Stark's Daughter

Chapter 6

1st p.o.v// Tony Stark

(Bear with me through this one... my plot was all over the place. I'm trying to fix what I can, but it's pretty rough.)

It's been three days since the incident with that little girl. There was something about her that felt... familiar. Sure, I'm a superhero. It's my job to protect people. She was different though. I knew I had to protect her, as if it was more important to keep her safe than anything else. Stephanie, right? I don't know why I'm so hung up on this. I haven't been able to sleep since she left. Something didn't feel right about leaving her.

Thankfully, I'm saved from my thoughts by an old friend... or lover, rather. Allison Lauder, a beautiful young woman in her early thirties now. Back when I knew her, which had to be about ten to twelve years ago, she had long brunette hair and green eyes. She knew me before I got this Iron Man gig. I bet she called to hook up with me again... man, those were some wild days. We hadn't talked since our last hook up, so getting an urgent message from her about meeting up scares the hell out of me. When she called, she said she had to tell me something important... whatever that means. Thank you for the anxiety, Allison. If I wasn't driving at the moment, I'd be throwing up. Normally, I handle pressure like a piece of cake, but I'm not stupid. I know an important, urgent message from an old lover is never good. I just have to remain calm...

I pull up to small coffee shop about twenty minutes from the Tower. Once I park, I allow myself to take a few deep breaths. I watch the snow fall lightly to the ground, covering the last blanket of snow we received. Without another moment of hesitation, I unbuckle and step out of the car. Being in public, I decided to take out something not incredibly head-turning, but still one of my favorites. A black 2006 WRX STI with golden rims. I haven't brought out this bad girl in a while. I take one last look at her, then head inside the coffee shop.

I walk into a nearly empty coffee shop. There's about a million of these around here, so I'm not super surprised. To my left, there's an older couple sitting in front of the window, enjoying themselves and watching the snow fall together. To my right, I see her. Allison Lauder... still as beautiful as I remember, if not more so. Her hair is shorter, but it suits her. Her smile is bright, welcoming me to her. However, once I pull out the chair in front of her, that smile fades.

"You look amazing." I say, sitting down.

"Tony, I know about you and Pepper. I'm not here to rekindle what we had. Besides, I'm a married woman." She sticks out her hand to show me the ring.

"How many carats is that? What's he do for a living?" I ask, trying to stay off of the important stuff as long as I can.

"It doesn't matter." She responds, her voice a little quieter than before.

"By the way, Pepper and I are on a break. Something about me being too reckless or whatever. If it wasn't for that, I would've already put a ring on her finger... more carats than what you've got there." I smirk, trying to make her giggle or react.

"It's not a competition, Tony. I'm happy with my life. I found someone who wanted to commit to me." Allison puts her hand back under the table and shifts her eyes towards the door. The comment had been made to jab at me, but I disregard it. It was a long time ago.

"So you've come here to tell me how happy you are. That's great, you know. Congratulations. Unfortunately, I'm a busy guy. You're cutting into my extremely booked schedule. This has been great- catching up..." as I'm finishing my rant, tears start to form in her eyes and she cuts me off.

"I'm sick, Tony." She says, trying to hold back the tears.

"Flu? Or a cold? You might need to-" I begin again with sarcasm.