Close Your Eyes

Dasha never thought she would be in this predicament in her life…ever.

Her brown eyes gazed out the window as they were passing by building by building; she refused to look at her companion for the night. She huffed as she shifted in her seat wondering how in the hell she got into this mess.

Oh yeah; it was her fault.

Way to go, she thought bitterly.

When she felt Tony's hand slowly go up her exposed leg where the slit of her dress was hiked up farther than it would have if she was standing up; her hand instantly smacked his hand away. "Ow, Dasha. That wasn't nice." he pouted, tending to his hand. Dasha glared at the man sitting next to her as she replied, "You deserved it."

"Now, now Dash. It isn't my fault that you stuck yourself in a rut that was all your ingenious planning."

The scowl on her face didn't move as she turned to stare at the window again; Dasha thought this event was going to be like every other event that he has been to. She has only been to less of a handful of these organizational events with her sister and that was enough for her but for Tony. He always had to go, didn't mean he did.

This event was different.

This one only happened after Christmas and it supposed to symbolize the start of a new year. Dasha was going to celebrate a holiday she never celebrated in a day in her life…New Year's. She never found out the true meaning of this day, it was only an excuse to drink up and find some random person to make out with when the clock struck midnight.

Dasha was always in the hospital during this time, saving lives.

That was her New Year's celebration.

The kids had no one to be with so she always at least had them gathered in a room and had a small get together so they wouldn't be alone. She had it every single year; now someone else was going to be put in charge of it this year since she was occupied at the moment.

As much as she didn't want to deal with Tony or any of his immature actions his donation can make an impact at the hospital. Of course, they are running successfully but with the amount of patients that are strolling in day by day is taking a toll on the hospital and with new money they can build another wing to suit everyone best.

Do it for the kids, she chanted mentally.

When the car stopped, Tony slipped out of the driver's seat as he jogged over to Dasha's side; immediately she could hear the roar of publicists calling out his name and millions of flashes blinding them. She should have brought sunglasses, but she was never on the side where she was with someone famous, so how would she know?

Seeing Tony with his shades only made her envy him even more as he opened her car door the noise from outside was more prominent. He leaned in offering his hand which she took, linking her arm with his making sure that her black dress was intact when she stood up. Dasha is going to kill Jak for making her wear this stupid dress.

The dress consists of a modest one shoulder strap as it covered most of her chest with a diamond incrusted broach on the strap. This was the only dress that she has worn that went down to her ankles, but sadly the slit that went all the way up to her upper thigh made up for the modesty. Jak was all about having some sexy in whatever she was wearing.

Dasha doesn't really have any dresses so when Jak found out that she was going to a New Year's party event with Tony he went ballistic. He went on and on about saying she had to wear the perfect dress since she was going to be in the spotlight. She groaned when she realized that what he said was true; from the flashes that were blinding her eyes to the publicist going crazy over Tony and the other celebrities at this event she discovered that she hated the limelight.

Tony can have it, but with the firm grip on her arm she stood by his side as she forced out a fake smile towards the cameras. It was automatic when a camera was in her face; her lips instantly curled into a smile that seem sincere unless you looked into her eyes you can tell that she was not enjoying it one bit.

She tensed when his arm went around her waist for a picture, his hand was on her hip as his thumb was rubbing a small spot on her dress. He leaned in as he whispered in her ear, "Are you enjoying this as much as I am?"

It was then she realized that Tony was doing all of this just to make her uncomfortable. Tony rarely stopped to take pictures, always was the one that went straight in without any questions. But tonight, he wanted Dasha to have a taste of the limelight and her being so uptight and private he wanted to break that habit.

He saw that she could fake a smile.

She was too good at it.

Dasha almost sighed in relief as they finally walked away from the press as they walked into the building; when she saw that they had to take an elevator to get to the party she kept a tight lip when they stepped in with the other pompous people that were riding with them.

The whole ride up, Tony kept his arm around her waist as he kept rubbing tiny circles around her hip humming to himself a tune that she didn't recognize. It sounded like a rock song, but she wasn't familiar at all with it so she left it be. As she breathed in and out, the elevator dinged as the doors slide open slowly revealing the large ballroom area.

Stepping out of the elevator, she almost gaped at the huge and beautiful scenery all around her. The marble flooring to the huge pillars that were keeping this floor stable. Her heels clicked at the cool marble floor as one of the walls was merely made out of glass, so you can see throughout the whole city of Los Angeles.

It was purely magical.

"Love me now?"

"Not even close." she murmured back as she looked at the area around her.

Finally he never let go of her waist as they mingled with a few of the people around them; Dasha rarely said anything as the people surrounding them laughed at Tony's story. She wanted to roll her eyes at the entertainment that he could provide for them, it was pathetic how some of them faked how much they listened to him when they probably were all thinking about how much of a man whore he was and didn't deserve any of the money that he possessed.

Greedy bastards.

"So Tony," one of the men started out as his green eyes moved towards Dasha "Who is this beautiful young lady that is dangling on your arm?"

It took all of her might not to slug him right at the moment. This was one of the downsides of being Tony's date. Everyone immediately thought she was a whore or some kind of gold digger that had no sense of class or dignity. All her dignity went right down the drain when she accepted his invitation to this stupid party.

"This beautiful young lady, is Dasha Swan." her brow twitched when he emphasized young, did he mean that she was old? She was only twenty-nine for God's sake and that was not old, not even in the slightest, he should be talking, old man.

"Ah, so Ms. Swan what is it that you do?" everyone in their group stared at Dasha for an answer.

They were all expecting her to say, she didn't have a job or she was some model, actress in the making or some sort of job that would need the help of this jerk of a billionaire that was standing right next to her.

