"Good morning, Mr Agreste."

"Looking good, Mr Agreste."

"Did you catch the game last night, Mr Agreste?"

"Did you get my email about next Tuesday, Mr Agreste?"

Adrien weaved his way through the corridors of his office, greeting his colleagues as he passed, not having the time to stop and chat. He'd already been in the office for a couple of hours, dealing with his unread emails and as always, his 'To Do' list was growing and growing by the minute. A lot to do with ironing out issues caused by his business partner, the exact one who was heading towards him right at this moment at speed, with his arms full of files.

"The 12:30 meeting has been moved to 1:30." The hard spoken words were punctuated with a rather full file being dumped in his arms, Adrien's reflexes acting overtime to not drop them all over the floor. "Mr Brown insists that you deal with him this time, not me, as apparently I can sometimes come off as overly critical in my analysis. This guy really needs to just man up and take my expertise like a professional."

Adrien let out a snort as he continued to walk to his office, nodding greetings at his hardworking employees and thinking how to put this delicately….

Nope, there was no way.

"You can't really blame him, Félix. The last time you met with him, you told him his budgeting was shit, only to be beaten by the incompetence of his secretary, who you pleasantly stated was 'too busy shagging him to focus on any task at hand'."

"It's not my fault he can't keep it in his pants."

"His wife was in the room, Fé!"

Félix shrugged. "Well, my mother raised me to never tell a lie."

Adrien stopped walking and turned to his cousin, one eyebrow raised in contempt. "She also told you to control yourself and not run the company into the ground."

"Oh, potato, potahto!" Félix puffed out.

Adrien rolled his eyes and continued on his way to his office.

"So, tell me, cuz, are you excited to move back to the city of romance?" Félix rolled the 'r' in a way that made Adrien's insides quiver.

Was he ready to move back to Paris? More than anything. It was the romance side that made him squirm.

It had been five years since he'd properly stepped foot in the city. Four years of intense work and university courses, following on from a year-long excursion around the world finishing off his modelling contract, had limited the time he had to go back to his home city. He was the only 23-year-old he knew who had to put in just as much time at the office as he did in his university course – present company excluded, of course.

Félix was a bonafide "boy genius", taking his exams early and skipping many school years due to his incredible academic skills – years he probably could have done with, as his people and social skills were quite appalling. Félix was so far past the line for what was seen as socially acceptable, it was nothing more than a dot on the horizon for him.

When Adrien had moved to Cambridge University just outside of London, he'd formed a new, deeper friendship with his cousin. A friendship which had grown and developed over years from being stuck in a shared apartment, and led to them going into business together. Surprisingly, they'd become quite the killer team, which quickly developed into a killer business.

One night out, when they'd gotten a little tipsy, the idea of their own consultancy agency was born, right in the middle of a Red Lion pub – Twin Rings Business Consultants.

Thanks to the end of his modelling job, he could concentrate fully on his studies. The added workload of the business start-up kept his mind busy and away from what he'd left behind in Paris – or, more to the point, who.

So, was he excited about going home? More than anything. He'd been over twice in the past month to check out his apartment and make sure everything he needed was ready for him. IKEA hadn't known what had hit it. Félix had joked that if he ever wanted to find love via Tinder, he would need to make sure his other half had a shared interest in the Swedish furniture company.

"How does Chelsea feel about a long-distance relationship?" Félix asked, both of them stepping into Adrien's office and closing the door behind them. "Doesn't she want to move with you?"

Adrien moved over to his table, dropped the folders down and grimaced. "I - um - I didn't give her the choice."

"What do you mean, you didn't give her the choice?"

Adrien shrugged. In all honesty, he and Chelsea had gone way past their best-before date. "I broke up with her last night."

Félix moved forward and dropped down in the chair on the other side of the desk. One hand stretched to his head as he studied Adrien's face. He slowly began to look around the room, his eyes finally landing on the two suitcases and a rucksack hidden behind Adrien's desk. With the majority of his belongings already boxed up for the move, that was all he had left from his life in London. "You actually ended it with her? Like you're no longer a couple? Finito? Kaput?"

That's what he'd said, wasn't it? "Well, yeah, it just wasn't working anymore. It hadn't been for a while."

Félix's eyes widened, his mouth gaping open as Adrien sat down at his own chair. He had to swallow down his laugh as Félix attempted to speak, the words finally flowing freely from his mouth.

"I thought you were proposing. Haven't you got tickets to see The Phantom of the Opera tonight? I thought it was all planned."

Adrien shrugged. "I think I may have just got caught up in what was happening with you and Kagami…and maybe I was a little jealous." He thread his fingers together on the top of his desk, twisting and turning them around each other in anxiety. He'd never been good at 'breakups', attempting to stay away from relationships as much as possible so the inevitable end didn't have to come.

