Tony stumbled out of bed the next morning much later than usual on account of a video Pepper had sent him the night before of her in a very arousing predicament that failed, sadly, to include what he could only guess was a very climatic ending- leaving his imagination reeling, his body pulsing with need, and only the dark to comfort him as he tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
However, he thought proudly, I am still master of my domain. In the past, he would have caved easily under the pressure, and just taken matters into his own hands. But in this situation, he couldn't bring himself to do the deed out of pure principle. Although, regretfully, he acknowledged that satiation would feel a hell of a lot better to little Tony right now than standing his ground did at the moment.
And, truth be told, he knew he kind of deserved to suffer for doing the same thing to Pepper. She'd bested him in this game this time, and he had to take his lumps like a man. It was a long time coming, but she'd fought back. Hard.
He wandered into their closet, yanked a shirt and some dark jeans off the hangers and quickly dressed. He jogged down the stairs to the kitchen to eat the last of the breakfast casserole Pepper had made for breakfast on Christmas day.
He loaded up his plate, threw it in the microwave, and plunked the casserole dish down in the sink, filling it with soapy water.
Just then, his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, groused when he saw who it was, and picked it up.
"Well, hello, Princess," he sniped.
He heard Pepper laugh. "Oh,ho,ho," she cooed sympathetically. "Are you still sore at me? I'm so sorry, honey." He heard her giggle again.
Tony pouted. "No, you're not," he grumbled. "And yeah, I am still sore at you. Literally, Pepper. Sore."
"Really?" she asked. "You didn't...take care of it?"
"No," Tony replied haughtily. "I am still master of my domain, out of principle, thank you very much."
"Wow," Pepper murmured. "Color me impressed."
"Uh huh," Tony replied. "That's right, Potts," he touted. "I can control my urges, contrary to popular belief."
His stern cockiness just caused her to giggle more. "Well, now you know how I felt all those times you left me hanging," she explained. "All the same, I called to say good morning, and I love you, and I'm sorry anyway."
Tony pouted some more for a moment before shrugging. "It's okay, Pep," he relented, sighing. "I forgive you. Besides, it's like you said. I had it coming," he admitted.
"Well, then, let's make a deal, shall we?"
"A deal?" Tony said.
"Mmmm hmmm," Pepper purred. "No more leaving each other high and dry. Nights are lonely enough by ourselves. So why don't we make it a team effort next time. Working together long distance sounds like so much more fun than working alone, wouldn't you agree?"
"Certainly," Tony purred back. He smirked to himself. "And I believe the term for what your talking about is phone sex?"
Pepper giggled mischievously. "Well, I don't know if you're aware, but they also include video cameras on phones now? Have you heard of those?" she teased.
Tony chuckled. "You made me, uh, painfully aware of those last night, Potts," he said, grimacing, and adjusting himself gingerly. He winced.
Pepper chuckled. "Then it sounds like a date, then. First chance we get, we make a night of it. Together."
"Right. Together," Tony agreed. "You know, I'm liking how your brain works on these things, Pep," he encouraged.
"All the more reason why we're getting married," Pepper replied. "Great minds think alike, I suppose."
Tony chuckled. Just then, he heard some rustling and someone talking to Pepper in the background. "Oh, Tony, I have to go," she said. "My 8 o'clock is here."
"Okay, honey," he said. "Call me later, huh?"
"Of course," she said. "I love you."
"I love you, first," he said, as they hung up.
Tony pulled his plate out of the microwave, but he didn't get a chance to touch his food. His phone rang again. This time the caller was Natasha Romanoff.
Tony picked it up. "Yeah, Natasha-lie, what's up?" Tony said jovially.
"Hi, Stark. Listen, I'm at Saks Fifth Avenue, looking for what you told me to find. But I am missing some information."
"Okay," he said. "Like what?"
"Like a size, Stark," she said sarcastically. "I can't very well do this if you don't at least provide me with some sizes."
Tony furrowing his brow. "You can't just go try stuff on? I mean, you're a girl, right?"
He heard her exhale sharply into the phone. "That is such a guy thing to say," she muttered under her breath. "Yeah, we're two totally different women with totally different body types? So, therefore, what fits me absolutely won't fit Pepper. Got it?"
"Got it," Tony said. "Stand by."
Tony ran back up the stairs, two at a time, into their bedroom. He ran into their closet and started raking through Pepper's clothes. "Sizes, sizes," he mumbled to himself. "Okay, I got one, I think."
"Okay?" Natasha said.
"It says 'L' on the tag. L for...large? Does that mean large on girl clothes like it does on guy's?"
He could hear her do a face-palm into the phone. "A number, Stark. I need a number, like a 4? 6? 8?"
"Oh, an eight!" he exclaimed. "Yeah, I see an eight. Size 8. That's the one."
