Ch14

Adrien sighed internally as his limo pulled up to a semi-decrepit building with the words Daily Horn in faded paint. Lets just get this over with.

Frankly, he was only doing this to get them off his back. They had been constantly hounding him and his business and he was sick of them. As he got out of the car the cold wind brushed against his hair. "I'll be back as soon as I can," he told his chauffeur as his butler got out of the car.

Lila and Thomas Astruc had been pestering him about an interview going so far as to wait outside his work and house so he decided to give them this bone and if they continued to pester him file a restraining order.

As they approached the door he was greeted by Lila who was wearing a fancy brown coat and a potent perfume that made him want to wrinkle his nose.

"Hello Adrien come on Mr. Astruc is waiting," Lila said with a wide grin.

"Good to know," he said politely

"Come this way," Lila said.

She lead him through various semi abandoned rooms full of machines. The few people inside quickly moved away from Lila as if she were a venomous snake. There was a dullness to the entire atmosphere that made him feel sorry for the poor people who had to work in this sad building.

Eventually Lila led him to a large dull studio full of cameras and other recording equipment. In the center was the familiar podium of the Daily Horn that he had seen in various videos.

"Oh my god thank goodness you are here," said a voice that made his skin crawl.

Forcing a polite smile on his face he turned around to see Thomas Astruc wearing a dark shirt over a button down that was a size too small for him while his unkempt bear hung from his chin "Nice to see you Mr. Astruc. It is a pleasure to be interviewed on your forum."

Thomas Astruc nodded, his beady eyes bore seemed to scan him. "Oh Adrien you are so perfect. It is an honor to have you on my channel. I'm sure it will be of great help to both of us."

"Of course," he said politely. "Though you do know my limits?"

"Don't worry I got your secretary's email," Thomas Astruc said. "Nothing about your parents."

He nodded. "Well then lets get this over with."

"Come this way," Lila said as she motioned him to sit down behind the podium.

After he sat down Lila connected a piece to his suit. "Thank you."

Lila smiled at him. "Good luck Adrien."

"Thank you," he said politely.

Please don't make this longer then it needs to be.

Lila went behind the camera as Thomas Astruc sat down in the chair next to him. The lights above him became slightly brighter while the studio became darker. Lila counted down from three with her fingers before giving the signal to begin talking.

"Good evening dear viewers," Thomas Astruc with a wide grin. "Today we have a very special guest. Ladies and gentlemen I present to you Adrien Agreste!"

He forced a wide smile on his face as he waved at the camera. "Glad to be here Mr. Astruc." Oh boy this is going to be a long night.

"Now then Adrien tell me about your new clothing line?" Mr. Astruc asked.

"Well my new clothing line is a series that I made personally myself. As many of my followers know my past clothing lines took inspiration from my father's notes and in some cases modified by myself." He swallowed the lump in his throat, just thinking about his father made his body shake. "The clothing line is called Legacy which shows my original work as a continuation of the Agreste brand."

"Wow very inspirational," Mr. Astruc said with a wide grin. "Tell me where do you get your inspiration."

"From the world around me," he said. "I find inspiration in various places, from the city to the countryside. Ever since I was young I always the outside world interesting."

"Of course of course." Mr. Astruc turned to him. "Tell me Adrien, with all the crime going on in Paris what do you think of the current state of the city."

Well now for the politics. A part of him resisted the urge to roll his eyes, he hated politics but he also liked to make people squirm in their seats at times.

"Well I'm not a politician but I know that the good will always come to help those in need," He said.

"Haha true," Mr. Astruc said. "We need to keep our streets safe, especially from that hooligan Cat Noir."

It took all of his willpower to not laugh. If only you knew my secret. He honestly believed Mr. Astruc would have a heart attack if he transformed right then and there.

"Well Mr. Astruc we don't know everything about Cat Noir," he said forcing himself to remain calm and not laugh. "From my understanding, he has been helping it since Ladybug left."

And good riddance.

Thomas Astruc did a double take, almost as if he couldn't believe the words that came out of his mouth. Luckily the man quickly put a grin on his face. "Oh you don't know what he is really like Adrien, a good boy like you wouldn't dare to be near such a tom cat hooligan like Cat Noir."

