The auditorium was buzzing the next morning with engineers, scientists, and other various and sundry green technology developers and project managers. Each speaker had a one hour time slot to present their upcoming projects to their colleagues in order to develop future partnerships, get the attention of future investors, and to generally showcase their companies in order to network on a much higher level. Pepper was sitting in the crowd, patiently awaiting Bill to take the stage as the first presenter. She'd been in this audience many times before, as Tony had been the one to speak on behalf of Stark Industries in the past. He was always the charming crowd-pleaser, as expected, but once his hour was done, he was like a restless child when he took his seat again next to her, always bored out of his mind, and begging her to leave every chance that he got. She'd eventually give in, and he'd pull her by the hand out of the auditorium, yanking his tie off and heaving a giant sigh of relief once they got beyond the doors, as if someone had suddenly freed him from a cage.
But she knew that Bill would want to stay and listen to the other speakers after him. And, frankly, she didn't mind staying to listen for a while, either. She figured it would be a good idea to know what their colleagues were doing, and to keep an eye out for any possibly lucrative future partnerships for Stark Industries. But, despite getting a pretty solid night's sleep, she was still a little fatigued, as was common these days for her in this stage of pregnancy. She was grateful the sharp jabbing pains of yesterday were now gone, and the bleeding had stopped., but she knew she'd need to leave at some point to try to catch another nap.
The house lights dimmed, and the spot lights of the stage came on. The audience quieted, and Pepper saw Bill walk on stage. He appeared to be a bit anxious as he made his way to the podium. A large projector screen coming down out of the ceiling behind him as he walked. The audience applauded politely, and Bill gave them an awkward wave as he pushed up the bridge of his glasses nervously. He searched the crown for Pepper's face. She raised her hand to help him locate her. He spotted her and nodded, and she nodded back, smiling encouragingly.
He adjusted the mic on the podium, and it cracked and squealed, the audience reacting to the shrill noise. Bill gave them an apologetic, sheepish grin and cleared his throat. "Can you, um...can you all hear me?" he asked.
Many people answered "Yes!" and Bill nodded in acknowledgment. "Very well then, " he said, into the microphone. "I am Bill Riva, Senior Projects Manager for Stark Industries Research and Development."
The audience applauded, and Bill paused politely. "Uh, th-thank you," he said. He nodded at Pepper, and she smiled warmly back.
"Where's Tony?" one boisterous audience member called out. A few of his surrounding colleagues laughed. Pepper glanced at the audience member nervously, and then back at Bill.
"Graciously, I was selected to speak this year on behalf of Stark Industries,instead," Bill explained.
There were a few groans of disappointment, and Bill glanced around nervously. "Come on, Bill, you can do it," Pepper muttered to herself. "Make them forget Tony isn't here."
Bill took a deep breath and smiled with new resolve. "And I know Tony is a charmer, and you guys have always enjoyed him, but let's have a little fun ourselves, shall we?" he asked hopefully.
The audience chuckled and clapped good-naturedly. Pepper breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. Bill caught her eye again, and nodded affirmatively to her, before continuing, confidently, with his presentation. Pepper settled back into her seat, proud that Bill had decided to live in the moment, and take command of the stage once dominated by his charismatic predecessor.
XxXxXxXxXx
Tony's phone rang, and he swiped it up off the coffee table. He'd finished Pepper's surprise the night before, and had decided to relax at home that day. He knew he'd be hearing from her later that morning, so he smiled when he saw it was her calling.
"There's my beautiful wife," he said, when he answered. "I hope you have some good news!"
"He did it! He knocked it out of the park, Tony! You wouldn't believe how wonderful he was!" Pepper gushed. "At first he was nervous, and people even asked him where you were, but then he just decided to go for it! And he was a hit! I've never seen him so excited about something! He was positively radiating magnetism! He really took to the stage!"
Tony smiled. "So you're telling me I've been replaced, right? I don't have to go anymore?!" he asked hopefully.
Pepper laughed. "If that's what you got out of what I told you, then, yes. That's what I'm saying, Tony," she teased. "But honestly! Give Bill a raise. He worked his butt off today, and I couldn't be more proud."
"Sounds like he made you look good, then, picking him," Tony said.
"Made us look good, yes," Pepper said. "But you're the one that gave me the okay to bring him along."
Tony chuckled. "I did. Okay. I'll take the credit, Potts. If you insist," he teased. They laughed.
"So, you're pretty much done, then, for today," Tony said.
"I am," she said. "There are a few speakers that I would like to listen to, but it should be a very relaxing day."
"If by relaxing, you mean deathly boring," Tony quipped. "Seriously. Get outta there. See some sights. Live a little. Take your new boyfriend, there, out to lunch to celebrate a job well done."
