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It's late, well after all the other executives have gone home, because they are men and they are expected for dinner with their families. Pepper has no family and, while she DOES have a dinner date tomorrow, it means all the more she needs to stay and work late tonight so she might only pull a 10 hour day tomorrow instead of 12 or 14. She's been this dedicated to Wayne Enterprises since she started here and nothing has changed just because Bruce has been 'traveling'. If anything, she's been a bit MORE worried, more protective, when he's not around.
Down the executive hall, her's is the only light still on, shining beneath the crack in her door. Should he knock, the woman calls casually, "Come in…" Expecting it to be the janitor, or someone. She's behind her desk, in an achingly fashionable mod black and white dress that shows off her bare shoulders and willowy arms. A matching suit jacket rests over the back of her chair. There is a pot of coffee on and a radio crackling quietly as she pours over the budget book in front of her. She only looks half beat and make up is hiding the worst of the exhaustion.
Late hours and darkness hardly matter when you are Bruce Wayne… though it is rare indeed that the man can be found roaming the hallways of Wayne Tower. He is dressed surprisingly casual… or not surprisingly at all for any who know the rich playboy, or have read any of the media postings about the reported professional party-goer, wearing a simple white leather oxford, the collar open and tie-less, the top few buttons undone to expose a bit of his chest. The shirt is tucked in hastily into a pair of gray slacks and slide down his legs to a pair of brown leather loafers.
He walks along the hallway leading toward that solitary light beneath Pepper's door, making no attempt at quieting his approach. Lifting a hand, he knocks on the door gently and once he has been told to enter, he turns the knob and presses the door forward. He steps just inside, leaning his shoulder against the door frame, peering across toward Pepper with an easy smile as the door swings forward. "Miss Potts. I hear you have been doing good things for my company while I've been away," he says with a gentle lift of a dark brow. "I guess my gut was right about hiring you, after all."
Pale blue eyes flicker up from the work in front of her as she hears that familiar voice, not the voice she was expecting. Pepper's eyes shoot wide and she springs up to her feet, almost coming to attention, scrambling one hand back to grab at her suit jacket so he might not see her with it off. He had seen more but, well, those weren't business hours. Not that it's business hours right now. "Mr. Wayne! I… didn't expect you back. Or, well, didn't know you were coming. Alfred didn't tell me. I'm sorry, I'd have dinner waiting, or… reports, or something…" Pepper's perfectionist mind flickers through the room, looking for what she could do fast to make her more ready.
There really isn't anything. She has the stock reports at the end of her desk, though, so she quickly comes around and grabs at them, handing the summary towards him, "This… Stock tracking from the last month. Best I have right now. And…" Then she looks down, realizing she's not even bothered to put back on her high heels. She flushes faintly. "…I… was working late. Sorry."
Bruce chuckles and shakes his head, lifting a hand to pat at the air in an 'it's okay' sort of fashion. "While dinner would have been nice, I am hardly expecting you to have that waiting with all of the other work you have been doing. I think I should be buying you dinner, with the results you've been getting. Alfred and I have been in touch. I asked him not to tell you I was back," he says, an easy grin revealing the comfort he feels in the current situation. He steps forward, further into the office and swings the door closed behind him with a gentle click as he takes the report and glances it over. His eyes move quickly, taking in the important information, but hardly giving the impression that he is really here to agonize over stock reports.
His eyes lift back from the report, going first to Pepper's feet and then traveling up to take in that flush with a wide smile and a shake of his head. His free hand lifts up to run through his own unruly hair and says, "Relax, Pepper. You look great. And you know that I don't mind you being here. Stay as late as you want, so long as you don't burn yourself out. I don't want you losing your flame for all of this and heading off to something else."
Well, it's all out there anyway. He's seen the shoes off, the messy desk, the lack of a jacket. If she was going to be lectured for not being professional (even if it's well after hours), it would have come already. Pepper lets out a little breath with a tiny, almost too nervous laugh, before stepping back towards the little liquor cabinet in the corner. She can, at least, welcome him back with a good scotch. "I won't burn out. I can manage it. Not like there is much to do outside of here anyway." No family. No steady boyfriend. That was Pepper.
