Marinette stumbled into the elevator. She was running late, the day the new CEO was coming in. No one really knew who he was, or even what he looked like. They only knew that the old CEO had sold the Miraculous company and that a new CEO had been appointed by the buyer. Paul Aguillon—the new CEO's assistant—had already introduced himself and was busy making preparations before his anonymous boss arrived. Marinette had greeted the co-worker in the elevator and was busy dropping all of her things on the ground.

"Oh no, why now?!" Marinette fell on her knees— her ankles blocking the elevator doors from closing— and scrambled to retrieve the items that spewed out of her purse like water.

The co-worker beside her chuckled, green eyes glimmering from over the brim of his sunglasses. "Is this why you said hello to me? So I could feel obligated to help you?" He crouched and scooped up her lipstick, tablet, and ID, "Mademoiselle… Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

"Don't read my—" Marinette reached over to snatch her ID, but paused to hold her hand out instead and gently place them in her purse. She stood up with him and brushed off her skirt.

"Sorry. To be honest, I didn't need to read your ID, I know who you are."

"You do?" Her eyebrows furrowed as she took half a step back.

"Yes, I hear about you everywhere. Your work is beautiful."

"Oh… tha-thank you," She stepped back to where she had been, letting go of the breath she had been holding. "And thank you for helping me with my things."

"Sure, I swear your designs are holding this place together. What floor?"

"Eight…"

The elevator doors finally started up again with a squeak, closing as the man pushed the '8' button and stepped back.

Marinette shuddered at the sound. "Ugh.. if the new CEO wants to bring anything to the table—"

He raised an eyebrow.

"—it should be fixing these broken-down elevators, not flipping the entire company upside-down."

The man tilted his head, blond bangs falling slightly out of their neatly-arranged style. "Uh—" he closed his mouth and smirked as he shrugged, "I know what you mean. My schedule is all over the place now."

Marinette clutched the strap of her purse tightly as she turned to the blond. "Right?! He can't just come in and replace everything with his crazy ideas!"

He adjusted the cuffs of his black button-down shirt. "But, he did only just come in today, right?"

"Exactly, we haven't even met him yet and he's sending out commands."

"I don't think I want to meet him anyway."

Marinette huffed. "I do. Do you know how many assignments I have for this week? I'd like to meet him and give him a black eye!"

The man licked his lips, looking to the side. They were passing floor five.

"I mean what kind of idiot is this guy? Who had the money to waste, buying this company, and giving it to some cocky amateur?"

He stuck his tongue between his teeth and bottom lip, jutting his jaw forward as he lowered his head with a faintly amused grin. "You're right," he turned to smile softly at Marinette, "you deserve better." His eyes seemed to glow from behind the dark lenses, a radiance that warmed Marinette's face.

"Me?"

"I don't know you very well, but I know you're a hard worker. I can see that you have the competence to match your passion. You deserve a CEO that knows what they're doing. I'm sorry this whole mess is causing trouble for you. Maybe you should find another job..." His face suddenly looked dejected.

"Wow… I..." The doors opened on floor six, whoever rang for the elevator had left. Leaving the open elevator to hang awkwardly for a few seconds as it waited for no one. "No, I can't leave this job."

"Well, if you hate it now—"

"Oh no, I love it! It's... well the direction it's going in is frustrating. But I'm happy with this job otherwise, I'm proud of it. Don't look so down about it, I think we just need to be patient. I guess I feel like my job is in jeopardy, so I'm being harsh on the new CEO. " Marinette didn't notice how he stared at her now, only looking away when her face whirled back to him. "What's your name by the way?" The elevator bell rang as it stopped at the eighth floor.

He blinked. "Uh.. Ch… Charles… Charles Noiret."

"Nice meeting you, Charles, I'll catch you around!" Marinette waved as she stepped out onto the eighth floor.
"Nice meeting you, too, Marinette!" The doors closed as Charles pressed the '9' button. Then, after the elevator began to make its way up, pressed the button to the top floor.

