It's been 6 months since your break up with Tony. It hasn't been easy at all, especially the first couple of months. You shed so many tears when you took all your things from his house. It was the realisation that you broke up for good. You eventually moved back in your previous house and continued life as it was.
Tony reached out many times trying to win you back. He planned surprises, sudden visits, gifts, anything he could think of. You stumbled across his a few times, on events or business meetings. The feeling of his eyes staring at you was burning you every single time.
But you never talked to him privately. You knew you wouldn't be able to handle it so you avoided it every time. He was and still is very aware of how you feel around him, the trauma he's left you hasn't disappeared. Being so betrayed by the man that you loved left a huge scar in your heart.
"Are you ready?" Ethan asks you as you're getting ready for another event.
"Just a moment" you reply and wear your earrings, completing the outfit.
You go to the living room, where Ethan is waiting for you and stand still as he looks at you. His reaction is to nod his head in amazement, apparently liking your outfit.
"Just wow" he comments.
"Thank you" you approach him and lean into him slowly to kiss his lips.
After your break up with Tony, you got closer with some people at work as you looked for comfort from friends. You made new friends, got closer to your existing friends and in the way you started seeing Ethan. It wasn't something you expected or planned but you're happy it happened.
"Are you ready for tonight?" he asks, moving a strand of hair behind your ear slowly.
"Yes" you nod skeptically.
"He's going to be there" he says carefully, referring to Tony.
"I know. He'll find out one way or another" you shake your head.
"We can cancel if you don't feel like it" he reassures you.
"No, it's time. I'm done hiding" you force a smile.
"Alright" he smiles and gives you a soft kiss.
Tonight is the night you decided to make your relationship known to the public. Your friends know already but you're hiding it at work and from the people. One part of you does it because you don't want Tony to know, but you can't hide it forever. It will make your life easier once everyone knows and you can act freely again.
Ethan drove you to the event and you posed for the pictures together. At first they seemed innocent, like every other time that you went to an event together. But as soon as you felt comfortable, he wrapped his arm around your lower waist and you even shared a couple of kisses in front of the photographers.
The cameras went crazy immediately, getting the story of the day that you two are together. You were nervous during the whole scene, but looking at Ethan and his reassuring eyes made you feel better. And of course you ultimately felt better when you went inside the building and no cameras were looking at you anymore.
"That wasn't that bad" you say.
"No, we did great" he nods with a smile.
You quickly take a look around and realise that everyone is looking at you and probably talking about you as well. You focus on every spot carefully and Ethan notices.
"He's not here yet, it's too early" he whispers in your ear.
"I'm sorry" you apologise, feeling bad for caring so much about Tony seeing you.
"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♥️