"But you spent a small fortune on the ring design!"

"I did," Adrien sighed, "and she found it. Apparently nobody would want anything that unnoticeable – plus she hated the colour, the diamond size, and when she looked at the sizing next to it she laughed, saying no one had fingers that small. She screwed it up and threw it away. Apparently the designer was trying to rip me off and I should use a more reputable company in the future."

"Who designed it?" Félix asked.

"A small independent in France called MDC. She has some wonderful items on her online store. They're such classic designs – classic, yet timeless. It seemed my idea of romance wasn't the same as Chelsea's…but the designer loved it as much as I did."

The two stared at each other for a moment. Adrien wondered what Félix was going to say next. Probably another dig at him for not holding down a relationship. But he'd tried to make it work. True, maybe they should have dated for more than a couple of months before he'd considered marrying her, but with Kagami and Félix so happy, he didn't want to play third wheel; he wanted that too.

"I need to message Kagami," Félix said, taking the phone from his pocket.

"Damn! Félix, I'm sorry. It's going to mess up your seating arrangements for the wedding now. I didn't even consider how this would affect everyone else."

Félix typed rapidly on his phone, a reply coming through almost as soon as he'd pressed send and a suspicious grin spreading over his face.

"I thought you'd be more angry than this," Adrien said, frowning at the obvious joy on his cousin's face.

"I'm sorry to say it, Adrien, but Chelsea was a bitch. Since moving to London, you've been on a self-destructive streak. Every woman you've dated has been awful – positively ghastly! And to think you wanted to marry this one!" Félix shivered in his seat.

"Don't hold back, Félix, tell me what you really think."

Félix rolled his eyes at the obvious sarcasm before carrying on anyway, with or without Adrien's blessing. "Seriously, cousin, I don't know what you've been thinking with your choices but, dear lord, she was horrible. Kagami and I hated her. Thank god you're now Chelsealess."

"Chelsealess? Really?"

"Well, over the years you've been Ruthless and Faithless. I've gotta stick with the flow, cuz!"

A chime suddenly sounded from Adrien's phone, the message from Kagami showing up in the display, prominent and proud. A GIF of a monkey dancing in a party hat.

Adrien sighed and rubbed his face. "I know! I just…"

"You wanted it to be different from what you had with her, didn't you? Listen, Adrien, unless you get your shit together I'm revoking your plus one privileges from the engagement party and the wedding. You either need to learn to get by without a sidekick, or choose someone who isn't Cruella de Vil." Félix began to type back on his phone, most likely filling Kagami in on their conversation.

"She wasn't that –"

"I interject!" Suddenly a black furball appeared in front of Adrien and Félix, one fin held up into the air and a smirk on his face.

"Plagg, seriously?" Adrien whined, leaning back in his chair.

"I told him she was just waiting to find the Dalmations and she would skin them alive. I'm quite sure if she'd got hold of me, she'd have skinned my ass for a bag," Plagg cackled.

"HA!" Félix laughed, holding a hand up for Plagg to high five.

Not one for being left out, Duusu zipped out of Félix's waistcoat and came to hover beside Plagg. "I must agree, Chat Noir. She wasn't exactly Ladybug."

Adrien couldn't disagree there. Then again, nobody was Ladybug.

Chelsea was everything Ladybug wasn't…and that was not a pro for her list. Not only was she cruel and judgmental, but she was jealous, boring and…well…she didn't exactly spin his world like the times with Ladybug had – neither had any of the others, for that matter. It seemed she was more interested in being on his arm in public than being in his bed in private. A lot more for clothed outings than naked innings.

When he'd dated Ladybug, he'd been young and inexperienced, but there was something so natural about it. Their bodies had moulded together in ways he'd only heard about in stories.

God he missed her. Maybe once he was settled back in Paris, they could attempt to rekindle a romance – or even just a friendship. She was probably engaged or married now, but a boy could dream.

"So, I can't bring anyone else to the wedding? Fé, you know how boring these family events get. Be reasonable!"

Félix shook his head. "Not until you can find a normal girl with a normal life – someone who's not just with you for a piece of arm candy. And no, you can't bring a woman in a mask. It's bad enough just dealing with having you there."

"Fine," Adrien said with a laugh. "I can do that."

"If you say so, pretty boy."

A knock at the door broke the conversation, the two kwamis flying back into their hiding spaces as Adrien called for their secretary to open the door.

She looked like she'd just been dragged through a hedge and then told to run the 100-metre sprint against Usain Bolt. "Mr Agreste, Mr Fathom, I have someone here to see you," she said breathlessly.

"Do they have an appointment?" Félix asked as he stood up from his seat.

"He doesn't, but –" Before the secretary could finish her sentence, the door was taken almost off the hinges as it slammed open to reveal the tall, spindly frame of Adrien's father.

