Adrien woke up the next morning still wrapped up in the euphoria of kissing Ladybug the night before. Their farewells had grown longer and longer, neither one of them wanting to be parted. He dragged himself out of bed, going through his typical routine, with Plagg moaning about being over taxed without adequate compensation...to which Adrien just shook his head, and tossed the whining kwami a wheel of cheese to keep him pacified.

Mornings in the Bourgeois household usually went about the same. Everyone had their own agenda, and while they were buzzing around in each other's general vicinity, their contact was minimal. Chloe's father would start out the morning at the head of the table greeting each member of his household, would busy himself with a newspaper, and then would be undoubtedly called away to attend to some municipal affair or another. When Chloe's mother actually was in town (which was rare, although more frequent in the last couple years than when Chloe was little), she had the same fruit parfait with dry toast and black coffee. Breakfast (and the company that went along with it), were routinely abandoned for multiple shrill phone calls or video calls with a designer here, a supplier there, or some other celebrity or model.

Adrien and Chloe sat across from each other at the ornate oval breakfast table. Chloe was picking at a chocolate croissant, checking her phone for the latest updates. Adrien was paused with his spoon hovering midway to his mouth, while staring dreamily out the window.

Adrien was usually so happy to actually have someone to talk to at a breakfast table, he was bubbly despite the hectic and disjointed nature of their routine. Today though his silence was noticed by Chloe who eyed him suspiciously over the screen of her phone. She finally narrowed her eyes and thumped the phone down on the table.

"You look...happy," Chloe observed somewhere between accusatory and puzzled.

"Oh!" Adrien was shaken out of his daydream, and pleasantly smiled at Chloe. "Yeah...I am happy!" He said finally getting the spoonful of yogurt into his mouth.

Chloe analyzed him, straightened up in her chair, and then smiled self-satisfied to herself, "Good. It's been too long since I saw you smiling."

"Thanks Chlo," he watched her flip through her feed.

"It's Dupan-Chang isn't it?" she inquired without glancing up.

"It is," Adrien replied, bracing himself for Chloe's standard melt down...but it never came.

"Humm...I thought so," Chloe hummed in a bored voice.

"Thanks for being so cool about this," Adrien said reaching across the table to squeeze her hand. "It means a lot to me!"

"I still don't know quite what you see in that one," Chloe reflected, "At least she wasn't some flake like some of those other fan girls of yours when your Dad got arrested...still I feel you could do a bit better than Baker-girl Adrien."

"Not possible," Adrien crossed his arms, shaking his head at his protective friend. "Marinette is the only one for me!"

Chloe shrugged again unconvinced, and then a flicker of a smile came over her own face.

Adrien studied her carefully. "Chloe," Adrien leaned in, "You're in a particularly good mood, and you seem..."happy"...what's going on with you?"

"Oh fine, I'll tell you!" Chloe burst. "My boyfriend and I have been doing this distance relationship for months now, and he just told me last weekend he is planning on moving to Paris!"

"That is great for you!" Adrien lit up.

"I know right! and I've even convinced Mommy to sign him on to a modelling contract with SQ! Now we'll get to be this fabulous couple who travels around the world together!" Chloe gushed.

"Absolutely not! I told you before that simply won't do!" screeched Audrey Bourgeois as she stormed through the doorway on her phone, and trailed by two assistants. "Well if he is going to back out I will simply find someone else! Yes, you can tell him I said that, I've got someone 100 times better...someone who can stand the heat!"

Audrey Bourgeois threw the phone to the ground in a huff and marched to the head of the breakfast table. She held her head high, with her shoulders rolled back, looking down on Adrien and Chloe who froze wondering why she stood there staring at Adrien.

"Adrien," she suddenly addressed. "I need you to step in on the SQ line photoshoot next week. Talent is lacking, and I simply must have the best."

"Mrs. Bourgeois, I'm flattered...but I'm not so sure I..." Adrien cringed.

"Nonsense you'll be perfect!" Audrey Bourgouis waved her hand in the air dismissively.

"Oooh that would be so fun Adrikins!" Chloe squealed. You, me, and my boyfriend will have so much fun!!!

"Uh...Chloe did I have you on the shoot?" Audrey looked over her sunglasses critically.

"Well, mom I thought, you know...when I talked to you about hiring... I thought..." Chloe protested.

"This isn't some spring break beach party, this is our lines first photoshoot breaking in the new interns Chloe!" Audrey rolled her eyes and turned on her polished stilettos to parade out the door.

"Won't you need an assistant you can actually count on?!" Chloe ran to the side of the room and scooped up her mother's discarded cellphone, which lay abandoned where she had thrown it on the marble floor. Holding the rose gold phone aloft, Chloe stared thryumpantly back at her mother, who was paused in thought.

"Hmm...you weren't totally useless last time in Milan...okay fine. Chloe, you will come as my assistant. Tammy...Talia...er...Ashley you are fired!" With that Audrey exited the room followed by only one assistant scampering after her. Meanwhile "Ashley" looked shocked a moment, before wandering dejectedly down the hall toward the exit.

"Chloe you just cost that girl her job!" Adrien pushed his chair in quickly and ran after the upset girl.

"I'm the one who should be at my mother side to begin with!" Chloe called back at him as he turned the corner. "It's not my fault if these lame assistants don't last a week!"

After all the ups and downs with Chloe over the years some things never changed. Adrien jogged down the hall till he caught up with "Ashley," at the elevator.

"Ashley, are you okay?" Adrien asked in concern. He glanced around preparing for a dark purple butterfly at any moment. Just when he thought that Chloe was making a breakthrough she always fell into her old habits, especially around her mother.

The girl turned around and sighed, leaning with her back against the wall, "My name isn't even Ashley, it's Megan.

"Well, Megan I'm really sorry you lost your job back there. Are you going to be okay?" Adrien asked quietly.

"I guess it's not like I'm really all that surprised," Megan shrugged. "I lasted two hours longer than her last assistant."

The elevator doors slipped open, and Megan stepped in, tossing her clipboard in the metallic garbage can. "I'm just glad I'm not one of her new interns," Megan added offhandedly.

"What do you mean?" Adrien asked, with his mind leaping to the excitement on Marinette's face receiving her acceptance to the SQ internship.

"Oh, those poor saps are in for hell," Megan laughed unhappily as the doors closed.

Adrien turned around to find his reflection in a gold plated mirror looking back at himself. As much has he dreaded getting back into modelling after everything that had happened, he was not about to let his Lady face these people alone. Marinette might be walking straight into hell's gates, but this cat knew his way around Cerberus!