Tony was only surprised for a second. It wasn't the kind of speech that a man expected to hear from a girl to whom he had just arranged to give a large amount of money and, potentially, a job. But it was the kind of speech he should have expected to hear from the girl he remembered raising for almost sixteen years.
The implications of this thought are still swirling around in his brain, when Sally finishes, and Pepper speaks into his brain. My God, Tony, you did hit on her!
"Have a little faith, Pep," he said, out loud. He patted her arm, then got to his feet. There was a smattering of applause, and a few catcalls after Sally spoke, but mostly dead silence. Except for the reporters, in the back, buzzing on their cell phones. They had been expecting a routine event. What they were getting was yet another Tony Stark public relations train wreck. But, as Tony approached the podium, he couldn't stop smiling. His hadn't felt this clear for a long time.
"That, my friends," he said, taking the mike in hand and looking in the girl's direction. "That is Sally Stetins. Because she is, as you have repeatedly been told by tonight's speakers and by the people I employ to beg you for money, one of America's best and brightest. Because she is sixteen, she might also be under the impression that she's saying something I've never heard before. And --" Using his organic tech, he scanned the crowd and picked out one of the dozen camera phones busy filming this, flashed a smile. "If this isn't all on YouTube in half an hour, I don't know anything about America. Now -- I guess I ought to have something to say for myself."
The implications of this thought are still swirling around in his brain, when Sally finishes, and Pepper speaks into his brain. My God, Tony, you did hit on her!
"Have a little faith, Pep," he said, out loud. He patted her arm, then got to his feet. There was a smattering of applause, and a few catcalls after Sally spoke, but mostly dead silence. Except for the reporters, in the back, buzzing on their cell phones. They had been expecting a routine event. What they were getting was yet another Tony Stark public relations train wreck. But, as Tony approached the podium, he couldn't stop smiling. His hadn't felt this clear for a long time.
"That, my friends," he said, taking the mike in hand and looking in the girl's direction. "That is Sally Stetins. Because she is, as you have repeatedly been told by tonight's speakers and by the people I employ to beg you for money, one of America's best and brightest. Because she is sixteen, she might also be under the impression that she's saying something I've never heard before. And --" Using his organic tech, he scanned the crowd and picked out one of the dozen camera phones busy filming this, flashed a smile. "If this isn't all on YouTube in half an hour, I don't know anything about America. Now -- I guess I ought to have something to say for myself."
Reply
Leave a comment