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So many options, thought Lila, with a sense of glee.
Really, this would be too easy. With the number of models and other workers at this photoshoot, Marinette should have known better than to show her stupid face here. So what if she had been invited months ago by both Adrien and his father? One word from her , and Marinette would have found herself barred at the gate- no explanation, no quarter.
That’s a wonderful fantasy, Lila thought. Too bad it didn’t happen.
No, in a way, this was better. Plenty of witnesses, and such a lovely array of things that could go wrong. Best to start by some emotional manipulation, so people would have a reason to believe that Marinette would be upset enough to “try to get back” at “poor Lila”. And wasn’t her pathetic hangup on Adrien just the place to push her buttons?
Lila didn’t really care for Adrien- or anyone, for that matter. Most people were too stupid to be anything other than sheep. He was just a pretty piece of eye-candy, who would be arm-candy if Lila had her way. But the idiot had a moral streak only tempered by his pitiful care for others. He’d caved when she’d agreed to make it so Marinette could return to school, saying he would be her friend. Which wasn’t enough, but whatever. She’d still get what she wanted out of him eventually.
And it was a good thing Adrien was a model- so used to being treated as the object he was, and never saying anything when Lila got close to him. Like in-your-face, hands-on-arms (or elsewhere), practically- rubbing-noses close. She wondered for a minute if this time she could finally convince the photographer to pose them more intimately for the summer beachwear shots. Or maybe, even have them kiss!
Well, maybe not. Such a pose wouldn’t showcase the clothes, and that was the point of this shoot. But perhaps a cheek kiss? Or her arm around his waist? Lila hummed, thinking of how to approach the photographer to get the poses she wanted. Only to drive Marinette crazy, of course.
Well, THAT was a waste. Clearly, the photographer had been given far too much instruction as to what would or would not be acceptable to Mr. Agreste. Despite going so far as to demonstrate the kinds of poses she had in mind, the silly man insisted that they separate.
But just pushing for other poses was annoying Marinette just as much. It was a salve to Lila’s pride to hear the sound of gritted teeth as she demonstrated another intimate pose.
Less enjoyable were the sighs of the photographer and Adrien’s reactions, which were to go stiff and lean away. Half of the problem with the shots she pushed for were his attempts to add distance between them, before he forced himself back into what the photographer wanted.
After a frustrating attempt at a group shot, the director of the shoot called for a break. The six other models, plus Lila and Adrien, wandered off for fifteen minutes.
Well, Lila wandered off to the corner. Adrien was off like a shot and approaching Marinette, who had attached herself to the wardrobe mistress. Clearly, he was trying to get the little hussy’s attention for some plotting against Lila.
(Well, of course they would be plotting against her. In Lila’s world, either people were for you or against you, and those two were obviously the latter.) Watching them from the corner, they seemed to be talking. Okay, Adrien was talking; Marinette was blushing and stammering. Lila began a plan to make the black-haired girl trip the next time she moved.
“Hey- Lila, isn’t it? How about we practice some new shots?”
Lila turned to the speaker, Sebastien Deschamps. He was a fairly prestigious model- not Adrien-level, of course, but well- known. If Sebastien had been in her school instead of Adrien- well, she wouldn’t have gone after him, he wasn’t that well known (or, let’s be honest, rich ), but she’d have strung him along enough to make him think he had a chance with her.
“Oh, Sebastien, that’s okay,” Lila said, putting on one of her more insincere smiles. “You should be spending your break with your girlfriend.” Surely he had one? Adrien was the only model she’d seen that didn’t, and that could solely be put on Gabriel’s shoulders. (And that was an omission Lila was determined to fix- with herself, of course.)
He came further into her space; Lila stepped back a half-step. “What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. We’re just practicing…right?” The tone of his voice… there was an edge to it she hadn’t heard before. At least, not from him; she struggled to place it.
A hand on her upper arm startled her out of her thoughts. Sebastien was facing her, with a grip that felt vaguely uncomfortable. His thumb flicked out as he squeezed, brushing her chest lightly. “See, just look up, and it’ll be a great pose. Like two people in love.”
Lila put on her coldest glare. “No, thank you, Sebastien. I won’t do those kinds of poses.” She tried to duck out around him.
His grip got tighter, and he grabbed her other arm. His voice now had a definite sneer as he leaned in to breathe in her ear. “Liar. We all saw you doing this exact thing to Adrien all afternoon. Don’t pretend you don’t want it- and I’m willing to play.”
