“It’s not the idea you ever came up with,” was his publicist Samantha Jones ‘ response when he brought the idea of doing a QuickPix live with Kendis.
Normally, Tony wouldn’t have asked. He would have done it anyway, Samantha’s permission be damned.
But Tony had felt guilty for dropping the shit show that was the aftermath of the Apogee Award on her lap. It had been a week since Tony and Kendis made their debut on the red carpet as a couple.
And the press had completely gone batshit. It seemed that every time he went to the office or made an appearance somewhere with Kendis, there was a mob of paparazzi hot on their trail, shouting questions and demanding answers.
It has gotten so bad that Alke almost bit a reporter.
And while Kendis’s PR people back in England were taking the brunt of the magical press. Poor Samantha had been dealing with all the shit with the non-magical part of this public relations shitstorm.
Samantha had called to threaten to quit again, and Tony worried that he would be left high and dry during this crisis. And that sucked because he was legitimately trying to be good.
Besides, Tony didn’t want to search for another publicist on such short notice. Samantha was the only one who could put up with his bullshit. And he remembered all too vividly the many publicists that came before Samantha that he had sent home in literal tears.
“Besides, people want authenticity and not some glossy magazine spread.” Samantha had surprisingly agreed with a put-upon sigh. “And let’s not act like you weren’t going to do this anyway.”
“Sam—”
“Don’t fuck this up, Stark!” Samantha said, and he flinched as she hung up on him.
“Jarvis,” Tony ruefully shook his head. “Double Samantha’s bonus.”
“Duly noted, sir,” Jarvis replied, drily.
It all came to a head one Wednesday. Kendis managed to squeeze some time for him during lunchtime, and as a reward, Tony bought lunch for her and her entire staff. Hortense threw him a wry and knowing look, but all of Kendis’s employees swiftly cleared out to be shuffled to the Ethiopian fusion restaurant that just opened down the street.
Sitting on the sofa in the empty waiting area of Enchanted Engines, Tony and Kendis sat together. His Stark phone was propped against an empty coffee mug on the coffee table right next to a copy of Mechanics Today. He was dressed casually in a Metallica t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. While beside him was Kendis, dressed in a simple tank top, jeans, and work boots.
She appeared to be a completely different person from the glamorous bombshell who had stood beside him on the red carpet. But as Tony cupped her cheek, he brushed away the faint splotch of motor oil on her face; he couldn’t deny that Kendis was still beautiful and radiant in a way that still took his breath away. She sighed as she pressed a kiss to his fingers.
“You sure about this, Glinda?” Tony asked as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer.
“Let’s get this over with.”
Tony nodded and leaned forward to press the button.
Within seconds, over 12 million viewers tuned in. Within minutes, the comment section became unreadable.
“Alright,” Tony started, pointing at the camera. “We’ve been told the internet has questions. I personally think the internet needs hobbies, but fire away.”
Kendis snorted and then playfully nudged him. “Be nice.”
Tony clutched his chest. “I’m always nice.”
It took a few minutes for Tony to be able to read the chat because it was going so fast. Finally, it paused just long enough for Tony and Kendis to read a question:
How did you meet?
There was another long pause, and the two of them exchanged a long look before Kendis finally turned back to the camera.
“Vegas,” Kendis shook her head. “I was there for my mate’s stag party. We went to a strip club and—” She winced.
“And I saw her shaking her ass on the pole.” Tony’s eyes glazed over as he remembered the way Kendis moved on that pole. Her confidence and unapologetic sensuality had done him in from the beginning. “I dare anyone to take one look at that ass and walk away.”
Kendis slapped her forehead. “You are the worst.”
“Hey!” Tony shrugged. “I’m just telling the truth.”
“I did it on a bet,” Kendis groaned, covering her face. “A bet I should not have agreed to while tipsy and mildly competitive.”
The story that emerged was the one that they had agreed with Samantha. Something close to the truth, but didn’t allude to the fact that they were already married.
They had time for all of that later, and besides, they didn’t need to add any more fuel to the fire.
“Seriously,” Tony cackled, “that ass changed my life!”
