Fic: Charming Possibilities 1/3
Rating: PG-13
Length: 3.330 words
Summary: Christmas is a time for miracles, or not?!
Pairings: Tony/Pepper, Pepper/OOC, Tony/OOC
Warnings: Heavy angst.
Part One
It all started on the 23rd of December at the annual Stark Industries Christmas party. Many important people gathered at the formal event held at the company’s headquarters that evening.
Pepper thought that she’d been the best choice after all. Tony Stark didn’t trust many people, but he trusted her and that was enough. She ran his company for about five years - indirectly, of course, but Tony was a careless man. He thought that the meetings were boring and unimportant for a person who is much more important than anything else in the universe.
Right now, three members of the board of directors approached her. One of them was holding a glass of scotch in his right hand and the smell of it reminded her of Tony.
Tony… well, he was supposed to come at the party, but there was no sign of him so far.
The three men were completely casual about everything. They didn’t ask her much and they were polite. They were in the middle of a discussion about the arc reactor development when she excused herself and told them that she was supposed to give a speech within the next minutes.
The speech was about how people should celebrate Christmas with their family and how these holidays were meant to be enjoyed by everyone.
By the time she finished her speech Tony made his appearance followed by a small group of horny females whom he’d slept with before Afghanistan. They didn’t let him breathe until Happy, his bodyguard and chauffeur showed up and got rid of them.
His eyes found hers and she swallowed hard a bit when he reached her.
“How’s my favorite CEO doing?” He asked and sat up on a stool at the bar.
Pepper smiled. He always teased her like that, but she liked it. It was their usual banter anyway.
“I’m doing great. How about you? ” She replied and sat on another stool.
“Fine.” He replied in a rush and clenched his jaw. “Do you want something to drink?”
She blinked at him, surprised by his question, but she nodded a little.
She turned her attention towards the dance floor and saw a few couples dancing. It reminded her of the night they both shared an uncomfortable dance, full of lingering glances and hungry touches…
Her eyes caught another pair boring straight into hers from the other end of the hall. Pepper frowned deeply and tried to figure out if she had seen that pair of honey brown eyes before, but she couldn’t. The man kept her gaze for another few seconds before she lowered hers to the martini glass in front of her.
She blinked hard, fighting a shiver. She recognized those eyes because she’d seen them before. She had met that man somewhere. She just couldn’t put her fingers on it.
“Is this what you’ve asked me to bring you, Pepper?” Tony’s voice shot through the haze she was currently in.
“Excuse me, what?” She looked at him with unfocused eyes and then back at the drink.
It was indeed a very dry vodka martini with three olives. She looked down at it in bewilderment and tried to focus on what Tony was saying.
“Pepper, are you okay?” She’d better answer him because dammit, he sounds pretty worried.
“Oh - yes. I’m fine, Mr. Stark. Just a little tired, I guess.”
She took a small sip from her glass and sighed a little. She felt better now that he got her that drink… When she looked back at him he had his eye-brow up and his eyes were staring at her moistened lips. She licked them and blushed, her cheeks and neck reddening further when he whistled slowly.
“Let’s dance.” He said and got up to his feet, holding his hand up to her and waiting for her to take it.
She slowly shook her head in sign of ‘no’ and took another sip from her vodka martini.
“Come on, Pep.” He coaxed her gently. “You know that I’m a better antidote than the drink in your hand.”
She considered for a few seconds - like, really considered it, but she didn’t want the scene from the Firemen’s Benefit to repeat, so she finished her drink and smirked at him.
“Maybe later.” She told him sweetly, turned on her high heels and left him there with his mouth slightly open.
She didn’t know why she said that because she wouldn’t let him near her again. It was hard enough to keep her distance now, after just a couple of months after her promotion. It was hard because she didn’t see him all that much now - she saw him just a few times a month when he’d concede to attend a meeting.