"Or course," he said politely while doing his best to not laugh. "Naturally one does things they might not otherwise do as a result of external pressures."

Thomas Astruc slammed his desk with his fist. "That Cat Noir is nothing but trouble. Ladybug was our one and only savior. She was good to wise up and kick him to the curb where he belongs."

He clenched his fists resisting the urge to get upset. Well at least I helped with the crime while she hid from hers.

"Cat Noir is the second biggest villain in Paris right after that obnoxious daughter of our mayor," Mr. Astruc sneered "Adrien I understand you know Chloe Bourgeois?"

The look in Thomas Astruc's eyes when he said Chloe's name made him scoot his seat away. They were a pair of angry pits of never ending flames.

"Uh yeah we know each other," he said scratching his head. "Our parents were acquaintances."

Chloe and him still maintained their friendship and she had somewhat calmed her haughty holier than though attitude, but she still had that bratty side to her.

"I pity you," Thomas Astruc said as he grabbed a tissue and cleaned tears from his eyes. "To be so close to that vile harpy."

Oh boy. Thomas Astruc didn't like Chloe or her family either and the only reason he didn't harass her as much was because Chloe nearly sued his pants off for libel.

"Well Mr. Astruc sometimes you have to do what you have to do," he said.

"True," Thomas Astruc muttered before turning to the camera. "Anyway folks that is all for today, thank you for supporting the Daily Horn and remember the new launch of the Agreste clothing line will be soon. I'll be sure to cover each and every bit of it!"

He forced himself to keep the smile on his face as the camera turned off. "Well thank you for your time Mr. Astruc."

"Of course Of course." Thomas Astruc smiled widely at him. "Lila talks highly of you, she says you were friends back in the day?"

I wouldn't call it that. "We are well acquainted," he said politely. "Anyway I have many projects to work on."

"Of course thank you for your time Adrien," Mr. Astruc said as he forcibly shook his hand.

"No problem," he said as he rubbed the sweat off of his hand.

Gross. The dinginess of the room was really getting to him, he needed to take a nice long shower when he got home.

Lila escorted him out of the studio. "You know Adrien we should get some coffee one of these days."

"I'll think about it," he said politely. His patience was starting to run low and Lila was really pushing her limits.

"I miss your father," Lila said as he exited the building. "He was a great man."

He looked at her and nodded before his bodyguard escorted him back to his limo. Why do you even care?

As his limo drove away from the studio his stomach growled. "Hey find a place for a quick snack."

His bodyguard nodded as the car drove through the city. As the city lights glistened brightly they passed by a bakery. "Stop there it looks nice enough."

The car pulled up to the bakery and he quickly entered the building where he was greeted by the smell of fresh pastries. He walked up to the counter where a girl stood facing away from him. "Hello may I have a coffee and some croissants please?"

"Sure let me get that for-" The girl froze as she turned around to face him.

They stared at each other for a moment and then the realization hit him. "Hey Marinette right?" He hadn't realized he had walked into the Dupain Chang Bakery.

She looked completely different from when he had last seen her. Her face looked tired and her gaze looked as if the light in them had been snuffed out. Her hair was tied up while she looked as if she had gained a bit of weight.

"A-Adrien?"

He smiled awkwardly. "Yeah. It's been forever."

Frankly the last time he saw her was when he kicked her out of his father's funeral. Could he have handled it better, definitely. But he was under a lot of emotional and mental stress that day.

Marinette stared at him and nodded her mouth agape. "Yeah." She then shook her head. "I-I'll get your order for you."

"Thanks." He paid for the food and sat down. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Marinette watch him awkwardly while she swept the floor.

"Y-Your order is ready," Marinette called out.

He smiled and got up. "Thanks. See you around."

Marinette avoided his gaze. "Um sorry for last time."

"What?"

"You know your father's funeral?" She flinched as if expecting him to go ballistic or something.

"Oh that." The memory of that day replayed in his head. To be honest he had too much stresses that day to even care what was happening. "Don't beat yourself up we all make mistakes. Besides you didn't kill him," he said.

Marinette gave him a weak smile. "Thanks." She avoided his gaze but he could see her body shaking.

