CHAPTER SEVEN
( A CERTAIN RITUAL )
JAN TAKES A deep breath as she steps out of her car, looking up at the tall building that was going to become part of her daily routine from now on. Her heart flutters in her chest as her feelings become mixed. Yes, she was excited to finally have a job in her degree welcome her but also anxious.
For someone without experience to be working for someone like Tony Stark made her extremely uncomfortable but she had to convince herself that it was good for her, she was tip-toeing outside of her comfort zone which Babs always harped on her for not doing. She shrugged off the burning pit of nerves that decided to burrow its way into her gut, acknowledging that they were just first-day jitters. She'd never walk into the building without her confidence ever again after today.
Her form is completely covered by the enormous shadow of the looking building as she stalks to the front door, both of her hands gripping on to the strap of her purse for reassurance. Once she entered the building all sense of confidence fled her body. She was once again to awestruck to speak up. If only she had gotten more information down from Pepper besides, "Be here at eight".
Maybe then she wouldn't be looking around like a fish fresh out of water. The anxiety in her stomach began to flutter as she noticed people casually walking by her with their own destinations in mind. Did they look at her? Did they notice that she was new? Was it obvious? Why didn't anyone stop to help?
Finally, Jan struck up the nerve to head up to the front desk, where a beautiful woman with long dark hair sat, looking down at her computer. For some reason, she felt intimidated by her but she knew she was the only way to get some answers around here. January clears her throat nervously, "Excuse me, hello?"
The woman merely peers up at her, no smile, not even a single gleam of empathy coming from her dark eyes. "Yes?" she speaks in a bored tone. January shows her a nervous, submissive smile. "Hi, uhm, it's my first day here," she begins, looking into the judgmental gaze of the receptionist. "I'm Mr. Stark's new publicist. Do you know exactly where he is or where miss Potts is -"
"Publicist?" The woman speaks up, her voice rising in a somewhat offended tone which made her shudder. "I was never informed of a publicist starting today," she states, her brow perking up as she scanned over her features, sizing her up. The interaction made Jan's fight or flight instincts kick in. She wasn't about to be bullied on her first day by some prima donna who no doubt came from the richer Los Angeles area. "Ah, I'm s-sorry?" Jan stammers out more nervous than flustered.
The receptionist's eyes narrow as she begins a staredown with her. It was turning into some sort of standoff. "Is this some kind of ploy to get you to speak with Tony? Are you some kind of desperate one night stand?" she purrs in a sarcastic-empathetic tone. Jan's cheeks become heated at the mere suggestion of her and Tony getting together, especially since it just reminded her how cocky he was during her interview.
"I!" Jan exclaims in a rather loud tone, drawing the attention of the receptionist along with a few passerby's. She covers her mouth at the sudden change in the tone of her voice. The woman infuriated her, got under her skin, and with the ever-growing smirk on her face she was relishing in the fact that she had. "I am not a one night stand. I was just hired in -"
"She's with me!" Pepper's voice calls out from behind the reception desk. Jan smiles as she sees the frantic assistant sauntering towards them, arguing with whoever was on the phone - perhaps Tony. She was a sight for sore eyes. She lets out an irritated sigh before hanging up the phone and directing her attention towards Jan. She gives her a slight smile before looking towards the receptionist.
"It's okay Lana, she's got access to the building," she repeats. "She'll be shadowing me for a moment while she gets all settled into the company," she informs her as she grabs ahold of the clipboard under her arm. Her eyes dart to Jan's for a moment holding an uncertainty to them. "Are you okay with that? I didn't want to throw you to the wolves on your first day," she pleads, throwing Jan completely off.
Jan absentmindedly nods her head, "No I'm completely fine with that. Show me the ropes." she nervously chuckles, trying to make a joke out of this. Once again Pepper flashes her a smile. It makes her feel at ease and more comfortable than what she had originally come in feeling like. She no longer had the urge to vomit from her anxiety.
"Let me show you around first," Pepper states, drawing her around behind the receptionist desk, where she could freely work amongst the flocks of people who were coming in droves. "It seems you've already met our receptionist, this is Lana," she points to the dark-haired woman behind her, who gives Jan a small wave and an even smaller smile. A slight change in how she acted from when they had met.
