ADRIEN

I have been called to the office of Aaron for a reason I do not know of. 

"Dude," Nino calls out to me in the middle of the hallway. "Where are you going?"

I let out a huff and loosen the tie around my neck. "Aaron called for me," I utter in a nonchalant manner. When I take off my tie I pop open the first button on my polo and fix my collar.

"And you're taking off your tie because..." he drawls out.

"Because it's freaking tight on me. I could go a day without wearing it," I chime in. "Plus, it's Aaron. He wouldn't mind."

"I doubt that," Nino mumbles under his breath. I think he did not want me to hear it but his statement heightens my curiosity.

"Why?" I question, tilting my head.

"I saw Luka coming out from his office and he looked so down," he tells me then leans in closer. In a softer voice he continues, "then when I peeked in, Aaron looked so pissed."

I draw back, furrowing my eyebrows in confusion. "Pissed?" I repeat in disbelief. "Aaron is always calm. I mean, I would understand if he would get pissed but there would always be a legitimate reason. Yet, why would he be pissed now?"

Nino shrugs and looks both ways, becoming wary of anyone who might be hearing our conversation. "Could this be because of-"

I groan before he could even continue. "Don't tell me it's because of that," I whine.

"Hey," Nino defends by throwing his hands to the air. "It's not on me. I'm just speculating here."

My hand flies to my forehead and I rub it to calm myself down.

Aaron is still bothered by it?

Days ago he was mad when the truck in-charge of bringing our campaign giveaways was late for our event. Wait, scratch that. It never arrived.

Aaron was becoming furious by the minute. It would have been okay if it weren't for the fact that he promised the crowd who came to see him that they would be the first people to get his campaign giveaways of shirts, fans, wristbands and more.

I had to drive back fast to the office to see what went wrong and when I arrived there, I couldn't believe that I let my guard down that time.

Someone flattened all the tires of the truck. I knew who that someone was and I was so pissed not only because of what happened but also because I was too lax that day! Things were going smoothly that day. I should have felt that something was a bit off.

I don't always have happy days. And when I do, I get suspicious. Too suspicious. Yet for that day, I wasn't being like my normal self as well. I was too busy thinking of that talk I would be giving to the political science students.

It also irked me all the more when I found that the slashes on the flat tires formed the same word on all of them.

Agreste.

Damn that blueberry. She knows how to roughly fight back now.

I had to make three trips back-and-forth to bring all of the giveaways to the event and I had to face a scolding from Aaron, himself.

I took the scolding with a heavy heart because I knew that it was my fault for being to complacent with everything that day.

But should he really scold me again? Haven't I received enough of that?

I let out a grunt and pat the shoulder of Nino. "I'm not blaming you for anything," I utter, "let's see what he has again for me."

"I wish you the best of luck, dude," he says, teasing me with a two-fingered salute.

"I feel the support in this one." Fighting the urge to kick him in the balls, I roll my eyes and continue my way to Aaron's office.

Once I finally arrive in front of his door, I knock three times and push it open.

Aaron is seated behind his desk, reading through a piece of paper with a serious expression on his face. He looks up and greets me immediately, "Ah, Agreste! Come in."

I close the door behind me and step forward, bowing my head slightly at him. "Good day, sir. You called for me?"

He forces out a smile and brings his hand to one of the chairs placed in front of his desk. "Sit here," he says and I immediately follow. "You look...comfortable," he comments, eyeing the spot on my polo where my tie is supposed to be hanging from.

"Ah," I breathe out and, out of impulse, my hand flies to my collar. I fix it and let my hand fall back on my lap. "I do not have much work for today, sir. But I will fix my tie back in place immediately."

He hums in reply then clicks his tongue. "Yes, please do that because you are going to get busy again." He throws the piece of paper to the other edge of the desk for me to read it.

I peer at the paper as I read the headline.

Of Bowties and Banter: Rustan Nordic's Side on Pranks.

By Alya Cesaire

I let out a sigh of resignation. I should have known that this was coming.

