WOW!
That last chapter really got some of you fired up! It sounds like Vanessa (and Tony being such a sucker for her) is boiling your blood, isn't it? Can't say that I blame you, though!
On that note, I just wanted to say thank you for all of the feedback, and for continuing to stick with it! If reading it is difficult, just think how I feel WRITING it! LOL! BELIEVE me, it's tough! But writing a "Pepper Jealousy" fic wouldn't be possible if she didn't have anything to be jealous OF, and it wasn't painful to have to put into words, right? ;)
I hope my clues about Tony's ever-developing feelings for Pepper are clear (though they are still in their infancy, given the place in the Pepperony timeline in which the story happens. Obie's still around, and this is PRE- Afghanistan, after all.) We all know that Pepper is special to Tony, and has always been. But Tony doesn't like feeling vulnerable, so rather than push Vanessa away and go after who he truly wants, and risk rejection, he'll just be a wussy and transfer his fantasies onto whoever is in front of him at the moment. Pick the low-hanging fruit, you might say. Childish, I know, but this is Old Tony we're talking about, after all. His ego controls all.
Ahhh, he and Pepper were always two ships passing in the night at this stage, weren't they? Which is what makes their relationship as we know it now so deep and multi-faceted. Because their feelings were rooted so deep to begin with. You gotta love these two just for the simple fact of how far they've actually come, am I right? And Pepper deserves a medal for putting up with all of his ridiculousness for so long, and still managing to stay by his side and still WANTING to love him. She's truly amazing, isn't she? ;)
SO, without further ado, here's chapter 7! Thanks again! You guys are great!
A long, hot bubble bath and two big glasses of wine do well to get someone off your mind, you know that? Which is why I was very upset when I suddenly awoke at 1 am with the realization that a very important file that accounting had needed before the close of business the day before was most likely still lying on Tony's coffee table. I prayed that I was wrong, and that I'd somehow picked it up, and just forgotten to deliver it in my frazzled state yesterday afternoon. But there was only one way to find out.
I quickly flicked on my bedside table lamp, and jumped out of bed to head for the living room sofa, where I'd laid my things when I'd come home. Frantically, I jerked open my briefcase and rummaged through the files I did manage to bring home. "No...no...no!," I said aloud, my fear growing with each file I sorted that wasn't the one I needed. Reaching the end of the pile, I slapped it down hard on my coffee table. "Damn it!" I exclaimed, instantly knowing the price I was doomed to pay to have to go to the mansion to retrieve it. I huffed, blowing my bangs out of my eyes in frustration. It was either I go to the mansion, and be subjected to whatever debauchery was taking place there between Tony and Vanessa, and then go to the office and hopefully slip it under accounting's door before Obadiah was told it was missing, or avoid the unpleasantness at Tony's for a few hours extra and be forced to explain my mistake to Obadiah, who probably wouldn't be all that patient with me given the timing in the month, when all departments were pressed so hard to perform at their peak anyway.
I decided that it wasn't worth the risk of having a potential black mark on my work performance record, so I decided to swallow my pride and drive to Tony's to get the file. I slipped on a t-shirt and a pair of leggings, some sneakers, a light jacket, and headed out, gritting my teeth at my boneheaded-ness the whole way.
XxXxXxXxXx
Thirty minutes later, I arrived at the mansion. I could see the shop lights were on, but the rest of the house was dark. I breathed a sigh of relief at the sight. If no other lights were on in the house but the shop, that meant that Tony's evening with Vanessa had ended prematurely and he was now alone, or that he'd left her alone upstairs in bed, and I could slip in, undetected without having to be subject to hearing or seeing anything unsavory. I knew from years of past experience that nobody, but nobody, was allowed in that shop besides Tony, myself, and Rhodey. Not even Obie had a pass code. So it had to be either one or the other of these scenarios. Filled with renewed vigor, I got out of my car, and proceeded to enter the house.
"Welcome, Ms. Potts," JARVIS said.
"Hello, JARVIS," I said softly. "I'm just here to pick up a file I..." But my words were cut short by what I heard coming from downstairs. I stopped short in the foyer, and listened, my eyes wide with disbelief, and that familiar ache in the pit of my stomach suddenly making its presence known.
"Oh! Yes! Yes! Oh! God! Yes!" I heard a voice that couldn't be mistaken for anyone else's but Vanessa's exclaim. I instantly slapped a hand to my mouth to prevent from retching, and I considered for a brief moment forgoing the file, turning right around, and running at a dead sprint out the door, Obadiah's wrath be damned. But I quickly regathered my composure, and focused on the task at hand.
I hurriedly made my way into the living room, relieved that the file was right where I thought it would be, and snatched it off the coffee table. I swiveled around on my heels and made for the front door again, but not without being subjected to the sound of Tony's panting and hoarsely calling out in reply to Vanessa's passionate shrieks. I tried to block it out, but something perked my ears, stopping me mercilessly in my tracks.