"It's her job to alert anyone that someone is here, right Lana?" Pepper informs her while also holding a scolding tone directed at the receptionist who merely shrugs and nods her head. "Actually, she's not the usual receptionist," Pepper continues, leaning closer to January as if it were a secret. "Regina called off today. Lana is Tony's personal receptionist. She's been here for about a year?"
"Right," Lana affirms while also pointing at her. Her dark eyes then drift over to January, this time actually holding a bit of empathy in them for her. "Sorry for thinking you're a one night stand. You'd be surprised how often that happens," she mumbles out an apology. January is taken back how quickly she's rolled over just because Pepper arrived to explain her situation.
Pepper encases her shoulders in an awkward embrace, squeezing her tightly. "I'm thankful for her. She's taken a lot of load off of my plate," she comments. Lana lets out a forced chuckle before agreeing with her and telling her she's welcome.
Before she could even utter a goodbye to Lana, Pepper was already tugging her along to show her around the rest of the company. "And you'll be relieving me of some stress too," she adds after a moment from walking away from the front. "You wouldn't believe how hectic it can get with Tony and keeping him in line. I practically had to beg him for help,"
January lets out a small laugh. "Well I'm happy to help," she replies with a small smile on her face. Pepper leads her down an open-ended corridor, where a sea of desk waited off to the right side of the hallway. Although it was open with windows leading up to the tall ceiling, it felt cold and empty. She pushed it aside, claiming it was only like this because it was early in the morning and people were still drifting in.
Each desk was divided by a small wall. They weren't cubicles but it did give off a sense of privacy. "So this is the HR department," Pepper informs her, as she leads her down the first row of desks. Jan noticed that the rows of desks were facing back to back. "You'll be shacking up here for a while," she instructs her, showing her an empty desk.
Jan wanted to perk a brow up as she examined it but kept to herself. It was...a desk...with a computer...and a phone...and a chair. There was nothing personable about it. She'd have to bring in her own things to make it her own. Jan places her purse in the chair, before pushing it in and following Pepper once again.
Pepper goes into extreme detail about every department, what they do and who to ask if she needed any help from them (which she shouldn't be in need of their help). The smell of warm baked food wafts throughout the air, making her stomach gurgle, and luring them into the cafeteria. "Here's the cafe, you can stop here whenever you need food obviously. Just don't take liquids back to your desk without a top," Pepper informs her pointing to the open room with a few round tables and what looked like to be a coffee shop in the middle, serving pastries and warm food.
Jan wants to stop and pick up at least a muffin, it sounded way better than the granola bar she had for breakfast, but Pepper continued to drag her throughout the facility.
As they approached a section in the hallway the opposite direction from her desk she heard muffled voices of outrage and disbelief. She watched as Pepper rolled her eyes and exhaled. "In there is our legal team," she states, pointing to the closed door.
She can see a few faces through the small window of the door. None looked like they wanted to be there at the moment. "You'll probably be working with them a lot along with HR. We'll meet them when they're not busy," Pepper shrugs off before tugging her along back to the main entrance to where a few staircases were.
She forces her to ascend them, which January begrudgingly does so in heels that make her want to die. She's obviously slower than Pepper, who's been doing this for years. She waits patiently as Jan clamors up to the top of the stairs, wobbling in her shoes. She flashes her an apologetic smile before continuing to follow her.
"This is Mr. Stane's office," she addresses as she tilts her head to a solid wooden door at the end of the hallway. "I don't think he's here yet but you'll meet him eventually," she continues. "You know where my office is," she shrugs off, pointing to the other end of the hallway while watching Jan nod her head.
Pepper pivots on her heel to look straight forward at the door in front of them. "And then there's Mr. Stark's office," she states, as she begins to head towards the door. She presses her head up against the wood as she knocks, waiting for a response. After a moment she twists the door open to reveal the office that Tony isn't currently residing in.
This confuses Jan for a moment. The company was open and everyone was at work, where was he? "Which, surprise, surprise, he's not here," Pepper chides before turning and throwing her hands up to the office asking for her approval. January merely nods as she looks around the office. It's definitely better than Pepper's office, bigger, brighter, fewer decorations though. "Get used to him not being here," Pepper states, causing Jan to furrow her brows.
