě (miss ladybug), that I have had a crush on since I was seventeen? I should definitely tell her how huge of a fan I am and tell her about my crush.
~0.o.0~
I followed Adrien to the parlor he talked about, but as we were walking he took my hand in his. It's probably so I don't try and run. He knows my identity and I am dead meat if I mess this up. He turned around and smiled at me again! What is his deal? As we walked into the parlor, he closed the door and turned to face me, our heads almost touching as he slowly grabbed my waist and pulled me closer. What is he doing? I can't read him at all. WHAT IF HE IS ABOUT TO STAB ME. I thought. "I know who you are," he whispered. "I knew it as soon as I saw you." He smiled, his face now inches from mine and his hand on my waist. CRAP HE KNOWS WHAT DO I DO. I thought. Let's calm down and just do what he says. "Oh? Now how would I get you to keep my secret?"
"Kiss me." He sighed. Did he just- what? It took me a bit to process what he said.
"Wait let's make sure we are on the same page here. If you know who I am what is my code name?"
"Piáo chóng," He really did know my code name. "Ladybug. The street dancer." Once again, this prince said something that took me a few seconds to comprehend. But then I burst out laughing. "What's so funny?" His face looked like that of a confused cat.
"I thought you were being serious there for a second."
"I was being serious. And if you don't want me to tell the entire court about your scandalous street dancing, I recommend we keep in contact." Oh this guy can't be serious. Does he really want me to kiss him? I leaned a little closer to him.
"How about we go talk at my hotel? Then we would have a little more privacy." I could feel his heart rate go up, and his face became red. Perfect. This kidnapping job was going to be easier than I thought.