S•I•X

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Marinette listened intently to her new boss as he spoke.

"As you all may know, I do not own this store. I am merely the manager," The ginger haired man, Trixx was what he said his name was, started. "This store is actually a branch of a very famous French company owned by Gabriel Agreste."

Agreste. Marinette thought. That name...

"Well, because this store is new, Mr Agreste will be sending someone every two weeks for about four months to come oversee our progress. I was informed that the person will come today," Trixx explained. "I don't know who it will be, but I know that they will have the power to fire us. We don't want that to happen, now do we?"

A chorus of 'no' and 'of course not' went through the store.

Trixx smiled. "Good, then we'll all try our best to keep the store up and running. Right?"

When everyone answered positively, Trixx set everyone to work.

It was easy for Marinette to get a job in this store because Tikki happened to be best friends with Trixx. The ginger man knew mildly of the Marinette's situation and wanted to help anyway possible.

Marinette stood behind the counter as she watched one of the workers open the door of the store and turned on the sign that said 'OPEN'.

The now redhead's heart sped up as she thought about having to interact with people. She hadn't known why Trixx gave her the job as a cashier when she could barely get out two words without stuttering.

She had been in America for about a week and a half now and it was honestly hard for her. Before she had been helping Tikki out at her bakery and now she finally got a job of her own. She only had to go to the store on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays-- with very decent pay at the end of the month. Otherwise, she would work at Tikki's bakery for extra money (she stubborn lady was insistent).

Today was the 'grand opening' of the store and so Trixx had warned them that they were going to get a herd of customers. Marinette wasn't sure if she was ready for it, but she would have to try.

About two hours into working, Marinette felt comfortable enough working behind the checkout counter. The customers were fairly nice and so she didn't have to fret much.

"He's here!" Marinette heard one of the girls screech and Trixx hurried out of his office with a big smile on his face.

"Mr Agreste!" Trixx exclaimed heading to the front of the store. Marinette didn't bother to crane her neck to look as she was dealing with a customer.

"Thank you for coming. Have a miraculous day," She gave to teenagers a small smile as they grabbed their bags.

"I love her hair," One of them commented as they moved away from the counter and Marinette felt her face heat up. She wasn't used to getting compliments, even if they were indirect.

"And these are the cashiers," She heard Trixx voice as he neared. Lifting her head, her now green eyes widened.

"Girls this is the son of Gabriel Agreste, Adrien Agreste," Trixx introduced the blond man who was looking around the store with a slightly bored expression. "He will be the one overseeing our activity, so expect to see here often."

"Pleasure to meet you," Marinette spoke softly, still feeling a bit surprised.

Adrien's head immediately snapped in her direction, she was afraid he might have gotten whiplash.

He recognized me, oh no no no no, Marinette panicked inside her head as he stared at her as if trying to figure something out. Please don't recognize me.

"Your name," He said abruptly causing both Trixx and Marinette to gape at him.

"Huh?" Marinette muttered out dumbly.

"Sorry," Adrien cleared his throat, regaining his composure. "May I have your name?"

"Ma-" She started and almost gave herself away. "Miranda! My name is Miranda."

Trixx looked confused about why Marinette had given the blond a fake name and was about to comment on it, but stopped when Marinette gave him a pleading look.

"Miranda," Adrien muttered to himself before shaking his head and offering her a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well."

"Let me show you how the other workers interact with customers!" Trixx spoke, pulling Adrien away from the counter and shooting Marinette a look that said 'we'll talk later'.

Marinette hadn't expected to run into any of Nathaniel's supposed business partners while in America, especially not the Adrien Agreste. She almost blew her cover.

Thankfully her disguise of dyed red hair and green contacts worked well. Adrien hadn't recognized her.

This was going to work. It had to.

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'Pleasure to meet you.'

Adrien shook the thoughts out of his head. Her voice sounded so familiar and he couldn't get it out of his head.