"Is he coming in today?" She blurts out causing Pepper to look at her with a sly smirk. January realizes that it was an odd question to ask, her cheeks becoming heated with embarrassment. "Just curious," she mumbles out causing Pepper to let out a soft chuckle. "I'm not sure," she answers. "He's supposed to be here every day but let's face it, he's the owner of the company, he can come and go as he pleases,"
She notices that January's gaze drops to the floor and notes that for someone who was so adamant on not liking Tony she definitely let this get to her. She didn't want to be wrong about her, she wanted January to actually be invested in the job but not to the point where she had a crush on Tony. She couldn't have another Lana. "But you know who's always here?" Pepper states, trying to regain her attention which she successfully does. "Jarvis, can you introduce yourself to January? She's Mr. Stark's new publicist,"
Jan gives Pepper a confused look since there was no one else in the room besides them, but then jumps at the sound of a man's voice. "Certainly. My name is Jarvis, I assist Mr. Stark with all his needs,"
"Are the walls talking?" January asks, her voice sounding panicked as she heads to the center of the room, circling around to find out where the voice was coming from. Pepper can't help but let out a small chuckle as she watches the publicist twirl and twist around uncomfortably. She remembered at a point in time where she too was wary of Jarvis.
She clasps on to her shoulders steadying her and reassuring she was fine. "Jarvis is an A.I. - artificial intelligence system - that Tony created to help him but I think he's only here to help Tony unwind and give someone to talk to," she teases the computer, which confuses January even more.
An A.I. system? That was only in movies and television. She didn't think there were actual real A.I.'s at the time. But then again Tony was apparently a self-proclaimed genius and he had the money to waste on things that seemed trivial so why not build an expensive computer that could hold a personable A.I.
"I can be anything Mr. Stark needs me to be," Jarvis responds in a cool and collected tone. She did have to hand it to Tony, there was something soothing in its voice. "Creepy," she mutters under her breath.
"Ms. Potts you are due for a meeting with legal in about ten minutes. It's about -"
"Okay, Jarvis thank you," Pepper abruptly cuts the A.I. off hurriedly. She turns to see Jan's face contorted and confused. "Sorry you're just brand new and I can't spill any details about the company yet," Pepper apologizes. January nods her head.
She understood, she was brand new and she hadn't proven her loyalty to the company yet. Sure, Pepper may have thought she was a good candidate but it was ultimately Tony's decision to hire her and he clearly wasn't thinking straight. "I know I said I'd let you be my shadow but sitting in on a legal meeting on your first day seems a little ambitious," Pepper excuses herself for being so abrupt as she begins to coax January to fend for herself for a moment.
"It's okay, really!" January replies with a warm smile although her curiosity was getting the best of her. She wanted to know what the meeting was about. "Let me walk you back to your desk and I'll come get you afterward," Pepper bargains with her, escorting her out of the office.
Jan was actually thankful for Pepper escorting her back to her desk, without her help there was no doubt she would get confused with how the layout was. And she certainly didn't want to head back up to the front desk to ask for help, not after her encounter with Lana.
Although, she might've apologized she still didn't trust her or the gleam in her eyes that said she's better than her. When they arrive back to the HR department it's quieter than when she had arrived this morning. In fact, the whole department was empty, leaving her and Pepper confused. "What's going on here?" Pepper questions out loud, sounding exasperated as she looked at the rows and rows of empty desks.
"They had a training retreat," a voice speaks up from behind them, forcing January to jump in her skin. She places a hand on her heart as ash turns around with Pepper, boring the broad smile on her face. The man was tall, maybe even as tall as her brother Conan who was easily six-five, he was also balding with a grey beard strapped to his face. His presence radiated importance.
"Oh Mr. Stane, so glad you could make it. I totally forgot all about the retreat. I must be on the wrong day of my schedule. Are you going to the meeting as well?" Pepper yips at the man. January is quick to catch on. This was Obadiah Stane - the president of the company, good friend of Howard Stark and partial mentor to Tony. No wonder he radiated importance.
