Chloé woke up earlier than she wished. But her mind where still stuck in New York time and she couldn't do anything about it for know. She just had to get used to Paris time because there were nowhere else she were going to be than in her hometown.
She got dressed and left her room to go down and eat some breakfast in the dining room at the hotel. She wasn't sure if it was open or not, but it hadn't stoped her before if she woke up early and she thought it wouldn't be a problem today either.
As she reached the first floor and went to the dining room, she was a bit surprised that it was in fact open and that some guest were already in there eating their breakfast. Somehow she'd thought she was going to be the first and only one up, but apparently that wasn't the case.
She took a tray and placed some food on it before she went and sat down by an empty table in the corner. She didn't waste any time eating the food from the tray. She had not been that hungry yesterday after everything that had happened, but today she was feeling it. If she had waited for a couple of hours to eat, her stomach would have roared after food.
After she had finished eating, she left the dining room and went to the lobby too see if her father were down there, which he wasn't. She was thinking about going up to his office and see if he was there, but decided not to. She could text him later and ask if they could eat lunch together or something. Now she wanted to go outside and enjoy the early summer.
She left the hotel and started walking down the street. She didn't know where she was going, but it didn't feel like it mattered. She could take one moment to just walk around like a tourist and enjoy the morning. She didn't even have a jacket on, so she knew she wouldn't go for a long walk.
As she crossed the street and walked into a park, she stopped and looked around. It almost felt like someone was watching her, but wherever she looked she couldn't see anyone looking directly at her. Most people were looking ahead or at their phones and no one were paying her any attention.
She started walking again and soon she reached the middle of the park where a fountain was spitting water up in the air. She sat down on the edge of the fountain and heard the sound of pouring water. It was a nice sound she rarely heard in New York, but then again, she hadn't visited any parks during her stay there. She just didn't have any time for it.
She sat there for a while and enjoyed a moment of silence before she had to return to the hotel and talk to her father and sister. Maybe she could visit Zoé later that day? Chloé was free, but that didn't mean Zoé was.
She exhaled and looked down at her feet. She hadn't thought about changing her shoes when she had been at her mother's apartment yesterday. So the only pair of shoes she currently had was the ones she was wearing. At least it was high heeled boots and not stilettos or any other kind of annoying high heeled shoe you shouldn't wear for a walk.
Maybe she could go shopping or something later that day if she wasn't able to visit Zoé? She didn't know what she was going to do here in Paris, but she had to do something. She didn't want to live under her father's roof longer than necessary. But first she needed to find a job.
"Hey!"
She looked up and noticed a guy standing in front of her. He had half of his face covered with a scarf and the disturbing look in his eyes made her heart beat faster. It wasn't until she saw the knife in his hand that she stood up, something that alarmed him.
"Hey! Don't try to run! " he said in a threatening tone.
She nodded even if she wanted to take a chance and run. But then she remembered the shoes she was wearing and that it might be difficult for her to run, unless she somehow removed her shoes.
"Give me your wallet." the man demanded.
She snorted.
"What's so funny?" the man asked and made a point of showing his knife to her, as if she hadn't noticed it before.
"It's late May, and I'm wearing jeans and a shirt, no jacket and no purse. Does it look like I have a wallet with me? " she asked him.
He took a long look at her before he shook his head. He had clearly not thought that far.
"Give me your phone then."
"Don't have that either." she told him.
"Aren't you Chloé Bourgeois? The mayor's daughter? " he asked and sounded a bit unsure.
"Aren't you a robber?" she asked him.
She didn't want to confirm to him who she was or wasn't, that would have been stupid of her. Instead , she decided to fight back, not with her fist or anything, she wasn't that stupid . He had a knife, and she did not want to know what damage he could do with it.
"Doesn't every teenage girl have her phone with her every waking moment of her life?" the robber asked her as if he actually wanted to know if it was true or not.
"I'm not a teenager." she said. "I do have a phone, but not with me. If I had it, I would gladly give it to you it. "
"Really?" the man said surprised and she wasn't sure which of the things she had said that made him more surprised.
"The screen is cracked so it's quite useless. It would cost you a fortune to fix it and I doubt you'd get anything for it either way. " she explained and smiled at him.
The man growled and gave her a annoyed gaze.
"You must have money then? If you can get a new phone. "
She didn't even know why he was talking to her. Didn't he find it a bit suspicious? But then again. He had tried to rob someone that clearly didn't have anything of value on them.
"I'm sure my mom have called her lawyers by now and someway gotten them to freeze my account. She probably told them that I had been stealing money from her or something, so I guess I'm just as broke as you are. The only difference is that I'm ready to work for my money while you clearly just want to get it by hurting others. " she told the man who didn't seem to like her honesty.
He was about to take one step towards her, but froze and glanced to his left side before he took a quick step back, turned around and left without a word .
"What's going on?" a familiar female voice said not so far away on Chloé's right side.
Chloé didn't have to look who it was, she already knew. But Chloé didn't know if she knew that it was Chloé and not someone else. So she looked towards Marinette who stopped right away with a surprised look on her face.
"Chloé?" Marinette said and took the last couple of steps towards her former classmate. "Are you back in Paris?"
"Yes." she answered and turned back to the robber as he exited the park.
"Who was that?" Marinette asked.
"A robber." Chloé explained as calmly as she could.
