Chapter 86: Arc Three. Chapter Eighty-Six. In A Cave With A Box Of Cameras
One phone call was all it took and MJ was on edge. She had just gotten off the phone with her agent who had offered her an audition for the world's next big blockbuster, and now as she sat staring at her phone, she wondered if this was a great idea after all.
As soon as he'd revealed himself to the world, every merchandising outlet went crazy. Everything was Iron Man, and Tony Stark was the newest biggest and hottest thing on the planet, more so than usual and MJ was being dragged into it.
A short trip into New York and she was sat as her agent paced behind her desk. MJ had considered dropping the woman, whose constant smoking and hidden but still glaringly obvious whiskey filled cup seemed to be the cliched scumbag agent. As MJ had had one decent offer that she scored herself, and the rest had all been assholes. It was this one job that was currently keeping her here.
"Look, sweety. We want someone young, talented and well, beautiful, and you tick those boxes," her agent had explained to a stunned M.J. What she didn't mention was that Tony himself had looked through the book of headshots and picked out roughly 10 up and coming actresses. A stunt he had pulled before, ending up sleeping with them. None of them complained, of course, being on the arm of Tony Stark, even if it was for just one party, never did anyone or their career any harm. Of course, a few had complained but most either shut up or were paid off and either went on to rise up or were never heard from again.
"I know, I know, it's a big one but honey, this is your break. I mean, it's just an audition okay but I've seen your work, even the small stuff, that'll be a piece of cake for you." and MJ could only nod as the reality of the situation sunk in.
The part was for Tony Stark's girlfriend. Tony had signed a huge amount of contracts from toys to phones and of course, the giant egomaniac wanted a movie so of course a movie was being made. A heroic tale of his time not just in the desert but building and testing the Iron Man suit.
MJ nodded, it was a drama, aimed at all ages so no nudity, a few kissing scenes but she knew she would be stupid to even consider turning this down, and as she signed all the legal paperwork she sat back, twirling the pen in hand and smiling. Peter had already told her that even if she wanted to do nude scenes he was fine with it, it was her life and her career. He had no say unless she started doing some very dubious movies.
Once she was back in the warehouse the group waited around the breakfast table for her news. She had told them she had an offer, just not for what.
"I, uh, got an audition for the Iron Man movie." and Peter had almost leapt on her, laughing and picking her up, twirling her around as she gave them the news.
"It's just an audition Peter, calm down," she said as his laughter became infectious and they all joined in congratulating her.
"Uh, do you get to meet him?" Peter asked and MJ shook her head,
"If I do, I'll get an autograph for you," she said chuckling and Peter fist pumped.
"Fanboys," was all Gwen said. "We, uh, don't need to be worried do we?" she asked, and Peter scowled and pouted at her to which she laughed, "it is Tony Stark you know, he does have a reputation." and Peter frowned,
"Oh shit, no I meant you, not MJ, shit Pete, stop looking like that." Gwen realised what she said.
"Hey, Peter, it's fine. Even Tony Stark can't drag me away from my one true love." MJ moved over to Gwen, hugged her, and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "so don't worry Gwen," while Peter frowned and shook his head at the pair's antics.
Liv wheeled herself out from Peter's home, "while this is a cause for celebration I've also got some bad news. I've been in contact with my lawyer, and no he doesn't know where I am, but it seems Stark Industries scooped up a lot of the patents I was holding for you dear. Most of the older ones for the Goblin armour and glider tech, plus a few on the harness. Even if I could fight for them, it's about half a million dollars worth and we just don't have the money."
Peter tapped a finger on the table, "Nah, don't care, we don't have the manufacturing capabilities to work on anything, the CLS is my own tech and while it was nice to have them Liv, I'd rather have you." and Liv smiled as Peter shrugged. Liv wheeled over to him and stroked his head, and Peter frowned, something wasn't quite right about that, something forgotten but he gently shook his head and held Livs hand against his cheek, taking it and kissing the back of it.
"I know it's not over yet, but we should celebrate, get some snacks and, Gwen, what's ready?" Peter asked as Gwen was the only one who kept a check on her brewery.
"A bit early, let's celebrate if I get it okay?" and Peter nodded, but he had no doubts that she would. The one talent MJ had, even if she was a bit hesitant to admit it herself, was that she was a great actress.
The foursome cleared away their breakfast dishes and as MJ headed to work, Gwen went into her brewery to plan for a party, and Peter and Liv headed into his home to sort through and shred anything that was no longer legally usable. The last thing Peter needed was to finish the design and have it stolen by Stark. A fan yes but in business, it was shark eat shark.
