The Devil With The Face of an Angel | Irondad, pepperony

Chapter 41

Peter wandered on the street, preoccupied with his thoughts again. With Pepper leaving there were more problems and Tony had to urgently attend a board meeting. Happy accompanied him, so there was no one to pick him up after school. But that didn't bother him that much. After a robotic club, he talked with Mr. Beck for a while, and when he left the school grounds, he went to the other side than where his house was. He decided to visit his mom again. He had no hope of her opening to him, but he still had to try. She didn't give up on them. And they must not give up on her now.

It was weird at home. He and Dad tried not to lose hope and support each other, but they were always used to the fuss around them. They have always had Pepper and then the team. Now there was an unusual silence everywhere. Yesterday's visit of Thor and Loki was refreshing, to tell the truth. He forgot what was happening for at least a few seconds.

Peter walked in front of the building where Pepper had an apartment and looked at the big car, which was full of boxes. Maybe later he would offer help to the movers who carried the things inside. It will be a piece of cake for him. He waited for them to return for more boxes and slipped inside. At lightning speed, he ran the few floors that separated him from his mother's apartment.

"Didn't you see chairs somewhere?" came a woman's voice from the open door. The door, which had been closed a week ago, and where Peter had vehemently begged Pepper to come back home.

"They haven't brought them yet," was the answer to a woman.

Peter stood in the hallway as if his feet had grown to the ground, trying to absorb the situation. His brain suddenly slowed to an incredibly low speed. What the hell was that supposed to mean?

"Oh, hello! Do you live here? My name is Melinda," the smaller blonde introduced herself as she went out into the hallway for the box and noticed him standing there bluntly.

"I... no, I do not live here. I'm sorry, but are you moving into this apartment?" he asked dumbly. The ignition hadn't fully started yet, and it took him too long to get from zero to a hundred. But how could it not? This was his mom's apartment. And some strangers were just moving into it!

"Yes, we signed the papers five days ago. We are so excited about it! The apartment is divine and was at a great price," Melinda replied with a smile.

Five days. Five days. Five days. Pepper could be anywhere by now. "Uhm and the miss who sold it to you... was her name Pepper Potts?"

"Potts, yes, that was her. But the name wasn't Pepper. She had such an outdated name, some state name," she said, thinking.

"Virginia?" he suggested, and Melinda nodded.

"Yes, Virginia!" she said enthusiastically as if she had just answered a question for the big win.

Peter swallowed hard, trying to stay calm. After all, he didn't want to have a breakdown in front of strangers. He remembered how his mother had told him about how she had met him for the first time and how his father had given her her new name the same day. Pepper. "And you don't know where the miss moved to?"

"Unfortunately, I don't know, but I think she wanted to go somewhere far. She said something about a new beginning."

A new beginning.

"Thank you, then," he thanked politely, turning quickly and leaving.

He found the nearest park where he sat on the grass and finally allowed tears to break theirs way out.

Pepper was gone.

•••

"This is a scandal and it must be resolved!"

"What are you going to do about it, Mr. Stark?"

"Does Miss Potts intends to return?"

"We need to find a new director. A company that doesn't have a director? We can't have that."

"We don't want to replace Miss Potts, but if she doesn't show up soon, we won't have another choice."

That was something how Tony's last hour, which he spent on the meeting with the company's board, looked like. It was not pleasant for him, but he understood that the situation was far from ideal and had to be resolved. And the sooner the better. The problem was that he didn't have a solution for this.

"I understand that this is not pleasant. Unfortunately, I do not know the answer to your questions. I don't know when Miss Potts will be back, but since this company has been running successfully for seven years by her, it wouldn't be fair from us to replace her in the blink of an eye," he said in a firm voice. He had to keep a neutral face, which was hard when he had to talk about his beloved Pepper.

"What else we got? She knows her place," came from across the table, and Tony gritted his teeth. He really wasn't in the mood for this.

"I am sure she will return soon. Let's set a date, and if she is not back by then, we will choose a new director," he suggested or rather ordered.

The board discussed it for a while, but in the end, everyone agreed and decided on a two-week deadline. It was nothing extra, but Tony knew he had no choice in the matter. Someone had to run his company.

After the room was empty, he moved to Pepper's office. He came here often, especially because he could feel her presence here. And he enjoyed looking at the framed photos on her desk. Looking at them, he always went back to the time when they were photographed and when they were a happy family.

"Sir, the apartment in Malibu will have to be serviced," Friday told him, interrupting his thoughts on Peter's first day at school. He didn't date with Pepper at the time, but they were already a family.

"It doesn't seem right to me. I can't even remember the last time we were in Malibu. It was maybe last year during the holidays," he muttered and shifted his gaze to the photo of the three of them by the Christmas tree. He felt as if it were all just a dream from which he awoke to reality.

"This information seems to be incorrect. The apartment is currently occupied," she informed him, and Tony frowned.

"So it seems to me that we will have to do the maintenance to you rather than to the house in Malibu," he said, turning on Pepper's computer. It wasn't ideal for coding, but the basics could be done on it.

"My information is as accurate as ever, sir. The apartment in Malibu needs maintenance and is currently occupied by Miss Potts," she said in a robotic voice that dug under Tony's skin like an ice blade. He swore that for a moment his heart stopped beating.

"Bingo, Miss Potts. You won't lose what belongs to you. And you belong to me, Pepper, I've known that since our first meeting," he whispered to himself, giving their family photos last look before leaving her office.