#Nathanael Kurtzenburg

[vanilla107]

Masterpiece (Part 6)

Okay so its been 4 months since I’ve updated and I’m so happy to finally be writing this again! It was a bit of a struggle to get back into the swing of it but I had so much fun with this chapter! A huge thank you to @angellecookiewingz, @krzed and @sugar--pie for being my Nathchlo friends. I couldn’t of done this without your support! I hope you all like enjoy it!

Part one: https://vanilla107.tumblr.com/post/145967766370/masterpiece-part-one

Read on A03: http://archiveofourown.org/works/8286893/chapters/18984242

Song used in this chapter (oh my word it’s beautiful just listen to it): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNGq16nHr-Q

*********************************************

Chloe woke up with a light feeling in her stomach and smiled.

She hadn't felt so happy in ages. With happiness she jumped out of bed and stretched.

Everything just seemed...right.

She could hear the sounds of the cars driving down the street below her, and smell the faint fragrance of roses.She changed into her waitress uniform and took a deep breath.

"You're gonna make it Chloe. Today is a good day."

She applied a light amount of makeup (there was no harm in still looking fabulous, right?) and made her way to her door. She paused. Nathanaël said that breakfast was important....but skipping one day wouldn't hurt. She opened her door and screamed in surprise.

"Nathanaël! Don't do that!"

Nathanaël burst out laughing. "I'm sorry! I was just about to knock!"

He ran his hands through his damp hair and grinned.

"You on your way to work?"

Chloe nodded and smiled. "I actually haven't felt this happy in a long time...it feels good."

"Everyone needs a rest every now and then. I think you just needed one," he said, noticing how much brighter her face looked. "Well, I gotta get going-" Chloe started but she stopped when she saw his face. "What? What's wrong? Is there something in my teeth?" Chloe asked getting impatient.

"Chloe, it's seven in the morning."

"So?"

"The restaurant only opens at 9. Why are you up so early?"

Chloe felt her stomach tighten. "Well...um...I usually go early so that I can get the place ready for customers...I get more money that way." Nathanaël raised an eyebrow.

"And how much more do you get paid?" Chloe averted her eyes.

"It depends...."

She felt Nathanaël's hands on her shoulders.

"Chloe. Stop lying to me."

"Okay! I may of....gotten into a fight with Gabriella, one of my awful co-workers and...poured juice all over her. And as punishment...I need to clean all the floors before the place opens for a month."

Nathanaël stared.

"Well, if you're gonna do that, then at least join me for breakfast. I assume you were going to skip?" he asked raising an eyebrow. Chloe's stomach growled and she groaned. "Okay, I didn't eat but-" "No buts. C'mon, I'm sure you can spend just a half an hour with me.”

Chloe knew he wasn't going to give in.

“Okay, fine!” she groaned but she smiled as she followed him to her apartment. “I made scones so feel free to put whatever you want on it,” Nathanaël said as he opened the door.

The smell of warm scones assaulted Chloe and her eyes got watery. When was the last time she had scones? A couple of months ago? The fresh scones were on a cooling rack on the marble counter-top with little bowls of cheese, strawberry jam, cream and butter surrounding it. Chloe didn't waste any time in grabbing three scones and putting cheese on the one and cream and jam on the other two. She sighed in contempt and caught Nathanaël humming a song as he buttered a scone for himself. Chloe felt her chest tighten.

It was the same song he had been playing for months after he and Marinette broke up.

“Nathanaël...why do you keep listening to that song?” she managed to say with a mouth full of scone before swallowing. Nathanaël froze bit his lower lip nervously. “Well, it’s only fair that I tell you, I suppose-”

“It’s about Marinette isn’t it?” Chloe blurted out and slapped a hand over her mouth.

Nathanaël gave her a confused look. “Why would it be about Marinette?” he asked.

Chloe was slowly dying inside.

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Why would you blurt about his ex-girlfriend like that? He probably thinks you’re desperate now! Ugh, come up with an excuse!

“Um...because the lady has long, dark hair in the song and...it reminds you of her?” Chloe squeaked.

