Drunk Billionaires

Julia

Whenever I asked my mother anything about my father, she would always give me the exact same response.

"He was an asshole that I hooked up with during an interview. The condom didn't work."

To be honest, the answer was a lot more believable than if she said something like, 'Tony Stark', to which, now that I think about it, she did say that to me a couple of times, but I never really believed her. It was like she was saying something like, 'Your uncle is Santa Claus!'. It just isn't very believable.

I watch my Mother slip past the door of the building before entering the twenty year old van and beginning to driving to who knows where. My eyes continue to stare at the van as it makes a swift turn and disappears from my view, leaving me frozen as I blink frantically, still trying to comprehend what the actual hell is happening. My eyes flicker from the door back to Tony Stark as I shake my head and get down on my knees to pick up my spilled papers and report cards, my cheeks getting a hot red blush of embarrassment rush through them.

"I'm so sorry." I mumble as I pick up all of my report cards first, desperate to hide the horrible grades from him. "Obviously, my Mom had a little bit too much to drink today…"

I start rambling before standing back up and gently tugging at the folder that still stands in his hands. He seems flabbergasted at what happened, probably at the amount of pure disrespect that he had just received. Embarrassment hits my face yet again as I realize just how much my Mom just embarrassed me in front of this billionaire genius dude. What was she thinking? What made her think that dropping me off to Tony Stark and telling him the lie that I'm his kid, would be a good thing?

I'm sort of hoping for Stark to, like, laugh it off and tell me to go on with my day. Or maybe give me some small talk about how family is tough. Or even just ask me to leave. But he doesn't do anything, he just stands there, completely still and in shock as I give him a nervous smile and gently tug at the files once again, which seems to finally snap him out of his state of mind and look back at me, still not saying a word.

"So, um, sorry for wasting your time… uh, Mr. Avenger Sir or, Mr. Stark, I guess, it was, like, totally nice to meet you and everything." I finally manage to snag my files out of his hand, a nervous smile appearing on my face as I casually hold up my phone and say the first thing on my mind. "Can I… Can I, like, take a selfie with you?"

I feel like a total Avengers fan-girl, just like one of the many girls at my school, but can anyone really blame me? When you meet a dude who saved the world a million times, you'd probably want to document the adventure too. I imagine how I'm going to retell the story, 'Yeah, I met Tony Stark. How? Oh, my Mom got a little too drunk and told him that I was his daughter. Yeah, crazy, right?"

In truth, I don't really know the Avengers that well. As long as the world isn't destroyed or anything, I really don't exactly care too much about what they do, but it's still pretty damn cool to meet one of the founding members.

When Stark doesn't respond to my question, I feel the heat of embarrassment take over my entire body once more as I put the phone down and feel as if I'm overstepping his boundaries. So, I casually take a step towards the door, the awkwardness in the room a little too much for me to take.

"Or, I could just, like, leave. I guess you don't really, like, want me here and it's weird…" I don't know why I'm rambling like this, but I am. I guess my nerves are getting the better of me, it's not everyday you meet Iron Man.

But before I have the chance to slip through the door and die of embarrassment, I feel a warm hand wrap around my wrist, making me flinch.

"Wait!" Stark speaks up and I instantly turn around and jiggle my phone near my head.

"Ouuu, you changed your mind about the picture?" I question, my eyes bright as Stark blinks at my question before he lets go of my wrist and wipes his eyes with his hands. He seems tired, very, very tired, that I feel bad for bothering him.

"No, no, no…" He replied and opened his eyes. "Listen, I know that this is crazy, but you… you are my daughter."

There's a bit of silence that echoed after he said that. Actually, not a little bit, a lot. Like, a little bit too much. I think it was because he wanted to give me time to think or something, but the only thought that ran through my mind was if Stark did drugs. What if his ark reactor or whatever is in his chest is affecting his brain? Like, it's not pumping enough oxygen to it or something? So maybe he just liked that little sniff of cocaine every now and then. Man, he would be such a bad role model for kids...

I expect him to start laughing or something and go all like, 'JK, now get the hell out of my house' or something along those lines, but he looks so serious, so straight forward, that it's kind of freaking me out. No, it's really, really freaking me out, that only one word slips through my mouth.

"Whaa…?" Okay, technically, it isn't really a word, but still.

I think that Stark went on with this huge explanation or whatever, but for the first time in my life, everything seemed to get silenced. I could no longer hear cars honking in the key of F, the sound of footsteps marching on the cold concrete, or even the random conversations happening outside of the buildings almost soundproof walls. For the first time, all I can hear is the sound of my heart beating harder and harder and all I could see was Tony Stark's mouth move swiftly.

I did, however, manage to catch the end of what he was saying. "…alright?"

I nod swiftly at his one word that I was able to catch and he awkwardly patted me on the back before he handed me the random files in his hand and awkwardly continued. "It was nice to finally meet you, Juliette."

"Oh yeah, you too," I replied, mostly out of habit. I casually moved to walk away, kind of scared onto how we place our lives in the hands of a bunch of drug-influenced billionaires, when Stark speaks up.

"You didn't hear a word I just said, did you?" He questions as I spin around and shake my head.

"Not one." I respond and Tony groans before he begins to repeat himself.

"Listen, I can't raise a daughter, at least, not now. There's so many things going on with the Avengers and the media… It just wouldn't look good for the press for me or you. So here's the plan, I'll give you, like, a couple hundred thousand dollars every month and you do what you need to do. We keep this on the down low from the media, and maybe meet up once every couple of months. Alright?"

"Oh yeah, yeah." I reply, remembering ever so slightly about how Tony Stark once was titled, 'The Alcoholic Billionaire' in a magazine one year. Ah, yes, makes sense. "Crystal clear." I continue and press my back against the door and continue to nod at him. "Get sober soon, Stark."

"Oh, for Gods sake…" Stark mumbled as I shoved open the door, letting the fresh, New York City air sway through my body as I frantically begin to walk away. Something about this entire thing is just… just creeping me out. "I'm not drunk!"

I continue walking frantically away from Stark, my feet moving swiftly as I occasionally glance behind me to see him rushing through the crowds. I hate how he's just acting like this, isn't he suppose to be some sort of genius? This is preposterous and just… just so crazy. I attempt to run through the busy, rush hour crowd and when I turn around, it's to realize that people seem to be clearing the way for the billionaire. Stark easily catches up to me and wraps a hand around my wrist, catching the attention of dozens as he speaks up.

"Let's go back to the tower-" He mumbled and I just lost it.

"LISTEN, I'M NOT YOUR KID!" I scream at him, instantly grabbing everyone's attention. Someone even flashes a camera and someone who seemed like a news reporters runs up to Stark before peppering him with a million and half questions.

"Oh God…" Tony mumbled underneath his breath.

How do you like the retelling of this story? Let me know in your reviews!

Love you, xoxo,

~Emily