Tony then went to take a shower. He stood there and let the hot water hit his back as he thought about the wedding. He still couldn't believe that he was actually going to be married, especially to his childhood hero. But, he had to admit that he didn't love anyone more than he loved Steve, not even Pepper when they were together. He also had to admit that he was ready to be married. If you asked him a few months ago, he definitely would have said no, but Steve takes such good care of him and has changed his life so much that he would get married today if he had the chance.
Thirty minutes later, Tony got out of the shower and put on a nice charcoal-gray suit with thin, light gray pinstripes. Steve had picked it out for him because he loved how professional he looked in it. He also admitted that he looked really fucking sexy in it, and who's going to not buy something that their significant other tells them they look sexy in? Not Tony Stark, that's for sure.
Happy arrived at six o' clock, right as Tony walked out of the hotel. Tony climbed into the back after Happy opened the door for him.
"Good evening, Boss", Happy greeted Tony as he began to pull away from the hotel.
"Hey, Hap. You know where to go right? I forgot the name of the restaurant", Tony asked. He knew the restaurant was a fancy one, but the name was too fancy to even remember what it was called.
"Yeah, it's only a few blocks from here", Happy said.
"Cool", Tony replied and then decided to look at some tech blueprints on his phone.
Happy announced when they had arrived at the restaurant. Tony had to admit that it was definitely well designed and very fancy. The outside had huge columns that reached all the way to the top of the building, double doors that led to a grand foyer, and, of course, complimentary valet parking. Not that that mattered anyway to Tony. Why do you think he brought Happy?
The only thing that kind of ruined this whole moment, was the paparazzi that started to flip out when he'd arrived. Everyone wanted the latest scoop and they didn't care how they got it. Especially, when three of them practically shoved their cameras in his face before the police had corralled them.
"Mr. Stark!"
Tony turned to see the Prime Minister and his wife walking up to him.
"Good evening, Mr. Prime Minister", Tony said, shaking the Prime Minister's hand and kissing the hand of his wife.
"How about we go inside, it seems to be a little busy out here", the Prime Minister said and then began to move inside.
"Of course", Tony replied.
The restaurant must have been one of the most prestigious in the entire country. It was well decorated, had the fanciest wine, and the fanciest foods. Tony thought it was okay but Steve and he had recently been going to small, local restaurants ever since they had started dating and Tony had to admit that he had liked those much better.
There were a few other people at the table other than the Prime Minister, his wife, and him. He wasn't entirely good with names though. He only knew that they had copious amounts of money and power. Oh, and that they were interested in the green energy movement. At the moment, one of people at the table who looked to be French was talking to a representative from Italy about what certain grapes made wine taste better.
"Mr. Stark? Are you still with us?", Tony then heard the Prime Minister say. He must have started to zone out because everyone at the table had begun to look at him.
Tony cleared his throat, "Ah, sorry about that and Mr. Stark was my father. Please, call me Tony", Tony then flashed one of his famous Tony Stark smiles.
"I was going to ask you how well business has been going, but I'm sure we all know the answer to that", The Prime Minister and the rest of the table laughed. Tony laughed along with them just enough to make them think he was truly laughing. If Steve were here, he would have known it was fake.
"Well", Tony began when the table began to calm down, "It's actually doing really well. Stark Tower and Industries are now being run on self-sustaining power. Which, of course, is completely composed of green energy and I have to admit that it's held up quite nicely."
"Wow, that's quite excellent. Is there any way that this power could be used to populate a city yet?", one of the people at the table asked.
"At the moment, I regret to inform you that no, the energy signature has not been made high enough to sustain a city. Give it about four or five years though, and it just might", Tony said with a smile.
The Prime Minister must've gotten bored with the conversation, or had gotten the information about green energy that he needed, because he then changed the subject. "So, Tony, I hope you don't mind if I change the subject. Do you plan on settling down anytime soon? I know the press has been wondering and I must admit that I have been as well. You don't mind, do you?"
"No, I don't mind", Tony replied, even though he kind of did, "Yes, I do plan to settle down with someone quite soon, actually." Tony didn't want to say too much, especially because he knew that Steve wanted both of them to be able to tell the press.
"I'd love to meet the lucky girl sometime", the Prime Minister replied. Tony could tell that he tried to conceal the shock on his face, but it didn't really work.