She returns with the glass of scotch, prepared exactly the way he likes it. She's remembered that. She hasn't even bothered to go back for her shoes, propriety tossed out the window now. "And no one has tried to kill me since that first incident, so…I'd say we are doing just fine. How was your trip? What updates do you want?"
Bruce reaches forward to take that glass of scotch, his calloused fingers slipping along Pepper's palm as he lifts the glass from her hand and raises it as if in toast to the woman before taking a sip. "Well maybe I'll have to remedy that, now that I am home. There are a few charity invitations waiting for me at the Manor, Alfred has been quick to tell me. Art exhibits, galas, balls, auctions…. all of the usual events of people trying to get their hands on some of the family money. Maybe I can start dragging you out of the office, kicking and screaming and make you come with me, eh?" He throws her a wink as he laughs and heads for the liquor cabinet himself, glancing over his shoulder and then pointing toward the cabinet, indicating that he intends to pour her a drink in turn.
"As far as an update goes, the fact that no one has tried to kill you again is enough for me. Updates on the business aren't really the purpose of this visit. I was just coming to see you," he says, pausing for a beat at that last moment, considering his own words before he picks back up. "My trip was great. Japan was as beautiful as always. Maybe I will take you with me next time… or make you go instead."
With Bruce having been gone for the better part of two months, Pepper had simply assumed any bit of interest was gone. But those words are enough to even get through her sometimes romantically clueless mind. Pepper blinks a heartbeat or two, mind trying to catch up with the odd jerk of her heart. She's speechless for that handful of moments before finally answering the easiest question, "Ah…Crown Royale, please…" Sure enough, there is a bottle of it, mostly untouched, on the middle shelf in the liquor cabinet.
THe woman then heads over to the little sitting area, leather couches around a fake fireplace that can be lit with gas in the winters. She settles down neatly into the corner of the couch, tucking her feet beneath her, a motion which is both relaxed but slightly closed off. "I…I'd be happy to go to any gala you need. I've been representing us at a few where I can. Met up with some old friends… it's a good place to network, too." Maybe that is what he meant.
Bruce fetches a crystal glass from the top shelf and places it flat on the cabinet shelf before unstoppering the Crown and pouring a modest amount into the glass. He lifts both glasses and moves over to join Pepper on the couch, offering her glass to her as he settles into his own side of the couch, placing his back into the corner so that he is angled to face her. His eyes drift toward where her legs are tucked beneath her, more pointedly toward the slightly closed off vibe that they present. There is the smallest furrow of his brow, thoughtful in nature and perhaps a touch confused before his eyes lift back to Pepper's and he offers a short nod.
"Of course, I suppose I have been away for some time. I hardly expect that a woman of your beauty has gone without notice…" he says after a while, lifting his own glass of brandy and taking a mouthful of the amber colored liquor into his mouth and holding it there for a moment before swallowing. His smile is somewhat forced, though he does not seem angry as he says, "I would have hardly expected you to have waited around for me."
The amber liquid is accepted with a gentle, almost apologetic smile. Pepper raises it in his direction, a slight toast to him, to his health, and then she's taking a decent pull from the glass. She's still not much of a drinker, her nose wrinkling up in reaction to the burn down her throat, but she manages it back with a watery sort of smile. "Forget what a kick this stuff has…" Pepper admits, an edge of a rasp on her words. SHe's more of a wine kind of girl, no doubt.
But then he's bringing up the matter of waiting around for him. Her pale blues dip a little, half guilty, half with a look that says things are rather complicated. "I… there hasn't… Really been. A few dates. Saw Bucky again, briefly… but he… They killed him, finally." The woman's relationship with the man known as the Winter Soldier had been long and complicated. His passing probably has hurt her more than she can really articulate. "But… Tony… I saw him this weekend. We're having dinner tomorrow. Just dinner. He knows where my work is. I'm not… I'm not leaving this job. This is the best job of my life. But…" Pepper gives a slight shrug of her bare shoulders, "I don't want to hide anything from you either."
