The hologram of the gold titanium alloy suit was projected into the air from the top of the desk, spinning around in the air. Audelia took steps around it, moving her hands over the tablet before her as she looked at certain aspects of the newly painted suit schematics that Tony had sent over just minutes before.
"Even for you, Tony Stark, solid gold is a little much," was the murmur underneath of Deli's breath as she swiped her fingers over the tablet, throwing hot rod red into certain sections of the suit.
With the tablet now placed on the table, Deli couldn't help but smile as she looked over the red and gold suit hologram before her now. Quickly tapping a button on the tablet, she sent the new schematics back over to Tony.
"Audelia?" at the click of the office door, Deli moved her hand over the hologram before her, watching it dissipate as if it was never there as Nathan walked into the office. He stopped in his tracks with a smile over his face, his eyes roaming up and down her body. "Damn...when did you get that dress?"
"Birthday gift from Tony last year," Deli informed him as she stepped around the corner of her desk, fluffing her loosely curled hair before straightening out the black dress that showed quite a lot of cleavage. It was a gift from Tony, though, so she expected nothing less. "His name is the one on the benefit, I found it only right."
"Well, I think you look absolutely stunning," Nathan planted a kiss on the woman's lips, a far too short one for her liking, before pulling away and walking out the door. "Go ahead and finish up, I'll be in the living room with Pepper."
Moving into the large walk-in closet of the master bedroom, Deli let her eyes linger on the sight of the ocean's waves gently lapping at the beach from the windows before moving over to the full length mirror before her. She strapped on the black high heels that awaited her at the mirror, fastening the gold statement necklace around her neck before grabbing the gold clutch she had laid out hours before and exiting the room to head for the living room.
The smile on Deli's face widened as she saw Pepper Potts awaiting her. The navy blue dress that she had helped her friend pick out days before complimented her so well, and it was a nice change to see her wearing her hair down for once.
"It's so good to see you," Deli told her as the two woman wrapped one another in a hug. Nathan walked toward them quickly after, adjusting his cuff links as Pepper pulled back and looked between them both.
"Alright, we should head out soon because I know how you feel about Christine Everhart and I'm sure she's going to want an exclusive-"
"You're not on the clock tonight, Pepper," Audelia reminded her friend as Jarvis opened the front door for her. "Even business talk, just enjoy yourself."
The car ride to the Disney Concert Hall was silent on Deli's end. Nathan and Pepper made small talk, mainly talking about how thinks had been at the hospital, while Deli sat silently and toyed with the ring around her finger.
Audelia Motter was one of the strongest, most hardheaded women in the business. She was the female Tony Stark in many ways, except she was a lot more levelheaded and rational. She rarely gave interviews, so when she did it was headline news. She walked into parties with that Stark confidence, having gained it from so many years with the family. Red carpets were nothing to her. The third annual Firefighter's Family Fund gala was her first major public appearance since Tony came back, since he had halted the weapon's manufacturing, and since her and Tony began to harbor the secret of a giant project they couldn't tell anyone about. To say she was finally letting her nerves hit would be an understatement, but she'd be damned if she didn't shake them off.
Pepper and Nathan were the first to step out of the car, waving to the paparazzi that awaited them at the red carpet of the event. Nate held out his hand for his fiance, taking it as helping her out of the car as the questions thrown toward them group increased.
"Ms. Motter! Is it true that you actually made the weapons decision?"
"Audelia! Is it true that you and Tony have been in a secret love affair?"
"Where's Tony, Audelia!"
With her head held high and a smile on her face, Audelia only waving at all of the paparazzi as her, Nathan, and Pepper made their way down the carpet toward the hall.
Almost at the stairs, Obadiah stepped out in front of them, his arms held out and a grin on his face. Deli tried to hold her smile, not wanting the cameras to see her change in mood, as she turned to Pepper and Nathan.
"You guys go ahead, I'll meet you both in there," as the pair walked away, Audelia made her way up to Obadiah, turning and allowing him to place a hand on her back as they posed for pictures and she spoke through her teeth. "Obadiah, how unpleasant to see you."
"Is my presence still unpleasant to you?"
"Truthfully, it always has been," as the pictures ended, the pair turned together to make their way up the steps into the hall. "Heard you didn't send Tony and invitation to his own party. How exactly does that make sense?"
"He's supposed to be laying low in the public eye, especially now with the board filing and injunction on both him and you. Technically, you probably shouldn't be here,"
"Oh yes, because both Tony and I both not showing up definitely wouldn't start anymore rumors regarding our fabricated secret love affair," Deli turned to Obadiah as they stepped through the doors of the hall, her eyes narrowing. "Although, remind me again, wasn't it you years ago that planted that ridiculous seed in the media's heads during an interview?"
