2012-07-11 Looking To The Future

Pepper Potts is in her office, catching up on emails and stuff while waiting for the first Internship interviewee from her hand-picked short list. "J.A.R.V.I.S., set a reminder for me for the Senate hearing."
"Yes, ma'am. Reminder set."
"Thank you."
Right about then, there's a knock at Pepper's door; it's almost immediately followed by the young woman on the other side nudging it open a crack to peek inside.
"Hi, hey, um, I'm here for the Future internship?" She pauses for a second, frowns, then steps back from the door. "Er, the--the /present/ internship with the Future--" She is running a couple of minutes late, and the lack of breath from having run all the way here is evident in her voice.
There's another pause; rather than try again, she just exhales, drags the door back shut, and gently raps on it again.
Pepper Potts looks up and smiles. She knows that the security rigamarole can take time, so isn't at all upset about a small lack of punctuality. "Come in," she calls out to Miss Brown.
This time, Stephanie firmly pushes the door open and takes a big step inside. "Thanks," she briskly says, hand held up in a stiff greeting; once it drops, she clasps it behind her back and exhales again. "I'm sorry, I was--" She glances towards the door a second, then just shakes her head and edges towards the nearest available chair.
"--anyway, hi," she murmurs.
Pepper Potts stands and steps around her desk with a notepad and folder in one hand, offering her other hand to Stephanie. "Hello. Thank you for coming in. I'm Pepper." After the girl sits, she claims another of the chairs instead of putting her desk between them again. She crosses her legs and sets the notepad and folder on her lap. "So, tell me a little bit about yourself."
"Um." Stephanie shifts in her seat a little, then flashes the redhead a nervous smile. "Well. I live in Gotham City with--my mom." She folds her hands loosely on her lap, then settles in place.
"I go to Gotham High, I'm on the Gymnastics team. I used to babysit for another family in my neighborhood a lot, after school, but they moved away after Firefly robbed the Whole Foods they were shopping at one--" She meets Pepper's eyes for a moment, then flicks them away with a wee groan.
"I'd--like to get out of Gotham more, to tell you the truth," she quietly adds to her list of Steph Facts.
Pepper Potts nods slightly. "That's a bit of a commute to do every day. Do you have a student rail pass already?"
Stephanie's eyes widen a little, and then she gives Ms. Potts a firm nod and a quick wave of the hand. "Of course," she replies as she makes a mental note to purchase a new pass, "yeah, no problem."
Pepper Potts catches the brief wide-eyed expression and smiles again. "All right, though if you're interning here and it comes up for renewal, we'll cover the costs for you." She makes a note on her legal pad then conceals what she wrote with the folder, though if one is really quick-eyed, they'd see 'add rail pass' on the yellow paper. "What about this internship caught your interest, other than it being outside of Gotham?" She says the last with a hint of humor in her voice.
Stephanie misses the note and catches the amusement; grimacing, she sits up a little straighter in her chair.
"Well, the /reason/ I'd like to get out of Gotham some is because I--well--I mean, it's not the kind of place that inspires you to think about bright futures or better tomorrows, you know? And I just think that even if I probably won't ever be the next Tony Stark, or anything, it--it might be nice to, like--" She gestures for a moment before finally thrusting both hands passionately forward.
"--/learn/ a little about what it might take to change that." As soon as she's done, her eyes fall and a big breath leaves her lungs.
"Does that--does that make sense?"
Pepper Potts nods at that. "It makes perfect sense. The Internship positions are a high tech focus, but if you bring the same discipline to this position as you did in gymmastics or your high school classes..." she turns a page in the folder, where Stephanie's school transcript is revealed, "you should do just fine."
Just then, her computer blips softly and J.A.R.V.I.S.'s voice pipes up, "Ma'am, this is your reminder for the Senate hearing."
Pepper looks over at the computer then at Stephanie. "I'm sorry to cut this a bit short, but I have a flight to catch." She stands, offering her hand to the young lady again. "Thank you again for stopping in. We'll be in touch, hopefully if you've been approved to interview with Tony directly."
Stephanie stands when Pepper does; the news that their interview is being cut short for a Senate hearing is so jarring that she almost sputters out an apology for her lateness and impatience on the spot, but she holds it together.
Of course, her wide eyes and stiff, absent-minded handshake do her no favours when it comes to keeping her shock under wraps, but she can't win 'em all.
"N-no problem. You're welcome." After half a beat, she slides her hand back to her side, quickly tacks on, "Thank /you/," then turns to hurry out of the office. As soon as she's on the other side, she presses a hand against her heart and lets out a slow breath.
Maybe in a few months, /she'll/ be getting calls to fly out to Washington DC from her own AI assistant; Senators must need people to fetch them coffee during their hearings, right?
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