Marinette was content.
No deadlines.
No schedule.
No work.
Two weeks with only her and the blond that was currently reading next to her.
It felt fantastic.
To think that they had come such a long way from where they began.
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She needed a job.
To start a brand you needed money and that was something she didn't have.
That's why she was currently at a restaurant in one of Paris' biggest business districts.
They needed a part time waitress.
It was perfect for her
A part time job was all she needed to get on her feet and still be able to spend time designing and working on her future plans.
It didn't hurt that she could earn more with tips.
Today was her first day.
Everything had already been explained to her and then she had been led to a group of waiters and waitresses that were preparing for opening.
"This is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She's the new waitress and I expect you to teach her how everything is done here," the owner of the place had introduced her before leaving.
A few introductions later and a quick crash course in what she was supposed to do and she was ready to begin.
Eight tables were her responsibility.
The girl that had the tables to her right, Delphine, had told her to ask for her help if she needed it.
Marinette was in no way arrogant, but she had grown up in a bakery.
She would handle this no matter what.
The boy to her left, one of the few who hadn't introduced themselves, was looking at her.
She gave him a smile.
He just looked unimpressed and turned away.
There weren't time to think about it anymore because the doors had been opened and the first customers were starting to arrive.
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It had been a lot busier than she had first thought.
Customers kept coming in and most of them were in a hurry to get back to their jobs.
She had to be ready to take their orders directly when they knew what they were going to have.
Then she needed to bring the food over as fast as possible when the dishes came out of the kitchen.
Glasses had to be refilled and tables reset.
And everything had to go fast.
Some people didn't even have time to wait for the bill to come.
They'd just hand her a bill or two that was supposed to cover the food and told her to keep the change.
Not that she minded.
Who knew businessmen tipped so much more than the standard 10 percent?
She had only been working for a bit more than four hours and she already had enough money to buy a whole lot of fabric.
She had a twenty minute break until she was supposed to start working again.
The customer flow had slowed down so half the waiters and waitresses were having their break now while the rest covered their tables.
Then they would switch.
It was a perfect time to learn more about her new coworkers.
And that's what she did.
Everyone was friendly and more than happy to talk with her.
Well, except the guy with the tables next to hers.
He had sat in the corner with a bottle of water the entire break and hadn't said a word to anyone.
Staring he did though and especially at her.
It was kind of creepy to be honest.
It didn't help that he had that kind of arrogant snob feeling around him.
The way he walked and looked at them all kind of sent out the 'I'm better than you and I know it' message.
Marinette knew she didn't have any interest in wasting her time on an anti social waiter with a too big ego.
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She had been invited to dinner by Chloe and Kagami.
They shared an apartment in the more expensive part of Paris.
It had been a good arrangement since they wanted their own space, but didn't want to shoulder the chores alone.
It also helped that they both were used to high standard living and didn't want to settle for less.
The three of them had grown close in the last few years.
They'd also come a long way from where they were when they became friends.
Chloe was working to someday take over Le Grand Paris.
She already made most of the decisions and were getting more and more responsibility.
Customer privacy was something she had become known to take seriously and such had many famous guests book their stay at the hotel.
Kagami had taken over her parents' company worldwide and handled everything perfectly.
She was also a world renowned fencer and often competed in big competitions.
The company's motto was that perfection might not be possible, but that shouldn't be a reason to not try to achieve it.
And then there were her.
She had made a few commissions through the years, but she wasn't where she wanted to be.
Fashion was a hard industry and only the best made it.
Marinette knew she could do it, but the so called experts didn't think she had it in her.
It would be challenging to start her own brand without any investor, but no one wanted to fund her.
They kept saying she was too young.
Both Kagami and Chloe had offered to give her the money, but she wanted an investor that believed in her for her talent and not because she was their best friend.
It would take more effort on her part than if she had a business partner.
She was ready for that.
RING.
"Mari, can you get the door?" Chloe shouted from the kitchen.
They had just eaten and the girls were clearing the table and washing the dishes.
She opened the door and welcomed the boys in.
That was another thing that had changed for the better.
Luka had written music for musicals and films from all over the world.
He loved the stories he could tell that way.
It became a tradition to all meet up and watch the films together when they released.
