Disclaimer: I do not own/have created the characters (C) Marvel

April 5th, 2002

I was petrified, if I can be so blunt with my words. I am assuming I can be completely honest with you, so I'll say this in all seriousness and maturity,

I literally hyperventilated in the ladies room five minutes before the interview, and the only means which I used to calm myself was excessive crying, bellowing, and an occasional grunt.

Stop laughing, you're being ridiculous, and I'm being serious.

I tried extremely hard to produce that air of professionalism that I had built up in my resume, so I'm glad I appeared to be calm, cool, and collected. My cheeks were a little redder than they would've been, but that was unnoticeable since we hadn't met ever before. I had carefully chosen the longest, ill fitting skirt I had from my wardrobe, keeping in mind the things my girlfriends told me about Tony and his notorious reputation. You know, the grey starched one.

Anyways.

Tony's presence in his office was just about as large and impactful as his ego was. He was boisterous with his voice, his hair, the way he held himself, just everything. He had these ridiculously unnecessary sunglasses on that, when I questioned their importance, was justified by the simple fact that he thought he looked cool in them. Quite the contrary, obviously. I convinced him to take off the sunglasses, and that was probably the worst decision I had made, have made, and will ever make.

His slick suit and hair, and his slim, muscular body held no comparison to his eyes. Those atrociously alluring eyes. They were a fascinatingly brownie-chocolate type color, and my God, you felt like a chocoholic just simply staring into them. There was something, er I suppose still is something, incredibly enrapturing about them. They were large discs, his irises, and I remember feeling faint and taking my seat a little abruptly after having maintained eye contact with him for an uncomfortable amount of time.

He gave me this suave grin, "You seem dazed, Ms...?"

"Ms. Virginia Potts." I murmured.

"Virginia?"

"Yes, that's my name, sir."

"We're gonna be changing a lot of things around here." He delivered me from my embarrassment by flipping his sunglasses back on.

"I'm sorry, sir, I don't seem to understand what you're saying..."

"I can't remember Virginia. It's too odd of a name."

That phrase definitely killed my mood, and I realized how true the other warnings were. The warnings of Tony's rash, immature, stuck-up type comments and attitude. It was like being force-fed a spoonful of formaldehyde after indulging in that chocolate. I was too stunned to respond.

"Pepper."

"What?"

"That'll be your new name."

"Sir, I can't help but think that, that is a completely irrational..."

He gave me this groan and a bit of a sassy hip, "Potts, if you want to make it big in the world, there have to be gains and losses. This is a simple name I'm giving you for my memory. We'll be working together for a while, after all."

"Wait, so I got the job?"

"Yeah, of course you got the job."

My dimples probably consumed the entirety of my face. I was smiling so hard, I remember my teeth hurting. He stuck out his relatively large hand and gave my hand a firm shake, which didn't really matter too much since I was trembling anyways.

"Welcome to Stark Industries, Ms. Potts."

"The pleasure's all mine."

AN: Well, for one thing, I'm certainly trying to commit to updating faster. This quick update is unusual, but hopefully you get the gist of where the story is going now! :) I'll try to update at least once a week!

Thank you previous readers for a bit of a warm welcome! :) Much appreciated, and it's lovely to be back!

Thanks for reading! Please don't forget to review/comment! Tell me what you like, don't like, prefer, question, anything! :) I love reading all of your responses!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

- TM