Chapter 4:
It's been a month since Pepper started to work as Tony Stark's PA. Throughout her month working, she had realized several things:
One: His mind was always working; it was incredible that he could be talking nonsense in one minute and in the other writing very complicated calculations on his phone, on paper or whatever is closest to him;
Two: There's always something new to do that tested her abilities. She almost panicked when he told her that he wanted pizza from a specific place in NY, and he wanted it for dinner that night, Really, what's wrong with the pizzas in LA? , she thought. Don't ask how but Pepper managed to get this done and Tony kind of seemed surprised with that so much that she couldn't help the feeling that he was testing her.
Three: he lived up to his reputation. Every now and then Pepper would go to his house to find out that he had some guests the previous night and she had to scout them out. She also learned to ignore his flirtations or give him a sarcastic answer as the fear of him being mad at her because of it was slowing fading and she realized he found it funny.
Tomorrow was going to be a big day for her. Tony had a speech in a symposium and she was responsible for everything. She was the one who organized the symposium, the guests and everything…It was the first event that she was responsible for and Pepper wanted it to be perfect. By the end of the week, she was feeling really stressed! Nothing could go wrong, scientists, CEOs, politicians, name someone important and he or she would probably be there tomorrow..
With this, people will see that I can be Tony Stark's PA and that I am capable of doing good work on important matters.
Pepper was so focused on her work that she didn't see a man coming to Tony's house.
"Who are you?" he asked.
Just then Pepper notice a black man standing on the front door. "Hello. I'm Virginia Potts. Mr. Stark's PA," she said with a polite smile on her face.
"Virginia?! What happened to Pepper.. I guess?" he asked with a confused expression.
"Pepper is my nickname," she explained.
"Oh! I got it. I'm James Rhodes. So… Tony hasn't driven you crazy yet?"
She laughed. "Not for lack of trying."
"Well he can be an ass but don't let it get to you… at the end of the day he is a nice guy. Where is he by the way?"
"Workshop. Do you want me to call him?"
"No, I'll go there." By her surprised expression, Rhodes could tell she may not have been in Tony's sanctuary. "You aren't missing anything by staying up here… down there it's too noisy!" he said as he went down the stairs.
She never saw Tony with a friend before, just the company of his bots. That was the first one and they seemed so different from each other. Pepper went back to work and didn't think much about it. A couple of hours later Rhodes come up again.
"It was nice to meet you Pepper… A little advice: run while you still can."
Pepper was about to respond when Tony appeared and said:
"Ha. Ha. You are so funny. You should drop the air force and be a clown!" Tony was coming up from the workshop and was still behind Rhodes which was why she hadn't seen him.
"Nah I like to have my lines to torment you," said Rhodes half-serious and half-joking.
Pepper watched the interaction between the two friends, amused. Stark seemed kind different with Rhodes around, but she still couldn't place a finger on it yet.
"I've got to go. Don't let those things blow you up before you deliver them to us," he said, walking towards the front door.
"Oh that's why you came here? To check on those projects?! Right?"
"Sure. Why else?" He walked behind Tony and said to Pepper: "Bye Pepper." Before she could answer, he was already gone.
After Rhodes left, Tony started to go downstairs again when Pepper called him: "Mr. Stark. Before you go down there, I would like to remind you of tomorrow's Symposium. I have to check something there in the morning but by the afternoon I'll come here to meet with you." While she was speaking Tony kept going downstairs and she had to follow him. The only indication that she had that he was listening her was an "ahem" every once in a while.
"This is the guest list-
"I don't like to be handed things-"
"You are scheduled to speak at 5pm-"
"Pepper, I've got this," he interrupted her when they arrived at the glass door of the workshop. But she kept talking, like she hadn't heard him.
"Happy will be here in time to drive us-"
"You don't need to do this-"
"I already left your suit ready-"
"This is not my first time-"
"But it's mine and I need it to be perfect."