She couldn't say she missed Charles, but Marinette had to admit she was a little disappointed to not run into her new friend the next day. She'd seen the elevator go up to the ninth floor after she departed with him, so the best bet was to check there during her lunch break. When the elevator doors opened, Marinette was overwhelmed by the swarming groups of robotics engineers. They were testing, troubleshooting, and modifying the new Miraculous Clothing Gear™ in hopes of releasing the perfect first generation. The new plans the CEO brought were interesting, but not only was it far different from what the company had originally been doing, it was also different from anything the world had ever seen. If it didn't work, it was the biggest waste of money Marinette had ever seen. If it did, Miraculous would make it big. Really big.

Part of her was fascinated and excited by the thought of downloading outfits with only one piece of clothing in the closet. But she was a bit angry to let go of the traditional measuring, tracing, cutting, and sewing of fabric. True, it was environmentally wasteful, but it what she grew up with, it was the raw way of doing it. But in working for Miraculous from the beginning, she should have seen the direction it was going with its collections of techy clothes. This was the next step forward.

"So, he works here, huh?" Marinette mumbled to herself, scanning the room.

"Is there something you need?"

Marinette looked to the tall woman staring at her. "Oh, no… I'm just— well, I'm looking for Charles." She beamed, suddenly feeling jittery.

The woman furrowed her eyebrows. "Charles? There's no Charles here…"

"Really?" Maybe he had just been delivering something. "Sorry, I must have made a mistake. Thank you!"

As Marinette turned back to the elevator with a frown, her face collided with a soft but firm wall. She stepped back and focused her vision to see that rather than a white wall, it had been a white dress shirt, decorated with— to her horror —a large smudge of her lipstick. "I'm so sor— Charles!"

Charles laughed, tugging the fabric of his shirt to inspect the stain. "Huh, you really are a brilliant designer."

"Oh man… you keep being a victim of my disasters. Sorry I made out with your shirt."

"Don't worry about it," Charles grinned, "It was just a peck. Get it? A pec!" He pointed his chest, where the dark red kiss-mark rested.

Marinette giggled, her cheeks flushing to match the lipstick. The joke was terrible but it was sweet of him to make light of the fact that she'd essentially just kissed his chest. Or maybe she was the only person who saw it that way. Was it also just her when his bright smile seemed warm and inviting, or when his voice sounded playful and flirty? "I'll… clean it for you. I-I have alcohol swabs…"

"No need, I can easily clean it in a bit, but in the meantime. Watch this." Charles tapped on his smart watch, displaying himself as the shirt changed to the same shade of red as the lipstick. "No one would ever know!"

"That's amazing…" Marinette leaned forward to inspect where she knew the stain had been.

He chuckled. "Looking to lay another one on me?"

Marinette jumped as she found herself hovering too close to Charles, caught up in the scent of lavender while watching the way his every breath tugged the fabric around the tautest areas of his chest. "Oh, it's just, um… It really blended in there, I can't find the stain."

"That's the idea," he raised an eyebrow, a knowing smirk on his lips. "Let me show you how easy it is to clean." Charles turned and guided her over to a table of various spray-bottles.

Marinette blushed. "I hope you have an undershirt.. a guy like you, shirtless, would get a lot of attention ehehhehheh..."

"I… wasn't going to strip."

"Oh."

"But," Charles put down the spray-bottle he was examining and leaned on the table to smirk at Marinette, "what's this about getting a lot of attention? May I ask whose attention?"

"I— nevermind!" Marinette pouted.

"Alright. Here, this is just water." Charles handed a spray-bottle to Marinette and switched his shirt back to white. "Just spray it on."

Marinette pulled the trigger once and looked up at Charles.

"One spray is enough. Ok…" He put his hand over his heart, then slid it down slowly.

