Twisted Love

Chapter 12

Chapter 12
Cassie’s POV
            “Cassie?” I heard Josh call throughout the house.
            “In here!” I shouted back, continuing to text MJ about her latest crush, which seemed to switch every week. I was sitting on my bed, my back leaning against the wall with one of my headphones in, blaring music. Usually I would be at work around this time but it was my two weeks off that Norman had given me, the break ending tomorrow, and I was trying to be lazy for as long as I could.
            Josh opened the door, “There you are.” He said then walked in. “Do you want to watch a movie with me?”
            I looked up from my phone. “What movie?”
            “Tangled.” Josh said almost challenging me to watch it with him.
            “Of course I’m watching!” I paused my music and shoved my phone in my pocket as I got off the bed. “You know how much I love that movie!”
            A smile lit across his face and he raced to the living room while I followed.
            “Dad.” Josh whined when he saw our dad sitting on the couch and watching TV. “We wanted to watch something.”
            “I’m almost done. I just need to watch the end of the news. It will only be a few minutes.”
            “But we wanted to watch it now.”
            My mom called his name in a warning tone, telling him to be nice. “Josh.” She said, making both of us turn to see her giving him a stern look while she dried dishes from the kitchen that was connected to the living room.
            Ruffling his hair, I said, “It’s fine Joshy, we can wait.”
            “Fine.” He pouted and made it clear that he wasn’t happy when he trudged towards the couch, jumping onto it, his legs criss cross and his arms over his chest while I rolled my eyes and plopped down next to him, my arm slung on the top of the couch.
            The news popped back on the TV. “We’ve just received word of a tragic case with Norman Osborn,” The news reported announced, interesting me immediately.  “Mr. Osborn has been very ill this past month but kept it a secret, trying to keep his business- Oscorp Industries- working properly. He’s hidden it from everyone, denying his illness. This isn’t an illness that experts are very knowledgeable about however we’ve learned that there is no cure. Mr. Osborn knew this as he finished signing his will and all legal documents a day before he passed away.”
            “Passed away?” I muttered, not being able to comprehend anything as I continued to listen.
            “About two weeks ago, Norman didn’t come into work as he was dying in the comfort of his own home. Eventually, the illness caught up with him and he tragically died this afternoon. Oscorp, despite the death of the CEO, will continue with its work as Mr. Osborn has passed the job to his 20 year old so-”
            Before they could finish, I pressed the pause button, staring at the screen as if in a trance. My brain couldn’t seem to comprehend what had happened. Mr. Osborn didn’t come into work the exact day that he gave me off. I knew he was sick but I didn’t understand that the illness was life threatening, I just assumed that it was a common virus that he didn’t want to admit that he had.
            Realization seemed to dawn on me. That day that I left work, the day that he had given me the two weeks off, he had been scribbling things down furiously but, what I assumed was work, was actually legal documents and his will. The next day was when he didn’t come into work so he must have known that his time was short. He knew that he was going to die, that’s why he had begged for forgiveness again, he wanted to ease his conscience before he passed away.
            My parents look at me, concern in their eyes but I couldn’t pry my eyes off of television screen.
            “How.” I muttered then looked to the right, meeting my mom’s eyes. “How could he have died that quickly. Mom, I- I knew he was sick but I didn’t think- I didn’t know.” My gaze moved back to the television.
            “Oh honey.” My mom sympathized, putting down the bowl and towel before sitting next to me and rubbing my shoulders. “I know how good he was too you. Even though he was your boss, I knew how close the two of you guys were, him being Harry’s dad and everything.”
            I was in such shock that I didn’t tense when I heard the sore subject of Harry. “He’s gone.” I whispered then blinked several times, my eyes looking at the floor.
            My dad switched off the TV, “I’m sorry Cassie.”
            “I just- I can’t believe that he’s gone. He…” I trailed off before closing my eyes and standing up, walking to my bedroom as if in a trance, my parents knowing better than to follow me.
            Slowly I opened the door to my room and walked inside, tossing my phone on the bed lying beside it, staring at the ceiling, my hands over my stomach as my mind tried to understand that Norman Osborn was gone- truly gone.
Even though I had hard feelings against Norman in the beginning, I had learned to forgiven him and see the person that I used to know as a kid before he became cold and cut off after his wife died. He was the one that gave me the job and I felt like I owed him something but now that he was gone…I couldn’t do anything.
I stared blankly at the ceiling. I wasn’t going to cry about his death, we were close but he wasn’t true family, of course I was sad and upset, but there was nothing I could do about it.
My phone buzzed and I turned my head lazily over at it to see a picture of Peter and I laughing with ice cream on our noses. Above the picture, Peter’s name was flashing. I turned my head back to its position, thinking Peter was calling to say that he was sorry that Norman was dead, little did I know however, that if I would have listened longer to the news, I would have known exactly what he was calling for; Harry.
                                   
            The next day, I trudged to work, still not answering Peter. He had called me about a hundred times- at least if felt like that- but I wasn’t in the mood for talking. I felt bad for not answering, but I didn’t really want to talk about it then until I was over my shock. Today I was doing a lot better, and I planned to call him on my break and apologize, but I never got the chance because I found out about Harry before he told me.
            Walking into my office, I laid out all of my things then got right to work, listening to my messages then calling other people back. It was a usual work day but everything started changing after my lunch break.
            I had run and gotten myself a granola bar at the convenient store, my work schedule so busy that I couldn’t even sit down and eat a proper and peaceful lunch as I had to get to work as soon as possible. The phones were practically blowing up today with the news about Norman’s death but I was told to refuse any questions and hang up if they continued to ask. My work schedule was already busy, but with this news, I was juggling everything and I was starting to get really overwhelmed.
        Speed walking down the sidewalk, I saw a limo and looked at it strangely, thinking it was odd that a limo would be here but I shrugged it off, trying to quickly get back to work. I quickly opened the doors to the building, throwing away my wrapper of the granola bar and was about to walk up the steps when I froze, seeing who was descending down them. Just like me, they froze, our wide eyes locking.
        “H-Harry?” I stuttered.