A Different SpiderVerse

Chapter Three

Queens, New York - 1983

Curt Connors was a punctual man. He was always on time and never worried about being late. So, for him to be late was rare. But not impossible.

Curt stood in the open doorway of his office at 8 am. He checked the clock on his wrist and on the wall. It was 8am. It wasn't any other time. So then how was Richard Parker already in the office, leaning back in his chair and sipping a cup of coffee.

Richard Parker was a man of many talents, but being on time was never his skill. He never has been on time, so how was he here before Curt?

"You are staring.", Richard said pointedly as he looked up at Curt.

"Is the world ending?", Curt asked quickly as he walked into his office. "It has to be, because there is no other reason for you to be here on time."

"You are right." Richard smirked. "I am on time. I told you I would be."

"You told me that three years ago." Curt rolled his eyes. "But congratulations on being on time once in your life." Curt turned his back on Richard to grab a file from his briefcase. When Curt turned back around, Richard was holding a ring in a box in his hands. Curt smirked. "I appreciate the offer, but what about Mary?"

"Haha. Very funny." Richard rolled his eyes and then sighed. "Do you think she'll like it?"

"Yes. It's beautiful." Curt set the file on his desk. "When are you going to ask her?"

"Ask who what?" Richard and Curt turned to see Eliza standing in the doorway of their office. She gasped as she saw the ring box in Richard's hands. "You are asking Mary to marry you!"

"Yes.", Richard hissed back. He quickly closed the office door, after letting Eliza in. "Keep your voice down."

"This is amazing." Eliza grabbed the ring from Richard's hands. "It's beautiful." Eliza handed the ring back. "She is going to love it. How are you going to ask?"

"Tonight. I'm going to take her out to dinner, and then I'm going to propose as we get dessert."

"Very nice." Eliza smiled brightly. "I'm so happy for you guys."

"We both are.", Curt added.

Richard smiled. A couple hours had past, and he could barley concentrate on work. The ring felt heavy in his pocket. A knock on the door startled him. He looked to see Mary at the front door. Richard looked and noticed Curt wasn't in the office. Richard turned towards Mary.

"You ok Richard?", Mary asked curiously. "Seemed to be pretty out of it."

"Yeah.", Richard said slowly. He stood up and placed his hands in his pockets. He tensed slightly as his fingers brushed the ring box. He coughed to try and brush it by. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just tired."

"You wanna go get a cup of coffee with me?"

"Ah, sure."

Richard and Mary walked out of Oscorp and towards the downtown coffee shop. They ordered their coffees and waited for them to be made. After they got their coffees, they started walking back towards Oscorp.

"Are you sure you're ok?", Mary asked concerned. "You've barley said a word. Which is not like you at all. You are usually a chatter box."

"Just thinking.", Richard said slowly.

"About?"

"Coffee." Richard internally cringed. It was the first thing he thought of. He decided to go with it. "Coffee is good."

"Yeah." Mary laughed softly. "Coffee is good." Mary took a sip of her coffee. "I mean, our first date was at a coffee shop."

"Yeah." Richard smiled. "You said we should discuss why you gave me hostility." Richard laughed. "And then halfway through our date, we ended up talking about chop sticks and blow fish."

"Yeah." Mary laughed as well. "I don't even remember how we got onto that subject."

"I do." Richard held Mary's hand. "I remember everything about that day." Richard fiddled his hands in his pockets. "Gosh darn it." Richard sighed. "I had a plan, but looking at you now, I can't wait any longer."

"Richard." Mary started growing concerned. Richard never acted like this. He was never nervous, at least to this degree. "What's going on? What plan?"

"Mary Fitzpatrick." Richard set his coffee down on the ground. He then knelt down and fished the ring box out of his pocket. Mary gasped as Richard opened the box and revealed the ring. "I love you so much. I couldn't imagine my life with anyone else. Will you marry me?"

"Yes."

And with that, Mary got engaged to Richard. In the following months, they married. It was a small wedding, but it was perfect for them.

Their honeymoon was in the Bahamas. It lasted two weeks, and the couple was happy. The Parkers were happy.