Painfully slow. Slower. Slower. The pressure of his hand made his muscles roll seductively, droplets of water gliding down his slender torso as they slipped passed his fingertips—

"Marinette?"

"Ah," Marinette blinked rapidly to shake off the effects of her wild imagination.

Charles frowned. "Gonna be honest, I was hoping for more of a reaction than that."

She stared at his shirt, clean and good as new. "I… I um. It just all happened so fast?"

"I guess it did. But that's what makes it cool!"

"Yeah, definitely. I didn't expect you all to be this far along in the project so quickly."

"Actually, we've been working on this for months. The new CEO has had official ownership for longer than you think, he's actually the buyer and he appointed himself, only revealing that yesterday."

"And he turned out to be Adrien Agreste. Figures."

Charles placed a hand on his hip, smiling. "What do you mean?"

"I mean it's no wonder he'd come in acting like he own— well, I mean," Marinette blushed.

"He does." Charles deadpanned.

"Shut up!" She punched his shoulder, then froze. "Sorry! I don't know what I was thinking!"

He rubbed the sore spot, "I had it coming for all the teasing but man you pack a punch. Do you have something against Adrien Agreste?"

"He bullied me when we were younger. He's not the Prince of Sunshine he's sold out to be."

"Did he really?" Charles flicked his wrists out to emphasize his repositioning to rest his chin between his thumb and index, reaching his other arm across his stomach to rest his elbow on.

"Yes, before he even knew who I was, Adrien put gum on my seat and didn't even apologize."

"He didn't even try?"

"Not… really…"

"And then what?"

"Well. Actually, that's it. I never saw him again, he just stopped showing up to school."

Charles lowered his head. "Uh-huh."

"It was still really mean, and I'll never forget it!"

He leaned forward. "How do you know he hasn't changed? What if you see him and you discover he's super hot? Say, weren't you the one saying you'd try to be more patient?~"

"Yeah, well suddenly I have more dirt on him and I have a heck of a lot more things to complain about. I'd ask you to complain with me, but yesterday you didn't seem as angry as I was, and I see why now. You're part of the team working on the crazy idea," Marinette blushed, recalling what Charles had said about her. "And FYI, you seem passionate and competent to me. You're doing a great job and you should be proud."

Charles blushed back. "It's not like I built... thanks. That means a lot." He and Marinette stood in silence for a few moments. Something was in the air. It felt like an opportunity they couldn't just pass by. "Anyway, you should probably get going. Have you had lunch? I can treat you."

Marinette thought about how she owed him twice now. "Oh no, I should be the one treating you."

"What?"

"You've probably noticed that all I bring is bad luck to people, and it'll probably keep happening. So please let me make it up to you and apologize in advance," Marinette turned him around and began to push him forward, until an unseen obstacle hit Charles' shin and he stumbled to the ground.

He groaned and tried to push himself up, his shirt tearing from behind in the process. "Oh!" Charles rushed to cover his lower back, but Marinette had already seen it. The small tattoo of a black cat near his hip. "Ha ha, well I guess we have some bug fixes, team."

"Sorry… again." Marinette reached her hand out to help him up.

"Thanks, Princess."

"'Princess'? Are you making fun of me?" She decided to save her blush for later, in case it was a false alarm.

"It just felt right to say that to a sparkly-eyed woman reaching down to help me get back on my feet."

"So, now you're openly flirting?" She smiled.

"You started it."

Marinette stared at his back while he tapped away on his watch. Eventually the shape of the shirt morphed into a looser one, the tear molding back together.

Charles continued. "So, lunch then?"

She nodded and followed him to the elevator. "I'm still paying, though."

When they stepped inside, Marinette marveled at the glass panels that had only been installed near the top of the building, she noticed the harsh movements of the trees and sighed. "Why is it always windy on the days I wear a dress?"

Charles coughed. "There's not much that vindicates skirts or dresses, wind isn't the only thing keeping women from privacy. You have to watch the way you walk, the way you sit, the way you… pick things up from the ground."

