Happy Friday! And happy reading. :D
"Wanna talk about it?" I offered.
Pepper spluttered and chuckled awkwardly, her cheeks blushing. "Uhhhmmmm, well. You know I don't like to discuss this kind of thing with you," she said. "But let's just say it's...," she stammered. She cleared her throat, and then spoke again. "It's...complicated," she began, with a bashful smirk.
I smiled and nodded knowingly. "Complicated," I repeated. I teeter tottered my head from side to side, folded my arms and sat back against the back of the bar stool. "Alright. I can work with that," I stated. "Lay it on me, Potts. What's going on?"
She narrowed her eyes, and pursed her lips in thought. Then she shook her head. "No. Uh-uh. I know a trap when I see one. Nope..." she started.
I scoffed and put my hands up defensively. "Trap? What trap? I honestly want to help, Pepper. I..."
She chuckled skeptically again, cutting me off. "Oh. Right. You want to help. You honestly care about my romantic conundrum. Yep. That's completely innocent," she retorted. "After all of the years of you giving me flack for who I date, you just expect me to..." she trailed off.
"You've wounded me, Potts. That hurts," I said, trying to look pathetic. But I couldn't help the smug smirk that spread across my lips at hearing her say the words romantic conundrum in the context of she and Nick, and she saw it. That's when she subsequently stopped talking, and frowned.
"Nice," she said, snidely. "Just like I thought. You are getting a kick out of this, aren't you?" she said.
I shrugged in surrender, and sighed. "Okay. Truth be told, a little," I explained. "Can't say I didn't warn ya', though."
"And here comes the gloating," she snarked, rolling her eyes.
"But seriously?" I began again. "I don't enjoy you being upset. I swear. Whatever is going on, I'm sorry, at least, for that. Okay?" I admitted. We kept our eyes on each other, even as I grabbed my glass and took a drink.
She searched my face for some tell of sincerity, and then furrowed her brow. "Thank you," she murmured softly, looking bemused.
I nodded in acknowledgment. "Yeah. Well. What are friends for," I stated plainly, quickly taking my eyes from hers, and looking away, though I could still feel her staring at me.
A quiet moment passed, and then she began to speak. "So, um...it would be rude not to...to ask..." she stammered, obviously wanting to reciprocate the concern.
I chortled cockily. "What. That?" I said, jamming a thumb in the direction of the bedroom where Vanessa slept. "Psssh. She's...fine. It's fine. You know? Nothing but a little dust up, I assure you," I said, praying she'd believe me. The last thing I needed was to give Pepper any reason to start raising her suspicions now, knowing full well that if I did, she'd relentlessly pursue them, and that would get her...
I pushed the reality of what Vanessa threatened would happen out of my mind, followed by blocking, once again, the horrific images from my dream.
"Funny, it didn't sound like nothing," she muttered under her breath, turning her head away as she said it.
"Hmmm? What was that?" I asked innocently.
She swiveled her head back around to look at me in surprise. "What? Oh! Nothing. It's none of my business," she said, taking a long sip off her glass.
I studied her for a moment. "I'm sure this all looks...odd," I said finally, as really more of an observance than a thought I actually wanted to verbalize. But there it was. Out of my mouth, and onto the table.
She shook her head in defiance. "No. No,no. It doesn't. What you want to do with your life is no one else's concern but..." she began.
"Pepper?" I said, trying to interject.
"...yours. And Vanessa's. If you feel like she's the one you want to spend you life with..." she continued, ignoring me.
"Pepper?" I asked again.
"...Then who am I to disagree? Wait. That came out wrong. Not me. That's not what I meant. I meant anyone. Who is anyone to disagree..."
"Pepper, stop," I said finally. She huffed, and bit her lip to physically stop herself from rambling. She blinked, and stared at me.
I pursed my lips for a moment, and then reached for her hand. She watched me, and, surprisingly, didn't resist when I took it in both of mine. Then, I shifted my gaze up to hers. "Believe me," I began. "I know what this must look like."
Pepper frowned. She even pouted a little (which was adorable, by the way). "Then why are you doing it?" she asked, in a hushed murmur, her eyes saddened.
I let go of her hand, and sat back and shrugged, interlacing my fingers and laying my hands on the back of my head. "It, to a varying degree, make sense," I stated, matter-of-fact. "There's no reason why we shouldn't be together. We're both cut from the same cloth. We're in the same line of work, had the same upbringing, the same I.Q. Why shouldn't we?" I reasoned.
"Those are reasons to go into business together, Tony," she argued. "Not reasons to get married."
