Author's Note: Another drabble for my bro Madonna. I love Pepperony as much as you guys but in this drabble they won't be together. No flames. This is set between Iron Man 2 and the Avengers movie. Enjoy!
How Tony met Madonna
Tony Stark was bored. Being the billionaire-playboy-philanthropist that he is, he spent all night partying and as of now had to show up for a meeting for Stark Industries. He had nothing better to do considering Iron Man wasn't needed right now, he had nothing but ideas in his head for later creations and no blueprints, and the fact that Pepper had nagged him into coming for her sanity's sake. Tony had always admired Pepper. He had tried to come onto her – both seriously and playfully – but she always turned him down flat. Right now she was happily dating Happy, and Tony for the life of him couldn't stand to come between his two friends that tolerated (loved) and knew him best.
So here he was, stuck in a boring conference about funding or whatever – he wasn't paying any attention – when this babe walked into the room and served the Board their coffee. Tony had never seen this woman before or he would have hit on her sooner. She was very short, about 5'2", and curvy where he liked it: on her rear, hips, and thighs. The brunette's hair was short to her shoulders, slightly wavy, and pulled back into a loose bun. The woman had intelligent brown eyes, a regal nose, and right now ruby red lips. Tony's only disappointment was that she had a grey pencil skirt that may fit her tight but it was down to her knees, not nearly short enough to his liking. Her white dress-shirt wasn't skin tight and she had nearly all the buttons closed up except for the top two so in his opinion she wasn't showing nearly enough skin. Still, she was very beautiful and Tony wanted to tell her. He wanted her.
She made her way over in her sensibly high, grey high-heels and offered him the coffee without speaking a word. When she looked at him she had a sparkle of excitement in her eyes and the barest hint of a smile on her lips yet she did nothing untoward him. Tony wished in that moment that she had a nametag but no such luck so he simply nodded and watched her prepare his coffee. She then showed him the box of doughnuts and he took two and said,
"Sit down and have a cup of coffee with me. Here, have a doughnut." He pushed the chair out beside him with his foot and patted the seat welcomingly.
Looking only slightly flustered, the woman looked toward the rest of the occupants in the room. Pepper was giving Tony an admonishing look that translated into, "Pay attention and quit flirting with anything that can wear a skirt." Happy stood behind her, standing guard but choosing to ignore Tony's behavior. The rest of the Board was waiting for Tony's reply to a question that had been proposed. The Chairman of the Board asked, "Well, Mr. Stark?"
Tony, without seeming contrite at all, simply said, "I dunno. Pepper what do you think?" He swiveled the chair towards the brunette and motioned for her to sit down.
"Mr. Stark, I already told the Board what I think." Pepper smiled sweetly at him.
Tony knew he was caught so he said, "Well, you clearly have a firmer grasp on the subject that I do so I'll let you make this decision." He pushed back his chair and announced, "I'm hungry. You wanna go grab a bite to eat with me?" he asked the brunette smoothly and offered her his hand, ignoring Pepper's glare.
The brunette glanced at the others before taking his hand. "Yes, Mr. Stark."
Tony pulled her to her feet and led her out of the room, explaining, "Uh, no. We'll have none of that 'Mr. Stark' business. As a matter of fact this lunch isn't business at all. It's pleasure. So this would go a lot more pleasurable if you call me Tony and I call you… Mary?"
"No, sir. My name isn't Mary." She patiently answered as she struggled to keep up with his quick pace. Tony knew if he could make it the elevator he could escape Pepper and wouldn't have to be dragged back to the conference room to endure anymore useless drivel. It would also be embarrassing to be caught.
"Sarah, then?" he quipped as he pushed the down button rapidly and repeatedly.
"No, sir." Tony stepped into the elevator and pulled her in with him.
"Morgan?" The doors closed and he pressed the floor button five times.
"No." The elevator started going down at a slow, easy pace.
"Elizabeth?" He turned to face her, but didn't release her hand.
She was staring at him like he was a crazy person and simply shook her head no again.
"What about Katelyn? You look like one." He fondly tucked a string of hair behind her ear.
"No, Mr. Stark." She sighed, slightly exasperatedly. At this rate he'll never guess.
"See you know my name but I don't know yours and I would like to have a pleasurable lunch with you but I don't know your name. Tell me." He stared into her eyes deeply and searched as if he could find her name in there, somewhere.
"I have an unusual name." She shrugged. "My parents named me Madonna."
"Madonna?" Tony clarified, and when she nodded he continued, "Why did they name you that? Please tell me it wasn't after the popstar. You know, 'like a virgin, touched for the very first time'?" He sang.
"No." She laughed, "It's kind of a long story but here it goes. My parents wanted to name me Morgan and my dad joking said that they should name me Morganna after Morgan le Fey, you know, and my mom misheard him and thought that he suggested Madonna. They thought it was funny so the name just stuck that way." While Madonna told her story, Tony had walked her to his sports car and opened the passenger door for her.
