girl genius ¹ ≫ young tony stark

sixty

August 24, 1998 — New York, NY
12:13 PM, EST

"He knew we had an important meeting today," Shelby groaned as she paced back and forth in hers and Tony's shared office. "Why, WHY did he pick today, right now, of all days, to just disappear off of the face of the earth?"

"Dr. Colewell, I'm sure he'll be right back," Pepper said, nervously tapping a pen on her clipboard. "He wouldn't walk out before an important meeting, especially not on your ..." Pepper trailed off, wondering if she should even bring up the relevancy of the day.

"On my birthday?" Shelby's jaw clenched and she stared out onto the busy Manhattan streets below. "I don't know, Tony never fails to surprise me."

Pepper glanced nervously at her wristwatch. "We've got almost 45 minutes, Dr. Colewell."

"Yeah, but we also don't know where he's going," Shelby replied. "A meeting with the Air Force, and Tony decides to take a spur of the moment lunch break."

Pepper didn't say what she was thinking, but she wondered if maybe her boss had forgotten to get his girlfriend a birthday present. There was a knock at the door, and Pepper sighed with relief, hoping the familiar face would calm Shelby's nerves.

Shelby let out a panicked sigh. "Maggie. Thank god."

"Hey, boss," Maggie joked, holding out a hot cup of coffee to Shelby. "What's got your panties in a twist today?"

Shelby frowned and shook her head. "Tony! We've got that meeting at one and no one can get ahold of him."

"He's not here?" Maggie frowned. "What the hell, Stark?"

Pepper nodded in agreement, wishing she had the nerve to tell her boss "What the hell" as frequently as Maggie did. But, then again, not every assistant had the luck of being their boss's ex roommate and close friend.

Not long after Shelby had moved to New York permanently, Maggie had followed her up the coast. After a long phone call of Maggie complaining about her dead end waitressing job, Shelby suggested a wild thought: why didn't she move to New York?

The new co-CEO of Stark Industries needed an assistant anyways, and no one knew how to work with Shelby quite like Maggie did, having lived with her for a while. Besides, moving to New York had other advantages: namely, a beautiful young woman named Donna Wesley, who Maggie had started officially dating almost as soon as she'd moved to the Big Apple.

"Yeah, what the hell, Stark," Shelby repeated, punching furiously at her desk phone. "I'm trying his cellular phone again."

Tony had insisted on buying cellular phones for all of the Stark Industries higher-ups, as he called them "astonishingly innovative" devices, yet apparently he couldn't manage to answer his when Shelby called.

As Shelby was about to hang up, the line picked up.

"Hello?"

Shelby let out an angry sigh. "Anthony, where the hell are you? We have to prep for our meeting with the Air Force, which, if you haven't forgotten about it, is in," she paused to glance at her watch. "Thirty minutes."

"I'll be there, I promise," Tony said calmly. Shelby heard the echoes of New York traffic coming through his call. "Hey, while I've got you on the line, where do you want to eat tonight?"

Shelby clenched her jaw. "Where do I want to eat tonight?"

"Yeah. For your birthday. I can make a reservation, somewhere fancy."

Pepper smiled. Good. Tony hadn't forgotten Shelby's birthday.

A smile broke through on Shelby's face, and her angry exterior simmered a bit. "I don't need anything fancy, Tony."