To Marinette's relief Adrien immediately agreed to come along to provide backup for her "voluntold" business trip to Spain. He wasn't about to leave her alone to deal with Chloe or Komar. Marinette had to pull a lot of late nights to get all her work done before getting on the plane, and Adrien was pulling all-nighters just to avoid sleep. Needless to say by the time they were standing in the terminal ready to board the plane both of them were looking a little worse for wear.
Komar and Chloe on the other hand looked like they were ready for the catwalk. Komar's grey eyes and flowing locks of golden hair were highlighted by a well-cut shirt the color of ripe plums. His perfectly pressed black pants, clung to his muscular form, and he flashed a beaming smile at the stewardess' that made them nearly swoon. Chloe was turning heads herself in a pure white mulberry silk accented dress. She breezed effortlessly through the airport with her black and gold designer jacket perched on her shoulders, and her black Walter Steiger heels adorning her feet. Her face was flawless, even though she looked slightly bored by the attention she was getting. She slide her sunglasses into her styled hair, and piped up, "Oh Adrikens, Marinette! Won't this be simply divine! As soon as Mommy mentioned Spain Komar insisted we had to go too. He is so romantic isn't he!"
"Oh Honey Bee, you're the one who pulled the strings with your mom," Komar flicked her ponytail playfully. "You always get what you want!"
"It's true!" Chloe gushed, and she flashed her passport and tickets to the lady at the desk. Sure enough she was immediately escorted onto the plane, with the rest of them following behind.
Choe and Komar sat a few rows behind Marinette and Adrien. Adrien helped stow Marinette's carry-on (which mainly consisted of papers and documents related to the agreement with the textile company) up above their heads, and then settled into the aisle seat next to her. Self consciously Marinette reached into her jacket pocket and twirled Ember's quill next to her heart. Ember had insisted on sticking right by them according to the council's wishes. Tikki looked up from inside her jacket and gave her a encouraging wink.
"Here we go," Marinette whispered apprehensively to Adrien. "I'm sure glad that you're here!"
"An all-expense trip to Spain with the love of my life?! Wouldn't miss it!" Adrien said brightly, despite the obvious bags under his eyes, and his hair a little extra tussled than usual.
"Even with those two (she nodded toward Komar and Chloe behind them) tagging along, I guess it might be pretty amazing," Marinette said hopefully, unsuccessfully stifling a yawn.
"You look pretty excited," Adrien teased, giving her a poke.
"Hey, I've been working non-stop, and someone's been keeping me up all night lately," Marinette poked Adrien back.
"Sorry about that..." Adrien's smile faded, and he looked off into the distance.
"Maybe you can finally relax a little. Plagg's probably already snoring in the extra wheel of Camembert I packed him. It's just under a two hour flight, but maybe you can catch a little cat nap," Marrinette urged.
"Maybe," Adrien gave her a half-hearted smile, and patted his shoulder for her to lean on. "Only if you get some rest too."
"Deal," Marinette sighed, snuggling up to Adrien's shoulder, and rested her head heavily against him. He took his jacket and rested it over her shoulders as she started to fall asleep as soon as the plane lifted off.
Midway through the flight Adrien opened his eyes with a start to see Komar looking over him at Marinette. Komar saw Adrien's eyes shoot open, and he stepped back with a laugh. "I thought you were sleeping. I just wanted to know which hotel we were staying at again. I knew Marinette would have everything organized."
"The Cotton House Hotel, it was on your itinerary that was sent out," Adrien said flatly.
"Oh yeah, that's right. Sorry for waking you up," Komar waved his hand, and sauntered back to his seat.
"What was he up to?" Adrien asked himself as he readjusted his jacket over Marinette's shoulders, and kissed her cheek gently. Adrian envied Marinette's peaceful sleep, but he felt he had to be extra vigilant. He couldn't let Marinette out of his sight. There would be no sleep for him yet.
Alexis had planed out everything "seamlessly" (fabric pun from Adrien), and a jet black company car arrived to pick them up, and escort them to their luxury hotel.
The city had inspiration down every street with decades of history and art coming together in a colorful mosaic of the imagination. Marinette couldn't help excitedly pointing out landmarks along the way. Their hotel was the former headquarters of the Cotton Textile Foundation. While it had been renovated with all the latest luxury that was even up to Chloe's high standards they had still maintained the iconic elements of the building. The elegant marble staircase, the delicate embellishments on the ceilings, walls, and doors. Even the famous spiral staircase built in 1957. Marinette was completely overwhelmed by the absolutely stunning lobby.