Anyway, there were better ways to not think about him that night. She planned to find the man whose eyes captured hers. She had a feeling that it won’t be a long search, though.
She was right in the end. A handsome, tall man with honey brown eyes and light brown hair and with a charming smile introduced himself as Sean Williams. His lips were warm and soft against her hand and his touch was downright addictive. She told herself not to get too deep into this because she still didn’t know whether or not she wanted to have an official relationship. She had waited for Tony to make the first step, but as months passed and nothing came she began to search for another man. A man who could make her happy despite the fact that she still loved her former boss very much… He wasn’t Tony, that was certain, but he was very handsome and he had a very good sense of humor. He was dressed in a black Armani suit, complete with a black tie.
He looked… delicious. Pepper couldn’t remember one time when she felt like that with another man.
“Would you like to dance, Virginia?”
It was going to be different, but as his warm hand took hers and the other went around her waist she let herself dream. He smelled totally different from the man she was used to, but that was okay. She carefully placed her hand on his upper arm and smiled at him warmly.
“So…” He started and gave her a shy smile. “You’re the big CEO now, huh?”
Pepper took a deep breath and responded back.
“Kind of.” She admitted with a small laugh. “How about you? Where do you work?”
“I’m a doctor.” He replied casually and swirled her around. “I’ve just been transferred from New York here.”
“That’s nice.” Pepper looked around, hoping that no one familiar would catch her dancing with the handsome new doctor.
“Thank you. Hey, would you like to talk more over a drink or something?” He raised an inquiring brow at her and waited for her answer.
But Pepper’s attention was not on him anymore. She had just spotted a very familiar face watching her intently from another group of males. Rhodey was there too, she realized. But it wasn’t him that bothered her the most. It was the furious look in Tony’s eyes that made her flinch.
She pretended not to have seen him and she turned her attention back to the man holding her in his arms.
“Sure.” She told him simply and broke away from his grasp.
A couple of hours later, after another two drinks and a few interesting facts, Pepper excused herself to go to the bathroom. Sean politely accepted and told her that he would be waiting for her outside.
She checked her make-up twice in the mirror before washing her hands and heading towards the exit. There were a few more meters before she reached the exit when a hand grabbed her forearm. She gasped softly and looked at Tony with an inquiring look.
“Really now, Pepper? No dance?” He said and tugged her slightly towards the dance floor, but she politely peeled his fingers off her forearm and looked him in the eye.
“I guess I’m not in the mood.” Came her sly reply.
She saw how his Adam’s apple bobbed and how his eyes broke off hers. The silence was a bit awkward and she looked at him, silently wishing he wouldn’t have seen her dancing with Sean.
“All right. Nice party, Potts.” He told her and took a few steps back, his smile a fake one.
She couldn’t blame him… seriously.
“See you other time.” He offered and went back to Rhodey.
She didn’t waste any time as she walked outside, her stilettos clicking sharply against the concrete. Part of her hoped that Sean was waiting for her, and another part of her didn’t want to hurt Tony. But then she remembered all those times when he had ran off with bimbos hanging off each of his arms and then she decided.
To her surprise, Sean was leaning on the door of a black Mercedes - his car, she supposed. Hm… What is it with men and made in Germany cars?
She decided not to ask as she took his extended hand while he helped her get inside. His car smelled like pine and she inhaled deeply before he got inside himself and buckled his seatbelt.
“I don’t usually drive like a madman, but if you’re in a hurry I can speed things up a bit.” He tapped the steering wheel with his thumb and turned on the CD player. An old song began playing and Pepper recognized it immediately.
It was Michael Bolton’s ‘Can I touch you there’. Pepper could feel heat rising up to her cheeks as the song continued playing.
“Nice song, huh?” He asked with a grin when he noticed the blush in on her face.
“One of my favorites, actually.” She replied and looked in the mirror at her right. She froze as she saw Tony standing in the parking lot, staring blankly at Sean’s black Mercedes disappearing out of his sight.
