Meeting Tony for the First Time
Pepper had been hired by Stark Industries for their junior executive training program one month before she graduated from UCLA with an MBA. Bernie Sharp the head of the SI accounting department had personally selected her for the program. She had been working for Stark Industries for only 3 months in the accounting department when she was assigned by her supervisor, Claire Borden to help oversee the budget for SI's R&D department.
Claire was a veteran of the SI budget wars having worked for SI for the past 42 years. Pepper had been blessed since childhood with a good judge of character and Claire definitely made her 'good guy' list of people that she liked and trusted at SI.
She sat stiffly at her desk and blew her bangs out of her eyes in frustration with her new assignment. She knew that this assignment was part of her grooming for a promotion on the corporate fast track to a middle management job for SI for the purpose of testing her 'grace under fire' as Claire had pleasantly told her. Somehow Claire's sweet delivery of her new assignment did little to calm Pepper's concerns about one of the most important departments at Stark Industries. Pepper knew that she had never lacked grace under fire. Graduating at the top of her class with a Masters Degree in Business Administration at the age of 21 had proven that. But she was still a little unnerved with the significance of her new assignment.
As she read the summaries for each proposed project, she was struck by the tone presented in the wording. If she had to put a finger on the tone she might have labeled it as arrogance. She narrowed her eyes at the stack of summaries that still needed to be read by tomorrow's meeting and then glanced at her clock suddenly realizing that it was already 4:30PM. So much for going out with her new friends from the office for happy hour after work tonight. She had turned 21 only four months ago, and happy hour still meant something special to her. She was disappointed. So grudgingly she went back to reading the documents. Precisely at 8:32 PM she walked out the door past Charlie the SI night security guard who waved 'goodnight' to her, wanting nothing more than a hot shower and the left over homemade chicken vegetable soup sitting in her neglected refrigerator.
The annual budget review for R&D was scheduled to start at 10:00 AM the next morning and given the sheer volume of projects to be covered, Pepper found it absurd to realistically expect to cover all of the projects in detail in only two hours. She arrived 10 minutes early for the meeting joining Claire at the large conference table. Ten O'clock came and went without anyone signaling the start of the meeting. After a few minutes, Pepper looked around and noticed that none of the people in the meeting were from SI R&D.
"Wasn't this meeting scheduled to begin at 10:00AM?" she whispered to Claire.
Claire nodded at her. "We are waiting on Mr. Stark and his engineers to join us." Claire replied looking the conference room door as if willing it to open.
As they continued to wait for the rest of attendees to join them, Pepper found herself growing somewhat frustrated. After all, she had many other assignments that she could be working on right now instead of working after hours trying to finish them while she waited here twiddling her thumbs. She was not at all happy with Mr. Stark or his engineers.
She had of course heard many rumors about Anthony Stark, CEO of Stark Industries. He had accepted the position of CEO over two years ago as per the conditions of Howard Stark's will and definitely not for his leadership talents. Most of the rumors she had heard about him made reference to his playboy lifestyle, but a few of them spoke of his fondness for being extremely late to meetings. Apparently his fondness for being late was not a rumor after all given that the current time was now 10:44 AM with no beginning to the meeting in sight.
Suddenly the conference room door flew open and a dark haired man with a goatee in his early twenties strode confidently into the room followed closely by 10 men who could only be described as 'tech groupies' given their proximity to Mr. Stark and their obvious geek-like appearances. Pepper had never seen Tony Stark before in person, and the photos she had remembered seeing showed him to be clean shaven, leading her to believe that the crisply manicured facial hair was somehow a recent addition.
Having passed directly behind her on his way to the front of the conference room, Pepper couldn't help but notice his very distinctive cologne which trailed behind him like a wake from a passing speedboat. She had to shake her head in order to clear her senses of it, fussing at herself as how quickly he seemed to distract her.
"OK, let's get started." Stark said curtly as he pulled his chair up to the head of the table. "I got a hot lunch date…well actually two hot lunch dates." Pepper saw the engineers on either side of him snicker at Stark's remark.
