Lunch…

With her hand numb from the exercises that are given in knife classes, Sarabella carefully cleaned her utensils in the sink infront of her station. Damn, exactly when I needed my hands tonight, it decides to go numb, she thought bitterly. There was a project that her superiors asked for a little suggestion. The foreigner wanted to showcase her talent as early as that stage of her profession because she knows that first impressions last. That was one of the main reasons why she's wary about Adrien's constant presence on the start of her Parisian life. She's sure that he might've, at least once, thought about their meeting and he probably had laughed at her misfortunes.

Sighing dejectedly, it seems that fate doesn't want her to escape Adrien's… friendship. She cleaned her workspace silently, secretly looking at her classmates if she's falling behind the cleaning process. Seeing that some of them haven't even put their diced vegetables on the tupperwares given to them, Sarabella determinedly continued to clean her station quickly.

From the corners of her eyes, Adrien had finished his work with his station and was sitting casually on his seat, phone in hand. The architect removed him from her mind, mentally telling herself that he might just leave if she ignored him—

"Do you have any plans for today, Sarabella?"

She stopped from her actions and looked at Adrien with a horrified expression. He's onto me. Sarabella mentally screamed, he's making efforts to befriend me. What do I do? What do I do? WHAT DO I DO?!

The Parisian smiled at her genuinely, "Want to grab lunch together?"

"Eh… Uhmm…" The girl hurriedly made a list of pros and cons in joining him for lunch. "Sure! Why not?" She reluctantly agreed in a shrill voice. It seemed to please Adrien a lot, putting a huge amount of pressure on Sarabella's shoulders. Knowing that the man is looking forward to their lunch means she need to put effort into not fucking up the opportunity given to redeem herself.

Adrien waited for her to finish cleaning up her station, much to Sarabella's embarrassment. "He's too nice." She mumbled to herself in complete discomfort. The last one to be that of a gentleman to her was her childhood friend – and he doesn't count.

Sarabella's eyes nearly popped out of her face. Adrien was stinking rich, what with his limousine waiting for him at the front of their university. The architect hypothesized, at one point or another, that he's probably financially capable but with this level of luxury – Sarabella remembered her life back in her home country. The lavish way of life is once again trying its best to pester her. It was one of her reasons why she left her home was to try and live like a normal middle-class citizen.

The boy opened the door for her and she just stared at him, her horrified expression once again plastered on her face.

Adrien returned her disturbed look with a confused face, "Have you not been in a limousine before?" He asked in a gentle inquiring tone.

Sarabella shook her head and quickly went inside, her face as red as a tomato. You've done it! Great job, Sarabella! She inwardly thought with sarcasm and self-depreciation. You probably made Adrien think you're stupid.

The blond sat beside her, his levels of concern for Sarabella rising. Sighing, the boy decided to pry a little bit more, "Are you okay?"

The foreigner flinched at the sudden question. She debated whether or not she should tell the truth or tell a white-lie to him. Deciding that the former will probably be the best answer, she shrugged, "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that… I remembered my life back in my home town."

The handsome native can only look at her with inquiring eyes. He's curious as to what her story is. Earlier in class, she was actually talking to him normally. However, when he asked to have lunch together, it seemed as if the winds took a different turn. Yep, definitely contradictory like Marinette, he thought.

The Parisian brought her to Hôtel Plaza Athénéé, one of the most famous places in Paris. It was a risk to bring the girl into Chloe's own lair but it was worth the shot. Adrien wanted to thank Sarabella in an indirect manner for not seeing him as the 'celebrity' he is. The girl's eyes were sparkling as she looked around, taking in the glamorous décor.

They were directed in the restaurant of the hotel, the foreigner gave out a low whistle and mumbled to herself, "Wow, this restaurant is nice."

The blond gave out a soft chuckle, happy that the girl appreciates the place, "Well, it's one of the best restaurants in Paris." He informed her with a genuine smile gracing his handsome features.

