Wasted Times

Part 1 - As It Was

"It's fine, I understand" he says nicely.

You breathe out heavily and eventually you manage to calm yourself down. Ethan leaves you alone for a minute only to return with drinks for both of you. It's definitely helping you a lot to keep your mind focused on something different. But what helps you the most is, ironically, the business talks you have with other people. That's the point of the event anyway and you're finally grateful for it.

Soon your heartbeat returns to its highest levels and that's because Tony showed up in the room. You couldn't help but notice if he came alone or with a date. Truth be told, he hasn't appeared to any event with anyone but Pepper. They're still working closely, nothing seems to have changed about their relationship.

When his eyes meet yours, your knees get weak. Does he know already that you and Ethan are together? Is he angry about it? Ready to cause a scene maybe? You can't know what to expect and you definitely can't predict his next move. You've never been able to do that.

"Relax" Ethan whispers in your ear.

"I'm trying" you breathe in and out steadily.

"I'm here in case he acts up or tries anything" he nicely brushes your back with his arm.

You unconsciously pull back from him a little, fearing deep down of Tony seeing you. It's unreal how even after all this time your heart is still jumping for him. You don't know if he noticed your little touch yet but he surely will as this event keeps going on.

After an hour or so, you can sense that Tony is in distress and acting weird even from far away. He seems nervous, bothered and he's trying to catch some clear air. He grabs his tie and desperately shakes it left and right in order to loosen it around his neck as he goes outside and you lose track of him.

For a brief moment, you lock eyes with Pepper and she doesn't seem alright at all. That's a look in her eyes that's definitely telling you all you need to know. She's worried about Tony and she's not even trying to hide it. This is why you quickly take your eyes off of her and back to your date.

"Will you excuse me for a minute? I need to use the restroom" you say to Ethan.

"Do you want me to accompany you?" he asks.

"No, it's okay. Thank you" you smile at him kindly.

Before you leave, the two of you share a kiss, which definitely feels like every person in here watched you. You let it go and went in the restroom by yourself, finding a few women in there as well. Although, the whole room got silent very quickly when you used the toilet and when you got out you realised why.

"God" you gasp very shockingly when you see Tony in front of you, the only person in the whole restroom.

"Tell me this is a joke. A very poor, bad joke" he says seriously.

He looks so upset. His tie is still loose around his neck and his eyes seem like they're ready to pop any moment now. Even some of his veins are so tense, indicating how frustrated he feels right now.

"It's not" you gulp, trying to keep your calm.

Deep down you knew that the possibility of him following you in the restroom existed, even if it's the women's restroom. Although, that doesn't make it any easier at all, especially when this is the first time the two of you talk privately after all these months.

"Why? Why him?" he forms a fist with his hand, which shakes from anger.

"I don't have to explain myself to you, not anymore" you try to sound as stern as possible.

"How long has it been going on?" he asks.

"A month, maybe a little bit more" you reply.

He immediately looks away and when he looks back at you his eyes seem even more hurt than before.

"I'm not buying this, it can't be serious. You're doing it to move on, right? But you don't have to, I'm here for you, Alice" he attempts to grab your hands in his but you successfully avoid it.

"It is serious. You better realise it because it seems to me like you're the one who needs to move on" your stomach tightens as you say these words.

"I love you, I can't move on" he admits.

It's your turn to look away now, hearing these words from him awaken so many feelings inside of you.

"Do you love me?" he asks hopefully.

But there's no reply coming from you. Not a yes, not a no. You simply can't tell him because you're not sure about your feelings to begin with.

"Do you love him?" his voice is shaky this time.

Your eyes get watery, you can feel it and he can definitely see it. The pain inside of you doesn't allow you to say anything back to him.

"I should've known this was going to happen. Leave her alone, Stark" Ethan enters the restroom and sees the two of you together.

"This is between Alice and me" Tony doesn't even look at him.

"I won't stand by as you hurt her again. You had your chance and you blew it. Leave before you cause any more scenes and damage Alice even more" Ethan walks next to you and holds you tightly against his body.

"He's right, Tony" you speak before Tony replies, sensing that what he was about to say wasn't friendly at all.

Tony's eyes go from yours to Ethan's arm around you and all the way over again. He looks like he's going under a shock right now, not even able to pull himself together. Without saying a word, he fixes his tie, takes a deep breath and shakes his head before leaving the two of you behind.

"Are you okay?" Ethan asks you.

"Yes, thank you" you close your eyes and take deep breaths.

"Do you want us to leave?" he asks again.

"No, we will finish this event like we intended to originally" you speak seriously.

"Alright, I'll see you outside" he nods.

"Okay" you smile and give him another kiss.

He brushes your hair nicely and gives your forehead another soft kiss before he leaves you in the restroom by yourself to take your time and calm down. When you go out, you definitely can feel that everyone knows what happened in there but you don't think much of it.

For the rest of the night, you didn't see Tony again. Apparently, he left as soon as he walked out of the restroom, which definitely made things easier for you. You don't even want to imagine how the night would've ended if he stayed in the same room with the two of you.

A/N

Sooo, this is the start of the sequel. I hope to see many of you interacting with the story, it's really what gives me inspiration. I really look forward to hearing your thoughts about the plot♥️

Also, I'll try to update as regularly as I can, like I usually do. Once I see that some people have gathered up here I'll post the next chapter. Thank you for being here♥️