𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐔𝐋𝐒𝐄 𝐏𝐔𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒, 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐀

ELEANOR

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'Three trillion nerves in the human body,' I said into the speaker, 'and you managed to get under every single one of them.'

I shunned people-watchers. Being hypocritical there, I had that weird quality in me, too. But could you blame them; my workspace was being transformed into some flower haven, and I was the embarrassed florist. This morning, I had woken to the sound of chirping birds which had already started to irritate me and the smell of old Chinese food which had become stale from sitting all night in the open. So, into my failed happy schedule of Tuesday, I was not ready for snobby glances and asshole-ish comments. 

 I brought the phone away from my ears to shoo off two understudy girls who took too long to pass by. Their hand gestures gave off the topic at hand. I flipped the bird to them, subtly glancing at the infuriatingly long line of glass windows which overlooked my colleague's office. He was oblivious to what was happening next door which was an added advantage; that man never seemed to care about anything but his work. Meanwhile, the girls had scrammed away after my hand gesture and I pulled down the wooden shades on both the hallway side windows, having faced enough judgment.

Being Tony Stark's girlfriend was exhausting as much as it was exhilarating. The first time I had met him, I swear he had his soul in a bottle. And then, I was swift to realize that that was the way to live by when you were both famous and a genius, with everybody seeing right through but not precisely. For self-protection and preserving one's sanity.

'I'm not even sorry,' I heard Tony laugh in a breathless chatter.

Tony Stark, right now, was begging for an ass-kicking. Not even his perfectly good excuse for an AI could save him. Infiltrating the system to my company's servers using my name and password was my first reason and second, plaguing my office with pansies, purple-roses and baby breaths. Mostly, the former.

He had a talent for overdoing everything. Be it his exceptional suit of armour or our relationship, he insisted that he used his capriciousness to bring that go-over-big factor into whatever we did. For our first date, Tony had surprised me by buying out an entire restaurant for the night and further justified himself for being the Beatles kind of popular. Of course, the world always related world-famous bands to superheroes he fought in super suits of metal. 

'I mean, I'm sorry for not asking your permission to perform the actions but,' he continued to persist on his statement. 'Admit it, you would've never allowed me.'

'You put my job at stake. Of course, any rational individual would've never.'

'Point made,' he sighed and the line crackled imperceptibly. Bad interface or he was doing it on purpose. I would not be lying if I said that it was not the first time he was doing it to cut the conversation short. 

'I see you received the delivery,' I could hear the smile in his voice. 'Did it work?'

I kneaded the bridge of my nose to restrain lashing out. Tony Stark knew how to push my buttons and he had rectified the art of doing so. Right then, there was nothing more I wanted than to deliver a tight slap and then, shower him a million kisses for the bazillion flowers. Unknowingly, I stroked a finger over a petal in the nearest basket, a smile sprouting on my face without my notice. I had to admit, it was a sweet gesture with its underlying cons. And still, it had made me swoon. 

'You hesitated,' he cut short my trance wit his curt, declaring words.

I kissed my teeth, realizing that I had indeed hesitated and gave off the impression of admiring his gesture. I quickly scrambled to conceal my blunder. 

'If you planned to make the entire building notice my unkempt office then, yes. It worked.'

'I had it initially mailed to our address but then I thought, where's the fun in that?' 

The phone line sputtered once again with his chuckle. That's when I apprehended that this was the problem that he faced when he used his suit. So, technically, he was on duty. 

Our address, I repeated inwardly. It was a sudden, facetious request. Back when aliens were streaming out of a hole in space, Tony had not only been the reason behind the loss of my job but also, my hard-earned condo. He had dropped a fifty-foot alien carcass over both—oh, the coincidence—and easily robbing me of clear-mindedness. Like the anchor for a boat, Tony had veered to my rescue before I had decided to depart back to my homeland. Being hopeless and a nonnative, I was left with no choice until he had forcefully barged one in. To move in with him. 

I was doubtful about it at first. We had accomplished an entire year in our relationship and successfully kept it off the media but, moving in together would be a huge step for both of us. He would have to deal with my incessant need for everything to be returned to its place—he had diagnosed my obsessive-compulsive tendencies but I had begged to differ— and I would have to deal with his habit of doing the opposite. 

Speaking off, he had some of the strangest customs; intakes of vegetable juices, hourly coffees, wakefulness. Sometimes, my bedside would be empty but as the weeks passed, I had grown used it. And other times, I had gotten overconfident and stumbled down to his heavenly abode—the workshop—and hauled him back to bed. Compromises were a must with him, most of them involving sex. 

'As of now, you're in a parallel reality where you're dumb,' I said sternly, somewhat disappointed about not having been saved the embarrassment. 'Can you at least try and be sorry?'

'I did nothing major,' he argued back. 'It was just a little poke into the system. For, well—official obligations. I didn't want to go through the whole process of arguments so I did it.'

'Sometimes, it appears as if you're dating me for my job.'

'It took you this long to figure it out?' He joked.