"I'm a pediatric surgeon, fourth year resident." she stood there proudly even though their faces were unmoved she could see that some of them were shocked. She instantly changed their minds when she went into what she did and what she believed should be changed in the hospital.

That's right, Dasha was intelligent.

Probably the smartest woman that Tony has brought to an event.

Most of the women gave her sneer looks still thinking that were still on the top of the food chain around here because she was only a doctor. "Now that is a change of scenery, Stark." one of the laughed staring at Dasha "You brought an intelligent woman; that must be a ground breaking record for you."

Tony wrapped an arm around her waist with a grin, "What can I say? No woman can resist my charm."

Dasha gave a sarcastic smile before some of the group left after the small talk with everyone. It was growing somewhat tired as she was basically arm candy for Tony. Each person they talked with, they had to notice the woman standing beside him. All of them asked who she was and what she did; it was getting kind of tiring to have the same answers, same questions asked the whole night.

"Ugh, I need a drink." she muttered snatching a glass of champagne from one of the butlers that was walking around. It wouldn't hurt to drink one glass, as long as she didn't keep drinking she was good. It was a relief to finally get out of Tony's grasp as she headed towards the bar to sit down.

Her feet were starting to ache, she let out a sigh of relief when her feet stopped throbbing when she sat down. It was a miracle that she was let out of his sight for a few minutes, she was tired of being around these people and she could see why Tony would get agitated by most of them since everyone was pretty much like Tony in the ego department.

Dasha didn't pay any attention when someone sat beside her, finishing the small ounce of champagne that she had left someone called out, "Another glass of chardonnay for the lady."

Her eyes instantly went to the man beside her as the bartender served another glass of the drink to her before tending to the others without a second glance. "How do you know I like chardonnay?" raising a brow at the stranger beside her.

He gave her a warm smile, "Any woman of your caliber loves a glass of chardonnay."

Dasha couldn't help, but smile as she grabbed the glass from the counter and took a small sip, "Devon Banks." he stuck out his hand for her to take. "Dasha Swan." she took hold of his hand which he kissed tenderly with a smile on his face "I know. I've noticed that you are a companion of Tony Stark."

For the first time since the start of this party she rolled her eyes, Devon laughed at her reaction "Now that is the reaction I was searching for."

She looked at him strangely as he explained, "I have seen that you have been faking your enjoyment this whole time being pulled around like some kind of play thing when I know you aren't that type of woman."

"And how would you know what kind of woman I am?" she questioned.

Devon shifted in his seat as he turned to his side so he was face to face with her, leaning on his chair he pursed his lips thinking it over before he answered, "You are the kind of woman that loves to be independent, who is smart and doesn't take crap from anyone and that includes Mr. Big Shot over there."

Dasha glanced to see that Tony was surrounded with women which didn't bother her in the least since he was away from her. "You are a wise man Mr. Banks."

Devon and Dasha chatted almost the whole night and it was twenty minutes before it struck midnight, Devon decided to make his move. "I was wondering if I could see you sometime, other than being here in some stingy ballroom."

The doctor didn't know what to say since she hasn't been in this situation in so long but she quickly made up her mind, "Devon, there is a reason why I am still single and I intend to keep it that way-" she was cut off when Tony came into the picture wrapping an arm around Dasha.

"There you are! I have been lookin' all over for you." his brown eyes finally caught a glance at the person that was sitting next to his date for the night "And I see that Devon has been keeping you company. So nice to see you, Devon."

"Nice to see you too, Tony. If you guys would excuse me." he trailed off as he got up and left the two alone.

Dasha wanted to go after him feeling slightly bad for what she had said and to get away from Tony again. It was a nice couple of hours of being away from him, "What are you doing? I was having a nice time while you fondled those women that were all over you."

Tony smirked, "Were you jealous, Ms. Swan?"

"Why would I be?" she sent him a side glare as she narrowed her eyes.

He kept smirking as he took two glasses from a tray, "Here, let's go for the countdown." Grabbing one of the glasses from his hand she was ushered away to the side where the clock started to wind down. Dasha was wondering what he had plan for the holiday but she had some type of clue because the bastard snuck that kiss the other night.

She pursed her lips thinking of that disgusting kiss.

She never felt so dirty in her life.

Dasha closed her eyes for a fraction of a second feeling the alcohol that she consumed while talking to Devon take its toll. That was another downside, she didn't realize how much she was drinking when she was talking to someone. It was some sick disease that she had and she wished she could take it all back, but she couldn't.

As she heard so many of those people counting down, Tony whispered in her ear "You ready?"

She shivered in disgust as she pushed him away from her, "Get away."

"Don't you want to kiss me for New Year's?"

She glared at him, "You already got your kiss."

"That wasn't a real kiss, it was a peck." he retorted.

Dasha scoffed as she turned around again, "Kiss yourself."

When it was down to the final five, every noise was drowned out as she stumbled into Tony's arms when he spun her around. Dasha lost her balance easily as she gripped onto his suit trying to regain her balance again. She didn't hear him chuckle, but she felt the rumble in his chest before she heard everyone yell "1! Happy New Year!"

"Dasha?" she stupidly looked up at Tony as her right frame of mind went out the window after she drank that sixth glass of chardonnay. He cupped her cheek as he pressed his lips against hers in a lustful kiss, pulling her close as cheers still went on all around them. No one seem to interrupt their moment and when Tony finally broke away expecting a slap from Dasha…all he was met with was the dizzy look in her eyes before she collapsed in his arms from all the champagne that she drank.

Tony laughed as he picked her up easily muttering, "A great start for a new year."