She frowned. "I was hoping for the afternoon. Any chance your free near the end of day? I'm not sure how long all this will take. We may work into the evenings."

Adrien looked down at his schedule again. He was always busy but... It looked like he could squeeze in time at the end of the day.  "I'm free at 4:30. I'm supposed to be on a call at 5:00, but my father will also be on that call, and he'll let me skip out for something like this."

"Alright. If it's okay with your father," she said. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow." she walked back over to her desk and sat down. She was looking through her sketches of her new designs. She had a feeling she was going to be here for awhile. She needed to get at least one outfit complete tonight.

Adrien left her office and headed to the elevator. His father worked long hours and was no doubt waiting for a report. It would be a good time to bring up skipping the conference call tomorrow.
 
He exited the elevator and glanced at his father's secretary (who nodded quickly before going back to her work) before heading into his father's office without so much as a knock. It was behavior his father grudgingly accepted as long as he wasn't meeting with someone.
 
"Adrien. How is your modelling?" Gabriel asked, looking away from whatever work he was doing at his desk.

"Fine. I just got done meeting with Marinette."

His father raised an eyebrow. "So, you two are getting along already?"

"Huh?" Suddenly, he realized he'd addressed far more informally than he should have in the business world; especially seeing as she didn't really care for him. But calling her Miss Dupain-Cheng just felt so stiff.  "Oh, no... She's not really fond of me."

His father stifled a chuckle. "Well, that's not surprising considering your first words to her were basically you're fired. First impressions stick and are extremely hard to break."

"I know. I just couldn't help it..." His father shook his head, but Adrien quickly continued. "Anyway, she wants to meet with me tomorrow to work with me rather than a mannequin. Is it okay if I skip the conference call? I doubt anyone will need to speak with me specifically."

His father paused and frowned. Not surprising. The man was such a strict businessman that the thought of Adrien missing one meeting must have seemed like the worst case scenario. But he sighed a moment later. "I guess that's fine. I'll have Nathalie take notes for you. Make sure you get a consistent meeting time set up with her so we can build it into your schedule."

"Alright. Thank you. Was there anything else you needed before I go home?"

"No. Good work today."

"Thank you."  With that, he excused himself and left the office to head home.

Iris Agreste walked into her son's apartment building that evening. Gabriel decided to work late so she texted Adrien asking him if she could join him for dinner. This was a normal occurrence for them. She took an elevator up to his floor and walked all the way down the hallway and stopped at his front door. She knocked on the door.

Marinette was still sitting in her office working on her first outfit. She was sewing a shirt together on a sew machine. She was quite please with it so far. Hopefully when Adrien wore it tomorrow she didn't need to make any alterations. She glance at the clock it was seven. She should probably go home. But she still needed to work on the pants!!

Adrien looked over the food he was making to ensure nothing would happen for the short time it took to answer the door before heading through the living room and opening said door. He hadn't been surprised his mom would want to eat dinner with him tonight. His father showed no signs of finishing his work before Adrien left.

He smiled at his mother, stepping aside so she could come in. "Hey mom. How was your day?"

Iris walked in. "Fine. I didn't really do much today which is why I'm mad your father is working late tonight." She threw her purse onto his couch. "How was your day?" She then sat herself at the table.

Marinette was still her office engross with her work. She wasn't really hungry anyway. She held up the shirt she has sewn together. Marinette frowned. The pattern didn't turn out well. Back to the drawing board!

Adrien chuckled and walked far enough into the room that he could see his food cooking while talking to her. "I'm surprised that you're surprised.  He does this so often," he said, popping back into the kitchen to stir something before coming back to where he had been standing. "My day was fine. I'm working with one of the interns at the moment. She doesn't like me very much..."

Iris looked shock. "Why doesn't she like you?" Adrien was the sweetest boy alive (at least in her opinion). How could anyone not like him?  He never had any problems making friends! Well he did at first when he transition from home school to public school. But that was understandable!

Adrien laughed sheepishly.  "Well, it was kind of my fault. She looked so nervous coming in to meet with dad. I just couldn't help but tease her. I told her she was being fired... I realize now that it was a really stupid joke..."

He glanced into the kitchen again. The food was almost ready, so he quickly grabbed a couple plates, napkins and silverware to set the table.  He had to make a second trip for the glasses.

Iris just shook her head. "You really should watch that mouth of yours, Adrien." She watched him set the table. "I hope you apologize to the poor girl. Now that I think about it. What's her name? Your father mention to me about an intern that he liked which is shocking. Your father normally hates them.."

Adrien sighed. "I know. I'm trying, but sometimes people make it too easy to be teased. I apologized, but I don't think she believed I meant it. Her name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She has to be the intern dad mentioned. Like you said, he hates interns."

The timer on the stove beeped and Adrien quickly went back into the kitchen to finish dinner.  He brought the food out into the dining area and scooped it onto the plates. He then returned the pot to the kitchen and came back only to eye the empty glasses. "I forgot to get drinks. What would you like?" He asked as he grabbed the two glasses.

Iris's eyes lit up. The food looked great. She glanced at him. "Do you have wine? If not water will be fine." Iris then dug into her food. "Oh, Adrien don't worry about this girl. I'm sure she'll come around. Just show her some Agreste charm!"

Adrien nodded and went into his kitchen to grab a couple classes and a bottle of wine. He set both glasses on the table, opened the bottle, and poured both glasses before re-corking the bottle. "I'll do my best. She seems like the type to hold a grudge, though."

"I'm sure you two will get along," said Iris before taking a sip. "If you keep working with her she'll get to know you better." Iris took another sip. "Who knows maybe you two will fall in love!" she laughed. "It happened with me and your father!"