Earth-717: Iron Maiden Vol 3
Chapter 1: Heartbreaker
Tasha gingerly took a glass of champagne off of a platter that one of the servers was carrying. Helping herself to a quick sip, she then turned back towards the centre of the gala floor, where the hundreds of guests in attendance were milling about and interacting with each other. Tasha scanned her eyes around the room, taking a quick survey of the various personalities present.
There were businessmen, scientists, professors, celebrities and trophy wives, and each of them had a story to tell. Tasha spent a few minutes just ruminating, thinking of what led each person to be here at this very moment. As she pieced together hypothetical stories for some of the other guests, she wondered if anyone was putting together a story for her.
She had certainly caught the attention of several of the men in the room. Beyond her natural beauty, her extravagant, golden twist dress perfectly complemented her body, and she had put extra special care into her hair and makeup. Although she would typically enjoy flirting with strangers, for whatever reason, today she didn't feel like it at all.
"Not talkative today, huh?"
Tasha turned around and smiled when she saw Obadiah Stane standing behind her. He was wearing a pinstripe suit, and was also carrying a champagne glass.
"Oby!"
Tasha held out her arms, and Stane moved in for a hug. After embracing, Tasha gently touched the side of his glasses.
"New glasses?"
Stane nodded in response.
"I like 'em," said Tasha. "You look sharp. Like a real man's man."
"Heh. Thanks."
Tasha looked over Stane's shoulders, squinting as she did so.
"Where the hell did Happy get to?"
"Not sure," said Stane, shrugging. "Last I saw, he was distracted by one of the food tables. The one back there with all the meat cubes. Probably raiding them for all they're worth."
"Gluttonous bastard," said Tasha, chuckling.
Tasha and Stane simultaneously took sips from their champagne glasses. Stane then gestured towards the centre of the room.
"Figured you'd be busy sweet talking some of the folks here," said Stane. "Some big names in the crowd tonight."
Tasha sighed.
"I dunno. Just not really feelin' it, you know? Bothered to get all dressed up, and then when I finally got here, I wanted nothing more than to bail out the nearest window and book it back to the hotel room."
"I could go back with you. Get in some pyjamas, order popcorn from room service, watch movies on pay per view."
"Do they even serve popcorn from room service?" asked Tasha, raising an eyebrow.
"Who knows? We could try. Uncovering uncharted territory."
Tasha and Stane shared a laugh. She put her hand on his shoulder as she closed her eyes, giggling uncontrollably for a few seconds.
"You know what?" said Tasha. "That honestly sounds great. I would love to do that. Just have a movie night. No parties, no expectations, no stuffy waiters. Just some nice solid time so you and I can relax. Hell, feel like I need it after having to talk to Ralph earlier. Bleh. What I ever saw in that guy, I'll never know."
"Neither will I," said Stane, spinning his glass in his hand. "Think we both deserve a chance to relax after all our recent work."
Tasha let out a deep breath as she looked back around the room again.
"I really should give this thing an honest shot though," she said. "Tell you what. You go find Happy, and I'm gonna see if I can have a couple quick talks. I don't find anybody interesting, and we'll duck out. Alright?"
"Sounds like a plan."
Tasha nodded at Stane before turning around and walking further into the party. Stane watched her leave him with a palpable sadness in his eyes, something that Tasha would never know. Over the next fifteen minutes, she tried to have conversations with some of the other guests, but found herself quickly drained of any desire to socialize.
Strolling away from the party, Tasha stepped out onto a balcony overlooking the city of Vienna. She marvelled at the city's majestic architecture, which looked even more impressive when illuminated by the night stars. On the balcony was a woman standing by herself, staring out at the city. Tasha walked over and stood next to her.
"Not really into this crowd either?"
The woman blinked and turned to face Tasha, who almost felt her breath be taken away by her beauty. Her long blonde hair was accentuated by her gorgeous facial features. She had blue eyes that Tasha could have gotten lost in for hours. The woman blinked again and tilted her head slightly to the side, looking somewhat confused.
"What do you mean?"
Tasha took a moment to process the woman's voice. It was higher pitched than she was expecting, and despite the fact that the woman was about the same age as Tasha, her voice almost had a child-like quality to it.