Bruce's smile turns to something more genuine at seeing the way Pepper reacts to the bite of the Crown, his eyes twinkling a little in the light and unable to stop the light chuckle that escapes his lips. He nods his head and says, "Yes, it can. But you get used to it after a while, I suppose." He trails away as he listens to the rest she has to say, his expression sobering and the smile eventually completely fading from his face. His eyes drift some, slipping away from Pepper and toward the fake fireplace as he listens to the rest and finally nods his head. "Stark. I see," he says, taking another pull of whiskey from the glass in his hand before he falls silent once more. There is another nod, his movement stiff as he says, "For what it's worth, I am sorry for your loss."
Seeing the look on Bruce's face, the fading smile and the fact she's lost his eyes, it's enough to make her chest tighten a bit. Guilt? Regret? Wonder of what might have been? Pepper has no clue. The red head exhales through her nose quietly before knocking back another good sip of the crown and setting it aside. She then gently unfolds her legs, so she's not quite so cut off as she was when she first sat down. She crosses right over left knee instead, trying to get comfortable, but it simply wasn't a comfortable conversation. "I… am sorry too. Bucky was… he was a good man. I doubt he'd have ever had a normal life again but… He didn't deserve that." It definitely still stings. She sighs quietly, rubbing one hand down across her face and trying to figure out how to put these words. "As for Tony… He… He asked. I miss him, I can't say I don't. I don't miss being a secretary but…" Pepper shrugs. It had never been a secret from the press that they'd dated as well. Another of Tony's secretary pool flings, or so the paparrazzi put it.
Seeing the look on Bruce's face, the fading smile and the fact she's lost his eyes, it's enough to make her chest tighten a bit. Guilt? Regret? Wonder of what might have been? Pepper has no clue. The red head exhales through her nose quietly before knocking back another good sip of the crown and setting it aside. She then gently unfolds her legs, so she's not quite so cut off as she was when she first sat down. She crosses right over left knee instead, trying to get comfortable, but it simply wasn't a comfortable conversation. "I… am sorry too. Bucky was… he was a good man. I doubt he'd have ever had a normal life again but… He didn't deserve that." It definitely still stings. She sighs quietly, rubbing one hand down across her face and trying to figure out how to put these words. "As for Tony… He… He asked. I miss him, I can't say I don't. I don't miss being a secretary but…" Pepper shrugs. It had never been a secret from the press that they'd dated as well. Another of Tony's secretary pool flings, or so the paparrazzi put it.
Bruce nods his head, his eyes moving back toward the fireplace against the wall. He nods his head when the talk of Bucky returns, dropping his eyes to look back into the scotch in hand. His expression is more thoughtful than one might expect from the rich playboy bandied about in the Media. "Yes well… sometimes good men lose their way. It is unfortunate, and sad for those who come to count them as loved ones. I can understand that easily enough," he admits slowly, his voice quiet and clearly as absorbed in his own thoughts as his expression says that he is. Bruce falls silent once more as the conversation returns to Stark, his mouth forming into a straight line as he listens to Pepper's words. "I see," he finally says at length. It is likely anticlimactic, given the weight of the conversation, and may come across as the man being angry, but more appropriately, his mind likely is not quite sure how to proceed. "Well, your job will be safe here, either way. You don't have to worry about that," he says. "I did not hire you because I wanted to pursue what else came. That was just a bonus, I suppose." He grins in spite of himself and shakes his head, still looking down.
