Phase 1; Breaking Up & Meeting Up

My foot hit the gas as I accelerated down the road. I could almost smell the burning rubber of my tires. I always drove like this, but today I was fuelled by irritation so 'Stronger-Kanye West' could be heard blasting through the speakers. I screamed over it to yell through my Bluetooth headset.

"Nikki, it's not like that! She's a major New York Times big-wig I was just trying to secure a position-"

"Shut-up! I'm tired of running in circles trying to please you and everyone else, Adrien! You never consider how I feel!"

"But-"

"No!"

"It was for us!"

"There isn't an us, Adrien! Not anymore! And you've managed to show me there never was..."

"Oh, come on Nikki! Nikki, baby! Get over it-"

"Get over yourself, you bastard!"

"Oh, Nicole…" He sounded like he was chiding me. Like he was disappointed in me. How dare he!

"No! I'm done with this Adrien! I'm sick of it! We. Are. Through. If you can't commit to me you are of no use to me..." I hung up.

I pulled into my garage, driving in between the 2 rows of cars that ranged between one and almost one hundred years of age. This was my collection and my collection and a large part of my life. That and chocolate. It took a lot of time and money to have a collection this expensive and I was glad I was able to fuel this little habit of mine. What can I say, Von Doom Industries paid well. Very well.

I pulled the black corvette into the marked space A-20 and got out with a growl, making sure to not slam the door with frustration. Instead I took a breath, clenched my fists and marched over to the elevator. When I got in, I pressed the button a million times as if that would make it go faster.

I had woken up this morning with the intention of going on a casual date with my boyfriend er'….ex-boyfriend. He however had decided not to grace me with his presence and when I called his house a woman answered with a post-coital tone that I did not approve of. Maybe I was jumping to conclusions like Adrien had said, or maybe not. Either way, I realized with a hint of self-loathing it was likely that Adrien Grey would find a way to weasel his way back into my life. I may be smart, but Adrien had always been my one weakness. It had been that way since we had met when I went to Embry-Riddle Daytona for my BSc. I didn't want to count how many years ago. I had been fresh out of high school and Adrien had been a handsome, older, fun-loving writer I met on a night out. We had fun, our relationship used to by fun. Now he was a dark haired, dark eyed journalist with a thick skull and no soul.

I glanced to my left into the mirrored wall of the elevator. My Italian decent was obvious through my long curly brown hair and tanned skin, the image only broken by frosty blue eyes. I was short, with a fair sized chest and athletic build. But I was not born that way. I had worked out for hours a day to achieve this level of athletic physique and I will admit (with a small degree of shame) to plastic surgery.

Adrien had once subtly hinted that he thought my boobs were small...so, as unfortunately obsessed and easily manipulated as I am, my B turned to a D. I remember staring at myself every day for a few months in the mirror trying to tell myself I was perfect the way I was.

But it didn't work.

Today for my 'casual date' I had selected a pair of denim short-shorts, a simple blue tank top, sunglasses and of course we can't forget my black high heeled sandals; I never go a day without heels of some kind. If I'm not wearing heels there is a problem.

The elevator reached my living space and I walked through the archway into my living room/kitchen area. My living room consisted of glass tables, shelves and a desk, modern black leather seating, white walls, dark wood floors, abstract paintings and large windows overlooking the ocean. My kitchen was much the same with class countertops and stainless steel appliances.

I threw my iphone on the counter. Adrien had been texting me so much his name seemed to have permanently covered my lock screen. I huffed, to mad to be depressed. This also wasn't the first time I'd gone through something like this with Adrien.

I decided to get something to eat and dug into the cupboard to grab a box of cocoa puffs, digging my hand in greedily before stuffing mass amounts into my mouth. I had turned it to silent, so at least I wouldn't have to hear his ringtone.

It buzzed. I ignored it, stuffing another handful of cocoa puffs in my face. It buzzed again. Now it was starting to piss me off. It buzzed again.

Adrien: that no-good, lying, cheating, fuck! He was too afraid to call me back after my last outburst a few minutes previous.

Ass.

I growled and stomped down the hall and into the bathroom. A hot shower, that always calmed me down. Just as I had stripped I heard the phone ring and couldn't resist. So he finally worked up the nerve to actually call me again? Well I was certainly going to give him an earful! I grabbed a towel and dashed down the hall, not realizing how crazy I would've looked had I had company. I grabbed the phone and answered it with an arrogant, almighty tone similar to the one he had used on me.

"Still whining Adrien-" I was immediately horrified by the voice that cut me off.

"Miss Tabarrani." Oh. That was not Adrien.

I took time to gulp, which allowed for a long, uncomfortable silence.

"H-Hello, Vic-er-Mr. Von Doom. I'm sorry. I-"

"Nicole, it is of little concern to me what you were doing or who you assumed I was. But I need you at the head office in New York. 6 AM Thursday morning, understood?"

"Yes, sir."

We shared no goodbyes, both of use simply hanging up. I glared down at the 'blocked ID' on my phone's screen. Victor always did have the worst timing. I tried to ignore the part of me that was disappointed Adrien hadn't tried to call again. With a groan I headed back to the shower. Von Doom Industries could wait until tomorrow; right now I needed to calm down before I ruined my career with my big mouth.

XxX

Thursday morning I stumbled out of my NYC penthouse and into the busy streets of the big apple. It was closer to 6:30 than 6. I was a sucker for being fashionably late. A valet drove my selected car around from the nearby garage and I smiled. Ah yes, my sapphire Ferrari 458 Italia. The valet looked like he was in heaven as he gave both me and the car another once over before retreating back into the building.

