Adrien Agreste

       “Oh!” The air was knocked from his lungs as he ran into another person. His phone fell from his grip, landing face down on the sidewalk. “I’m sorry.” He bent down onto his haunches, reaching for his phone to check it. There was a thin line down the center of it, creating a spiderweb of fractures all across the screen. Sighing, he slide the phone into his pocket and stood back up to face the person he had run into. “Are you okay?” He asked, plastering a model smile across his lips, trying to replace the disappointment of his phone. 

“No, I don’t, Mom!” she roared into the phone. This was the fifth time they’d had this conversation this week. Merida had reluctantly agreed to join her family for their biyearly charity dinner, but they fundamentally disagreed on what constituted “appropriate” clothing.

“I told you, I’m wearing my docs, or I’m not going!… why does it even matter?… Oh please, no one is going to look at me and think ‘well I better rescind my donation, she’s in boots!’… call me back when you’re ready to listen, I’ll be here.” With that, she hung up, groaning and throwing her head back in frustration. It was only then that she noticed she was not alone.

“How much of that did you hear?”

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      “Are you okay?” Adrien asked, considered about the clearly upset stranger. He hadn’t meant to eavesdrop on the conversation, but it was a little hard when she was screaming so loudly close to him. “Uh,” he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “I heard enough of it. I get it though. Me and my dad don’t always see eye to eye. Did you want to get some ice cream? It might make you feel a little better.” He offered. 

“There you go, little one.” Marian spoke softly and smiled as she gently set the little duckling in the water, at which point the fluffy little creature swam off happily. She could see its family near the center of the little pond, and she laughed as the other ducks finally noticed the duckling she’d saved, quacking loudly and swimming toward it en masse. She heard footsteps and looked up with a soft smile, standing up and brushing the dirt of the bank off her knees. “I found that poor little duckling by the fountain all on his own,” she said. “I thought his family might be here, so I brought him over. I was right, look! Isn’t that darling?” She smiled sweetly at them.

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     Adrien had been doing a photoshoot near the pond when he noticed a woman walking towards it with something small and yellow in her hands. Peaking his interest, he asked for a quick break, much to the director’s annoyance. With a frustrated sigh, the man called a 5 minute break and that was enough for Adrien to start walking towards the woman. Watching the little duckling swim away, he smiled from across the pond. “That little duck was lucky you found it.” He nodded with a smile. “I’m Adrien.” He introduced himself.