-Is it really okay with you substituting me at work? - Jen asked. It was few hours later after the attack. Every kind of news on the TV was talking about it. The people were going crazy. Some of the information was wrong; some of them didn’t make sense. Adeline was looking at the TV, and reading the headlines while she was on the phone with her friend. –I can come if you want.-

“No, Jen, it’s fine. Stay with Monica and try to talk to her about that night, or something. I’m going to work,” said the brunette, and sat on her bed. She crossed her legs, stooped and squint her eyes. She was tired because she hasn’t been sleeping well. All she could think about was that moment, when the shield, fired from her hands. A lot of people saw her, but she had a mask on. Would they recognise her even without it? “Listen, I’ve got to go. I need to get ready. Say hi to Monica. And don’t worry, I am fine with going to work,” she laughed a little. With that, the line went end.

Adeline took a deep breath, held it for a moment and then slowly released. She did it three times until she felt relaxed and not frustrated. It was a new day to go to the work and serve drinks to some old drunk people while their wives, children or life partners were sitting at home waiting for them. She worked in a normal bar, not in some tavern, so it wasn’t that horrible. There were times where she had to act, and kick someone out from the bar. The man’s behaviour was unacceptable. He even tried to hit on her, but that didn’t pay off.

The only thing she could do now was to put on some clothes, get her stuff and leave home. She put on skinny black jeans, a black silk shirt and wedge boots which were dark-blue. She brushed her hair into a high ponytail. The last thing, which made this outfit look more normal, was a huge necklace with fake blue diamonds. They always had to dress nice for the work. No matter if it was a man or a woman. The only dress code was – don’t wear anything slutty or dirty.

-I would like to inform all of you that I stopped this villain who attacked my favourite club in L.A- It was Stark who was on the TV. They were interviewing him after everything ended. He looked so proud and confident. Adeline focused on the interview. – There is no need to panic. The police already have this man. You can all sleep in rest.-

The brunette with the ponytail started to laugh. “Oh my…” she said and gulped. “You are so pathetic. You think that will stop him?” she was talking to herself. “You don’t know him, Stark. You have any idea how strong he is,” she sighed. The only thing she could do was to turn off the TV and leave to work.

Just when she locked the door, her phone started to play some random tunes. When she looked at the display, she smiled a little. “Hi dad,” that was the first thing she said after she accepted the call. “I’m glad you are calling. Are you alright? What about mom and Natalie?” While calling, she locked the door.

-I would like to ask you the same, Adeline, - said a deep voice of a man from the other side. – I saw what happened in L.A. Were you there?-

When it came to his fatherly senses, most of the time he knew if something happened to her, or if she was in danger, or harmed. “Yes, I was there, but don’t worry, I’m fine. Nothing happened to me. Dad, I know you told me not to use my powers, but I…”

She couldn’t even finish her sentence. He interrupted her. -We talked about this, Adeline. You can’t let that happen! You are putting yourself in danger. No one can know about you and your abilities! Especially not, when he’s in L.A! He’ll be looking for you, if he found out! He was even looking for us, but we were hidden in another town.-

“Okay, you know what? I just wanted to know, if you are alright and you are. I have to go to work now.” She was already mad at him, because she couldn’t even explain to him why she had to use the shield. “I’m not going to discuss what I can or can’t do. It is my life, dad. This is the reason why I moved to L.A. – not to be controlled by you, and you know it very well,” she growled. “Just say hello to mother and Natalie,” and she ended the call. The only thing she just wanted to do was to throw the mobile against the wall. The relationship with her father was complicated.

Her life changed when she was a baby. She didn’t know how it all started. All she remembered was the amount of activities she had. It was her father who forced Adeline to do martial arts and other types of fighting sports. She had to take classes of karate, box and judo. As compensation, she could visit a dance class once a week. It was only because she needed to learn different soft moves, balance, or sexy moves of a woman. Her mother thought it was all her idea and never said anything about it. When Adeline was fifteen, she had her first shooting class. At this time, she was already mentally strong, well trained and wanted to do it. She wasn’t forced into this one. She was becoming the best teenage warrior in local sports clubs.
She could be successful, famous with a life she always dreamed of. However, at the age of eighteen, when her father didn’t let her go to a university, she refused to listen to him and slowly stopped with everything. Their relationship got worse and by the time she was twenty-one, she left her town and moved to San Jose just to be alone, without a father and his sermons.

