Mark knocked on the hotel door. "Are you ready yet?"
"Just another minute. I'm still trying to get into my dress." Mira gazed at herself in the mirror and sighed. As much as she was mad at her uncle, she still wished he was there with her instead of trying to sell more weapons to the military. She would rather have Tony walking into the crowd of people by her side than personally helping kill more people.
"Your guests are waiting for you." Mark leaned against the doorway. After the amount of time that he knew her, Mark could tell when something was bothering her. Mira was never late to something this important.
She shook her head to try and get herself out of her random rut. "Yeah, I know." Mira unzipped the bag that held the gown that Tony bought for her for the evening. The fire red glowed in the dim hotel lighting. She pulled it down from the hanger.
Once the gown was fastened tightly to her body, Mira grabbed the box that held her shoes and strapped them to her feet. She inhaled and exhaled slowly, preparing to stand. She was raised to wear the tallest heels on a daily basis, but it was never her strong suit. If she had a choice, she would wear her black lowtop Converse. Those were more comfortable to her.
A fullsize mirror hung on the door inside the bathroom. Not wanting to have a single hair out of place, Mira stepped in front of the mirror and stared at every part of herself. First, the hair was perfectly curled and hanging down her back. Then, she checked the makeup. Tony had hired an artist to assist Mira with the makeup because makeup was something Mira had a tendency to mess up without even trying. Her eyes didn't clash with her lips and every blemish was covered. Next came the dress. The bright red gown dragged on the floor only slightly. She was glad this one covered her back and the straps held up her breasts. It wasn't too low cut, but still showed off some of herself with the sweetheart neckline. She hated to admit it, but her uncle had some great taste. Lastly, the shoes. She didn't really care about how the shoes looked because you couldn't see them anyway, but she made sure they were fastened on as tightly as they could be.
It was time to greet her guests. She couldn't hide in her room anymore. She picked up her dress and made her way to the door where she knew Mark was waiting for her.
The door pulled open and Mark's eyes went wide. "Wow. You look great."
"Really?" Mira asked unsure.
"Yeah. You're uncle has great taste."
That put a smile on her face. "I have to agree."
"Okay. Come on. We have a party to get to."
"I guess we do."
Before he started to walk to the elevator, Mark faced his boss. "Okay. What's wrong?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you're acting super depressed. Normally, you would be excited to have an opportunity like this for the foundation. I've known you long enough to know when somethings up. Now, tell me. What's wrong?"
Mira sighed and looked away. "It's just been a long day. First, the interview went awry, then I called Tony and left this stupid voicemail. I shouldn't have even bothered calling him. I'm extremely mad at him right now and I don't know if I should be. I kind of just want today to be over."
"Hey." Mark placed his hand on her shoulder. "This isn't you right now. You get like this whenever Tony's being a jerk and 9 times out of 10, you have a right to be mad at him. How about this? If he calls, don't answer. Let him leave you a voicemail. Talk to him tomorrow when you aren't so mad. Tonight, just have a good time."
"Why are you always right?"
"Just am. It's a curse I know." They smiled at each other. "Now come on. You have people to meet and hopefully get their money for the foundation."
"Yeah, I know."
The pair walked to the elevator and rode it all the way down the ground floor. As soon as they emerged from the elevator, cameras swarmed them. The paparazzi were everywhere. This was typical when a bunch of big name celebrities got together for a good cause. It didn't matter what it was for. The paparazzi were always there and waiting.
One of Mira's trusted bodyguards had been waiting at the elevator entrance for her. He pushed the paparazzi aside to allow Mira and Mark to get through. And just like that, Mira was back in business mode.
Mira leaned over to Mark. "Please see if you can have security escort them out. I don't want my guests to feel uncomfortable while they're around."
Mark nodded, glad to know she was back. "I'll get right on that."
"Thank you, Mark. I greatly appreciate it."
"My pleasure, Ms. Stark."
Before he could hear her objection to her name, Mark took off. He went straight to trying to get the paparazzi out of their hair.
The night carried on without a hitch. Mira met with dozens of rich people who decided to become donors after one conversation with her. She was the kind of person who could get what she wanted just by talking. She never liked doing it, but in this situation she made an exception. She raised enough money and then some.
Her phone only went off once during the fundraiser. The screen lit up with Tony's face and Mira hit ignore. She had more important things to do at the moment and would listen to the message later like Mark told her to do.
As the night went on, Mira felt less anger towards her uncle. He couldn't have possibly have known the questions the reporter would ask. He was only trying to make things right. In the end, he did. The fundraiser was a huge success all thanks to him.
She made a mental note to call her uncle as soon as the event was over, but that note was soon forgotten. That night, Mira took a page out of Tony Stark's book and decided to have a little fun. She drank, socialized, laughed. She hadn't had that much fun in months. She even met someone. His name was Edward Cooper, the younger entrepreneur that founded The Look magazine. The magazine sells millions of copies each week. It was one the best and exclusive fashion magazines around. Mira was featured several times in the past few weeks even though most of her outfits weren't worthy of such a high class magazine. She knew that Edward had a thing for her. He wasn't the marrying kind, but he was what she needed right now. She decided to give him a shot. The two went back to her hotel room and Mira Stark wasn't seen for the rest of the night.