Chapter Text
[. . .]
"Welcome."
[. . .]
Chapter 1
The Lovely Miss Dupain-Cheng
[. . .]
"Your drink, Monsieur Wayne."
The steaming cup is set above an aesthetically swirled gray coaster adorned over the pristine dark oak desk where a contemplating 21-year-old Damian Wayne resides next to, in an executive mahogany office chair. He takes the cup without looking, silently raising it for a sip. His focused eyes never wane from the bright screen depicting most of the drooping stocks of his father's company as he tastes the scalding liquid creating a waft of sugary plume inside the otherwise desolate room.
"Tolerable, Miss Dupain-Cheng," He states as soon as the gulp is swallowed.
"Of course," His 20-year-old secretary answers him. "Is there anything else you require, Monsieur Wayne?"
"Cancel my 1:00 PM appointment with Vlad Masters and move it towards the end of March. I've got a lunch meeting with Father I must catch up on," He answers, internally contemplating when it'll be best to send that particular name out the window. Ghost Research doesn't sound appealing.
He hears her fingers tap at a screen. "Will March 28th around 12:30 PM do?" She asks dutifully.
Damian finally strays from his computer to regard the woman he has had with him for the better of three years since he's stepped up to aid in the company he will someday, likely, own.
Her light, favorable shade of pink collared dress shirt is exquisite as always, tucked in her signature black pencil skirt covering the stockings and pair of flats she chooses to wear as an alternative to heels in her work environment. Her state of dress is simple compared to other times he's seen her; it is one of the primary reasons he has chosen her, her practicality when it comes to fashion is both suitable and bold, and Damian has never wanted anything less.
And though it has never mattered what she might look like, ever since the betterment of five months ago, he's found himself getting distracted by her bluebell eyes and pretty smile.
It's... a curse.
One he has already, countless times, tried to get rid of but to no avail.
"It'll do," He agrees, tipping his cup again for another taste. He watches as she sets up his preferred timing in one standing, something prior workers in her position have failed to do. Their incompetence stemmed from a suitable fear they held for his rumored wrath. As such, Damian saw no need to keep feeble-minded workers and dismissed them per a rebellious encounter denying needing an assistant with his father. His father's insistence for him to have someone to manage his work ethic around had been undeterred, so Damian was forced to reconsider time and time again, simply to fire them not even a week after they gained the job.
It wasn't until Marinette Dupain-Cheng came about from the roots of the company that he reluctantly reconsidered and is now happy he did so.
She's without flaws. Any time he has had an issue, she's there to manage it. Anytime he needs her to do something, she's there to provide it. He fully abused her capability with likely dozens of impossible tasks just to see how well she could handle him at his worst the first few months she came in. And he was pleasantly impressed that she managed to hold on with an eloquence befitting a lifelong professional.
There is a reason why she has yet to be replaced.
Two, really, but Damian chides himself for his unprofessionalism when it comes to Miss Dupain-Cheng as of late.
The main reason is her reliability.
Her prep before a situation arises is uncanny, similar to that of Alfred. Tim Drake and his father have already worked with her in his absence, and Damian had to put his foot down before they could take her for themselves. Damian earned her dutiful conduct fair and square, and he will not give her incredible employment up for his family of hooligans.
Not anytime soon, anyway. The credibility she has as an individual is one of a kind.
She worked her way up to this position, too. Not quite a rarity, but a tough thing for anyone to do when it comes to him.
She has earned his respect and will keep it for starting so young; the minimum requirement for a job at Wayne Enterprises was 18 at best, but according to her file, she's been working for the company for close to four years now. Recommended by Music Artist Jagged Stone and trained under his assistant—now wife—Penny Rolling, she started at sixteen as an intern and in a few short months got promoted for her excellent time management and problem-solving executions within the otherwise tame work environment.
Many of her skills are as follows:
Her verbal and written communications are organized and literate, commended by renowned Former Fashion Mogul Gabriel Agreste.
His son, Adrien Agreste, famed model and successor to his father's business, is an active commenter on her naturally adaptable teamwork.
The famous director of the fashion magazine Style Queen, Audrey Bourgeois, remarked that her flexibility and responsibility are indefectible, one that her daughter Chloé Bourgeois has seconded.
Her multitasking is phenomenal and borders close to inhuman from what he's read and experienced (it is impressive that she finished about twenty-four sixty-page newly updated stacks of Wayne Contracts in three days without spelling errors or missing bullet points in the fine print). It is enhanced by her attention to detail on huge projects she's contributed to; technical difficulties have since been improved nearly as closely as Drake's intelligence prowess, so her handling of computer and science aptitudes is a fortunate addition.
