The Odd Couple
Another Gala, another Charity, another waste of his time on a night he could have been working. Howard surveyed the crowd, a smile plastered on his face as if he were born with no other expression. He was quite good at all this faking it nonsense, had found that these shows were all pathetic in their own right however necessary. Money needed to be collected, donations made, pockets rubbed. Society hadn’t changed one lick through the years and that didn’t manage to surprise Howard at all. He had gone into this business completely aware of what he was signing himself up for. What the genius hadn't accounted for was one son with responsibility issues. It was like looking in a mirror. Irritating and predictable, his own flesh and blood somehow managing to pick up habits Howard used on his own parents.
This kid was good.
Howard had to give him that. But the billionaire knew all the tricks in the book because he practically wrote the damn thing. Anthony wasn’t going to get anything to slip by him. Especially now, after the deal they made. This events had ulterior motives for the Starks. Anthony was to find himself someone to settle down with, Howard’s hope being that it’d instill some responsibility into his son’s bones; much like the effect had on Howard when Maria stepped into his life. Anthony was skirting around the matter, wanting to keep his inheritance because it was on the line but a constant reminder of what terrible decisions could be made.
Howard simply wished for this whole thing to be over. He’d thank god the faster it happened.
