Nathalie had never been so glad to see the Agreste Mansion. She ran up the marble steps as fast as her heels would let her, hoping she wouldn't slip in one of the many puddles. Her clothes were completely soaked through. Even her underwear was wet. And she couldn't feel her feet in her rain filled shoes, or the fingers clutching her briefcase.

Gorilla usually picked her up in the morning on his way to work, but he'd had a family emergency so couldn't come into day. She'd made a mental note to organise a replacement for him and to wish his family well on behalf of Agreste Industries. As well as to personally message him later.

So she decided, since her apartment was only a few streets away, to walk. When she'd left there had only been a light drizzle of rain, nothing a decent umbrella couldn't solve. Unfortunately, the weather had quickly turned for the worst, with raindrops like buckets crashing down from the sky and wind like a hurricane barrelling into her. The umbrella was soon swept away, not that it would protected her much anyway, leaving Nathalie with just her suit and briefcase that did little to protect her from the elements. She could barely see out of her rain covered glasses and her heart was in her throat every time she crossed a road, hoping that green blurs she saw were the go signs. In some ways she was grateful that the fear distracted her from the cold.

Grateful that Gabriel had given her a set of keys she let herself in. The cold white walls of the Agreste Mansion had never felt so warm as she leaned against them. She barely had time to catch her breathe was Gabriel called from his office. Sighing, she dragged herself across the hall, trying not to worry about how late she was or how much water she was dripping on the floor.

She placed her professional mask on her face before entering. Thankfully he was facing away from her, too busy focusing on a garment he was altering on a manikin.

"Nathalie, I need you to push our nine o'clock meeting back, I've had a surge of inspiration and I need to capture it in my fashion before it flies away."

Nathalie rolled her eyes. Even before Hawk Moth he'd always had an affinity for being over dramatic.

"Yes-s s-sir." She cursed at her chattering teeth. Unfortunately, Gabriel had noticed and turned around. His eyes widened at the sight of her. She didn't want to think of how much of a state she looked. She could already feel her make up rolling down her cheeks.

"Nathalie." The breathlessness of his tone shouldn't not have made her feel weak.

"What happened? Are you alright? Were you caught out in that storm?" Abandoning his work, he rushed over to her.

"Ye-yes sir. Gor-Gorilla was mean to p-pick me up, b-but he had a family emergency-cy. So, I wa-walked here. I'll organise a replacement for him im-m-mediately."

"No, you need to warm up. Go to the south facing guest room with the on suite. Have a shower and I will bring you some clean clothes."

Nathalie stared up at him in shock.

"B-but sir! I also need to r-rearrange yours ap-p-pointment and call G-Gorilla's family and-"

He placed his hands on her shoulder. She was surprised he was willing to touch her dirtied clothes.

"I can handle it. No go how a shower."

She severely doubted he could, but she had never been able to refuse orders from her boss so dutifully she nodded and headed upstairs. Once there she stripped out of her sopping clothes and stepped into the shower. The warm water thawed out her fingers and raised her body temperature to liveable again. Admittedly it did make her feel a lot better.

She went back into the bedroom, a towel wrapped around her body, when she heard a knock at the door.

"May I come in?" Gabriel's voice said from the other side.

Not wanting to put her wet clothes back on, she supposed she would have to let him in like this.

"Yes sir."

When he laid eyes on her, his face turned the colour of his tie. Nathalie hid a smile. It was so rare that she saw that expression on him, especially having been caused by her.

"Yes sir?" She asked innocently.

Not one to be phased, Gabriel held a box out towards her.

"Here, something in there should suite you."

She resisted to roll her eyes again. Of course Gabriel would be more focused on whether clothes suited her than if they fitted. Just as Nathalie thought she could be any more surprised today, she looked properly at the box. She recognised it Instantly, having helped put them away. It was a box of Emilie's clothes. Since she died, Nathalie had never seen Gabriel look at let alone open one of them. Knowing this was a big decision for him, she didn't question it.

"Thank you sir."

She was unable to gage his expression as he nodded before leaving. Which was probably for the best. She wasn't sure she wanted to think about what this could mean.

She started trying on the clothes of her boss' dead wife but was a lot taller than Emilie had been and didn't have her stick thin figure. Eventually she found a knitted white dress with a turtle neck that fitted, even if it was slighter shorter on her than intended. Miraculously they had been the same shoe size, so she slipped on a pair of simple white heels, knowing Gabriel wouldn't be impressed if she wasn't colour coordinated. Her bobble had gotten so wet it had snapped so she dried her hair and left it loose. Maybe she could fund a spare one in her drawer later. Thankfully her glasses only needed a good wipe, to allow her to see properly again.

She was headed back down stairs when she heard a voice behind her.

"Mum?" It was an indescribable mixture of shock, hope and confusion.

She turned around to see Adrien standing at the top of the stairs. When he saw her face, he quickly looked away, presumably embarrassed by his reaction.

"Sorry, I saw that dress and mum used to wear it and-"

"It's alright Adrien." She said, interrupting his stammering, for once allowing softness in her voice when speaking to her boss' son. He nodded before quickly running away to his room. She wanted to run back up the stairs and give the boy a hug. However, her professional side held her back and she was late enough as it was.

She entered the office. When Gabriel saw her, his expression had traces of when he looked at her in the bedroom. But it was still something distinctly different. Nathalie liked to think she knew him the best out of anyone yet even she didn't think she had seen him look like that before.

"I'm ready to start my work now sir." She told him.

"Yes. Good." He said, quickly looking away. He was such the image of his son in that moment that it almost made her laugh. S

he settled back at her desk and finally did her job. As she worked she kept noticing Gabriel sneaking glances at her. She tried to ignore it, but she couldn't help the niggly feeling that after the events of today, something had shifted between them. And there would be no going back.