Chapter 10 Howard/Peggy: kitchen calamity
Peggy's point of view
I was in the office when I got a distressed call from Ana Jarvis.
"Ms Carter, you need to come home at once"
"Why, Ana, what's wrong?"
"Mr Stark attempted to cook and…"
"Say no more, I'm on my way"
I gathered my papers, shoving them haphazardly into the briefcase. I pulled the sheet out of my typewriter and covered it using only one hand. Furthermore, I grabbed my coat, hat, and umbrella and ran out of the office door, locking it firmly behind me.
Moreover, I ran to the elevator, which closed before I could get inside. With an angry sigh, I turned back and ran down the stairs, jumping easily from the bottom stair to the floor below. I stuffed the coat and umbrella under my right arm and tried to open the door.
"Agent Carter… going home early?"
"Yes Agent Sousa, Ana called… Howard attempted to cook"
"Attempted to cook?"
"Yes… he can't… he wants to learn, but it's beyond him, so I'm going to work from home for the rest of the day."
"Would you like me to help you to your car?"
"No, thank you, but I'd be grateful if you could open the door for me."
"All right."
"Thank you, Daniel"
"No problem, Peggy"
I ran to my car, opened the trunk, put the umbrella, my briefcase, and my coat inside and got into the front. I raced home… worried about what I would find.
The kitchen was in ruins once again. Howard was sitting at the dining room table, holding an ice pack to his head and growling up a storm. He was glaring hatefully at the hole in the wall where the kitchen had once stood.
"Howard… are you all right?"
He glared at me and I could see tears brimming in his eyes…
"Why do you care?"
"What?"
"I'm supposed to be a genius billionaire philanthropist, BUT I CAN'T COOK A SIMPLE MEAL… END THINGS NOW PEGGY BEFORE THEY GET ANY WORSE!" he yelled
"What? Why?"
"TONIGHT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE PERFECT… TONIGHT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SPECIAL… FORGET IT… I'M GOING TO BED AND I AM NEVER EVER GETTING BACK UP… GO AHEAD… LEAVE WHILE YOU STILL HAVE A CHANCE."
"No"
"What?"
"I said no, I am not leaving."
"What?"
"Howard… this can easily be fixed"
"HOW? HOW CAN IT BE FIXED? IDIOTS LIKE ME NEED TO GO AND THROW THEMSELVES INTO THE HUDSON… YESTERDAY… BUFFOONS LIKE ME SHOULD HAVE BEEN DROWNED… AT BIRTH… LOSERS OF MY ILK DO NOT DESERVE AMAZING RELATIONSHIPS… I'm either going to get my shotgun or my baseball bat… and it's game over one way or the other…"
"I'll be right back" I hissed at Ana, "Distract him please"
I went to the office and made a call
"Carbonell Residence Cecily speaking"
"Cecily, it's Peggy Carter, is Dr Carbonell around?"
"Yes, ma'am, she's in the dining room. Would you like to speak to her?"
"No, I need her to come over here and help me. It's an emergency… Howard is in crisis mode and I don't know what else to do"
"She's on her way right now"
Maria came over
"What's going on, Peggy?"
"Howard attempted to cook… and he's really, really furious right now… I haven't seen him like this in a long time… not since the day at Coney Island. He said he was going to use either his baseball bat or his shotgun, and it would be game over."
"All right… come with me"
Maria's point of view
he had the butcher's knife on the dining room table… his shotgun and baseball bat were beside it… Peggy gasped as she came into the dining room. Maria was right behind her.
"No… there's no fixing this idiot, not this time."
"Howard… you are not an idiot?"
"WHAT KIND OF 40-YEAR-OLD MORON CAN'T EVEN COOK A SIMPLE MEAL?"
"All right, first of all, Howard, calm down… second of all, you're no moron."
"Yeah? Tell that to the FOOL who attempted to cook and blew up the damn kitchen… AGAIN!"
"Why does this bother you so much?"
"Because dammit, tonight was meant to be perfect, and it totally backfired. I'm a joke, and I'm meant to be alone forever. Aside from which, I'm supposed to be a genius, but I can't cook… pathetic."
"What do you mean?"
Howard gave me a HARD look and made a subtle gesture under the table, he put the thumb and forefinger of his right hand into a ring shape and drew them down the ring finger of his left-hand, then he pointed at Peggy. I gasped.
"We can fix this"
"No we can't…"
"Yes we can…"
Howard's point of view
"We probably can, but whether we should, is another question"
"No it isn't"
"Peggy deserves better than a classless feeble-minded useless overgrown toddler… and so does Stark Industries. I'm retiring, I'm going to let Obie take over the reins of the entire company, and I'll go and rot in the Malibu mansion… alone."
"HOWARD ANTHONY WALTER STARK!" Peggy yelled, glaring at me.
"MARGARET ELIZABETH CARTER!" I retorted, glaring right back at her.
"All right you two enough… Howard, trust me, we're going to fix this. Ana, take Peggy upstairs and help her pack enough clothes for two weeks… for both of you. When you're done with that, get Edwin and go over to my house, you two and Cecily will help Howard with Operation Put A Ring on it… Howard will choose the food, you're going to cook, and you'll serve the food on the plane and then… we'll figure out how he'll ask her"
"I don't know if I should do it now, Maria."
"Howard, don't chicken out…"
"She won't say yes, I know she won't… I'm too much of a screw-up for her… we're going to end up over."
"Not true… you're just feeling a bit discombobulated right now"
"Yeah and no wonder… because now we have to move across the country, because of my stupidity and recklessness it's inconvenient… you'd think I'd have learned by now that I shouldn't try to cook."
"We can and will fix this"
"How?"
"Trust me, I have a plan… just… follow my lead."
Peggy's point of view
"We're… I want to go to California for a while, Peg… I need to clear my head. I'd like you to come with me but if you don't want to I understand."
"OK Howard"
Ana and I packed two weeks worth of clothes for Howard and me.
When we got on the flight to Malibu, Ana and Edwin served the meal they'd prepared. After dinner, Howard put on his pyjamas and I did the same. We went into the bedroom. Howard put on a film. The Sound of Music.
Howard's point of view
This is the moment do it now, do it immediately before she falls asleep.
When we got to the scene with the children singing Edelweiss the first time, I paused the video. I got out of bed, slid the ring out of my coat pocket and got onto the floor. Peggy was gaping at me, until I said…
"Margaret Elizabeth Carter, will you marry me?"
"YES!"