Nathanaël burst out laughing and ran a hand through his red hair.

“Wow, you are a really bad liar,” he chuckled and Chloe could feel the embarrassment radiating off of her.

Can’t the floor just eat me now? she thought.

“If you wanted to know about my love life Chloe, you could’ve just asked,” he grinned, his eyes full of mirth. Chloe slammed her hands on the table and looked at Nathanaël, who was clearly enjoying how flustered she was getting.

“That’s not what I meant Nathanaël! Gosh, why do you have to be so blunt? I was asking about the song because you sing it all the time, not about your love life! And besides, you and Marinette broke up so why would I want to know about it?”

There was silence and Nathanaël raised an eyebrow as he absorbed all the information she was telling him. “Are you done?” he asked still grinning.

Chloe groaned and put her head in her hands.

“Okay, to save you from any more embarrassment I’ll explain. Marinette and I were never dating.”

Chloe’s heart stopped and her eyes grew wide.

“W-what?”

Nathanaël nodded and took a bite into his scone which he had spread a generous amount of cream and jam on.

“Marinette was helping me find inspiration for my paintings, which resulted in the two of obviously spending more time together. Since Mari is one of the hottest up and coming designers, naturally she would have paparazzi tailing her. I was with her quite a lot and the tabloids went wild. No one even bothered to find out the true story.”

Nathanaël took another bite of his scone and swallowed.

“Adrien and Marinette were dating in secret because she didn’t want her relationship with Adrien to seem forced because she was working with his dad. When they finally revealed that they were together...well the media jumped to conclusions that Marinette had broken up with me even though we were never together.”

Chloe was dumbstruck. She couldn’t believe she had jumped to such conclusions.

“But…didn’t you have a crush on Marinette in high school?” she asked as she took another bite of her scone. Nathanaël nodded.

“I did but it was pretty obvious how Marinette felt about Adrien. Thank God that they confessed to each other before we graduated. I don’t think I could imagine those two without each other…they truly love each other.”

Chloe felt uncomfortable talking about Marinette and Adrien.She hadn’t encountered them since the restaurant incident last Friday, and quite frankly was okay with never seeing them again. She was still good friends with Adrien but she never really buried the hatchet with Marinette. She had always been cruel to Marinette and for her own reasons didn’t want to think about it right now.

“So what about that song that you keep singing? You sang it all the time once you and Marinette ‘broke up’” Chloe said using air quotes.

Nathanaël smiled sadly.

“Marinette actually told me about the song. That song reminds me of how people just judge one another without getting to know them or the circumstances they’re in. It’s sort of my new inspiration for my paintings right now. The song is really a twist on Rapunzel but it ends tragically.”

Chloe snorted. “I’m aware of that. You played it so often that I know all the words.”

Without warning Chloe began to sing the song that had stuck in her head while she worked what had woken her up every morning and had tormented her in her dreams.

A man came across this old tower one day

It was straight like from a book he once read

He lifted his head up and saw this young lady

And here's what the lady said:

"Moi je m'appelle mademoiselle Noir

Et comme vous pouvez le voir

Je ne souris, ni ris, ni vis."

Et c'est tout ce qu'elle a dit

Chloe was about to sing the second verse when Nathanaël surprised her with his velvety tenor voice and watched in awe as he sang.

The man was so scared he could only run away

He ran to the town and then said:

"I just saw a lady with the longest dark hair

And I think she's a living dead!"

The people, so scared, took their guns and their swords

They ran to the tower and then

They saw the pale lady and felt a great fear

When they heard how she said it again:

"Moi je m'appelle mademoiselle Noir

Et comme vous pouvez le voir

Je ne souris, ni ris, ni vis."

Et c'est tout ce qu'elle a dit

She joined in with him for the last verse and felt lightness build up in her. It felt right singing with Nathanaël.

The people, they knew what this all was about:

She was clearly a demon from hell

They decided to set her long hair on fire

In the end it would burn her as well

But the lady was no demon she was a lonely soul

Just like in that book they once read

Still waiting for her prince while her hair was on fire

The one last time she said:

"Moi je m'appelle mademoiselle Noir

Et comme vous pouvez le voir

Je ne souris, ni ris, ni vis."

