Vogue | Tony Stark

TWO - ANOTHER ENCOUNTER

Esté was exhausted but that hadn't stopped her from spending two hours doing her hair and makeup that evening before slipping into a red cocktail dress and pulling on a pair of signature padlock heels, her outfit turning up in a lavish box outside her hotel room earlier that day.

After a last minute call booking some extra work in New York right before Christmas, Estélla's plans of travelling back to Milan after the Vogue party were swiftly cancelled, her trip extending a little longer than she would've liked after an already incredibly long year.

Walking runways and shooting edits felt like a dream to Estélla. She loved travelling all around the world and collaborating with her favourite designers, feeling honoured to be chosen to walk for their shows and be the face of a new collection. Even though she was one of the most famous women in the world at the time, Esté was incredibly humble about her career, her feet always remaining firmly on the ground and a level head she'd been raised with not wavering once.

Polite and kind, Estélla Goldwyn's reputation as a sweetheart of the modelling industry was perhaps what carried her a little further than everybody else. People admired not only her looks and her walk, but her generosity and respect, too. She set up charities and organised fundraisers, spoke out about world politics and used her platform to empower those who needed it, never shying away from the chance to make a difference since she was lucky enough to have a voice people would listen to.

And listen they did. The world adored Estélla Goldwyn, her last name quickly becoming associated with primarily herself rather than the Goldwyn investment banking empire her father and uncles had dedicated their lives to building.

Estélla worked hard at keeping her private life out of the public eye, though equally let her true personality shine in late night television interviews and talk shows, making it almost impossible for anybody to say or even think a bad word about her.

Estélla worked hard and never took anything for granted, always taking a moment to pause and step back from a situation to appreciate what she had, and that particular evening was one of those times.

Stepping out of a Rolls Royce and clinging daintily to the arm of Tom Ford as his date for the evening was something even Estélla never dreamed she'd do. She'd worked with Tom during his stint with Gucci a handful of years prior, though the two hadn't reconnected until earlier that year when he asked her to be the face of his new fragrance launching in the Spring.

Esté had reluctantly declined the invitation to his Christmas party in New York that year since she thought she'd have been back in Italy by then, though after plans changed and she asked if there was still room on the guest list for her, Tom had been so damned with happiness that he insisted on taking her himself.

They avoided the cameras and headed straight inside, though the flurry of excitement and adrenaline from the shouts of her name and overbearing flashes made Esté's heart beat a little bit faster, trying to hide her smile behind a red hot poker face.

"Three hours late to my own party," Tom said as they were escorted towards a row of elevators inside One Vanderbilt, "Fashionable enough?"

Esté grinned up at him, "Without a doubt."

The sound of an elevator opening caught their attention and expecting it to be empty, the pair took a step forward together, only to be startled when three people stumbled through the doors out into the hallway.

"Mr Stark, glad to see you're enjoying my party," Tom said with a laugh before turning to address the two women, "Good evening, girls."

Tony's tie was loose and he had a trail of pink lipstick left on the inside collar of his white shirt, the two girls both looking rather flustered with messy hair and faded makeup, any embarrassment flushed out by the amount of alcohol they'd consumed that left their eyes hazy and legs weak.