Emilie's first public outing is a relatively simple one: visiting Gabriel, the company headquarters. Thankfully after three days, the man is yet to show himself.
The outside world evidently seems like a strange place to her. Probably not because it's alien but just the size and scale of it all. Her gaze is focused out of the window, taking in the large buildings and the crowds of people. Gorilla drives steadily, with Nathalie in the passenger seat and Adrien and his mother in the back. If Emilie seems entranced by the outside world which she's been cut off from for the past five years, it's her son who looks at her, entertained by the enthrallment that seems to come with life outside of the mansion.
They're dropping in unannounced. Well, relatively at least. It's the best way to avoid the press, to take them by surprise. Gabriel had never announced his presence. He'd just turned up unannounced and astonished people by doing so. Like it or not, she had learned a fair deal under his tutelage.
From the back of the car, there's a beep. Adrien looks up, a beaming smile on his face:
"Marinette's there!"
"Good. Girl's on time for once."
There's an amused and somewhat teasing tone to Nathalie's voice. Emilie turns to Adrien, curious to see how he reacts to hearing his girlfriend mocked. To her surprise, she finds him smiling, even laughing a bit. Something tells her that punctuality is not Mrs. Dupain-Cheng's forte and it's a matter which the assistant has commented on many a time in the past.
Sure enough, the limousine parks and as they get step out, a young woman with pigtails is there to greet them. She smiles and waves but shies away from displaying any overt excitement. As far as Emilie can tell, she sees her boyfriend most days anyhow. In public, Marinette seems to possess the maturity and self-control to avoid charging into Adrien and generally being all over him as Chloe used to be. Even when she does give him a kiss on the cheek, it's clear that he's comfortable with it and might have given her a mark of affection of his own if they didn't have company.
He does take her hand as they enter the building however, although that seems to be essentially a reflex at this point, something so natural, neither of them put any thought into it.
The group don't waste much time going back inside. The whole point of turning up relatively unannounced is to avoid the press getting wind of Emilie's first trip outside of the mansion and its shielding protective walls. The inside of the Gabriel brand's head office hasn't changed all that much. They have new models, new faces, new designs but much of the staff remains the same. Some even greet her. The woman seems confused, a little out of sorts.
It's a bit of a worry. They've claimed she left due to an emotional breakdown – not the most flattering of portraits but the best that they could come up with given the seemingly bizarre circumstances regarding her disappearance. As such, people are being "gentle" with her. That and no doubt Nathalie's given them a good talking to beforehand. It doesn't escape Emilie's attention the way that the employees look to her husband's assistant with the same deference and respect, mixed with a healthy amount of a fear. It occurs to her that Gabriel must have been away for quite a while, perhaps even longer than she's been lead to believe, as it's clear just who's been calling the shots.
They make their way to the dressing rooms. There's a small runway there and a photographer, Vincent. She remembers him. He'd been newly hired the last time she'd laid eyes on the man. Now he seems to be a well-known face. It's strange how the world has marched on without her. Did they even notice her absence?
Adrien's going to be modeling. At least that much hasn't changed. How many years has it been since he first started? Six? He seems to know just what to do and what's expected of him as he talks with Marinette and another young woman whom Emilie fails to recognize. She seems to occupy a reasonably high position in the company or at least to be in charge of this particular department as she shows the young man the various clothes most of which were designed by Gabriel himself.
They're preparing for the summer collection. Given how chilly it is outside, it seems almost ironic. Emilie sits back and watches. It's been a while since she was at one of these sessions but can remember being there in the early days as a show of support for Gabriel, then later with his young son, showing him just what daddy did at work. Those days seem both far away and terribly near now.
The young man seems to take something of a back seat, being told what to or rather what's required of him by either Marinette who seems somehow to know about the entirety of the new collection or when the time comes to take photos from Vincent. It's difficult not to chuckle at a few of the man's instructions, he has such a bizarre way of phrasing things. She can tell that Adrien's being doing this for a while now. All of the poses come naturally to him, they seem to be second nature. There are some magazines near by, she flicks through them. Sure enough, he's become the poster boy for the company, exactly as Gabriel had predicted he would.
