Agent Jones- Book One

| Chapter Twenty-Two |

Stark, Peggy, and Mr. Jarvis were finally done with getting Stark ready for the press conference. Now, we were waiting in the office while they got the podium and stage stuff ready to go. Mr. Jarvis and Peggy were having a conversation over by her desk and I leaned on Jack's desk alone. Jack was working out some logistical stuff with the other agents and their positions. I already knew I was going to be positioned up with Jack and Stark so I didn't need to be part of that meeting.

"So I think I finally figured it out," Stark said. I looked up from my shoes and saw he was coming over to me. Peggy and Mr. Jarvis glanced over in our direction, but then went back to their own conversation.

I titled my head and decided I'd entertain this. "Oh? And what did you figure out?" I asked him. There were a few different directions this could go, I thought, and didn't exactly know which was the best.

He leaned on the desk opposite of me, my own desk actually, and crossed his arms like I had with mine. "Tiffany Jones, daughter of Frederick and Georgina Jones." The look on my face must've told him he was spot on. "Yeah, I don't forget pretty faces. Yours just happened to stick out a bit more because of what your parents kept saying."

Now I was fully intrigued. "Wait, are you talking about the conversation you guys had at that party back in '41?" I asked. He nodded. "Wow, that was a long time ago. How do you even remember the conversation?"

"Well, certain things like marriage proposals stick out in my mind, and that's exactly what the conversation was about," he said with a shrug. The way he said all that was so casual, while I was absolutely floored.

"Are you- you mean- they were..." I trailed off and realized that it made sense. At the time, I was 20 and Stark would've been something like 24. "Well damn, that's interesting."

Howard laughed and shook his head at the memory. "Yeah, your parents were discussing us getting married a year later, but then you ran off." Right, I had left for Miami two days after that party, and never came back home.

Something from what he said stuck out at me. "Only they were discussing?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

He shrugged, and got off the desk to stand in front of me. "Well, I was present, but I didn't really think that was a good idea, no offense," he explained. I moved over enough for him to lean on the desk right next to me. "Honestly I should thank you for running away so quickly. Of course I have the power to say no to a marriage proposal, but your parents were offering many things. There's only so much a man can say no to."

I scoffed and then chuckled. "Of course they had so much to offer you- my father's the head of a huge weapons company that's second to you in manufacturing. There's a lot there," I said. Stark nodded along.

We sat there quiet for a few minutes, until Howard spoke again. "I think it took me so long to finally realize who you were because you look pretty different." He turned to look at me straight on and took in my appearance. "Your hair is lighter, your makeup is much different, and I can see how the war aged you a bit, too," he said.

As I thought about it, I realized that he was very correct. "Well, the Miami sun bleached my hair a bit I think... as for the makeup, I used less and less as the years went on in Miami because the sun was very warm and I just didn't find the need for it anymore," I said. I chose not to talk about the aging I went through working for the SSR.

"You really shed the image you had when you were with your parents, huh?" he asked.

The question threw me off. "What do you mean?" I asked.

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh come on, you know what I mean. You look different and you don't even care. The clothes, too- they're no longer the finest of fine from all over the globe. Instead you buy from department stores. You work at the SSR for christ's sake! You got rid of that image the second you could."