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New Contact

The following days of shooting on the film set retained a similar schedule, sticking to a strict routine that Marinette was enjoying daily.

The early starts and late finishes on set were, however, catching up on the actress, who found she was struggling to keep her eyes open by the time the weekend rolled around. Thankfully, Saturdays and Sundays were not spent filming to give both cast and crew time to recharge their batteries and keep up the high standards they had maintained throughout the week.

Marinette lay on the sofa, flicking through the TV channels while the smell of freshly baked cookies wafted around her from the plate full on the end-table. She rested a hand on her face, supporting the weight of her head as she browsed what was on offer to watch.

There was a light knock at the door before Marinette heard it creaking open, but she lacked any energy to sit up and identify the visitor.

"Girl, where are you?" Alya's familiar voice asked loudly.

"Suffering on the sofa."

She heard her friend's warm giggle and the door closing to the house.

"Your dad told me to just let myself in- is that cookies I can smell?"

Alya appeared around the sofa and picked up Marinette's legs from being stretched out, sitting in their place and then letting them rest over her own lap.

"Help yourself," Marinette invited. "Mom's just brought them up now so they're fresh."

Her best friend didn't need any more encouragement, leaning forward to select two cookies from the plate. She took a bite from one and passed the other to Marinette, who gratefully accepted it.

"You look super tired," Alya commented. "I thought you said you were only in a small role?"

Marinette took a bite of the cookie to give herself time to think of an excuse. "I've been feeling a little ill. Plus, I wanted to get more of an idea of how to progress my career, so I asked if I could stay on set longer and watch the main actors."

"That makes sense but don't be overworking yourself. You've got enough to do at the bakery too."

"I don't mind it. Mom and Dad are cutting my hours to take the strain off, but I am a little worried that it's putting more pressure on them to make up for it."

"I wish I could offer to help but I've got so many deadlines to meet. I'm sure one of my sisters would help though if they want someone else."

Marinette gave her friend a thankful nod. "I'll let them know later and text you if they would like the assistance."

"So, how long are you going to be filming for?"

The actress shrugged. "It's sort of on and off." That wasn't technically a lie, she did have time off.

"You have weekends off though, don't you?" Alya pressed. "Nino and I were thinking…"

Marinette pushed herself up to face her friend better. "Yeah?"

"Well, Nino has this friend. He's usually working a lot but he's got weekends off now, so they've been trying to arrange a time to get together for a catch up, but Nino wanted me to meet him too. You know, to introduce us properly."

Marinette raised an eyebrow. "Where's this going, Alya?"

Alya bit her lip. "We decided that we'd arrange a double date to that really nice restaurant on the Seine, you know the one that just opened? Buuut, he's not seeing anyone so I kind of suggested that I'd bring someone to meet him. You, specifically."

"ALYA!"

Marinette's best friend grinned, raising her hands innocently. "I'm sure you'll like him."

Marinette covered her face with her hands. "Oh, Alya. You know I'm too busy and I'm not looking for any kind of relationship right now."

"I thought it'd give you a nice break," Alya tried. "Come on, Marinette. You deserve it; look at it like a celebration for your new job."

The actress parted her fingers, peeking through at her friend. She let out a deep sigh.

"Who's the guy?"

"I knew you'd agree! That's why Nino already booked the table for us next Saturday night."

"Alya," Marinette repeated, dropping her hands. "Who's the guy?"

The redheaded friend tapped her nose. "You're going to have to wait and see- it is a blind date for both of you- but trust me when I say that it will be amazing."

The friends stared at one another in silence for a moment before Marinette slowly shook her head.

"Okay. I hope you know how much I hate you," Marinette remarked with an upturned mouth, kicking her friend playfully.

"Love you too," Alya grinned, settling into the sofa as the pair started watching the movie playing on the TV.

Marinette headed towards the only café on the film lot, desperate for a change of scenery that wasn't the bustling film set where the crew stirred around. Changing out of the Ladybug costume took a fair amount of time that cut into both Marinette and Juleka's break hour, but when the young actress eventually arrived at the on-site coffee shop and sat down with a hot chocolate the size of her face, she didn't even care that she'd lost a few minutes.

She sat at a small table in the corner of the café where almost the entire wall was a window looking out onto the film lot. Soft, French instrumental music played quietly from speakers above the counter, instantly inviting customers into an environment of comfort and relaxation to take a break from the business of filming.

Marinette took a sip of the drink and felt the warmth take away the tension in her muscles. She shut her eyes and focused on the sound of the instruments, hardly noticing the slight swaying she was doing to the tune.

"Marinette?"

Her eyes shot open to the familiar voice, immediately landing her sight on the famous actor.

"A-Adrien!" She lowered the mug of hot chocolate and placed it on the saucer. "Hello."

The young man offered her a friendly smile, once again highlighting the dazzling glow of his white teeth. "How are you doing?"

"Great I'm doing," she responded quickly. "Rather, I'm doing great. Um. How are you? Would you like to sit?" She gestured to the chair opposite her.

Adrien didn't need asking twice and politely pulled the chair back to sit with her, placing a glass on water on the table. "I'm okay too, thanks. Are you on a break from filming?"

