Double chapter today because the prologue was so short... Enjoy and please review!

Chapter 1

Tony Stark groaned as, for not the first time very the last two years, his mind wandered to the perfect curves of his PA and his photographic memory was a curse at times like this. He poured another glass of scotch and thumbed through the address book on his cell.

A little black book it was not. The only numbers he had were Pepper's, Rhodey, Obi and one or two of the engineers in SI.

It was a depressing realisation - his relationships, if you could even call them that, were frequent, fleeting and finite. He was truly alone.

He could have gone out,he knew that. He could have walked into any club in the city and picked up a handful of women. But his heart wasn't in it.

For not the first time he considered calling her. He didn't know what he'd say or do but... he'd at least hear her voice.

He refilled his glass.

***

In work nothing changed. Their banter continued, the office whispers about them continued and she did her best to keep him in line.

Nearly two and a half years after they were together, Pepper found herself on an impromptu night out with two friends visiting the city. About three hours into the night, she found herself sitting at the bar, being charmed by a tall, blond man with impeccable manners. About an hour after that she found herself kissing him goodnight with his promise to call her fresh in her mind.

He wouldn't call.

He did call.

A few weeks later, Tony happened to run into her and Josh at a restaurant. Pepper's first concern was that she hadn't had this engagement in his schedule but he laughed and told her it was a last-minute invite from Obi. She frowned because she knew she'd told Obi she was coming here and he hadn't mentioned any plans.

She'd introduced Tony and Josh, and noticed the smile that didn't reach her boss' eyes. She felt uncomfortable even though Tony behaved perfectly normal.

In truth, she felt like he'd just caught her cheating on him.

The following day he made small talk, asked how long they'd been going out, if he'd met her parents and all of the other expected questions.

He asked if she was happy and she lied with a smile on her face.

A smile that he saw through, and she knew it.