Chapter 3 – His Modelled Future

Adrien Agreste woke up at 4:55 without alert, a habit formed from years of early starts. Reaching into the darkness to grab his device from the bedside cabinet, he peered tiredly into his calendar to find out his schedule for the day.

Thursday

05:30 – Gym training session

09:00 – Photoshoot

13:00 – Lunch with dad

14:00 –Stakeholder meeting

17:00 – Evening school teaching

Damn. Seems like he had a busier than usual day today. Checking hid schedule for the following few days, he sighed in relief after discovering that his free time would start after school tomorrow until the end of the weekend.

Stretching nimbly, he moved from the bed to wash his face and dress to meet his private trainer. Luckily, the gym was situated at the Agreste mansion so he did not have to go very far to begin his workout. The model began the session by an 8-mile run, giving him the perfect opportunity to switch off all thoughts.

"Morning!" Hearing the greeting behind him, Adrien gave a small grunt in acknowledgement, accepting the tossed towel with ease before continuing on in silence. The clatter of equipment signalled the preparation of the day's training equipment, with weights added to bars and machines adjusted to the trainer's liking.

Coming to the end of his run and cooling off, the runner was preparing to switch off the machine when the gym door slammed open.

"Adrien, I need you." Gabriel Agreste came in with purpose, barely nodding a greeting to the trainer and pulling his son to the side in a manner of urgency. "We have an issue."

"What's up?"

"Have you heard the news yet?" Seeing his son's blank face, the designer sniffed harshly "Of course you haven't. Mattheo was part of a crash yesterday."

"Is he okay?"

"Yes, he's okay but not for the lack of trying! The fool decided to drive around the city absolutely off his face and almost killed two people!" dragging Adrien into the hallway towards his office, Gabriel continued on. "The stakeholders will have heard this news by the meeting time. I cannot believe that idiot, barely started as a model and he does this."

"So we let him go."

The slam of paperwork startled the younger male. Gabriel, for all his faults, had never used physical force to display his anger. Ever.

"I can't do that. He is family." The tone of voice reminded Adrien of his father's effort to keep them together. After revealing the true status of his mother's illness during his teen years, Gabriel's personality had changed to engage with his family more. His strict personality still apparent, the gentleman made sure that the two of them met up for a meal or chat at least once a day, which then gave his son the greater confidence to speak his mind and consider pursuing a different career outside of Gabriel.

Now 29 years old and with a PhD in Physics under his belt, Adrien was on his way to applying for research positions or a professorship in his field of expertise. In the meantime, he occasionally modelled for his family brand and taught during the evening classes at his local universities as an associate lecturer.

The stakeholders for the Gabriel brand were very aware of the model's goals and respected it, however were also vocal in their approval of his ability to take over and manage the business end of the company. As such they greatly welcomed his presence to quarterly meetings, asking for his feedback and regularly hinting for his succession (not that this changed the Physicist's mind in any way).

To both manage the stakeholder expectations, and free his child from the pressures placed on him, Gabriel had introduced a far relative to the company as a model and potential nominee for the director position. Mattheo had failed on all counts so far, gaining only the rolling of eyes within even the mention of his name. Still, the older his father had gotten, the more Adrien had realised that the man had grown a slight obsession with the concept of family, sometimes placing so much focus on it that his entire being could not think of a solution to small issues such as resolving an issue that affected the brand name. So, the model broached the topic carefully, hoping to be heard and understood.

"Being family does not mean that he needs to be employed here. We can still let him stay over, if that's what you want." The slight crinkle of his nose told otherwise "Want me to deal with the firing and speaking to auntie Delia?"

Gabriel thought on the offer before shaking his head.

"No, I'll deal with my cousin, you focus on your studies. But this means that I need another model in Milan."

Groan. There was the drawback. Adrien looked at his father, who stared back innocently (or was that a smirk on his face?!) and gestured at Nathalie who read out the work previously allocated to his second cousin.

"Fine, I'll do the stupid walk." The sentence was said under his breath.

"No muttering."

"I'LL DO THE FUCKING WALK"

"LANGUAGE"

SLAM

"ATTITUDE"

"He's gone"

"I know" The white haired man continued with his work without a care.

Returning to apologise for the delay and finish his workout, Adrien finished the session with a smile. In his younger years, he would never have imagined that his father would be able to connect with him in such a way. Yes sometimes the model acted overly childishly and yes maybe his father held more control over his life than a normal parent, but this was the only life he had every lived and honestly? He rather liked it.

