Newspaper scandals + death = your typical blooming romance... right?
Raimiverse!Peter Parker story.
Book [2] of the Paracosm series (but can also be read as a stand-alone).
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
⋆ five ⋆
The tireless agony of work starts up all over again the moment Lily Osborn opens her eyes, and she falls back into the ceaseless charade she's grown accustomed to over the last month. Dragging herself out of bed, pulling her straggly, unwashed hair into a bun, slipping her glasses on and getting to work.
The sun's long risen by the time Bernard stops by to provide her with lunch in her father's old study, not that the girl pays much attention to the tray, too busy trying to understand one of the manila files.
It feels like this whole job is just going over her head, but she's not about to give it up. She's an Osborn, and Oscorp existing without an Osborn doesn't seem possible. Besides, giving in would just succumb to the low expectations the world has of her.
"Not up for eating, miss?"
Bernard can't stop the worry from ebbing into his question, convincing the woman to at least force a smile onto her lips. "Too much work, Bernard. But thank you. Head home early today, I'll be going into the office in a few hours and I'll get dinner from somewhere."
"Thank you, Miss Lily."
Miss Lily is the closest Lily's ever been to getting Bernard to call her by her actual name. She's tried to say that he's part of the family, one of her father's closest friends ever since she was born, but he's been insistent. In the end, she's learnt to manage the compromise.
The elderly man stops at the door, eyes lighting up as he realises, "Before I forget, Mr Parker is in the lobby downstairs."
That leaves the woman quiet for a moment. Her eyebrows furrow, puzzled. Sure, she's been seeing Peter Parker a lot more, but they've always been meeting outside. While it might not be the best in terms of the press (which haven't ceased their relentless idle gossip), it's better than her shame at flashing her life in Peter's face or his discomfort at letting her see the old, shabby place he's renting.
"Oh. Send him up, please. Thank you, Bernard." The man bows his head before heading out of the room, the sound of his shuffling feet fading away.
Realising the mess she's looking, Lily's eyes grow wide in panic before hurriedly redoing her hair, trying to at least smooth down the unbrushed frizz. She's not even had a shower yet. The sobering reminder hits her that she never lets anyone see her looking this plain and simple, no one except Harry and sometimes her father, yet Peter is about to walk in.
What a mess.
There's a knock at the door. "Come in!" the woman calls, only to mentally swear at the rising of her voice's pitch. She hides it quickly, though, as the man walks in wearing a shirt, probably on his way to work considering the change from his usual sweatshirts. At the lack of solemnity, however, she quickly works out that there's no bad news warranting the house call. "How's it been?"