Kendis froze and then slowly turned her head and, without breaking eye contact with the camera, reached over and placed a hand firmly over Tony Stark’s mouth.
“Next question,” she said.
Tony thought about licking her palm to get to move her hand, but he found Kendis’s embarrassment way too entertaining. Besides, he owed her for that earlier shot at his reputation.
Tony turned back to the phone, and his eyebrows went up to the top of his head as he noticed the chat going wild.
“He said what???”
“Kendis just shut down a genius billionaire on live on air lmao!”
“Why is this the most normal relationship and also the most chaotic?”
This was the first time the public got a close-up look at the dynamic between the two of them. Kendis had been avoiding the press like the plague, and the public only had blurry cellphone photos and images of Tony and Kendis doing their best to pretend like the paparazzi didn’t exist.
Tony knew that his genuine happiness and the near-lethal heart eyes he kept giving Kendis were throwing people off. This wasn’t the first time Tony had a public relationship, but this was the first time that he let all of his feelings hang out.
Meanwhile, as always, Kendis was his perfect match. She was composed and dry-witted, but her green eyes sparkled with laughter and joy. Her happiness wasn’t as extreme as Tony’s, but it was there, and it made him feel ten feet tall.
Together, they looked entirely unbothered by the chaos they were causing across the internet, and Tony couldn’t wait to see what the internet had to say about it. It was going to be hilarious, and Tony was always down for free entertainment.
Are you serious? Is she using him? Is he changing?
Tony threw his head and laughed. Kendis Black? One of the most powerful people in the magical community was using him? To be fair, they didn’t know anything about who Kendis was. But now that he knew the truth, the thought of her using him was ridiculous. Seriously, his spouse was literally nobility. What in the hell would she need him for?
“Tony?” Kendis asked, with a frown.
He wiped tears from his eyes. “I am fine.” Then he turned back to the camera and started to tick off his fingers.
One: Kendis is a successful business owner in her own right, and I can’t tell you how many times she told me to fuck off before she finally gave me a chance.
Two: Kendis hates fame.”
“He’s not wrong,” Kendis shrugged. “Being mobbed at the grocery store and having cameras shoved in my face is not fun.”
Then why are you with him?
“Because I love him,” Kendis shrugged. “I didn’t fall in love with him because of his money or his fame. I fell in love with him because he is funny, loyal, kind, and surprisingly thoughtful.”
Tony felt his cheeks flush red because Kendis said all that in a calm, matter-of-fact way as if she were simply commenting on the weather.
“Kendis!” Tony hissed.
“What?” Kendis turned to give a confused look. “They asked me a question, and I answered it.”
Tony slapped his hands to his face and groaned. “You are killing my reputation here.”
Kendis kissed him on the cheek. “Good, your reputation sucks.”
Tony coughed and tried to get control of the rush of affection and embarrassment that rushed through him. He sighed and shot the camera an exasperated look as the chat exploded again.
“You see what I have to deal with?” Tony groaned, and Kendis chuckled as she lay her head on his shoulders.
Tony pointedly looked back at the phone, reading the comments as they flooded in. Some fans were convinced it was the most authentic thing Tony had ever done; meanwhile, others remained skeptical.
A few were still stuck on the pole-dancing comment, unable to recover.
The Quickpix Live kept going longer than anyone expected, mainly because Tony Stark refused to end it.
After the Vegas reveal (and the infamous hand-over-mouth moment), the comments section was already in chaos, but gradually the questions only got even bolder.
Tony leaned back into the couch like he was hosting a talk show. “Alright, I feel like we’ve established we met in Vegas, and I’m still somehow the villain in that story.”
Kended laughed. “Sucks to be you.”
Tony rolled his eyes but couldn’t quite repress the smile on his lips.
“Was this a PR relationship?”
That question came up repeatedly, in slightly different wording every 0.3 seconds.
“Okay,” Tony huffed, “for the people in the back. No, this is not a PR relationship. I am ridiculously devoted and offensively adoring of one Kendis James Black.”
“Offensively adoring, Tony, really?” Kendis sighed.
Tony shrugged. “I said what I said. “
“Did you miss the part when I said I hate fame?” Kendis wryly pointed out. “Besides, there is only one man I tolerate getting my private life picked apart for, and I am sitting right next to him.”
