AN: Chapter prompt: Sweethearts

Chapter Seven: Hiccup

Nathalie ended up taking the whole working day off.

That had not been her intention at all, but after a snooze and unusually leisurely lunch, she realised she didn't feel much like returning to her long task list. There was nothing on it that had to be done that day, so she decided to take Gabriel up on his suggestion of taking the afternoon as well.

It was a very pleasant change of pace. Nathalie read for a couple of hours, had a long soak in the bath, and accepted Caline's, Penny's and Sabine's friend requests on her personal social media accounts.

When the dinner grew closer, she changed back into her work clothes, applied concealer to her eye (it didn't completely disguise the bruise, but at least made it less noticeable), and headed back downstairs.

"Hi, Nathalie!"

"Er … hello, Marinette," Nathalie responded. "What are you doing here?"

"Mr Agreste said I could come and see his piece for Jagged Stone," Marinette said brightly.

"He did?"

"Miss Marinette made an invaluable contribution to the design," Gabriel said, giving her a rare smile, then looked at Nathalie for the first time. "Oh—didn't I tell you? The Grand Paris has a dress code."

Nathalie blinked, taken aback. "Since when?"

"Mr Bourgeois said so when he called me earlier to confirm the reservation." Gabriel looked at his watch.

"Marinette can help you pick something out, Nathalie," Adrien said suspiciously quickly, giving his friend a little nudge. "It won't take long."

"Oh, yes!" Marinette said enthusiastically.

They would both be in the right place to grab this opportunity, Nathalie thought in frustration, but she didn't feel she could really say no. "That's very kind of you, Marinette; thank you."

Adrien was having trouble hiding his excitement as he and his father waited for Nathalie and Marinette to return. He had been a little worried that Nathalie would put her foot down on Marinette helping her, now he knew she had cottoned onto their plan. Which was why he had ensured Gabriel was right there, figuring she would be less likely to turn down the offer under the prospect of having to explain why in front of him.

In anticipation of this moment, he had sneaked Marinette into the house two days ago when Nathalie was at a business meeting so she could take a preparational look at Nathalie's wardrobe for possible choices. Hopefully Marinette could pull off pretending not to have seen it before.

Gabriel kept checking his watch.

"I'm sure they won't be long, Father."

And they weren't, appearing on the landing a few minutes earlier. "We're here!"

"Excellent!" Gabriel stood up again, saw Nathalie, and promptly walked into a pillar.

Short of him immediately getting down on one knee, or blurting out "I love you", this was just about the best reaction Adrien could have hoped for.

"Mr Agreste, are you alright?" Nathalie said, holding up her skirt as she hurried down the stairs.

"I—I'm fine," he said, clutching his nose. "Just a little sore. Nothing broken." He looked back at her, his eyes wide. "You … you look … v-very nice."

Is that really the best you can do, Father? Adrien thought, but to his delight Nathalie blushed anyway. "Thank you, sir."

"Nice choice," he whispered to Marinette, who fist-bumped him behind their backs.

The dress she had picked out suited Nathalie perfectly: navy blue satin with silver embroidery. Adrien had never even seen her wear it before. Marinette had also apparently talked Nathalie into letting her hair down; it fell around her shoulders in gentle waves.

"We'd better be going," Gabriel said, pulling himself together. "Adrien, will you see your friend out? It was good to see you again, Miss Marinette."

"Thank you, Mr Agreste. You too. Have a nice evening."

The sight of all the couples having dinner together in the Grand Paris dining room would have made Nathalie feel a lot more uncomfortable if she hadn't been there for a business dinner. Though since it wasn't actually Valentine's Day yet, she wished the hotel could have waited on the decorations (as exquisite as they were) and the romantic soundtrack.

"Good evening, Mr Agreste, Ms Sancoeur," the waiter greeted them. "This way, please."

When Gabriel saw the only free table that he was leading them to, he frowned and stopped. "There's a mistake."

"A mistake?"

"This was supposed to be a table for three. We're expecting someone else."

"Oh dear. I'm so sorry. Well—take a seat for the moment and I'll see what I can do about adding another setting. Can I get you drinks in the meantime?"

They both ordered a glass of wine, and picked up the menus. Nathalie was sure that to anyone who happened to glance at them, it would look as if she and Gabriel were there on a date. She hoped Mrs Tsurugi arrived soon, before this got awkward. Or worse, before someone snapped a photo of them and started a lot of internet rumours.

"She's late," Gabriel said, looking at his watch again. "That's not like her." He had hardly finished his sentence when his phone beeped, and he took it out. "It's Mrs Tsurugi. She said she's running a little late."

"Oh." Great.