"I never thought you hired me for that reason, Bruce… And I cannot say I wasn't interested. Am not… interested. But you went away for months. And we said we would try to keep this professional. Hell, it might be better for both of us this way, really. Can you imagine the press nightmare if it got out that we were dating? Everyone would assume you just gave me the job because we were messing around. The stocks would drop again. It'd be a mess." Pepper explains quietly, still not really able to keep the aching out of her voice, the guilt. Pepper always did wear her heart on her sleeve. "But Tony is… Tony. He needs someone to keep him sane too. And he doesn't have that right now." And, from her tone alone, it's clear Pepper cares for the man. She's probably never stopped caring for the man.
Pepper has partially disconnected.
"To tell you the truth, I don't really care about Tony when it comes to the fact that he is stepping between this," Bruce says, his voice solid once more, confident, as he lifts his eyes to peer into Pepper's again. His expression is not mean, but it is certainly that of someone laying out the bare truth as he sees it. "I'm not worried about the press either," he continues, taking a drink of his scotch… the last drink… and placing the empty glass on the floor beside his foot. "I've been followed by bad press all of my life," he says, the left side of his mouth raising into a half grin as he reaches across and places a hand on Pepper's knee. "The only thing that matters to me here is what was there… could have been there.. between you and I," he says, his voice low.
"To tell you the truth, I don't really care about Tony when it comes to the fact that he is stepping between this," Bruce says, his voice solid once more, confident, as he lifts his eyes to peer into Pepper's again. His expression is not mean, but it is certainly that of someone laying out the bare truth as he sees it. "I'm not worried about the press either," he continues, taking a drink of his scotch… the last drink… and placing the empty glass on the floor beside his foot. "I've been followed by bad press all of my life," he says, the left side of his mouth raising into a half grin as he reaches across and places a hand on Pepper's knee. "The only thing that matters to me here is what was there… could have been there.. between you and I," he says, his voice low.
That wasn't what Pepper was expecting at all, especially after the few lectures she's received from others concerning Tony. Tony causes problems, she knows that. He always has, and yet the red head cannot seem to learn to say no to him. At least, not personally. Still, the feel of Bruce's calloused hand against her knee makes a faint flush creep up onto her features. She doesn't speak for a heartbeat or two longer, but lets her smaller, softer hand come down to rest against the back of his warm palm. She gives a faint squeeze, blue eyes contemplating their fingertips together there. "I… You are… God, Bruce, you're probably the best man I know. You saw something in me no one else in the world did… you've given me a chance I can never… Ever repay. Never thank you enough for. But… I wanted to be here because I'm damn good in business. Not because I'm dating the boss. Sure, your name can take it… But what about mine?" And yet, her hand doesn't pull away.
Bruce's fingers squeeze Pepper's knee affectionately, a warmth to his touch despite his calloused fingers and palm. He shakes his head, though this time his eyes never leave Pepper's as he slides a little closer to her on the couch, his presence seeming to swell so that they seem together in that cushioned space, more so than they had before. "I think you are stronger than you let yourself believe. Stronger than you make those around you believe," he says, his voice still slung low. "Just look at this place as an example. I hired you, despite objections from the board. And after an attempt on your life, you are still here and /showing/ them that you are more than what they give you credit for." The corners of his lips lift slightly into a smile, the salt and pepper of his stubbly jaw creating a myriad of shadows on his features as he says, "This is no different. They might say you were hired to be with me… but I know that is not the case. You know that is not the case. It is just a case of showing them. Showing the world."
The brush of his fingertips on her knee make her relax a bit more, some tension she didn't even realize she was holding releasing from her shoulders. Pepper lets out a low, slow breath, her shoulders dropping and pulse calming down a tick. SHe's still not removing her hand or moving away from him. This late in the day, Pepper smells very much, perhaps the most, like herself. Still her vanilla and rose perfume, but just a brush of feminine sweat under it too. She really has been here all day and it shows when he's this close, her hair a touch out of place. Eyes tired, cheeks warm. "And I will keep doing that. I'm going to make myself so damn good around here you'd never be ABLE to fire me, even if you wanted. Invaluable. That's the goal." Her red lips crack into a bit more of a smile, truly proud at the job she's done in this place.
