Kate watched as Wanda entered the study.
She held a constant air of grace, and she seemed to float across the floor to the spare chair, tucking the skirt of her dress under her with a swift movement of her arm as she sat,
She straightened in her seat and then looked at Kate with a warm smile, "Ready to start?" she asked.
The journalist broke the trance she was stuck in and she bent forward, fumbling with her bag, "One second", she pulled out a notebook and pen as well as a small recording device and she laid them out across the table before her, "You don't mind if I record do you?",
"No" Wanda assured her.
The ravenette turned on the voice recorder and then picked up her notebook, opening it as she did so, so that she could rest the nib of her pen on the paper,
"So" she began, looking at up at Wanda, "Does your husbands work effect your relationship with him?",
The woman's eyebrow raised and she laughed gently, "Just jumping straight into it aren't you?" she joked,
Kate blushed,
"It's fine, I trust that you're an excellent writer, I'm sure you'll pad it out with an introduction" the brunette said with a dismissive hand wave, "In answer to your question, I'd have to say a resounding no".
The girl opposite her blinked, "'No'?",
"No" she laughed, "It's hard without him yes, but as they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I've never been more in love with Victor",
This answer was certainly a surprise, the icy exterior or Wanda Maximoff was starting to come off as nothing but a media lie,
"But surely it's difficult raising two teenage boys without your husband here to help you?" Kate suggested.
"Again, it's difficult" Wanda answered, she then smiled, "But raising children depends entirely on what the child is like, let me put it this way, if I were raising two Billy's, it wouldn't be an issue" she smirked, "But of course, having Pietro around really helps",
Kate nodded and finished making a quick note, "So what do you think of your brother's relationship with your sons then?",
The woman let out a thunderous laugh, "He's a terrible influence on Tommy as you may have already seen, but luckily Billy's smart enough to fall into it" she answered.
The ravenette had to admit that she saw more similarities between Tommy and Pietro than just their looks, she was starting to see that Wanda Maximoff was an incredibly loving woman, despite what the tabloids might have said,
"Would you ever consider having more children?" Kate asked,
At this the brunette's smile finally faltered, "You probably don't know this, it was before your time after all, but before I had Billy and Tommy I had a miscarriage" she began,
The journalist suddenly felt like the worst person in the world for asking,
Wanda clearly saw this, "Don't worry, it was a reasonable question, and it was a long time ago" she assured her, "It was going to be twin boys, but they died very late in the pregnancy; me and Victor had to wait a year before we tried again. Even with Billy and Tommy there were complications" she then shrugged softly, "Having children was one of the best experiences of my life, but I don't think I could have more children now, especially at my age" she concluded, her small, reassuring smile appearing once more.
Kate was touched, she was certain that her perception of Wanda Maximoff could not be turned around anymore,
"One last question?" she asked with a gentle smile,
"Shoot" the woman nodded,
"How did you and Mr Shade meet?", Kate asked, looking up from her notepad,
Wanda faltered once more, her mouth opening and then promptly closing again as she eyed the voice recorder lying between them on the table,
"If you don't mind… I'd rather the full story didn't make it into the papers, we're a very private family and there are some details that I'd like to keep close to home" she said calmly, looking at the girl with an apologetic smile.
Without a second thought, Kate picked up the recording device and she turned it off, she then folded her notebook closed and got comfortable in her seat, "I'd like to hear the story all the same, it doesn't have to go into the column" she promised,
Wanda looked intrigued but still a little unsure, "It won't leave this room?" she asked,
Kate shook her head, "It's just between us",
"Between the girls?" The woman suggested, she then nodded softly, "I suppose that that would be reasonable" she smiled.
The ravenette smiled back and she crossed her legs, preparing to listen to a long story,
"Oddly, the story must begin with my family and the Stark family, as you probably know, the Starks and the Maximoffs have never really seen eye to eye, at least they didn't used to...
No one knew for sure what caused the feud between the two families, different stories offered different explanations.
Some said that it was down to a relationship that ended badly between Wanda Maximoff and Tony Stark, however the two had only gone on one 'date' (granted, it had ended badly), and in reality, the dinner outing had been an attempt to fix the feud- it had soured the relationship, but it definitely wasn't the origin of the argument.
Another suggestion was that Howard Stark, Tony Stark's father, had flirted shamelessly with (and possibly slept with) Magda Maximoff, angering Erik Maximoff, who was of course her husband. Magda was a faithful wife however, and Howard had only commented on her appearance to get a rise out of Erik in the first place, so that didn't serve as an explanation either.
No, no one really knew why the feud existed, all they knew was that it did.