Luka had also started dating Kagami some months ago.
It had been about time.
Marc had written a novel that made the top ten of the year.
A sequel was in progress.
He had told her that the comic with Nathaniel had been inspired by Ladybug even though he never got to finish it.
This time he had wanted to follow the same theme, but make everything from scratch with no connection to reality.
Marc had made a superheroine inspired by her, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
It was touching and she had no shame in admitting that she had cried.
The boys both gave her a small hug before entering.
"So how did the first day at work go?"
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It had been two weeks since Marinette started working at the restaurant.
She'd learnt a lot during that time.
Including that businessmen was easily irritated, being a waitress was an art and Félix for some reason didn't like her.
It was the latter that had taken the most time for her to figure out.
The waiter's, that had been quite rude to her during her first day, name was Félix.
He hadn't told her that.
He actually hadn't said a word to her since she started working here.
She had overheard the boss call him over with his name.
Félix hadn't been anything but standoffish to her.
She'd never even heard him say a word.
The weird thing was that he didn't seem to have a problem about any of the other waiters.
It was just her.
She would find him staring at her at all kind of times and he always had this look that quite clearly said that he was judging her.
He kept his distance, but he was tearing at her patience.
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Happy thoughts, happy thougths, happy thoughts.
Pastries, new baked bread and chocolate chip cookies.
Her place of inspiration.
The feel of fabric between her fingers as she pushed it through the sewing machine.
Pillow fights with the girls and video games with the boys.
Jumping rooftops above Paris as Ladybug.
Breath in.
Breath out.
Marinette opened her right eye.
He was still staring.
Happy thoughts clearly didn't cut it.
This just wasn't her day.
She'd lost track of time while designing yesterday and had gone to bed late.
Marinette had forgotten to set an alarm clock and had therefor overslept.
She had nearly been late to work.
To top it off there had been more customers than normal so she had been constantly running around.
Tired didn't even describe half of it.
It didn't make it better that she had a stalker judging her every moment.
It lead to her doing what any sane person would do in her situation.
Marinette snapped
She slammed her sketchbook shut.
It had been what she had initially planned to do to burn half an hour.
She grabbed her bag and made her way to the only other person in the room.
"I'm only going to say this once so listen carefully." Her voice was dripping with venom. "I have had it with your judging stares following me everywhere. You don't know me and for some reason you still hate me. That's fine. I couldn't care less. You are just a pompous jerk who needs to undermine others to make yourself feel important. But keep your judgement for yourself."
After that she left.
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"Let me get this straight." Chloe was trying not to laugh. "You called him out on his behaviour from the last few weeks."
Marinette gave a slight nod from where she had buried her face in her arms.
"And you called him a pompous jerk." The blonde had raised one eyebrow.
Another nod.
"I'm sorry..." and that was all she managed to say before bursting out laughing.
Marinette wanted the ground to swallow her whole.
Kagami put a hand on her back. "It could have been worse."
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Marinette was sitting in a café around the corner from her job.
It was the day after she'd blown up at Félix and she didn't have any work today.
When she had calmed down the guilt had set in.
It wasn't that she called him out, but the way she went about it.
She'd been rather rude.
The coffee in front of her had long since gone cold and she didn't have the energy to get a new cup.
"I didn't expect to find you here."
She didn't recognise the voice so she had to turn around to find out who was talking to her.
It was Félix.
He moved around the table and took the seat opposite her.
This was the first time she heard him talk.
And he wasn't wearing that judging face she'd gotten so used to.
Words failed here.
He put his backpack down next to his feet.
Then he locked eyes with her. "I thought about what you said yesterday." He waited for her to say something, but continued when she didn't. "I'm sorry for treating you that way."
Some people would answer with 'you should be' or 'about time'.
Marinette didn't say either.
She had always been a believer in second chances and she would be lying if she said she wasn't curious about this Félix that she hadn't seen before.
"I have to apologise too." She winced slightly. "I shouldn't have taken out my frustrations on you"
The tension in Félix shoulders seemingly disappeared.
If she hadn't been paying attention she wouldn't have noticed.
He closed his eyes and shook his head. "You didn't do anything wrong. I was acting like a major jerk and I didn't even realise it."
Her eyebrows furrowed.