Adrien politely pulled a chair for Sarabella and gestured for her to sit. "Oh, t-thank you." The ravenette said, taking the seat whilst blushing like a tomato. The native was about to ask something to the girl when a waiter greeted them. He gave both of them the menus, recommending what to eat and generally entertaining Adrien and Sarabella.

By the time the two were done picking out their orders, the waiter left them 'to enjoy the company of each other and enjoy the rest of their stay in the restaurant'. Immediately after the waiter was out of earshot, Adrien can't contain his curiosity and asked, "I take it that you're from Spain?"

"Eh?" Sarabella stared at the handsome Parisian, confused at his unexpected question.

The girl's confused face made the blond self-conscious. He internally made a mental note to keep his dumb questions to himself. In attempt to redeem himself from embarrassment, he stated, "You said 'si, señor' earlier at class. Isn't that Spanish?"

His explanation made the Sarabella's lips tug upwards, a small smile present on her face, "Ah, I'm from the Philippines. It's some small country in Southeast Asia so you probably haven't heard of it."

Adrien racked his brain to remember whether or not he has visited the place before. A mental image of a peaceful sunset on the beach suddenly appeared on his mind, "Oh, I've been there for a few days, some time ago, for work. I think it was in… Batangas province? It was a nice place."

"Oh." The architect gaped at him, as if his statement was still processing. "Oh, that's great!" She smiled once again then her brows furrowed, "Y-You… You didn't get annoyed with the traffic, did you?"

Adrien was torn whether or not to directly complain about it. It was one of the experiences he can never forget because the traffic from Manila to Batangas was hell. Not that he would admit that out loud, especially infront of a native from the said place. "It was… a new experience." He decided to say, playing it safe in any case that Sarabella takes offenses deep to her heart.

The girl sighed despairingly, "It's annoying, to be honest." After that, there was silence. Adrien didn't know what to say next due to the fact that the conversation suddenly ended. He eyed Sarabella, his mind thinking of questions that may not seem to invasive of him. The Parisian was about to speak when the architect looked at him with slightly curious eyes, "So, what work do you do?"

Adrien was confused at her question. Had she not been paying attention earlier at Mr. Boucher and his conversation during introduction? "I'm a…" The blond hesitated. A voice in his mind ushered him to state the truth about himself, instead of telling a white lie to the ravenette. "… a model."

"That's amazing." Sarabella nodded, her face lighting up with delight. In a split-second upon her action, Adrien was scared that she'll turn into someone like Chloe who'd do anything to use him as a tool for fame. The architect took her wine glass and took a sip of the flavorful red wine given to them by the waiter. "My cousin is also a model here in Paris. She's very pretty..." She stated, a tone of slight envy lacing her voice when she said the last part. "I think she's famous, too."

With that reason, the boy was greatly relieved. "You're very pretty, too." Adrien blurted out unconsciously, smiling at her nonchalantly. Sarabella stared at him, her face blazing red from a heated blush.

After a few seconds of silence, the blond realized what he had just said. His eyes wandered around everywhere but the girl. He stuttered, not daring to look at her straight in the face from the embarrassment. "I-I mean- Uh. Yeah."

PB: Smooth talking Adrien!

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A/N:

Forgive my loooooooooooong absence from updating! This is the first part of a somewhat... very long chapter. I wanted to update it in one sitting but I can't finish it today because my preliminary exams start tomorrow. I will try to put up the second part by the end of next week, though (I hope...)!

One of the reasons why I took so long to update was that I kind of scrapped a whole lot of ideas from this story because of thE ORIGINS STORY. I CAN'T EVEN-

I'm telling this now since it's not gonna change anything anymore but I was supposed to make Sarabella a 'twin' of Ladybug, what with the theory that Marinette only uses her left earring as a miraculous but that was well thrown in the trash after the origins episodes. She's supposed to become the 'third wheel' in Ladybug and Chat Noir's heroic adventures - trying to help yet eventually causing more trouble and the likes.

Anyway, I hope you liked the update! And wow, we already have 32 followers, 18 favorites and 2,700+ views! Thank you for the amazing support! I will certainly do my best to improve this story but for now... Au revoir, fellow ladybugs and tomcats~!