"People get married for those reasons all the time," I retorted defensively.
She leaned forward in my direction. "Yes, and they also get divorced because those are the only reasons why they get married," she shot back.
I sighed. "So, you're just assuming there's nothing more between us? Vanessa and me, I mean?" I clarified.
"Well, you didn't exactly gush when I asked you why you were doing it," she replied. "If it was love, you'd...you'd..." she stammered.
"I'd what? Behave like a love-sick teenager? Is that what you want from me? Cuz', honey? You don't know me very well if that's what you think I'd do," I said curtly.
Pepper rolled her eyes. "Oh, spare me the tough guy spiel for just a moment, would you?" she huffed. "I do to know you. I know you well enough to know that, when you're excited about something, you can't stop talking about it. It's like you become laser-focused on just that one thing, and everything else in the world disappears. Tony," she said. She shook he head sadly, her eyes pleading. "If ever there was a time for you to be like that, it would be now."
I bristled defensively at her words. "Like I said. You don't know me as well as you think you do," I replied flatly. I downed what was left in my glass, and quickly stood up from my seat. "Good talk, Potts. Now if you'll excuse me, I should be getting back to my..."
But then I froze. I could hear the sound of our bedroom door opening, and my heart dropped into my gut. Oh, God, she heard us! What the hell what I thinking?, I thought, scolding myself.
Pepper looked at me, in alarm. "What? What is it?" she asked.
I swiveled around to face her, wide eyed, and grabbed her upper arms. "Pepper, listen to me," I said in a intense whisper. "Do what I tell you, okay?"
"What? Why?" she asked. She looked down at one of my hands and then back up again, her eyes wide. "What's going on? Tony? You're scaring me," she said.
I shook my head. "I can't explain right now. Just go behind the bar, and hide. Don't come out until it's safe and she's gone. Okay? Please, Pepper? Just do what I ask," I insisted.
"Hide? Why? What will she..."
"Go! Just go!" I said, in a loud whisper, waving her away. Thankfully she relented, and followed my order.
Suddenly, Vanessa appeared, disheveled, groggy, and glowering. "Who are you talking to?" she demanded.
"Talking to?" I asked innocently.
Vanessa shuffled forward, her eyes still narrowed and her mouth turned down in a frown. "It's not normal that I be awake at this bloody hour unless there's good reason," she stated. "Like my fiance chattering away to someone who's identity remains to be revealed," she said, peering behind nearby furniture. "Oh, yooohooo!" she bellered loudly. "Tony's little play thing! Come out, come out, wherever you are!"
"Vanessa, stop it. You'll wake up the whole plane," I said with a disdainful grimace.
"She's out here, isn't she? Your tart," she hissed.
"If by tart, you mean Pepper, then the answer is no. I'm sure she's sleeping. Like you should be," I argued. My mind whirled with the two worst case scenarios- that either Vanessa would continue her search and discover Pepper behind the bar, or that Pepper, true to form, would come out from her hiding place to defiantly defend her own honor. My heart thundered in my ears at the thought of either coming true.
Suddenly, an escape plan formed in my head, and before I could even think it through, I acted. The last few days had given me enough dizzy spells to last a lifetime, all of which Vanessa had been present for. So who's to say I hadn't suddenly had another spell at that particular moment?
"Just...hold on, Vanessa," I said, holding up a hand and huffing. I clasped the other hand to my head, and collapsed on the nearby sofa. I put my head in my hands, and rested my elbows on my knees. "I...need a minute. The room is spinning again," I panted.
She remained where she was, thankfully, but resisted coming to my aid. So I kicked it up a notch. I held out my hand. "Help me out here," I demanded. "Let's go back to bed, huh? I think I just need to lie down."
I raised my head to see that she was still standing in front of me, her arms folded, and she was surveying the room. "Back to bed, you say," she muttered, skeptically.
"Yes," I said. "Come on. Don't be paranoid. After I came out here, I couldn't go back to sleep, so I poured myself a drink, which was probably a mistake because now I can't even see straight. Just like the other night, at the hotel. Whatever that stuff is that you shoot me up with? Yeah. It doesn't play so nice with the alcohol," I babbled.
Vanessa chuckled. "What on Earth are you talking about, darling? You must be joking! I've never given you anything!" she said, in happy, bright tone, and a little loudly, obviously still suspecting Pepper to be within earshot.
"Vanessa, she's not out here," I told her. "Do you really think I'd be talking about this if she was? And put her in danger like that?" I asked, hoping Pepper heard my words, and got my meaning.