"Of course, is the boss going to be there?" he questions lightly, causing Pepper to wave her hand through the air to display her frustration. "You know Mr. Stark," she sweetly teases but underneath it, she can depict that she was irritated. "By the way, this is his new publicist, January," she introduces, stepping aside and gesturing over to the redhead who kindly smiles at the man.
"Hello," she greets in a small voice before taking his hand to shake it. Her hand is engulfed by his. She hated feeling so small especially compared to Obadiah who was no doubt just as rich as Tony. "A new one, huh?" he jeers as he retracts his hand.
"Haven't seen any publicist's since a couple of years ago. You take over?" he questions Pepper before taking a sip of the coffee that was in his hand. Pepper bites down on her bottom lip in an irritated fashion before nodding her head. "I did, yes, but I've been so caught up with all this work Mr. Stark gave me I haven't been able to keep up in some aspects," she bites off begrudgingly.
So that's why she bitterly gnawed on her lip as soon as he brought it up. Jan knew she was taking a load off of Pepper's plate but she seemed frustrated about it while talking to Obadiah. For a moment January had thought she had done something wrong but she remembered Pepper saying she was grateful for coming along and working with her. Perhaps it was just a personal issue with Obadiah.
"Look at you go, off to bigger and better things," he congratulates, bumping her shoulder in a proud gesture that almost came off as sneering. He turns his attention back to January, his fraud cheeriness fading. "Well, it was nice to meet you. Hopefully, you'll stick around longer than the other publicist's before miss Potts," he comments before turning his back to head down to the legal side of the office, which Jan had noticed that's where the conference room was where Tony had hired her on the spot.
Pepper purses her lips as she watches Obadiah leave, then turns to see January's face, her mouth left hanging high and dry at Obadiah's comment. "Don't mind Mr. Stane, he's old and set in his ways," Pepper waves off his comment, trying to make January feel a little better.
She couldn't risk her leaving just because Obadiah got under her skin. She looks at her watch and jumps, alerting Jan that she was late, or at least was going to if she had to stay and babysit her for another moment. "I'll be back in a couple of hours at the most," Pepper informs her, ushering her over to her own desk. "Why don't you get aquatinted with the system," she hums out as she takes a sticky note from the neighboring desk and write on it, huffing out a sigh in the process.
"Here's your sign-on," she says under her breath as she forks the note over to her. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark insisted," she apologizes on Tony's behalf. "And if you get bored of going through everything I'll send you a link of all the handbook stuff you have to fill out. You can print it off and hand it to me once you're done. Okay? I'll be right back," she rushes out before January can even open her mouth to even mutter out a question.
She watches as Pepper runs down the hallway, heels loudly clicking in the process. This was the strangest introduction to a job she's ever had. Perhaps it was just because they were so busy and Pepper was under stress. She seemed like she needed a vacation.
She glances down at the note with her sign on in hand and snorts at how preposterous it was. She rolls her eyes as she begins typing in her credentials.
Username: Wisconsin, Password: Mrs. Stark.
Even typing it made her giggle uncomfortably, as a pit of nervousness once again burrows into her stomach. She wondered why her username and password weren't switched but she figured that it was to save his ass or maybe it was the dissolvent of him and Pepper arguing about it. It seemed like they went toe to toe about almost everything.
She couldn't blame Pepper, she would also be irritated if she was always overlooked and never heard. Then her mind lingered to Lana at the front desk. Part of her wondered if he ever heard her complaints as well, there was no way she didn't go a single time without complaining to him about shooing off multiple one night stands. However, she became defensive over Tony, unlike Pepper who seemed over him. There must've been some connection between the two, she was beautiful after all. Far more beautiful than her. Lana could have Tony all to herself, she didn't want to seem like a threat when she wasn't interested. All she cared about was her job.
~ BOOK ONE: IRONMAN ~
SHE COULDN'T REMEMBER how long she had been sitting at her desk, slowly reading each line of legal paraphrasing in the handbook she had printed off, following Pepper's orders. She wasn't quite sure what to do when the phones behind her echoed through the empty office but she deemed it best to ignore since she wasn't an expert in anything relating to human resources. Besides, it's not like she's authorized to answer any phones without learning the proper etiquette.
