Desideratum

Chapter 28

"No!" the word resounded clearly through the light, early morning fog. The private section of the airport was silent, and Luka was grinning as he dragged Marinette towards the plane.

Only minutes prior, they had taken Cadence to school. Marinette had ultimately decided to allow him to go on that trip, but Luka could see that she was not at all comfortable with the decision and that the only reason why she had made it was because she had realized how much Cadence actually wanted it. Perhaps their talk had had a certain influence, but Luka was not naïve enough to think he had made her change her mind; he had made her consider the idea. But this was not about her trying to prove him anything—this was about her trying to do the best for their child.

That was how he had figured that, just as Cadence deserved to have a weekend with his friends, his mother deserved a couple of days of peace and quiet, as well. But more than that, he knew she would work herself into a ball of nerves if he didn't at least attempt to distract her.

Though, truth to be told, he was surprised by how much resistance she could put up in her heels.

"This is insane!" he heard her exclaim. "We're not children anymore! What if something happens to Cadence and I'm not there?"

Giving a hard tug on her hand once they had reached the airplane, he sent her stumbling forward. "Cadence will be fine," he assured her.

"I—" The stubbornness in her eyes hadn't quelled the slightest bit, so he didn't allow her to finish her sentence. "Come on," he encouraged, gesturing towards the plane.

Marinette glared and crossed her arms over her chest. "No. I'm not getting on that plane. I'm not going anywhere with you. I'm going home. And if you continue to annoy me, I'm going to my apartment."

She made a move to leave then, but he grabbed her upper arm and held her in place with no effort at all.

"What do you have to lose?" he asked in an almost exasperated tone. Almost, but not quite, because he had expected her reaction.

"Precious time." Her answer was clipped.

"Fine," he said, shifting so that he was fully facing her, but not letting go of her arm. "We'll do it your way. I know you're stubborn, so we can be here all day—and well into the night, at that. I'm sure you know I'm stubborn, too. But the difference between us is that I have much more patience."

The eye-contact lasted for a little over another minute. Then, with a clearly annoyed huff, Marinette yanked her arm from his grasp and moved past him, into the plane.

Luka could only grin triumphantly.

"What is this place?" Marinette asked as she slowly advanced inside the room, jacket draped over her hands, eyes glued to the large, floor-to-ceiling windows. The view was gorgeous, towards a pristine beach and endless ocean, and the air was definitely warmer than in Paris, but she remained unable to tell where he had brought her.

"A hotel room," he answered.

Turning around, she sent him a bland look.

He pretended not to notice and tried to hide his amusement. "We're going out tonight," he declared. "I bought you something to wear. It's in the bedroom."

Marinette frowned in a mixture of confusion and annoyance. "Why in the world would you buy me something to wear?"

Luka grinned, buried his hands into his pockets, and rocked back on his heels. "Because explaining to you what you would need to wear would give you time to clue yourself in on what type of place we're dining at."

Her eyes narrowed. "Where are we?" she demanded.

"Why do you want to know that?" he challenged. "So you can calculate the distance away from Cadence?"

She glared.

He laughed. "Not going to tell you," he announced. "And I have your phone in case you decide to be a smartass."

Eyes widening, it was clear for a second that she was unsure whether to slap or yell at him. She seemed to decide on neither of those and headed for a more diplomatic approach as she slowly began to close the distance between them. "Luka, I need that phone," she said, voice calm.

He shook his head. "No, you don't. What you need to do is put on that dress and come with me."

"But—"

"The shoes I took from your closet," he interrupted. "I hope you don't mind."

"You roamed my closet?!" she incredulously asked.

"It was necessary, how was I supposed to shop for shoes?" he defended, raising his hands in the air. "I mean, a dress I can handle, but—"

"Get out!" she screamed, and as he backed up laughing, she seriously contemplated the idea of following him, just to punch him in the face.

After taking a moment to calm down, Marinette turned back around and headed for the bedroom, where Luka had claimed to leave his 'present'. She was annoyed, there was no denying that, but there was nothing she could do to change the situation now.

As expected, two boxes waited for her on the bed. One, she could already recognize, so she decided to ignore it in favor of the unknown, larger one.

She heaved a sigh as she laid her jacket down, beside it, before opening the lid. She parted the colorful wrapping paper, and her eyes widened. A gasp escaped her lips, unbidden.

It was everything she had imagined and yet nothing at the same time. There was no fancy glitter, no tulle, no sequins, no expensive satin. It was simple and a color other than black, but that was all that her mind could come up with in order to aid her in describing the piece of clothing.

It was exactly something that Luka would have liked to see on her all those years back, she realized. There was nothing about the dress that made anything about her stand out, and yet everything would be outlined. There was nothing extremely flashy or extremely glamorous. It was a simple dress that would flatter her.

Because Luka had never cared about clothes. He had never cared about high-heels or make-up. All he had ever cared about—all he had ever wanted… had been her. Marinette.

A shuddering breath left her lips as the dress fell back into the box.

Luka had been the only person in the world to know every inch of her, and still love her in spite of it.

Sometimes, she wondered how much more she could take—how much more she could fight with his memory when she found it at each and every step she took.