Be Careful What You Wish For
Adopted from Kactus Wrynn
Disclaimer: If you recognize anything, I don't own it
Bella was wide awake and ready to go at 5:30 am the next day and waiting for Tom to finish his coffee so they could make the hour long drive to Stark Tower. She wore a white blouse and black slacks with a plain black apron on her lap and comfortable black restaurant issue tennis shoes on her feet. Tom pulled himself to his feet at 5:50 am and set his plate in the sink before grabbing his keys and heading out the door with Bella following behind. An hour later they arrived at Stark Tower and Bella spotted the strawberry blonde hair of Pepper Potts immediately and quickly got out of the car and headed straight towards her.
"Good morning, Ms. Potts."
"Good morning Ms. Dupree. Follow me. You probably won't meet any of the Tower's residents except perhaps Captain Rogers. Tony and Dr. Banner are probably both still in their labs and Agents Barton and Romanoff are currently on a mission for S.H.I.E.L.D. Last I knew Thor was back on Asgard. If you do encounter any of them don't speak to them unless they speak to you first, understand?" Bella nodded as she struggled to keep up with Pepper's quick pace. They entered the tower lobby and headed straight for the elevator.
"You will meet me outside every morning so I can let you in to the penthouse. If I am ever not waiting for you, go inside and tell the receptionist at the front desk that I sent you and you need to go up to the penthouse. She will ask you for a password, the password is Eleanor and it will never change, if it does I will let you know. When you clean you will be in other areas of the Tower. The only time you'll be in the penthouse is when you cook, understand?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Good. Do you have any questions?"
"Only one, is anyone in the Tower allergic to anything?"
"The only one I can think of is Captain Rogers; he has a severe nut allergy. I can't remember if it's a specific nut or all nuts in general though."
"I'll stay away from nuts in general, just in case.
"Good idea. Any other questions?" Bella shook her head no and the elevator doors opened then, Bella hadn't even noticed they were moving, and Pepper led the way out and to the kitchen, a man was sitting at the table and Bella would recognized him from the news even if Pepper hadn't addressed him.
"Good morning Captain."
"Good morning Ms. Potts." Pepper smiled at him and then returned her attention to Bella.
"This is the kitchen Ms. Dupree. You will have breakfast ready at 7:30 and I expect it to be a filling and mostly healthy meal, understand?" Bella nodded her head. "Good. I have to go and do my work now; don't even think of stealing anything, poisoning anything, or informing the tabloids of anything in this tower. I will know if you do." She turned to leave and Bella felt irritated, and spoke before she could stop herself.
"Why would you think I'd do anything like that? You did a very thorough background check. You know I've never done anything wrong, nor have I ever sought attention. You don't even know me so you should hold your judgment until you do!" Pepper turned back around to face her and said very calmly,
"Yes I did do a very thorough background, but you've never been faced with an opportunity like this and I couldn't be sure if you wouldn't do something very out of character based on your background. Now I know you won't." Bella's jaw dropped
"Are you saying that was a test?" Pepper smirked and nodded before speaking again
"Yes it was, congratulations, you passed. Welcome to Stark Industries, Ms. Dupree." And then Pepper turned and left the penthouse, leaving Bella gaping behind her, and Steve feeling a little confused. Bella stood there in shock for a minute or so and then snapped out of it and turned to get to know the kitchen before she began making whole wheat pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage. She started the coffee maker and was covering the food she had just finished and then putting it under the heating lamps and was headed for the elevator to leave and begin cleaning the rest of the tower when the Captain called from behind her,
"Wait!" She stopped and turned to face him and then waited for him to speak as he made his way over to her and stopped in front of her to hold out his hand
"My name is Steve Rogers, what's yours?" She hesitantly reached out shook his hand before dropping it and saying
"Bella Dupree, it's nice to meet you." He grinned and said
"You as well." She nodded and turned to leave and heard him call behind her "Bye and I hope you have a good day!" She entered the elevator and hit the lobby button and before the doors closed said "You as well."
When the elevator doors opened she headed over to the receptionist, whose name plate read Katherine, and spoke
"Hi, um, I'm Bella Dupree and I'm one of the new employees and I was just wondering if you could tell me where to go to get my assignment?"
"Hi Bella, what's your position?"
"I'm the new cook for Mr. Stark, but I'm also one of the cleaners."
"You'll want to speak to Elizabeth then, her office is on the second floor, its number 203."
"Thanks!" Bella beamed and headed to the elevator, hitting the up button and waiting for the doors to open. When they did she waited for the few people in the elevator, one of which was Captain Rogers though he didn't notice her, to exit. As soon as they had she entered with three other people and hit the button for the second floor, she looked at the others and asked "Which floor?" The man in the business suit told her "Floor 6", she hit the button, the woman in the business suit told her "Floor 8", she hit the button, and the last woman said "I'm going to the same floor as you." The elevator doors closed then and a moment later Bella and the last woman got off when they opened again. The woman went in a different direction as Bella began looking for office 203. When she did, she knocked and a voice called, "Come in!" She entered the office and saw a woman with thick black hair that she wore loose. She smiled at Bella and then spoke,
"Can I help you?"
"Uh, yes, my name is Bella Dupree. I'm a new employee and I was told to come to you, for my cleaning schedule."
"Oh yes! Ms. Potts hired you, you're Mr. Stark's new cook but you'll be cleaning in the time between making each meal. Of course you're being paid for both jobs. Just give me a second, OK?" Bella nodded and Elizabeth rifled through her drawer before pulling out a blue piece of paper and a watch, she handed both to Bella.
"An alarm will go off when it's time for you to head up to make lunch, here is your schedule. Before you head up to make the meals, let me know. Do you have a phone?" Bella nodded and handed it over, "I'll give you my number and you can just text me alright?" Bella nodded and accepted her phone back before she fastened the watch on her wrist and put her schedule in her pocket after she glanced at it; it was going to be a long day.
Bella happily texted Elizabeth that she was leaving for the day and she would see her tomorrow as she waited for the elevator to go down. The elevator dinged and opened to the lobby and she happily stepped out of the elevator and headed for the door hearing Katherine behind calling "See you tomorrow Bella!" She turned and walked backwards to wave at her and then turned to face the front and exited the tower, she spot Ton waiting in the car on the curb and made her way over to him. She climbed into the passenger seat and he started the car and asked her
"How was your day?" She grinned and began telling him all about the day from the encounter with Captain Rogers, to cleaning dirty bathrooms and dusty offices, to how she had actually enjoyed cooking and how she was actually a little excited to return tomorrow because there were so many nice people and she would be bringing some food to put in the break room because she wanted to know what other people thought of her cooking and she felt they deserved it for all their hard work. Tom listened with a slight grin as the normally composed 24 year old woman babbled and gushed about her day. When they got home, she immediately headed to the kitchen to start cooking and baking the food she was going to bring tomorrow. She hoped Ms. Potts wouldn't mind.
When she finally headed to bed at 10:30 after cooking and baking nonstop for four hours, she took a quick shower and was asleep nearly before her head hit the pillow at 11:00. 'Tomorrow is going to be fun, I think,' was her last thought before she slipped into a deep and peaceful sleep.