"Uh, I mean, you're out here," said Tasha. "Not in there. Figured that meant, you know, you weren't really enjoying . . . . ugh. And here I am, just waltzing over and probably bothering you. I'm sorry. I'll, I'll go."
"You're not bothering me."
"I'm not?"
"No."
Tasha smiled at her.
"Well, I'll take that as a green light. I'm Tasha Stark."
The woman didn't respond at first, as if she were lost in her own head for a few seconds. The woman glanced to the side, as if she was having trouble keeping eye contact for too long. She then glanced back at Tasha.
"I was always told not to talk to strangers."
Tasha chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck, having never anticipated such a response.
"Think everyone's been told that at some point by their parents," said Tasha. "Highly doubt they can hold you accountable to that here though."
"My parents are here," said the woman, pointing at the party. "In there somewhere. Talking to people. I got kinda bored though, so, I came out here. I like it out here. I like cold air. The view. Calms me down. And it's not like I don't talk to strangers. I do. Just, sometimes I just say stuff, you know? Cause I'm nervous or something."
The woman nodded a few times before looking back out at the city. Tasha narrowed her eyes as she considered what the woman had said.
"You don't have to be nervous. I was just trying to be friendly."
"You are friendly."
"What's your name?"
The woman finally looked back into Tasha's eyes and smiled.
"Whitney."
"Whitney," repeated Tasha, finally having a name for her new fascination.
"Mmhmm," said Whitney.
"Why are you here tonight, Whitney?"
"Because it's important to my family," she said, once again looking away. "They have lots of friends here. They have work people they talk to. I've been to parties like this before. Not often though. I don't really do any of that stuff they do, but they like to have me around. They don't like leaving me by myself at home for too long. I don't really like these kinds of things, but, I come anyway."
Tasha placed one of her hands on the railing at the edge of the balcony.
"Why don't you like parties?"
"I'm not good at, uh, at talking. Talking to people. I'm not good at it. I have trouble staying focused, and I get confused, or I say the wrong thing. Lots of people think I'm weird."
Tasha shook her head.
"I don't think you're weird."
Whitney smirked and bit her lip.
"Thanks."
"You say you're not good at talking to people. But honestly? I think you're the only person here tonight who I would wanna talk to."
Whitney looked away for a moment and moved her neck side to side. She then glanced back at Tasha with a raised eyebrow.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because you're the most beautiful girl here."
In that moment, Tasha and Whitney met each other's gaze, and Tasha saw everything. Whitney's beauty, her innocence, her pain. It was as if she had managed to reach inside another person's soul despite only talking to her for a few short minutes. Tasha had never expected it, but in that moment, her heart was drowned in empathy for the woman before her.
Whitney trembled, completely taken aback by Tasha's words. She gulped and found herself looking back out at the city again. She took a few deep breaths, not able to verbalize a proper response. The whole time, Tasha patiently waited, allowing Whitney the time to process what she had just heard. After a couple minutes, Whitney turned back to Tasha.
"You really think that?" she asked, with moisture in her eyes.
Tasha nodded. Whitney sniffled and wiped her eyes with her right hand. She then briefly smiled before looking down.
"No one's ever said that to me before."
Tasha scoffed.
"You're joking, right?"
Whitney shook her head and frowned.
"Where have you been all this time?" asked Tasha.
"I don't go out much."
Tasha placed the back of her right palm on the railing and held it open. Whitney looked down at it with curiosity.
"Well that changes today," said Tasha. "If you want it to."
Whitney slightly tilted her head again.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"I want you to hold my hand."
Whitney gulped as she kept her eyes on Tasha's hand. She held her hands together in front of her chest, awkwardly rubbing them against each other. Closing her eyes for a few seconds, she then slowly started to reach out with her left hand. She kept her hand hovered above Tasha's, and found herself hesitant to actually touch it.
Tasha didn't move. She didn't grab Whitney's hand, or try to get closer. She just stood still and waited to see what Whitney would do. As Whitney finally started to lower her hand, Stane took a step onto the balcony, having come looking for Tasha. He stopped himself when he saw what was happening.
There was nothing but despair in his eyes as he watched Whitney place her hand on Tasha's. Not wanting to be seen like this, he backed up and returned to the party, with neither Tasha or Whitney noticing that he had been there. Tasha gently wrapped her fingers around Whitney's hand.
