Life as Maya Stark • Iron Man's Daughter [ 1 ]

5

Maya could hear the cheering from the car as Happy pulled up in front of the Hotel de Paris. Her eyes flickered over to her father who was already sporting a grin while Pepper rolled her eyes at him. He always did love the attention.

Tony started to reach for the door handle when he noticed Maya's hesitation. He stopped what he was doing and gave her a small smile, "You okay, kid?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Just trying to get myself ready for what's going to happen when you open that door," Maya muttered, her eyes scanning over the crowd of people that held cameras and were cheering at the top of their lungs.

"You'll do fine. You're amazing after all," Tony told her with a wink making Maya smile and roll her eyes at him. He then smiled softly at her. "You'll do fine," he assured her.

Maya stared at her father for a second before nodding her head. "Yeah, I'll do fine. I'm going to be fine. Everything is going to be fine," Maya muttered to herself, cringing at the fact that she had just used the word 'fine' three times in under ten seconds. Tony gave her a look and started to reach for the door handle.

"Okay. Remember, Maya. Just smile, don't answer any questions, and just keep walking until you are safely inside the hotel, got it?" Pepper asked.

"Got it," Maya whispered and with that, her father pushed open the door and stepped out, Maya following not far behind him.

The screams were loud as Maya adjusted to the brightness of the outside world. She heard people yelling her name and asking her to pose for them, but it all became a blur as Pepper lightly shoved her along. She tried to smile, she really did, but the screams and flashing lights were too much that she found herself just looking down and hiding her face instead.

Tony glanced down at Maya and sighed softly before placing a hand on her shoulder and whispering, "Come on, kid." He then guided her towards the doors of the hotel and as soon as they were inside, Maya sighed in relief. She never did like all of the attention. She had been used to being invisible for so long and ever since she moved in with Tony, she had still not gotten used to the lights and the cameras.

She glanced up at her father and noticed the small frown on his face. Her heart sank at the sight and she silently cursed herself for not being able to handle the attention. Maybe if she could handle it then her father wouldn't be disappointed in her right now.

A small pat on her shoulder from Pepper made Maya relax a little as they all walked into the building. Just as they were walking in, Tony turned to look at Maya and Pepper and said, "You know, it's Europe. Whatever happens the next 20 minutes, just go with it."

"What?" Maya asked, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Go with it? Go with what?" Pepper questioned. Tony only smiled at them and before he could say anything else, Natalie Rushman was walking up.

"Mr. Stark?" Natalie asked. "Hey," Tony said, sounding a little relieved. "Natalie!" Maya exclaimed happily as she ran forward and hugged the woman. Natalie smiled at this and hugged Maya back.

"Hello, Maya. How was your flight?" Natalie asked the girl, but Tony interrupted. "It was excellent. Boy, it's nice to see you," Tony greeted making Maya and Pepper roll their eyes.

"She was talking to me," Maya told her father with a playful glare. Tony smiled guilty and shrugged while Natalie tried to ignore him as she turned back to Maya. "So?" Natalie questioned.