Unfortunately, she missed the daily routines and started to do some sports such as boxing and she even tried Kickbox. In San Jose, she worked at a restaurant as a waitress. The work was well paid, however, with three roommates, her life wasn’t a success. It wasn’t a success at all. She was always jealous of her younger sister. She could do whatever she wanted to.

A half an hour later, the brunette finally arrived to work. She had a big smile on her face, and from the front door, she was pointing at her male colleague – Dan. “Hey, what are you doing here?” he asked with a surprising tone. “I thought Jen was supposed to be here today.”

“Oh, don’t tell me you are upset about it,” she gave him a puppy eyes. “Besides,” Adeline looked around, saw one big decorated table near the windows. “What is going on today?” she asked. “Are we having a special night like last month? The senior club is visiting again?” She was making fun of it. She went to the rear just to get ready for work. Adeline put on a black apron, put a pencil and a notepad into a pocket and fixed her ponytail.

“We are having a small party here, Adeline!” Dan screamed at her, so she could hear him.

When she got back to him, she helped him with glasses and plates, so they would be prepared for the guests. “So, no senior club? What a shame,” she sadly sighed. “Give me more information, please.”

Dan fixed his blond hair with fingers and leaned against the bar counter. “I don’t know much. Some guy named James Rhodes booked this place for him and his friends or politicians? I have no idea. Tonight, we are here only for them,” he moved his shoulders.

“The military guy?” she raised her eyebrows. “I saw him on TV a few days ago. I wonder why are they having it here? Why not a much fancier place? We don’t have golden glasses and expensive champagne.”

“Now, now, dear,” he rubbed her shoulder. “You are mean. In fact, why isn’t Jen coming today?”

“I know she would be a better company, but,” she stopped talking when she saw his face. He didn’t like these types of words. “Yesterday, we were in a club which was attacked by some maniac,” she explained. “Monica is in the hospital and I told Jen to stay with her. That’s why I’m here,” she winked at him with one eye.

“Is it serious?!”

“I think she won’t be able to talk to you after the accident,” she made fun of him and started to laugh. “She’s fine,” Adeline waved with her right hand. Dan softly punched her right in the belly and shook his head.”

“Just go to work.”

***

It was almost eight in the evening and the first guest was already there – two politicians and someone from the US army. They all were wearing their typical formal suits, just to remind to everyone, they are very important for this country, and should be respected - that’s what Adeline thought. She was preparing their ordered drinks – expensive whiskey and the best wine they had in the bar. The men were able to pay for the best what they had there. She put the glasses on the tray, wiped her hands on the apron, and finally took away the order. Dan, on the other hand, was cleaning the rear hall, and he worked in the back of the bar, in the warehouse, lifting heavy things, and preparing everything for the next day.

“Here you are, gentlemen,” said Adeline with a smile on her face and put the tray on their table. “The best whiskey and champagne just for you,” she put everything in its place and took the tray. “Enjoy your drinks and if anything, you can politely order more,” and then she winked with one eye to the military man. His skin was like a dark chocolate; he had a royal blue suit on and was smiling at the brunette. She was a bit cheeky, but she was flirting with him just to get a higher tip.

She went back to the bar and cleaned the dishes while she still had some time. With one ear, she was listening to the quiet music from the wall speakers, and with the other one, she was listening to them. They were talking about the army and the government – a topic which wasn’t her favourite.

“I’m telling you, those guys are not on our side. They will do everything just to take it from us,” said the one in a royal blue military formal suit. It was Lieutenant James Rhodes. He was the guy from the TV. “We have to do something with this.”

“Don’t you worry, Lieutenant Rhodes. We have some contacts which can help us a lot,” said someone from their table. Adeline didn’t look at the person. They didn’t have to know she was carefully listening to them.

“But we all know what can senator Stern do,” Rhodes sighed and looked at his watch.
The brunette put the clean glasses up on the shelf where they belonged to. She heard the front door opened. “Sorry I’m late,” said a male voice from the right side. “I had something very important to do.”

“You even managed to show, Stark!” said another voice from the table. What was Tony Stark doing in this part of the city, in this bar, where she was working? Adeline slowly turned around just to look at him. The man was shaking hands with the others, smiling, and he even had his sunglasses on – typical.

“I just told you, I had a very important thing to do. I had a lovely lady at my place,” he explained with a wide smile on his face. “What are we drinking?” This was it. This was the moment when she’ll have to serve him.

“Excuse me, miss,” Rhodes called her with a pleasant voice.

