31st August 2017

MY BODY SHOULD BE grateful to me for providing it with absolute rest for two days. I didn't even lift a finger from my bed after having met Adrien on Monday evening and dozing off right after. But it wasn't like I truly needed to lift a finger. There were people in the mansion designated for even the smallest of tasks.

Apart from the personal assistant, Mr Bernard (who has been with Dad for seven years now), there were new employees in charge of the household chores — Mrs Dubois for cleaning, Mr Francis for cooking and a personal stylist for me: Ms Rachelwood.

The first thing I did on hearing her name was to object to having a stylist. I was already content with the style I had grown into during my fifteen years of inhabiting this planet. But my parents somehow managed to persuade me into falling in line with Ms Rachelwood with one simple statement from my mother, 'You're the daughter of one of the most famous designers in all of France, maybe even all of Europe!'

And, of course, with that title bestowed upon me came serious responsibilities — especially in the way I presented myself, even when I stepped out of the house for a breath of fresh air. I could never know when a camera would be pointed at me, so I had to be prepared for all sorts of situations and be in the colours that best suited me.

'You have pale skin with warm undertones,' Ms Rachelwood declared after inspecting my wrists for about half a minute. 'You should wear more peach or pastels. Which colour do you prefer the most?'

My mind didn't even need to register the question before I blurted out the answer, 'Pink.'

The brown-haired woman eyed the room and the pastel pink walls, realising that she didn't even need to ask. 'You could wear pink too. But pair it with gold jewellery.'

'I can't wear silver?' I asked, eyes wide hoping the answer would be at least an "occasionally", but the word that tumbled out of her mouth was a stoic, 'No.'

Leaning back onto my black swivel chair, I tried to register the grave possibility of having to dump all my silver jewellery into a trash can.

No way am I going to throw away the ones I made!

Jewellery-making was one of my favourite go tos when I felt bored at home and none of my friends were available to play. I had designed a lot of pieces ranging from necklaces to earrings, even entwined wires into rings. But most of the material was silver — silver-plated — not actual silver since it was just a hobby.

'Do you have any jewellery collection of your own?' Ms Rachelwood asked, raising an eyebrow at me as she slid open my wardrobe doors.

'No,' I lied and clenched my jaw. I would never allow a stranger to walk into my room to tell me I can't wear silver anymore and toss all my DIYs into the trash. Thankfully, Ms Rachelwood didn't interrogate me further and picked out a pastel yellow bell-sleeve top, along with a pair of white jeans.

'This will be your outfit for today. You can also turn it into a daily wear.'

'But it's hot outside.' I laid my palms directed to the summer sky outside the window.

Ms Rachelwood picked the end of the sleeves as she explained, 'These aren't skin-tight and will allow enough air to circulate to keep your body cool. I'm not sure about what climate you've lived in back in India, but I don't want you to get your skin burnt in the sun.'

The woman had a point and this might have been the first time this whole afternoon that I found myself agreeing with something she said. So, I followed her orders and changed into my new outerwear in the bathroom. When I walked out, Ms Rachelwood asked me to twirl for her just so she could inspect if my shirt was tucked in neatly.

'Perfect,' Ms Rachelwood exclaimed with a smile that made the pale skin underneath her eyes crinkle. I thanked her for her help and immediately rushed out the door with my phone in hand so she wouldn't ask me to add any other layers to my outfit.

'You look lovely,' Mom said as I passed her by.

'Thank you,' I mumbled as my eyes wandered off to the office doors on the right side of the hall. 'Is he busy again?'

'Yes, dear,' Mom stated. 'But we'll still have dinner together, so don't be late. Get back home before 8!'

I was a little taken aback at the fact that Mom was allowing me two hours past sunset to be out and about in Paris when in Kolkata, she would be furious if I returned home after 6.

Nonetheless, I gave her a bright smile and headed to the shoe cabinet near the entrance. The white coating and gold embellishments had it almost camouflaged with the walls. I opened the middle door to bring out my white sandals.