The hum of voices overlapping each other drew near to the department, causing her to peer over the edge of her desk out of curiosity. People in suits all chatted outside near the lobby area, more drifting in from the other side of the hall, some were even making their way towards the cafe. She could only assume that the legal meeting had adjourned for a break or for good. It had been nearly three hours of her just sitting around and snooping through computer files, she could use someone to talk to.
She lets out an exasperated sigh before returning her attention to the handbook. There was no way anyone would see her or be interested in talking to her. She was alone and she assumed she didn't look approachable at the moment because of this. She did have the effect of not wanting to be bothered - or as Babs would call it "resting bitch face". She perks up a brow as she begins reading the handbook once again, just coming across the actual dress code which looked like it hadn't been updated in twenty years since the use of shoulder pads was brought up occasionally but there was nothing about showing mid-drift.
A sudden rapping on her desk alerted her of someone's presence. She jumped in surprise as she comes back into reality. To her surprise, someone did actually want to talk to her, and it wasn't Pepper. It was a man, maybe a couple years older than her but with a long face and a fraud smile with dimples on each cheek. His sleeked back dark hair made him look like a shot but his smile seemed to dupe his appearance.
"Hey, you're Tony's new publicist right?" he questions her out of the blue. She furrows her brows in confusion as she looks up at him, not quite understanding where the conversation was headed. "Yeah," she informs him with a slight edge to her tone. Apparently, he didn't receive the signal that she wanted to be left to her own devices since he continued to speak to her in a condescending tone.
"Awesome. My name is Winston Daniels. I'm Obie's publicist," he finally introduces himself, while pointing to his person with his thumb. Jan gives him a tight-lipped smile and a simple nod, not wanting to seem rude but a small and subtle indicator that she wanted to be left alone. "So we're like basically doing the same thing. Except I have my own office on the upper level," he explains.
Jan's eyes narrow at the man. Was he humble bragging or just bragging? Jan wants to call him out, to tell him he sounded conceited but she didn't want to seem like a bitch on the first day of work. "Oh, heh, yeah. That's cool," she mumbles out, trying to distract herself by looking at her computer screen instead of his face, thinking maybe he'd think she was busy. Her plan doesn't work as he continues to lean on the top portion of the cubicle, gazing down on her with sympathetic eyes.
"Hey so, I have a lot of notes about Tony and Obie and the company in general if you wanted to go over them," he blurts out of nowhere, throwing her off guard. Was he being nice? "I know it must be a bit of a shock coming here after coming from nowhere,"
Jan's jaw clenches at his statement. She didn't come from nowhere, she came from a family who loved her. She knew she hadn't worked fancy jobs but she didn't need to be undermined by someone she just met. However, she was in no position to push him away for information about Tony, she just had to keep reminding herself that she was doing this for her job. "Uh, sure. That'd be great," she lies, adding a sly smile to get on his good side.
He returns the smile and proceeds to give her a thumbs up in the process. "Cool, we can grab a bite to eat sometime this week and discuss them," he declares, stepping back from her desk, and turning to face the crowd of people who were milling about in the lobby area. "Later 'gator,"
She watches him with a glare as he leaves to join the group of lawyers, probably to converse about how hospitable the new publicist was. She watches as he barely grazing shoulders with the man she had been dreading to see all day. Tony Stark.
Her breath hitches and her eyes dart down to the handbook at her desk, trying her best to avoid any eye contact. She knew he'd come over and talk to her but what she didn't expect was the sudden dry feeling in her mouth. Anxiety was creeping up on her once again as the possibilities of what could happen run rampant through her mind. She could vomit or trip up on her words while talking to him. She didn't want him to take it the wrong way.
Before she can even think of how to politely reject him, he knocks on her desk just the way Winston had. "Am I going to have to implement a new policy of no dating in the company?" Tony questions with a slight smirk playing on his lips. Her mind ran blank for a moment but it quickly jolts back to life at the obvious flirty tone he had given her. It was time to give him a taste of his own medicine. "Well that would dampen your chances wouldn't it?" she nails the question with a coy smile crossing her lips.