"See?" said Tasha. "Now we're not strangers anymore."
Whitney giggled as her cheeks started to turn red. Just as she was about to look back into Tasha's eyes, she was startled by an all too familiar voice.
"Whitney!"
Whitney ripped her hand away from Tasha's and turned to the door to the balcony. Her father, Winston, was standing in the doorway with his wife, Adrienne, and their son, Christian.
"Papa," said Whitney.
"How long have you been out here?! We've been looking all over for you."
Whitney looked down.
"I'm sorry, Papa."
"Come down from there, honey," said Adrienne. "We're going."
"Yes, Mama."
"Uh, excuse me," said Tasha, looking at Winston and Adrienne. "I'm terribly sorry, I was just having a conversation with your daughter."
"There's no need, Miss Stark," said Winston. "Whitney's a nervous girl. She doesn't do well around strangers."
Whitney rubbed the side of her arm, still looking down at the floor.
"You're talking about her like she's a kid," said Tasha. "She's a grown woman."
"What would you understand about being a grown woman?" asked Adrienne. "You're a pampered princess who inherited everything from her father. You don't know my daughter. You don't know who she is, or what she needs. Come along, Whitney."
Whitney looked at Adrienne, but didn't move. Adrienne scowled.
"Now!"
Whitney looked down again.
"Yes, Mama."
Whitney took her place amongst her family. As they left, Christian shot a stern glare at Tasha. She didn't retaliate, instead just standing still and watching as the four of them walked away. But just before Whitney moved out of sight, she looked over her shoulder at Tasha. She gave her a small smile and a brief wave before she disappeared.
A few seconds later, Stane finally stepped onto the balcony, having watched the entire altercation take place. Tasha felt her eyes start to water as Stane stood next to her.
"Hey, hey," he said. "What's going on? What happened?"
Tasha shook her head and turned towards Stane, putting a smile on her face despite the redness of her eyes.
"Nothing, love."
"We still up for that movie night?"
"Yeah," said Tasha, sullenly nodding. "Let's go."
Tasha and Stane walked together back into the main hall. Happy was waiting for them, and escorted the two of them out of the building and down towards the car. After holding the door open so they could get into the back, Happy took the driver's seat. He looked up into the mirror, noticing that Tasha seemed uncharacteristically silent.
"Back to the hotel?" asked Happy.
Tasha didn't even seem to hear him. Stane frowned before looking at Happy.
"Yeah," said Stane.
Happy started driving. The whole way back, Tasha simply stared out the window, her mind never leaving her conversation with Whitney. It was only when they finally got back to the hotel, changed into her pyjamas and took a drink on the balcony by herself that she realized that she had never even learned Whitney's last name.
Whitney twiddled with her fingers as she sat in the car. Christian was sitting next to her. Winston was driving, and Adrienne was in the passenger seat. Winston was speaking with one of his associates, Caesar Cicero, with the call coming in through the speaker built into the car.
"We don't have to do anything," said Winston. "They can't trace it back to us."
"But I think they mighta 'eard my name!" said Cicero, his voice frantic. "Can't we back off, least for a little bit till it blows over? I don't know if . . . ."
"Will you calm the hell down?!" yelled Winston. "The only chance of this thing turning into a fiasco is if you get cold feet and screw it up. Just do as you're told, or else I'll give you something to worry about. And if you even think about talking about this with anyone other than me, I'll cut your goddamn eyes out. Not your friends, not your family, not your girlfriend. No one. That understood?"
"Y-Yes, Mister Frost. I'm, I'm sorry. I understand."
"Good. Lay low for tonight. I'll see you tomorrow."
Winston tapped a button on the console, ending the call. He then glanced over his shoulder at Christian.
"Ya gotta make sure they always remember who's in charge," said Winston. "In this business, your friends ain't your friends, ya understand? People only respect what they fear in our line of work. So you wanna stay in charge, ya gotta make sure everybody else is always afraid of ever tryin' to step up to you. Ya got it?"
"Yes, Dad," said Christian. "I got it."
"Good boy."
"One day this'll all be yours," said Adrienne. "And it's your responsibility to keep the family name strong even after we're gone."
Christian nodded in understanding. Whitney, who knew she had no place in the conversation, just stared out the window, thinking of the time she spent with Tasha.