Vogue | Tony Stark

TWENTY FOUR - JEALOUSY

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"She literally knows everybody, doesn't she? She knows even more people than you, Tony."

Katy gave Tony a smile as they finished their drinks on the edge of the dance floor, Alicia standing beside them as Bucky and Steve returned with another round of cocktails for everyone.

"Who is she dancing with now?" Steve narrowed his eyes as he stared over at Esté, "Is that the guy from the Titanic movie?"

Tony scoffed and rolled his eyes, accepting the drink with a quiet thank you before downing half of it in a second.

They were into the later hours of the evening by then and the night had gone perfectly. There were captivating guest speakers and charity ambassadors that took to the stage, as well as performances from some of Esté's personal musician friends like Sting and Steven Tyler to keep the energy up.

Everybody seemed to be having a great time throughout the dinner portion of the evening, but once the charity segment had drawn to a close and a DJ took over, Esté's real birthday party started.

Tables were cleared and people soon took up residency on the dance floor while others lounged on lavish couches and velvet armchairs that spilled through into a bar that was a little bit quieter than the main room. Drinks continued to flow and so did conversation, and while Tony was grateful to have been sat opposite Esté all night at the dinner table, he'd barely spoken a word to her since, only being able to watch her get pulled in every direction by one celebrity and then another wanting to wish her a happy birthday.

"I love that movie," Alicia said, smiling as she looked up in thought.

"Yeah?" Bucky frowned, "Why don't you go and dance with him then."

She just laughed and put down her drink, grabbing him by the hand and pulling him over to the dance floor, "Shut up, James. You're the only old man I want to dance with."

Five became three and Tony continued to quickly polish off his drink while he watched Estélla get spun around like a princess underneath Leonardo DiCaprio's arm, his hands holding her swaying waist as they laughed together, talking closely with her lips by his face over the loud music.

Tony couldn't help the loathsome look on his face, though he had become increasingly aware of the tension in his jaw and his hands whenever he saw yet another famous face kiss his girlfriend and hug her even tighter than the last. Of course, there wasn't anything he could do about it and really, Estélla wasn't doing anything wrong. She was the golden girl of their time and a price was attached to dating the most sought after woman in the world, but perhaps one that Tony hadn't realised was quite so painful to pay.

He reassured himself that the jealousy he felt was normal and that with time, he'd be able to deal with it. That night just so happened to be the first time he'd ever truly felt its wrath and, although he hated feeling defeated, it was axing him down more and more by the hour.

What made him bleed more was the fact he couldn't even touch her. Tony longed to kiss his girlfriend's perfect lips all evening, aching for the feeling as he watched her talk opposite him at the table or as he smelled the sweet scent of her perfume when she walked by, only a trail of her fingertips on his shoulder giving him any solace for a brief moment.

As selfish as it was, Tony couldn't wait for the night to be over. He couldn't wait to stop seeing other men touch his girl and he couldn't wait to have her all to himself, almost feeling desperate the longer the night drew on.

"What's going on?" Katy said, frowning when she saw Esté's security guard whisper something in her ear and lead her out of the room, "Should I go see if she's OK?"