Chemical Poison

Anneliese had never been more outraged in her entire life. Upon entering the Expo, she was already annoyed that she had to argue her way through security to let her in. This annoyance grew as she saw the state of the Expo, she couldn't fathom just how much had been messed up. Specifically the green panels, certainly the green panels.

As she walked through the crowd of running construction workers and avoiding the questions yelled by some of the business men within the expo. Anneliese arrived at the podium where Howard would present his prototype.

It was all wrong.

Opening her small pink handbag from the clasp, Anneliese searched for the layout plan she had sent to Harold Lockes to follow. Every second her eyes would jump from the blueprint to what was in front of her and notice the smallest mistakes - ignoring that the stage was at least a foot too tall.

Making eye contact with one of the construction workers, he swiftly made his way to Anneliese.

"Who's your boss?", she asked.

Without a response, he dashed to receive him.

And with the head construction officer came Alexander Gray with a cup of coffee in his hand. Meeting his eyes, she watched as he waggled his eyes before continuing his conversation with the man. Obviously stressed, Anneliese watched the man dap at his forehead as the two eventually made it to where she was standing.

"And who are you?", the man asked. She could see that his race was flushed red, either from the heat or the stress.

Providing a smile out of necessity, Anneliese begun.

"Did Mr Lockes show you this blueprint?", she asked. Passing him the piece of paper with very explicit details written all over it.

The man scratched the back of his neck as he gazed over a layout plan he had already seen. Anneliese's lips tighten as he passed it back to her, nodding.

"And does this set up look anything like the blueprint?"

He didn't make a sound or a move.

Folding the piece of paper up carefully, Anneliese made a point to stare directly into his eyes. Her brutal beady black eyes.

"Stark Industrials does not accept average, Mr?"

"Mr Todd," Alexander filled in.

Sending him a smile, Anneliese returned to glare at the construction worker.

"Mr Todd, the work your company is below satisfactory. As written in your contract, you will not pay for your service if it does not meet the standards upheld by Stark Industrials," her voice coldly spoken. Moving her hands to the front of herself, resting on top of  one another, she continued.

"By law, we're legally obligated to pay your men the bare minimum. But the law of the day means I can sue your company for every cent you wasted from Stark Industrials, and it certainly means I can inform the press of your incompetence. If I was you, I would be informing your men to work quicker - ensuring they get a cut of your wage. As we will not be paying you for today's work, it's a consequence of the mess you made."

Mr Todd went to protest, but after years of working with men exactly like him, Anneliese had anticipated it.

"I can authorise for your company's dismissal if you wish. Yet my threat remains, I have often been informed that Stark Industrials are ruthless in the courtroom."

He left quickly. Perfect.

Sighing, Anneliese kept her eyes to the ground for a few seconds. Taking a deep breath before she lifted them and met Alexander's grin.

The two linked arms without speaking initially, until Alexander dived straight into his time with the president. Supposably he was an absolute bore, which was expected. However he didn't anticipate for his secret service to absolute party animals - or frisky in bed.

Walking until they reached what Anneliese assumed was a tempory office set up for Harold Lockes, Alexander opened the door, only for her to see Howard deep in conversation. He hadn't noticed either one of them had entered, still arguing with three men in black suits.

Alexander leaned over to whisper in her ear, "He's speaking to Cowboy 1 and Cowboy 2."

Craning her neck to face him and arched her eyebrow. "Sorry?", she asked.

His lips curved into his usual smirk, "Just some politicians from the south. They've been in conversation for hours."

The room grew silent as Howard's eyes flickered up to Alexander and Anneliese. Suddenly, she felt like a small child.

"What are you doing here, swee- Miss Lorenz?"

She could hear Alexander laugh beside her. Slightly nudging him with her elbow, he lowered his voice as he took a sip from his coffee. This was when Anneliese saw who Cowboy 1 and Cowboy 2 was, clothed in suits but paired it with a pair of cowboy boots. It was rather ugly.

Anneliese liked looking at pretty clothes, she liked fashion. That was not fashion.

"You left your paperwork at my house this morning."

Alexander spat out coffee.

Howard dismissed the two politicians and brought his hand under his chin. Grinning.

"I didn't leave any paperwork behind", he stated.

Smiling, Anneliese took a seat at the small oval table. Alexander remained in the doorway, arms leaning against the beam as he gleefully sipped at his coffee.

"And I don't like being told what to do." Anneliese took out the blueprint and a piece of paper on the necessary constructions that are required to get a safety and hazard test sometime that afternoon. "I will be taking my two weeks leave during the Christmas break."

Her eyes remained on the paper as she continued to speak, "I've spoken to Mr Todd-"

A chuckle came from Alexander, "More like threaten."

Ignoring his comment, Anneliese continue reading from her paper. "He is aware of the consequences if he does not meet the expectations ruled by the contract. I've informed him that lawyers will get involved if we are delayed another day. In fact, I volunteer to supervise the lawyers we're bound too need-"

Glancing up, she was startled to see Howard staring directly at her. It wasn't frightening, but it was nerve biting.