"Oh yeah, Pep...Vanessa! Yeah! Oh God!" I heard him exclaim, and I slammed my eyes shut, biting my lips to keep from crying out in alarm so hard I thought they would bleed. I felt hot tears well up in my eyes, and I swiped at them angrily as I marched out the door, hearing the sound of them both breathlessly laughing and giggling drift up to insult me before I could close the door behind me. I stood on the doorstep, my hand on the door handle, completely stunned. Did I actually hear what I think I heard?, I asked myself.
Slowly, I peeled myself away from the door, and numbly walked back to my car. I lumbered to pull the car door open, and when I succeeded, I sank down into the driver's seat heavily, exerting more effort to close it than I had to open it. Once in the solitude of my car, I slumped forward, and my shoulders begin to shake as I started to sob. Was this some kind of sick joke? Or some weird roll-playing fetish she'd talked him into participating in, or something? I couldn't make sense of it. Why on earth would Vanessa tolerate him almost saying someone else's name? And why did it have to be mine? Surely, he didn't mean that. Surely it was just an innocent slip. My name is on the tip of his tongue most of the time anyway. He had to have inadvertently said it, and caught himself before she noticed.
I nodded to myself in agreement. "Yeah, that's the only logical explanation," I told myself. I got my keys out of my pocket, and dried my tears. Soon, I pulled out of the driveway, and headed in the direction of the office to deliver the file, quickly trying to dismiss what had happened. But, despite my best efforts, something else began to gnaw at me- the fact that he'd brought her into the shop at all, let alone to have sex. As long as I'd known Tony, that place was like hallowed ground to him. And, in whatever manner, Vanessa had somehow finagled her way in. A feat no other woman could or would ever have accomplished in the past, bringing me to the conclusion that Tony was quite possibly falling for her.
"Unbelievable," I muttered, shaking my head. I resolved to see where all of this was going to go, as I valued my job and didn't want to leave without proper notice. But if it looked like Tony was going to keep the British Bimbo around for the long haul, it would be too much for me to take. He'd force my hand, and I'd have to quit. Plain and simple.
XxXxXxXxXx
Several hours later, after they had come back to the mansion, Vanessa left an exhausted, and very satiated Tony Stark asleep on the sofa in the shop. She wrapped herself in the tan suede blanket that had been draped over the arm rest before she quietly snuck away upstairs to find her clutch she'd brought with her. It was time to check in, as promised, and give the evening's update to one Obadiah Stane.
The lights of the living room had gone out due to inactivity picked up by motion sensors in the ceiling, but the second she hit the top step, they flicked back on. She squinted and held up a hand to shade her eyes until JARVIS read her mannerisms and adjusted the brightness. "My apologies, Madam," he said politely.
"Quite alright," she murmured, walking to where she'd left her dress. Her clutch was sitting on the coffee table, and she sat down on the sofa as she rummaged through it to find her phone.
"Ahh," she said, retrieving it finally. She opened her contacts, and almost dialed Obadiah's number. But suddenly she thought the better of it. These walls literally have ears, she thought. So rather than risk her conversation being over heard, she opened her text messaging instead, and began typing.
Sorry for the delay, she began. But I'm happy to report phase one of our mission has been completed.
She waited for a moment for a response. And, much to her satisfaction, she didn't have to wait long.
Good old Tony, the response said. Always a sucker for a little old fashioned seduction. Now, all you have to do is get access to his workshop, though that might be a tough nut to crack. I don't even have a pass code for that place.
Vanessa smirked deviantly to herself, and began to type her reply.
Oh? You mean the place I talked him into taking me just moments after we walked through his front door? And where he's currently sleeping in a VERY satisfied state, I don't mind saying?
She smiled to herself again, and hit send. Almost immediately, her phone alerted her to Obadiah's response.
My God, girl! You are GOOD. How on Earth did you manage that?!
Vanessa chuckled to herself. "What kind of corporate magnate would I be if I didn't know how to play the odd mind game now and again?" she whispered, as she typed the same into her phone. Then she wrote:
In so many words, he revealed to me that he's had a fantasy about having sex in his shop with a woman- one very SPECIFIC woman, I know for a fact now. I knew there was no way he'd let me downstairs unless I pretty much told him to let ME be HER in his mind for the evening, and voila. I was in like Flynn, wasn't I? It was so obvious, too, as we were making love, that he'd taken the bait. He slipped a couple of times, and called out HER name instead of mine. Under any other circumstance, I would have been completely gutted. But I just made like I was unaware of the blunder, and he wasn't the wiser for it.
Then she hit send. A moment later, Obadiah responded.
Then you have his personal pass code, yeah?, he asked.
Vanessa's lips spread in a wry smile. "Do you even need to ask?" she typed, as she murmured the same out loud. And, by the way, how soon can you get that assistant of his out of my way?
Her phone went off a moment later with his reply. Why? Has she said something to you?, it said.
Vanessa teeter-tottered her head back and forth. "Not exactly," she murmured, typing the same into her phone. Who do you think the woman of Tony's fantasies IS?
Within seconds, Obadiah's reply came through. I knew it! That horny bastard! He's fooling himself if he thinks she'd ever let him up HER skirt. Buttoned up tight, that one. Prudish as all get out. I guess you always want what you can't have, right?
Vanessa frowned. All the same, we'll just have to see to it that it stays that way, won't we? she replied back.