Félix was acting so differently from all their earlier encounters.
"I don't think I understand," she admitted to him.
He was about to say something more when a waiter came up to the table.
Félix ordered something she didn't catch before turning back to her.
He took a deep breath. "You were right. I was staring at you. But I wasn't judging you. I just couldn't seem to figure you out."
That was...
That was oddly comforting.
But she had misunderstood something and she still wasn't sure she knew what it was.
Marinette tilted her head a few degrees. "What was it you couldn't figure out?"
That was something she just couldn't understand.
He was obviously still thinking it over when the waiter came back and placed a coffee each in front of them.
Félix paid and she gave him a quick thanks.
How he noticed her coffee was cold she didn't want to know.
"Most businessmen talk freely while eating. You learn a lot." He hesitated slightly before continuing. "A few months ago some talked about a Marinette Dupain-Cheng who had been searching for investors to start a fashion brand, but she hadn't gotten any. They thought she was a delusional school girl who wasn't ready for the fashion world."
It hurt.
A lot.
She didn't know that was what they all thought about her.
Then she looked into his eyes and saw something she couldn't identify.
She didn't bother to hide the hurt. "So you wanted to know if I was as delusional of a school girl as they said?"
He shook his head. "I wanted know why they judged you so fast."
What do you say to that?
She settled for taking a sip of her coffee before answering..
"It's true that I wanted an investor. I'm a designer. I have no experience with business or accounting, but I want to start my own brand." She took another sip of her hot beverage. "Creating any kind of business takes money and skills and that is something I don't have. No one thinks it would be worth funding me. I'm still going to do it. It's just going to take more time."
They sat in silence for a while and focused on their drinks.
A lot had been said and it all had to sink in.
The silence wasn't uncomfortable or weird.
It just felt right.
Then Félix apparently came to some sort of decision.
He put together his hands in front of him on the table. "What if I made you an offer?"
She didn't understand where he was going with this.
"That depends on the offers."
She put down her coffee.
She had a feeling she shouldn't be holding a hot drink.
"I have a business degree. I have also been saving all my tips for 15 months," he told her. "I help you start your own brand. You do all the designing and everything else that has with that to do. I take care of the business side of it all and keep track on the numbers. PR, legalities and everything like that I can handle. We both get a job we enjoy, but it's a partnership. We split everything 50/50."
Than he waited.
She knew he was waiting for her to make her decision.
And what a decision it was.
Everything she had been looking for was sitting right in front of her.
The instinct to grasp it with both hands and not let go was hard to squash, but she needed answers.
"If you are as good as you say," she started, "why aren't people jumping at having you work for them?"
It was too good to be true.
He gave a small sigh. "I used to go for interviews and everything would go perfectly. Then they heard my last name and promptly backed out. It didn't matter that I graduated early with highest marks. All they cared about was the fact that I have familial connections to a different company."
It was not the answer she had been expecting, but this she could deal with.
She didn't judge people for their family.
"One last question," she shifted her weight, "why are you willing to take the risk of working with me?"
His smile surprised her, but he didn't answer directly.
He began digging in his backpack for something.
Then he pulled out her sketchbook and put it down in front of her.
He shrugged, but didn't stop smiling. "You forgot it yesterday."
He had seen her designs.
In her mind she just made her decision.
She held out her hand. "Then we have a deal Mr..."
Félix took her hand and shook it. "Agreste"
That was a revelation she could deal with later.
"I look forward to working with you Mr. Agreste."
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And the rest was history.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome onboard Flight ML281 flying from Paris to Athens. We ask that you please fasten your seatbelts at this time secure all bagage. Thank you for choosing Miraculous Airlines. Enjoy your flight."
Félix had put away his book and took her hand in his. "Are you ready for the best honeymoon you'll ever experience?"
"This is the only honeymoon I'll ever experience," she teased him.
"Then we better make the best out of it."
The End
And this would be the third and final chapter of "Who Could Have Guessed?". I would like to thank everyone that has taken the time to read my story and especially all of you that have followed it, marked it as a favourite or left a review. It's been great to read all your comments and I appreciate both the critique and the encouragement.
Feel free to review or PM me your opinion about the story.
ProudGeek4Ever