REBEL OF THE BALL
CHAPTER TWO
Tony Stark stood at his front door, face pulled into a somewhat blank mask. He was staring at the teenager who is claiming him as her father. A father. A D-A-D.
For a long time, neither one of them spoke. The only sound that can be heard are the soft chirp of the crickets and the smooth crash of the waves. Tony stared. And stared. With such a cool poker face, no one could read what was on his mind.
Suddenly, even surprising the kid, he burst into loud fits of laughter.
"Is...something funny?" The girl asked, looking both taken aback and annoyed.
Tony was still laughing and kept on doing it so much that he had to clutch the door to keep himself from collapsing in laughter. Apparently, out of all the thousand emotions he could feel now in this kind of situation, he had chosen to let out an explosive vocal sound of amusement. He had found the kid too funny and too young for this kind of thing to be serious.
She planted her hands on her hips. "Oh yeah — that's right. Keep laughing. Real mature for an old man like you." The girl said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
Tony, who finally recovered from his laughing fit, stood up straight and grinned. "Hello there uh...what was your name? Ah yes — Urania. A lot of kids claim me to be their Daddy. Say, how do you differ from them?"
She smirked. "Ha. Never thought I'm telling you the truth? I'm expecting it."
"Sorry?"
"Actually, Mr. Stark," Urania emphasized his name. "You really think I'm lying do you? Can't say I blame you — well, feast your eyes on this."
She began to rummage on her bag and after a few seconds, brought out a large, heavy envelope.
She thrust it to him with a hard push. "Here."
"What is all this?" He sputtered, frowning as he did so.
"My birth certificate, bio and a few letters — proof of course. And when I say they're legal, I meant they are legal." Urania explained skeptically, raising an eyebrow. "You don't believe me so that's what you get. You can't argue with papers you know."
"Didn't you know? I thought every fan of mine knows this — I don't like to be handed things."
"So you want your secretary to hold your own matters in her hands for you? Geez. If that's the case then I am much, much more adulterated than you." The girl gloated, her chest swelling with an air of pride.
Tony snorted at her term. "Adulterated? Really?"
She only gave him a haughty smirk but said nothing. It surprised him a bit, really. He really expected her to say stuff again — it seems she's the type who can't get her mouth shut.
Although against his will, Tony found himself glancing at the stupid envelope. He can see his name everywhere — almost all of those papers, at least. Anthony Edward Stark, Tony Stark — literally every paper. His head was swimming. Seeing he had enough, Tony stuffed them all back inside.
"See? It's hilarious right?" Urania said after a while, grinning. "Oh don't worry — I find it funny too. Because out of all the billion men in the world — you, the great Tony Stark — is my father. My biological father to be exact."
Tony gawked at her, unable to say anything. This girl was unbelievable. It might take a lot of guts to say this kind of thing in front of him. Although the 'daughter' part might be just an act, still, he had to say he was impressed by her bold move. She was witty — something not all girls her age has.
Then —
"Ow!" She yelped when Tony shoved the papers back at her. "Hey — you can just give it back to me nicely. I'm a girl you know."
"It's not obvious." Tony said, gritting his teeth. "In five seconds, I want you out of here. Out! NOW!"
Now it was Urania's turn to stare.
"Are you serious?" She asked, bewildered.
"Five seconds." He reminded her. "One."
"Two."
"Seriously, what's gone through your head? Can't believe you got someone pregnant before?"
"Three. Jarvis, call the cops. And the social services too."
Her eyes widened at Tony's words but she planted her feet firmly on the ground. "I am not going anywhere."
"Four. Hm, maybe you should start thinking about it once the police gets you. Four-and-a-half."
"I'm not going."
"And five." There was a pause. Tony turned back inside. "Jarvis, have you called the cops yet?"
"I already did Sir. They are currently on their way." Jarvis replied, with no hint of mercy or concern — of course he's a computer, what would you expect?
Tony nodded firmly to himself, and without looking back, shut the door. He didn't dare see the face of the kid, for fear of witnessing the scene of rolling tears. Most girls do that — and even in Tony's many years of toying with their hearts, he still couldn't bear seeing someone cry — especially a girl. But still, reality hurts — they all have to bear in mind that not everything they want comes true.
But he didn't leave though. He was rooted right on the closed door. Tony wondered why on earth he was still waiting. Waiting for what? Waiting for any reaction from the girl, of course.
The other side was quiet. Maybe she really did went away.
A part of Tony — the cold-hearted one — made him gave out a pleased sigh. He glanced at the time. It was already nearing 3 AM. It took him a lot of minutes — a lot, just to shoo that girl away.
