Stop the Presses

Epilogue

The glass doors opened and Pepper walked out into the lobby of the Stark Industries Headquarters. After three weeks away, she was relieved that nothing seemed to have changed. It was early. The only other person there was her secretary.

"Good morning, Miss Potts. I'm sorry," Bambi corrected. "Mrs. Stark."

"No need to apologize," Pepper told her. "I'm still getting used to it myself."

"How was your honeymoon?"

"Wonderful," Pepper told her.

"Three weeks in Italy? I would imagine it was." The secretary pulled a stack of yellow papers from a desk drawer. "Here are your phone messages," she said, handing them to Pepper. "Anything urgent has already been taken care of."

"Thank you." Pepper leafed through the stack. "I will get to these as I can."

"I kept your mail in a separate box. I will bring it in later, when you've had a chance to settle in. However, I did tell the courier to leave the package he brought on your desk."

"Courier? This early? Hmm." Pepper straightened the messages. "I guess I will find out what it is soon enough," she said with a smile.

"It's good to have you back," Bambi said, returning the smile.

"It's good to be back." Pepper walked to her office and closed the door behind her. After stowing her purse and briefcase, she sat down and stared at the box on her desk. It didn't seem suspicious and curiosity was getting the best of her. She unwrapped the plain brown paper, revealing a white box with a note card taped to the top. Carefully removing the card, she read, in familiar script:

"You kept your end of the bargain. Now, I'm keeping mine."

Pepper smiled. She opened the box and pulled out a business card. The Stark Industries logo was emblazoned in red in the corner. The print in the middle boldly spelled out:

Virginia P. Stark

CEO

"Exactly what he told me they would say," Pepper mused aloud. She put the box into her desk drawer, disposed of the wrappings, and slid the business card she held into the corner of her desk blotter. Pepper looked through the telephone messages and chose one to return. She dialed the number and waited for someone to answer. Glancing at her desk, she saw the card peeking out at her. She pulled it free to read once more.

"Good morning," a chipper voice on the other end of the line said. "Empire Construction."

"Good morning. May I speak to Mr. Taylor?"

"One moment, please," the chipper voice replied. "Who may I say is calling?"

Pepper leaned back in her chair and held the card in front of her, studying the bold print. With a smile, she answered, "Virginia Stark."