With a nervous voice, Anneliese spoke, "I've written down hourly deadlines and I want someone to ensure they are being met. Honestly, I cant believe I allowed incompetent men supervise this."

"Men?", Howard question, his lips quirking up.

Without any hesitation she responded, "You two have been here all day and achieved nothing as it seems!"

"She has a point," Alexander chipped in.

"She's also calling you incompetent," Howard replied dryly back.

Rolling her eyes, Anneliese moved the paper towards Howard, who greedily started reading over her work. There was also some satisfaction when she achieved the impossible whilst she was working for Stark Industrials, but this was euphoric. She had helped Howard after being unable to even help herself for the past few hours.

Alexander took his leave, prompting that Anneliese had opened the door for the snakes to come out and play. She knew a few of the construction workers were about to throw a hissy-fit once Alexander was done with him. As a son of a banker, he was obscurely good at annoying anyone into their work - or harassing them for not doing their work.

He was most certainly going to cause a lawsuit from his actions, she just knew it.

The room was silent without Alexander and Anneliese suddenly became more nervous as Howard was still reading the papers she put together for him. She became fidgety as her eyes bounced around the room, her fingers picking at her nail bed - destroying whatever growth and perfection she managed to maintain for the past few days. Without Howard, she felt helplessly alone. With Howard, she had never felt so real and yet the nerves were eating her alive.

Resting her eyes back on Howard, he was staring back. Curious.

Her breath hitched as his eyes became an impregnable wall. Heart slowing down, threatening to stop all together as his eyes studies her, theorised her and seem to complete a full diagnosis of her character. If he was a creator, Anneliese was his prized invention.

"Why are you here?", he asked. Not cold and not warm.

Sucking in a deep breath, Anneliese wasn't ready to face herself. She didn't want to admit that deep down she wanted to be selfish; to get lost in all of this. Admitting aloud seemed hard.

"I had to work-"

"-You had the day off. Stark Industrials wouldn't collapse if you're not here."

Blinking, Anneliese felt her mind beginning to scramble. She needed another excuse, she needed to deflect.

"You sure?", she begun to say, nervous as she spoke, "To what I saw, Alexander was many hours behind schedule."

Howard's hand had moved from holding his head to moving to his temples, slowly massaging them as he closed his eyes. Anneliese felt bad now, enormously. Was she the cause of the headache? A bullet to the heart, maybe she was wrong to come to the conclusions that she could come to love Howard. Maybe she was just too difficult.

A small groan slipped his lips and Anneliese instantly got up, "I see I'm not wanted here. I'll go-"

"NO."

That wasn't silent. This was a yell.

Her eyes landed back on Howard, who was still massaging his temple with one hand whilst the other was reached out towards her. "I mean, you can stay but we need to talk." He corrected himself, his eyes were kind and it was calming.

Cautiously, Anneliese sat back down and Howard reached for her hands across the table. She provided. It was his touch that warmed her, how his fingers sent small explosions through her - reminding her of untouched youth and innocence that she long trapped away.

"If you wish to stay," he begun. There was something awfully beautiful about his golden spec eyes wide - filled with worry and tension, almost cruelly so. "I would like you to stay as Anneliese, you don't always have to be Miss Lorenz."

Family had been the only thing Anneliese ever had on her mind. She spent chilly mornings and frustratingly long train rides thinking about it all, and it was always ended with family. To her, she wasn't Anneliese - she was a Lorenz, the last of her lineage. Her parents had expectations, much like any aristocrat had for their child, whilst she was in Germany. Her father had expectations, much like any immigrant father, whilst she was in America. She always thought of herself as a collective, a mosaic of her family. As a representative of all that was Lorenz, her family was likely so a representative for what it meant to be Anneliese.

Unable to speak, Anneliese decided to luxuriate in his touch. A sweeping sensation of new beginnings overcoming her. It wasn't selfish to put herself first, right? She wasn't being a terrible daughter if she separated herself from her heritage, right? The source of all her pain stemmed from her family, would it be such a bad thing to not be a Lorenz?

Howard had noticed her brain ticking faster and faster, and decided to reassure her, "I'm asking as your boss to let go of this project. Let Alexander and myself struggle with all the Mr Todds in the world. You deserve a break."

Without a second to protest, Howard had stood up and slowly walked over to where she was sitting, crouched down to meet her face, a mere few inches away.

"I am also asking as your boyfriend, whether it's an act or not an act-"

If Anneliese had to place responsibility on someone for her action, she would blame everyone expect herself. Even if she wanted to act on her own impulses, and on her own accord. She would not hold herself accountable. Anneliese moved without thinking, leaning closer into Howard and cupping his face as support for her very next act.

An act based on facts.

She thought Howard was awfully painful to deal with. Fact. She knew that the green panels would not be fixed. Fact. And she knew she had somehow fallen in love, completely, utterly and nearly obsessively with Howard Stark.

Her lips clumsily pressed against his own, and Anneliese nearly cursed herself. She suddenly retreated from the contract, opting to deal with the teasing she would receive to spill a colourful selection of profanities hanging off her next breath, but his eyes stopped her. Not the colour or the closeness, but the fact that there was no hazel at all.

Only gold.

Affections romance.

