Yeah yeah, I know I said I'm on hiatus until after my exams, but I couldn't help it. The Pepperony Month Challenge is ongoing, I can't participate yet I have ideas…

By the way, the conversation below in italics was supposed to be an iPhone conversation (which can be seen at ridevendor LJ) Unfortunately, is horrible by disallowing images. Thus I had to type everything out, which kind of stinks. For optimal reading experience, please view this story over at ridevendor * livejournal * com/19284 * html (replace * with . and remove spaces)

AU. Pepper used to work at Hammer Industries. How did she meet Tony?

Disclaimer: If I owned Iron Man, I would own more than 2 DVDs and a movie novelization. Maybe a helmet…?


The first time they met was in a pub. It had been ages since she last stepped foot into one, but she needed a drink, after nearly being fired from her job. She must have looked absolutely miserable, sitting in that dark corner all alone without company. On her second glass, he approached her.

"Hey there. Need some company, beautiful?"

Ugh, not another horny asshole. She braced her forehead against the counter, waving a hand to shoo off the intruder.

"Go away."

The man didn't obey, instead he drew up a chair and sat next to her, prying the glass of unfinished beer out of her hands.

"No way, you're way too buzzed to be alone now. What's a lady like you doing here getting drunk off your ass?"

"I'm not drunk."

"You're a horrible liar, you know that? Now spill."

Reluctantly, she looked up at the man. The place was just dark enough to mask his facial features, but she could make out a really expensive suit (which probably costs most than her month's salary) and a hairstyle which probably cost just as much. A rich man, then.

"What would you know?"

"I wouldn't know if you don't tell me. I promise not to make any moves on you."

Her half-drunken mind decided it would be a fantastic idea to pour all of her feelings onto a complete stranger. So she did. She ranted all about how she, a low-level administrative assistant at Hammer Industries, caught a calculation error in a financial projection document which would have cost the company millions but was brushed off by all of her superiors. She had nearly lost her job when she went up to Mr Hammer's office personally to bring the issue to him since he was the one who crunched the numbers, only to get her own job back when Hammer ordered her supervisor to hire her back since 'nothing happened today'. Of course, he completely ignored the mistake, claiming that he never made mistakes.

"Hammer obviously doesn't know what he has..." The man muttered when she was done venting her frustration, taking a sip of her beer(!). He was about to speak again when his phone vibrated from within his suit, blasting out some kind of heavy metal tune. He answered the phone (which was of a model she had never seen before), before breathing a heavy sigh and ending the call.

"I need to go. Call me if you need anything?" He quickly scribbled his number on a paper napkin nearby, handing it to her before jetting out of the pub.

Their next contact was a few days later.

SHORT MESSAGE SERVICE LOG

SENT: -Hey…-

RECEIVED: -You're that woman from the pub right?-

SENT: -Yeah-

RECEIVED: -Was expecting you to call earlier, they usually do-

SENT: -Sorry, haven't had much time to chat lately. Work is a killer-

RECEIVED: -You're with Hammer right?-

SENT: -I used to-

RECEIVED: -You quit?-

SENT: -Fired. They finally found the mistake and blamed it on everyone who saw the projections-

RECEIVED: -Always knew Hammer was a fool, but this is ridiculous. You deserve better-

RECEIVED: -Come work for me-

SENT: -What?-

RECEIVED: -There's a job opening with your name on it. Literally. You're prime candidate for it-

SENT: -Wait, I don't even know who you are or who you work for…-

RECEIVED: -Call me Tony. Come to Starbucks Pacific Coast Highway-

RECEIVED: -Wear something nice-

Despite her better judgement, she decided to meet this Tony anyway. She put on her most professional outfit and left her apartment.

15 minutes later, she arrived at the store, ordered a cup of cappucino and sat at a window seat. While waiting for her potential employer, she pondered the insanity and recklessness of this meeting. Here she was, waiting for someone whom she met while drunk (but clearly not enough for her to forget the encounter) to hire her, just hours after she got fired from what she thought was a relatively stable job. She didn't even know who he was, what he did or what he even looked like. Maybe she should just decline the job offer and search for another job that would accept her BA in accounting.

A silver Audi pulled up outside the store, attracting a small crowd of onlookers. She sucked in a breath and composed herself. If the man's clothes from earlier were any indication of his wealth, that could very well be him.

The door to Starbucks swung open, admitting a sharply-dressed man who looked remarkably like Tony Stark, the CEO of Sta- Oh, damn.

"Hey there, almost didn't recognise you." Stark took a seat at her table, ignoring the star-struck stares from the other customers.

"If you pull anything funny, Mr Stark, I'll have you know that I have a bottle of pepper spray in my bag and I'm not afraid to use it."

"Wow, you really are the world's worst liar."

She rolled her eyes, taking out her documents from the handbag she carried.

"Here's my resume, my degre-"

Stark swatted the handbag out of her hands, grinning.

"I don't need to see those documents to see you're more than qualified, Miss..."

"Potts. Virginia Potts, Mr Stark."

"You don't look like a Virginia to me. Let's call you Pepper. Do you like Pepper?"

She scowled at him. "No."

"You'll get used to it. What do you say to becoming my PA? I need someone who can't lie to me. Great salary I'll probably come up with in a drunken haze, definitely beats unemployment."

She gaped at him, unbelieving what he had just said. Across the table, he snatched her cup of cappucino, sipping from it before grimincing from the bitterness and pouring a few sachets of sugar into it. As he savoured the taste of sugar water, he smiled as she seemed to have finally reached a decision.

"Okay."