"A witty woman is a treasure; a witty beauty is a power."- George Meredith
Fe- the chemical symbol for Iron + Male = Iron Man
"Oh really?" I said, sounding impressed. The dim lights didn't let me see his face really, but I didn't want to. My ear was being talked off all day at work and it made me not really care that this guy was talking. Why people feel the need to impress me, I have no clue.
"I've patented more than that, too. I'm just not your average engineer." The man leaned against the bar, continuing to look at me. Secretly I rolled my eyes. I am not an object. My hand clenched the nice crystal glass as I forced a fake smile. Why couldn't I just be left alone? His eyes were no longer even looking at my face as he rambled on. I assumed he was drunk.
"And she, my good man, is not your average scientist." I heard a voice say from behind me. I release my tight grasp on the glass and put it on the bar counter. "And most definitely not your average woman." A warm arm wrapped around my waist and he planted a kiss on my cheek.
"So stop mentally undressing her, Sir Talks-a-lot, and go find another." I bit my lip to hold in my laughter. The man squinted his eyes and placed his drink down on the counter forcefully, creating a loud noise. "Good boy." With that, I was whisked away in the opposite direction. "Oh, my hero!" I said, mock dramatically. "Your knight in hot rod red and gold, at your service."
The one and only Tony Stark led me though the crowd to our table. With a swift move of his arm, he pulled out my chair. Shooting him a thankful glance, I then sat down. "He was really hitting on me." I spoke, disgusted. Tony leaned back in his chair, taking a sip of the glass of water already on the table. "I thought you would be use to it already."
I thought I would be too, but I just wasn't there yet. It's been almost two months since I've moved in with Tony. Almost two months ago, I was fired from my job as a biochemist researcher at SHIELD. I had just gotten out of college too, and I had no job lined up and nowhere to go. It had just so happened that a crazy villain named Dr. Freeman, or as he liked, Father Time, stepped in. Tony and I were transported back to 1958 for almost a full month. We worked together to get out of it, and well, in the process we sort of fell in love. Once we were back in 2013, I lost my job but he stepped in. Tony made me head of the chemical research and development lab at Stark Industries. Then he let me move in with him, just like that. And so I did.
I absolutely loved my job, even with as much stress I was under constantly. I basically ran everything to do with chemical research. Biochemical weapons were now an interest to the government, so in turn, Stark Industries wanted to develop some. We had about a million different projects going, all of which I had to monitor. I even started a few. Recently, some of my work with a team was published. It really was a great honor, and because of it, the press had a field day digging up anything on the new scientist taking the weapons front by storm. In their digging and digging, they figured out that I was currently living with Tony Stark, my boss.
Of course, you know what that caused, especially since we worked together when I was as SHEILD. A lot of people didn't think I deserved the job for a while, until I started getting things done and people began to test me. I don't want to be arrogant and say I'm super smart, but I am intelligent. Because of my younger age, people think I was born yesterday.
Soon though, I earned enough respect from the press and my staff to keep on top of everything. Living with Tony though, was a totally different lifestyle than I was use to. I'm still not use to it. You really cannot go anywhere with him without press or fans following him. I don't mind if it's just a few, but it gets old really quick. I'm not use to eating out all the time, or having people follow me even.
It seems like there are a countless amount of events, parties, and after parties that we attend. My bedtime on the weekends is like three of four. Or even later. Sometimes it's a matter of hopping on a jet and traveling across the country for something. It's weird having access to billions of dollars too. One of the first things Tony did was get me a credit card. I had my own account into which my money went into, and I had a card for that too. He insisted that I have access to his account though. It was kind, but I always felt bad not using the money I made to buy things. Call me crazy, but I still do.
As we sat together, girls stopped near our table and wave. I picked the menu up off the table and held it in front of my face. At first I blocked Tony out. I didn't really want to see his reaction to the Barbie dolls with stick legs and huge chest, but they kept waving, now from far away. Aggravated, I smacked my menu down on the table. What I saw though was totally unexpected. Tony was looking at his menu too. Not at the half dressed girls that were practically begging for attention. I felt my jaw drop down. Lifting my hand up, I snapped loudly a few time. "Hey, playboy."
Startled, Tony's head snapped back and he looked up at me. "Aren't you going to acknowledge your little fan club over there?" I asked. He didn't look over to where I was motioning too. "Yeah, I waved." He said, slightly tilting his head to the side. "One of them is a famous model." I commented, picking my menu up off the table.
"I'm Tony Stark. If I wanted a model, I would have one." A smile crept on my face as he said this. "You're not even going to look at one though?" I truly was surprised. After going out a few times with Tony, I couldn't stand the fact that he was looking at other women constantly. I didn't say that to his face though. As he continued to oogle at women, I would stare at other men while he would be talking to me. Being the jealous protective guy that he is, he got the message pretty quick. "Heck, Andrea!" He exclaimed, tossing his menu down, looking back at me. "I'm already looking at one!" My face went red and I sunk back in my chair. "Sorry." He added, reaching his hand across the table. "Your just too hard on yourself, that's all."
In the past months, my self- conscience side has come out. I always feel like I am being compared to very pretty girls and it makes me uncomfortable. Like, really uncomfortable. Plus, I have a bad habit of talking to myself when I get ready. Well, it's not really talking to myself anymore, because Jarvis picks it all up. That's the other reason I think Tony has been behaving so well. Jarvis has probably spilled what I say when I get ready to him. I smiled though, and reached my hand across to reach his. Giving my hand a squeeze, he then went back to looking at his menu. Still smiling, I looked back at mine too.
After we finished eating (and the food was some of the best I've ever had), Tony and I tried to sneak out unnoticed by the press. Just our luck though, they were waiting right outside for us. Questions bombarded the two of us as we walked the short distance to the car. "Smile and wave." Was Tony's motto when it came to the reporters. I put on my smile as we rushed towards the Audi, my arm though his. Quickly he opened the passenger door and I slid on in. He turned to give a witty reply to a reporter, making everyone laugh, right on que. Opening the driver's side door, he scrambled in quickly. "Well that went well." He said simply. I laughed, turning the radio on. The big engine car came to life and we sped off back home.
"So was dinner good?" Tony asked. "Oh you know, it was okay." I shrugged. He looked over at me with a blank expression before I began to giggle. "Some of the best stuff I've ever put in my mouth, Tony!" I leaned my head back on the headrest and looked out the window at the dark sky. "Okay. Because I knew you were crazy, but I didn't know if you were that crazy or not." I tugged my hair down from the updo I was wearing. "You're pretty crazy yourself." He shrugged.
I peered back out the window and I could see the house with the lights on from here. "I can't wait to get out of these shoes." Tony looked over at me. "I can't wait either." Laughing, I shoved his head so he was facing forward again. "Keep your eyes on the road, Stark." A smirk appeared on his face. We reached the large gate to enter, and it opened up instantly for us. Soon the two of us where inside where it was cooler. I undid the buckles on my heels and removed them from my feet.
"Is that better?" Tony asked, wrapping his arms around me. "Yeah. I don't want to go to work tomorrow." I complained. More stress, people to deal with, and more stress again. "I could tell you that you have to stay home and help your boss out." He whispered in my ear. "Tempting, but if I miss one day, its chaos for the rest of the week." He shook his head in understanding, but he still looked disappointed. "Well, we better get you off to bed then!" He suddenly picked me up and began ascending the stairs. "Tony, Im serious!" I yelled at him. "Uh-huh. So am I." He said with that charming smile.