As Storm and Kitty walked to their rooms to drop their bags off, Pepper Potts was just arriving at her spacious suite. The Stark Industries CEO had spared no expense in pampering herself. She opened the door to her cabin suite and smiled to herself, gently lowering her luggage to the floor. The redhead had to admit she made the right choice as she took her time in taking in the ultra-modern suite.
The first thing she noticed was how spacious her living area was. It featured a couch, two easy chairs, a small desk to do any work she wished to get done, and at the center of it all a large coffee table, a large gift basket resting atop the wooden surface, and an ice bucket complete with a bottle of champagne beside it. Dominating it all, however, was an enormous 4K television that was playing a slideshow of abstract blue patterns that alternated with short videos of the ocean liner sailing picturesque seas. All around her came the sound of crashing waves, with undertones of low, soft strings. Pepper looked up and saw built-in surround sound speakers strewn out evenly around the ceiling. She glanced back at the TV and saw that every now and then the BLISS logo would fade in and out on the screen.
Pepper raised her eyebrows and her lips curled in a little smile. She was feeling a little guilty for splurging on such a big room, realizing that she hadn’t even made it to the bedroom yet. Still, Stark Industries had just celebrated a banner year and she thought to herself, as the company’s CEO, she deserved a celebration and a little pampering.
Speaking of celebrating, Pepper moved to the gift basket and read the brief welcome note. It outlined everything that was in store for the Stark Industries CEO in her time on board the ship and invited her to toast her stay with a complimentary bottle of BLISS-brand champagne. Pepper shrugged. If Tony could finish half a bottle of Scotch by himself then she could indulge in a glass of bubbly. She wasted little time in popping the cork.
She was just about to take a sip when Pepper’s attention was drawn toward the panel of wall-length windows that looked out onto the water of New York harbor. Her feelings of guilt at having such a large room vanished and in its place a new excitement over her view grew. She imagined looking out onto the picturesque seas that would flash on the TV once the ship started its long voyage. Stepping toward the panel, she saw to her delight that she had her own personal deck space just outside her suite. Taking another step, she was surprised when a window panel was actually a door. It slid open and she stepped out onto the deck. Pepper breathed in the salty sea air and heard a commotion from beneath her. She looked down to see that from her raised suite deck she could also observe everything that was going on on the large deck. The redhead saw that more and more people were gathering to see the ship off, and Pepper smiled.
“To a happy and safe voyage,” Pepper announced to herself, before taking a sip from her glass.
The champagne flowed down her throat and Pepper’s smile only grew. The bubbly alcohol tasted absolutely delicious! Taking one last glance at the outside deck, Pepper made a vow to spend most of her time out there. She would relax on her deck chair engrossed in a book or would simply people watch to past the time. All the while, she would get a healthy, glowing tan. A pleasant tingle ran up her spine. She couldn’t wait!
Walking back into the suite, Pepper picked up her suitcase and decided to check out her bedroom. Like the living area of the suite, Pepper was impressed by not only the size of the bedroom itself but of the large king-sized bed. She did have to admit it did look comfortable. She did have to roll her eyes when she saw that there was another TV bolted to the wall playing the same looped video as the one outside her bedroom. The redhead saw that there were speakers built into the wooden frame of the bed and lying on top of the very soft-looking comforter was a pair of BLISS-branded earbuds. They looked to be of surprisingly good quality for a complimentary item, too. Pepper smiled and shook her head.
“OK, this is getting ridiculous,” Pepper said to herself, taking another drink from the champagne flute. She reached for the remote control and firmly turned the TV off, “I’m not going to spend this vacation watching TV or listening to music. I can do that at home.”
Pepper took another sip of champagne. For a generic product with the cruise company’s logo plastered on the label, the sparkling wine tasted quite nice, and with a final gulp she downed the rest of the glass. She felt slightly buzzed, grimacing slightly as she realized that she probably shouldn’t have had alcohol on an empty stomach. Remembering the rest of the treats in the gift basket, Pepper made her way out into the living area and grabbed a bag of mixed nuts. She’d left her empty glass in the bedroom, but she still had the bottle in her other hand; absently, she filled the other champagne flute to the brim, and placed the half-full bottle back in the ice bucket.
“What the hell,” she smiled to herself. “I’m on vacation.”
Walking back into her bedroom, and taking some idle sips along the way, she placed the quarter-full glass on her nightstand and retrieved a crisp new paperback from her bag, the latest in a mystery series that she’d been meaning to catch up on for over a year. Lying on the bed, Pepper opened the bag of nuts and without looking, popped one in her mouth. It was an almond, with a salty, almost musky taste to it. Whatever chemical or flavoring had been put on it was almost overwhelming, and she was glad she had poured herself another glass of champagne to wash it down. It wasn’t bad though, not at all. She grabbed another handful from the bag, and tossed them into her mouth, letting her teeth and tongue crash over them.
The redhead thought about calling Tony, and letting him know that she was safely on board the cruise, but as she took another swallow of champagne, ultimately decided against it. Her boyfriend was busy and she’d just be distracting him from whatever threat to the world the Illuminati were dealing with.
Instead, she cracked open her book and let her fingers brush against the inside cover. Page One. She started reading, treating herself every now and then to a salty snack or a drink of champagne. Pepper allowed herself to indulge in the comfort of the plush mattress and the large, thick pillows. She was so content simply lying there.
Her hand absently drifted over to her bedside table and she turned the radio on. She thought that a bit of background noise would be just the thing to help her concentrate. It played a soft tune, a comforting and soothing variant of the song the television had played. It played on and as Pepper continued her reading, she found herself getting more and more relaxed. The book eventually settled comfortably on her abdomen, pages down as she finished her glass and the bag of mixed nuts.
Pepper drifted off to sleep, the music playing all the while.