I had a restless night, (How could you sleep not knowing where your father was? For all I knew he could be dead.) fortunately Pepper had gotten me a latte from Starbucks before I woke up. "How are you doing Les?" Pepper asked. "I don't know. It's weird, I don't know what to feel," I replied. "I'll be here for you the whole time. If you need anyone to talk to, I'll listen." Pepper said looking me in the eye. "Thank you," I said in advanced. Pepper has always been like a mother to me. I have known her since I was four and has always been there for me. She taught me all the things my dad couldn't. "It hurts to not know," I spoke about my dad. "I know you'll be able to get through this and hopefully he'll be back soon." Pepper said. "I just hope so," I said getting up. I went upstairs to my dad's room. I stood at the doorway. The room smelled like him. The bed, still unmade, brought back memories my dad.
The whole house reminded me of my dad. Little things like tools set out from when he was working on a car and post-it notes from Pepper reminding him to do things. Every so often packages would come of parts my dad had ordered for a project.
Pepper had stayed with me for the past two weeks. She made sure I was surviving all of this. She didn't like it when I watched the news because of the terrible things they said about my dad and myself. The new was obsessive, though. Rhodey called saying I shouldn't listen to what they say and that have the stuff is false but I wanted to know what they were saying about me. I hadn't gone out of the house since I had gotten news of my father's abduction. So when one morning when Pepper asked me to come to Stark Industries, I wasn't surprised. The way she asked made it seem like a statement not a question. So I realized what was best with me and went along.
We were stuck in traffic on the highway the usual for L.A. "I wish I were anyone of these people," I said looking around at the other cars, "not having to worry about whether your father might be dead. They probably don't care about him being missing. It doesn't affect them so why should they?" "Some people care," Pepper said. "Yeah, stockholders and reporters," I muttered "I care, Happy cares, Obidiah cares," she added. The rest of the ride was quiet. "Do you want to come in with me?" Pepper asked getting out of the car. "Why not?," I said. The lobby was busy and many people greeted me. I followed Pepper upstairs to my dad's office. "I need to go get a file from legal," Pepper said. "Okay I'll just stay here," I said before Pepper left. I sat in the chair behind my father's desk. I looked around the room, there were magazines and newspapers on the wall. On the desk there was a picture of me and my dad. I smiled, it was taken at my birthday party a couple of months ago. "I heard you were here," Obidiah said walking in. "You scared me," I said turning around. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to see how you were doing," he apologized. "I'm trying to stay strong," I said. "Good, good," Obie said, "I'm sure they'll find you dad soon." Obie left the room leaving me all alone.
"I got everything I need, so we can get going now," Pepper said walking in after my moment of silence. "I'm ready to go," I said getting up. The press was waiting outside the doors when they found out I was here. "Les, you don't have to say anything you don't want to," Pepper said before we walked out. I took a deep breath and faced the press. "Elizabeth Stark!" Many reporters called out. "Do you think he'll come back?" One asked. "Will you be taking your father's place in the company?" Another asked. That question got my attention and it made me mad. "Really?" I asked. "It's only been like what, 2 weeks. My father's not dead. I'm not planning on taking his place and acting like he never existed," I said. "How do you know that he isn't?" The reporter questioned. "He just couldn't be. He can get himself out of any bad situation, I know that. He'll be back maybe in 2 days or 5 years for all it takes. I just know he'll be back." I finished what I had said and didn't speak a word until I was on the road with Pepper. "That was really brave Les," Pepper said. "I don't even remember what I said. It was all a blur after what that reporter said," I replied. "I'm glad you speak up for yourself especially during a time like this," Pepper said. I looked out the window. "Pepper, this isn't the way home," I said not recognizing the route. "I think staying out of the house will clear your head, so I decided it would be best for you to spend a few days at my apartment," Pepper told me. "But I don't have any of my stuff with me," I said. "I packed a bag with some clothes for you," she replied. I didn't know what to say. "Have I really been that bad?" I thought to myself. I had just wrecked my car last night, today was the first I went outside in two weeks, and I've been in my pajamas since I first heard my dad was missing. "Okay," I said realizing maybe it could be good for me. "I knew you would understand," Pepper said. The rest of the ride was quiet untill we got to Pepper's apartment.
I had been to Pepper's apartment many times before, mainly when I was younger and my dad had to go somewhere and I couldn't because of conflicts with school. The first time I went to Pepper's apartment I was around five years old. Pepper had been working for my dad for almost a year. It was around that time when I had started to call myself Les.
"i'm so sorry it's such a mess,"Pepper apologized. "It's fine Pepper assured her. the apartment was really messy but just a little disorganized. "You can get a snack from the fridge if you want," Pepper told me. I set my suitcase down and opened the fridge. in it there was a can of red bull, spoiled milk, and a rotting apple. "Pepper, when was the last time you restocked your fridge?" I shouted out looking at the lack of real food. "Oh Shit," Pepper said running over to the fridge. "3 days before," she said, "3 days before all of this. I'm going have to get food, now. You dont mind if I go out get something actually edible." "I'm fine with you leaving for a bit. I'll be okay," I assured her. "Great I'll be back in hopefully 2 hours," she replied. She picked up her keys from the counter and left.

I looked around at the apartment. I felt bad, Pepper had done so much for me so far I decided to help her out. So I began to start cleaning her apartment. I did her laundry, threw away all the spoiled food and organized the mess that was her living room. As I was putting away her clothes I looked at the picture on her dresser. There was a picture of her brother Danny, her sister Jen and her at where I'm guessing is her parents house. There were pictures of her friends from highschool. Pepper was right being out of the house did help keep my mind off my dad.
I was exhausted by the time I had finished cleaning. Imstead of watching the news like I would normally do, I took at nap. No nightmares, no dreams, just a calm moment of peace where I could escape the world that was tearing me apart.