Worlds Apart

Chapter 8

Max was out to lunch with the Pepper Potts.

That wasn't a sentence Max ever thought she'd be able to say. A part of her wondered if she was even awake, but no matter how many times she subtly pinched herself under the table, she hadn't woken up yet.

"So," Pepper spoke up after she'd finished her bite of food. They'd gone to an Italian restaurant a few blocks away, and she'd gotten a baked haddock, while Max had gotten a chicken and broccoli fettuccine alfredo. "How are you liking your job so far?"

"It's great," Max answered. "I love it here. The technology is unlike anything I've ever gotten to work with before, and I feel like I've learned so much already."

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," Pepper said. "I've been working for Mr. Stark for years, and I have to say, this is definitely the most...interesting job I've ever gotten to work at."

"I can imagine," Max said. "I've never had the pleasure of meeting the man, but...he seems like a character."

"Oh, he is," Pepper said. "A good character, but a character nonetheless."

Max smirked and took a bite of her pasta.

"So, you said you're not from around here, right? Where are you from?" Pepper asked.

"Mississippi," Max answered.

"Oh, that's nice. Whereabouts?"

"A small town about two hours north of Jackson. You ever heard of Maben?" Max asked.

Pepper shook her head. "No, I can't say that I have. I've only been to Mississippi a couple of times, and they were solely for work, not pleasure, so I didn't really get to do much exploring outside of the cities we visit."

"I assume that goes for pretty much any city you visit?" Max inquired.

Pepper lightly shrugged her shoulders. "Yes and no. Most of the time I have to stay close to Mr. Stark, but on occasion I'm able to sneak out and go see the sites. Unfortunately, none of those times included when I was in Mississippi."

"You should try to sometime. It really is such a beautiful state," Max said. She hadn't actually grown up in Mississippi, but she'd been once or twice in her life, so she knew that parts of the state really were pretty, but besides that, telling people that your home town/state was beautiful was a pretty common occurrence.

"I guess I'll have to now," Pepper said. "Next time Mr. Stark and I end up there, I'll try and sneak away. Do you have any places you suggest?"

"Uh," Max tried to hide her fear at the fact that she didn't really know how to answer that question. She could at least attempt to answer - she had been there before. It had been a while, but she had a place or two she remembered liking. "The Noxubee National Wildlife Refugee is pretty great. Or there's a lighthouse in Biloxi that's really beautiful - especially at night."

"I actually have been to Biloxi before," Pepper said. "That and Jackson are the only two cities I've had the pleasure of visiting."

"I'm actually not surprised that's the city you guys went to," Max retorted with a smirk.

"How so?"

Max's eyes widened slightly as she realized what she'd just said. "Oh, uh...I mean, I've heard that Mr. Stark is a bit of a partier and Biloxi has a bunch of casinos and stuff."

It was common knowledge that Tony Stark was a party man, right? Yeah, he was known for his big blowouts. It was a whole plot point in Iron Man 2. Feeling that she'd given a satisfactory explanation, Max let out a subtle sigh of relief.

"That's true," Pepper said, smiling. "If I recall correctly, he did spend quite a bit of time at at least two or three of those casinos, but we were actually there on business."

"How long were you there for?" Max asked.

"About...three days, I'd say," Pepper answered.

Max raised a brow. "Two or three casinos in three days? Sounds like there was more partying than business on that 'business' trip."

Pepper laughed. "Probably. But hey, everything that needed to get done got done, so whatever Mr. Stark wants to do in his free time is his prerogative."

"Fair enough," Max said with a nod, then took a sip of her water. "Thank you, by the way. For lunch. This was completely unnecessary and very generous of you, so...thanks."

"It's my pleasure," Pepper said with a smile. "Like I said earlier, we both deserved a little break. Besides, this has been nice. Refreshing, actually. It's been far longer than I would like to admit since I've had a meal with someone that wasn't Mr. Stark or some sort of business partner. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do, but it's nice getting to sit back, relax, and not have to worry about if I'm being professional enough every second of the meal."

"I can only imagine," Max replied. "If I worked as hard as you do - er, as hard as I assume from what you've told me, anyway - then I bet I'd kill to have a day off. You should do it more often."

"I probably should," Pepper admitted. "But unfortunately, part of my job description means I'm around whenever Mr. Stark needs me. Which just so happens to be always."

"I'm sure you could find some wiggle room if you tried. I mean, you're doing it right now."

Pepper's brows raised and she nodded slightly. "You know what, you've got me there."

Max smiled with pride, then reached for another bite of her food. In the middle of chewing, a thought came to her mind, so she finished her bite quickly and placed her fork back on the plate.

"In honor of taking time for ourselves...would you want to continue our day off together?" Max asked Pepper.

"What did you have in mind?" Pepper replied.

"I was thinking maybe a movie or something?" Max suggested.

"That sounds great, actually! There's this new movie that came out a week or two ago that I've been dying to see, but haven't had time to."

"Oh yeah? What's that?" Max asked, then reached to take a sip of her water.

"Avatar," Pepper said, causing Max to nearly choke on her drink. "I've heard really good things about it, and honestly, I've been looking for an excuse to go see it."

Max set the water back down on the table and finished swallowing her sip.

"...Sure! Avatar sounds great. From what I've heard, I wouldn't doubt it if it ends up being the highest grossing movie for at least the next decade," she said, biting the inside of her cheek to keep herself from smirking.

"You think so?" Pepper asked.

"Oh, I have no doubt in my mind," Max replied with a shake of her head.

"Well then, Avatar it is," Pepper said. She let out a quick sigh, a smile on her face. "I'm so glad we're getting to do this. Thank you for suggesting it. And for agreeing to come with me to lunch today."

"Anytime," Max insisted. "And I'm serious - if you ever want to do this again, please let me know. This has been...unreal. In a good way, of course."

"We'll definitely have to do this again, sometime," Pepper agreed. "I had loads of fun too."

A smile bigger and more genuine than she'd been able to manage since she'd arrived in the MCU spread across Max's face as she looked down at her plate. She'd just possibly befriended Pepper Potts - or at least, Pepper liked Max. Either way, something that once only seemed possible in her dreams or through fanfiction had become a reality.

Now that was something to smile about.