Chapter 4: Warming up.
The tea cup on the table was cold; her tablet next to it and a huge amount of papers surrounded both things, she'd being sorting them since morning and also typing and organizing the information so it would show on the screens around her; having as many as ten backups was mandatory for any information at Stark Enterprises and since she had to sort it all out for her boss it took her longer than anyone else's information.
She lay down on the sofa, facing the ceiling and stretched suppressing a grunt, how she'd love to take a quick nap, but she couldn't, it was time for her to get ready even if she didn't want to.
"Miss Morgan, it's time for you to get ready."
"Yes, thank you, Jarvis" she said organizing the papers as fast as she could and placing them all and her tablet under key before strolling over to the huge bathroom and unzipping the bag to take out her dress and opening the box that contained her shoes.
While she was getting ready styling her hair, doing her make-up, putting on her dress and finally slipping on her shoes; she thought that maybe this wasn't going to be a bad night after all.
Her cellphone vibrated and a message appeared on the screen: "This message is to remind you that I have a reputation to maintain so you better look presentable, Miss Uptight Assistant."
Despite the fact that he managed to annoy her with just a few lines she still smiled before placing her phone inside the purse she'd bought along with the dress and walked to the elevator and down to the front of the building, where oddly enough Happy was not the one taking her to the gala. He wasn't the type of person to be irresponsible and she decided she'd ask what happened to him on Monday.
Using small medieval styled carts to get people up was a great idea, it helped with the vibe of the place and you could hear the medieval music while you went up; she'd never being there before, but she'd always want to and now that she was there she couldn't believe how beautiful it was, being there at night was another experience not everyone got since it usually closed at 5:15pm and the place looked magical.
She walked down the medieval halls, enjoying the way the torches illuminated the place and finally got to the garden where she was supposed to meet her boss. The flashes of the cameras surrounding the obviously famous people that attended the gala and the journalists asking questions prevented her from actually finding him among all the people and maybe he wasn't there yet. She took her phone out of her purse and checked the time, it was almost eight and he wasn't in sight.
She sighed frustrated, was he really going to be late? Or not appear at all? Again? Her phone went off and without looking at the screen she picked it up.
"Hello, this is…"
"Good thing I called, I couldn't tell if it was really you." The voice came from behind her and she turned around to see her boss hang up the phone call and stash his phone back in this pocket as he walked towards her.
"You actually showed up." She said with a sarcastic smile. "I was thinking about the excuse I should give to the journalists."
"Don't give them an excuse; just remind them that I am Tony Stark."
"Yes, well, they already know that."
"That should be enough to silence their questions, Miss Morgan."
"How nice of you to remember my last name. Did you write it down?"
"I knew it since before I met you; I just think you look cute when you are annoyed." He joked. "Aren't you going to mention how handsome I look? There's no need for you to do it, I just like to hear it."
"You need to go and pose for some pictures." She gave him a 'gentle' push and he looked back at her pretending to be mad.
She looked at him from the threshold, he could say he was annoyed at the invasion that the media usually did to his private life, but it was obvious he knew exactly what to do and that he'd always known; she thought how exhausting must be for him to be on constant public display, after about an hour of photos and interviews it was time for the speeches; she stood next to him and listened to them attentively; most of the time people didn't seem to mind when someone was giving a speech, but there was always a meaning behind the words and the inflection used to say them and it was part of her job to know if it involved Stark Enterprises and her boss or not.
Paying attention was difficult since he insisted on holding her from the waist and leaned over to talk about the awfully dressed women and men in his own sarcastic and funny way to which she could only giggle and keep a poker face when someone turned around to see who was talking.
After the speeches were over all the guests were invited to walk around The Cloisters, there were tour guides hired to give them information about the place and the art displayed there, but it seemed that Mr. Stark had a different idea. Leading her by the waist from room to room he was the one that started talking about the paintings and the sculptures and the tapestries and she found herself paying attention to everything he said, who knew he had that amount of knowledge about this place? Despite her own resolution she had to be honest about it: she found him fascinating.
When they got to the Unicorn Tapestries he led her to 'The Unicorn in Captivity' and instead of talking about it and, for the first time during the night, he simply stood next to her, still holding her by the waist and they both looked at it in silence.
In all honesty she'd read just a little about it and as far as she knew there were only theories about what this tapestry represented, but now looking at it up close she could understand how 'the unicorn probably represents the beloved tamed. He is tethered to a tree and constrained by a fence, but the chain is not secure and the fence is low enough to leap over: The unicorn could escape if he wished.'
She sighed, she'd always being interested in unicorns and ever since she found about the place she knew she had to visit, but she never had the time, a hand gripped her arm tightly after the third time she sighed; she didn't know how it happened, but her head was resting on his shoulder and his hand was caressing her arm. Realizing what she was doing she took a step back and blushed profusely; when she opened her mouth to apologize her phone rang and she took advantage of this to walk out of the room and get some fresh air.
As soon as she stepped outside a man dressed as a cup-bearer offered her a goblet of wine and she took it, draining it as soon as she could. (Get yourself together, Morgan. What were you thinking?) The call lasted at a few minutes, she really couldn't say how many, but it seemed like her goblet was never empty and she just kept drinking.
A voice announced that the auction was about to start, she was sure her boss would love to bid, but wasn't sure if she should go looking for him, not after what happened; which wasn't much really; however it's not appropriate for an assistant to lean on her boss and actually enjoy it; the same man dressed as a cup-bearer approached her and offered to fill her goblet again to which she nod.
"Thank you." She said with a smile.
"I see you decided to drink. Aren't you supposed to behave?" he had a glass of scotch in his hand.
"Refusing wine in medieval times was bad manners and I don't want to appear rude." she took a sip and looked away.
