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RENOVATIONS ON THE TOWER WERE ALMOST DONE. Alex had been helping out as much as Tony would allow her to and there was a renewed vigour in her that she hadn't felt in quite some time. The Battle of New York had been almost four long months ago. All but a distant memory. For the most part.
If Alex said she'd come out of it unscathed, she'd be lying. Being pinned beneath the rubble in that partially-collapsed building had terrified her. Most nights she woke up gasping for air and kicking her legs furiously. If she thought about it too much, she could still feel the ache in her ribs and the ebb in the back of her skull as she lay beneath the debris.
"Hey, Squirt, you ready for the afternoon shift?" Tony quizzed as he returned with a drink in each hand.
"Sure." Alex accepted the bottle of vitamin water from Tony and cracked it open.
In the time she'd spent helping Tony and Pepper with the renovations and the decorating, Alex had also stayed true to her word. The once soft and non-threatening brunette had started to shape up. Alex had shed a few pounds in favour of bulking out more. There was still a long way to go before she was on par with the likes of Black Widow, but she was happy with her progress.
As the two of them slowly made their way back to painting the far wall, Alex's phone began to ring in the pocket of her old gym shorts. She cast an apologetic glance at Tony before signalling to the phone.
"I gotta take this," she insisted before stepping into the corridor. Alex rested against the cool wall and accepted the call.
"Hello?"
"Hi, is this Miss Alex Stark?"
"This is she. Who's calling?"
"I'm Rita Mayweather from Vanity Fair -"
"How did you get this number? This is an unlisted, private number," the brunette interrupted and partially crossed her arms.
"Ha, yeah. So anyway, I was hoping we could get an -"
"No. Absolutely not. Sorry, but you're wasting your time. Goodbye," she hung up with an overly-sweet voice before sighing and rolling her eyes. With her phone firmly returned to her pocket, Alex returned to the room, where she found Tony pouring out more paint.
"Why is it, you hire dozens of people to do this professionally for every other room in this Tower, and yet you wanted to paint this room yourself. I thought you despised physical labour that didn't revolve around your suits?" the young girl queried as she plucked up a paint roller and dipped it in the warm magenta hue.
"First of all, that's a wildly disproportionate lie and we have a no-lies rule, remember? Secondly, I asked you to paint this room with me because it's going to be yours." Alex whipped around, eyes wide in disbelief.