Vanessa worked her jaw. "No," she admittedly finally, begrudgingly. "No, I suppose you wouldn't."
I sighed. "Great," I said flatly. "Then it's settled. You tromped out here for nothing. So am I allowed to come back to bed now? Or am I still relegated to the couch?"
She reluctantly stuck her hand out, and I grabbed it, being sure to play the part of the suddenly debilitated. We ambled to the hallway slowly, laboriously, like my equilibrium was shot. (Seriously. My theatrics were amazing. I shoulda' been in pictures, I'm tellin' ya.)
We finally made it the bedroom, and Vanessa "helped" me to the bed. I groaned loudly as I laid down. "Ooohhhhhyeah, that's it. That's the stuff, right there," I said. But Vanessa didn't get into bed with me. She stood guard near the door, instead.
"Sweet dreams, love," she cooed, with a superficial smirk. Clearly, she had no intention of joining me.
I huffed in frustration. "Really, Vanessa?" I asked her, sitting up on an elbow, and trying to put on my best poker face. "You still don't believe me?"
Just then, the faint sound of footsteps came from outside the door, and I held my breath. Vanessa's eyes suddenly blazed, and she yanked open the bedroom door, sticking her head out into the hall. Then she swiveled back around to look at me. My eyes grew wide with panic when she'd done this, but I quickly shot her a skeptical look when we made eye contact again. "Yes?" I asked wryly.
Her eyes narrowed. She then spun back around, and marched out the door and down the hall. I jumped out of bed and followed after her.
"Vanessa!" I called out. "What the hell are you doing?"
She wrapped loudly on Pepper's bedroom door. "Come out here at once, Ms. Potts!" she barked.
We both waited with bated breath for a response.
A moment later, the door was cracked, and a squinty, seemingly bleary eyed Pepper appeared. "Yes? What's wrong, Ms. Matthews?" she asked hoarsely.
Another actor in our midst, I thought proudly. Nice job, Pep.
"Don't you play the fool with me!" Vanessa seethed.
"Honey?" we heard Nick say from inside the bedroom. After a moment, he appeared beside Pepper, truly groggy. "What's going on, here?" he asked.
Pepper looked at Nick in confusion. "I don't know," she said innocently.
"You," Vanessa said, jabbing a finger at Pepper. "I don't trust you, sneaking about. I know you were out here, talking to my fiance in the middle of the night."
"She's been with me the whole time, Ms. Matthews. I can assure you," Nick said.
Pepper and I both shot each other an inconspicuous look of surprise relief.
He put his arms around Pepper's waist, and planted a kiss to her temple. "Right, baby?" he said to her. This made me cringe on the inside, but, I had to admit, I was grateful for his response, whether or not he was saying what he thought was the truth, or just playing along. Then he did it.
"She got up to get a glass of water, I know," he stated. Pepper and I both froze. Nick looked at Pepper for confirmation. "Isn't that right, honey? But it couldn't have been more than a couple of minutes. That must have been what you heard."
"I heard voices," Vanessa said sharply.
"Well, I noticed that Tony was on the couch when I passed through, and we said hello. That was all," Pepper asserted, following Nick's lead.
"There. You see?" Nick urged, flashing a grin at Vanessa. "Nothing to be alarmed about."
"Ms. Matthews. I don't understand what this is about, but I apologize if I've caused you any concern," Pepper said politely. "I assure you, except for that quick trip to the galley, I've been asleep for hours up until now."
Vanessa narrowed her eyes, and shifted her gaze back and forth between Nick and Pepper. Then, her mood turned on a dime. "Very well!" she chirped suddenly, with a fake shark-like grin. "My mistake! Apologies." She turned to me, and clasped my hand. "Come now, darling. Let's leave these two, and retire to our bedroom again, shall we?" she asked me. She then turned to speak to Pepper and Nick. "Though I don't know there will be much in the way of retirement, if you catch my drift? He simply can't get enough of me, this one," she bragged in syrupy sweet tone. "Pleasant dreams, lovers. We'll see you upon arrival, hmmm?"
I saw a hint of Pepper bristling, but she stifled it with a polite smile. "Of course. Good night, Ms. Matthews. Mr. Stark," she said, nodding to us both in acknowledgement.
"Yeah. Good night," Nick said pleasantly, waving us goodbye. He turned away from the door way, but Pepper lingered. And as Vanessa pulled me back in the direction of our bedroom, I looked over my shoulder to find Pepper's gaze on me, her eyes filled with concern and trepidation. I gave her a slight, knowing nod, which she returned. And then she slowly closed the door.