Their bags were taken up to their rooms, and Adrien and Marinette finally breathed a sigh of relief as they closed their door and fell back onto the king-sized bed.
"Finally a space to ourselves!" Adrien sighed.
"Can you believe this place!" Marinette turned over to him.
Plagg burst out of Adrien's bag, "finally! I can breathe! I hate being cooped up in there!"
"Oh please, you had your cheese to keep you company," Adrien raised an eyebrow at Plagg.
"True, we had a wonderful time together, while it lasted. Unfortunately I polished off that baby in under 15 minutes," Plagg shook his head disappointedly.
"Now you'll just have to wait till we buy more then," Adrien scolded Plagg. "That was supposed to last you till at least tomorrow!"
Tikki perched on Marinette's shoulder and shook her head at Plagg. "You've got to at least same some for emergencies," she reminded him.
"The only emergency is the fact that I am now cheese-less!" Plagg complained unapologetically. "Doesn't a swanky place like this have room service? Let's get a cheese plate in here stat!"
"Before anything else I've got to get ready for our meeting tomorrow. Alexis and all of SQ is counting on me to make this deal work, I can't mess this up!" Marinette bent over and started reorganizing her notes for the millionth time.
Adrien wound his arms around her waist and pulled her back down beside him. "Don't worry! You've got this!" he encouraged her. "You've been going over the pitch over and other, and you know their company as well as their own CEO. Plus who could say 'no' to you?! Your passion for fashion and the fabrics sourced from all over the world is undeniably inspired. Everything is going to go great!"
"Thanks!" Marinette kissed him, and then she swung herself back over to her bag out of his grasp, and said, "but it still doesn't hurt to look over everything just one more time!"
Adrien tackled her and rolled her onto her back, trapping her from digging through her papers, and she giggled, trying to squirm out of his grasp.
A insistent knock interrupted them. "Hey, you two!" Chloe's voice yelled from the other side of the door. "Take me shopping! I'm bored!"
"Make Komar take you shopping!" Adrien yelled back.
"He's off busy doing something around the city!" Chloe's muffled voice could barely be heard on the other side of the door.
Marinette and Adrien looked over at the door in concern, and then looked at each other. With a sigh they rolled off the bed, and unlocked the door letting hurricane Chloe in.
"Finally," Chloe huffed. "We just got here! You can't keep your hands off each other for 5 minutes!"
Adrien and Marinette exchanged a look and their faces went a little pink.
Chloe pretended not to notice and chattered on, "We're in this amazing city and the Gothic quarter is right down the street! I'm talking some of the best shopping in Spain! Last time my mom was here she brought back this amazing designer purse!"
"So, what about Komar though. Shouldn't we wait for him to get back?" Marinette asked in concern.
Chloe stomped her foot and clenched her hands at her sides, "I'm not waiting around here! He always has things to do and places to go! Sometimes it's like he has multiple personalities! One moment he's all like I need you, I can't do this without you, and the next it's like I don't even exist," Chloe vented. "Whatever, if he can go out, then so can I! Come on!" Chloe grabbed Marinette was the arm.
Marinette just barely had enough time to snag her purse off the back of the chair, and Adrien grabbed their jackets and followed the girls out the door.
As soon as Chloe walked out onto the sidewalk, she breathed in, and straightened her shoulders. "Hurry up! I'm ready to wear out all of Daddy's credit cards!" With that she was off, marching down the street in search of handbags and shoes.
Marinette put her hand into Adrien's and trailed after her together. "Do you think she's okay?" Marinette whispered.
"This is what Chloe calls 'retail therapy," Adrien whispered back. "Sometimes she'd go on a shopping binge when her mom would ignore her too. Komar is kindda a flake, but I didn't think he would bail on Chloe like this." Adrien looked at Chloe sympathetically. "I guess we can at least try to get her mind off things."
"And then corner Komar tonight and see what gives him the nerve of ditching Chloe," Marinette whispered with determination.
Adrien gave Marinette a nod, and then the two of them trotted to catch up to Chloe's fast pace.
"Oh Chloe, look!" Marinette pointed out a small boutique store which specialized in vintage clothing and second hand accessories. "This shop looks cute!"
"Eww, seriously," Chloe made a face. "Old worn out hand-me-downs!" No thank you! I'm not going to dumpster dive into someone's grandma's closet. Count me out!"
"Awww come on," Marinette dragged Chloe through the doorway. "You never know what you'll find at a place like this!"