She wondered briefly how and if he’d make it home that night.
“I was gonna ask you if you’d like to give me your number, you know… we could get together sometimes.”
Pepper had to smile at that, even though her heart felt heavy. She quickly wrote her number on the back of her business card and by the time she finished, they were in the front of her small house in the Hollywood hills. It was a very classy looking house with big glass windows and a modern architectural style.
She recently bought it because the apartment she lived in before she had been named as CEO belonged to the company. Even with the substantial one hundred thousand dollars a week she still wasn’t into extravaganzas. The house itself cost about one and a half and it was no where near as big as Tony’s.
Anyway it wasn’t that important. The man at her left was more important right now, but she simply ignored the nagging voice inside her head that told her that she should kiss him because oh god - it’s been so long since she kissed someone.
“It was a pleasure meeting you.” She told him with a hidden smile, knowing that the chemistry between them was just about the right amount.
He smiled back, took her hand and kissed it, lingering with his lips pressed against her warm skin.
“It was nice to meet you, too, Virginia.” Pepper grinned at the sound of her real name and took the opportunity to slide her hand from his.
She hesitated for a mere second before kissing him lightly, revealing in the feel of it. It had been a long time since she’d done something this - spontaneous. It was unlike her, but it felt too good to stop.
It was a few seconds after until she backed away, another blush spreading across her face and neck.
“What are you doing on Christmas?” He whispered and looked at her lips.
Who would have thought that she would have gotten so lucky in just one evening?
“I usually drink a glass of red wine and respond to emails.” She told him lamely.
She expected him to laugh, but he didn’t. He stroked her chin delicately and looked intently into her eyes.
“Would you like to uh… have plans with me?”
A flash-back of Tony alone, draining a bottle of scotch on the floor of his workshop made her wince.
“I’ll call you.” She finished with a sweet smile.
“All right, uh… Pepper. That’s your nickname, isn’t it? I heard Tony Stark calling you like that a couple of times this evening.”
“You did?” Pepper asked incredulously.
“Yes. He’s actually not that frightening.”
Pepper laughed and swallowed the lump in her throat.
“Not when he’s not inside his suit, anyway. And by the way - yes, Pepper is my nickname and everyone calls me like that. I promise I won’t be mad if you call me like that.”
Sean grinned and pressed a kiss to her red lips.
She wanted so much more. She wanted to just forget about Tony and let Sean kiss her the way she knew he wanted to, and let him take her inside and make love to her. It’s been way too long since she’d done that. She was too damn busy trying to run Tony Stark’s world when he’d been kidnapped.
And hell, even after he came home. The fact that he’d announced that he was Iron Man got things even more complicated.
“Have a good night, Pepper.” He whispered when she found herself outside his car. She didn’t remember opening the door, but anyway…
“Good night.”
That night she barely slept. The lights on her Christmas tree created shadows on the white walls and she couldn’t close one eye. She knew that abandoning Tony on Christmas was somehow the worst sin, but she remembered that he hadn’t really asked for anything regarding how she would spend her Christmas.
She was half sure that he would summon the courage to show up at a party or something. Half of her wanted him to get as drunk as the old Tony Stark did, and sleep with dozens of bimbos. Anything just to take his mind off her…
But she knew he wouldn’t. He didn’t attend one single orgy since he came back home from Afghanistan. Why would he do it now?
She managed to fall asleep half-way through the night and she slept until noon.
It surprised the hell out of her to see how many calls she got from Tony that morning. Due to the fact that her phone was off she didn’t hear him calling.
An hour later, her phone rang once again and she answered from the second ring.
“Hello?”
“Tony.”
“Oh - hi.”
“Hi, Pepper. Were you asleep or something that you didn’t answer my calls?”
He sounded genuinely concerned and a tad bit of pissed off. It wasn’t unexpected.