Bruce nods his head and smiles at her statement, the expression spreading to his cheeks and actually reaching his eyes, seeming genuine. His scent is similarly evident in this close of quarters, a cologne that breathes of a woody tone intermixed with hint of tobacco or clove. He continues stroking his fingers along Pepper's knee and offers her a chuckle as he says, "I know you will be able to pull that off. Keep this between us, but I have been paying more attention to this place than people tend to give me credit for. I don't have any intentions of being stuck behind a desk here all day, so I need someone I can trust. Someone that I know that I can trust to have my best interests at heart here at the office because she believes in what we are doing here. That's why I have given you freedom to redirect funding where you see fit." He is close enough now that his shoulder rustles gently against Pepper's, as he says, "I know that you can beat whatever gets put in front of you. And that goes for the media as well."
The blush lingers on her cheeks, deepening a bit actually, especially as she takes in a deep breath of his scent and feels that stroke over her knee. It was nice. Almost tempting. Her fingertips come up and stroke down the outside of his arm, tracing along the surprisingly taunt muscle there. SHe gives a low chuckle, "Still fit as ever. You are the most in-shape business man I've ever known, you know that?" She teases him lightly, giving that arm a little squeeze. "And… I wondered if you were watching. Figured it was a bit fast for you to trust me with everything. The board is still going to beg you to get rid of me when you walk back in tomorrow, you know? They can't stand answering to a woman." She still smiles, though. She's sort of enjoying the amount of outrage that comes at her position.
There is an outright laugh at the compliment sent his way, along with a shake of his head as Bruce says, "I don't know if anyone other than you would consider me a business man!" He leans closer still, bringing their bodies together as he lifts that arm that Pepper had been tracing, the one that had places his hand on her knee, and seeks to curl it around the woman's shoulders, his other hand moving to replace the now vacant spot on her knee. "And yes, the board may grovel all they want, and I will still tell them no. You are doing a great job. And no amount of wounded pride will make me see that differently," he says easily. "And don't get me wrong. I wasn't watching you because I didn't trust you. I just… I keep a closer eye on what my company does than the media thinks that I do. I kind of like it that way. It makes these board members at ease which makes them lazy enough that they don't cover their tracks like they should when doing something that they shouldn't."
The redhead wasn't really expecting that either, but it felt nice. Pepper hadn't even realized how much tension she was holding until his arm rest around her bare, tight shoulders. She sinks back into his grasp a bit more, exhaling a long, slow breath and just trying to calm. This was tonight. Tomorrow, other decisions could be made. But tonight she could enjoy the fact he was back and how musky and heady his cologne smelled. "You are a business man. I know that, even if they don't. You can talk the exchange as fast as I can and might even know the world market's better." MIGHT. Pepper flashes him a bit more of a grin, only half teasing. "I take it you already noticed Conners is trying to move around accounting enough he has his fingers in all the division heads there? I've blocked his attempts at restructuring, but he'll probably try to go over my head now that you are back."
Bruce's arm is strong, able to be felt as his hand curls around Pepper's shoulder and he curls her closer to his side. He nods his head and says, "I have been keeping an eye on Conners for a while. He has always seemed like the sniveling weasel type. I had been planning to ask you about him… though I was not quite sure that it would be tonight. You don't have to worry about him going over your head, though. I intend on consulting you in most matters that are brought to my eye like that." He seems to sense Pepper relaxing into him, and that in turn makes him seem to relax, his body seeming more at ease as he looks at her, even leaning his head a touch closer to better smell her vanilla tinted perfume. "You smell nice," he says with a smile.
