Dirty Little Secret

Chapter 1

Stark Industries
10:15am

Kristina walks into the expensive lobby of Stark Industries. Bypassing the rows of white leather chairs. She walks up to the white reception desk in the middle of the lobby.
"Excuse me? Hi." The redhead receptionist looks up with a smile.
"Hi. How can I help you today?"
"Hi. I'm here for a 10:30 interview with Mr. Hogan. My name's Kristina Ruiz."
"Sure. Give me one moment." She looks through the computer schedule & sees Kristina's name highlighted.
"I will let him know you're here. Feel free to take a seat. He should be out shortly."
"Thank you so much." Kristina sits down in the waiting area near the elevators. Several minutes go by when a tall man dressed in a black suit & tie comes over to her.
"Ms. Ruiz, I presume", the man says with a smile. Kristina stands up & shakes his hand.
"You presume correct."
"I'm delighted to meet you. I am Happy Hogan."
"I'm delighted to meet you as well, Mr. Hogan."
"If you'd follow me right this way, we can conduct the interview in the next room."
"Great. Lead the way." She follows him down the hall. He opens the glass door to the huge modern conference room, gesturing for her to step in first.
"Ladies first."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"May I sit anywhere?", she asks.
"Absolutely. Pick any seat."

She picks a middle seat of the large white table with matching white chairs & he sits across from her. Happy begins the interview process which lasts about twenty-five minutes. She is articulate, honest, filled with excitement with a great resume & references. He seems to be impressed by her & her beauty. She's dressed to impress in a silk white blouse, grey pencil skirt & matching sports jacket with black heels.
"Well, Ms. Ruiz. That concludes our interview. Any questions, concerns, comments?"
"Um, I don't mean to be so forward but did I get the job?", she asks confused.
"Yes but only if you want it of course." He smiles.
"Yes, yes! I would love that. Thank you."
He chuckles, "You're welcome. Now you can start officially tomorrow, 8am sharp. Shall we proceed with a tour of the facility?" She smiles.
"Yes, lead the way." They leave the conference room. The tour seems to last forever. So many floors, offices, staff members, etc. After the tour, they step into another conference room. Happy hands her paperwork to do as well as the signing of her contract. She reads everything over before signing anything. Asking plenty of questions. Next is taking a photo so she could be given a work badge. Afterwards, Happy shows her to her new office.

"Wow. This looks amazing!", she says looking around the room.
"Well I'm glad you approve. Mr. Stark's office is right next door. Would you like to meet him?", he asks.
"Yes. That would be wonderful."
"Great. Follow me." He holds the door open for her & takes her to Tony's office. He knocks twice.
"Come in." When they walk in, Tony is fiddling at his desk & looks up.
"Tony, this is Ms. Ruiz. She is your new assistant." Happy closes the door, Tony walks over.
"Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Ruiz", he says shaking her hand. She smiles.
"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Stark. I look forward to working with you." He smiles back.
"I've taken the liberty of giving her a tour. She officially starts tomorrow morning." Tony asks, "Well what do you think of the facility?"
"I think it's great. Happy showed me some of the workshops. I'm excited to be a part of the company." He smiles.
"That's good to hear. Well, I'm sorry to cut this short but I do have to get back to work."
"Oh sure. We've bothered you enough." They shake hands. Happy & Kristina leave his office. Happy tells her she is free to go. She hugs him.
"Thank you so much for giving me the job! I'll see you tomorrow morning." He smiles.
"See you tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your day."
"You too."

Happy walks back to Tony's office, closing the door behind him.
"So what did you think? Can I pick em or what?", he asks confidently. Tony doesn't look up.
"She is definitely a looker." Happy looks at him with a disapproving face.
"No. No. Don't even think about it", he warns. Tony looks up & walks over.
"Don't what? I didn't say anything."
"I know how you operate, Tony. Don't mix business with pleasure. You remember what happened last time between you & Pepper & how disastrous that was." He smirks.
"But I love mixing the pleasure of business." Happy looks annoyed.
"Tony, I'm serious."

He chuckles.
"Tell ya what, I'll do my best. No promises." Kristina leaves the building, gets in her car & heads home. She arrives at her Malibu beach house about twenty-five minutes later. She rushes upstairs to her bedroom to change. She puts on a pajama tank top & matching shorts. She jumps on her bed, dialing her roommate Genevieve's number. She doesn't pick up. Kristina turns on her TV & flips through the channels. A minute later, her phone rings. She picks up.
"Hey, sorry I missed your call. I was packing up my stuff. Everything ok?"
She giggles.
"Way better than ok. I got the job!"
"Holy shit! Congrats! Did you get to meet Tony Stark?" She chuckles.
"Yes I did."
"Oh my god, please tell me he's way hotter in person!"
"Girl, you have no idea!", she squeals. They talk a little bit longer about the job.
"So, where you off to next?", Kristina asks.
"I just finished a photoshoot in Milan & I'm on my way to the airport. My next stop is Paris. I'm shooting for Vogue!"
"Oh my god, Viev, that's awesome! Do you know when you'll be back?"
"By the end of the week. We need to celebrate when I get back."
"Deal."
"Well I have to cut this convo short because I just got to the airport & I have no idea where to go", she laughs.
"It's fine. Go. Be safe. Have fun. Bye."
"Bye." They hang up.
She binge watches a few episodes of Lucifer & orders takeout. Excited for her first day at Stark Industries, she goes through her closet to find the perfect outfit. She sets aside the outfit she picked.
Turning off the TV in her room, she goes downstairs to the kitchen. She grabs a wine cooler & opens it. Fifteen minutes later, her food arrives. She finds a good movie on Netflix & eats her dinner.
After dinner, she showers & gets ready for bed. Does her nightly routine: brushes her teeth, washes & moisturizes her face. She gets into bed & falls asleep quickly.