Victor Shade had nothing to his name except for his outstanding qualifications as an administrator and impeccable manners. He'd made his way to Stark industries quite by accident, and once he was there he made his way up from the bottom, becoming head office manager in only a few years.
At the time, the company's CEO, Tony Stark was known for his tendency to, shall we say flirt(?) with his female members of staff, especially his assistant's assistant. This meant that they didn't stay at the company for long.
One day while milling around the office, Mr Stark noticed that his assistant Miss Pepper Potts had a new assistant, but he was no pretty young lady.
It was of course, Victor Shade.
Although thoroughly put out by the fact that he had no one to chase around, Tony was intrigued by this man, and soon he found that he didn't mind having no one to flirt with, as Victor was far more capable than anyone who'd ever filled the position before.
Victor, whilst learning on the job, became the foreign correspondent for Stark industries, in other words, making him the third most powerful person at the company (Miss Potts being the second, and Mr Stark, of course being the first).
Stark industries was known for three main things. The first was its work in clean energy, the second was the ego of Mr Stark, and the third was when the two collided, in other words, the Stark's annual gala,
It was Victor's first gala in his high position that he met Wanda Maximoff...
Wanda stared deep into her clutch bag, hoping that by looking busy she wouldn't be approached by anyone.
She went to the Stark gala every year under her father's instructions- it was their way of suggesting that the feud between the families was nothing serious, however her father refused to go himself.
Being a regular guest at the function Wanda knew effectively everyone there except... Except for the young man who stood at the centre of a small crowd, talking with a large, but nervous smile.
Wanda had never seen him before, he was someone of great interest by the looks of it, but all she could think was how incredibly handsome he looked, dressed in his smart, dark suit, with his blonde hair shining dimly in the soft lighting, and his smile causing creases at his eyes that made him look oh so alluring.
Wanda watched the man with great interest, her eyes transfixed on his smile.
After a few minutes their eyes suddenly locked, the man's smile dropped into a look of awe as he stared through the people around him, they both blushed softly at the eye contact but didn't cut it off. The blonde apparently then excused himself from the conversation he'd been having and he started towards Wanda, his expression all the more nervous now.
"Miss Maximoff" he said offering her his hand,
"Yes" she all but whispered, taking his large dry hand and shaking it,
His palm was warm and comforting,
"I'm sorry, I don't think we've met" the woman then said, her cheeks flaring a little warmer,
"My name's Victor, Victor Shade" he replied,
Wanda's eyes widened as their hands parted, "You're Tony's new third in command?"
She'd heard of this man, she knew that he was polite, charming and British, but no one had told her that he was so stunning.
Victor laughed softly, "Yes, Mr Stark gave me the position a few months ago", he then licked his bottom lip, "Could I maybe get you a drink? A glass of wine?",
"How about champagne?" Wanda suggested, "To celebrate your new position" she smiles.
Wanda giggled and looked up from her bubbling golden drink, locking eyes with Victor for the hundredth time that evening,
"I knew you'd have to have a sense of humour to work for Tony Stark, but you really are funny" she smiled,
"Thank you" he replied, his cheeks burning bright red.
The two had been talking for hours, and were now stood on the main balcony of Stark manor, looking out over the dark garden below, their champagne flutes standing on the balcony wall.
Wanda brushed some hair behind her ear and looked to her drink again, finding that she couldn't stare into Victor's eyes for too long, as the look in them made her heart race,
"You look beautiful tonight Miss Maximoff" he then spoke,
She looked up once more to find that he was looking at her with a cocktail of nerves and seriousness,
"Thank you Mr Shade" she replied with a small smile,
"Victor's fine" he assured her,
"Then you must call me Wanda"
"Okay, Wanda"
The way Victor said her name made goose bumps prickle across her skin.
"Are you cold?" the man then asked her, his hands going to his lapels as he prepared to take off his blazer and give it to her,
Wanda put her hand to her arm and laughed softly, "No, I'm fine" she shook her head,
"Good" Victor nodded, straightening his collar instead.
"Wanda, I-" the blonde began,
"Yes?" She answered quickly,
He looked at her closely for a moment, but shook his head, "Never mind",
Wanda but her lip, wondering if she'd somehow spoilt the moment, she considered asking him what he was going to say, but her phone then buzzed in her bag. The brunette opened the clutch and brought out the sleek black mobile, there was a message from her driver telling her that he was waiting outside; time had really gotten away from her.
"I have to go" she frowned to Victor,
He nodded solemnly but said nothing,
Wanda turned and began towards the door.
She rested her hand on the handle and then looked behind her, Victor had his back to her, his eyes now trained in the moon.
The woman propped her bag up on the handle of the door and she turned back,
"Victor" she said, making him turn to face her,
Wanda reached up to his cheek and took it into her hand, pulling him into a soft kiss, their lips lingering against one another's.
