MARINETTE

I open the door of the clinic and I see Juleka sitting at the front desk. I approach her and she looks up at me with a big smile on her face.

"Hello Marinette!" She greets me, "It's good to see you! How are you these days?" She asks as she clears the pieces of paper on her desk and she leans on both of her hands.

I place my shoulder bag on the floor and I wipe my sweat. "I've had better days..."

She gasped and covered her mouth with her right hand, out of shock.

"Oh no! What happened?" She asks worriedly.

"Adrien."

She gasps as I say his name.

Juleka knows the whole story between Adrien and I, I mean she is the secretary of the therapist I visit and I'm sure that he tells her my stories. Plus, I trust her, so it's okay for me if she knows. At least I can share my feelings with some people.

"May I see him now?" I ask Juleka, trying to change the topic. Juleka checks her notes and the time, then she says that he will be done with his current patient in about 5 minutes. I sit on an empty chair and I look at my surroundings. I have been visiting this building for 4 years already, and I can't help to feel relaxed and at peace every time I am here.

"Marinette," I turn my head to see Juleka gesturing me to enter the room already. I stand up and I enter the room where he is waiting for me. I see him sitting right beside the sofa where I will be sitting.

"Good morning." I greet him and he gestures me to sit down.

"So how are you doing, Marinette?" He asks as I sit on the sofa and make myself comfortable.

"I'm fine. I've had better days, Nathanaël."

Nathanaël looks puzzled and I heave a sigh.

"I saw Adrien a few days ago...and he was mean to me..."

"Adrien Agreste?" Nathanaël asks, "Your ex-husband? The father of your kids?"

I hesitate for a moment until I say, yes.

"I saw him in his art exhibit and, well something happened...that involved me. I broke his sculptures and I don't have the money to pay for the damage I caused. He got mad and then he offered me a job. He tried to make me work for him and I got angry because of that. Why would he want me to work for him? I thought he hated me, but he still offered me a job and-"

"Okay Marinette," Nathanaël interrupts, "I can sense that you are disturbed, and during these past few days, you never found inner peace. Now before we continue with your 'adventure', I will ask two questions and I want you to answer them. It's okay if you won't say your answer out loud, just as long as you answer them in your mind. Okay?"

I hesitate for a moment and I nod my head.

"Okay, good." He gets a notebook and a pen then he writes down something on it and then he looks at me. "Now close your eyes, Marinette."

I close my eyes and he starts to ask the first question, "Why were you at the art exhibit in the first place?"

Why was I at the art exhibit in the first place? I simply wanted to see him- I MEAN...I wanted to see the paintings...and him...

I wanted to see him...

I wanted to see how he was doing and if he still looked healthy and okay...

I was concerned as his wife. But, I shouldn't be like that.

I'm not anymore his wife...

"I'm done." I whisper and I am left to ponder on my thoughts.

"Are you sure?" he asks and I nod. "Okay, let's go to the second question: What lead you to 'accidentally' break all of those sculptures?"

"I.." I start, "I saw a painting and I got distracted once I saw its hidden message..."

"What was in that painting, Marinette?" He asks and I shake my head.

"No. It should be, 'who were' in that painting..." I fiddle with my fingers and I think that this is not a good idea. I shouldn't share this with Nathanaël. "I change my mind. I don't want to say my answer.."

"Marinette, as your therapist, it's good to let it all out. It brings peace to yourself. I know that I said that you can answer in your mind, but you started your answer already. Might as well finish it..." Nathanaël grabs my hand and holds it reassuringly.

"Okay." I let go of his grip and I place my hand on my lap. "He was in the painting...I was in there, too. Then there was a third person, our son, Thomas."

I take a deep breath and I continue, "He had a painting of Thomas...his first ever painting that had Thomas in it. It bothered me so much to think that he had to display that painting and I would never learn the reason why. It bothers me at night and it's making my condition worse- I don't want to talk about this anymore, Nathanaël." I stop as I start to hyperventilate. "I would rather talk about my kids rather than having Adrien as our topic for this session..."

Nathanaël stands up and approaches me, "Mari, are you okay?", he asks.

"Yes," I say as I start to calm down, "I'm fine..."

"Now, let's talk about Tommy. What do you feel when you think about Thomas?"

"I feel at peace because, even though I hate to admit this, his father thinks about him every day...It means that 2 people pray for him constantly every day..." I answer truthfully and I believe that I have improved my emotions and feelings towards Tommy over these past sessions.