Adeline once again fixed her ponytail, grabbed the tray and went to t he table. “Yes?” she smiled at him, trying to avoid Stark’s face. “How can I help you?”

“Two whiskeys, please,” Rhodes smiled back and handed her an empty glass of his.

She was on her way back to the bar when a voice from behind started to talk to her. “Lady,” said Stark. Adeline stopped and slowly turned to him. Her eyebrows were up, and she wasn’t smiling anymore. “You can have one glass – it’s on me,” he winked at her.

“I think I’m not interested,” she smirked at him and went to the bar, just to give them their order. She shouldn’t use that sentence. Being back at the bar, her eyes lifted up and met his. Tony came to the counter and put his arms on it. “How can I help you?” she asked neutrally.

His eyes were scanning her face. “You are the one who rejected me, yesterday, and avoided me the whole night,” he said with a laugh. “Did I hurt you or anything?” he was curious.

She rolled her eyes. “No,” she said stiffly. “I’m not a huge fan of yours, Mr. Stark,” she tried to reply politely. While they were talking, she poured whiskey into two glasses and put them on the tray.

“And why is that – waitress?” Tony raised his eyebrows. He hoped she’ll give him at least her name.

“What? Are you waiting for my name?” she crossed her arms on chest.

“Um, you know, I can figure out your name very easily. You see, I am a genius, and I have created a very intelligent system, and it can find me whatever I want.” Tony said it to her with conceited voice.

She frowned at him. “Um, and what is this magical system of yours? Tell me, because it sounds really interesting,” she wrinkled her nose. She felt that something changed in her, but she couldn’t tell what it was. “It’s all about numbers, am I right? Numbers and codes.”

“Well, it’s much more than that. It’s,” he wasn’t allowed to finish his sentence. Adeline was on her way to the table with the order. That woman was a surprise for him – confident, not afraid of him and tough. He liked that. Tony watched her while she was giving the glasses to Rhodes, his best friend, and communicating with them. She smiled, was nice to them, and even joked about some topic they were talking about. He sat on a bar chair and waited for her.

The brunette surprisingly looked at him when she came back. “Do you need anything else, Mr. Stark?” her eyes widened, the green colour of her eyes was glowing like a sun. How can a girl, with such a pretty face hate him so much? “Do you want me to continue on how does your intelligent system works? How did you create it?” she sighed. “You see, Mr. Stark, maybe not everyone is that clever as you are, but there are hidden talents in this world.”

“Hey, Ad? Would you…” Dan came from the warehouse and surprisingly looked at her colleague and the guest, who was sitting on a bar chair. “Mr. Stark, welcome,” he smiled at him. “Is everything okay?”

“Absolutely,” he nodded in agreement. “We are just talking.”

“No,” she moved with her index finger disapprovingly. “I am trying to work here while Mr. Stark is talking to me and restraining me,” Adeline explained.

“Why do you hate me so much?”

“I don’t hate you,” she laughed. Dan just stood there while they had this discussion. “Did you deduce it from the part, where I said I’m not interested, or the part that I’m not your fan?”

“Okay, I’ll go check our guests, and leave you two with some kind of a problem which I know nothing about.”

“It is fine, Dan. I can do my job,” she protested. The only thing he did was to grab Adeline’s tray and left the counter.

“Okay, back to business,” Tony started again.

“Why are you still trying, anyway? Other men would just leave it and deal with it,” she didn’t understand him. “I don’t have to be a fan of yours, but it doesn’t mean I hate you.” She was lying. She didn’t like him, because of that night, when he acted like a hero, but didn’t help innocent people.

“Then it would mean, you are judging a book by its cover,” he replied with a grin on his face.

“What do you know about books?” she asked immediately and sarcastically.

“Hey! What was that for?” Tony was shocked. Did she do everything just to argue with him? She obviously didn’t like him but was afraid to admit it. “I know what books are.”

“Oh, do you?” she provoked him.

He shook his head incredulously. “Oh, wow. Other girls…”

“I’m not like other girls, Mr. Stark,” once again she lied. She was exactly like the other girls. No, she was exactly like Stark. She liked to flirt with men, have a one night stand and then normally live like before. No relationships, no commitment, nothing. This was a part of her he didn’t have to know about. “Okay, how about this,” she leaned her palms again the marble and looked into his sunglasses. She couldn’t see his eyes. “I don’t hate you, you don’t know me and we can end and leave this conversation, okay? I just rejected you, because I was not interested. That’s all.”