Marinette nodded. "Yeah, I thought I'd grab a drink away from everyone else. I feel like I barely get any time to myself working on this movie."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I can just…" Adrien moved as if to stand.

"No!" Marinette interrupted. "No, I didn't mean it like that. On the set, there are so many people and I think they're all good friends already. I'm sort of new to their clique, if that makes sense."

He nodded in understanding, picking up his glass of water and drinking from it. "The industry can very much be like that. People find those who they like to work with and stick by them."

"I suppose it's not too dissimilar from reality," Marinette shrugged, twirling a teaspoon around the mug of hot chocolate. She paused and looked up at Adrien again as if just remembering who she was talking to. "You were saying that you were taking a break from big films? Would you mind me asking why?"

Adrien's mouth turned up slowly. "I've been acting in mainstream films for about three or four years, so since I was around eighteen. 'Horrificator' was one of the first films I'd starred in and before then it had been TV ads throughout my teens and modelling for my Dad's fashion line…"

"So you've never really been out of the limelight," Marinette finished for him.

He stared at Marinette for a brief second, eyes tracing across her face. She felt warmth grow on her cheeks.

"Yeah, exactly that," he smiled again. "When I got the call to work on M- My current production, it was an opportunity I couldn't miss. Still doing what I love but out of the spotlight."

Marinette nodded and took another drink, consciously forcing her gaze away from the actor.

"What have you been doing since 'Horrificator'? You said you're working on something now but what about between?"

"Oh, I, uh…" Marinette stumbled across her words. She could lie, but he would probably think she was an idiot if he found out that she was a nobody. "Truth be told, I have been to thousands of auditions and got rejected. This is my first role as anything with more than one line of dialogue."

Adrien hummed in understanding. "I know lots of people with the same story, so don't take it too personally. Aurore Beauréal was the same, have you heard of her?"

Marinette's mouth fell open. "She's one of the greatest young actresses of our time, how could I not?"

The actor chuckled. "Yeah, well, she started off as a kid's TV presenter because she couldn't get a role in any movies and even that was tough to get into. I was sort of thrown into the fame from an early age, so I know most of my jobs have just been handed to me for my reputation, but if you want some real advice from Aurore I can ask her to give you a call?"

Marinette's hands flew to her mouth. "That would be crazy. Oh, gosh." She felt the heat in her face spread further, aware that she was making herself look like a fangirl. "It would be amazing but I don't want to trouble her."

"No, she's lovely really. The media like to paint her in a bad way, but once you get to know her she's just dedicated to her work. Anyway, she might be able to give you a bit more advice on landing yourself a role. I'm sure whatever you're working on now will give you a boost, though."

There was a buzzing sound of a phone from Adrien and the actor glanced down at his watch while he took a drink of water.

"That's really nice of you to suggest, Adrien. Thank you."

The young man placed the empty glass back on the table and shook his head. "You deserve to have your hard work pay off, so if I can help a fellow actor then I will."

A buzzing sound went off again, and Adrien sighed.

"Sorry, I'm going to have to check this first."

"No problem," Marinette assured, watching him take his phone from his jean's pocket.

Her blue eyes lingered on the man's face, taking in the image of every detail. He looked exactly how she had seen him in every photo, every movie, every interview, like he never had to have his image altered to fit the media's standards because he was already the ideal icon they expected. Looking at him, Marinette could see why no one would have the guts to edit how he looked.

Adrien's green eyes flicked up to Marinette, catching her staring and making her divert her gaze out of the window. She coughed nervously and raised the mug to her mouth.

"That was my agent saying I've got a meeting in ten minutes, so I'm afraid I'll have to leave you now," he explained. "But here," his phone slid across the table to Marinette, "put your number in and I can pass it on to Aurore."

Marinette lowered the mug and blankly set her eyes on the phone, which was set on the screen to create a new contact.

Trembling hands entered the name and mobile phone number into the fields, then she slipped the phone back to Adrien. "Thank you again, Adrien."

He locked his phone and returned it to his pocket. "It's no problem, Marinette. I'll text her after my meeting. Take care of yourself and enjoy the rest of filming!"

"Y-You too!" she waved as he left the café.

Once he was out of sight, Marinette let out a small squeal of excitement. Adrien Agreste had her phone number. She had an actual conversation with him. And he was going to pass her number on to one of the most famous actresses of her generation. She pinched herself on the arm and grinned.

Her phone chimed from her handbag and Marinette checked it to see if it was Kubdel calling her back to set, but instead saw an unfamiliar phone number.

To: Marinette
From: #
Realised I didn't give you my number, so here it is, haha. I'll let you know when I've spoken to Aurore – Adrien x

She buried her face in her hands, unable to fight the smile that overtook her face.

Replies to reviews:

Incendio: Don't worry, I had already been incorporating that into the story for what is still unpublished so far, but your review has reminded me to keep including it. While I've not been on the cast side of productions, I have been in the crew multiple times on films so I do know how intense and tiring it can be. That was sort of what gave me the inspiration to write this! Thank you for reviewing, I'm glad you're liking it!

missdragongirl: Thank you once again for supporting!

LadybugLover21: Thank you for reviewing again!