Et c'est tout ce qu'elle a dit

The apartment collapsed into silence and Nathanaël looked just as surprised as Chloe did.

They had just sung with each other.

Something neither of them thought they would ever do.

“Well…that was…wow,” he said breathlessly. “Y-yeah...I-I didn’t know you could s-sing.” Chloe stuttered.

Chloe looked at the clock hanging on the wall and nearly feel off her seat.

“IT’S NEARLY 9. I HAVEN’T CLEANED THE FLOORS. SHIT. SHIT. I’M SO FIRED!” she screeched.

Chloe finished her scones and grabbed her handbag. “No no no no no no. This can’t be happening. Not today,” she groaned as she tried to open the apartment door.

“Chloe, relax. I’ll walk with you there and explain everything,” Nathanaël assured as he helped her with the door.

They walked down the long corridor and down the stairs, Chloe still fidgeting nervously. Once they had gotten to the restaurant, the doors were already open and Mr. Shelley was already looking mad. Thankfully there were no customers, which meant no humiliation. His frown deepened when he saw her.

“Chloe! Why are you late? And why are the floors not mopped? I have every right to fire you for tardiness and failure to keep the hygiene levels of this establishment high-!” Mr. Shelley stopped yelling once he saw Nathanaël at Chloe’s side.

He immediately put a smile on his face and wiped some sweat off of his forehead. “Chloe, who is your friend over here?” he asked so sweetly that Chloe could feel the bile rising in her throat.

“This is Nathanaël my-“

“Boyfriend,” interrupted Nathanaël.

{Uploaded 10th April 2017}

[vanilla107]

Masterpiece (Part 7)

I don’t think I’ve ever updated so quickly in my life. People, this is a miracle so please don’t ask if this is possible again XD. The amount of support is overwhelming and I think that’s why I managed to write another chapter so quickly. Once again thank you to all the people who have inspired me and helped out with this fanfic @angellecookiewingz​, @sugar--pie​, @krzed​ and @princesszatana​ (who always reblogs and leaves the sweetest messages).

Part one: https://vanilla107.tumblr.com/post/145967766370/masterpiece-part-one

Read it on Ao3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/8286893/chapters/18984242

*************************************

Chloe froze and for a few minutes she didn’t know how to talk. Nathanaël began to speak.

Did he just say Boyfriend?

“You must be Chloe’s boss? I spoke to you on Saturday morning why Chloe couldn’t be at work.”

Mr. Shelley nodded.

“Ah, yes I remember. Chloe are you feeling better?”

Chloe managed a nod.

“Chloe has told me about your business, I have to say it looks like it’s doing well.” Nathanaël commented politely.

Mr. Shelley beamed with pride and Chloe resisted the urge to roll her eyes. If it was one thing other than screwing Gabriella and making money, the other thing that made Mr. Shelley happy was flattery. Chloe had actually tried flattery on Mr. Shelley when she first started working and it worked like a charm for the first few weeks.

She got raises every other week and was actually making a decent living but when Mr. Shelley started to leave lingering touches on her skin and invade personal space that was when she stopped. He didn’t get the hint and one night after work he became a little too ‘handsy’. Chloe had kneed him in the groin and called him a horrendous pig before storming out.

She had searched for other jobs but there weren’t any openings or she didn’t have the necessary skills. She ended up going back to the restaurant to find out that Mr. Shelley had hired Gabriella and an intense dislike grew between them. He couldn’t fire Chloe because she could file a report against him for harassment and his business would be gone but she needed the money, so in the end they had an unspoken agreement for her not to tell anyone so he could keep his business and she could keep her job.    

“Why thank you Nathanaël! If only Chloe could be as kind as you.”

Chloe glared daggers at Mr. Shelley but he ignored her.

“Anyway, the reason I’m here is to apologize for Chloe being late. It’s our one month anniversary today and I surprised her with breakfast. We lost track of time and she ended up running late. I’m very sorry for her tardiness.”