Well, that's enough to make her blush more. He might even feel the heat of her cheek against his shoulder, but she doesn't pull away. "You… smell pretty darn nice yourself, Bruce. If… I wasn't trying to be… better about this. Trying not to be a … harlot… One of THOSE secretaries… I'd be so tempted…" She IS so tempted. Very much is, but Pepper takes in a deeper breath to try and calm her pulse and keep control. They can just sit like this, right? That's what friends do. "And I'm not too worried about Conners. I'm half wondering if we should let him do it, give him the rope to hang himself with, especially with both of us watching now…" And there is Pepper. Even in an almost romantic moment, all she can do is really think about work.
"Pepper…" Bruce says, using her first name, his voice slung low in this close environment. His hand lifts from her knee and moves toward her cheek in almost slow motion, rough fingertips managing to gently brush against her cheek and cup at her jawline, pulling her face with a simple touch upward and toward his. "Let's not worry about Conners right now… not when you are so close to me and I have been gone for too long…" he says, his voice barely above a whisper as he leans forward, closing the short distance between them and pressing his lips to Pepper's. His stubble is there, likely tickling as it brushes her face, but so are his lips closing against hers with and obvious desire.
At the use of her familiar name, not even her full one but the nick name, Pepper's pale eyes go a bit wider and she turns her head to entirely face him. Then he's there, *right* there, her nose almost brushing his. For a moment she doesn't even breathe, letting her delicate features be easily guided by his hand. Her red mouth, most of the lipstick faded from the day but still leaving echoes of crimson stain, hovers open and slightly moist. She's surprised, not quite certain how things moved this fast again, not certain how to handle it all. She just watches him, half breathless, then he is kissing her and it really has been so long. She doesn't pull away, caught on this edge of indecision. But he tasted good and she had missed him… Her body sinks an inch closer.
Bruce's lips break away from Pepper's for a moment, the barest beat of time which is long enough for the tip of his tongue to slip from between his lips to wet them before he is leaning back forward to kiss Pepper again, more deeply. His hand leaves her cheek and comes to rest at her hip, his fingers curling and his grip strong, though he is respectful enough to leave that hand there. As her body sinks closer to him, he turns so that his chest is brought that much closer to Pepper's. His breathing has quickened fractionally, his exhales a light whisper of breath from his nostrils across her skin. His eyes are closed, allowing himself to sink into this moment with the red headed woman. He tastes of the scotch that she had poured him.
It's another long heartbeat or two that Pepper is leaning into that kiss, the taste of his tongue, his nearing body. So much of her could just give in now, shut off her mind, worry about consequences tomorrow. But that's simply not Pepper. She's always thinking, always worrying. So, after a longer moment, the redhead forces herself to pull back gently. She's breathless and flushed, all of her almost seeming to glow with the kiss, a faint sheen of sweat on her features. She looks up, searching his eyes. "Bruce… I… I can't. I shouldn't. You're my *boss*. And… I know we… we maybe thought… But you disappeared. I didn't even know where you went. I kept your company in line and I always will but… I can't… I won't do this with a man who doesn't trust me with everything. You're hiding things, I know that… I've said it before, and it's still there. Tony… he might be a mess. He might take advantage of me, but… he needs me too. And he's never hidden a thing from me…"
Bruce is enjoying that kiss as much as Pepper is, and it is clear in the disappointment that she finds on his face as she breaks that kiss and pulls away from him. In the words she says, the resubmission of Tony into this moment that had only moments before been unraveling into just the two of them on this couch in Wayne Tower. He shakes his head, his expression clouding, brow furrowing as his eyes slip from hers to gaze somewhere close to her neck, rather than into her eyes. "I may be hiding things… something… but just the same as you use that as a leveling tool between me and Tony Stark, I can direct it back at you. How can I trust you with my secrets if you cannot choose me over Tony Stark who has done you poorly in the past when I have not?" he says, his eyes flashing back to hers, and an intensity burning there that hadn't been there before.