'Not working,' I growled. 'Try harder.'

'I'm about to, hon,' he mused, too festive to be normal. 'Forty-fifth floor, the sixth window from the left?'

'Yes—?' I answered doubtfully.

My gaze swayed to my ceiling length windows nearby. I slid off the desk, I looked out to the boundless skyline and tried to browse for anything that was heading my way. Afar, I saw a blur of a jaundiced-looking spot, it's trajectory directed straight for the tower. Few trices later, the distinguishable red and yellow armour used it's repulsors to thrust forward faster and halt right in front of my window with a wave. If only I wasn't a sucker for his grand romantic gestures, I would've hurled my shoe at the suit. His old suit—I knew he had something regarding nanotechnology down in his workshop.

'Sweet baby Jesus,' I breathed out. 'Tony?'

'Hi,' the armour waved at me again, his voice pealing through the phone in my hand. 'How's that for trying?'

I could not contain the smile that threatened to swallow my cheeks, as I twisted the latch to the vaguely extensive window entrance and slid it askance with much force. Iron Man let himself in, his repulsor landing smoking up the room for a good second. When the air cleared, a disapproving Tony stepped out of the armour with the suit prying open and returning to normal as he walked off. His gaze was trained on the wide-open window and he clucked his tongue.

'That window violates so many safety codes,' he remarked, deploring. 'What if somebody under work pressure decides to call it quits? This makes it so easy.'

'It won't be too indulgent for you to privatize window construction, would it?'

He shot me an unamused glance. I shrugged with one-shoulder, subtly displaying attention on his appearance. As always, he was dressed for the occasion. Adorned in a dark-coloured blazer and t-shirt underneath which he managed to pull off, he looked ready to strut the simple. His face was devoid of shades, only sporting a fresh new bruise under his left eye. Which, in turn, explained the ever-present insomniac look in the deep hazel of his eyes. 

I worried for Tony sometimes. His sleep schedule was just as haywire as mine but at the end of the day, I stood strong at my daily six-hours of beauty sleep. Be it ten intervals or twelve, I had to get it all in order to function.

 'So,' he cleared his throat to get my attention. 'PDA? Check.'

'Come again?'

'Poetic display of affection,' Tony announced, proud of his discovery. 

He had created a whole new acronym for PDA. Sometimes, these were the small things that uplifted my mood. The grin on my face returned when I walked forward to link my hands behind his neck, running my hands up his hair the wrong way.

'You're not forgiven as of yet,' I murmured. 'But it will do.'

He snickered under his breath, locking his dark gaze with mine. 'How much do you love me, now?'

'In percentage, it's bordering a three,' I mused, letting my lips hover over his. A frown gathered on his face. 'Thousand.'

'Three thousand?'

'Three thousand. I love you that much.'

'Go to hell. That's not even a number on a percentile.'

The grin on my face widened. 'That's the thing. See, my love for you transcends the possible.'

He blinked down in a stupor. 'Mhmm.'

'Mhmm,' I repeated.

'Jesus, all you Brits are flirtatious beasts. And fun fact, that's exactly how much I paid for these,' he said, pulling a basket towards him. 

'Wow, expensive,' I muttered under my breath, glancing around the room to see the multitude of other baskets with a sigh. I snatched the crate out of his hands, embracing it to my chest. The swarming scent of fresh-scented purple roses assailed me when I looked up at him with a grin.

'And hard to resist.'

'Like me,' he winked. 'Did you know that these are actually Eleanor roses?'

I rolled my eyes, amused. 'Like your ex-girlfriend?'

'Future wifey,' he corrected which earned him a playful smack on his shoulder.

I snuck a glance to the hallway windows on instinct, praying no one had seen that. The shades were still drawn shut so there could be no trace of Tony's unpredicted visit to my office. 

'I installed a free-ranging jammer into my suit,' he filled me in, a small smirk playing on his lips as he locked his hands behind my back. I was pulled flush against his front, his warmth delicately bathing over me. 

'No one would know if I snatched you out,' he teased.

I cocked a brow. 'Are you?' 

'Debating for. We'll see.'

'Very smooth,' I commented, nodding my head and stashing the flowers with the rest of the clutter on my table. 'In fact, I love these flowers. It's just a bit much.'

'Figured you say that,' he shrugged. 'But I'm a poseur not to be taken lightly, Miss Cambridge.'

I thinned my eyes. 'Oxford.'

'Son of a bitch,' he whispered. 'That's even hotter.'

I laughed with a cryptic acceptance, leaning forward to press my lips onto his for a short kiss. He acted up, angling my chin forward and I pulled back with a soft smile. 

Humming, he asked, 'What's tonight?'

'Date night.'

'Yes.'

'Mm. And?'

'Your enthuse is much appreciated in this arena.'

'Moreover,' I smacked my lips softly, in a suggestive manner. 'I might not be too subtle this time after your floral stunt.'