I was wearing a tight black and sleeveless, thigh-length dress with an indigo belt. Matching stilettos adorned my feet. The outfit was made more professional with a sharp white blazer and a Marc Jacobs brown leather briefcase.

I climbed into the Ferrari, making sure to buckle up my briefcase in the passenger's seat and checked my phone once for messages, before pulling a reckless U-turn into the street. I zipped through the lanes, weaving through traffic and probably doing several illegal turns; going way over the speed limit. One of the perks of working for Von Doom was the sticker you could put on the back of your car. Victor had more money than god and a select few of his employees, like Nicole, were considered above the law.

I arrived at quarter-to seven and weaved my way through the crowd, intent on asking Victor why he wanted me there, before coming to a stop at a familiar voice.

"High open space, exposed structural elements. Obviously aimed at first time visitors to create feelings of...smallness, inadequacy."

I spun on my heel and smiled. A familiar tall man, a real string-bean, with a pale complexion and dark hair was standing there.

Reed Richards.

Reed and I had worked together to innovate his laboratory a few years previous, when I was still working on my masters. A fun-fact that Victor had taken great interest in during my interview. In fact many of Reed's technologies I had helped design. I was an engineer after all, although my major area of expertise was aerospace technologies; I did just about everything. Heck, I even had even completed an online diploma in Architecture, just for fun. I loved designing things. In exchange for the help Reed had paid me a good 200 grand; enough to pay off the latest bills on my education. Where he got 200 grand I would probably never know; but I had it now and that's all that mattered to me.

An unfamiliar man accompanied him; bald and strong looking with a serious face.

I smirked, feeling a little superior and sauntered over.

"Victor said to me; design me something...larger than life. And I did. Glad you like it...Reed." I flashed a grin in the two men's direction. Like I said, I did just about everything when it came to blueprints in Von Doom Industries; from Victor's space toys to his statues. If I didn't have a hand in the designing; I had at least a finger in the planning. Recognition dawned on his face the instant he turned to face me. The other man looked at me with a sense of reproach, not sure whether I was friend or foe. To be honest I wasn't sure whether I was foe to them either. I knew Victor and Reed had a shaky past, and while part of me thought it was because of Sue another part of me felt that maybe they had proclaimed each other rivals in life (as men tended to do).

Reed looked undecided for a moment himself before smiling politely and looking back to his friend.

"Ben, this is Nicole Tabarrani. She is Victor's head of engineering and architecture. She helped design the space station...as well as this building apparently. Nicole this is Ben Grimm." I reached a hand out and 'Ben' took it with a tense smile. He shook it once firmly before letting go and keeping his obviously forced smile.

"Fortunately, your 'high open space and exposed structural elements' aren't working on me today." My smile dropped and I wasn't sure whether that was supposed to be an insult or just a tactless statement. Probably insult. Ben grabbed Reed's shoulder and pulled him away from me so they could speak but I heard them nonetheless.

"Reed, what are we doing here? This guy's fast-food operation, stiletto engineering and strip-mall science." Ben muttered, glancing over his shoulder at me and I feigned ignorance by studying my nails. Ouch. So much for a blazer making every outfit look professional. I glanced down at my stilettos, slightly put out.

"This wasn't our first stop, in case you forgot NASA. Victor's staff, all of them, are prized for being extremely dependable and," he glanced back at me with a smile, "professional. And Victor's not that bad. He's just a little...larger than life." Reed replied glancing over at Victor's newest addition; a 30 foot statue of himself.

Oh, if he only knew.

When they were done their little talk they turned and I morphed into their conversation once more.

"So, what are you here for?" I asked Reed, shoving my hands in my blazer pockets as the guys took up a position on either side of me. We subconsciously began walking together towards the building and past Victor's massive statue. Without letting them know, I was attempting to find out what was so bad that NASA had turned them down. I wasn't expecting them to give it up easily, but still it was worth a shot.

"I'm not really sure if I should say. I just needed to talk to Victor about backing a new project of mine... He's financed some of the biggest breakthroughs of this century." I was quiet for a moment but was interrupted by my phone ringing. Sue's name appeared on the screen and I knew I couldn't avoid it. I excused myself and wished Reed luck, shaking their hands once more quickly before dashing into a secluded space. I watched the two walk away continuing their conversation.

"Hey, Sue." I answered.

"Nikki, I just heard from Victor you were back in New York. He said you got here yesterday...why didn't you contact me?"

"Sorry. I've been a little...tied up lately. Want meet and talk? I can tell you where I am..."

"No need..." the voice became doubled and accompanied by footsteps. "I found you."

I smiled and we both hung up our phones. Sue and I had met during a trip to the Kennedy Space Center that took place during the last year of my Masters at Carleton University. Both our universities had been there and both of us had gotten lost together. It was a real coincidence seeing as I had gone to high school with her younger brother and had known about Sue almost all my high school career. The teachers talked about her all the time. She had graduated with honors, went on to a very reputable college and spent her time alongside some of the greatest young minds in North America. We had become friends and had stayed friends for a while. It was in fact Sue who had gotten me my interview at Von Doom Industries. I designed her lab and worked on advancing all the equipment her team needed to become one of the best genetic research groups out there. I was proud of my work with Sue.

"So how are you and Adrien?" I partially laughed and scoffed at the same time.

"Wait until you hear this..."