A one-shot requested by Raxius. Hope you enjoy!
To say the least, it took more than a well-thought-out and prepared resume to impress Gabriel Agreste. The uptight and well-renowned fashion designer was also quite the critic when it came to selecting candidates for his companies college scholarships. Only a few people were selected and even so, the internship was not an easy one and most would drop out with the first semester. It disappointed Gabriel each winter or spring when he'd receive letters, letting him know which chosen applicants dropped out of the program that almost guaranteed them a future in the industry. He hand-selected each person with the intention of picking someone with the capability to grow but also the commitment that his business needed.
And although he tried to maintain a must-be-impressed point of view even when no working the simple sketch he held caught his attention. It was done on a random paper that seemed to have been ripped from a sketchbook. The pen ink spread beneath the heat of his thumb, letting him know it must've been drawn recently. The sketch contrasted his own which were usually simple humans and the detail was only in the clothing. But with this drawing, the creator had put time and effort into making the human wearing the design look real, or at least look like someone.
It was rare that the man was left dumbfounded by a simple drawing. It must've been how similar the drawing was to the way his wife used to draw. She always commented saying he should add a face or give the stick figures features to define them but Gabriel always shooed her off. The thought of Emilie always managed to bring a smile to his face, but this time it wasn't just the thought of his wife, but also the drawing. There was something so life-like to it that he hadn't seen in so many years.
"Nathalie," Gabriel's voice boomed, startling his assistant." Whose submission does this drawing belong to?" he asked, waving the page through the air.
Nathalie stared at the drawing through her glasses, taking a moment to become familiar with the simple doodle." No ones," she stated, holding her tablet to her chest, mentally groaning at the small dings letting her know she had a flurry of emails to check upon.
"What do you mean no one?" the designer pressed, turning the drawing back towards himself.
She cleared her throat, scolding herself for not bringing her cough medicine into work."Adrien's peer drew that whilst they were going over algebra terms,"
Gabriel felt a small bout of anger at the thought of his son having a friend over without his permission, but it had been for school so he wouldn't reprimand his assistant like he had after the Lila Rossi situation."Which friend of his?"
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng is her name. She was the one who won the hat competition last year." Nathalie informed him, watching intently as Gabriel walked towards his desk. Continuing to examine the sketch, Gabriel pulled his glasses from his face, wiping them on the cuff of his shirt.
"She was quite talented from what I remember," Gabriel mumbled, mainly for himself. She had impressed him with her entry for the hat competition and he could recall the critiques reviewing the piece with great positivity. And at the time she'd only been 14. Now from what he knew she did some commission work but he'd been shocked to not find a submission from her when he'd been looking over applications for his scholarship.
"Is that all sir?" Nathalie asked, desperately wanting to tend to her mountain of emails, only growing higher by the second.
"Ah yes, thank you, Nathalie," Gabriel said, motioning his hand for her to exit. At the sound of the door shutting quietly, Gabriel frowned pulling up the email of his contact from the colleges in the surrounding area who helped him manage the scholarships.
{In recent application submissions have you received one from Marinette Dupain-Cheng? She is a talented young designer who I've convened with in the past. Her talent was recently brought back to my attention and I was surprised to find she wasn't on the list of applicants you sent to me. Regards, Gabriel Agreste}
It took a moment for his email to jump from 309 to 310. Ignoring the many emails from clients and his employees he clicked on the one from his contact without hesitation.
{We have not received any submissions from Marinette Dupain-Cheng but we will make sure to inform you if we do receive one from her. Sincerely, Antonio Vere'}
Gabriel humphed, confused on why she wouldn't. He would've selected her without a second thought and she knew that. Her talent was more than most 17 year old's held and he knew that she was aware of her talent. Why would she let such a big opportunity slip past her?
"Yes Sir?" Nathalie's voice said through the phone line that connected their desks.
"Nathalie I want you to get in contact with Miss Dupain-Cheng and her guardians. Let them know that I am willing to give her a scholarship and a chance at my internship. It is her choice to accept or reject it." Gabriel said, gently folding the sketch into three parts before sliding it into his desk.
"Yes sir, I'll get on that immediately," she said, easily searching up the email address for the well-renowned bakery. It didn't take long for a response from both Marinette and her parents to appear."Miss Dupain-Cheng thanks you but says she must decline your offer." Nathalie said over the intercom.
Gabriel paced before the portrait of his wife, puzzled by the response."Did she state a reason?"
"Expenses. She briefly touched on how she was humbled for the offer but couldn't afford to work as an intern at the moment."
He hadn't considered that. The internship was a long one, lasting many hours and filled up nearly every day of the week. For a college student it would be something easy to afford,d especially when he considered that her parents though they ran a well-known bakery, they couldn't afford to support her college expenses while she was busy with her internship.
"Respond saying that I will cover Miss Dupain-Cheng's first-semester college," he said, satisfied when Nathalie told him she'd take care of it. He was not going to let this talent of hers go to waste.