*I do not own these characters, and thank you to smartlanceisreal on Tumblr for the prompt that inspired this story.
It had been a bad day for the, now former, employees of Gabriel fashion company. Vincent the photographer, Elisa the makeup artist, Alizabetta the model, and Andrew the staff assistant had all been fired or rage quit because of Mr. Agreste's new favorite; an Italian brat named Lila Rossi. The girl thought she was untouchable. Unfortunately; she was right, so she got away with so much more bull than anyone else would be able to at any company in the entire fashion world.
She refused to take Vincent's directions while modeling, which had the photos looking sub-par and was hurting his reputation. She was borderline abusive towards Elisa, literally throwing things at her and using racist slurs that had the artist crying off set at times. Alizabetta had been outright bullied and tormented by the Italian until she was akumatized that day, which resulted in Mr. Agreste firing her, believing that she was tormenting Lila. When Andrew stood up for her, saying that it was the other way around, he was fired as well for talking back. Seeing the situation, Vincent and Elisa quit as well and left with the others.
Which brings them to now, drowning their sorrows in pastries at the Tom and Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie. Alizabetta was upset because this was her first real modeling job. The others were worried about Mr. Agreste being spiteful and blacklisting them, that was something that he seemed to enjoy doing since his wife disappeared.
The table was quiet when a new plate of macaroons were gently set on the table in front of them. Looking up, they saw a young woman, a little older than Alizabetta. Vincent recognized her from somewhere, but couldn't quite place her.
"You all looked like you could use some more comfort food," she said, smiling kindly.
"Oh, thank you so much, Angel. We could definitely use this." Elisa smiled back, before taking a bite out of one of the pastries and humming from the wonderful flavor.
"If there's anything else I can do to help, please let me know. My name's Marinette and this is my parents' boulangerie."
Vincent snapped his fingers. "Ah, si! That is how I recognize you. You were the girl that won Singor Agreste's contest a few years ago and your designs were praised by the Style Queen."
Marinette blushed at that. "That was a while ago. I've stuck with private commissions for a while, since I wanted to at least finish lycee before trying to join the big leagues."
"Piece of advice, avoid Gabriel. That company treats their people like crap and let others get away with anything but murder." Andrew groused as he helped himself to his plate pan du chocolat.
The table didn't miss her scoff of disgust as she crossed her arms. "Nothing new there. He treats his own son like a billboard, ignores him in every aspect of his life unless it has to do with business, and lets that lying bitch climb all over him like a cat in heat. It's disgusting."
Alizabetta's head snapped up at her. "You know about her?"
Marinette shrugged. "Italian liar that makes fashion and anyone with Italian blood feel dirty? Yeah, I'm familiar with Lila Rossi. She got me expelled once, convinced all my friends that I was practically the antichrist, almost got me akumatized 12 times, and tried to ruin my career choice. If I hadn't switched schools and gotten a restraining order against her, I don't want to even think about what might have happened."
The four of them stared at her for a long moment before Vincent grabbed a chair from another table and pulled it up so she could join them, having found a kindred spirit and someone they could vent to about the ammature model. It was hours later, and a lot of pastries that Marinette mentioned that she was actually looking to start her own fashion house. She had clients that wanted her clothes, a fanbase of people on her waitlist that she hadn't been able to get to because she was only one person, capital to pay employees, and a facility that she had just leased. What she was missing was people. It was hard to find competent people in the fashion industry that weren't already employed in one of the bigger fashion houses and willing to work for an eighteen year old girl.
Alizabetta was the first to speak up about that. "Do you need models? If you do, I'd be more than willing to work with you. I mean, if you'd be willing to hire me."
Vincent completely agreed. "Si, I have seen Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale wearing your designs and have always thought they were molto bella. When you are in need of a photographer, I would be willing to work with you."
Elisa and Andrew were partially joking and semi serious when she said "You seem nice enough, and Vincent here knows your work. We'd be willing to give you a try."