Pepper scoffed. "Boyfriend," she said. "My boyfriend didn't want to come with me, remember?"
"I know, and I'm regretting it the more you gush over Mr. Bill Riva," Tony replied. "I'm jealous he gets to be with you right now, and I don't."
"Then, get up here," Pepper said. "It's raining cats and dogs, but I'm sure we could find some indoor activities to do, don't you?" she purred.
"Oooh," Tony purred back. "I see the pregnancy libido is back in full swing."
Pepper giggled. "Why don't you come up here today? I miss you. And I can't wait to see you again," she said.
Tony sighed in disappointment. "Yeah, I know. Me, neither, Pep, but I can't. I've got to meet with the contractors tomorrow so we can finalize everything for this last big push to get the house done."
He heard Pepper sigh. "Really? It can't wait a couple of days?" she begged.
"Not if we want to get in there by Valentine's Day. And believe me, I already have ideas on what I want to do to you to christen each room that night. You don't really want to put that in jeopardy, do you?" he purred.
Pepper chuckled coyly. "Well, I suppose not, no," she answered. "Fine. In the name of finally being able to move into our new house, I'll just have to find a way to appease my libido without you, I guess," she said suggestively. "Pity, you won't be there in person to watch."
"Holy Mother," Tony said, swallowing hard, as visions of Pepper pleasuring herself danced the cha-cha through his mind. He heard her giggle, and he winced. "You're going to make these next couple of days very difficult for me, aren't you?" he asked,
"Oh," Pepper said. "I'm working on making sure you deeply regret skipping out on a chance to travel with me. How am I doing so far?" she asked.
"Right now, I'm still trying to get past the 'watching you appease your libido' part," he replied.
Pepper chuckled. "Well, I'm going to stay for the next couple of presenters, I think, and then I'll go back to the hotel. I need a nap."
"You okay?" Tony asked. "No more pain, or bleeding, right?"
"No. No more of that, thank goodness," Pepper replied. "I'm just a little tired today. I slept fine, I just need a nap. Baby-making is hard work."
"I'm glad to know you're taking care of yourself, Pep," Tony said. "That makes me feel better about you being alone."
Pepper smiled, her heart warming at his concern. "I'm fine, Tony. I promise. And just think! Day after tomorrow, and we'll be dancing the night away at the House on the Cliffs," she said.
"Can't wait," Tony said.
They bid each other goodbye, and Pepper disconnected. She stood at the entrance doors for a moment, watching the remarkable amount of water that was sheeting off the roof. "Wow," she whispered. "It's really coming down."
"Sure is!" she heard a voice behind her say. It was Bill. Pepper turned around and beamed at him.
"Oh good! I was just going to go back inside the auditorium to find you! I just got off the phone with Tony, and he's thrilled that your presentation went so well! He said we needed to go to lunch to celebrate, in fact," she said.
Bill beamed. "I'm so glad you liked it! I was nervous at first, but then I thought, what the heck? Why not enjoy it? It isn't often I get to talk about the things that I'm working on. Especially in front of people that can actually understand what I'm talking about!" he joked. They chuckled.
"Well, Tony is quite happy with the job you've done," Pepper said. "I even suggested that he approve me giving you a raise."
Bill's eyes brightened even more. "Honestly, Ms. Potts," he said, looking at her sheepishly. " I don't know what to say! It was an honor that you picked me represent us at all."
"Well, you're an asset to the team, Bill. And we want to make sure you are well taken care of," she said.
The gentle man smiled bashfully, his cheeks turning red at Pepper's praise.
The lobby lights flashed, indicating the next speaker would take the stage shortly, and Bill offered Pepper his arm. "I believe that's our cue?" he said, smiling.
Pepper chuckled and accepted his arm, and they walked back into the auditorium, not noticing the people from the exhibition booths slowly gathering around a TV that had been tuned to a local news channel. The anchor on the screen began to speak, and one of the conference staff members turned up the volume.
"...citizens living in the bay area are cautioned to stay indoors, avoid driving near cliffed or hillside areas, and to take precautions to avoid anymore of these landslides if their residence is located in an at-risk area by temporarily evacuating their homes until the storm has passed, or their residence can be assessed and cleared of any potential risk. Again, the amount of rainfall that has fallen within the last two days has caused local officials to be concerned about mudslides large enough to cause severe property damage or injury should you be unfortunate enough to be near one. The Army Corp of Engineers has taken measures to shore up unprotected areas,and to assess certain areas of risk, but even working as quickly as they have, they have not been able to stop some of the damage from happening. More on this as the storm develops..."