"I wanted to ask you to dinner" Victor said once they pulled away, his eyes were still closed and he almost looked pained; his hands were also still resting on her hips, his eyes then opened, "But I'm going to Italy tomorrow" he frowned,
"For how long?" Wanda asked,
"Three weeks" he answered.
The woman held his face again and she smiled sweetly, "We'll see each other again", her words sounded like a promise,
Victor couldn't help but smile, "I look forward to it",
"Me too" she laughed, she then kissed him gently on the cheek and they parted...
"... Mr Stark wants you to call into the office at 5:30, and then you've got a dinner meeting at 7pm" Victor's secretary said handing him his schedule for the day,
"I do?" He said quizzically, taking the lists from her,
"Yes, and you can't be late" she instructed him.
The blonde looked over the scribbled list of times, locations and events- he did indeed have an appointment to meet someone for dinner at 7 o'clock that evening, but he didn't even know who with. Not that he cared, after two weeks in Italy working non-stop, he found it best to just go with anything written on the schedule and to ask very few questions...
Victor arrived at the restaurant at 7:05, the phone call with Mr Stark having turned into a video conference with half of the members of the board. He was sure that he probably looked a little less sharp than usual, but he was far too tired to care.
He approached the concierge and gave him his name, a waitress was then called over to direct him to his table, and his waiting dinner partner.
Victor stopped at the table, and the waitress pulled out the chair for him, he sat, all the time his eyes focused on the back of the menu that was being held upright by his dining associate, shielding then from his view, he then took a menu for himself and opened his mouth to announce his presence,
"I'm-"
"Late" she cut in.
The menu came down to lie flat on the table and Wanda smirked at him from the chair opposite,
"Wanda?" Victor asked, half convinced that the sleep deprivation was making him as things,
"Hello darling" she said softly, resting her chin in her tabled hands,
A huge grin cracked the blondes' face, "You came to Italy just to have dinner with me?",
"I also called your secretary last week to get into your schedule" she added, "Now, get comfortable, you're off for the night",
Victor smiled good thanks to Wanda, he had no idea that this woman was as wonderful as to do all of this for him...
"...after dinner we strolled around in the dark, talking about every little thing that had happened since we'd last seen each other" Wanda said with a fond, distant smile,
"It sounds incredible" Kate said softly, having gotten entirely engrossed in the love story she'd been told,
"It was... is" she laughed gently, "I love Victor with all my heart",
"Do you ever go with him when he goes traveling for work now?" the journalist asked.
"No, that was the first time, and the time after that was the last" Wanda replied,
"What happened?" she said, a deep frown covering her face,
"He proposed" the brunette laughed, "Out of nowhere he asked me to come to Paris with him, and then he proposed to me",
That was not what Kate had meant, but she was becoming very fond of the twinkle in Wanda's eyes when she talked about her husband, so she didn't mind greatly.
"It sounds cliché, but he didn't do it in front of the Eifel tower, or in a fancy restaurant" Wanda laughed, "He did it while I was half asleep in bed wondering if what I was hearing was real. You see, he'd been out at work all afternoon, and then all evening, I went to bed without him and he got in at gone midnight. He woke me up, and I can tell you, he looked a real mess, his shirt crumpled, his tie hanging crooked" she shook her head at the memory, "He was kneeling by the side of the bed and he just said, 'Wanda, I love you, marry me', and at first I could only look at him, until I finally found my voice and said 'yes'. I don't know how many times I said it, but I said 'yes'".
If Kate had been a weaker woman, she was sure she would have cried.
"Wow" she said, letting out a deep, "Wanda Maximoff and Victor Shade, true romantics, who knew?",
Wanda laughed, "Of course you mustn't tell anyone" she teased,
"Wouldn't think of it" the ravenette nodded as she began to pack away her stuff,
The woman opposite her spoke again however, "I wonder Kate, whether you wouldn't mind staying for a moment, so we can talk",
Kate paused and put her bag on the floor again, "Err, sure" she nodded.
The brunette smiled, "Tell me about Teddy",
The girl blinked, "Teddy?",
"Yes, we've known him for a few months and he seems lovely, but you've known him for years, you must know him better than anyone" Wanda beamed,
"Well..." Kate started, "He's great, my best friend I guess... But I don't see why you-"
She was quickly cut off, "I'd just like to know what type of boy my son is spending time with is all",
"Oh... Well like I said, Teddy's great, he's funny, kind, a bit of a dope, but in a sort of lovable way. I don't know what else I can say" she shrugged.
"You've said plenty" the woman nodded, she then stood and left the room without another word,
Kate blinked once more, that had been a peculiar end to her interview…