"For the right price," he finished with a smile.
Marinette was practically vibrating with excitement as she stared at the four of them. "You mean it? You'd be willing to work with me even though I'm practically a kid?"
Andrew shrugged at that. "It's not like we have any other jobs right now. And accepting a job from you will help us make sure we can pay our bills."
Nodding in understanding, Marinette stood from the table with a smile. "Okay, if we're going to do this, let's do this right. Alizabetta, I'm going to need your resume, comp cards, and any spreads you've done in the last three months. Andrew and Elisa, your resumes and references for my records. Vincent, your resume and I'd like to take a look at your portfolio. And if at any time, any of you are offered a 'real' fashion job, just give me proper notice and there won't be any hard feelings. I'll schedule some meetings with you this week to get the details ironed out and you can start work as soon as next Monday. Does that work for all of you?"
They all stood from their chairs and shook Marinette's hand. Although they were admittedly worried about working for someone so young and new to the business, they had a good feeling about the girl.
~oOo~
It had been three years since that afternoon at her parents' bakery and Marinette's business had been skyrocketing ever since. Much to the surprise and delight of the five people that had been there.
Alizabetta had become the face of her brand and was the least high-maintenance model around. The girl was just so happy to be treated with respect and without being asked to be beanpole thin, that her happiness easily showed through in her work. Although that might have something to do with her amazing photographer, Vincent. The man's reputation had been saved when he had joined MDC, proving that his work with Gabriel had been sub-par due to the model rather than his talent as a photographer. For that, he was eternally grateful to Marinette, going so far as refusing to leave for another company, even when he was offered more money.
Elisa became the head of the makeup department with six artists working under her. She worked very closely with Marinette and was glad to say that the girl-turned-woman was as sweet and wonderful as the first day she met her. All the stress she had dealt with working for Gabriel was now a distant nightmare that she only bothered mentioning when other artists asked her to compare the two companies.
Andrew ended up becoming Marinette's personal assistant and was very good at his job. His biggest responsibilities were making sure Marinette took time to herself for things like eating and sleeping, and protecting her from the people from her past. Namely, her former college friends that came asking for jobs, favors, and interviews after her business had picked up. Hardly any of them had references or any experience, expecting their former connection with her to get them what they wanted. The first time was a girl named Alya Cesaire, she'd applied for a PR position and had demanded to meet with Marinette, saying that "she owes me this job, after everything I've done for her".
He had gone to see his boss, and at the mention of the woman's name, Marinette had gone deathly pale. The four of them knew of all the things that her former classmates had put her through and swore that they would protect the woman that saved their careers. So Andrew had told Ms. Cesaire that his boss did not remember any friend by that name. That her references and experience were not up to par for the company; as the Ladyblog was little more than a gossip blog and Lila Rossi had recently been fired from Gabriel.
Speaking of, not long after the four of them had quit/been fired, Gabriel had seen a high turnover rate of employees. Many of those employees found their way to MDC thanks to her popularity, good pay and benefits, and just the fact that she treated her employees so well. When Mr. Agreste had looked into the reason for the high turnover rate; he discovered a few other problems with his company along the way. The number of applications from qualified applicants was dwindling, his sales dropping to a low that he hadn't seen in over a decade, and there were multiple scandals that were connected to his company's name. Most disturbing of all, it could all be traced back to a single person: Lila Rossi.
Anyone and everyone who was forced to work with the talentless diva soon found themselves fired due to her tantrums or they quit because they couldn't bear working with her. Word quickly spread around the industry that Gabriel was a company to avoid, so they weren't getting any new, qualified candidates. Then there were the lawsuits. Lila had two lawsuits against her for sexual harrasment in the workplace filed by other models. Another for assault when she threw a prop at a set hand that required him to need stitches on his head. And another for theft and disturbing the peace when she refused to pay her bill at a restaurant and caused a scene which saw her being arrested.