"This kind of worn out has-been fashion might be what someone like you is into Dupain-Cheng, but Chloe Bourgious does not stoop to this...," Chloe railed, pulling back away from Marinette, but then stopped suddenly when something shiny caught her eye. "Oh my gosh! Look at this! Just look at it! This is the 1973 Gucci leather handbag from the original line!" Chloe held the purse to her chest, and ran her hand down the smooth leather. "In perfect condition!" Then Chloe's eyes bounced around the shelves surrounding them, and rushed from one rack to another, piling more and more discoveries into the arms of Adrien. "You need to come home with me! And you...I can't leave you...you're stunning!"
"Do you think she's finally giving a shop like this a chance?" Marinette smiled at Adrien, who was at this point nearly buried onto Chloe's purchases.
"Once she starts sweet-talking the merchandise you know we've lost her," Adrien grinned back.
Chloe ended up making quite a dent in her father's bank account, and by the time they made it halfway down the gothic quarter's shops all three of them had their arms loaded down with bags...mostly Chloe's shopping. They finally had to get a taxi to escort them around by the time they got to the end of the street. Marinette had found a new blouse from the 50's that she was excited about, and also a beautiful purse made from natural materials at ECOB. Even Adrien had found a pair of impeccably made shoes Chloe insisted would be a crime to leave behind.
Finally tired out from her shopping rampage Chloe slumped in the taxi surrounded by her haul. Marinette was far more interested in looking out the window at the truly impressive Cathedral of Barcelona. The tall intricate Gothic-style spires rose up above them reaching up tp the sky.
"There is so much to see here!" Marinette observed happily. "I could explore these streets forever!"
"I'm done!" Chloe grumbled. "When are we going to get some food!"
"I know just the place!" Adrien leaned forward to talk to their cab driver. "While you were trying on clothes I was talking with some of the store keepers, and they recommended this really great tapas place!"
"As long as we don't have to wait long," Chloe replied, clearly getting hangry after exhausting all of her energy on her shopping spree.
Sure enough in just a few minutes they had pulled up to a open air restaurant that specialized in local dishes. Making a pyramid of Choe's purchases next to the table, the three of them sat down at a table, and a waiter came around with menus. It turned out they were all hungrier than they realized and orders a whole assortment of items to share. Fresh goat cheese salad, croqueta, bravas, grilled shrimp brocheta de camarones, steamed Mediterranean mussels, and more filled the table with savory aromas that made their mouths' water. After the first few bites the three of them were infused with renewed energy and enthusiasm for the trip.
"I never thought I'd say this, but I had a really great time with both of you today," Chloe confessed as she took another bite.
"Thanks a lot Chloe," Marinette looked over her shrimp skewer at Chloe with a glare. "I'm glad we were up to your standards."
"No that's not what I mean," Chloe cleared her throat. "I always felt like I was on the outside and left out...part of that was my fault I guess," Chloe went on.
"Part of it?!" Marinette said under her breath.
"I was feeling really down, and you were both willing to spend today with me. You even convinced me to try new things...here we were hanging out like...like...real friends," Chloe shuffled in her seat.
"We are your friends," Adrien patted her shoulder.
"Really?!" Chloe looked from Adrien to Marinette.
Marinette toyed with her glass. "I always thought you were the one who didn't want anything to do with us. There were times when you were totally mean to me through years of school and made my life miserable. The worst part is you seemed to enjoy it. I never felt like I could trust you," Marinette said.
Chloe nodded, "You're right. I did. I won't deny it. I didn't realize at the time, but a part of me couldn't stand to be around you."
"I was that repulsive to you?!" Marinette's voice grew defensive.
"You had this perfect little life with you Mom and Dad always around you, encouraging you, and effortlessly was great at school, drawing, and making friends. Everyone instantly liked you and was impressed by you," Chloe pushed her food around her plate.
"You were jealous of me?!" Marinette squeaked in shock.
"Jealous of you?! Pheph...nuh uh," Chloe sputtered. "It was just...just...annoying that it wasn't like that for me," she said sipped her juice in a rush.
Marinette watched Chloe, and her eyes softened. "Despite our long history of loathing each other, I have to admit I was really impressed at the way you stood up for Adrien when everything happened with his Dad. That took a lot of guts, and it proved how loyal you can be," Marinette said.
"How could I not. How dare those vultures take everything out on Adrien!" Chloe bristled at the memory of those first difficult days after Gabriel Agreste was exposed as Hawkmoth.
"It meant the world to me, and I'll never forget it," Adrien confirmed with a nod.
Chloe quickly sniffed to stifle any hint of a tear from escaping from the sudden outpouring of emotion. "Well, no need to thank me or whatever. I just wasn't about to just stand around when something had to be done," she shrugged, and brushed her hand to the side as if dismissing the whole thing.