That intensity surprises her a moment, but it's enough to help Pepper pull out of the moment almost entirely, her frame pulling back from him in not exactly fear, but something close to it. Pepper stares into his eyes, looking genuinely a bit stung that he would ask her that question. She lets her hand drop from his shoulder, instinctively closing in on herself already. "This… the company, everything I've done for you… That is business. Tony *offered* me a job back and I told him no, Bruce. I'm here. I'm with you. I've given sixty hours a week, more, to this company since you hired me. Work is work. When we're at a board room or in an office, everything I have… Everything I am is Wayne Industries. You know that. You wouldn't have left me alone with things if you didn't. Am I not allowed to have a personal life outside of work? What I choose to do with my off hours… Those should be my choices. They shouldn't touch things here at all."
And after that last bit from Pepper, Bruce pulls away as well. He sits back upright, and then stands all together. There is a tightness in his body, in his broad shoulders beneath that white oxford. In the way his hands clench into fists at his sides before releasing. He does not say anything for a few moments that surely seem to stretch far longer than the mere seconds they had actually been. He stoops, bending at the waist and hefting the glass from the floor that he had placed there before. His feet begin carrying him without the man really looking, leather soled shoes clacking on the floor smartly as he reaches the medicine cabinet and sets the glass down a bit more sharply than he had intended. He leans there for a moment, both hands resting on the surface of the cabinet before he says, "I guess it was my mistake then, in thinking there was more here than just business."
The anger in his motions, those sharp steps, the tightness in his body… it's all enough to make her throat tighten, guilt and a whole other mix of emotions cascading across her face. Pepper turns forward, setting both feet on the ground, her elbows resting on the top of her knees as she tries to take a breath and keep herself calm. It's not much helping, but she's doing her best to be professional. Focused. "Bruce… you left for two months. No note. Nothing. The news puts you at a dalliance with a new woman every month, if not every week. Billionaire playboy. I know the type… How was I supposed to know you WANTED more than just business with a little messing around on the side? I… God. I don't know what to do here. I'm always shit at this, always make the… worst decisions, but… I don't want to mess up this. Wayne Enterprises. All the work that's being done here and all the good I… we've… managed. This job means everything to me, Bruce. And you've… God, you made every dream I had come true. I don't want to mess it up by bringing it into the bedroom."
Bruce shakes his head and straightens, gazing at his own reflection in the glass of the liquor cabinet. His hands grip his white oxford and he jerks the front of his shirt smartly, straightening the fabric across his chest before he takes both hands and runs them through his hair. His eyes focus, closing in on a particular bottle behind the glass and he pulls the cabinet open to pull out a rather expensive bottle of brandy. Closing the door he shifts his eyes back toward Pepper and he gives her a short nod. "Don't worry about it, Miss. Potts. Your job will not be in danger just because you would rather run back to Tony Stark's bedroom. Your job is yours, like I said. I am a man of my word," he says, his face hardening against the sting of his own words. "I had thought there was something else here, but apparently there is not. And that is fine. I am going to keep this," he adds, lifting the bottle of brandy and giving it a slight shake before he turns from the cabinet and begins heading toward the door.
The sting behind his words isn't missed. Pepper is sharply aware, good at reading people, especially people she somewhat knows. Each word just sort of twists the knife in deeper, and she curls back into the couch, instinctively into a smaller ball, like she could disappear in the furniture and be forgotten by everyone and everything. "Bruce…I… I'm sorry. I never imagined…" But it's too late. He's going out the door. Pepper takes in a deep, shaking sort of breath, on the edge of tears she's not entirely sure why she's crying. But they are there. She rubs one hand down her face, trying to compose herself enough she can get back to work, but it's going to be a long and sleepless night now.
Bruce shakes his head and says sharply, "No. Don't apologize. It was my mistake, Miss Potts." He is shaking his head, his face completely devoid of emotion save for that intensity in his eyes. He has already thumbed the lid off of the bottle of brandy to allow it to fall to the floor of Pepper's office where he does not stoop to reclaim it, leaving it behind as he lifts the bottle and drinks directly from the glass container, his other hand grasping the door knob and pulling the door open before he steps into the hallway and shuts it hard behind him.