"She said we may as well order, since she doesn't want a starter," Gabriel said, putting his phone away.

"Their starters are almost ready," Marlene said to Adrien.

Everyone in on the plan had wanted to be at the hotel to see it come to fruition, but that was just far too many people to be able to go unnoticed. Apart from André and the hotel staff, only Adrien and Marinette were present, watching discreetly from the kitchen.

"Great." He quickly texted Kagami's mother, then looked up as she handed the plates to Jean-Simon. "Ready?"

"Do not worry, Adrien. I will time it perfectly."

Gabriel frowned. "Unbelievable."

"What's the matter?"

"Mrs Tsurugi just said she's not coming."

Nathalie froze.

A table for two. The person they were supposed to be meeting not turning up. Dinner at the Grand Paris on the night before Valentine's Day.

Shoot!

It was a setup. This had been Adrien's plan! She hadn't seen it coming because it was a day earlier than she had expected—and because he hadn't appeared to have any hand in it at all.

Oh, no. Now what do I do?

What could a woman do when she suddenly found herself on a date with her boss? Who did not, at least not yet, have any idea what trap they had just walked into.

Maybe he won't realise. It's not as if he has any reason to suspect anything. I never told him anything about what Adrien's been doing. Maybe we can get away with this just being written off as a business dinner gone wrong, and everything will be fine.

"Does she say why?" Nathalie found her voice at last.

"Just that something came up." Gabriel made a noise of frustration and pocketed his phone again.

"Your starters," the waiter announced, popping up from nowhere.

"Er …" Nathalie looked at Gabriel, half-expecting, and hoping, he would explain that their plans had changed and they would be going home.

He did no such thing. Catching her eye, he said, "We've already ordered; we may as well enjoy the dinner."

Nathalie swallowed nervously. "I suppose."

"Our associate won't be coming after all," Gabriel told the waiter. "So no need to bother with the third setting."

"Yes, sir."

You can do this, she told herself sternly. It's just a business dinner. Ignore all the couples around you and the Valentine's decorations and be your professional self.

Adrien looked on in interest as André prepared the dessert bowl. "Which flavours?"

"White chocolate, red velvet, blackcurrant, and raspberry."

"Looks perfect."

So far things seemed to be going … okay. Neither Gabriel nor Nathalie had done anything overtly romantic yet (or said anything romantic, according to Jean-Simon, who was discreetly eavesdropping as much as he could); but apart from some initial nervousness on Nathalie's part, they were clearly at ease with each other now. It was rare to see Gabriel—well, either of them, actually—act so friendly with someone, especially in public. Adrien was enjoying seeing it, but he was also getting a little concerned that the dinner wasn't playing out as romantic as he had hoped.

"Maybe we should turn up the music a little?" Nino's carefully arranged playlist might be more effective if it could more easily be heard.

"I wouldn't advise it," André said. "You don't want to draw their attention to it. Let it remain a subconscious influence. André has things under control."

I hope so, Adrien thought. They were running out of courses for something to actually happen.

"I'm sure you have, André," Marinette said. "Your ice cream is magic, after all."

"I'm starting to think it might take a bit more than magic sweethearts ice cream to sort them out properly," Adrien admitted.

"There's always Plan B," Marinette pointed out.

"Plan B? You mean the party tomorrow?"

"Nope. Plan B is we all start talking to them as if they're already a couple and completely ignore their protests otherwise until they have no choice but to stop denying it."

"That might have been simpler," Adrien said, unable to stop himself laughing slightly.

"This way's more romantic, though. And we can always use Jean-Simon's photograph of them together tonight to 'prove' it to them."

"The dessert is ready," André announced.

"Well, I guess we'll find out soon enough if that will be required."

Adrien, Marinette, André and Marlene all watched as the bowl of ice cream was carried out to Gabriel and Nathalie's table, despite them still looking at the dessert menu. Both looked quite surprised as Jean-Simon gave them the rehearsed "on the house" and placed it between them.

Nathalie stared at it, her expression suddenly stricken, and burst into tears.

Adrien and the others all gasped.

"Nathalie! No!" Adrien stepped forwards, but André caught his arm. "This wasn't the plan!"

"Let them be, Adrien."

"But she's crying!"

"Trust me, your father can handle it."

Gabriel was staring at Nathalie, open-mouthed, completely frozen.

"He doesn't look like he can handle it."

TBC …

AN: Apologies for the very cruel cliff-hanger! Next chapter will be up either tomorrow, or later today, depending on if I can finish the one afterwards tonight or not. (I don't know how much I'll be able to write tomorrow, and since that's actually Valentine's Day, I want something to be able to post then.)