Tony chuckled, "Too bad, he's not a girl." Tony noticed the look of surprise go across everyone's face and actually felt quite pleased with himself.
"Oh my", the representative from Italy responded, "What would your father think?" Even though the rep from Italy was the first to voice it, Tony could tell that everyone else was thinking that same thing.
He had to admit that at the beginning of this whole dinner thing, he had a funny feeling that it was going to go horribly. He hadn't figured that it would become this bad. How dare they ask him what his father thought! The man had been dead for over twenty years!
Tony took a deep breath and then got up from his chair. "Would you excuse me? I've got someplace I'd rather be right now and it's not sitting here while a bunch of political assholes ridicule me about my fucking love life. Who gives a shit about what my father would have thought? He's dead and didn't give a shit anyway. I would tell you all to go to Hell, but you're all probably going there anyway. So, have a nice fucking night and don't expect to be seeing me tomorrow morning." With that, Tony turned and strode out of the restaurant, as the people at the table looked around dumbfounded.
After Tony got into the limo and Happy started driving back to the hotel, Tony figured that it would probably be a good idea to call Pepper.
"Hello?", Tony heard after the third ring.
"Hey, Pep. Cancel anything else that I have to here in London", Tony said, immediately getting to the point.
"Wait, what? Why? Tony, are you okay?" Pepper immediately started asking questions.
"They were all assholes. Anyway, cancel everything. I'm coming home tonight and having all of my stuff shipped home tomorrow."
"Tony, can we talk about this before you do anything crazy?", Pepper asked.
"Well, I think I already did something crazy, but I'll tell you the story anyway. The Prime Minister asked me if I was going to settle down anytime soon. I told him that yes, I planned to. He then said that he'd love to meet the girl, and I, of course, laughed because Steve is certainly no girl. Then one of the other representatives had the nerve to ask what my father would have thought." Tony decided to end there because he knew Pepper would understand as soon as he added in the part about his father.
"Oh...", Pepper replied.
"Yep".
Pepper sighed, "Alright, give me until tomorrow morning and I'll clear everything and get Happy and your stuff on the next flight out. You brought the suit right?"
"Yes, I'm on my way to get it now. Thanks, Pep", Tony replied.
"No problem, Tony. Tell Steve I said hi."
"Will do. See you soon."
The call ended about the same time that Tony had arrived at the hotel. The paparazzi must have gotten the word already about his lovely dinner with the Prime Minister, because they were all over the grounds of the hotel. Tony really hated them. They were all just a bunch of monkeys looking to change the public's opinion of you with a spread filled to the brim with lies.
"Mr. Stark! Do you have anything to say about your dinner with the Prime Minister?"
"Mr. Stark! Are you still going to do the Press conference tomorrow?"
"Mr. Stark! We got the word that you were getting ready to settle down. Any word on who you're getting married to and when the wedding will be?"
Tony sighed and then turned around to face the paparazzi. "Not to disappoint anyone, but I'm going to have to answer, 'No', to all of your questions. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go inside. Happy can you take care of them please?"
Once Tony saw that Happy was getting the paparazzi under control, he went in to check out of his room.
"Good evening, Mr. Stark. Is there anything I could help you with?", the young lady at the check in desk asked.
"Yes, I would like to check out", Tony said, reaching into his suit pocket to get his wallet.
"So soon? Mr. Stark it says here that you were supposed to be here for the next two days."
"Yes, I know. But, something came up. What's it going to cost me?"
The lady gave him the amount; Tony paid, and then took the elevator to his room.
Tony figured he might as well pack up all of his stuff and make things a little easier for Pepper. Especially since all of the stuff he'd brought was everywhere except for in his suitcase. The good thing about that was that Tony packed his bags fairly light whenever he traveled, so it didn't take too long to clean up the room.
When he finished zipping up the bag, he left it at the end of the bed and then grabbed the Iron Man briefcase. He then took the elevator to the roof, let the suit cover him from head to toe, and took off in the direction of New York.
Tony had to admit that he loved the faces of the reporters and paparazzi as he took off. It was a look that would probably never get old.
The flight was only going to be an hour and the only thing running through his head was the word, home, accompanied by the image of Steve.
