Worlds Apart

Chapter 12

A/N

Hi everyone!

Thank you all so much for your patience with the updates taking some time to come out! I know I said I'd start posting as soon as Whumptober was done, but I needed to take a mini break because I really burnt myself out 😅 Don't get me wrong, I had loads of fun writing all of those prompts but I am SO glad it's done now.

Now that I've had my break and I'm a bit more caught up in my writing, I <em>should</em> be back to posting about once a week or so.

Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

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"I think you should do it, honestly," Max told Pepper after taking a bite of her food. They were currently out getting lunch like they'd discussed the week prior, and though she was thoroughly enjoying their current topic of conversation, the food was amazing, so of course Max was going to try and sneak some bites in between when she had to talk.

"You think so?" Pepper asked. "I mean, I'm just worried it won't get the attention it needs since I'm off traveling a lot with Mr. Stark. I wouldn't want it to get lonely."

"Then get two cats," Max suggested. "That way it always has a friend to play with if it does get lonely. And I mean, yeah you travel a lot, but it's mostly day-traveling and you're in L.A. or Malibu like seventy-five percent of nights, right? If you keep them here, then at the very least, you could see them then. It would basically be like you worked a nine-to-five but worked late a lot of the time. Sure, it's not ideal, but I think you could do it.

"Plus, what are having friends for if not to use them for cat-sitting when you're away? And I'm totally not saying this because I've always low-key wanted a cat and have never been able to have one and am trying to live vicariously through you."

Pepper's grin widened and she laughed.

"You work too," she pointed out.

"Yeah, but I work relatively normal hours; if you needed me to stop by your place after work to take care of the cat - or cats - I could do that pretty easily."

Pepper shook her head. "If you're serious, I'll definitely take that into consideration, but either way I don't think I could right now. If anything, I'd probably wait a couple of months, at least."

"That's fair," Max shrugged, then turned her attention back to her food so that she could take another bite. A short pause followed.

"Hey, did you hear that Lyman is retiring in May?" Pepper asked, finding a new topic of conversation after the old one seemed to have dissipated.

"I did," Max nodded, piercing some food onto her fork. "Good for him, honestly. He works hard; he deserves it."

"Definitely," Pepper agreed. "Do you think you'll try and go for it?"

Max raised her eyebrow in confusion as she put the fork in her mouth. "Go for what?"

"His job," she clarified.

"Me?" she asked, too shocked by her response to realize that her mouth was full of food. Realizing her mistake, Max began to quickly chew her food in an attempt to swallow it faster.

"Yeah, you."

Max took a moment to finally swallow her bite. "Why me?"

"Because you're perfect for it," Pepper answered, like that was somehow obvious.

"Am I though? I've only been at the company for a couple of months," Max reminded her. "Besides, I know Ashley's been gunning for that job for years; she's worked hard for it, so she should have it."

"Yes, Ashley's a hard worker, and don't get me wrong, she's good at her job, but you're great, Max. Amazing, even. Even being as new of a worker as you are, you're more talented at what you do than a lot of the higher-ups are. I think you would get the job if you applied. Or, if you want, I could put in a good word for you with Mr. Stark."