"Well um see you around," he said. He walked away and noticed how she seemed to run from him like a scared dog. She always was a bit weird

Nathaniel sketched Cat Noir as the superhero did a pose in his room. The cat superhero was oddly quiet as he sketched him.

Though he didn't want to intrude into his private life, especially since he had his own problems with his roommate.

"So I hear your old school is having a reunion?" Cat Noir asked.

He nodded as he put more emphasis on the muscles he was drawing. "Yeah. Me and my roommate will go just to say hi."

"I see," Cat Noir said his eyes revealing no emotion. "Adrien may go, he still has good memories of those days."

He nodded. Personally he wasn't close to Adrien back in the day, but he considered him a good acquaintance. "It was a shame he left. A lot of the class was sad when he left, especially those he was friends with."

Cat Noir nodded as he did another posture, one that showed his upper body well. "Yeah he was close to them." The superhero looked as if he were reliving some sad memory. "Out of curiosity, what happened to Marinette Dupain-Chang after everything?"

He froze. Of course everyone in the class knew what had happened at the funeral of Gabriel Agreste. "She went into a depressive state for a while but she eventually got better I believe." He scratched his head. "I honestly don't remember much of those days, but Marinette was in and out of school because of depression."

For a moment he swore he saw a bit of pain pass over Cat Noir's eyes. The superhero shook his head. "Yeah Adrien had to grow up fast that day, he stopped seeing a kid when he saw his father murdered."

He winced at the venom in his voice but nodded. "It must have been difficult for him." Personally he felt sorry for Adrien, knowing that the city saw your father guilty of some crime and murdered at the hands of Paris' hero.

"Oh it was," Cat Noir sighed as he flexed his arms. "The Agreste family nearly lost everything but Adrien was able to hold it all together even if it was on the edge of a knife. Anyway I have to go, see you around."

He nodded. "Thanks. Come again." Cat Noir grinned and winked at him before leaping out of the window.

"Well these drawings are good," he said as he flipped through the pages of notes and pictures he had. Drawing Cat Noir and listening to his stories gave him a lot of inspiration.

His life in general is a story in of itself.

As he got up the door to his room opened and Marc came in. "Were you talking to somebody?"

He fumbled with his notebook. "N-No. Why do you ask?"

Marc looked at him, his gaze looked almost accusatory. "I thought I heard you talk to someone in here."

Why the hell do you have to be so paranoid? "Well I like to vocalize my thoughts at times."

"I see," Marc said as he looked around the apartment before looking at the open window. "You know we don't spend a lot of time together anymore."

There was a hint of sorrow in Marc's voice mixed with a bit of caution. "We really should do something together, like dinner or something."

He scratched his head. "Sure when I'm free. I'm busy helping with work, Adrien Agreste is launching a new line of clothes."

"So I hear," Marc muttered. "How is he?"

He shifted at the way he asked the question, it was more like he was being probed about something. "He's cool. He likes my designs and I'm hoping to do my best for this job."

"Well when you are done what will you do?" Marc asked, folding his arms.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean you aren't going to work there forever right?" Marc asked.

He shifted in his seat. "Well Adrien is pleased with my work, hopefully, it may lead to something more."

"Something more? Nathaniel, you always wanted to work in comics. I thought we were going to make a comic together?" Marc looked at him his gaze looking as if he had been hurt.

"Calm down it's just work talk right now," he said. Why do you have to make a big deal out of everything? "Besides I still do want to make our comic but we need to work to make a living too."

"We will," Marc said firmly. "Just wait until I get my own job then we can work on our own stories together."

"I look forward to that," he said. Then we can actually get a decent place.

"Do you really need to see Adrien every day though?" Marc asked.

"Well he is my boss," He said his brow twitching. "I can't just ignore him."

Marc frowned. "Fine just keep things professional." With that he stormed off to his room.

Geez he needs help. He shook his head. I honestly don't know how much longer I can put up with him.

Going to his own room he closed the door and sat down on his bed, running his hand through his hair. Looking at a picture of him and Marc on his desk he remembered their younger days when they just met, the honeymoon period of their relationship.

However, since they started living together and with the stresses of living in Paris their relationship seemed to be getting more strained by the day.

Why must he be so insecure about everything? His head ached as it always did when he argued with Marc.