Pepper couldn't help but roll her eyes in reaction to Mr. Stark's brashness. 'What an asshole' she thought to herself.
John Mitchell who had identified himself as head R&D engineer began to speak. Mitchell began to go over each of the proposed projects in detail. Pepper had noticed that Tony Stark became bored quite quickly, and after the first project, he began to play a game on his cell phone. She was amazed that none of the people in the room had noticed that Anthony Stark really could have cared less about the presentation. She just found it hard to believe that she was the only one to have noticed Mr. Stark's flagrant disregard for the purpose of the meeting.
Pepper had flagged one of the projects while reading the detailed analysis of the project late last night. She had somehow found a mistake of the guidance algorithm used to project costs associated with the development of a proposed missile prototype. She had doubled checked her calculations so she was sure of what she had found. When Mitchell got to this particular project which as it turned out was the last project to be discussed, Pepper raised her hand after he had asked for questions on this project.
"Excuse me, Mr. Mitchell." Pepper spoke up as he nodded at her in recognition. "The calculations used in the guidance algorithm are incorrect." She said as she heard Claire suck in a quick breath of surprise. "The expenses associated with development of this prototype will be significantly higher as a result of the error."
The silence in the conference room was now deafening, and Pepper suddenly wondered if she had done the right thing in exposing the error.
She saw Mitchell cast a quick glance at Tony Stark who suddenly sat up straight in his chair, attentive for perhaps the first time since the meeting had started.
Pepper turned to look at Tony Stark who was now looking at her with mild disapproval.
"So tell me Mrs…." Tony began obviously annoyed.
"Ms. Potts." Pepper supplied him quickly intentionally ignoring his annoyance.
"So tell me, Ms. Potts, when was it that you became an expert on guidance algorithms?" he asked sharply as several of his engineers chuckled at his remark and he quickly glanced at them, silencing them immediately before turning his full attention back to Pepper.
"I am not an expert on guidance algorithms" she defended staring at him straight in the eyes, but feeling her cheeks start to light up in the beginnings of a blush. "I am, however, very competent in calculus. And the algorithm clearly contains an error."
Tony Stark quickly turned several pages in his notes before stopping on a particular page and staring at it for a few seconds. "Since we are on the last project here anyway." He began as he locked eyes with Pepper once more "I am calling an end to the meeting. Everyone is free to go except for Ms. Potts here."
Pepper felt a chill run up her spine as he asked her to remain with him. Claire immediately left her seat and walked to the front of the room and spoke quietly with Mr. Stark for a few seconds. Pepper knew that Claire had worked for Tony's father for many years and was close to Tony. Pepper suddenly had a bad feeling that she was somehow figuring prominently in their quiet discussion.
Claire turned away from Tony and returned to her seat, gathering her documents. As she stood up and turned to leave the room, she placed a reassuring hand on Pepper's shoulder and squeezed it tenderly, as she smiled discretely at Pepper before leaving the conference room.
Within a minute the conference room had emptied leaving only the two of them.
"Claire says you are new to SI." Tony said as he walked over and sat down on the table top next to her. "She also says that you are one smart girl."
Pepper couldn't help but glare up at him for the 'girl' remark suddenly finding it very hard to be calm. "I know my math." She replied coolly locking eyes with him.
"Yeah" he countered holding her gaze. "But you don't know squat about guidance algorithms." He said with what she could only describe as a smirk as he raised his voice slightly.
She frowned at him knowing that her temper at his arrogance was coming dangerously near the surface now. "That is correct, however I am very well studied in calculus and I can prove to you that there is an error in the calculations." She said raising her voice to match his.
He frowned back at her and spoke even louder his annoyance with her very evident now. "So let's have a wager here, then Ms. Potts." He said standing up quickly and turning to lean over the table in order to see her corrections to the formula. "If I'm right, then you agree to go out to dinner with me. And if you're right you…"
Pepper had always had a quiet confidence in her abilities, but Mr. Stark's attitude and increased volume was definitely starting to anger her. Only her parents were allowed to shout at her. She knew that she was right about the calculation. And she also knew that Stark Industries was not the only company who had offered her a job. She may be young, but she did have her principles. She quickly stood up to face him. "Ok if I'm right how about I get to do my job?" she shot back at him even louder than before, realizing too late that both of their voices were of the volume now that would exceed the soundproofing of the conference room. If Tony didn't fire her, then someone else surely would for yelling at the CEO.