He perks up his brow in a suggestive manner. "Are you saying I have a chance?" he asks in a teasing voice that makes her let out a soft chuckle at the audacity. "Not with me but with your receptionist," she points to the front desk, her tone suggesting something was happening between them.
Tony peers back at her in shock, flabbergasted she would even catch on to that. "Who Lana?" he asks, sounding offended but he quickly stammers out a response. "We never - I didn't - it was one time - it didn't mean anything - we were just having fun -"
"Did you just admit to sleeping with one of your employees in the literal HR department?" January questions with a sneaky look on her face as she peers up at Tony, who stops making up excuses and in turn just gazes at her. She had just conned him into outting one of his work relationships. One. It was easy to come back from this. He rolls his eyes. "Just don't sleep with that guy. He'll treat you good and make me look bad," he mumbles out.
"Oh, wow, thanks for the advice," January sarcastically. She had a lot of gumption to tease him. Daring and noteworthy confidence for a woman who just started working there to be able to speak to her boss that way. That's what made him long for her. She wasn't like the plastic dolls found in California. She was going to make him play her game. "I've just got to keep an eye out for future Mrs. Stark," he shrugs, watching her lazily roll her eyes.
"And with that good morning to you too," her eyes drift towards the clock, looking at it before stiffening her posture into a more professional stance. "I mean, good afternoon, Mr. Stark. Are you just getting in?"
"No, I've been in the legal meeting, with Pep. I had to give her something to do after the meeting but she said you'd be out here," he quickly rattles off like he had been rehearsing the phrase since he saw her - perhaps this was his professional demeanor. Whatever it was it melted fast as he turned his gaze back towards her. "Do you like your password?"
Jan snorts at the question as she stretches. Mrs. Stark. It was the ideal password she'd have in mind. "I'm literally sitting in the HR department, do I need to file a complaint about it?" Jan scoffs, watching a light-hearted smirk appear on his face again.
"Are you mad at me for making it?"
"It's a little out there," she idly shrugs.
"I can fix it. It's just a joke," he apologizes in an actually serious tone - something she hasn't heard from him since that night at the club. He tips his head towards her as if she were thinking about something hard. "Unless -" he pipes up only to have her crush his sentence with the single word, "No."
"Besides I don't think your receptionist would like that," she notes. He perks his brow up at the statement. This had been the second time in the conversation that she's brought up Lana. He had no idea that Lana would be the one to get under her skin, but now thinking about it it made sense. Lana was marking her territory.
"Would it bug you if I said hers is the same?" he teases as his gaze drifts over to the dark-haired receptionist, wearing an awfully right and low cut red shirt that made him bite down on his bottom lip in anticipation. She was teasing him at work now. "You'd only be confirming my suspicions," Jan's sweet voice teases him as she follows his gaze towards Lana. He swivels back around to see her studying the receptionist. The scowl on her face was precious enough to make him want to laugh.
"Jealous?"
"Not in a million years,"
He can't help but look down at the redhead who was keen on acting coy. He could tell by her smirk that she liked the attention even if she proclaimed she didn't. He snaps out of his trance, looking down at his watch before letting out a low whistle. "Well, it's one and I'm hungry. Do you want to grab lunch?" he eagerly asks, watching her cheeks tinge a hue of pink which he chalked up as a success. The ball was in his court.
"Uh," she stammers out, placing a strand of her hair nervously behind her ear. "I was just going to grab something when I left I'm not that hungry -"
"Did I phrase that as a question?" he quickly backtracks, letting out a low and breathy chuckle. "I'm sorry, I meant you have to go to lunch. It's a tradition," he simply shrugs. Jan's face deadpans as she looks on to her superior. Did she want a free lunch? Yes, hell yes, she was dying for it. Did she want it to come from her boss? That was tricky.
She was starting to view Tony as a friend more than a boss which was something she didn't like, something that wasn't in her rule books. However, he was trying very hard to get her to like him and she wasn't just going to go willingly. "A tradition huh?" she reiterates, biting on the pen in her hand.