Félix screamed, running around to hide behind Adrien's chair before peering over the top in the most dramatic, most Félix way that he could.

Gabriel Agreste rolled his eyes as he strutted into the office like he owned the place. "Still as immature as ever I see, Félix."

"Nope," he replied. "I just know an evil villain when I see one." Félix turned to Adrien and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Your father, your problem!"

Scurrying towards the door to exit the room, Félix dramatically sidestepped Gabriel as he passed, his eyes firmly on his uncle and hands up beside his head in surrender. He grabbed the secretary's hand and dragged her out of the room behind him, making sure the door was closed.

"Welcome," Adrien said, standing and greeting his father into the office. "Come and take a seat."

Gabriel walked deeper into the room, looking around quizzically, and Adrien knew straight away he was being judged. The pictures on the wall, the way his desk was organised chaos, and the way he had chosen blue accents around the room. Gabriel hated blue.

His father stopped beside the chair and brushed the seat with his hand. What did he think Adrien did in here? Slowly, Gabriel manoeuvred himself into the chair and placed his hands in his lap. The lack of emotion on his face left Adrien with no clues as to the reason for this unannounced visit. He hadn't seen his father in months, and his father had never ventured out to his office in London – first time for everything, he supposed.

"I didn't know you were back in London," Adrien started. He was quite sure the only reason he was talking was because he was nervous, and when he was nervous anything could come out of his mouth.

"I've been here for 3 days to sort out the new house," Gabriel responded.

Thanks for telling me, Adrien thought, not at all surprised to know his father had been here without informing him. Gabriel had moved the main headquarters of the company to central London. He had been continuing to design from their home in Paris as Nathalie took the lead at the new London headquarters. It seemed Gabriel London was now ready for the big, bad boss man to come and appear. It was quite ironic really – just as Adrien was preparing to move back, his father was jumping ship.

"Did you have any plans? Maybe we could –"

Gabriel held up a hand, stopping Adrien from saying any more. "I'm not here for pleasantries, Adrien. I need you back to the company for a while."

"Oh!"

"I can see you are still as communicative as ever. You see, we will be forming a new collaboration with –"

"I'm not modelling again," Adrien almost shouted out. He would not go back to that hellish job. No, no, no! He was a businessman now, a strong, capable one who didn't need to strut around in clothing to make money. He'd come a long way from that point in his life, and like hell was he going back. He was more than just a face and body – he had brains too.

"I need you there as a consultant, not as a model, Adrien. I don't trust the CEO of the company, I think there's something about her which is incompetent."

"What's in it for me?" Adrien asked, moving some of the papers around on his desk. Anything to try and calm the anxiety currently flowing with a thousand volts through his body.

"A lucrative paycheck for your time, plus a chance to get your business' name out and about in Paris. I hear you're moving back."

Adrien couldn't help but wonder who had spilled the beans on that one – Chloé, most likely. "Okay, so, say I accept this. I'm in Paris and Gabriel is now based here, in London. How do you expect this to work?"

"It's a Paris-based company," Gabriel explained. "She's meeting with me personally here, then will be returning to Paris for the remainder of this collaboration. I need someone there to keep an eye on her, to watch what's happening in the Paris office."

"And why can't Nathalie?" Adrien asked.

"Nathalie's moving to London," Gabriel announced. "We've –" He coughed, sudden nervousness taking over his face. "We've decided to make things official."

Adrien dropped what he was messing with and looked directly into his father's eyes. For the first time ever, he saw more than just arrogance in his father's eyes. There was something else there…something almost equal to happiness. "That's great news. Why were you worried about telling me?"

"I know she's not your mother. It's not that she would be trying to be. But since I couldn't – since I –" Gabriel looked out of the window, the superior air that usually surrounded him disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"I'm happy for you," Adrien said. "I'm 23 years old, it's fine. If you're happy, that's all that matters to me, seriously."

Gabriel smiled, or at least gave as much of a smile as he could display. "So, about the job?"

Adrien sighed, and like that it was all back to business. "Fine, I'll see what I can do. But at no point am I modelling again."

"I will write that into the contract."

Nodding Adrien considered whether he could really do this or not. It was the family business, though, and shouldn't families help each other out? "Is there anything specific I should be looking for?"

"I just have a strange feeling and I need someone I can trust to keep an eye on Paris for me. It worked out well that you were moving back."

"Sure. Anything else?" Adrien asked.

"I need you to come to the introductory meeting."

"Which is when?" Adrien pulled his diary out and placed it in front of him. He grabbed his pen and hovered it over the week-to-view page. "I leave for Paris on Sunday, so I'll need to know if I need to book a train back."

Gabriel looked down at his watch – Rolex, of course. "In an hour."