“Is it true you own a motorcycle shop?”
“Yep!” Kendis stood up and grabbed the camera. “We are currently sitting in my shop. I’ll give you a full tour later, but…”
She walked over to the door that opened to the garage. Lying on her dog bed, Alke lifted her head, and Kendis waved her off. Her dog gave her one last dubious look and went back to sleep. “This is where the magic happens.”
“Is that a dog?”
“Which one??
“Enchanted Engines in Burbank.” Kendis decided to answer the latter question. She didn’t further disturb Alke from her usual lunchtime nap. Her baby got cranky if she didn’t get her sleep. Kendis walked back to the sofa and propped the camera back against the coffee mug. She plopped back down besides Tony and shot him a smile.
Tony leaned toward the camera. “It’s terrifying. I once witnessed her diagnose an Aston Martin AMB-001 by listening to it like it was gossiping.”
Kendis shrugged. “It was gossiping.”
“Did Tony know what you did for work when you met?”
Kendis glanced at him. “No.”
Tony immediately raised a hand. “I knew that she was hot with a fantastic ass. I felt that was enough information for me.”
Kendis muttered, “That explains a lot about your life choices.”
“Are you being exploited?”
That one landed harder, and a few seconds of silence passed before Kendis finally decided to answer it.
“Enchanted Engines is one of the most successful custom bike shops in the city,” Kendis stated confidently before she ruefully shook her head. “I feel like I am going to have to keep saying this a thousand times until all of you get it. But I do not want or need Tony’s money.”
Tony added quickly, “And I find it laughable for anyone to think that I am being manipulated. I am not some naïve, fresh-faced teenager. This ain’t my first rodeo, and I am discerning enough to know when I am being manipulated or not.”
“Besides, Tony did a very thorough background check on me.”
Tony winced. “You are never going to live that down.”
“Never,” Kendis replied. “But don’t worry, I’m mostly over it.”
Tony shot her a dubious look. “Uh huh.”
“What’s the dog’s name?”
Tony had to be a little impressed because Alke appeared as if she had been waiting for her cue. The dog padded out of the garage casually as if Kendis and Tony should be thankful that she was gracing them with her presence.
Kendis patted her head, and then she lumbered over to Tony. She lifted her head to demand the pets she thought she was due. Tony sighed as he bent down to scratch between her short-cropped ears.”
“This is Alke,” Kendis said. “I’ve had her for four years.”
“Cropping her ears is animal cruelty.”
Kendis gave the camera a deadpan look. “I did not crop her ears; her litter had their ears cropped pretty young. Her ears were already cropped when I adopted her.”
“If you think Kendis would ever hurt that dog, you’re crazy,” Tony added. “She’s spoiled rotten.”
“She’s my baby,” Kendis shot back with a shrug.
Alke panted, big tongue out, as her snubby tail wagged excitedly.
“She’s a menace,” Tony countered.
Alke whined, and Tony took one look at those big, watery dark eyes and folded like wet paper. “The best menace, though.” Tony muttered as he took a treat that he spent way too much money importing from England and gave it to her.
Alke took it out of her hand and gobbled it up.
“Don’t get it twisted,” Kendis laughed. “Between the two of us? I am the disciplinarian in the family.”
“Why her?”
Tony was quiet as he tried to put all of his feelings into words. Kendis didn’t rush him, though; she sat silently next to him calmly patting Alke.
He shot Kendis a look, and to his horror, he ended up blurting out, “Because she doesn’t just tolerate me. Kendis sees me for who I am and loves me anyway.”
Tony took a deep breath and then said in a low voice, “She makes me want to be a better man.”
Kendis threw a smile so soft that it wrapped around his heart and squeezed.
‘Welp, there went the rest of my reputation as a ruthless womanizer,’ Tony thought to himself as he felt his cheeks flush red. Why did she always reduce him to a clumsy teenager? This ability should be studied for science.
Tony coughed and looked away. Feeling flustered and wrong-footed, Tony threw the camera an awkward wave and said, “Uh, good talk, interne!”
And just like that, the livestream ended and the internet did not recover.