She climbed in the Porsche, and Tony jumped and slid across the shiny silver hood to the other side and jumped in beside her in the driver's seat. "Huh, funny story, I guess." He buckled up, cranked the key, and revved the engine. "You better hold onto something." He stepped on the gas and they took off fast leaving tire marks on the parking garage's concrete floor.
Madonna buckled her seatbelt quickly after that and her hands went to control her hair while Tony drove them through downtown Malibu. The top was down and when Tony looked over at her he saw one of the most beautiful sites he had ever seen. Her hair was coming out of its loose bun and it flew about her face in the best way, whipping around and outlining her profile against the background of the blue Pacific Ocean and the white sandy beaches. "So, Madonna, what do ya wanna eat?"
"Oh, I don't know." She sighed absentmindedly, "Do you think they'll be mad that you left the meeting so soon Mr. Stark and that you took me with you?" She inquired.
"Nah. Of course, not. I have my name on the title of the company. And if they fire you or something stupid like that then I myself will personally rehire you – through Pepper. You could be a pencil-pusher secretary or something instead of the intern who brews the coffee, if you wanted."
"Actually, Mr. Stark, I don't just make the coffee. I work in the mail room." She clarified calmly while he drove like a mad man.
"Really? You should have a better job than that. You seem like such a smart girl. I'll have Pepper give you a bonus and promote you to Chairwoman of the Board. How 'bout that?" he asked.
"Mr. Stark, I think you should slow down. And thank you, but no thank you. I'd like to move on up through your company the fair way – through hard work and my own means. Besides, if you did that then everyone would think I slept with you just to get that nice comfy desk job."
Tony wisely chose to ignore that last statement. Even if he wanted it to be kind of true he knew from experience that women didn't like he stated that as a fact. So he continued on to say, "What, I'm only going like 80 miles per hour. That's nothing. You know what, I feel like Italian. Let's have Italian." He quickly pulled into the nearest Chinese buffet.
He hopped out of the car and slid across the hood again to get to her side. He opened the door like a gentleman and once again offered her his hand. With only a slight moment of hesitation, she once again took his hand. "But this is Chinese." She objected, but Tony only shrugged. "Mr. Stark–"
"Hey I told you to call me Tony. How am I supposed to get any pleasure out of this lovely lunch date with this lovely lady I just met when she makes it seem like a job interview or something?" He led her inside and instead the power walk he did at Stark Industries, he leisurely strolled with Madonna, hand in hand.
"Tell you what, if I loosen up my tie and take off my jacket while you call me Tony and maybe even pop a few buttons? I dunno, just a thought here."
She glared at him as they went through the buffet line. "Mr. Stark–"
"Tony." He interjected, unmoved by her glare on the outside but on the inside sweating bullets.
"Mr. Stark," She emphasized, "I work for you, sir. And I will not tolerate any sexual harassment, sir. This is not a date, sir. I will not sleep with you, sir. I'm only here because I was worried that you would fire me if I refused but now I am putting my foot down. Do I make myself clear?" She drew herself up to her full height of 5'2" and stared up her nose at him, hands on her hips and brow knitted in anger.
Tony, with all his experience with women, had never met a girl quite like her. Mostly they knew that sex was a done deal as soon as they accepted his offer. Even those women who worked for him wanted to have sex – in fact most of them hoped for it. Still, Tony had never had a woman turn him down before – he was just too irresistible. Nobody has ever told him no, he always got what he wanted, he was spoiled that way. So he could think of nothing to do but kiss her. So he did.
After a beat she started kissing back and she grabbed his face. However, as soon as he put his hands on her hips she withdrew from the kiss and slapped him lightly. "Okay fine. This is a date. But I'm not sleeping with you, Tony." She shook her finger at him and then continued down the buffet line, making her plate.
Tony followed along after her, slightly dazed and with a small red handprint on his cheek and red lipstick smeared on his mouth. "What you say, Madonna." Was all he said. What he thought was Not yet.
Their date went well and as Madonna said she didn't sleep with him. They had many more dates and still she didn't sleep with him. They had a healthy relationship because even though she worked for him, she never interacted with him beyond having coffee together. Tony always took her out on the town and tried to spend a lot of money on her but she was never interested in all the jewels and presents and cars. And when Tony had to go on missions she always worried about him but had the upmost confidence that he would return.
It was during one of his more dangerous and long missions, in fact, that Tony and Madonna realized that they loved each other. Over the dangerous mission against radical terrorists, all Tony could think about was that he was going to miss dinner with Madonna. And while Madonna ate alone at the Red Lobster, all she could think about was how Tony loved seafood and she hoped that he would be okay and make it back in time at least for dessert. When he returned from his time as Iron Man, Madonna was waiting for him back at his beach house in Malibu. That was when she finally relented and she slept with him. However, they didn't have sex. She literally went to sleep in Tony's arms and Tony thought that that was good enough for him because her last words before she drifted off in the land of nod to him were, "I love you."
And as he pressed a kiss into her hairline he replied, "I love you, too."