“As a matter of fact, I was. I only now saw how many calls I got from you. Are you all right?”
“Yeah - fine. Super fine, actually.” Pepper frowned at the use of the ‘super’ word. “Just came back from a mission. How ‘bout you?”
She put the phone on speaker and went to her kitchen to make herself a sandwich.
“Just got out from bed.”
She heard him sigh deeply and she frowned again. What is it wrong with him?
“Nice touch there. I can practically picture yourself in all your pure nudity.”
“Tonyyyyy!!!” She squeaked and dropped her knife on the marble floor.
“What? A man can dream, right?”
“Sure, Tony. Whatever makes you feel better about yourself.”
“Right…”
“Why’d you call?” She asked him softly. “Truth, please.”
She knew his usual way when they were chatting on the phone. He usually called her when he was bored, but this time it was a bit weird because he hadn’t called her since a couple of months.
“I was wondering if you had plans for… you know…” He sounded really sheepish.
“Christmas?” She finished for him.
“That’s the one!”
She chewed slowly at her sandwich, thinking about how she should answer him. In all truth she really wanted to spend Christmas with him, but she didn’t think she’d have the courage to kiss him - the same way she did with Sean last night.
“So… you’re busy, huh?”
This time he sounded like he knew what preposition Sean made to her last night.
“A little, actually.” She admitted with a small sigh.
“No problems then. I just thought I should check, ‘cause you’re busy, Platypus’s busy…. Everyone’s busy. Just not me.”
“Tony… I…”
“Just like I said - no problems. I have Jarvis here, my old buddy.” A tear slipped Pepper’s eye when she realized how pathetic he truly was. “No more questions, Pep. Have a nice Christmas and I guess I’ll be seeing you before New Years, but anyway, even if I won’t… you know… happy everything! Bye.”
He hung up then. A few more bitter tears fell down her cheeks and soaked into her t-shirt before she got her cell and phoned Sean.
It wasn’t fair, but hell, she couldn’t be with Tony. It wouldn’t worth all those nights she would spend awake - worried as hell when he’d be on a mission. It really wouldn’t worth at all.
The next day she woke up early and started preparing a few meals. She hadn’t cooked in a few weeks, and she really needed something to keep her mind busy. Even after she finished cooking and decorating her kitchen she still felt like she needed to do something else.
She went into her basement and retrieved a bottle of red wine. She let it get warm in the kitchen until she went to the bathroom to let the water flood the tub. She poured in some special oils until soap buds started to form.
She got naked and walked into her kitchen. She took a wine glass from the cupboard and poured a right amount into the glass. Then she glanced at the clock and realized it would take Sean maybe half an hour to arrive. No hurry…
Pepper quickly went back into the bathroom and probed the water with her fingers. It was hot enough and she slid into the tub with a small moan. It felt perfect and she began to relax as she sipped from her glass.
She hadn’t realized that more than half an hour passed until there was a slight knock on her bathroom door. She gasped and tried to cover the inappropriate parts with bubbles.
“Come in.”
Sean opened the door and slid in without saying anything.
“Is this my Christmas gift?” He asked with a grin and tried not to look at her, even though it was obvious what her nakedness did to him.
“If you want it to be.” She replied back and motioned for him to come closer.
He leaned in and kissed her deeply, fighting back a moan when she used her tongue to lick his lower lip.
“Get naked and get inside. Pardon the pun.” She laughed at herself and took another sip from her wine.
He did as told and slid into the warm water opposite her.
He looked dazed if not anything else as her hand trailed across his leg. She needed to stop and feel - it didn’t matter that the man she loved the most was alone and probably drinking himself into oblivion right then. It would hurt the same, she reasoned as his lips took hers in a passionate kiss.
What she did not know was the fact that Tony wasn’t drinking himself into oblivion. He preferred to attend that whore party, anyway. If he couldn’t have her, then he’d have to choose someone else for the night…
TBC