"And one day, when I'm right, I'm going to be laughing all the way to the gates of heaven,"
"Hmmm, more like the gates of hell," Deli flashed him another dazzling smile as she turned her back on him, walking into the party. "Enjoy your night, shiny head."
A waiter strolled by Deli, carrying a tray of champagne as the woman reached out, plucking two glasses off of it and downing the contents of each before placing them on a side table and grabbing yet another glass.
Her eyes caught sight of Nathan and Pepper standing in the middle of the room together, smiling and laughing at someone that Nathan had probably said. Nathan was leaning against one of the high top tables in the middle of the room, grinning as he watched Pepper laugh and shake her head at something he had said.
"Glad you both seem to already be enjoying the party," Deli told the two as they both straightened up as she walked over. She took another sip of her third glass of champagne as she looked between the pair. "I think Obadiah has already made it his mission to make mine hell."
"That's because the old man doesn't know the meaning of joy," the trio turned around at the familiar voice, coming face to face with none other than Tony Stark himself. He quickly shot Pepper and Nathan a smile before his eyes returned to Audelia in the middle. "What? The guy is the opposite of Santa Claus."
"Didn't think we'd be seeing you tonight, Tony," Nathan told the man, sending him a friendly smile that was so very obviously fake, his hand resting on Deli's waist as she downed the rest of her champagne glass. "Thought after the press conference we wouldn't be seeing you at the gala tonight."
"Wow, I had no idea that the company invited Jim Halpert to the gala. How much did they have to pay NBC for your appearance tonight?" Audelia choked on her champagne, placing her hand in front of her mouth to hide the hint of a smile on her lips as Pepper took the empty glass from her hands, unable to hid her smile. Tony's smirk only widened as he tore his eyes away from a fuming Nathan, looking down to Deli as he held out his hand. "Care to dance, dear Dell?"
Squeezing Nathan's hand quickly and shooting him a, hopefully, comforting smile, Deli placed her hand into Tony's outstretched one as she allowed her best friend to whisk her off into the crowds of people.
Tony kept one of Deli's hands clasped in his own, his other moving to hold her waist as Deli placed her's on his shoulder. They swayed together to the classical music playing in the background, looking down on one another in their close proximity.
"You look fantastic, I didn't get to tell you that yet," Tony told her, smiling down as she rolled her eyes.
"This is the dress you bought me last year, Tony,"
"So? You still look gorgeous in it," Deli looked away, but not before Tony caught the faint blush on her cheeks. "I was surprised you didn't call me, let me know that I wasn't invited to my own party."
"With everything that's going on with the board, I didn't think it would be a great idea. Yet here you are anyways, of course,"
"I should fire you as head designer and engineer just for that,"
"Tony, you wouldn't know how to function without me in your life 24/7," Deli retorted, looking back up into his captivating brown eyes as she tried not to focus on just how good he smelt in this close proximity. "You wouldn't know your social security number, you wouldn't have finished the suit, you probably wouldn't even be able to make your own doctor's appointment."
"No, but that's what I've got you for. You always take care of me,"
Deli felt as if Tony was a lot closer now. His breath was fanning her face, cool from the mint mouthwash he had used. She could see every little imperfection in his skin, thought there barely were any. It felt as if one wrong more, one accidental bump, and her lips would touch the lips that she had involuntarily dreamed of since high school.
Maybe that's what snapped her out of it, realizing that was all just a silly fantasy of her hormonal teenage self years ago. They were standing in the middle of a crowed gala, in the middle of a giant Stark Industries weaponry scandal, cameras everywhere, and she had a ring on her left hand.
Taking a step back, dropping Tony's hand and letting her other slide off her waist, Deli turned her focus to any other part of the room. Her hands smoothed over her dress as she looked around, trying to still her radically beating heart.
"Why don't we get some air?"
"Air sounds great,"
Stepping out onto the balcony overlooking downtown, Audelia let out a sigh as she let her hands rest on the railing, letting the breeze cool down her skin that felt hot to the touch. Tony walked over, leaning against the railing next to her as watched her.
"Did you like the hot rod red that I added in?" Deli asked, referring to his suit as she hoped to just completely change the subject and forget about the moment they had just had inside.
"Loved it immediately, thought the gold was a little much for myself anyways," Tony looked back at the party for a second. "Had Jarvis start the painting of it, said it would be about five hours. I'm thinking once that's done-"
"You realize we shouldn't have done what we did back there, right?"
Tony stopped in his tracks, raising an eyebrow at his best friend as she cut him off.
"And what exactly did we do?"
"Dance," Deli shrugged her shoulders, letting out a laugh to try and quell her nerves. "Someone probably got a shot of it, which means that it's going to be headline news tomorrow and it's just going to fuel the ridiculous rumors that I'm sleeping with you."