Chloe couldn’t believe the lies coming out of Nathanaël’s mouth. He said every word so smoothly and- was this really the dorky artist who sat at the back of the classroom?

“It’s okay, Nathanaël. I understand.”

“Thank you. And on the same topic, can I pick up Chloe a little earlier today from work? I have a surprise planned for our anniversary.”

Mr. Shelley nodded vigorously. “Of course!”

Nathanaël gave Mr. Shelley a warm smile before turning to face Chloe, who had been staring at him the whole conversation. He gave her a wink and a small smile before leaning in closer just so that he could whisper in her ear.

“I’ll see you in a few hours okay, love?”

He leaned down and lightly kissed her forehead before walking away.

Mr. Shelley smiled and nodded.

“I gotta say, he’s a nice guy, Chloe. Now get into the kitchen and turn on the fryer and dishwasher,” Mr. Shelley said as he spotted Gabriella walking towards them. Gabriella was twenty minutes late but did that matter when you’re screwing your boss?

No.

Chloe walked inside as Mr. Shelley pulled Gabriella into an embrace and they shared a passionate (disgusting is the word Chloe would’ve chosen) kiss.

“I just saw a cute red head walking away. Who’s he?” Gabriella asked in her sickingly sweet voice.

“ Chloe’s boyfriend,” replied Mr. Shelley.

“Ooh, she actually has taste,” cackled Gabriella.

Chloe was too caught up in her own world to be bothered with Gabriella.

Nathanaël had kissed her.            

The more she thought about it, the redder her face would go.

“Ugh, what are you doing to me, Nathanaël?” Chloe groaned as the butterflies fluttered her stomach and her hands grew clammy with sweat.

*****************

Chloe stretched and felt her joints click and she sighed in relief.

Three o’clock rush hour had just finished and she was feeling drained. Chloe was grateful that there wasn’t anyone in the restaurant for the time being, so she could think in peace. She took a cloth and began to walk to all the tables that needed wiping down. As she wiped the coffee stains away her mind began to wonder about what Nathanaël had done that morning.

He kissed her.

And he said he was her boyfriend. 

And he said, “I’ll see you in a few hours okay, love?”

Chloe wanted to bang her head against the clean table.

The only question was why?

Why did he do all of those things? There was never a need to do it. The more she thought about it, the bigger the urge to throw the table out the window.

Just relax, Chloe. You can talk to him about it later when he fetches you.

Chloe froze.

Crap. He was still fetching her early for a ‘surprise’.

What did that even mean?

“Um, Chloe? You’ve been wiping the same table for the past fifteen minutes,” a nasally voice interrupted her thoughts. Chloe looked up and shook her head.

“Um…yeah, sorry, Gabriella. I was just thinking…” Chloe mumbled as she moved onto the next table and began to wipe down the rest of the tables. To her frustration, Gabriella had followed her and immediately began asking questions.

“So how did you and Nathanaël meet?”

“We went to the same high school.”

“Did you always like him? Or is he a high school sweetheart? Maybe you and Nathanaël and me and Davy can go on a double date!”

Chloe spun around to face Gabriella and gave her a look that said ‘ are you out of your freaking mind?’

“Listen Gabriella, I don’t need to tell you anything about Nathanaël. Oh, and in case you haven’t noticed, you and I are not friends, at all. So stop treating me like we are because I never want to be. And did you just offer to go on a double date with me and Nathanaël…With OUR BOSS?”

Chloe moved onto the next table and bit back a scream when she saw Gabriella standing opposite her. Gabriella slammed her hands on the table.

“I have the right to know! Nathanaël is such a cutie pie-“

“You did not just call him a cutie pie.”

“Well do you have anything better to describe him? He’s yummy,” Gabriella said with a lick of her lips.

Chloe threw down the rag on the table and growled at Gabriella. She could feel anger pumping through her veins.