"Okay, and shoes?"
"Oh, she has tons of those," Tony said, rolling his eyes.
"A size, Tony. Stay with me, here," Natasha scolded.
"Alright, alright, I'm lookin', I'm lookin'," he said. He was quiet for a minute, pulling a pair of shoes out of one of the cubbies in the closet. "Uh...I see a...9?" he said.
"Perfect. Dress size, 8. Shoe size, 9. I'm on it."
"Thanks, Nat. I owe you one," Tony said gratefully.
She chuckled. "Oh, I know," she said. "I'll see you this afternoon when we meet up. Hopefully," she sighed. "I will be successful."
"Hey," Tony said. "It's New York. If you can't find it here, it doesn't exist."
They both chuckled.
"Later, Stark," Natasha said, hanging up.
Tony nodded and smiled to himself in approval. "Nice," he said to himself.
Pepper sighed, scrolling through her schedule on her computer after her first meeting was over. It was with Accounting, and all had gone very well. But it had also led to other appointments made for future meetings in the coming months. And, her gut was telling her, that if it went the same for all departments, her schedule would be completely booked up for the next few months at least.
"We'll have no time to get married," she realized, sadly. "Maybe June is going to have to work after all."
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "Come in," Pepper replied.
Her secretary, Bambi Arbogast, entered. Bambi had been a long time employee of Stark Industries, and was Tony's office secretary before Pepper took over as CEO. She was an older, petite, bird-like woman with short dark-but-graying hair and glasses who prided herself, much like Pepper did, on the utmost professionalism and loyalty. "Uh, Ms. Potts?" she said.
"Yes?" Pepper asked, looking up from her computer screen.
"Your 9 o'clock is here."
Pepper smiled warmly. "Of course, Bambi. Show him in," she said.
It was Bill Riva, from Research and Development. He awkwardly walked past Bambi, and into Pepper's office. "Uh, th-thank you, uh, uh..." he stammered.
"Bambi," Bambi said, smiling politely.
"Yes, Bambi. Sorry, I..." he said, stuttering. He chuckled nervously.
Pepper got up and walked around her desk to greet him. She held out her hand. "Hello, Ralph... I mean...hmmmmm," she backtracked. She smiled sheepishly at him, and pursed her lips, cursing Tony under her breath. "I mean, Bill. Sorry, Bill, it's...been a long day already," Pepper said, smiling.
Bill barely noticed her mistake. He smiled anxiously, and shook her outstretched hand vigorously. "Hello, Ms. Potts," he said.
They walked together back toward her desk. "Please, have a seat, Bill, and we'll talk about this quarter's projects, shall we?" Pepper said, motioning for him to sit down in front of her. She took her seat behind her desk and leaned forward, folding her hands in front of her.
Bill nodded, and cleared his throat. "Uh, okay," he said nervously. "We're making good progress in the green energy sector, as we know, with the many energy efficient towers that Stark Industries is erecting around the world."
"Yes," Pepper said. "And we are quite proud of that."
"Of course," Bill said, anxiously fidgeting with his glasses. "B-but I think that we should explore other avenues of green energy. Possibly with some automotive applications? Even maybe aviation? Of course this is all preliminary. But I feel," he said, scooting to the edge of the seat. "That Stark Industries could easily lead the way, globally, in this technology."
Pepper beamed. "I would have to agree with you," she said, kindly.
Bill smiled satisfactorily. "Good," he said. "Of course, this would mean that we'd need to set up several meetings to discuss just what those applications would be, as I said, in the next few months."
Pepper's heart fell yet again at the mention of her schedule getting even more blocked up. It's not that she wasn't aware that this might happen, but with so much new development already going on in the company, and Bill talking about adding to it, it would require all hands on deck, meaning anything personal would get pushed to the side in the mean time. And that meant pushing back the wedding possibly past June at this rate, by her estimation.
She sighed and smiled weakly. "Of course, Bill," she said, trying to keep her poise. "Whatever is required."
I read once that Warren Buffett, multi-billionaire business man, can't turn on an oven to save his life. So I would imagine that Tony, much like Warren, would struggle with some everyday things that most of us take for granted as well. And I think Pepper would agree. After all, in her words, he could barely tie his shoes without her, right? ;) So, he'd be all over clothes shopping for himself, but women's clothing? Not so much. It would just be beyond him, I would imagine. Good thing we've got the lovely Ms. Romanoff to help out, huh?
And, fun fact for those that don't already know, Bambi Arbogast isn't a made up secretary. She was actually Tony's office secretary (and then became Pepper's secretary) in the comic and the movies. She even made an appearance in IM2 when Tony goes to visit Pepper at her office with the pallet of strawberries. :)
As always, thank you thank you thank you for your support! I love to hear from you all! See you in #27!