Aaron points at the piece of paper. "You knew about this?" He merely asks, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Just this morning, sir," I answer truthfully. "But we can't blame her for writing it," I continue, "She has the right to give points on Nordic's perspective-"

I get interrupted when Aaron slams his hand on the desk, causing everything on it to shake due to the impact. He lets out a grunt, pulling his hand away. "I know that," he mutters under his breath. "I do not like the fact that you're not doing anything about it now."

"Sir, if you are worried about Nordic's popularity rising in numbers, I believe you can stop. He will never surpass you-"

"I know," he cuts me off again. "Nordic is nothing of my concern now," he empahsizes and stands from his seat. He takes a few steps towards me and shoves his hands in his pockets. "I'm talking about the team behind him." I could a smirk building up in him and the same feeling grows in me as well.

"If the flat tires are connected with the sudden article..." he lets out a dry laugh then continues, "then they know how to put up a fight. Reporting them would be...too boring. We are not ones to lose right, Adrien?" This time he smirks with a certain glint in his eye.

Note to self. A more pissed-off Aaron is a more sly and cunning Aaron. I guess there is a silver lining to everything. What was I even worried for?

"When would we ever want to lose from a fight, sir?" I add, smirking back at him.

"Suit up, Agreste." He buttons the front of his coat and heads to the door. "Things are about to get heated again." He opens the door and stands by the doorway to look back at me. "There is a folder on my desk that I want you to check. It's for the next gathering with the president."

I nod and stand to locate the folder on his desk. When I find it, I open it and skim through its details that I will study later.

"And by the way," he utters, causing me to look back at him, "I heard that Nordic's people like their coffee...sweet," he finishes, winking at me before closing the door behind him.

Trust me, sir. You have my word.

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

Nordic's team would always purchase their coffee from the same shop whether it was morning or night. They would never make their own coffee because they want to follow one of the advocacies of Rustan Nordic, to support all the small and local businesses.

It would be delivered by a worker after closing the shop and would be left with the secretary. Then it's the secretary who gives out the coffee to the co-workers.

How do I know this? I asked Nino and Luka to spy on it even if I wanted to join them. I couldn't since if any of them saw me near their office building, they would be suspecting something 'cynical' from me.

We've noticed the trend for a month now since it could become useful in the future, and now it has. Call us petty, but I would say that we are more on the resourceful and curious side.

The plan for tonight is to first let Luka distract the person working on the coffee of Nordic's team so that Nino can sneak in and place something that could truly keep them up at night.

"What type of laxative?" Nino asked a day before the d-day.

"The lubricant one," I answer, "We wouldn't want to let them shit to death."

"How thoughtful. See? Why do they hate us so much? We have kind hearts too."

And since it will happen at night, the shop will only have one person working the night shift. How convenient.

Now I'm sitting at one of the tables by the door, drinking from a cup of brewed coffee as I glance at the worker's counter from time to time. I changed from my suit to casual wear to make myself less suspicious. I even put on a baseball cap to hide my hair. If people do not know me, they would think that I am just a college student. When I see that the worker has taken out three metal pitchers from the cupboard and placed them on the counter in front of her, I scratch my right shoulder - the signal Luka has been waiting for to start with the operation. I am thankful that the coffee for Nordic's team are served in pitchers since it is dubbed 'special coffee'. It makes the whole ordeal easier to do and yes, it will be extra special alright.

Luka has been sitting at another table, far from mine. When the worker starts placing coffee in the pitchers, he stands and knocks over the full cup of brewed coffee he has been keeping with him for this whole time. The coffee spills all over the floor and on his clothes as well.

"Oh, darn it!" He exclaims out loud, garnering the attention of the worker. Once she sees the mess, she leaves the counter and scurries to Luka who is wiping himself with the paper napkins placed on his table.

"Let me help clean the mess, sir," the woman says. She grabs a rag from the side and proceeds to clean his table.

This is when Nino enters the shop and acts surprised with the mess at Luka's spot but continues his way to the counter. "Hello? I would like to order something," he says, raising his voice and craning his neck to check behind the counter if anyone is hiding under it. Though he knows that no one is really there. He is in fact checking if the coast is clear to place the laxative in the pitchers of coffee.