And it was spreading unchecked. Anneliese's breath was taken away, there was something golden, something pure about him.

Caught off guard, Howard's eyes creased around his typical firm edges as he searched her face. What he discovered in her gaze, Anneliese wasn't sure, but he leaned in with hesitancy like no other. Seemingly used to guide his movements in slow forward pauses until he was just a breath away.

Howard's hands cupped around Anneliese's hands on his own cheek and slowly moved to drop them. Moving his own heads to cup her face, his lips ghosting past hers once. Twice.

Anneliese parted hers in a second attempt to whisper a curse, unconsciously shifting her chin up as Howard exhausted and kissed her fully. The action exposed everything that has been left unsaid, that will probably remain unsaid. It screamed I love you's and small whispers of nothings.

Her body rigid, air rushed from Anneliese's lungs. She knew the Anneliese that was bound by duty knew what to do: firmly reject him, push him away leaving no questions asked. Yet, Anneliese knew the exact pinpoint of why she did no such thing.

She was in love with the man. Completely unprepared. She allowed Howard explore with a series of slow, closed-mouth kisses; feeling like a warm-up, a practice of a sort for the main event.

This felt real, more so than any other before. This was luxury and this was dangerous.

The reason Anneliese opened herself to the experience was selfish. But it seemed a small amount of selfishness never hurts anyone.

She just wanted to explore him.

Without the responsibility that came with such an act. Throughly and as completely, she wanted to explore possibilities closed off previously. Without the weight of the concequences that came from such an act, from this person.

From Howard.

It was natural to fall into him, the romance of faith. He was the creator and she was the machine.

Howard's lips were warm and firm, a taste of vodka trialing from his lips. And it was all too easy to kiss him, to keep kissing him, to grip his shirt and bring him closer. She was floating in the stratosphere and she never wanted to leave. Earth be damned, she only wanted him. Anneliese closed her eyes and explored him, all while cataloguing each and every sensations. Emotions she longed forbidden herself to ever feeling.

The fluttering in her stomach. The vigorous pounding in her head that couldn't be associated with fear. Only anticipation.

After all, It was human nature to seek meaning through a means such as primal as touch, and in that moment, Anneliese had only realised it was okay to stop denying that she was hungry for it.

Starving to be touched.

Ravenous for a belonging that was all hers.

Proof that she could be loved.

To feel less alone. Connected.

Her feelings were natural as she—after a few mishaps with noses and angles—began working. An electric tingle ran through her veins when she moved a hand to Howard's chest, right over his heart, and felt the way it thumped against her palm. His pulse pounded, just like hers.

This was sheer chaos, borderline insanity. The fake dating. The silence. The construction outside. The change in their relations. The war and the crashing skies.

It was the faint smell of his charcoal cologne in the air around them.

Or perhaps it was a combination of nothing and everything that created the need for her to squirm and struggle against the rising emotions in her chest. The hard clench of her belly. The want to be seen. The beat of her heart, the breath in her lungs and the pulse in her veins.

It all only reminded her that this was Howard kissing her. Chanting over and over and over again, that she initiated this. It wasn't an act nor was it a distraction. It was an undying need to be close, to be loved. Yet, it was still Howard touching her. Howard with who she had fallen into a rhythm of a dangerous push and pull, a sharp rise and steep fall. Howard that had her heart lodged in her throat, had her fingers shaking from both stress and fear.

But it was also Howard that whispered between kisses: Oh, sweetheart, Ana. It was still him not breaking the connection as his hands moved to the back of her neck, pulling her closer. And it was Howard who continued to pepper kisses on her lips as she tried to whispered.

"Howard-", her voice breathless. Interrupted by the overwhelming need to kiss him, to love him.

"Howard-", she tried again. Howard slowly placed soft kisses down her chin and her neck, stopping midway. Restarting: kissing, sucking, teeth slightly scrapping against her skin.

A low sound left her lips, perhaps a moan of a sort. "I- i-"

He didn't stop. Sucking, tugging, kissing.

Barely a whisper, Anneliese said the unspoken words. "I love you."

They pulled apart suddenly as the door opened with Alexander standing smug at the door with Mr Todd, who seem to want to shrivel up inside. Anneliese quickly turned her head away from Alexander, not wanting to face his scheming grin or glance at Howard after confession something so massive. It was the tug and pull.

"For fuck sakes," Howard grumbled, "Yes, Grey?"

"Mr Todd wants to inform you that all constructions have passed the safety officer's expectations and will continue on the decorations required."

Anneliese wanted to moan in embarrassment. She fanned the heat from her face, as if it was reduce the redness. It did not. And it seemed, in the corner of her eye, she saw Howard attempt to fix his dishevelled hair - unsure if she was the reason it was in such a state. He was also sporting a pink tinge across his nose and cheeks, and a bold pink lipstick stain around his lips.

She heard one pair of footsteps leave the portable office, she knew Alexander remained. Turning, Alexander's grin was bigger than life.

"You have a little thing here", he said looking directly at Anneliese, pointing at the sweet spot Howard had been kissing on her neck.

Anneliese had never wanted to curse so much in her life. So she did.

Fuck.