Looking back, Wanda would admit she had probably reacted a little more than what the situation had warranted. Whoever had coined the 'hindsight is twenty out of twenty' phrase was absolutely correct in their assessment.
She was distinctly aware of the incredulous stare trained on her, digging into her questioningly, but she stubbornly kept her head down. She would have melted into the red couch she was sitting in had she been bestowed with those kinds of powers.
...Could she? She had never tried, but what if?
"So," the word was stretched out in a drawl, "let me get this straight." Tony plopped himself on the recamier couch opposite her. "You stormed Behind The Glamour's office because the latest article on their website pissed you off?" He was staring at her like she was some exotic animal he was seeing for the first time.
Wanda huffed. "Not just any article. It was about us! You and me! You probably haven't read it, and I wouldn't even recommend that you do, but it was deplorable!"
"I have read it."
Wanda blinked, and instantly sat up straight on the couch. "Then you know why I did that."
Tony exhaled a deep breath. "No, I still don't. So, why don't you explain to me just what you were thinking?" Although his tone was calm enough, there was an undercurrent of exasperation beneath those seemingly politely-spoken words.
Wanda floundered with herself for a second before managing to get out, "It's damaging to our reputation!" Well, it was more of Tony's image that was at stake here since Wanda's was practically non-existent — and the ones who did know about her hated her — but she couldn't say that now, could she?
"And that's what my PR team is for, to whom I pay a small fortune every month."
Wanda looked away, feeling indignant. She had only wanted to help.
Okay, that wasn't true. In that moment, the small one right after reading through that damn article, staring at the bold letters of the headline that had the audacity to declare Tony a cheater and a 'playboy yet to mature from the teenage bed-them-and-leave-them mentality', she had only seen red.
"What were you doing on that gossip website anyway?" Tony tilted his head, confusion swimming in his deep honey-brown eyes. "Did you just stumble on it or had someone sent you the link to it?"
Wanda mumbled something that was unintelligible even to her own ears, let alone Tony's.
"You're gonna have to speak up louder than that for me, darling."
Heat rushed to her cheeks, no doubt giving rise to an embarrassingly-deep blush. She swallowed thickly, pointedly ignoring the part of the brain that was musing on whether the flush was due to Tony's earlier question or because of the endearment that spilled through his lips.
She knew it had no meaning, though. Tony often called people with such pet names, even his enemies. The villains probably got the most colourful ones in the history of nicknames.
"I read them," she muttered, wishing the floor beneath her to open up and encase her within its comfortably oblivious darkness.
"You...read them? Why would you do that?" He sounded bewildered. "That's, like, the best way to torture yourself mentally. The first rule for when you become famous is to not read the tabloids."
"I like to know what's happening in people's lives." Translation: She liked to know what was happening in Tony's life. How sad was it that a gossip magazine was her best source to know the ongoing events in the life of her teammate?
YOU ARE READING
The Philanthropist and His Witch
Fanfiction"One million!" Wanda's head snapped to the left side of the room that was the source of the roar, as did everybody else's in the room. And this time, she was totally (not) disappointed by her bidder. The bid manager, who had lost his bearings for a...