"Yeah. It's customary for a boss and his new employee to go out on a one on one -"
"Tony!" Pepper's shrill tone catches them both off guard. He freezes on the spot as if he had done something illegal and was just frozen in fear. January merely stifled a snicker as she looked at his panicked expression as Pepper stalked over to her desk where he was lounging at.
"I thought I gave you instructions to not do exactly what you're doing right now," Pepper scolds him. He looks at January for a moment as if he had been caught - which he had - with his hand in the cookie. He turned around to face Pepper, charming smile on his face, one that would usually melt any woman's heart but it only made her scowl even more.
"I was just inviting her out to lunch," he states as if he were innocent as if two seconds ago he hadn't teased her about wanting to marry him. Pepper rolls her eyes, she knew the game he was playing, she wasn't stupid, he had played this before and there was no doubt it would continue over and over again. January was just his new flavor of the week. Soon his infatuation would be over and hopefully, Jan wouldn't quit in the meantime.
"Lunch?" she questions in an annoyed tone, watching him nod his head. She huffs out another frustrated sigh, "You know you're booked since you're actually here for once. I have people up the wazoo trying to reach you through me -"
"Have Lana forward and clear everything. We'll all go out to lunch to celebrate her first day," he instructs her, watching her blink vividly twice before growling out in frustration. "We haven't done that in years,"
"Well some traditions are meant to be broken and then circled back to eventually," he replies in an excuse, hoping it would work. Ultimately he was the boss, he'd get his way eventually, she'd rather just delay it at any cost. She looks between him and January, wondering if she actually reciprocated his feelings. During the interview she was smart and declined his advances, now she wasn't. "Okay so who's going just you and Jan? Because I think that's a bad idea -"
"You, Obie, Winnie, some of legal and some of research. You know the usual, head honcho people so she can meet them," he abruptly cuts her off, throwing her through a loop. He was smart, covering his ass so it wouldn't seem like he was blatantly trying to get with his publicist.
"I-I'll see who can come on such short notice," she caves, watching his face light up with glee. He turns to January with an excited grin on his face. "Great, what's for lunch?" he asks her while clapping his hands together.
Her brows knit together in a confused fashion. "Why're you looking at me?" she questions, her voice raising an octave as if she were in trouble. He rolls his eyes and gives out a quick scoff. "Because you're new and you get to pick," he rolls off. "Pick anything within a reasonable price please because I don't want to take you to a fancy restaurant with everyone. We can do that one on one -"
"Tony," Pepper warns from behind him.
"With Pepper's supervision. Something under the radar as well, I don't need people coming up to me and asking me to sign things -"
"Yeah, no, I was thinking about going to the bar my friend works at," she quickly responds, cutting him off. Pepper gives her a befuddled look. "Bar? It's the middle of the day," she states in a judgemental tone. Jan opens her mouth to explain once again it's because Babs worked there but Tony cuts her off, "She said bar and I'm in. What's it called?"
"The Last Call. Don't worry, I'm not going to drink," she directs this to Pepper who gives her an assuring nod."Thank you," she replies with a smile. She did make a good choice in asking her for another interview. "I don't care if you do," Tony chimes in thinking she was talking to him. "You're much more fun to talk to because you're more loose when you have a few drinks in you,"
Pepper opens her mouth to oppose this but January beats her to the punch. "You're still standing in HR," she states, sucking in a deep, hissing, breath while wincing. She was letting him know where her boundaries were, something that Lana failed to do. Tony's eyes lock with Pepper's as he takes a deep breath. A little part of him disappointed that he wasn't going to alone time with Jan again but it also didn't seem like she wanted to be alone with him. That still didn't mean he wasn't going to try.
"Gather the forces, we'll meet you there," he instructs her watching her eyes go wide. January stands up, feeling nice after stretching her legs from sitting down for hours. She jingled her keys in her hand. "I'm going to take my own car," she informs Pepper who looked like she was about to burst a blood vessel with the stress Tony was putting her through. "Wise," she agrees with her under her breath. Tony throws her an offended look, shooting her down with his piercing gaze. "You can ride with me," he offers, pointing to his chest. Jan lets out a way laugh. "It's going to take a lot to get me into a car with you,"
He smirks at her lingering comment. "Challenge accepted,"