previously in chapter 11,  Marinette and Alya are shown into the dining room by Natalie.  

          Current chapter, Natalie smiles as she says,  "Wait here ladies!  I am sure Adrien will be here soon."   

        Natalie leaves the room.  After she is gone, Marinette thinks, Wow, this guy sure is rich!  I sure  hope I manage not to break anything.

        "Wow, Marinette!  This is guy is really, something, isn't  he?"  Alix remarks.

      "  Haha, Alix, he is just our boss!"  Marinette says.

       "Hello, it is good to see you both could make it."  Adrien says.  He still has the cat costume on at the moment.

      "It is a pleasure to work for you, sir."  Marinette says.

       "Yes, I can not wait to start on my new job."  Alix remarks.

      "Well, since you are both here, how about you start with this room?"  Adrien says.

      "This room, but I would hardly call it dirty, sir!"  Marinette protest.

     "Haha, very funny!  It has loads of dust, and the floors need to be clean.  Also, the table needs to be sanded off  and painted as well.  The top part of it is rather worn down.  You can see this clearly, if you look closer at it."  Adrien remarks.

     "Oh, well in that case, yes sir!"  Alix says.

     "Yes, boss!  Right away boss!"  Marinette says.

    Adrien laughs as he leaves the room.  His face turns bright red.  He thinks, man Marinette is so cute  and funny!  He shakes his head.

                                             *Author's  Note:  www.paintitwhite.blogspot.com  for photo credit of  China cabinet full of dishes.

      Marinete and Alix get to work on  what needs to be done in the dining room.  Alix starts to dust off the dishes and the china cabinet.  Marinette gets to work on sanding off the table.

    Achoo!  Achoo!  Achoo!  Alix sneezes a bit as she cleans up.

   "God Bless you!"  Marinette says in response.

   "Thanks, Marinette!"  Alix says.

                              *Author's  note:  The sketch of the worn out table that needs to be fixed up was drawn by  Summer Cheng, with the use  of  Autodesk, Inc.  SKetchbook app.   I have never drawn a table before, so hopefully it does not look to awful.*

      Marinette continues to sand off the table, when one of her fingers gets hurt with a loose small speck of wood that pokes up around the edge.

         "Ouch!"  Marinette screams out! as she gets a splinter from the table.  She whinces a bit too.

       Natalie enters the room.  She smiles when she sees Alix hard at work.   "Good, job, Alix!"  Natalie says.   "As for you, why are you even here?"  Natalie says angrily.  She can not understand why Marinette just stands there.

     "Hey, it is not her fault the table has a rough edge and she got a splinter!"  Alix remarks.

    "A splinter, oh my!  I am sorry, you poor dear!" Natalie says in sympathy.  She is about to help her, when the door swings wide open.

       "It really is not that bad!"  Marinette says. She looks at the floor as she continues to whince a bit from the pain.

      Adrien enters the room just then.  He forgets he has taken his disguise off recently.

      "Natalie, what just happened?"  Adrien ask.  He wants to know what took place in this room to cause all the noise.

     "Well, sir, Miss Marinette here just got a splinter!"  Natalie says.

     "A splinter, let me see!"  Adrien says.

      "Ah!  Y-you  g-get, a-away from m-me!"  Marinette yells out.  She slowly backs away from both Adrien and Natalie.  She is completely afraid now.  She is not sure why, but she is.  The presence of this blonde stranger frightens her more than she thought possible. 

        Marinette's  POV:  To my horror, on my first day at my new job, I get an injury.  I know it is a minor one as it is just a splinter.  It still hurts though and to make matters worse, Natalie yells at me about it!  Then, she calms down, apologizes and tries to help me.  I am in shock.  No one has ever been so kind as to want to help me before now, other than the boy in the cat suit.  Suddenly, I hear a door open, and when I look up I see him, a stranger.  He approaches Natalie and she seems to know who he is, but how?  I am sure I have never seen him before not even once.  I  find myself afraid of him.  I worry, he will harm me.  Oh, where did Adrien go?  

      Adrien just stands there stunned.  He thinks, wait is she afraid of me?  He looks at her in surprise.

     Adrien's  POV:  I enter my dining room when I hear funny noises, it sounds like Natalie and Marinette are at each others throats.  I  do not wish harm to come to her on her first day here!  Why if  I allow such a thing, the mayor will be upset, and besides, I care to much for Marinette to let her get hurt again.  I  walk in unannounced and it seems Alix does not notice me as she continues to work.  However, Marinette sees me which troubles me because she screams at me!  She screams and starts to back off from me and Natalie.  I can hear it in her voice and see it in her eyes that she thinks I am gonna hurt her!  I will not though, and why is she scared of me?  It dawns on me, I  have no disguise on right now.  She has never seen me without it.  Not even once.  

   to be continued in Chapter 13  An Explanation is in Order?