'Good pick,' I heard Ms Rachelwood's voice echo from atop the staircases as I strapped the shoes over my feet. I lifted my head — briefly — to notice her watching me with shimmering green eyes and expressed my gratitude at her compliment before heading out of the mansion.

Maybe we can get along after all.

As I sauntered down the steps and walked up to the iron gates to push them open, I heard a buzzer go off as the gates slowly swung open on the inside.

Automated gates... amazing!

There was so much left to discover in my new home — including the garden at the back. Nonetheless, I decided to put those thoughts aside for the day as I stuffed my hands in the pockets of my jeans and stepped onto the road.

I saw a black limousine parked not too far away from the gates. The black-tinted windows rolled down as a familiar blond head popped out. Adrien beckoned me to get into the car quickly so I jogged up to the parking spot as he stepped out of the car and held the door for me.

'Merci, Monsieur,' I gave a small courteous bow before settling down on the comfortable seat and pulling my legs inside. Adrien grinned as he closed the door gently and ran to the other side to get into his seat. (Thank you, sir.)

'I can't wait to introduce you to my friends!' Adrien exclaimed as we both buckled our seatbelts, and his bodyguard pulled the car out onto the main road.

'Well, I've already met Luka and Juleka when they were on their trip in Kolkata,' I mentioned and caught a glimpse of Adrien nodding in my peripheral vision.

'They're going to be there, too. Alongside my other classmates,' the blond stated as I hummed in response and stared out the window, gazing at the architectural monuments and buildings whisking by. If there was one thing Paris and Kolkata had in common, it was the fact that they both had histories inscribed on ancient stones and marbles. Despite modernisation, both the cities were still successful in retaining their heritage and culture.

Soon enough, the limousine halted near a park where a few teenagers were loitering around the water fountain.

'We're here!' Adrien declared as he jumped out of his seat and paced towards my end to open the door for me again.

'You don't have to be such a gentleman all the time, you know,' I spoke as I stepped out of the car, and a cool summer breeze greeted my face. 'I've already seen you at your silliest, and nothing will ever change that picture of you in my mind.'

'Yeah,' Adrien admitted, guiltily rubbing the nape of his neck. We both crossed the somewhat empty street and entered the lush green park. It was a square public park lined by numerous trees at its perimeter, with a water fountain at the centre. I watched a blonde with a pixie cut point in our direction, drawing the attention of all of her friends to us.

'Hello!' They waved at us in unison, and I started to feel a shiver of anxiety about introducing myself to so many people all at once. A sudden fear of not being able to make the right first impression electrified my nerves.

'We're so happy to finally meet you, Preeti,' the pixie blonde spoke in a high-pitched voice as she shook my hand. 'I'm Rose.'

'Nice to meet you... Rose.'

All of Adrien's friends followed a similar fashion of introducing themselves, and my brain tried to register everyone's names: Rose, Alya Cesaire, Nino, Alex, Kim, Ivan and Mylene. My eyes searched for the Couffaine twins but it seemed like they hadn't arrived yet.

'Where's Marinette?' Adrien asked the auburn-haired girl, Alya.

The latter pulled out her phone from the pocket of her blue jeans, a knowing smirk etched on her face. 'Running late as usual.'

'There she is!' Mylene pointed towards the entrance of the park. I turned around, and my eyes immediately landed on the boy first. His dark hair — coloured blue at the tips — had been slightly ruffled by the winds. My eyes followed his hands clutching onto the strap of a guitar case, slung across his shoulders until I realised that I was so lost in gazing at Luka that I almost missed the girl he was talking to.

A bluenette sporting a white shirt underneath a black jacket, paired with pink jeans, tried to keep up with Luka as they walked over to us. Her hands animatedly pointed in all sorts of directions as she described something to Luka, making him chuckle. My eyes narrowed as a desire of wanting to know more about their joke surged through my brain.

'Hey, Marinette,' Adrien greeted which made the bluenette almost jump into the air as she nervously smiled at him. 'Meet Preeti, my childhood friend I told you about,' he now focused her gaze on me, and I waved at her. She stared at me for about ten seconds before shaking her head and reciprocating the gesture. 'And this is Marinette.'