After his post-workout shower, the man sat down and began reading further into his cousin's accident while downing a smoothie. All articles pointed all liability towards the driver (aka Mattheo/ idiot) and all articles praised a saviour, who had stepped in just in time to remove a mother and son from the path of the vehicle. The saviour had promptly disappeared without a trace, but descriptions detailed a lady in red with the speed of a cheetah and the grace of a cat. Witnesses who had moved closer to assist immediately afterwards also described the scent of fresh pastry and floral perfume. Clicking onto the next article on the list, a new topic was introduced that immediately caught his breath and brought his heart rate.

The Paris Blog

Saviour appears in Paris – return of a much-loved hero?
By Alya Cesaire

At 8:09pm, on Wednesday 25th August 20Y1, a parent and child were saved from certain death by a brave young woman in Valencia St. Elodie (23) and Clement Laurent (3) were returning home when they were in direct line of a speeding vehicle driven by Mattheo Lavigne (19) and 3 passengers. Mattheo, a noted model for Agreste, was visibly under influence and not in control of his vehicle when the incident took place.

The lady, who had been situated across the road from the crash, had immediately dived to push the victims out of the way before immobilising the offenders and alerting police, with the assistance of other witnesses. She did not stay to speak with police, choosing to leave once a formal handover of responsibilities was completed. Bystanders identified the hero as female, wearing a red coat, smelling of pastries and possessing the athletic skills of a cheetah or other large cat.

The actions were also recognised as those of a familiar Parisian hero of old: Ladybug.

After her retirement 14 years prior, there have since been no sightings of the superhero in France or any part of the world. This is suspected to be Ladybug's first appearance in her civilian form. It is unexpected that Ladybug will make a future appearance, however this writer is waiting in earnest for that day to arrive.

A representative for Agreste have expressed their apologies to the victims and private arrangements have been made to support Ms Lavigne in the aftermath of yesterday's incident. The company have also confirmed that they will be working with the police to complete the investigation and penalise any involved employees.

Several things sprung to mind:

Alya was writing again? If so, she had Adrien's full support

Ladybug had appeared in her civilian form?

Ladybug?

His Ladybug had appeared?

Heart beating out of his chest, Adrien pulled open a chest drawer and extracted his ancient phone which still had enough juice to turn on after so long.

Without a beat (LOL), he immediately typed away into the keypad, firing off a message a hoping, wishing, praying it reached home.

Cat Noir: Hey m'lady. I hear you were in town last night? Missing our adventures together. – Your chaton

Placing his glass into the sink, the model was about to return the phone to the drawer before deciding against it and stuffed it into his jacket for checking again later.

Adrien: Hey Alya, I've just read your article. It was great and I'm so glad you returned to writing again. Hope to catch up soon!

At the studio, the model was in the middle of completing having his face put on which was surprisingly long and boring for male models. Or was this just for his case?

Alya: Hey big shot! Thanks, I think it looks pretty good myself, if I'm honest . Definitely need a catch up, give us dates and Nino and I can plan an escape!

Adrien: Great! I have the weekend free, so Saturday?

Adrien: Scratch that, I need to step in as a model after what's happened yesterday. I don't think I'm free until after fashion week

Alya: [gasp] Milan?! I'm assisting the editor there, so we can definitely meet after your shows. Nino hasn't booked any holidays yet this year, so we can make it a group event :D. I'll add him now.

Adrien: That would be great! I hate going alone to places, so if Nino's free he can stay with me backstage

Nino: Hey dude! That sounds fire, I'm in.

Alya: Awwww so cute! I'll be busy during the days as well, so will most likely catch you in the evenings and shit. Give us some details on your hotel and we can book nearby.

Adrien: If you're not precious on space, stay in my suite.

Nino: Thanks, we'll take you up on that. Wedding's been a mammoth to pay for.

Adrien: I can imagine. Ice sculptures, a naked sushi table.

Alya: The second one was a joke!

Adrien: Still veeery expensive. Bring some drinks and call it even.

Nino: Deal, I'll call you with flight deets later dude.

Adrien: Cool

Alya: Bye!

The model snickered, knowing Alya was waiting for a final goodbye for closure. A small habit created from the time Nino had left without a word (okay, he admitted the origins were bad), the woman demanded that discussions were now formally opened and closed with a greeting to prevent cliff hangers, or boyfriends disappearing due to lack of attention.

Alya: Adrien, I swear to god, you answer me or I am calling dad.

Adrien: Bye x

Alya: Too late bitch :D

The makeup room door slammed open, a slightly panting Gabriel entering. After confirming his son's health, he barked into the phone a quick "He good!" and promptly left towards his office.

The experience caused some chuckles among staff, Adrien included. Ah, what a happy day it had been so far. He had a family he loved (Mattheo not included), friends he could connect with and news of his beloved's appearance.

Nothing was going to bring him down today.