She is also an excellent listener. Her attentiveness to his person is much to be desired.
All in all, Marinette Dupain-Cheng is an astute, resourceful, and amiable company to work with.
She is also trustworthy.
Many others have attempted to win her over with extra pay or supposed better dental and health plans that come with the job. He wasn't worried in the slightest; the job provides all of it and more, courtesy of himself because he's the one that oversees her salary and timetable. Still, when she denies their offers with utmost professionalism, it brings a smug satisfaction.
Others have folded under other expensive offers. Miss Dupain-Cheng has not.
Her character is strong. She does not break nor display the slightest hints of emotion when under what others consider immense pressure, which is something Damian has always watched out for.
This brings him to the second reason as to why she hasn't been replaced.
Her endearing characteristics.
She's kind and firm. She is very smart and demonstrates it with humility others should take into practice. Her empathy for other people is to die for according to the Eldest, pestering, Wayne, which Damian does not doubt. At first, he cared little for how she acted as long as she got her work done, but he's seen her consideration first-hand and how much of a difference it makes.
Those late nights she spent at his side, clicking away at her own work while he slaved to catch up to Drake's messy productions, were a consolation he will never admit to anyone.
Most of Miss Dupain-Cheng's coworkers like her. She is like a sun who brightens the room, providing supportive energy. Thomas and the extremely rare times Todd has come across her have all been full of honorable tributes (or how kickass she is in Todd's standard of speaking), something that Brown and Gordon liked to pick at him about because apparently he's a 'sucker' for pretty eyes. Which. Not true. Damian chose her under professional affairs and nothing more.
(Never mind that they are unfortunately correct.)
Cassandra has even come to him to take her away for herself under the pretense that she needs a new fashion designer. Something that Damian, very much aware, points out she has never had or considered to have.
Unintentionally, Damian finds as she asks him another question for tonight's communal meeting, she has endeared herself to his family.
And thus, to him.
No, he doesn't like it. Yes, he likes it. No, he's certain he's an idiot. Yes?
Internally, he wilts at the sight of her perfection.
The feelings have grown more over the years he's had the luck of having her working for him, and they came to a head months ago in the middle of a cumbersome night of dealings he wonders how his father dealt with all on his own.
And it's because he saw her run into the damn glass door of his office.
Out of all things, what he likes most about her is her clumsiness.
Her handling of relevant work is peak perfect performance, nothing less. However... manible tasks such as getting coffee or merely walking from room to room result in many nonsensical stumblings. Hence, the door and her lack of eyesight.
Damian has always been a witness to that trait. In fact, the first time she ever tripped and spilled coffee on herself was the very first day he decided to hire her. Initially, seeing that made him question if it had been a mistake that almost resulted in firing her, but Damian held strong because his father was vehemently certain he'd like her.
And begrudgingly, the man was correct.
Maybe too correct, because as Miss Dupain-Cheng states her usual dismissal to her office connected with his, his disappointment that she will not stay for longer is overwhelming.
"Should there be a need for an emergency or my assistance regarding Monsieur Masters if his threat to show himself in your office rings true, refer to me via cell," Miss Dupain-Cheng's French accent pierces his occupied head, causing him to raise an eyebrow at her.
"Cell?" He prompts incredulously, and her reply is immediate.
"I will not be in this afternoon."
"What?" He murmurs, flicking his eyes to his computer when he receives an email from his father. "Why?"
She gives him a look. "I have sent you a detailed email discussing my time for today, Monsieur Wayne. One that you replied to stating it was quite fine," Her explanation somehow manages not to sound deadpan.
His brows furrow and he moves to check, clicking away at his computer.
Sure enough, after a minute of searching, he finds it. "Oh."
"Yes. My cell number should be in my resume. Have a pleasant day, Monsieur Wayne," She tells him, and just like that, leaves. This isn't the first time she's needed elsewhere. She has connections she must attend to because he's pretty sure she's the famed MDC Drake fawns over, so he has mercifully let her do as she must on the account that she returns as soon as she's able.
It's a leniency he's allowed due to her extraordinary performance in her profession.
(Not because he liked her or anything.)
In any case, oddly enough, her sudden departure has left him... upset.
It's not like him to forget. And she is not at fault because, like the exemplary employee she is, she let him know beforehand and even showed herself to work today when she did not have to.
Tim's earlier accusations about Damian's feelings for his assistant ring in his head like an answer.
He wrinkles his nose.
What does Drake know? He sniffs, despondently fixing the disarray of his papers on his desk.
For the rest of the day, Damian angrily sulks, yearning for her return.