4/23/17
Hi there! This is my first story, so please forgive and spelling or grammatical errors! Note that this story will NOT feature any powers, so no Tikki or Plagg. Both Adrien and Marinette are in their early twenties in this story. A few chapters will be rated T, but the majority the story is rated K+. There is quite a bit of exposition, so it starts out slow, but stick with it! It will get better. Updates will be posted every two weeks. If you like the idea of the story, let me know! If you enjoyed this chapter, or think it could use some changes, please review and let me know! Constructive criticism is always accepted!
They call them dead end jobs for a reason. That's because they get you nowhere. Marinette knew that better than anyone.
Marinette had lived in Paris her whole life, growing up with hopes of becoming a fashion designer, but for about a year she has been working at a simple office in customer service. Marinette quickly grew tired of the monotonous routine: answer the phone, hear the problem, and find a solution. Every day was the same. Boring and repetitive.
The twenty-three year old Marinette Dupain-Cheng stepped into the office and was greeted with familiar sights. There were about 15 desks, all with a computer, headset, and some personal items. Only a few desks were vacant.
Some people were already seated at their respective desks. She gave a few quiet good mornings to her coworkers and didn't receive much of a greeting in return. No one was enthusiastic this Monday morning, and why would they be?
The Parisian girl sat down at her desk and set her purse and cup of coffee on her desk.
Marinette, being a fashion designer, always wore great outfits. She had designed most of them herself. Today, she wore a white pencil skirt paired with a lose navy button down shirt with white polka dots, and three inch navy heels. Her short, raven hair was in a bun, giving her a professional appearance.
More of her coworkers started filling in, all looking as tired as Marinette felt. She took her metallic coffee cup into her hands, savoring the warmth the cup brought to her hands. Gently, she took a sip of her coffee and got to work.
A few minutes later, her boss came out of his private office and walked over to the reception desk, wishing good morning to Marinette as he walked. "Good morning, Mark." Marinette responded.
Her boss was Mark Damocles. He is an average height, but a big guy because of his broad shoulders. The top of his head was bald, but the hair that he did have was grey, along with his beard and mustache that covered much of his face. He gave off a powerful vibe with his commanding voice and cold brown eyes. He almost never had a smile on his face. He was stern to say the least. Everyone in the office knew better than to make him mad.
"Can I have your attention? First of all I hope you all had a good weekend,"
Marinette scoffed at the comment. She knew he could care less about our personal lives, he just wants the work done.
"And second, we have a new employee joining us today, please welcome Adrien Agreste."
For the first time, Marinette noticed the person next to her boss. Marinette immediately felt her eyes go wide and mouth open slightly. This "Adrien Agreste" that had just been introduced had blonde, almost golden hair that seemed to glow from reflecting the lights. He wore simple black pants, shoes, jacket and tie with a white shirt, but what really blew her away was his bright green eyes. For some reason his eyes seemed... happy, and the smile on his face seemed to convey happiness as well. Who would be happy to be working here? Marinette wondered.
For some reason, he seemed vaguely familiar to her.
She was snapped out of her day dream when Adrien spoke.
"Hi! Its nice to meet you all!" He gave a small wave.
Everyone smiled at the young man at the front and some waved or quietly gave a 'hi' or 'hey' in return, but Marinette was speechless. Marinette never crushed easily, but it was impossible to ignore his appearance. He was attractive to say the least, even if he was only wearing business casual. Suddenly his green eyes locked with her vibrant blue ones. A furious blush covered Marinette's cheeks as she looked away trying in vain to cover the color that plagued her cheeks.
Mark finally spoke. "I'll show you to your desk."
Like everyone else, Marinette turned back to her desk.
How embarrassing! She thought. I'll just try to sit with him during lunch... Then I can actually talk and be a regular person with him. Marinette was so deep in thought she barely noticed Mark and Adrien going to her section of the room.
Marinette's head jolted up when she saw Adrien sit down at the desk in front of hers. She would be facing him and he would be facing her! Sure there was a little screen separating their desks, but it was short and thin.
Marinette immediately looked down and tried to make herself look as busy as possible. She could not have a normal conversation with him when she was in this state!
She could hear her boss going over the basics and how to work certain programs on the phone and computer, but she tried to tune it out.
A few minutes later she noticed Mark going back into his office. Marinette was panicking that he would talk to her.
Maybe he's quiet and won't talk to me, which is why I should talk to him on our lunch break!
Marinette's thoughts were running a mile a minute; therefore, she didn't notice Adrien leaning toward the screen that separated their desks.
Adrien decided to talk to his new coworker.
"Hi! Nice to-" Startled, Marinette accidentally knocked her coffee off of her desk with her elbow. The top of her cup popped off, spilling its contents. Adrien's eyes widened as the coffee spilled onto the thin, dark carpet.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry I didn't mean to startle you! Um, do you have a napkin or something? Let me clean it up-"
"No, no, I-I'm just r-really clumsy, it's my fault. I-I'll get it." Marinette pulled out some paper towels that she keeps handy for situations like this.
She mopped up the mess quietly, and as she did so, she glanced up to see if anyone was watching. It didn't look like anyone was other than a quick glance. They had all gotten used to her clumsy tendencies.
Marinette looked down and continued to try to soak up as much of the liquid as she could. She was confused by another hand and paper towel cleaning up the mess.
Marinette snapped her head up and noticed that Adrien was on his knees scrubbing the carpet like she was. For a moment she stopped, shocked that he was helping her. Finally she got the courage to say something.
"Oh, no, you r-really don't have t-to help!" Marinette mentally slapped herself. Stop stuttering! She scolded herself. Adrien gave the stuttering girl a small smile.
"Well, it was my fault too, so I can help clean it up. It's no big deal." Adrien reasoned.
Soon, there was nothing else to do to get the liquid out. That section of the carpet smelled like coffee and there was an almost unnoticeable stain where the spill had been.
"I'm really sorry about that, so let's redo our introduction: Hi, I'm Adrien Agreste!" He stuck out his hand.
Marinette reluctantly stuck out her own. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng."
They shook hands and Marinette felt her heart flutter. She knew it was just a hand shake but he had touched her hand. Hers! Adrien flashed another genuine smile. It looked so natural and real. Marinette could feel her face heating up once more and her heart was beating fast.
"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Marinette." Something about him saying her name made her heart soar.
"N-nice to meet you too!" She barely noticed Adrien picking up all of the used paper towels and throwing them into the trash can by Marinette's desk.
Adrien offered his hand to help Marinette up, and slowly she took his hand. Adrien pulled her up and apologized once more.
"Really it's ok, I-I'm just clumsy. W-well, have a great first day! I'm r-right here if you need anything."
"Thank you, I will!" He replied. Adrien walked back to his desk and sat down. Marinette did the same.
Marinette quickly tried to get back to her work, but whatever she did, she couldn't get rid of the small blush and smile that came on her face when she thought about her new coworker.