"What!" Marinette almost screamed, but kept her voice low.
"He didn't rob me, though. But I'm sure I'm neither his first victim nor the last. "
When Marinette didn't say anything Chloé turned to her and was a bit surprised to see how angry she looked. It almost seemed as if Marinette would hunt him down and arrest him herself. But Marinette wasn't Ladybug or any other of the heroes of Paris. She would just end up hurting herself if she did.
"I'm sure someone will get him." Chloé said, which seemed to drag Marinette back from her deep thoughts.
"Yes." she said in a low voice.
"Where are you heading?" Chloé asked and hoped that it would be enough to change the subject of their conversation. "Still an intern at Gabriel's?"
"Yes, I'm still an intern there." Marinette answered.
"That's nice. Is Adrien back yet? "
"No. He's still gone. Don't know where, though. That's not really something that involves in my work... To know where he is... " Marinette explained and looked away with a sad glance.
It wasn't a total secret to anyone that Marinette had a crush on Adrien when they were younger. Everyone seemed to know that before Chloé did , but then again she and Marinette hadn't been that close, ever, so there wasn't a reason for her to know . Chloé only found out from Sabrina when Marinette had confessed to Adrien in their last year of high school, only to get rejected by him.
Chloé didn't know what had happened afterwards, and she couldn't say that she actually cared that much. The only thing she knew was that the two of them had stayed friends, but nothing more than that. She wouldn't be surprised if Marinette somehow still felt something for Adrien, but that wasn't Chloé's business.
"I see."
It was the only thing Chloé could say for the moment. She missed Adrien and would love to meet him again. They had known each other since they were children and he had stood by her even when she'd been at her worst. He truly was a kind soul.
Marinette looked back at Chloé and seemed to want to change the subject herself, but she didn't move the conversation back to the robber , much to Chloé 's surprise .
"When did you come back to Paris?" Marinette asked her.
"Yesterday. It wasn't planned or anything. Quite spontaneous if you ask me. " Chloé explained and couldn't help grinning a bit.
"So, you are just here for a vacation?"
"No. I think I'm staying here in Paris for some time. I don't want to go back to New York. I'd rather be here with my family. " Chloé explained and didn't care if her words would cause questions from Marinette.
"It sounds like you have missed Paris." Marinette questioned.
"I missed my sister and my father."
Marinette nodded and took up her phone from her bag.
"I need to go. I start work in twenty minutes, but I have to fix one thing before that. It was nice seeing you Chloé. " Marinette said before she rushed toward the same exit the robber had taken earlier.
"Nice seeing you too, Marinette." Chloé said and didn't bother to speak higher so that Marinette could hear her.
Chloé left the park moments later and walked directly to the hotel and up to her room when she got there.
She took up her phone from her bag where she had left it and cringed when she saw the damaged screen. She texted her father asking about lunch and got a reply right away about when he was free. After that she decided to send a text to her sister asking if they could talk and she got a reply almost right away from her too.
She called Zoé who answered almost immediately.
"Hi Chloé! I'm sorry about yesterday. I didn't want to tell you about my disease over the pho -"
"It's fine, Zoé." she told her sister in the sweetest voice she could master. "I need to tell you something."
"Oh? What is it? "
"I'm not in New York anymore." Chloé said.
"You're not?" her sister said surprised.
"I actually have to tell you a lot of things, if I'm being honest. But all of that can wait. I just wanted to let you know that I'm in Paris and that I'm never going back to New York. Ever. " Chloé explained.
"You are?" Zoé said and sounded both happy and upset.
" When you told me about you being sick, I realised that I had made a mistake. I should never have left Paris and started working for mom. I should have stayed here with you and my dad, because you two are the only true family I have. I'm sorry I left. "
There was a moment of silence before Chloé heard her sister's voice.
"Oh, Chloé. You're making me cry. " Zoé said and this time she only sounded upset.
"Don't cry." Chloé said and hoped it wouldn't sound as demanding as it sounded. "Please?"
Her sister's crying faded for each passing second and when she finally stopped Chloé decided to speak again.
"Is it possible for me to come and visit you? I'd love to see your place and meet your roommates. "
"Of course, little sister. I don't think it's possible today. But tomorrow maybe? You think you've got time for that? " Zoé asked.
"Yes." Chloé said and thought about telling her sister she had all the time in the world, but decided not to. "I'm free tomorrow."
"That's good. Maybe we can meet up for lunch and visit my apartment afterward? Does that sound good? "
"Yes. That sounds nice. " Chloé said.
"Good. I will text you the time and which restaurant. If it doesn't work for you, just let me know, okay? "
"Yeah I will do that."
"Bye Chloé."
"Bye."
Chloé ended the call and placed her phone on her nightstand before she went to pack up all her things from her bag. It wasn't much, so it didn't take long for her to unpack. She hung all her clothes, including her golden dress, inside her closet and placed the rest of the items where they belonged. When the bags were empty, she placed them in the bottom of her closet and closed the door.
It was still a couple of hours before her lunch with her father, and she didn't feel like taking another walk if the robber where still roaming around outside. She could take a taxi and go shopping for some comfortable shoes and a new phone. But she decided it was better to do that after the lunch. She had to look if her account were frozen or not and if it were she 'd have to ask her father for some money , even if she didn't want to. But what else could she do until she found herself a new job?