"And it's fine. You worry too much, it's just a symposium, a bunch a boring people talking... What could go wrong?"
He gave her a reassuring smile before disappearing into the workshop. The door locked behind him and Pepper went upstairs to make some final adjustments before going home.
Yeah… what could go wrong?!
Soon Pepper realized never, ever ask that question when Tony Stark is involved. The next day Pepper went to the hall where the symposium would take place to check on everything. It didn't take much time and she was soon was driving to her boss's house to meet with him and Happy.
It was still morning; they would have time for lunch before hitting the road. Everything was going fine but when she arrived at the mansion Tony Stark was nowhere to be found. She searched everywhere! The kitchen, the gym, the pool, his bedroom… the only place she didn't have access was the workshop.
"JARVIS. Is Mr. Stark downstairs? Can you please ask him to come up?"
But the answer the computer gave her set her panicking even more.
"I'm sorry Miss Potts, Mr. Stark is not in the house in the moment."
"What do you mean? He left?! Where did he go?"
"He left the house early last night and has not returned."
"Did he say where he went?"
"I'm afraid not Miss Potts".
Now she was trying hard not to freak out. Tony had left and she had no idea where he was; it was her job to keep track on him and they had just a few hours before the symposium started and she had no idea what to do.
"Okay… don't freak out… don't freak out. You can do this," she said to herself. "It's not like there will be hundreds of people waiting for him to speak but this is your first public event that you are responsible… oh God!"
"If you would like… I can try locate his phone GPS."
"Can you do that? Then please do it."
There were some minutes of silence before JARVIS spoke again.
"Mr. Stark's current location is on Ocean Blvd. On Long Beach."
"Thank you JARVIS!" Pepper took her purse and car key and as she was walking out the house Happy arrived.
"Hey. Isn't it a little early to go? Am I late?"
"Mr. Stark is not here," said Pepper with an icy voice.
"Oh no. Do you know where he is?"
"JARVIS just gave me the address," clarified Pepper.
"I'll drive," he offered.
"Thanks Happy."
As if it was her "lucky" day, the traffic was terrible! It took them twice the amount it should to get there. It was past lunchtime by now. The symposium was starting. They arrived at the place and started to look for Tony.
"There!" Happy pointed to the beach next to a Lifeguard station.
In the distance, Pepper only saw what seemed to be a person laying there.
As they came closer, Pepper saw what looked like to be the rest of a bonfire and there were a few people sleeping here and there. How they manage to sleep with the sun this strong was beyond Pepper's comprehension…
There were bottles everywhere. She saw beer, vodka, whisky… A couple of steps closer and there he was. Laid on his stomach, half of his face turned to the sun, she could see a little blood on it, and his hand was still holding a bottle of whisky. She could see a part of his clothes were torn off.
"What happened were?" she asked to herself, but Happy answered.
"Beats me."
Pepper knelt next to him. He was a mess!
Oh my God! This can't be happening, she thought, feeling a little uncertain of what to do.
"Mr. Stark!" she called him. "Mr. Stark!" He still wouldn't answer. "Mr. Stark! Wake up!" she yelled, poking his back.
Slowly Tony opened his eyes and looked at her. When his eyes meet hers he smiled.
"Hey! My gorgeous assistant!" His breath was pure alcohol. He tried to get up but was unable to and Happy came to help him.
"Happy! So happy to see you!" he laughs! "What are you two doing here?"
"Are you kidding me?" Pepper asked impatiently. "You were supposed to be on your way to the symposium right now!"
Tony looked a little confused.
"No, no, no, no, no! That's tomooorrow. I know because youuu reminded me…" he slurred, clearly drunk.
Happy was trying to get Tony on his feet. One of his boss's arms was around his neck while Happy was holding his waist to support him.
"It's today boss," Happy told him.
"Today? Are you sure?" questioned a very confused Tony.
"Pretty sure." Happy confirmed to him while starting to walk whilst Pepper was giving him a look that could kill a person.