“Okay, that is just wrong. Nathanaël is not ‘yummy’ like some sort of erotic stripper! He’s compassionate, a really good cook, patient, an amazing listener and oh my word, he is so talented. I don’t need to tell you jack shit about who Nathanaël is and our lives. All you need to know is to back-“ Chloe took a menacing step towards Gabriella and to her surprise, Gabriella whimpered in fear “-the hell away from Nathanaël otherwise there will be hell to pay.”

Without another word, Chloe spun on her heels and crashed into a customer. She wobbled for a few seconds and felt the customer grab her hands to balance.

“Oh my goodness, I am so sorry-“ Chloe began before meeting a pair of familiar azure blue eyes. “Nathanaël,” Chloe said feeling all the air getting sucked out of her body as he continued to hold her hands in his.   

“Hey, love. How was work?” he asked with a small smile.

“I-it was good,” she mumbled.

“You ready to go? I have the surprise all ready.”

Chloe wanted to punch a wall. Nathanaël was either hella good at acting or all of this was something else entirely.

“Y-yes…I just need to get my bag from the kitchen.”

Chloe quickly ran to the kitchen and retrieved her bag. Her mind was in overdrive.

What was this surprise? Was he doing this just so that they could spend some time together? But that still didn’t make any sense as to why he said he was her boyfriend.

Chloe stepped out of the kitchen to see Nathanaël and Mr. Shelley talking. She was glad to see Gabriella on the other side of the restaurant avoiding eye contact with her.

“-Today was good, business went smoothly. Where are you taking Chloe for your anniversary?”

Nathanaël chuckled.

“Still a surprise, Mr. Shelley.”

He turned to see Chloe walking towards him and he wrapped an arm around her waist, causing her to blush. How was he so comfortable with this?

“Goodbye,” Nathanaël said and strolled out the door with Chloe still glued firmly to his waist.

Once they were a few blocks away from the restaurant, they began a slow walk on one of the more quieter streets, the cars and traffic a few roads away from them. Chloe wanted to protest but her feet hurt and she was exhausted from how hectic her day had been. She also quite liked how secure Nathanaël’s hand was around her waist and wanted some peace and quiet after working with loud children, equally loud adults and blaring music in the background.

By the time they got to the apartment, the sun was bathing the afternoon in gorgeous streaks of gold and pink. As Nathanaël opened up his apartment, Chloe wiggled out of his grip and glared at him. She stormed into the apartment and threw her bag onto the marble counter

“This is all your fault!” she hissed.

Nathanaël looked startled at first but smiled lazily and there was a strange twinkle in his eyes.

“And what is my fault exactly, Chloe?”

Chloe threw her hands exasperatedly in the air.

“Are you kidding me? The kiss? The ‘boyfriend’ thing? Nathanaël you have some explaining to do, so help me-“

Nathanaël burst out laughing and doubled over. Chloe glared at him.

How dare her laugh at her when he’s easily caused her so much anguish for the past seven hours?

 Once Nathanaël was done laughing he cleared his throat.

“Okay, let me explain.”

Chloe nodded. “Fine, but this better be good, Kurtzberg, otherwise you’ll regret it.“

Nathanaël took a seat on the couch and Chloe followed, sitting on the opposite side.

“Okay, why did I say I was your boyfriend? Simple, Chloe your boss is a sleazy guy but he understands how important maintaining a relationship is.”

Chloe scoffed,“Oh really?”

Nathanaël grinned.

“I know it sounds impossible but hear me out. Mr. Shelley is the type of guy to want something in his life and once he has it, he worships it and treasures it until it’s gone. Same thing goes for relationships. He currently worships Gabriella ,right? Well that’s why he let you off the hook so easily, because you had a boyfriend who just wanted to surprise you with a nice breakfast for their one month anniversary.”

Chloe was impressed.

“Okay, but what if you hadn’t done the boyfriend trick?”

Nathanaël closed his eyes then opened them. “He would’ve been angry with you but not in front of me. Maybe once I had left, he would’ve shouted at you. Also he wouldn’t of let you off work a few hours early.”

“How do you know all of this? It’s actually kind of scary,” Chloe giggled.

 Nathanaël ran a hand through his hair.

“Um, I’d prefer to not talk about it,” he said softly and Chloe grew worried.