He surprised her by actually smiling back at her…not a smirk but an honest smile. "Fair enough." He replied quietly pulling out his calculator as he leaned down near the table and began recalculating the formula.
After only a few seconds, Tony Stark stood back up and came face to face with her once again, their bodies less than two feet from one another.
"I guess you get to do your job, then." He said with a huff his anger now more apparent after realizing his mistake.
Pepper immediately went on the offensive. "I don't know Mr. Stark." She said anger flashing quickly into her eyes at his tone. "I may not want to keep a job where I am harassed by the CEO over finding a mistake which, by my calculations, would have cost SI over 20 million dollars. And since Stark Industries was the one who had courted me while I was still in college, and not the other way around, maybe it's time that I reconnected with the other companies who had offered me employment. Maybe their personnel policies work in favor of the employee who does their job correctly."
Tony Stark stood in front of her in rapt attention as she spoke. The expression on his face was one of total surprise. She suspected that no one had ever spoken to him like that before, being the spoiled brat he was.
As she reached down to gather her paperwork in her hands, she felt his fingers lightly squeeze her arm, and for a split second she wanted to stop moving and look at him, but her inner, proud self kept her body moving, as she gathered up her things, and pushed her chair in towards the table as she prepared to leave the conference room.
"Hey" he said softly, immediately releasing her arm "Where do you think you're going?"
She looked at him, seeing almost concern etched on his face. "To my office to gather my things and submit my resignation letter, of course."
She quickly turned towards the door, but before she could take a single step, Tony Stark had managed to quickly put himself between her and the door. She looked up at him challengingly.
"Just give me a few minutes to talk to you and then you can do whatever you want." He said a small, sincere smile breaking out on his face. "Deal?"
Pepper suddenly realized that at this particular moment in time, she was now talking to the real Tony Stark. "Deal." She replied looking him in the eyes for a few seconds in order to confirm his sincerity.
"I have a proposal for you." He began and she immediately frowned at him. "No, no, no! Not that kind of proposal. A real business proposal." He continued as the frown slowly faded from her face. "I'd like to offer you the position of PA for the CEO of Stark Industries."
Anger flashed immediately back into her eyes and she noticed that he actually took a half step back from her. "I have heard all of the rumors about you and your PAs, Mr. Stark." She said in a huff as she began walking to the door. "And here I believed that you had a real business proposition for me. I am not that kind of girl at all."
"Hold on! Wait a second!" he pleaded earnestly backing up slightly but managing to keep himself between her and the door. "Just hear me out."
Pepper stopped mid step and looked at him again.
"I need someone as my PA who is smart in math, particularly calculus, well organized, punctual, trustworthy, able to keep me on a schedule, and not afraid to tell me off when I need it, which considering me will probably be quite a lot." He said with a sincerity in his eyes that actually surprised her. He paused trying to gage her reaction and then he pressed on quickly. "The pay will be fantastic… bonuses, stock options, the works….all the benefits of an executive."
"And the downside to all that is, Mr. Stark?" she asked her face stony wanting to see if he could be honest with her.
"Long hours, lots of travel." He explained counting on his fingers like a small child "Putting up with me getting drunk and/or high, bringing women home at all hours of the day and night, and worst of all having to deal with me making a total ass of myself in public and in private quite frequently."
She stared at him in surprise. He actually seemed to be sincere and honest. The job offer sounded horrible. But at the same time it also sounded quite challenging. And despite of the odds being stacked quite heavily against her for success as his PA, she really did like challenges. She had wanted to learn some new languages and wanted to travel. But somehow dealing with a drunk, horny, and high Tony Stark didn't sound at all like it would be worth it.