Mr. Agreste had tried to do damage control by firing and blacklisting the girl from the fashion industry, but it was too late. His company and its sales were in the toilet and nothing he did could bring its reputation back up.
Lila had tried to save her career, turning on Gabriel and telling anyone who'd listen about how unprofessional and disorganized the company was. That the quality of clothes was terrible, and Mr. Agreste himself had been pressuring her to cause those public scenes so that it would bring some attention back to the brand. She wasn't a bad person, she'd just had to deal with a terrible boss so she could keep her dream job. This was followed up by her applying to be a model with MDC.
Andrew made sure that all five of them were present for that interview. He would admit, the girl was smart enough to realize that she was screwed the second she saw the people behind the half-circle desk. Alizabetta was glaring at her with disdain at the far left. Vincent sat next to her, looking through the photos on Lila's comp card, while verbally ripping it apart. On the far right, Elisa only asked her how she was able to get any modeling work with her highly questionable choice of hairstyle? Andrew made a show of calling each of Lila's fake references in front of her, unsurprised when they all came up as unavailable. At the center of the table, presenting herself with all the poise of a queen looking at a subject that she's about to sentence to death, Marinette sat quietly as she listened to her friends.
Lila made an admittedly pathetic attempt to kiss up to Marinette. With crocodile tears in her eyes, she pleaded with her former school mate. "Please, Marinette. I am so sorry for how I was back in college. But we were just kids back then and mistakes were made by everyone. I never meant for you to get hurt or anything like that, I just wanted to make friends and you scared me since you realized right away that I didn't always tell the truth. But I swear, that's not who I am anymore. If you would just give me a chance, you'll see that I can be a valuable employee and model for your brand."
Marinette said nothing for a moment, simply stared at her former tormentor before pressing a button on the desk. A man walked in, a man that had been sitting next to Lila in the waiting room. He pulled a pocket sized recorder from his jacket and pressed play, Lila's sneering voice filled the room.
"I can't believe I have to stoop so low as to try working for Maritrash. You know, I used to go to school with her?"
"Really? What was she like? I've only been here for a few days, so I haven't had a chance to meet her yet." The man asked her, playing along with Lila.
"Ugh, she was a total nosy-good for nothing that would have been better off slitting her wrists and stop taking up air. But she's also a bleeding heart, so she'll probably give me a job anyway. If I can fool her for long enough, I can fix my reputation, ruin hers again, and maybe claim that she's actually a madame or something and her models are call girls."
"If you're willing to cut me in on the deal, I'll back you up. I could probably print out some evidence on the letterheads to support your claims."
Lila's chuckle, which had been genuine at the time but made her feel sick as she listened to it now, echoed off the walls of the room. "I get this job, and you've got a deal."
The man pressed the button again to stop the recording before handing it to Marinette. She calmly set the recording on the desk in front of her, never looking away from Lila's pale face. "You were saying?"
Doing her best to hide her fear, Lila shot to her feet in a rage. "You had no right to record me without my consent! I could sue you-"
"If you had bothered to read the notices when you entered the building," the man interrupted her, "you would know that by entering the premises you are consenting to being recorded. This includes video and audio."
"Thank you, Philip." Marinette smiled at him. "Oh, I forgot to introduce you. Lila, this is Philip, my head of security, and he takes his job very seriously."
"I've already called the police. We'll be filing charges against Mlle. Rossi for attempted corporate espionage."
The girl let out a guttural shriek before diving for the recorder while taking a swing at Marinette. Her fist didn't get close before her arm was twisted behind her back and her face was slammed into the table. No matter how much she struggled, she couldn't get away before the police arrived and slapped cuffs on her. Since the news crews were minutes behind, their head of PR had "no choice" but to share the security footage along with a statement that they were pressing charges for attempted assault and corporate espionage.
The story blew up. Any miniscule amount of sympathy that Lila may have earned was now in ruins, along with her reputation. Especially when Marinette gave Nadja an exclusive interview.