"P-Please, wait for a minute, sir!" The woman says in a flustered manner, moving faster to finish cleaning the floor. Luka kneels down and helps out with cleaning.

"My, I have never seen anyone as hardworking as you...it makes you really attractive," Luka comments out loud, flashing a smile and a wink at the woman who is not only flustered now. She is now blushing, looking back down at the floor and continuing with her cleaning.

Luka's words are the signal for Nino to place the laxative in the pitchers. I see him do it and he finishes two bottles for the three pitchers. I bite my cheek to stop myself from bursting out with laughter.

Oh, they are too easy to fool!

"Miss," Nino calls out loudly at the worker after he finishes placing the laxative in the coffee, "I don't have all the time in the world! And aren't you closing in a few minutes?"

"Yes, sir! R-Right away, sir!", the woman stutters and gets up on her feet to tend to Nino's order.

Luka glances at me and sends a subtle thumbs-up my way before he leaves the shop with a handful of paper napkins.

Nino receives and pays for his order which is just a simple cup of brewed coffee. "Next time, don't keep the customers waiting this long," he scolds the woman one last time.

"Sorry, sir," she apologizes just as Nino walks to the door.

I let out a fake yawn and stand as well to head to the door. I exit the shop, with my head down, after Nino and walk to the right of the sidewalk while Nino walks to the left to catch up with Luka who is hiding at the side. The two of them will be checking if the coffee will reach the secretary in the building.

Now that my job for tonight is done, I  can study the political platforms of Aaron Byvael and see if I must make any revisions. Maybe I could also devise more plans on how to mess with the campaign of Nor-

"Agreste?" A certain voice causes me to stop in my tracks once it spits out my name like venom.

Oh shit.

The person in front of me takes a few cautious steps towards me. I continue to keep my head down until I see the person's right foot tapping on the ground.

I let out a chuckle and look up to see my favorite blueberry in the whole entire world. She has her arms crossed in front of her, looking at me with furrowed eyebrows. "Well, isn't it the blue-head," I drawl out, cocking my head to the side.

In my head though, I was albeit panicking. The coffee better be delivered by now.

"What are you doing here?" She questions harshly, "And why the hell are you dressed up like you're back in university?"

Her last question piques my interest and it causes the corners of my lips to curl upward. "How come you still remember how I dressed back in university?" I ask, leaning closer to her. In return, she starts to lean back. "Have you always been paying attention to what I wore back then?" I raise an eyebrow at her. "Say it, Miss Dupain-Cheng. Say that until now, I'm still hot- Ow!" I cry out in pain when she digs her heel on my foot. I reach down to hold it but she uses the change of height to her advantage and grabs my ear. Then she pulls me towards her and I let out another cry.

"What the hell are you doing here, Agreste?" She asks again, raising her voice.

"I am just here to walk around the area!" I reply and let out another whimper when she pinches harder on my ear.

"Liar," she mutters under her breath.

"It's true! And what about you?!" I shoot back, "Why are you out here when you should be working?"

"Because I like to go on walks to destress."

"Hm, that sounds like the truth."

"Because that is the truth!" She exclaims and gives my ear one last pinch before pushing me away.

I breathe heavily, keeping my eye on her as I rub my ear.

She lets out a huff then starts to speak slowly, "I can't believe that even this late at night, you would doubt my honesty."

I stop rubbing my ear and softly chuckle. I drop my hand and dare to take a step closer. "Fine," I breathe out, holding out my hands in front of me. "You want something honest? I'll give it to you. And since I assume you have this fetish with ears, don't move a muscle," I instruct and dip my head low enough to place my mouth right by her right ear.

I would expect her to punch or kick me by now but she is completely frozen in place.

She lets out a quiet gasp when I start to whisper in her ear, "I truly hope you'll enjoy your coffee tonight." And since I've done something this bold tonight, I might as well continue with it. I nip her earlobe and finish by saying, "See you at the talk."

Then I run as fast as I can away from her before she could even react or comprehend the situation. Teasing her would always bring joy to me at any time of the day and leaving her frustrated in all ways is the cherry on top.

"AGRESTE!!!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another chapter! I hope you liked it!!

Vote?
Comment?
Thank you 💖