"That's good, Mari. You're improving!" He says excitedly with a smile. "Now, what about your second child?"

"E-emma?" I stutter.

He nods his head and continues speaking, "Yes. I...I know that Adrien doesn't know about her-"

"And he will never know about her!" I interrupt him and I am fuming right now.

"Mari, please...I can help you. I can make you tell him about her-"

"And then what?! Will he feel sorry? Will that make him love me again? It's like as if I want to go back to him just for his money!"

"Marinette..." Nathanaël says slowly, "You know that he is not like that..."

"No..." I say, "I saw him and I talked to him recently...he was mean! He wasn't the Adrien I knew..." We hear a beeping sound and it meant that our session is over for this week.

I stand up and I get my bag. I take out my wallet and check how much money I have. Oh dear, I don't have enough to pay him, again.

"Mari," Nathanaël call out to me, "I love helping you out, but I can't do this anymore for free..."

"I don't have money-"

"I know," He cuts me off, "But this is my job. I earn through what I do and not a lot of people even go to me for sessions. Maybe you can start paying again starting with our next session? And also for next week, can you start paying for the pills you need to take?" He asks nicely and I can see that he is also struggling when it comes to money. I guess that we are a lot when it comes to problems about money...

"I'll try, Nathanaël."

"Thank you. I'll see you next week and I hope that you find inner peace before we see each other again." He leads me to the exit. "Good-bye, Marinette."

I exit the building and I feel more stressed than before.

Where can I find a job in one week? And how can I earn money in one week?

I start thinking about what jobs I can take that can make me earn a lot of money and then one idea hits me like a truck.

"No, Marinette!" I scold myself, "You are not going back to him! No! Your pride matters, girl!"

Once I reach home, I grab different newspapers and I call every person who is offering a job at the moment. Unfortunately, I got turned down by all of them.

I just go through the newspaper looking deflated until I reach an article about Adrien's art exhibit.

"No! Not going to read that!" I say and I look at another newspaper. I see another article about the art exhibit and I stop reading. "I wish I can burn all these newspapers..."

I need a job like right now, and these newspapers are mocking me with Adrien's art exhibit. My pride matters, but also money. I am in need of money right now.

"Fudge it!" I get up from the chair and I grab my phone. I look for Nino's name in my contacts list and once I found it, I press dial.

"Hello Nino?" I say once he answers my call, "I need Adrien's home address, please."

---------------------------------------------

I knock on the door in front of me. I hope that this is the right place. I check the piece of paper that has his address written on it. I'm sure that this is the place.

This is embarrassing. Oh my God, this is so embarrassing.

The door opens and Adrien comes out wearing grey pajamas and a Batman shirt. He looked shocked once he sees me.

"Hi..." I say as I wave my hand. "May I come in?"

"No you can't. Actually, I'm going to work right now-"

"Today is a Sunday, Adrien." I cut him off, "You don't have work today and you are wearing your pajamas."

He sighs and he gestures me to enter his house. I enter the house and my jaw drops just by seeing how dirty his living room is.

"Adrien, do you clean your living room? I mean, it would be good if you clean it once in a while."

"Well," He looks at me, "I live by myself and no one stays in this house anymore except for me."

"I know, I know. But you should clean so that people will think that you're neat!"

"Marinette!" He scolds me, "Why are you here? After you shout at me and insult me, you still have the guts to show up in our- I mean, my house?"

"I'm sorry..." I say, "I need the job, Adrien." I go straight to the point. "I have said mean things to you that day and I regret saying those things...but please, forgive me just for once. Please give me the job and once I earn enough money, I will leave. And we can pretend that this never happened. We will go back to being strangers to each other. I just need this job right now..."

Adrien gets up from sitting on the sofa and he opens the front door.

"Get out." He says and I get confused. What? Get out? That's what he says??

"Excuse me?"

"Get. Out." He says clearly and boldly. He points outside and I stand up. I exit through the door and as I walk away from his house he calls out to me.

"I expect you to be early, Marinette! I hate late people!" He closes his door and he leaves me dumbfounded. Did that just happen? He hired me??

Oh my Gosh...I'm working for my ex-husband.

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Heyyo :) I hope you like this chapter :)

I have a new book and I need a cover xD To those who are willing to make a cover for me :3 just Pm me and I will send to you the details! I will just choose one :) Thank you!!

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