I extended my hand for her to shake, and her eyes skipped between Adrien and me before she grasped my palm and shook it, softly.

'Hello, Preeti. Nice to see you again,' Luka spoke as his blue eyes landed on me. His tone was as gentle as ever.

For no specific reason, my voice turned feeble as I muttered a soft, 'Hi.'

Speak louder you dimwit.

But I had already missed my queue as Juleka greeted me, and Rose began to present the menu of the little picnic they had set up.

We followed her to a red blanket, laid out underneath one of the trees that loomed over the fence and provided a natural shade from the sun. The sun wasn't as harsh as I had initially expected it to be from Ms Rachelwood's words; it just hung in the sky, lighting up the day not as harshly as it would be in an Indian summer season.

Everyone started to settle down on the blanket in a circle around the food. I took a seat next to Adrien and watched him reach for a piece of cheese on the porcelain plates.

Since when did he love cheese so much?

Alya dropped down on my right as Nino took the spot next to her. My eyes followed Marinette as she completed the circle, sitting right next to Luka.

'So... How does Paris seem so far?' Marinette posed a question for me.

'I've visited Paris several times on Christmas before. Even though I'll admit, I haven't really explored the city well. Hopefully, I can do so now that this is going to be my new home... sort of.'

My response ended on a note of uncertainty. I had thought of Kolkata as my home for so long now, any other place still felt foreign to me.

'Adrien! You haven't given her a tour of Paris yet?' Alya asked, glaring at the blond next to me.

Adrien nervously chuckled as he confessed, 'Well, she just arrived. It's only been a few days. And hey —' He now turned to look at me as he mentioned, 'I did give you a little tour every Christmas Eve.'

The secret rendezvous we did when we were kids emerged like a dream from a bygone era. Still, I persisted on annoying him further.

'That was at night, and even the lights were out by then. You should've given me a tour in the daylight too.' We both narrowed our eyes at each other until Marinette decided to interrupt:

'You mean — you two used to sneak out?'

'Of course,' Adrien replied. 'Our parents wouldn't really let us out of the house much unless we stayed inside the car. So Preeti and I would sneak out at night to explore the city on foot.'

'We were kind of mischievous, putting it lightly,' I admitted, grabbing a croissant from the picnic basket to munch on before my stomach started to growl at me. The others started to suggest places I should visit when I could, and I took mental notes of each name that was thrown into my bucket list.

My gaze momentarily lingered on Luka who had his head held low the whole time. His fingers fidgeted with a cyan guitar pick that matched the colour of his eyes — now dull for a reason I couldn't decode.

But the sound of sneakers hitting the dirt diverted my focus to a girl who paused right behind me, trying to catch her breath. I looked up just as she opened her brown eyes, resolutely examining me before shifting to Adrien.

'Kagami? You said you couldn't come,' Adrien spoke as he stood up to greet her. The girl — Kagami — smiled at him as she explained how swiftly she had escaped from under her mother's nose. 'I'm glad you're here,' the blond stated, dreamily.

I recalled the video meetings with Adrien back when I was cooped up in my home in India. He had repeated the name "Kagami" quite often whenever the topic of his fencing lessons came up.

Adrien was just about to introduce me to his fencing partner before being interrupted by the ground shaking beneath us.

'An earthquake?' I blurted out as I got up from the blanket, along with everyone else.

'Akuma Alert! Akuma Alert!' I heard Adrien's phone buzz in the pocket of his white shirt. As I wheeled around, I knew this perfect sunny day was now going to turn into a major disaster.

We're doomed.

━━━━━ ♫ ━━━━━

Google Docs : 2,457/5,230 words
Wattpad Web : 2,399/5,172 words

Adrien has a cheese obsession? Is that new news? 🤭

What's Paris without an akumatised villain popping up out of nowhere? XD

Who do you think it is? Let me know in the comments before you scroll away to the next chapter!

Don't forget to vote if you're enjoying WTP <3