“ I’m not. Let me go, or I will have M. Agreste fire you,” Lila said. A cold touch of fear ran up her spine.
“Oh, so only the boss’s son is good enough for you? Well, thanks to your little performance out there, you can complain all you want, but no one will believe you. They’ll tell M. Agreste what you were really doing on set- unless you give me a reason not to tell them.”
“I have a reason. And you can bet I’ll tell them,” snarled a voice from behind them. Sebastien sprang away from Lila, and she saw behind them Marinette- of all people! - with her hands fisted at her sides. “Can’t you believe someone when they tell you ‘no’?” she continued loudly, her eyes burning into the young man’s.
Lila felt her eyes tear up- for real, this time, no fake tears for once- in both shame and anger. She didn’t want to be rescued by her (why couldn’t Adrien be her rescuer?)- but Fate was stupid sometimes, always out to get Lila.
Sebastien was holding his hands up in a conciliatory gesture. “Lila wanted to practice the poses from earlier with Adrien; I just volunteered as a substitute. No need to misread into things; isn’t that right, Lila?”
Lila opened her mouth, with no idea what she could say. Her silver tongue felt like lead.
She blinked- and Marinette’s thunder-scowl had morphed into one of the nastiest smirks she’d ever seen outside of Ladybug’s. The blue-eyes tramp’s voice turned from scorching to saccharine. “You know, M. Deschamps, one of the hazards of a photo shoot is all the cameras around. And some of them even have microphones.” She raised her voice a little more. “Did you get all of that, Vincent?”
“ Si, signorina. And so did M. Agreste,” came the voice of the photographer from somewhere to the left. And coming up next to Marinette was M. Agreste’s assistant, carrying a tablet with M. Agreste’s face on it. Lila could see Sebastien starting to sweat. She began to breathe again- when had she stopped?
Nathalie’s face was carved of stone, while M. Agreste’s was set in severe displeasure. “I require all my models to behave appropriately, M. Deschamps. Your refusal to stop when told makes you unfit to represent our brand. Nathalie, be sure to have M. Deschamps escorted off the set immediately.”
“Already in progress, sir,” Nathalie said as the Gorilla came up behind her. He gestured to the model, who shook his head.
“Then why are you keeping Lila? Or did you not see her disrupting the shoot by trying to put her hands all over your son? Am I wrong to think she’d be okay with it when she did it herself?”
“What Mlle. Rossi has done is for us to discuss. You have no more place here; get your things and go.”
The Gorilla stared the model down, and he turned to leave, but he shot one more hiss at Lila. “Don’t think this is the end of it. If they keep you, I’ll sue for discrimination.”
The stoic silence as he was led away to change only lasted for half a minute. Nathalie turned to Lila, and M. Agreste resumed speaking. “You realize the position you have put the company in, Mlle. Rossi. You will have to be let go as well, at least temporarily.”
“What?” Lila couldn’t believe her ears.
“Your unprofessionalism and insistence on alternate poses have drawn complaints from other employees. And M. Deschamps makes a valid point; we cannot fire him for harassment without firing you for the same actions. We may rehire you in three months, but a second offense will warrant a permanent firing and possible legal action.” Nathalie adjusted her glasses as M. Agreste continued to speak. “I highly recommend that you leave Adrien alone in the future, as well as any other models you may work with.”
“What- what about our deal?”
Agreste’s eyes flickered to the side. Of course, Marinette was still there. “There is no deal. Do yourself a favor, Mlle. Rossi. Stay away, and we will reevaluate where we stand in three months.”
The screen blanked out, and Nathalie put the tablet away. “I expect to see you changed and at the gate in five minutes, Mlle. Rossi,” she said neutrally. “If I do not, security will be sent for, as well as a call to your parents.”
Lila clenched her fists as Nathalie walked towards the exit. She sneered at her rival, covering her turmoil with her contempt. “Of course, you only did that to make yourself look good. You secretly enjoyed watching this, admit it!”
Marinette just looked at her with a tired but disdainful glare. “Believe what you want. Whatever lets you sleep at night. You’re just as good at lying to yourself as you are to everyone else,” she said, and walked away towards the wardrobe mistress.
Lila raged inside. She’d only been looking out for herself, and now things were worse. Marinette had helped her, all right- helped her get fired. The memory of Sebastien’s grip on her arms flickered briefly before she asserted her thoughts.
One more for the ‘enemy’ side, she thought. And if Sebastien ever got near her when she was akumatized… she smiled as she thought about how much he would regret it.