"I actually had a fun time too today," Marinette said to Chloe.
"Well good. Maybe I'll let you come shopping with me again sometime," Chloe tried to sound nonchalant, but was clearly pleased.
"If you ever need any help or need someone to talk to you can always count on us," Adrien interjected seeing the rare opportunity Chloe was in a placated mood. "You don't have to deal with things on your own."
"I know what you're hinting at Agreste, and you don't have to swoop in and come save the day as my knight in designer sneakers. Komar is just...Komar. He does his own thing...and I...well I have freedom to be myself. He'd give me the world on a diamond platter if I asked for it. He treats me like a Queen. You just don't understand our relationship. Sure I was a tad emotional before that he made up some lame excuse about going to look for some lame artifact or monument or something again, but I know he'll come back willing to make up for it a thousand times over. You'll see, he'll just strut over with that confident glint in his eye, and say..."
At this point, speak of the devil, Komar walked down the street just behind Chloe, and he reached over her shoulder with his hand clenched around something. Chloe's eyes widened, and Komar opened his hand to let a necklace dangle down in front of her nose.
"I did keep you waiting far too long this time didn't I my sweet!" Komar drawled apologetically. Then his eyes drifted to the overflowing piles of parcels and bags at her feet. "I see you made good use of the afternoon though. I thought that this might look ravishing on that beautiful neck of yours!"
"Oh you!" Chloe squealed, picking the necklace out of his hands. "You always know just what to get me!"
"What can I say, you have good taste, otherwise you wouldn't be with me!" Komar smiled, and touched her cheek affectionately.
"Put it on me!" Chloe demanded, flipping her ponytail to one side, and Komar dutifully closed the clasp on the necklace, and kissed her neck. Adrien and Marinette didn't say a word, and just sipped their drinks uncomfortably.
Komar then pulled up a chair to join them from the next table over. "So what are our plans for tonight kids?" Komar asked as he helped himself to piece of bread.
"You missed most of it already," Adrien sat back in his chair. "Where did you say you were?"
"This isn't my first time in Spain," Komar grinned. "As I'm sure you already figured out there are amazing things to see here. I was so eager to see some of my favorite old haunts that I just couldn't wait. Chloe hates old buildings and dusty old antiques anyway, so I knew she'd have more fun keeping you two busy."
"You still didn't say where you were," Adrien pressed.
"Maybe I can show you around while we're here," Komar took another bite of the food, not dropping Adrien's gaze. "There are a lot of things I'm sure you'd enjoy!"
"You're avoiding the question," Adrien's voice tightened.
"And you seem pretty inquisitive," Komar smiled. "I'll tell you what...how about I take us all out tonight and we can have a great time together. Then I can tell you all about my sightseeing!"
"Have you already forgotten why we're here?!" Marinette interrupted Komar's party plans for the evening. "We've got our meeting first thing in the morning, and I will not have you dragging my whole team all over the night before. I need you all ready and alert for this deal."
"Aww come on," Komar whined. "We just got here. Can't we have a little fun!"
"Work comes first," Marinette insisted.
"Then comes play!" Komar added, and jumped up before Marinette could refuse. "That means tomorrow night you'll have no more excuses Boss Lady!" Komar grinned. "Once we close this deal, you come out with me on the town! All of you!" Triumphantly Komar rose effortlessly, and glided over to the hostess' desk, and then paid for their whole meal. When he returned Chloe looked adoringly up at him, and took his arm. Then in his other arm he gathered most of her bags, and hailed them a taxi.
"I guess he just wants to enjoy life, and doesn't take anything seriously. Chloe seems to have forgiven him already," Marinette said to Adrien as they both gathered the rest of Chloe's packages and bags, before following Komar and Chloe to the taxi. "I guess there could be worse things."
"You noticed how he avoided saying where he was today," Adrien said suspiciously, looking over at Komar helping Chloe into the cab. "He must be hiding something."
"Maybe everyone has their own secrets," Marientte replied looking instead at Adrien. She couldn't help feel worried about him. Even on the plane he hadn't slept, and he still wasn't telling her why he kept avoiding the topic. She thought they trusted each other completely.
"Lady's first," Komar held the door open for Marinette, and then he nodded toward Adrien, who slipped in after her. Before he got in Komar adjusted something in his jacket pocket, and then jumped in the taxi, instructing the driver to return them to the hotel. He'd play nice tonight, and stick to Bluenette's plans...but tomorrow night...tomorrow night he would finally be able to have a little fun!