When the time for the audition rolled around MJ was prepared, she'd been given a fake script, with a simple scene on it, Tony and the unnamed girlfriend were celebrating together, a kissing scene right from the start. Her agent dropped hints that while it was supposed to be Pepper Potts, Tony's off and on again girlfriend, she was refusing to allow them to use her name, and a new one hadn't been decided upon.
The audition was at Stark Tower, and MJ was impressed by the giant glass and steel building. It was no secret that Tony had spent millions on it and it was going to be a shining example of what his technology could do.
The line for the audition was smaller than MJ expected. There were only ten or so women there and almost immediately MJ recognised a type. Hair colour wasn't important, as there was a sea of redheads, blondes and brunettes, but every girl, herself included, was young, busty, and very attractive.
At one point MJ would have considered herself one of the most beautiful women she knew, even comparing herself to Gwen, Felicia and Liv but seeing this group, all done up in their finest, all with perfect makeup, perfect hair, teeth, with perfect everything, MJ was feeling a little overwhelmed.
Getting through security was easy enough, her agent had already handed over credentials, a copy of her licences and after a quick pat-down and a trip through a metal detector, they were led into the audition room. Obviously, it was a meeting room normally but bottles of water, scripts and small snacks lined a table on one wall, with a small set up for microphones and lighting over at the other.
MJ noticed the stoic looking buff man stood in a black suit and tie, security, she thought to herself, but why here? But as she wasn't about to start anything she paid him no mind.
MJ's agent helped herself to food and even as she brought over a plate that smelt divine MJ waved her away, several of the others talked, obviously they knew each other but the familiarity escaped MJ. She was here for a job, not a social visit and as the day went on, and each person before her got their reading it soon became her turn.
MJ was slightly worried though, as each starlet took their turn she felt the actor's excitement grow and she could see the flirting and the giggling going on between the man and each one, not very professional, she thought, but not my business. MJ had dealt with creeps like that before, and this wasn't anything new to her.
"Okay love, just read the lines, do the scene and we'll talk, okay?" said one of the directors, he wasn't the big guy. Tony had wanted one of those huge Hollywood directors, this was just the talent scout he employed to do boring stuff like this.
MJ composed herself, already memorised the simple enough lines and approached the actor, who smiled at her. She could smell his excitement, not just for the location but for the girls as well, creep, she thought but smiled anyway. He was tall-ish, only a few inches over MJ, and dressed in a well-tailored suit, a nice aftershave covering a hint of oil? What the hell? thought MJ but it was none of her business. They really had gone overboard with his makeup though, the hair, slightly greying at the temples, and the full goatee and moustache combination was really attractive on the man, and he really did look like Tony Stark.
He was sluggish as they played out the scene, probably a temp they dragged in for the reading, but MJ was still going to give her best.
"It doesn't bother you?" he asked "Uh, that I'm Iron Man."
"No Tony, if you can save people. If you can be a hero that the people need, then I don't care that you're Iron Man," MJ said, with as much enthusiasm as she could muster for whoever wrote the crappy dialogue. "Iron Man, a shining beacon for all mankind, the glowing arc reactor a hope to bring us into a new day."
As she spoke, the Stark actor took her hand and kissed the back it and then pulled her in for a kiss. As MJ watched his hand in hers, she raised an eyebrow and pulled back. His heart rate had leapt up and while subtle she could see the smallest hint of an erection. A chilling thought crossed her mind. As she took a good and proper look at him she took a gamble.
"No, I'm not kissing you Mr Stark." and he frowned.
"Uh, no, just an actor," he said, but MJ noted the security guard stood up straight.
"An actor with a $10,000 dollar Rolex, that smells slightly of machine oil but still has perfectly manicured nails. No, you're Tony Stark." MJ said, pulling her hand away from him and backing off, "and this is bullshit, isn't it?" she said looking over at her agent, who with half a sandwich in her mouth, shrugged. Her reaction told her everything she needed to know.
"I should be happy, that uh, you think I'm Stark but, sorry, no, not Tony." He said, and MJ shook her head.
"You're a bad liar, security for a nobody, an audition in Stark tower, and nobody, I bet nobody calls him Stark or Tony unless they know him. So no, this is bullshit, and I'm leaving." Muse kept her rage from consuming MJ as she knew this was a set-up. An audition to see who would fuck Tony Stark for the part and MJ took the only course of action she could. MJ grabbed the fake backpack she took everywhere and looking over at her agent, "and if you set me up with one more sleaze bag, I'll break your fucking legs," and stormed out of the room.
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