"Well, it's a good thing your boss doesn't mind if you drink at work." He raised his glass towards her and drank a big gulp. "So, I'm bored."
"I guess you are leaving then." She said taking a long sip from her goblet.
"No, but I already had a few drinks and shook hands with people I don't know and don't care to know."
"Oh, so you want me to entertain you? Because I have a few files you should look at…"
"Work is banned for the night. Tell me about you. What do you do?"
"I work for this genius who helped improve his father's company, making it better and bigger, but likes to drink more than he should, never shows up at work and couldn't remember my last name until tonight." She smirked.
"He sounds like fun. Do I know him?"
"I don't think you do. He never attends any event he's invited to." She extended her left arm and the man filled her goblet again. She wasn't really sure how many she'd had and a voice in the back of her head kept saying that she should stop before things got out of hand, and decided that this would be the last goblet; she knew she shouldn't be drinking the way she was doing it, not after all the trouble she got herself into before.
"Did he buy that dress for you?" he said and grazed his fingers over back.
"I actually picked it; I don't think he actually knows about designers." His touch made her shiver a little and she took a small step sideways to place some distance between them.
"I'm glad you picked that dress…" his tone of voice was serious and he took a step towards her placing his hand around her waist. "You look beautiful," he leaned to kiss her cheek and whispered in her ear, "Elizabeth."
She could feel the color fill her face and stepped back from him, the smell of his cologne surrounding her and his fingers leaving her waist as she placed some distance between them.
"Well, I couldn't afford to embarrass you, could I? I am your assistant and you have a reputation to uphold." She joked trying to lighten the mood.
"You do have a point there and since I still have to uphold it I think it's time for me to leave."
"Aren't you going to bid at the auction? I think there are a few pieces you might like; I'll be happy to bid for you if you want to."
"Aren't you going to get in trouble with your parents if you arrive so late?"
"It's barely midnight and I don't live with my parents." She glared at him.
"That's good to know." He winked at her and she blushed again. (Stop blushing! He's your boss!)
"Well, if you don't need me here anymore I guess I should leave." She took her cellphone.
"What are you doing?" he said taking her goblet and giving it to the cup-bearer. "Who are you calling?" he finished his drink and gave it to the man as well.
"I'm going to let Franz know I'm coming back down so he'd have the car ready." she explained.
"Don't bother" he took the phone, hung up and placed it back into her purse. "I already sent him home." He leaned over just inches from her face and smiled mischievously before tucking her hand in the crook of his arm and leading her to the entrance.
She was trying to look like this was normal, but the stares and comments from the people while they walked to the door made her uncomfortable; if someone took a picture of them like this it could be misinterpreted and people might think there was something going on between. Paparazzi were always trying to get pictures of Tony Stark's 'dates' so they could sell them to all the gossip magazines and at least one of those was bound to end being published; so she tried to look like she was nothing more than his assistant.
They finally got to the entrance and he called a valet that was sitting a few steps away.
"You brought your car all the way up?" she asked scandalized. "That's what the carts were for!"
"I don't play by the rules, Miss Uptight Assistant." he gave the card to the valet. "Are you cold?"
"I'm fine" she said putting on her scarf, but he slipped off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders. "You don't have to…"
"You can't get sick. I'm sure your boss will need you on Monday, remember?" he said as the valet opened the door and helped her get inside the car. "So, where do I take you?"
"To my apartment. Since I'm going back earlier than I thought I'd be able to sleep more than I actually thought I would."
"Are you sure you want to sleep early?" he asked in a serious tone of voice and looked at her. "Because I still have that bottle of scotch..."
"I think I already filled my quota for today." This was actually true, her head was a fuzzy and she had the feeling that something had changed between them and for better or worse she liked it.
"In a few minutes it will be tomorrow, should we wait?" he leaned over to her and smiled mischievously, she looked back at him with what she hoped was a serious stare. "Fine, I'll take you to your apartment."
She had to bite her lip to prevent a very inappropriate whimper from escaping them, she'd seen the photos and the videos and the models in his office, but she never imagined she would ever had the chance to sit in his Audi R8 V10 Spyder, the purring of the motor, the smoothness of the fabric when she touched it, the elegance from the outside combined with the beauty of the inside was breathtaking. She concentrated in music that filled the car to take her mind out of the speed; he didn't seem to know that there were speed limits and she made a mental note to check the tickets she was sure he will have on Monday.
The way the car seemed to fly almost made her smile in delight, she'd always loved the thrill of the speed, but then the memory of the lights, the sounds, the smoke and the screaming was too much and she could feel the sweat forming in her palms, the tremor in her hands and the fear starting to grow inside.
She closed her eyes and even when she swore it had only being two seconds she felt the car come to halt and he parked in front of her building, turned off the car and slowly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Thanks for dropping me off." She said nervously unbuckling herself and trying to take of his jacket.
"Keep it. It's chilly and you can take it back on Monday, unless you invite me over for a cup of coffee." He winked at her.
"Unfortunately" she leaned over to him "I prefer tea." She answered with a small smile. "Good night, Mr. Stark."
"Call me Tony." He took her hand before she got out of the car and kissed it. "Good night, Elizabeth."
His lips on her skin made her shiver, what was she thinking? Yes, flirting seemed to come to him as easily as breathing, but she shouldn't be flirting back, he was her boss and most of all he was Tony Stark, everyone knew he was a player, but still there she was walking up to her apartment and clinging to the feeling of his lips on her skin, his gaze over her and his voice whispering her name in her ear.
She sighed and leaned back on the door after she closed it, without realizing that Jessie was sitting in couch looking at her.
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Author's note: I should point out that I have never being to The Cloisters, if there are many mistakes about it I apologize. I had to guide myself with what I could find on the internet. =(