The Honeymoon
I hear the insistent buzzing of my blackberry on the nightstand. I ignore it at first wanting to remain in my blissful state of sleep. My dreams are filled with a dark haired man with sad brown eyes; he sits at his desk in the workshop. He is arguing with his hapless robot Dummy while an almost preteen boy laughs mirthfully. From my viewpoint the robot has spilled oil on his favourite t-shirt. I move closer to the two trying to make out their faces, they seem familiar yet strange all at once. I feel as though I should know them. I bump into a piece of machinery hanging precariously from a work table. Tony continues to argue with the robot but the boy he looks directly at me. My first thought was that he had the bluest eyes I have even seen, not since my brother. But unlike my brother his eyes were sad, sad blue eyes with dark hair. I feel I should know him. The boy with the sad blue eyes turns toward me and smiles.
"What are you doing here?" the boy asks in a strangely cheerful voice. I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the emotional situation of the room's occupants, happy, angry and confused, if dreams were a reflection of your conscious state then what a state I must be in. "You should not be here yet, it's too soon" He remarks casually unaware of my internal dilemma.
Before I can formulate a proper answer the room slowly becomes fuzzy the voice of the dark haired man arguing with the robot fades. The young boy continues to smile at me. I come to the conscious world very gradually, slightly confused as to my strange surroundings. This is not my bed, my covers or my home. A soft groan from the warm body next to mine startles me a bit, it is then I remember that I am a married woman now. The man turns over repositioning himself closer to my torso. He rubs his face in the small smooth curve of my neck. His faint minty breath tickles my nose. I look down at the blonde haired man slowly running my fingers through his hair giving it a slight tug making sure that this was my reality. His response is to burrow deeper into my side seeking warmth and comfort.
"Aren't you going to get that?" he asks in a sleep muffled voice.
"Its 2am here let them leave a message" I reply in a voice that I hope sounds equally sleepy. I do want to raise anymore unnecessary questions as to why I am unable to sleep.
"Yeah but as you always tell me it could be important" He replies in a much clearer voice.
I watch as he repositions himself on the bed burying deeper into the pillows, I look at the phone on the night stand one last time. Its facedown sliding across the surface, I stare at it for a few moments. It stops buzzing and I let out a sigh turning over wrapping my arms around his back, twisting our fingers together. His pale skin stands out in the darkness set off by his blonde hair. He is the complete opposite of the dark haired man of my dreams. He is reliable, safe and will not try to get himself blown up on a daily basis. He is kind and wants to have children and settle down; he wants me to be happy. He is not a billionaire, he is not Iron Man. He is not Tony Stark. I stay awake for a few minutes longer, running my hands slowly along his back.
I awaken a couple hours later just as the sun peeks over the eastern horizon. I roll out of bed making certain not to disturb my sleeping companion. I go the bathroom and quickly refresh myself, shucking my negligee for an old t-shirt and running shorts. I sit down on the bed to pull on shoes, my phones sits immobile on the nightstand; I can see the reflection of a green light against the shiny surface indicating a new voicemail message. I turn the phone over to see a missed call from Tony. I get up from the bed; my husband turns over his hair mussed up from sleep his voice scratchy.
"Going for a run babe?" he asks quietly
"Yeah just a quick one will be back before breakfast" I lean down to peck his forehead
I grab my phone and leave the room glancing at his sleepy lopsided grin one last time. Walking along the beach I finally feel far enough away from my husband to check the message. True to his word I have not heard from Tony once during my honeymoon. Today would be day 14, directly in the middle of it. I knew it was not an emergency or else the call would be from Jarvis or worse Rhodey. I bring the phone to my ear to listen.
"Hey Pep where did you go? I am at this new club you have to check out. It is full of so many people but not you none of these women are you Pepper. Why aren't you here with me? Don't you know that you are all I have?" I can hear the slur of intoxication in his words. I adjust the phone volume to prevent myself from being deafened from the background music.
"I never got to tell you how beautiful you looked on your wedding day, how much I wished I was the lucky son of a bitch getting to take that dress off of you." I grip the phone
tighter knowing I should end the call but I swallow my fears and keep the phone to my ear.
"Even now I wish it was me holding you, kissing you and staring at your breasts while eating lunch in some restaurant in Italy" His speech is drifting and slowing down as though he is falling asleep. "I wish I was him Pepper, isn't that something? For the first time in my life I wish I was someone else, someone who could keep you safe, shower you with attention, someone who is good enough for you." He drifts away on the last statement; I hear the thrum of the club music for a few seconds longer then silence. I sit on the beach staring into the distance; the sun is almost fully over the horizon. Try as might to prevent my thoughts I know in my heat that I wished he was here too.