Strictly Business | Stephen Strange x F!Reader

Chapter 8 : Leaving pt. 2

You rush into the café and spot Strange "Hey!" You greet out breathlessly "Woah, what happened to you?" Stephen stares at your tired frame "I forgot that we were going to meet up, I kinda had to run"

"Don't you have a valet or something?"

"I was at Central Park" You lean back on your chair "Alright, why did you ask to meet up again?" You turn to him "Oh, I guess I just wanted to talk to you" He shrugs "What is that smell?" He starts looking around and sees a metal flask in your purse

"Really?" He points to it and you snatch it

"It was a hard day at work, I found out that I had to go back to London because of some financial situation" You roll your eyes

"Wait, to London? How long are you going to be there for?" His brows furrow

"I don't know, it might take a while since they came to me for help" You sigh "So much for settling here" You stare out the café window, watching cars pass by

"But you'll come back though, right?"

You sit up straight to face Stephen "Of course, I really like it here. I just don't know when I'll be coming back, it depends on the severity of the situation" You groan at the thought of traveling again

"I can't believe I have to go back to London" Laying your head onto the table as Strange chuckles

"Make sure to visit when you come back" He nudges you

"Yeah. Now that I think about it, I might have to move some of my things too" You stare blankly at nothing, trying to figure out how to stay for longer

"I'll go order us something, F/p?"

"Duh, F/p is superior"

"Alright, wait here" He pats your shoulder as you hum, watching him leave the table to order something. You pick up your phone, mindlessly scrolling through social media and other things "Here's your F/p" Stephen approaches you, sliding a small plate of your favorite pastry "Thank you"

"You know, you don't seem drunk even if you drank a whole flask of alcohol during the day" Stephen points out as he watches you eat "It's the day, I'm supposed to act 'normal'" You air quote as he chuckles "Since when did you start acting normal?"

"Was that an insult or a compliment?"

"Take it however you want" He shrugs

"I'm resisting the urge to make a joke right now" You snort as he shakes his head "You are one weird woman" He points to you "And you're the man who decides to hang out with said woman" You retort.

~~~

Two days passed, it was time to go. You had to be at the airport by four so you woke up an hour early to visit Stephen once more

The cold New York wind passes as you knock on the door. Not really expecting anyone to open it since it was three thirty in the morning. After a short wait, still no one opening the door, you decide to go back to your car to pick up Vernon

"Y/n?"

Your head turns to see Stephen "What are you doing here? It's like, three in the morning" You walk back over "Well, I'm leaving today. I just wanted to say goodbye" You give him a small smile "Come back alright? Wong would definitely miss all the food you'd bring when you come over" He comments "Yeah, I'll bring food when I come back" You stand awkwardly, not knowing what to say

"I-I should go, Vernon is waiting" You stutter out, accidentally coughing out of nervousness "Oh yeah, it's alright. I'll see you ok?" He leans on the door "Yes, you'll see me. Unless you become blind" You joke, before approaching your car and waving him goodbye.

~~~

"You miss him don't you" Vernon notices everything, from how you talked, to how you moved. He always knew something was up "Miss who?" You brush off, signing another document "Stephen" You momentarily stop writing before looking up at Vernon

"Get back to work, you don't need to deduce anything about me"

~~~

"So our ships have been off schedule which in turn makes company payments come in late"

Your mind drifts off as the meeting starts to bore you. Your mind goes to Stephen. What could he be doing now? Did he eat yet? Probably. Does he miss you?

"Ms. L/n?"

Would he want to meet up right after you were back?

"Ms. L/n"

"O-oh, what?" You turn to the Manager "As I was saying, would it be possible if we could get the ships back on schedule? Maybe make them go ahead to make things easier?"

~~~

Two more months pass. Two months of running around, trying to fix other people's mistakes and working non stop.

Vernon does try to cheer you up with the mention of how your friends were doing, especially Stephen. But you started to notice, he would always mention Stephen first, which made you suspicious.

"Here's your coffee. Also from what I heard, Stephen came back from a mission, safely"

Vernon smiles at you and you grumble "I know what you're doing. Stop it"

"I'm simply informing you of the safety of your friends" Vernon defends himself "No, you noticed that I've been distracted most of the time and associated it with Stephen. Stop it, that's an order" You sternly command as you grab your coffee "I'm attending a meeting, they need you at a warehouse" You walk out your office.

~~~

The meeting once again was boring, mindless solutions being thrown to each problem presented, approval given to contracts that needed it and disagreements settled with simple compromise.

It went by quickly, but to you, it was slow, too slow.

You were tired, you wanted to go back to New York. Where you could take a break anytime, but you couldn't. You needed to pull through, you needed to get out of there as quickly as possible. It may have been three months but it felt like three years.

So you pulled through, solved every problem, fixed any cracks in the system. And left like it was nothing.