Vogue | Tony Stark

SEVENTEEN - A RIDE

Esté was stressed. In fact, even stressed might've been an understatement for the sheer amount of panic that was running through her veins in that moment.

She was pacing back and forth in the hallway of her home, dressed to the nines in a black velvet ball gown with gloves covering her forearms and decorated in frosted diamonds across her skin. Her heels were high, though covered beneath the train of the beautiful dress, and her hair was blown out in her classic Hollywood curls, a muted red lip complimenting the look of her dark-lined eyes.

She fanned herself with some unopened post that she'd left on the sideboard, trying to not sweat of her makeup and keep her cool, which was proving incredibly difficult as every call she made was met with an answering machine.

An incoming call from Tony Stark caused her to sigh heavily, though she answered it anyway.

"Tony I'm sorry, this really isn't a good time and I-"

"Woah, slow down. What's going on?"

It had been two weeks since their first date on the Hudson River, and while their schedules had kept them busy, the pair had made time to see each other on a handful of occasions over those fourteen days.

They'd kept their budding relationship under wraps from the rest of the world and they liked it that way, enjoying the intimacy of private moments in their homes and knowing that what they shared, was shared between them and them alone.

They hadn't slept together by then, though that wasn't for lack of Tony trying, nor was it for lack of Esté wanting to. The simple fact of the matter was, they were too busy. Esté either had an early wake up call for a shoot after an at-home date night or Tony was due to fly halfway across the world to do whatever his superhero fight thing consisted of.

That, and Esté liked seeing the way his eyes would smirk with submission whenever she told him goodnight after he'd spent an hour trying to drag her upstairs, enjoying the kick she got out of forcing him to be patient.

And patient he was. Tony didn't care about sex so long as he got to spend time with Esté, which from as young as he could remember was all he'd ever actually wanted. Still, it really felt like nothing had changed between them. They still teased each other and kept their childish spirits alive, only to find a stolen moment to share a kiss amidst what was an otherwise perfect friendship, reminding them both what they were holding in their hands.

Considering he'd never dated before and was sworn off the idea completely until he kissed his best friend, it came as a pleasant surprise to him to enjoy being a one-woman man. He'd attended events over those two weeks and not felt like he'd lost anything when he didn't leave with a pretty girl on his arm or wake up in between two different women. Instead, he woke up alone with a heart that was beating with anticipation at the thought of being able to see Esté, being able to kiss Esté, being able to hear her voice say his name.

The lifestyle change had hit him suddenly and all at once, though it didn't knock him off his feet the way he thought it might. No, Tony found himself with his feet planted firmly on the ground, held there by Estélla and only Estélla.

"My car was suppose to be here twenty minutes ago and I can't get hold of anybody, I'm going to be late for the event and I was already running behind because my hair and makeup team took so long. This is a nightmare, look, I'll have to call you back later, I'm sorry."

"Hey, no don't hang up," Tony said quickly, "I'll drive you there myself. I can be at your place in ten minutes. You're heading to The Plaza, right?"

"Really?" Esté breathed a sigh of relief, and almost disbelief, too, "Y-yeah, The Plaza. Are you sure?"