"And I am actually starting to settle down a little now." He trying to downplay the negatives of the job as he read her face in order to tell if she was actually considering his proposition now. "I'm going to be 25 in another two months, so I am getting a little older and wiser."
She couldn't help but smile at that remark. "A little wiser, Mr. Stark?"
He smiled back at her visibly relaxing at her obvious tease. "OK maybe a little bit wiser, Ms. Potts." He replied quietly. "So what do you say? Just give the job a couple of months and see if you want to stay. If you don't, then you will have complete retreat rights back to accounting. Claire and Bernie would of course welcome you back with open arms." He explained quickly then added. "The trick is going to be getting Claire and Bernie to release you. But I can always turn the old Stark charm on them. It works every time." He said as he smiled warmly at her. "Except on you, of course Ms. Potts."
"Of course, Mr. Stark." She replied smiling back at him, as she paused for a moment in thought "OK, I agree to your terms for a 60 day trial as your PA."
"Fantastic!" he said cheerfully "I'm going to find Claire and Bernie now and let them know."
"Mr. Stark" she began catching his eye again "when will I start?"
"Is tomorrow too soon?" he asked his brow furrowing.
"That depends upon what Mr. Sharp and Claire have to say." She replied.
"Then tomorrow it is, Ms. Potts." He said triumphantly clapping his hands together. "I'll have Jarvis email you directions to my home office. See you at eight o'clock tomorrow morning."
She nodded at him in reply. She had heard about the house in Malibu that Tony had been building for the last two years. Apparently he had already moved in. He smiled at her then politely opened the door and ushered her out of the conference room. Once in the hallway, they each turned in different directions walking quickly away from each other.
As she walked back in to her office, some of her friends from accounting walked over and stood in her doorway obviously concerned for her. After all the SI rumor machine never slept, and everyone already seemed to know that she had been on a one-to-one meeting with the CEO, possibly not on good terms.
"Are you OK, Pepper?" Samantha asked in a worried tone.
"I'm not sure yet." Pepper answered with a tenuous smile. "I think I just need a little time to myself right now."
"We're here for you, if you need us." Claudette remarked as she slowly closed the door, leaving Pepper to her thoughts.
Pepper took an apple and orange out of her desk and began to eat them. She was getting quite hungry by now. She glanced at the time: 1:08 PM which was an hour later that she was use to eating lunch at.
She had just finished up the apple and orange when she heard a soft knock on her door. "Please come in." she replied throwing her apple core and orange rinds in her trash can.
"Hi Pepper" Bernie said with a big smile. "I hear you had a very interesting first meeting with the boss today."
"Yes sir, I did indeed." Pepper replied as Bernie sat down in a chair directly in front of her desk.
"Mr. Stark is well intended" he began to explain "but his methods are somewhat unorthodox when it comes to personnel. I just wanted to make sure that you were OK on his offer to a trial run as his PA for 60 days. If you're not OK with this, then I will push back at Tony. I have already spoken with Mr. Stane about it."
Pepper had the distinct feeling that Bernie was worried that Mr. Stark had somehow strong armed her into her decision. "Yes sir, I did agree to a 60 day trial as his PA with full retreat privileges back to Accounting if the job didn't work out for me."
"There will always be a place here for you in accounting." Bernie promised sincerely.
Pepper smiled warmly at him realizing that Bernie believed that the job as PA wouldn't work out for her. He had known Tony Stark his whole life and she suspected that Bernie thought that Tony's lifestyle and hers would not co-exist well. And she realized that Bernie was probably right. But then again she wouldn't know until she tried. "Thank you sir, I appreciate that very much." Pepper replied back to him with a sincere smile. She liked Bernie a lot. He took care of his people.
Bernie smiled back at her and stood up to leave. "Don't be surprised if Mr. Stane calls you into his office this afternoon." He said as a matter of fact, then he noticed the concerned look on her face "Don't be worried, you're not in any kind of trouble at all. Obadiah just wants to meet the person who stood Tony on his ear this morning." He explained with a wink.
"Thank you sir." Pepper replied not knowing what else to say.