'I mean, subtle,' he showed his teeth in disagreement. 'I've dated women who wore Bracli thongs worth a million. They couldn't even spell Lamborghini.'

My mouth met his ear, his lashes moving harshly against my temples. I could hear him inhale sharply when I spoke in quiet whooshing whisper. 'I got mine at Target. Three for nine dollars ninety-nine. L-A-M-B-O-R-G-H-I-N-I. You've dated morons, Mr Stark.'

'I beat myself for that every time I see you in a suit,' he murmured back, tiredness in his voice. I chuckled when I felt his hands move back and underneath my blazer, traversing down to the waistline of my pants. 'Blinds are life-savers, I'll just take this top off to—'

'My office,' I warned him as he continued to toy with the elastic of the waistband.

With a disappointed pout, he teased my lips with his. 'Who cares?'

'Everyone who is not having sex in this building.'

He scrunched his nose. 'Except them.'

'Tonight,' I vowed, halting his advances. He rolled his eyes, pinning back my collar button and seizing my waist once again. I was grateful to be wearing dress pants and a blazer otherwise, I would not have been able to hold myself back.

'I mean, tonight for sure,' he blabbed, adversely pressured at my promise. He continued to ramble when I raised my brows. 'Perhaps, ten plus. I've actually got works pending in the shop which demand restoration—'

'Tony,' I said with an expression of distaste, pulling away from his arms. He was evidently hurt when I did. 'You have a life apart from the suit and I'm done having a relationship with your bumper toy rather than—'

The phone in my hand buzzed violently with incoming media alerts, my screen filling with reports from various other news channels, all about a sudden bombing at a small region in Central Africa. I scanned my table for the remote, completely ignoring Tony's perplexed stare and switching on the TV installed over a rack of shelves.

' — this morning, a suicide bombing occurred in Tabora, a minor province in Tanzania, Africa in what appears to be a central marketplace. On-site experts say that the bomb had initiated at around seven this morning and caused a devastating death toll of hundred civilians in a span of ten seconds. The SAPS force in still scouring for footage that was dismantled . . . '

I looked away from the telly to meet Tony's gaze who had calmly questioning facade painted on, strained on the screen. He swallowed tightly, joining my gaze. I could see everything in the husk-brown; the ominosity, the pain and the choices. 

'I take that you're hearing this right now,' I said softly. 'Are you?'

'You assume right,' he said, reaching behind his neck to scratch his head in a thoughtful gesture. He produced a wafer-thin, fibre-glass tablet from his pocket and scrolling through some data analysis I couldn't decipher. 'Permission to use your main servers?'

'Granted,' I smiled, looking to his tablet. 'Word from Pepper?'

A short message box popped from the side of the screen and he scoffed. 'Speak of the devil.'

'Oh come on,' I laughed, 'Pepper's a darling.'

'Hey-ey-ey, Preece,' he cocked a suspecting brow, 'you can't have my best girl Friday.'

'Ex,' I bit my lip to conceal a mocking grin, 'she now runs the largest tech conglomerate in the world.'

I loved Pepper Potts. She was the only one in the world who could level with his ego and deal with the ridiculous horseshit he quite often put his company through. With no regard for his safety and finances, she was the messiah for his troubled soul. I met her right after I had met Tony, first introduced to me as the CEO of Stark Industries. I had grown closer to her rather than Tony, a good friend and a fellow workaholic.

'Whatever, still not yours,' he rolled his eyes and reached out to squeeze my hand gently. I looked at him with a tight smile. 'Tonight?'

'Tomorrow?'

He nodded in agreement. 'Tonight.'

'I mean,' I smirked and played with the edge of his coat and tucking my tongue in cheek, 'the shades are still drawn. I could lock the door...'

'Keep it in your pants, Preece.'

'You starve me, Mr. Stark.'

'That's partly the plan,' he said, mischief lacing his tone. 'But, I'm considering my options.'

'Am I supposed to be scared?' I challenged. 

After the news I heard a while ago, I knew my focus would be elsewhere for the next eighteen hours or so. My statement on behalf of my publisher should be impeccable and vague, disinvolving any sort of claims that the press would make. I had a long day and night ahead of me so I had to prepare myself for the worst. From Tony's glimpse my way, he had understood my priorities. 

Shaking my head to wash off his verbal sorcery, I pointed to the suit with an austere flash. Damn him and his irreplaceable charms. 'I am not telling my boss about this.'

He saluted with two fingers. 'I got you covered. See you tonight, honey.'

'Yes,' I sighed as he leaned in to press a kiss to my cheek. 'Tonight.'

∞

[ w/n: and there we have it, folks! the first chapter of the darkest hour! personally, I'm in love with this plot-line and so eager to see how it's going to turn out. anyway, thank you for choosing this book and reading this book with me! ]

[ update (13.01.2020): hi, loves! so yes. I had nothing better to do so I worked on editing the chapter, eradicating spelling errors and adding that new pizazz it needed. I hope you follow up these updates because I might be shaping up the plot with some fresh scenes and cameos! ]