"That can't beee right," continued Tony. "I left to get a drink righttt after Pepper left the house… and somebody invited me for a Rave Party here-". As he explained, he looked back at the beach and saw the sun for the first time.
"Is that… the sun?"
"Yep!" Happy answered.
Pepper followed them still in dead silence. Tony seemed to realize that and stood quiet for a while. Pepper was now analyzing her options. She needed to clean him up and aid him because God knows how he managed that scratch on his face, and give him something to try to ease his drunken state. She looked at him to see why he was so quiet, and he was already passed out on the back seat.
Back at his house, Pepper gave him water to drink before putting him on the shower. When he was done, she gave him some Advil and helped him get dressed. Tony tried to joke about how she should try to get his clothes off and not on over and over, but Pepper remained silent, not daring to say a word to him.
She was putting some makeup on him to try to cover his bruises when Rhodes called. Happy answered and she heard him explaining their little morning adventure.
By the time they arrived at the symposium Tony was still very much drunk and it was right on time for his speech. He was speaking about physics, String Theory, dark matter and amount of others things that Pepper had no idea what it was…
One who saw him speak would never guess how wasted he was… Tony was eloquent, confident of what he was saying, and he was answering questions and making physics jokes like a master and people were enjoying them. Seeing his behavior on stage helped Pepper ease her fears.
After everything was done, Tony asked Happy to take him home. Pepper still wasn't talking to him unless she had to. She needed to stay since she still had things to organize.
When everything was done Pepper went home, still cursing Tony Stark for her stressful day.
-o-
The next day she went to S.I to grab some papers before going to Tony's house. When Pepper arrived on the executive floor she met with Mary.
"You arrived early today," said the older woman. "Good morning."
"So did you. Good morning." Pepper smiled a little but it didn't reach her eyes. She was still mad at her boss for being so irresponsible. It felt like he did it on purpose to test her. He knew it was her first event and it needed to be perfect, but instead she got a drunk man full of bruises ..
"Coffee?" Mary offered.
"Yes, thank you." Pepper sat next to her in the coffee room. They had both arrived early, and they had a little time to talk as it had been a long time since they had chatted.
"I saw a little of the symposium yesterday…And for what I head it was a success! Congratulations!" said Mary, genuinely happy.
"Not that much," said Pepper, visibly sad. "Mr. Stark showed up drunk."
"For what I heard he made an excellent speech!"
"I almost couldn't get him there in time to do it. He vanished and I found him almost on time for his speech all bruised and very, very drunk!"
"But you did find him." Mary tried to reassure her, but Pepper wouldn't listen.
"He is constantly testing me! Nothing is good enough, he is so irresponsible! I don't know how this company could make it so far! He never listens to what I say and if he does he doesn't care…"
"Is that what you think?"
"Yes. I honestly don't know if I can make it. I cannot work like this. I like a challenge, but this… is way too much. He doesn't trust me! How can other people take me seriously if he doesn't?"
Mary let her talk freely; it was obvious that she needed to. Their boss had the ability to drive them crazy. The difference between them was Mary was already used to it… After all she had been Howard Stark's secretary and now she was Tony's. Both father and son were very similar.
When Pepper finished, Mary decided to talk.
"Let me ask you something Miss Potts. And please be honest with me," she said in a serious voice.
"Sure! Anything!"
"Are you interested in using him?"
"What?"
Mary smiled a little.
"Let me explain. Most of his previous assistants wanted something from him, like access to his money, his bed, his projects – they would probably sell it if they had it on their hands."
Pepper was in silence listening to Mary and thinking of what she said.
"I just want recognition," she answered honestly.
"Right, because that's all we want from our bosses. Recognition for good work and move on with our lives, am I right?"
Pepper nodded. "Yes."
"Now let me ask you something else… Do you really think he made that mistake in those files?"
Pepper was confused with the question. She knew Mary was referring to the file signed by Mr. Stark where she had found a math mistake.
