Here's the next update! I'm glad you're finding this a good read, I wasn't so sure when I started it. Let's hope it continues.

Friday

"Pepper?"

Pepper turned and grinned at the sight of the man jogging towards her. Continuing on her way, she waited for the man to catch up to her before speaking.

"Michael." She said, smirking. "What can I do for you?"

A tall, handsome young man who had come to Stark Enterprises as an intern and moved up to head of marketing, Michael Woods was the second most eligible bachelor after the boss man himself. And he wasn't a man whore. He had medium length, floppy blonde hair, the deepest blue eyes you've ever seen, and, if the rumours were to be believed, a body you could bounce a nickel off of. He'd recently made it a point of pursuing Pepper any way he could. He'd bought her lunch, sent her flowers, chocolates, gift certificates for day spas. He would not give up. He was sweet, sure, and handsome, but Pepper just didn't see that spark with him.

"Ah, how many directions could that question take?" Michael asked, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking along with her. Pepper rolled her eyes.

"Just the one if you don't mind, Michael." She said. "I've got a lot to do and very little time in which to do it, so…"

"Have dinner with me tonight."

Pepper sighed and turned to him as they reached her office, folding her arms across her chest.

"Mike, we've talked about this."

"Not really." He protested. "I mean yeah, you've shot me down more times than I can count-"

"And yet you still don't give up." Pepper said, smiling at him.

Michael shrugged. "You never win if you give up." He said. Pepper shrugged and he smirked as he saw her resolve breaking. "Come on, just one date. I promise if you still want to puke at the sight of me afterwards, I'll never bother you again."

Pepper laughed. "I wouldn't go that far." She sighed as he pulled a puppy face and shook her head. "Fine. One date."

Michael beamed at her and stood up a little straighter. "Well alright, now we're making progress." He clapped his hands together. "Ok, I'll swing by your office after work, sound good?"

Pepper nodded, amused at his enthusiasm and waved him on his way. She spent the rest of the day with a bigger smile on her face than she would usually have, not that Tony noticed, but for once she wasn't bothered that he pretty much ignored all his meetings, preferring to mess around in his own office and causing her to pretty much be in two places at once, and when the clock hit five, she was starting to look forward to her date. Michael knocked on her office door at five past and poked his head around it, grinning broadly.

"Ready to rock and roll?" he asked after she beckoned him in.

Pepper nodded, shutting down her computer and gathering her things before stepping around her desk and joining him at the door.

"So where to, Mr Woods?" she asked him as he led her out of the building and down to the staff car park.

"Well," he started. "I was thinking about this quaint little French place not far from here. Very nice, fantastic food. The chef is actually French would you believe?" he chuckled as they reached his car and he opened the door for her. "Say, I've always wondered, what's Tony's fascination with Audi's? I mean, everyone's company car is an Audi, he's got two of them, three if you count the one he gets driven round in when the Rolls is 'sleeping'."

Pepper laughed and waited til he'd gotten into the car to reply. "We've only had Audi's since oh-six. Before that it was Mercedes. He basically just picks a supercar that he likes, buys himself the actual supercar and everyone else gets the top of the range 'public' car. If he could let everyone have a Bugatti, he would, but then there'd be a chance that someone could beat him in a race."

Michael smiled and nodded understandingly. "Well, can't blame him for that. I'd kick his ass." He winked at her and started the car, pulling out of his spot and setting off out of the car park towards the restaurant.

"I dunno." Pepper considered for a moment. "Tony is an excellent driver. He's got tactical driving certificates and whatnot."

Michael raised an eyebrow at her, checked his mirrors to make sure the road was clear and put his foot down, yanking on the handbrake as a corner approached and expertly drifted around it, keeping the car perfectly level and pulling out of it to straighten up and continue on his way. Pepper, who had grabbed the 'oh shit' handle and was clinging onto it for dear life stared at him with wide eyes, swallowing harshly.

"Ok," she croaked, gingerly letting go of the handle and clearing her throat. "Point taken."

Michael laughed and reached over to take her hand. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

Pepper smiled and allowed him to keep hold of her hand until they got to the restaurant. Once again he was a perfect gentleman and opened the door for her, escorting her through the door with her hand tucked in the crook of his elbow, pulling her chair out for her and not batting an eyelid when she had a second glass of wine, sticking firmly to water himself. They had a nice time, and Pepper was actually surprised that they managed to find things to talk about other than work. It got to the point that they were so caught up in one another that neither noticed when the restaurant was about to close until one of the waiters reminded them. They made their way back out to Michael's car, laughing and joking, Pepper clinging to Michael's arm in a much less lady-like way than she had on the way in.

Michael did well. He got a kiss on the cheek in the car when he stopped outside Pepper's apartment, he got a hand-hold on the way up to her door, and as she fumbled for her keys, he dipped his head and pressed his lips to hers. Pepper was a little shocked, and slightly tipsy, and realising where he thought this might be going, she pulled back.

"Thank you for a lovely evening." She said with a smile, noticing his gaze was still on her lips.

"Mmm, the evening's not over yet." He said huskily, moving in for another kiss. Pepper raised her hand to his chest and pushed back slightly, leaning into the door at the same time.

"It is for me." She said, trying to make her voice sound more authoritative.

Michael smirked at her. "C'mon Pep, let loose a little." He said, leaning in and kissing her firmly. The back of her head connected with the door and she squeaked, pushing him again. Eventually he pulled back and she set her jaw.

"Michael, we've had a nice night, don't ruin it."

He raised an eyebrow and pressed a little closer to her, trailing a finger along the arm she had against his chest.

"Playing hard to get are we?" he grabbed her arm and wrenched it away from him, pressing her full on against the door and dipping his head to her neck. Pepper struggled against him and managed to get her arm free and slap him in the face. He stumbled sideways, not expecting the slap, and she immediately turned and jammed her key into the lock, frantically trying to open the door. Michael cursed and flew at her again, shoving her against the door and wrapping his hand around her neck from the back, pressing her cheek against the door and breathing in her ear. Pepper cried out, scared as hell and still squirming. Michael grabbed her arm and twisted it around her back, making her cry out again.

"Open the door." He growled into her ear.

Now

"Pepper?" Tony lowered his fist and squinted through the dim light at her. The first thing he noticed was the look of sheer terror on her face as she backed away from him. He took a step forward and held his hand out, but her eyes widened and she stumbled backwards into what he assumed was her bedroom, slamming the door shut. Tony rushed up to it and knocked. "Pepper, Pep, are you ok?"

Silence.

He tried a few more times but all he could hear was what worryingly sounded like crying from behind the door.

"Pepper, honey, please come out." He said softly. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm worried about you."

Still nothing.

Tony sighed and let his hand brush down the door, backing off and heading into the lounge. Clearly he was going to have to wait until she was ready to come out, for whatever reason, so he sat down on the couch and laid back, prepared to wait for as long as it took to get some answers.