Vogue | Tony Stark

FIFTEEN - A LOSING BATTLE

"Where will you be tonight?" Tony looked up at Esté as he tied his shoelaces.

Her face was flushed and her eyes wide, yet soft. She had what seemed like a permanent smile on her lips as she watched him, something different in the air between them, something that felt like a change.

Their second kiss had been interrupted by JARVIS letting Tony know that his driver was waiting downstairs, the announcement pulling them apart and keeping that distance there in case Steve or Katy happened to call into the room to see what was taking so long.

"Home."

Tony stood up and smoothed out his suit, looking Estélla up and down once with a nod. She felt tense under his gaze, a sensation she'd never recalled feeling when he'd looked at her like that before. Perhaps it was because now she could take a guess at what was crossing his mind as his eyes devoured her in an innocent few seconds, purely because she was having the same exact thoughts in her own head.

"I'll come over after the premiere, we can talk. If you want to, that is?"

His voice was soft and Esté could sense the nerves chipping away at both of them, his eyes not being able to hold her gaze for too long before he looked away.

"Yeah, sure."

They walked side by side down the hallway, fingertips brushing against one another with each step, though their hands remained untouched.

"Where the hell have you two been? We're going to be late." Katy jumped to her feet when Esté and Tony finally walked into the room, grabbing her clutch bag from the coffee table while Steve watched her with a smile.

"He had a wardrobe crisis, I had to step in and give him some help." Esté said.

"Oh," Katy tilted her head as she looked at Tony, eyes scanning his outfit head to toe before she nodded in approval, "Well he looks great. Nice work, Esté."

"Credit where credit is due," Estélla raised her brows and Tony just scoffed, "He doesn't scrub up half bad. In fact, none of you do. Try to have fun without me, alright?"

"Impossible," Katy said as she hugged Esté, "But we'll try. See you in a couple of days?"

"We'll do brunch like we talked about, I'll call you," Esté nodded with a grin, "See you later Steve. Bye, Tony."

"Goodnight, Esté," Steve smiled and waved as he put an arm around Katy's waist on their way out of the door.

Tony walked after them, turning on his heels to glance over his shoulder at Esté, hands in his pockets as he winked at her with a smile tugging on the corner of his lips, "Later, Stella."

The fire that had been lit inside the pit of her stomach when Tony shot her that wink had burned strong for the remainder of the night. Estélla had been able to think of nothing but him on her walk back home, as she took a shower and changed into her pyjamas, or as she sat down on her couch with a glass of wine to watch the live red carpet feed from the premiere on her television.

She smiled when she watched Katy and Steve take the carpet first, heart-warmed at how happy their smiles were and how she noticed Steve's knuckles were white with the strength of his grip around Katy's small fingers, nerves clearly eating him alive at their first appearance as a couple.

They looked good together, Esté thought, but nobody looked quite as good as Tony did when he stepped out of the car onto the red carpet. He raised a hand as the cameras flashed, his name being called from every direction but he kept his cool like he always did, smiling small behind the lenses of his sunglasses at sunset.