“So, you think you know me?” Tony frowned at her a crossed his arms on chest.

She strictly nodded. “I do. The only thing I have to do is to turn on my TV and you are there,” she threw her hands up in the air. Adeline tried to control her voice. She saw Lieutenant Rhodes looked at them with a confused face.

“You are being rude.”

“I am not,” she denied it. “I’m just having a small talk with my customer,” she winked at him. “I think you are being rude.”

He was shocked. “Why are you trying to turn this on me? I don’t get it?” he laughed. “You, as a waitress, should be nice and polite to your customer while you are the exact opposite of it,” he victoriously smiled at the brunette with a high ponytail.

Adeline finally realised what changed in her. She liked this kind of conversation. She found something good in him. He was sarcastic, willing to argue with her, and that was what she needed right now. Maybe he was a rich dick, who acted like the God, but he was just like her. The only thing she could do was to laugh out loud. “Oh, oh my… I’m sorry,” she took a deep breath. “This is what I needed.”

“What? A verbal fight with an unusual, attractive customer?” he was confused.

Adeline took a rag for the dishes, stepped away from the counter and with a wide smile on her face; she went to the back, to do other work, which had to be done. The last thing she did was a short answer of an interjection: “Yeah.”

While she was in the back, Tony went to his friends and sat down on a regular comfortable chair. Dan was back at the counter, preparing other drinks, and Tony could start a debate about their important things. However, his best friend James had something different on his mind. “Hey, what was that all about?”

“Me and the cute bitch waitress?” he smiled, finally putting down his sunglasses and drank his first glass of whiskey. “We were just talking, and yesterday, we met in the club where was that damn attack,” he rolled his eyes. “If that wouldn’t happen, I bet I would end with this one.”

“Ah, well, I doubt that, Tony. I think we have this special connection. Maybe this time, you are not the one who’ll get the girl,” he patted him friendly on the shoulder and gave him a big smile. “Sometimes, you don’t have to be the Iron Man to get the girls.”

“Yeah, you just have to be the War Machine,” he grinned at his friend. “But believe me, my friend, she’s mine, even though we had this weird conversation, which I appreciated and enjoyed, she will go home with me, tonight.”

Dan was looking at them while wiping the wet marble. He had no idea what they were talking about, but their faces and looking the way she disappeared, he knew they were talking about Adeline. He rolled his eyes, left the rag and went to the warehouse for a moment. Adeline was cleaning some iron shelves and sorted bad products from there. “Can you tell me what was it about?”

“Oh, relax,” she rolled her eyes and put another sack of potato chips into the bin.

“Relax? If your boss was working tonight, you would get fired for that behaviour and you know that ” he tried not to yell at her.

“Dan…”

“No, don’t Dan me! Listen, Adeline,” he crouched next to her. “I don’t care if you hate Stark, or if you two have something together, and this is the way how you two communicate now, but you can’t do it here. I’m telling you this as a friend,” he put a hand on her shoulder.

“First thing, get that hand down off me,” she frowned at him. “Secondly,” she took a deep breath. Adeline couldn’t be arrogant to him, but Dan was that kind of a guy who would act like a baby and get offended very easily. “I think you are right,” she nodded. It was fake like Pamela Anderson’s boobs. “You know what? Go home, get some rest, I’ll close it here and take care of everything.”

“Adeline, I can’t leave you alone,” he sighed and stood up. He wasn’t happy with this idea, although he wanted to go home and get some rest.

The girl rolled her green eyes. “I’m trying to get rid of you, Dan. So, accept this offer and go home, or I’ll be the one who’ll leave you with them. The choice is up to you. You don’t have much time.”

This was it. He accepted her offer. “Adeline, sometimes you act like a bitch, but we love you for what you do for us,” he winked at her with one blue eye. “I’ll be on the phone, if something,” he ran to the rear where he grabbed his stuff. When he came back, Dan gave her colleague a kiss on her cheek. “One thing, Adeline – please don’t do anything stupid, like going home with Stark or any of these guys.”

“Don’t you worry, princess. I can take care of myself. Now go,” she gave him a brofist.

The brunette wanted to be there alone after everyone will leave. She loved to clean the place all by herself, not being interrupted by her colleagues or anyone. The feeling of being alone in a quiet bar while cleaning was what her heart loved the most. No thoughts, no fights – this was the moment, when everybody stopped existing and it was just her and her own little world of silence.

Notes