Arranged Affair

Chapter 4: Can We?

hi
So so sorry guys i posted the wrong chapter so I'm updating twice today

Warnings: Angst.

Part Four

Between fucking hot and gorgeous redheads and fearing for the worst thing that might happen if he doesn't stop this soon enough, Tony was bored. He had been sitting on his bed for approximately two hours without doing anything. The glass of vodka on his nightstand was almost empty, and he would have finished it if it didn't remember him of that night on the rooftop that much.

He felt like if he took that one last sip, the chance of stopping this mad competition would completely disappear. Instead of standing up and doing something worth his time, he continued to stare at the ceiling until his eye-lids began to drop.

He fell asleep sprawled on the top of the covers.

---

February fourteenth was a disastrous day in Pepper's opinion. She remembered one time when she had been invited alongside her boss at a party in Miami - that one time when he had tried to convince her into sleeping in the same bed as him. He had been so drunk that night that he had thrown up five times before he passed out in one of the bathrooms.

If it wasn't enough, when she had tried to help him into his bed, he had pulled her atop of him, claiming that he needed \a little attention to his hard-on which was pressing up into her ass. She had slapped him then - the single time she did it all those years.

"I love it when you're bossing me 'round." He had told her then. "I wish you'd realize that you've made me even harder by slapping me."

The frustration in her eyes had become evident and he stopped abruptly, murmuring a little apology. What for? She didn't bother listening to it anyway.

February fourteenth - four years later... Look what they've become. Strangers... That's the best word to describe their current relationship. After all they've been through they don't even talk anymore.

"Don't say that. You mean a lot to me." What did she mean to him after all?

Why would he say that if he continued sleeping around with other women? Why wouldn't he admit that he wants her, the same way he did when he had asked her to be his girlfriend. Why, why, why?

Those thoughts kept running through her mind even at the restaurant where she was supposed to meet with her boyfriend. She really liked Sean, even though she didn't want to be into a relationship.

Outside the weather was terrible. The sky was getting more and more darker, big grey clouds covering it. The wind blew with intensity, making everyone shiver. It was too cold - it was the weather that represented the emotions gathered inside her heart and Tony's.

---

Tony woke up startled by a thunder. He rolled onto his side, his head spinning. His mouth tasted terrible and he grimaced at the state of his designer clothes.

"Great." He whispered as he stood up with a groan.

He went to his bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror.

"You look extraordinarily fine, Stark. Haven't you heard of shaving?" He asked himself as he passed a hand over his grown stubble.

No, you did. You just didn't find time to stop by and shave your goddamn goatee.

"Why would I?"

Because you look terrible. His mind responded back, making him snort.

"Why do I need to? I mean, seriously, now. Who's there to impress?"