"Wow is it that wrong to sleep with me? I've been told I'm good,"
"When I'm wearing a ring on my finger, yes!" Deli turned to him, exasperated as she sighed. "Before I met Nathan, I didn't mind the rumors because they weren't hurting anyone. But lately, Nathan and I have just been off, and I think it's because of these rumors."
"Can you relax for about point two seconds?" Tony asked her, sending her a small smile as one hand found her waist once more, holding her in place so she couldn't move. "All we did was dance, Dell. That's not a crime."
"But was it really just a dance, Tony? Has...has it ever been just a dance?"
It was the way that Tony paused and stared down at her that made Deli's heart stop for a moment. It was that right there that made her think that maybe, just maybe, the things she felt during the dance...he was feeling them too. It was a thought that had young, teenage Audelia jumping for joy as Deli came back to earth and realized that their lips were just and inch away from one another.
It was the glint of the patio lights against the diamond on her finger that pulled her away abruptly.
"I'm...I'm going to go get a drink," Deli told him lowly, backing away as Tony leaned against the railing, a small, sad smile on his lips. "I'll see you inside, Tony."
At the bar, the bartender passed Deli two more glasses of champagne that she quickly downed, pushing the glasses back toward him before quickly asking for just a glass of straight up vodka.
This was the kind of night that called for it.
"So nice to see you again, Ms. Motter,"
Deli truly didn't think that her night could get any worse, but apparently the universe wasn't on her side.
"Christine Everhart," the name dripped off Lottie's tongue like it was poisonous, the woman turning to the blonde haired reporter with a fake smile on her lips. "I would tell you that it's nice to see you, but then I'd be lying."
"I think you're just still hung up on the fact that I slept with Tony before you,"
Audelia let out a laugh, taking her glass of Vodka and almost chugging it before sending Christine a sickeningly sweet smile.
"Sweetheart, if I wanted to sleep with Tony, I would've done it years ago. It doesn't make you special," Deli turned her attention back to her drink, running her finger along the top of the glass. "If you came over here to talk about Tony in bed, I suggest you leave now."
"No, I'm here to talk about Stark Industries lack of accountability," Christine placed a pile of photos down on the counter, sliding it in front of Deli. "This time in a town called Gulmira."
Deli moved her glass out of the way, rising from her seat as she grabbed the photos, shuffling through them. Buildings blown to bits, people dead in the streets, all with photos of familiar looking weapons lying around, including their newest one: the Jericho missile.
"Christine, if you're here to accuse me of this," Deli looked up from the photos, shaking her head at the reporter. "It wasn't me. I don't have the clearance to sign off on any overseas shipments."
"Well someone did. These photos were taken yesterday,"
Feeling her heart sink into her stomach at her words, Deli gripped the photos in her hands as she shoved past the reporter, moving through the gala at a high speed as she looked for one man in particular, finally finding him standing at the bar on the other side of the room.
"Tony!"
The man turned around, confused as he saw Deli slide to a stop beside him. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"You look like you just ran a mile, what happened?"
"You said the weapons department was shut down," Deli passed the photos over to Tony, watching as he rifled through them. "This is Gulmira, from yesterday."
"I didn't approve any shipments?" Tony questioned incredulously, looking down at the photos and then up at Deli.
"No, but the company can," Deli told him, her lips dropping into a frown as she pieced it together. Of course the company did, that's why they were trying to block them both out.
Tony gripped the photos in one hand, grabbing onto Deli's hand in the other as he dragged her throughout the gala and out the front doors, back onto the red carpet was Obadiah was currently standing, taking photos with a group of reporters.
"Obadiah!" the call from Tony had the man looking back at the pair as they stopped on the steps behind him. He turned to the reporters, waving them off before he joined Tony and Deli, looking down at the photos in his hands. "Have you seen these?"
"Obadiah, what the hell is going on in Gulmira?" Deli questioned, narrowing her eyes at the man as he grabbed their shoulders, moving them up the steps slightly before looking between them.
"You two seriously can't be this naive right now-"
"I was naive before," Tony cut in. "Are we double dealing under the table?"
Obadiah sighed, turning back to the reporters before moving to standing between the pair, putting an arm around both of them.
"Let's take a picture,"
Tony and Deli shared a look from across the man as they put on their best fake smiles, looking toward the camera.
"Who do you think locked you both out?" Obadiah's voice was quiet, just loud enough for the pair to hear as he pulled them in closer. "I'm the one who filed the injunction against both of you. It's the only way to protect you both."
Obadiah let go, moving through the crowd and down the stairs toward his car, the cameras following him.
Tony and Deli were left on the stairs to watch him go, letting his revelation sink in.
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Oh damn this chapter was long holy crap. But I'm so proud of it it's one of my favorites I love this entire party scene so much.