Chapter 1

~Flashback
Chapter 1

Virginia Potts wakes up because she thought she had heard a sound.
When she doesn’t hear anything she lays her head back on her pillow, but then she sees how the moon outside reflects in two brown eyes almost right next to her bed.
Before she can scream her mouth is covered by a hand and she can vaguely see how the person who has suddenly appeared in her room puts a finger on his own mouth to let her know that it is important that she stays silent, she nods carefully and he takes his hand of her mouth.
“I need you.”
Suddenly Virginia recognizes the voice, it belongs to Anthony –Tony- Stark, a teacher invited him over to her high school today and he did a speech in front of her class.
“Why?” she whispers, afraid that he’ll attack her again to make sure she shuts her mouth.
“I need you as my PA.”
“So you need a personal assistant, isn’t it easier to contact the paper so they can place ads instead of sneaking into a twenty year old girl’s room at night?”
“So you’re twenty? Great, you’re in your last year then. Thanks for mentioning it, because it would’ve been impolite to ask.” he says, completely ignoring the actual point of Virginia’s question.
“And coming into my room without my permission isn’t impolite then?”
“Maybe it was…” Tony says, like he is overthinking every choice he ever made in his whole life.
“But then again it was needed and this whole conversation is a little bit irrelevant really.”
“How can this be irrelevant?” she raises her voice a little bit, to make sure he can hear she’s annoyed.
Virginia is getting angry, she doesn’t like it when her night rest is disturbed by school work or parties but she certainly doesn’t like it when it is disturbed by some crazy scientist and inventor who thought it would be a good idea to get into her dorm.
“Calm down missus, I came here to propose something.”
“Yes I know, you want me to be your personal assistant. But why me?”
“This conversation could’ve been over long time ago really…” Tony sighs, he’s only playing around but she doesn’t seem to realize that.
“IT IS NOT BECAUSE YOU ARE FAMOUS AND RICH THAT YOU CAN COME AND STEAL MY NIGHT REST.
WHY DO YOU WANT ME AS YOUR PERSONAL ASSISTANT?” Virginia yells, Tony doesn’t even move and stays awfully calm.
“I saw you taking notes when I was doing the speech, you did it in a more professional and quick way than all the others. That’s why I want you.”
“Because I can take notes?”
“Also because you’re attractive and I like it when women are attractive, and because you can obviously stand your ground and that’s most certainly what I need.”
“Mister Stark, I am flattered I really am, but I can’t.”
“Why not?” Tony is confused, nobody has ever turned him down so why would she start with it?
“Well I am almost done with school, I am finished in a few weeks and then I am finally able to what I’ve always wanted and find a job.”
“But you’re studying to be someone’s PA or at least a secretary or something like that, why can’t you be my PA then?”
“Mister Stark you’re so smart and still you don’t understand, I need to have the feeling that I can take care of myself, otherwise I am nothing without you or the job you have just offered me and I want to be an independent woman.”
“Aw yeah feminism…” Tony whispers, trying to think of a solution for this problem.
“It has nothing to do with feminism, it has something to do with ‘standing my ground’ and wasn’t that one of the qualities you’re so desperately looking for.”
“I am not desperate.”
“No of course you aren’t desperate, you are just sitting here in the dark room of a twenty year old girl, begging her to become your PA. Not desperate at all mister Stark.”

“Maybe you’re right, but I just really think you’ve got the right qualities.”
“But I want to finish my studies first mister Stark, this whole thing has been extremely important to me. Going to college and getting my degree so I could get into High School has all been very important to me, mainly because my parents have worked so hard to make sure that they could give me all the chances they were never offered.”
“That’s all really nice and I appreciate your parents’ concern, because otherwise I wouldn’t be sitting here, begging you to take the damn job.”
“Well we could always make a deal.”
“What deal do you mean? Do I need to pay your parents all the costs they ever made on your whole school career?” Tony asks, like it is nothing.
“No mister Stark, of course not I would never ask such a thing. I was going to propose that you wait a few weeks until I am finished with my exams and I’ve got my high school degree and after that I come and work as your PA. You’ve done long enough without one, now you can handle it for a few more weeks extra can you not?”
“Yes maybe you’re right Pepper.”
“My name is Virginia mister Stark.”
“Yes I know, but I found that boring so I am going for something more exciting; Pepper it is.”
“Well mister Stark, I’ll come and see you in a few weeks and we’ll see about the job then alright.”
“That’s a deal Pepper, that’s a deal.”
“I’d prefer some more ‘normal’ circumstances mister Stark.”
“Normal, what is normal?” Tony asks as he stands up from the chair he has been sitting on.
As he is on his way to the door Pepper asks him for his address.
“It is 10880 Malibu Point, I’ll be waiting for you.”
Before Virginia –Pepper- can even think of another question to ask him he has already left the room.
It takes a while to realize what has just happened to her and she decides that it might be better if she told no one about her nightly rendez-vous with mister Stark.
Because from the moment he had walked into the classroom she hadn’t been able to think of anything else then how attractive he was, the reason she was taking notes so precise and furiously was only because she wanted to impress him and apparently it had worked.