“I-I wasn’t trying to be nosy! I’m sorry,” she said quickly.

“It’s okay, Chloe. I’ll tell you another time…when I feel ready.”

Chloe smiled. She liked having moments with Nathanaël like this. Just talking to him made the world seem a little more normal.

No angry bosses.

No annoying co-workers.

That was when something clicked in her head and she slowly turned to face Nathanaël.

‘I hate you. Do you have any idea what it’s going to be like working with Gabriella now? She offered to go on a double date with us! I don’t know how long I’m supposed to keep her off my back!” she said with a groan.

Nathanaël laughed. “I’m sure the warning you gave her at the restauant sent the message across quite well.”

Chloe felt her jaw drop and heat rush to her face.

“Y-you heard all of that?” she stuttered and leaned on the marble counter in support in fear of falling over.

Nathanaël nodded and Chloe, for the second time today, wished she was dead.

Chloe wanted to take one of his throw pillows she was sitting on and whack him repeatedly with it.

“Hmm…and y’know I really liked the way you told off Gabriella that I wasn’t  yummy like some sort of erotic stripper...that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.”

Chloe grabbed a throw pillow and screamed into it while Nathanaël continued ticking off the things she had done.

 “That I’m kind and compassionate? Or was it talented and a good listener? Oh! It was I cook amazing food!” Nathanaël teased.

“Please stop.” Chloe begged and her voice was slightly muffled because her face was buried into the pillow.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop.”

Chloe lifted her head off of the pillow, her forehead already having indentations because of the fabric.

Nathanaël stood up and stretched, exposing a sliver of stomach to Chloe who immediately averted her eyes knew that image wasn’t getting out of her mind anytime soon.

“C’mon.” he said as he grabbed her hand and helped her stand up.

“What? Where are we going?” Chloe asked

“It’s our one month anniversary, darling. Did you forget? I wasn’t joking when I said I had a surprise.” Nathanaël said as he went into his room before peeking his head out again. “Oh, and you can shower here because your water pressure is seriously messed up.”

“How did you know? You haven’t been spying on me, have you?” Chloe questioned and to her surprise, Nathanaël’s cheeks went red.

“No! I-it was the only r-reasonable answer as to why you burned yourself last weekend while having your first s-shower here!”

Chloe smirked.

“How does it feel to be teased now?” she asked.

Nathanaël rolled his eyes and playfully knocked her hip against his.

“Okay, I’m going to go shower now and you are going to get warm clothes from your apartment and bring them here so you can shower after me. It looks like it’s going to be a cold evening.”

Chloe did just that and, after careful planning, decided to wear a thick lilac sweater with little white flowers on them (she actually got it from a thrift store and it was one of the clothes she adored), navy blue jeans, black high-tops (another thrift buy and they were a little too big but she wore thick socks with them) and a black scarf. She locked her door and went back to Nathanaël’s apartment and saw that he was done. She let out a small gasp and her heart began to beat a little faster.

He was wearing a dark blue long-sleeved shirt with black jeans and Converse sneakers. His hair was slightly damp and cheeks red from the shower.

“That was quick,” Chloe said before disappearing into the bathroom.

“Or you just took long to pick your clothes!” Nathanaël yelled as she switched on the shower.

She let the warm water wash away the grim and the feel of fry oil on her skin. She washed her hair and used some of Nathanaël’s body wash to clean herself.

He smells like the ocean.

She got out of the shower and got dressed and styled her hair into her signature ponytail. She took one final glance of herself in the mirror and smiled.

She exited the bathroom and saw Nathanaël as he slid on his leather jacket and checked his phone. Chloe couldn’t help but stare. That jacket looked so good on him and she wondered if he was aware how he was making her feel just by wearing a leather jacket.

He looked up and his eyes widened in surprise.

“Lilac really…suits you,” he commented and Chloe looked down shyly.

“So…it’s still a surprise?” she asked as he ushered her out of the apartment and into the corridors.

“Yes…but I think you’re going to like it.”

{Uploaded on the 13th April 2017 4:18am}