"I saw the numbers… I checked it twice! And he confirmed it!"
"Did he? You just saw him giving a speech about String Theory completely drunk and even so all those scientists there applauded him… You really think that he would do such a primal mistake and in a document that had to go through all S.I. departments?"
Pepper was silent. She had a point. Yesterday Pepper was afraid that in his drunken state, he would say stupid things and since she had no idea what he was talking about she couldn't evaluate his performance.
"I don't get it… what are you saying? …He did that on purpose?! Why?"
"Don't be mistaken…" said Mary, very amused by her reaction. "Everyone saw the mistake of his. But they chose not to reject the document after seeing his signature… after all he is Tony Stark, the genius, the one who doesn't make math mistakes. So naturally they thought 'It's probably my math that is wrong, Mr. Stark's must be correct' and let it go. But you, not only rejected the file but you came here and confronted him about it. Do you see where I'm going here?"
"Not really sure…"
She gave Pepper a huge smile. "He needed somebody to trust… he found you."
Pepper was in silence for a few seconds, "That's an insane theory!"
"His logic doesn't always seem right to us…" said Mary, getting up from the table.
"I guess it comes from being a genius… We'll probably never fully understand… but don't let it fool you, he did that on purpose. He knew exactly what he was doing," she finished and left the room for her desk to start work while Pepper stood there alone for a while.
-o-
After getting her papers from S.I, Pepper arrived at Stark's mansion however the house was quiet.
He must be in the workshop.
She didn't have access to that area so Pepper decided to go to the living room and answer his emails first. She had just put her things down when he called her.
"Miss Potts, can you get down here?"
"What? But I don't have-"
"Just get down here!"
After walking down the stairs, she saw a huge wall of glass with also a glass door in its middle with a security system on it. From what she could see the workshop was huge! There were some cars at the end of it, really expensive cars! Next to the glass wall there were tables full of materials and pieces that she had no idea what they were for… Tony saw her from another table where he was looking at some hologram. He gave a little smile and came to the door.
"What took you so long?" he asked as he opened the door.
Pepper was about to answer when he spoke again. "Here, give me your hand."
"My hand? Why?"
"Just put it here." He pointed to the security system.
"I don't unders-"
"JARVIS will scan your digitals so you can have access down here."
Pepper was silent and Tony looked a little uncomfortable. "You will have access down here so you can drag me out when needed…" There was a silence between them and Tony added: "Also I need coffee delivered so… yeah… just put your hand here," he said quietly.
Pepper obeyed. In a few seconds, she listened to JARVIS's voice.
"Scan complete. Miss Potts will now have full access to the house."
Pepper was trying but couldn't avoid the little smile on her face as she entered his workshop for the first time. This was Tony Stark's favorite place! Everything that he valued the most was here: his projects that worth millions of dollars! This was the sanctuary of one of the greatest minds of the twenty-first century, where he came up with his greatest ideas. And now she had access to it. The realization of his trust made her feel warm inside and she couldn't hide the smile on her face.
Pepper realized that Tony was looking at her with the same smile. Then she said: "Tony," this was the first time she had referred to him by his name, and somehow it felt right. "Is this your way of apologizing for your behavior yesterday?"
He became tense, like a kid that was caught with his hand in a cookie jar. One thing which she learned about him was that he was a terrible liar. Before he could say anything, she decided to put him out of his misery.
"Will that be all Mr. Stark?" This was becoming a familiar 'ending conversation' for them.
"Y-yes. That will be all Miss Potts." She turned to leave when she heard him yell: "Oh no! Coffee! I need coffee!"
"I'll bring it." While in the kitchen, Pepper suddenly remembered her talk with Mary that morning and her mind replayed Mr. Stark's behavior the day when she confronted him about those files. She realized it was very similar with what she had just witnessed now in the workshop.
So Mary was right. And he really is a terrible liar! she thought amused, not aware of the smile on her face. Maybe, Tony Stark is not as bad as we think he is.