Just Out of Reach

Ch. 5: Down in the Valley

"Down in the valley, the valley so low. Hang your head over and hear the wind blow. Oh can't you hear the wind blow, my love? Can't you hear the wind blow? Oh down in the valley, the valley so low. Have you ever been lonely, lonely? Have you ever been sad? Did you ever really, really, really want someone?" - Solomon Burke

* * *

Harley was right about one thing, the second you started thinking and allowed your brain to work, the thoughts on how to build community involvement in Stark Industries charity programs started pouring out of you.

The lobby area of Stark Industries was huge. There was the front reception area, and then the seating area for people to wait. But off to the left was a good sized boxed off area that looked as though it had been a pretty big office at one point.

You found yourself asking Jason, the lovely receptionist, what it had once been.

You'd come to really like Jason. He was fresh out of college and had kind, watery almost see-through green eyes that hid behind thick rimmed glasses and a mop of curly almond colored hair. He was tall, gentle, but snarky and quick-witted.

He'd come to tell you pretty early on during your first week at Stark Industries that you were always welcome to eat dinner with him. It was ordered and brought to the front desk, so all you had to do was wheel a chair over and sit with him, laughing over videos on his computer in between him helping people and taking calls.

Jason's presence helped fill the void of hardly seeing Peter around, not that you were thinking about it often.

Jason winced when you asked him about the vacant area, sifting his fork through his pasta.

"It was originally I think supposed to be this little exhibit area to the Avengers after the Battle of New York. But then Mr. Stark caught wind of what people wanted to do and he refused to have any sort of praise statues put up. He didn't like the idea of having a shrine to himself in his own building. So it's been empty since."

You hummed, sipping your water. "It would be nice if we could use it as a public space, you know? People wouldn't have to sit out on the steps to use the wifi ... or ... or ..."

You trailed off, staring at the area as your mind started to work. Your first week at Stark Industries had mostly been you meeting people and trying not to get lost. You'd looked over the accounts, noticed the funding that was available, and talking a couple times with Harley and Mr. Stark about what they would be willing to spend and how long they'd give you to come up with a project.

And it had been staring at you in the face this entire time.

"A coffee shop," you whispered, as Jason snapped his fingers in front of your face to get your attention.

"What?" he asked, slurping on a noodle.

"What if we -! Oh it's perfect!" you cried, snapping one of Jason's suspenders that he wore, for some odd reason, over his button-up shirt.

"Jason!" you giggled excitedly, "What if we made a coffee shop there! This is such a central area of the city and so many people would totally come. We could - Oh my gosh - We could make it a non-profit coffee shop, so the funding would go to local organizations and the coffee could be outsourced from coffee companies that have charities they're supporting."

"Okay ...?"

"So not only would the funding from selling the coffee go towards building up our local community, but we could be buying coffee that would fund organizations helping in third world countries!"

You stood, nearly knocking over your pasta.

"Oh! It's perfect!"

"Sounds like you've got a lot of work to do," Jason smirked. "It is a pretty large area," he looked around you at the vacant plot, "And it would definitely bring in a lot of people who are already using the wifi anyway. I bet people could have meetings there too. Office meetings are so scary."