034

When Norman opened his eyes he was in his room at the Osborn mansion, after finishing his work on Plum Island he simply returned home, but due to the time, he preferred not to wake anyone and simply went to get some rest.

With a slow pace, the Osborn got up from his bed and proceeded to put on one of the shirts he had in his closet and then began to leave the room, he needed to finish his morning workout before it was time for breakfast.

In the course of his walk or rather run around the perimeter of the mansion Norman felt a gaze on him constantly following his steps.

Discreetly he began to look a little at where he felt the gaze and although it was a little far away from him, he could see a blonde woman he had met exactly one day ago.

He really didn't believe that S.H.I.E.L.D. would send one of their best agents on a simple surveillance mission, but considering the attitude he's had since he woke up and the recent events that have happened around him, it wasn't that far-fetched.

However, it would also be a major hassle as he would have to act a little more carefully, at worst she would only keep an eye on him for a few days before she found nothing and simply give her a new assignment.

With that thought Norman continued with his morning training, though this time at the pace of a normal person and not one who was trained by Henri Ducard.

The more normal he showed himself the faster they would lose interest in him and therefore the faster they would leave him alone.

…

"Good morning, Bernard" Norman greeted his butler who was already in the dining room.

"Good morning, Sir" replied the older man, "Could you tell me if it's not too much trouble what time you got back last night?" he asked casually.

"I don't know" answered the Osborn with sincerity: "I didn't realize what time it was, I just went straight to bed" he continued while pouring himself some water in a glass.

The face that Bernard adopted was one that clearly told him that he did not believe him: "Sir I will warn you of something, you must find a good woman for you" he began to say and for a second Norman's brain made a small short circuit.

Still Bernard continued speaking, "Not one that will cause you to neglect your duties and force you to return late at night to your home and most importantly you must make sure that she will be a good example for the young Harry" in his voice there was an absolute seriousness that Norman had rarely heard.

"Wait, wait, wait!" demanded Osborn quickly in a somewhat loud tone of voice, "You think the reason for my disappearances is because I'm dating a woman?" he asked.

Bernard just nodded silently at Norman's question, "I certainly do" he said shortly after.

"After some thought I remembered that your way of acting is very similar to when you eloped from the mansion to visit Mrs. Emily" he commented with a nostalgic smile.

With Bernard's words, Norman recalled a bit of the old Norman's memories where he indeed escapes from the mansion just to go see his beloved.

"Certainly both cases have a similarity" accepted Osborn: "But you're wrong I'm not dating anyone or even meeting, I'm too busy to even think about it" he mentioned with sincerity.

Thanks to Norman's words it seemed that Bernard calmed down a little: "First of all I apologize if I bother you with my words, but I'm not telling you this as your butler but as someone who has seen you grow up" adopting a more informal attitude, but still with seriousness Bernard spoke.

"Don't you think it's time for you to look for a possible new lover?" he asked seriously, and it was a question that took Norman by surprise: "It has been four years since Mrs. Emily sadly passed away, I know how much you love her and I can never really understand all the pain that you went through because of her departure" he continued.

"But I think it's time for you to look again for someone with whom you can share everything, I don't ask you to forget Mrs. Emily, I only ask you to give yourself the opportunity to love once again" he finished saying.

Receiving no reply from Norman and knowing full well that he was unlikely to receive one at this point Bernard excused himself to Norman before making his way to the kitchen to see the chef.

The last thing Bernard saw before leaving the dining room was a pensive Norman sitting in one of the chairs.

A few minutes after Bernard left the dining room Harry entered the dining room as he looked around for something and his eyes quickly found their target: "Dad!" exclaimed the little boy as he ran up to him.

For his part Norman only responded with a smile, and so the two Osborns struck up a conversation while waiting for the food.

…

After a breakfast with his son and Mary Jane's arrival at the mansion Norman simply locked himself in his office for a few hours while he was doing work.

Osborn was currently watching the news related to the Plum Island incident, it wasn't either long before all the media was talking about what they called a total massacre.

It was likely that Ducard had told the various news outlets about the situation on the Island otherwise Norman doubted that kind of news would be made public, it just wasn't something you wanted people to know about.

There was also the fact that Maya had survived and was not simply swallowed by the ocean, she was currently in a hospital, having been found unconscious on the shore by a couple who were giving their daily walk.

If Norman was honest, he didn't think she could survive, but apparently she had enough willpower to do it or she was just lucky, but regardless of that fact she was alive.

Although it was certain that once she woke up she would without a doubt be questioned by most of the agencies in the country, but that wasn't that important to Norman, as he would later see a possible option to recruit her and in the worst-case scenario he would simply finish what he started.

However, despite being something of importance it was something Norman was not thinking about so much, instead he was thinking mostly about the words spoken by Bernard.

He couldn't even tell himself why he was giving so much importance to that fact, it was just something he had ignored since his arrival to this world, but now that someone mentioned it, it was simply impossible for him not to think about it.

He was really hating Bernard right now it was so hard to keep silent?, besides even if he found someone he could say he fell in love with or at least felt attracted to, it didn't mean that the other person would feel the same way.

Or in case she is, he also has to think about the fact that he is a father, so he will also have to find a woman who will be nice to Harry.

There really were a lot of factors to consider when you are looking for a potential lover.

A small beep brought him out of his thoughts and he quickly looked down at the watch in his right hand and calmly took his left hand to the clock and turned off the alarm he had set.

Getting up from his seat Norman forced himself to stop thinking about the problems he will have in love and simply started walking towards the exit of the room.

…

When he arrived at the place where he was supposed to be he could see Mary Jane together with Harry, the beautiful woman was on one of the couches while she was looking with curiosity and attention to the little boy who was playing with some kind of colored blocks.

Making his presence known with a simple cough Norman met his son's enthusiastic gaze.

The redhead just showed a small smile as she stood up from her place: "Harry first of all you must put away your toys" indicated the young woman to which the boy just nodded before starting to do what he was asked to do.

"Mr. Osborn, could you put the movie on while I go get the food?" asked MJ to Norman who only nodded and without further ado the redhead began to leave the room.

Norman just took control of the TV and logged into the app, honestly speaking, it was the Netflix of this world and to Norman's luck he had found it before it became a bigger company.

So, it was relatively inexpensive to buy it outright plus with his funds, it was very easy to finish the product and although the licensing of the movies and series represented a bigger problem in the end everything can be accomplished with the right amount of money.

Currently, the application was only a month old since its launch, but it had become something that everyone had and in that time Norman recovered the investment he made and even started to make a profit with it.

He quickly navigated through the menu of the app and searched for the movie they had decided to watch, nothing too serious as Harry would be watching it as well.

Time passed as Norman chatted with his son, soon Mary Jane arrived with the snacks she had prepared to eat during the course of the movie.

Just like that the three people began to pay attention to the movie, Harry was on the same blanket that softened the floor a bit while Norman and MJ were on the couch side by side.

There was one person watching this scene that somehow gave the feeling of a close-knit family: 'Sometimes young people are too blind' thought Bernard.