We Learn To Live With The Pain - Steve Rogers x OC

13: So Dust Off Your Highest Hopes

March 8, 2019

Somedays felt as though they'd never end. Just five days earlier, Maggie had officially launched the Stark Relief Foundation's Division for Displaced Children. It was a small department, technically a branch of her old one, but it finally allowed her to make the difference that she so desperately craved. She and the division's teams would travel to cities and visit group homes while liaising with other agencies to facilitate fostering or adoption between adults who'd lost children and children who'd lost guardians.

Of course, there was no replacing loved ones that had been lost to The Snap but Maggie knew firsthand that connection was the first step to healing. It had been five days and she was running on fumes; each morning that week, she'd had to cancel her sparring with Natasha when she woke at dawn. She'd quickly down her coffee while running out the door then drive into the city, not returning home until the sun had long been lost to the night.

"I haven't seen you around our lab before—how did you say you know Poppy, again?" She was pulled from her exhausted thoughts by the man from across the high-top at which they'd been seated.

It was a blind date—in her almost thirty years of living, Maggie had never once gone on a blind date. When she arrived that evening, she only knew the time (happy hour), location (a fake speak-easy style bar), and the man's name: Bennett, or Ben as he preferred to be called.

As she swirled the straw in her almost empty glass, she recalled the conversation that she'd had with Poppy when she asked her to go to dinner with a colleague. Maggie had quickly countered the request with just drinks; they finally compromised on drinks with the possibility of dinner if it went well...and she had to admit that it wasn't not going well. 

It was an hour into the date and she hadn't had the urge to run off which was a marked improvement from the one and only tinder date that she'd attempted in February. She'd texted Natasha after ten minutes, begging her to call and fake an emergency which she was almost too happy to do.

It didn't hurt that Ben was incredibly attractive. His bronzed skin was complimented by a head of dark brown curls and a shadow of facial hair dusted across his chin and cheeks. He had a classically handsome face with a strong jaw that gave way to boyish dimples that appeared when he smiled which seemed to happen any time she spoke. His eyes, the color of dark chocolate, were earnest as he listened intently whenever she told a story or answered his questions.

"We grew up together. High school, undergrad. I couldn't get rid of her if I tried." She shook her head, giving him a fond smile, "She works in your lab?"

"Yeah, she usually comes around once or twice a month. I've gotta say, she's definitely a force to be reckoned with." He chuckled, keeping eye contact as he took a sip of beer. She had to stifle a yawn and he let out a low whistle before chuckling, "Oh no, am I that boring?"

"No!" Her cheeks went red as she was quick to correct him, sitting up straighter in her chair, "No, I'm so sorry—it's been the longest week on the planet. It's honestly a miracle that I'm still awake at all."

She was, surprisingly, enjoying herself more than she anticipated. He was engaging and charming, he enjoyed discussing some aspects of his work but he didn't seem completely married to it. Begrudgingly, she had to admit that Poppy hadn't done too badly when she set her up although she had noticed that Ben was oddly similar to her ex-boyfriend, and it was a little unsettling.

Both men worked in the medical field. They both had a roguish charm that made her want to lean in closer to hang on to every word and a suave, dark handsomeness that was almost intimidating. She had to push the thought deep down in to the recesses of her mind to try and stay in the moment.