~oOo~
It was two months after the Lila incident that they received their next surprise guests. Gabriel Agreste, Adrien Agreste, and their assistant Natalie had made an appointment to talk business. Marinette had a feeling that this meeting would be coming. The others were worried and had wanted to sit in on the meeting, but she assured them that she could handle it.
Her guests, on the other hand, seemed very out of place. Natalie seemed frazzled, her hair not as neat as she remembered, and hands gripping last year's tablet a little too tight. Gabriel was attempting to exude an air of calm that he was known for, but the incessant tapping of one foot gave away what was really going on in his head.
Adrien, who had always seemed perfect in her eyes, was the most obvious. Or maybe she was just more aware now that her rose colored glasses had been removed and crushed beneath her designer shoes. His clothes, hair, and posture were not quite the perfect model look she remembered. His expression was open; she could see that he was uncomfortable with his family's situation, as well seeing her again.
The last time they had spoken was their last week of college. Lila had destroyed Marinette's final project for class, claiming that she had done it herself. Adrien had publicly sided with Lila before pulling Marinette to the side and chiding her for trying to expose her. At that point, she was done. She called her parents, had them bring a lawyer, and forced the principal to look at the security footage. Once they had the rock solid proof that Lila had destroyed Marinette's property, it was easy to get a restraining order. It was harder to get her in trouble, since Lila fell back on her "lying disease" excuse and only got a week of detention, which she never served.
However; that was the past, now was time for business.
"What can I do for you, Mr. Agreste?"
To her relief, he and Natalie didn't waste her time. Proposing that they were interested in merging Gabriel with MDC. They went on about how with her skill and his experience, their companies would flourish and grow to new heights. They even hinted that with Adrien as her model, it would add more legitimacy to her company. Especially if the two of them were seen out together in romantic settings.
"I think I've heard enough." Marinette said as soon as she saw a break. "I'm sorry, Mr. Agreste, but I don't see any value in joining our companies. As it stands; Gabriel lacks stock value, you are unable to keep any decent staff, your business practices are questionable at best, and you have not created a single noteworthy design in years." She watched as spoke, apparently they hadn't expected her to turn them down and were surprised that she had.
What surprised her was when Gabriel Agreste lost his ever present cool and started yelling at her. "Who do you think you are speaking to me like that?! You have no experience in this world and you think-"
"Despite what you think of my experience, Mr. Agreste, the numbers don't lie." Marinette cut him off easily. "Your stock price is lower than it has been in over 20 years. People are not buying your clothes, some have even boycotted you due to your lax policies on sexual harrasment and your choice of models. Everything about you has become toxic. In fact, when my board members heard that I was meeting with you, some threatened to leave if our companies joined. I will not jeopardize my company for another that can't even claim to be on its last leg, more like its last toe."
"Please, Marinette," Adrien pleaded as he stood from his seat to move closer to her. "We really need your help, and friends-"
"I'm going to stop you right there, Agreste." She interrupted again, refusing to let Adrien take her on a guilt trip. "You made the choice to ignore my warnings about Lila years ago. You took her side and told me over and over that her lies didn't hurt anyone. Your employees told you what she was doing, and you fired them instead of punishing her. At this point, the consequences are catching up to you and I want no part of it. This meeting is over, I'll have someone show you out."
Gabriel and Natalie were smart enough to realize that Marinette wouldn't budge on her decision and were willing to leave without a scene. Adrien made the mistake of grabbing her to make her "listen to reason" just as Philip entered her office. His hand was forcibly removed and there was nothing Gabriel could do to keep the man from forcing his son from the building. He could only hope that there weren't any paparazzi waiting for them.
AN: I normally have some sort of redemption in my stories, this time, not so much. I wanted to see how it came out if everyone got a big F-U from Marinette and focused on how her life turned out. So, what do you all think? Warm-Fuzzies and please review!