Chemical Poison . Howard Stark

Chapter 25

*please do not take this chapter serious, I am currently brain dead. Only if y'all like this - I will keep it, but I'm probs gonna rewrite this completely.

Anneliese Lorenz was always an easy child, a pretty child and a smart child. She was the gem of her family, the first daughter and the last of her generation; all other cousins male and much older than her. She grew up beyond wealthy, privilege didn't even begin to explore the luxury she lived without fear for the first few years of her life.

She was completely unaware of the financial crisis the entire world was facing, not even realising that there was quite literally starving men in her garden. To her, life was simple. She played and she garden, she learnt to knit with her mother and then she went to bed. It was all too simple.

Until it wasn't.

Everything always came at a cost, and sometimes Anneliese was completely unaware of this.

Sitting in her office, Anneliese held the piece of parchment tightly in her hand, unsure if she was angry, disappointed or frustrated with what she had just read. Every letter looped perfectly and the spacing was elegantly done. It was the hand writing of Miss Cotton, the current Head Secretary of Stark Industrials.

"You wish to resign?"

The question echoed across the room, bouncing as the nerves radiating from Miss Cotton flooded all her senses. Her eyes didn't meet hers, as she read over the letter once more, and then again. 

Placing the letter down on her desk, Anneliese placed her hands folded on top of the table as she glanced across to stare at Miss Cotton. Her eyes filled with worry as her lips twitched. Without making any noise, Anneliese watched as her fingers fidgeted with her skirt, doing anything to avoid the current situation they were currently in.

"Yes, Miss Lorenz," She said, her voice shaky, "I understand it's short notice-"

"-Why do you wish to be terminated immediately?"

Anneliese was absolutely baffled when Miss Cotton had passed her the letter only a few minutes ago. She had believed that the her replacement had begun coping better with the press once she introduced her to Guinevere, informing her that it was okay to make allies with the press. Anneliese had even put in a great deal of effort to ensure both Alexander and Howard were not wrapped up in scandal.  

She watched as Miss Cotton spoke again, "The press has gotten worse- I don't want to deal with them anymore-"

"-But you never had an issue when I was the press secretary?"

A sigh left her voice, "Exactly my point. It is too much, I do not want to be abused relentlessly by the press. When you were the secretary, we could pass off the press that treated us terribly onto you... and now? I have to deal with these horrible men. I-I-," her voice cracked, "I'm not strong enough."

Anneliese reached over to hold Miss Cotton's hand, "Don't resign, take a holiday on behalf of Stark Industrial's. I'll take back my original role and once you return, I'll be teaching everyone in the department on how to keep the press... kind."

The surprise in Miss Cotton's eyes melted her heart, "Wa-wait? For real?", she asked.

Nodding, she passed the letter back to Miss Cotton. "It was cruel of me to keep you in such a position with such little training, when you come back - no matter how long - we will begin to thicken your skin. Now, can you inform Mister Stark about my new position?"