He must have all of the girls swooning.
"Have you been designing for long Marinette?" Emilie asks after they've been there for a little over an hour.
"Oh… About five-six years-" She blushes, averting her gaze so as to fix the floor. "I'm hoping to work in the industry one day."
"Looks to me as if you already do."
These designs are good, very good in fact. Emilie notices by flicking through the pages that more than the occasional design is not by Gabriel Agreste but rather Marinette Dupain-Cheng. There are quite a few shots of Jagged Stone wearing something that she's behind. Given that she must be somewhere between 16 and 18, Emilie hasn't asked but assumes that she must be roughly the same age as her son.
Nathalie seems to be taking a step back today. She watches but from her own corner. The woman actually looks quite tired, drained. Perhaps she hadn't had a good night's sleep. Emilie doesn't question it. Focusing instead on her son. A son who for a while seems to be distracted by the assistant. There's no denying the concern behind his gaze. Marinette picks up on his wandering attention but doesn't make any attempt to reclaim it. After about the fifth time that he looks away out of the corner of his peripheral vision, the woman gives him a discrete little gesture of the hand, almost dismissive.
He doesn't look back.
It's yet another curious thing that Emilie has to add to an ever growing list of bits and pieces which don't quite sit right with her.
In one of the magazines, there's a photo of Gabriel. He's cold and austere. That much doesn't really surprise her all that much, the man always struggled to smile for a photo. He looks older though. A few more lines occupy his face. It's been five years after all… Too long. Far too much time has passed. None of this was planned.
She forces a smile as Adrien takes the opportunity to wear a Jagged Stone's new jacket. It's a little small for him but that doesn't prevent him from letting out a "rock n' roll" much to Marinette's amusement. The two are definitely close, there can be no denying that much. It's clear with every little touch, the way that they look at one another. It's nice to see some of the sunshine return to her boy. It's more of the young man that she can remember as opposed to the person that he seems to have become.
There's something else that draws her attention as he walks down, flexing his muscles and posing for the camera. The bright neons make the discolored marks on the teen's skin stand out against the rest of his flesh. Initially, she assumes they're just a trick of the light but after a few moments, she's sure that they're there. The woman is cautious, she doesn't make a big deal about it. Filing things away as just another one of these things which she wasn't supposed to find out about or that didn't seem to be important enough to talk about.
She excuses herself after a few more minutes, claiming that she needs the bathroom.
Emilie wanders confused and a little lost through the rooms. Her return earns some rather curious glances. Not everyone is afraid of staring. That suits her well enough. Eventually, she stumbles upon a young woman, she doesn't know what her job is here and it doesn't particularly matter all that much.
"Hi." Emilie's approach is cautious, almost nervous.
"Mrs. Agreste!" Her target seems a little unsettled. "Is everything alright?"
"Sorry. It's just been a while, I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of the nearest bathroom." She keeps her tone sweet and innocent.
"Oh." The woman turns slightly so as to designate a door somewhere behind her. "It's just down the hallway on the left."
"Oh thank you!"
She makes to move away as if she was heading in the direction the employee had just designated. The woman seems to have relaxed somewhat, no doubt having gotten over the shock of encountering a woman whose been markedly absent for five years. That's all it takes for Emilie to pause. In the face of yet more confusion, she offers her a wonderful smile. It small and innocent, promising no trouble.
"Maybe you can help me… I was wondering when my husband last came here?"
"Mr. Agreste? Well, it's been quite a while. Three, maybe four years? He's been in China. Mrs. Sancoeur see to it that we get his instructions."
"Of course..." She smiles, nodding encouragingly. "China… Thank you. I really shouldn't be keeping you!"
Emilie Agreste has a thousand questions. The answers are a little slow in coming. So perhaps it's time for her to start looking for them…