That Miranda, the girl he met at the store about a week ago, sounded exactly like Marinette. She had red hair and her eyes were light green. She was extremely pretty, but she didn't look like Marinette. Well....she did but-

Marinette is back in France with her husband, Adrien, He told himself. Many people sound like her, her voice isn't that unique.

Adrien disagreed with the voice in his head. Her voice was unique to him and the fact that that Miranda girl sounded like her was just weird. Was his mind playing tricks on him?

"I found this bakery the other day and they have the best hot cocoa ever," Alya babbled beside him making him roll his eyes. "You are going to love it there. The staff is nice too!"

They had finally settled in America and the business was running smoothly. When his father found out he was going to settle in America, he was upset. It took Adrien a few days to convince him that the move would make the company better and that he couldn't stay in France for the rest of his life.

To get his father's approval, Adrien told his father that he would do anything he asked (except stay in France, of course) and Gabriel asked him to be a somewhat permanent model under his company as well as oversee his new fashion stores in the country.

Adrien, of course, agreed, because why not?

"You can park right there," Alya instructed and Adrien complied. It was just Monday they were on a somewhat break. The brunette had suggested that they headed to a bakery she found for lunch.

After parking, they both headed into the bakery.

A sigh of content passed the blond's lips when the air condition caressed his face. Outside had been unbelievably hot.

Taking a seat in one of the booths, Adrien began to roll up the sleeves of his dress shirt after taking off the suit jacket.

"Good day! My name is Tikki and I'll be serving you today," A short redhead in an apron spoke, putting two small menus on the table. "I will be back in a few minutes when you're ready to order."

With that said, she practically skipped away.

"See?" Alya nudged him aggressively with a grin on her face. "Super nice."

"Sometimes I wonder how Nino deals with you," Adrien shook his head fighting back a smile that threatened to break out on his face.

Alya slapped him on his arm before cursing him out.

After a few minutes, Tikki returned and took their orders before heading back into the kitchen. Not long after, she returned with their food.

"You know, for a so called 'model', you eat a butt-load of sweets," Alya commented, stuffing her face with donuts. "What would Gabriel say?"

"What my father doesn't know definitely won't kill him," Adrien grinned, taking a bite of the croissant. His eyes widened when Alya snapped a picture of him.

"Perfect blackmail material," She smirked, tucking her phone in her pocket.

"If you wanna get fired, go show my father," The blond shot back. "Do you know where the bathroom is?"

Alya gave a few directions and Adrien quickly made his way over.

As he was about to enter the bathroom, someone crashed into him and rushed into the female bathroom. All he saw was red hair as the door closed.

He shook his head and headed inside the male bathroom. After doing his business, he washed his hands and headed out only to be met with a somewhat familiar face.

"Miranda?" The word was foreign to his tongue. It didn't fit the girl either.

"M-mr Agreste?" Marinette squeaked out. She hadn't expected to see him outside of work. This was bad. "Were you the one I bumped into earlier?"

"I'm afraid so," He chuckled.

"I'm sorry," She apologized quickly. "I was feeling awfully sick. I wasn't looking where I was going."

"It's alright," He replied before taking in her attire. "You work here too?"

"Y-yeah," She stuttered out, her face heating up involuntarily. "This is my c-cousin's bakery."

"I'll be sure to come around more then," He offered her a smile and she forced one onto her face.

Please don't, She thought. I can't afford you figuring me out and telling Nathaniel.

"That would be nice," She replied tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I-I have to get back to work now."

"I'll see you around?" He asked and couldn't help but to smile when she blushed, and nodded, before quickly scampering away.

"What's with that smile?" Alya questioned, with one of his croissants in her hand, when he slid into the booth.

"Nothing," He said, snatching away the croissant.

Maybe this Miranda was the key to getting over Marinette. Just maybe.

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Would you look at that...Another chapter! Picture of Mari's hair at the top again!

This chapter was quite uneventful, but don't worry! The story is just getting started ;-).

How was the chapter?

What are your thoughts?

I rewrote this chapter at least three times and I am still not satisfied with it, but meh. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Until next time,