But he suddenly felt something poking his heels. He glanced down, only to see a piece of paper being pushed by someone on the bottom slats of the door.
"Honestly Mr. Stark, for a man, you don't seem to look so scary after all." A voice from outside cut in the still dawn. "I told you — I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying right here. I don't care if the police gets me. I don't care if you call for someone to send me away. I made a promise to my Mom. And I'm not leaving until I do that."
Tony face-palmed himself both in disbelief and frustration. She doesn't know when to give up right?
He didn't say anything, just to let her assume he was already away. Silently, Tony bent down and picked up that paper. It was two pieces and it wasn't really paper. It was, photographs.
He flipped it to the other side, where the pictures appear. For a moment, he regretted he did that.
It was a photo of him, surprisingly, with a woman that looked so familiar. With straight black hair and gray eyes shining with happiness. As far as Tony can tell, he was probably in his late twenties or early thirties. He drew it closer to his eyes, squinting. At least it doesn't look Photoshopped. Funny, seeing this picture made his mind shaky with déjà vu. And the bad thing was, Tony couldn't deny the fact that he really is (or was) the guy on the picture. How on earth did that girl got this anyway?
He looked at the other one. It was that woman again. But she's not alone. With her was a young girl, at the age seven or eight, with the same black hair and gray eyes. Oddly, Tony could remember her name now. She was Amanda Wainwright — the girl he was interested in way back.
Amanda Wainwright.
Urania Wainwright.
The resemblance between them...
So the girl might be the young kid huh?
Tony looked back on the first picture and started to compare it.
And that was when a part of Tony, stirring deep in the back of his mind, admits that the girl and he really does look alike. Excluding the gray eyes, her face was a total copy of his — long nose, black hair, spare upper lip and full lower lip.
His heart sank.
This simply means she wasn't lying at all. It was the opposite.
Urania really was telling the truth.
Tony stood there, very still. Not moving. He was in an apparent shock. Realization dawned on him and hit him hard in the gut.
"Sir, are you allright?" Jarvis managed to ask, aware of his master's sudden tranquility.
"Oh shit." Tony blurted out, clamping a hand on his face. "Oh shit. What did I just do?"
Did he really just made someone pregnant? For crying out loud, how on earth did he became so reckless?
"Huh? What did you just do Mr. Stark? Is something wrong?" Urania's voice came in and out of his consciousness.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Aren't you gonna at least talk to me? Or open the door?" She continued. "It's kinda rude to entertain your visitors outside, don't you think? Especially when it's freezing cold."
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Come on!" Urania urged. "Don't be stupid! I thought you were smarter than me!"
"I am!" Tony yelled, unable to stop himself. "I'm smart enough not to talk to strangers!"
"But I'm not a stranger! I'm your daughter!" There was a thud. Obviously, she kicked the door. "Please Mr. Stark, I'm being polite now. Please."
He snorted. "Is this your way of being polite? Kicking somebody else's door? I'm telling you kid — it's not good enough!"
"But at least I'm trying!"
For a while, Tony remained silent. He was weighing his options. He had to face the bitter truth — she wasn't lying — at least, that's what he seemed. And if he opened the door and let her in, a lot of things would change. A lot of stuff to do. And this could make a scandal, give his company bad publicity and be in trouble with the Board.
"Are you always this heartless?" Urania said again, but this time, she sounded to defeated. "Mom said you weren't. Please Mr. Stark, I'm begging you. Give me a chance — it's all true. Unless...are you afraid to face the consequence of your actions?"
He stopped. Was he?
"Sir, the police are about a half kilometer away from here. They will certainly arrive in about two minutes."
"Jarvis..."
"Yes sir?"
"If you were in a situation in which you have to choose between taking risks or not, what would you do?"
His computer paused and then said "Well Sir, my judgments might not all be right but perhaps it'll be better if you would take the risk. After all, that's what you always do."
Even though the words came from a computer, Jarvis' idea settled in comfortably on Tony's numb brain. Jarvis is right.
Taking risks if what Tony Stark do all the time. In fact, it's what he's best at.
After a few seconds of thinking, Tony took a deep breath and opened the door.
Urania was sitting on the dry earth, cross legged and not caring the dirt that may cling on her jeans. When she heard the door creak, she stood up and instantly met Tony's brown eyes.
She shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. "So...?"
He looked at her for one long moment, not saying a word. But with a defeated sigh, he opened the door a little wider.
"Fine. You can come in — but we're not yet done here."