Marinette stilled, staring at the elevator door in silence. She started to speak without looking at him. "Princess… I have a pair of… yesterday… you saw…." Slowly, she turned to look at his burning face. "Why didn't you just tell me?!"

"I didn't want you to think I looked on purpose!"

"And nicknaming me Princess is subtle enough to make it seem like you didn't?"

"It really was an accident! Sorry, I'll stop calling you that…"

Marinette's face softened. "...No, you don't have to do that," she turned away briefly. "But you would at least have told me if someone else had been in the elevator, too, right?"

"Of course! Now do you see why I want lunch to be my treat?"

Marinette snorted. "Is that really the reason?"

"Yes."

She gazed into his eyes, still framed by the same glasses as yesterday. "Fine. You're a dork, you know that?"

"Excuse me for bringing it up again, but you have underwear with the word 'Princess' on them."

Marinette pouted. Her lucky underwear really didn't do any good. "Very funny."

She left it at that, leaving Charles unsure if he'd gone too far. He wasn't really sure what jokes were allowed at this point. The longer she stayed silent the more he felt she was hurt. Just when he was about to give in and apologize, she tilted her head at him and smirked.

"So, a black cat, huh, Kitty?"

Charles sputtered, turning bright red.

"Boom," Marinette waited for the elevator doors to open on the first floor, "and now we're even."

It was the end of the week, Marinette entered the elevator with stiff movements and a scowl.
Charles was there waiting for her, watching her nonchalantly. Today his glasses were different. They were obviously the same frames, but the lenses were now transparent so that Marinette could see his vibrant eyes even more intensely. The corner of his mouth tilted upward, "Something on your mind? More complaints about the CEO, maybe?"

She held her tablet out in front of her. "You know how much I don't want to meet up with the CEO! And now he's calling for me!"

"I heard. Isn't that a bit of an honor, though?" His smile spread wider.

"Not if he chooses my least favorite designs! Why these? Why did I even submit them?!"

"You wanted to meet the deadline?"

"Yeah! The really really shitty deadline! If I knock him out fast enough, do you think he'll forget I hit him? I hate this! I hate these designs, I hate the time crunch, I hate that I didn't have time for breakfast this morning! I.. I…"

Charles straightened from the wall he was leaning on, bringing his hand around to present Marinette with a styrofoam cup. "Here, you can have some of mine. It's not really food, but it's better than nothing."

Marinette smiled. "That's sweet but coffee will only make my nerves even more prickly."

"It's tea."

"Oh," Marinette took the warm cup from him, "thank you." She took a sip and visibly relaxed, only to frown at the cap, marked with another one of her famous lipstick stains.

Charles grinned as she handed it back. "Eww, cooties. Relax, I know this is unavoidable with lipstick. Can I see the designs?"

"Well," she unlocked her tablet, already set up with the right image. "They aren't my best." She handed him the tablet.

Charles shook his head, looking at the detailed artwork in front of him. "Nevermind that, Princess, all of your work is fantastic and you need to go up there acting like you know that. I think these are perfect for our brand."

Marinette blushed. "Thanks…"

She looked over at him when he didn't step off on the ninth floor, still gazing down at her drawings.

"I'm actually headed up to the top floor too. Looks like we're in this together." He winked.

"That makes me feel better."

Marinette reached over to retrieve her tablet as the elevator came to a stop. "Best of luck to the both of us."

She waited patiently for him to hand it over, but he seemed to ignore her. She peered at him curiously as he stepped off of the elevator first, "Actually, I think I'll hold onto this," he walked toward the CEO's office, holding the tablet up.

Charles opened the door to the office, an empty desk waiting in the middle of the room, he stood back and prompted Marinette to enter. "What are you waiting for?" He smirked, "we have a lot to talk about."

Marinette's eyes bugged out. "Adrien?!"

"That's Monsieur Agreste to you, Princess."