16678/First Met In Another Place And Time

First Met In Another Place And Time
Date of Scene:	26 December 2023
Location:	Osborn Tudor Penthouse - Windsor Tower
Synopsis:	Gwen Stacy recalls the day from her original dimension when she started part time in the Oscorp mailroom.
Cast of Characters:	Norman Osborn, Gwen Stacy

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Norman Osborn has posed:
A few years ago, in the original alternate timeline from which came one Gwen Stacy...

Oscorp's headquarters are large enough that the mail room that serves the building is itself rather immense. Bags of mail are dropped off daily by the Postal Service, not to mention a nearly around the clock flow of delivery trucks dropping off package.

A dozen people are bustling about, sorting the incoming envelopes and packages, while other works flow in with empty carts, load them up, and then head back out to go deliver them to their destinations within the building.

Mrs. Terwilliger stands looking over the newest batch of six summer hires. A mix of high school seniors, college freshman, and a few who are out of school and just looking for a job.

"You are all part time but between the six of you there should be enough to cover shifts," she explains. "Schedules come out two weeks in advance. Any requests need to be made a week before the schedule. Swapping shifts is permissible if approved by a supervisor," the woman says, pushing up her horn-rimmed glasses higher onto the bridge of her nose.

She gathers up six tablets and hands them out. "Now that you've gotten all your paperwork and orientation done, time for your first real work," she says. "These have a list of the deliveries you're to make. Tapping your next stop and the "Route" button will give you directions how to get there. Some of the floors can be a bit of a maze, so use it if needed," she says, distributing them to each person. "Make doubly sure you have the right mail before you leave, nothing worse than getting somewhere to find you don't have the package. If you're not sure, tap the Help button and it will call the supervisors here. Any questions?"

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Gwen had to start somewhere. And if she wanted to get an actual internship at Oscorp she first needed to get a feel of the company, how it worked. Not that she wasn't smart enough to perhaps go directly to the internship but like her father liked to say 'first you need to understand how a machine works before you fix it'. Which in this case meant being here today with the rest of the summer hires! Her actual first job.

And she hadn't skimped where it came to the dress-up. A nice, professional button-up top, skirt, long socks that go to her knee and a pair of high heeled shoes. Long blonde hair was pinned up in a ponytail and her blue eyes were bright. Eager to learn! She takes one of those tablets when offered and looks it over curiously. "No questions, Mrs. Terwilliger." a dazzling smile to her lips.

She starts perusing the list, then looks at the mail, "Alright, let's sort through this so we don't lose too much time." she says to the other hires, easily taking the reins in getting the distribution going.

Norman Osborn has posed:
The mousy older woman moves back to let the new hires at it. Watching with a critical eye which of them jump into it and which hang back. That slack-jawed young man who just stuffs his hands in his pocket, watching the others start to get carts? He probably won't work out.

It isn't long before the layout of the mailroom is mastered enough for Gwen and the others to get their carts loaded up and begin their first foray out into the towering office building. The tablets quickly come in handy, people looking at them and then up and around to get their bearings. Three head off to start deliveries on this floor. The slack-jawed kid is still getting his cart loaded.

Gwen's route guides her towards an elevator and up to the upper floors. Another young woman is heading that direction as well. "You know I heard they had like 50 applicants for these positions," she tells Gwen. "I'm Marie," she offers, along with her hand, as she pushes her cart to the elevator. Once they reach it she hits the button on the bank that will go to the upper floors.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Being the good samaritan that she is of course that Gwen gives the slack-jawed kid a bit of help. Just that little bump to start and hopefully that will make it so he will be able to get the hang of it. Most she can do! Because soon enough they are out on their own assignments for the deliveries..

All the way to those upper floors. She double checks her tablet of course before embarking on the elevators up, "Hi Marie." she grinning at the other girl, sliding her own trey into the elevator so they can ride together, "50? Ufff, Oscorp *is* popular isn't it?" she grinning back at Marie as the numbers start lighting up on the screen, showing they are going up.

"Wasn't expecting to visit the top floors right on my first day." she confides with a chuckle.

Norman Osborn has posed:
The elevator has soft music playing in it. It's not The Girl From Ipanema but it could have been by the same song writer. Marie flashes a warm grin over at Gwen and gives a soft laugh that contributes to the brunette's likeable demeanor. "Yeah, try not to run into Old Man Osborn's shin with your cart, and make him spill his coffee on him," she says with another soft laugh.

"Ok, this looks like me. Good luck up on 50," Marie says as the elevator stops on 47 and she pushes her cart off.

The elevator continues on up to Gwen's floor. There are stops in the Finance Department, a lot of big envelopes for them, and also in Legal. Again, lots of paperwork there. Apparently paper copies matter. And then on to some of the executive offices.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
As Marie gets all descriptive on all the terrible things that can happen Gwen reaches over, "Knock on wood!" blue eyes a touch wide as she raps her knuckles against the side of the elevator. No one wants to run into the boss on their first day. Not in the way Marie suggests at least!

"You are evil." She murmurs, good-humored and letting out a laugh of her own, "Now I will be looking all over to make sure I don't run into -anybody-." because who knows where the big boss may be lurking? "Good luck, Marie." she says softly when the girl steps out and she continues on, moving her hips to the elevator music now that she is alone inside it.

"So much waste of paper.." Is what she murmurs to herself as she gets done delivering those big envelopes to Finance and Legal. But on the bright side no shins have been harmed by her trey yet. It's the small things....

Norman Osborn has posed:
Whatever spider-imbued powers Gwen might possess, apparently granting luck isn't one of them. For Marie went on to be cornered by two accounts who managed to be talkative without really having much to say. And seeming quite incapable of picking up on her social cues, both subtle and otherwise, that she needed to continue on her way and not stop and talk.

But Gwen has a better time of it. The office is busy and there's a frequent bustle of people moving about. Gwen gets a few glances that she notices, probably a few more that she doesn't. But no one does much more than nod or give her a smile as they pass. There's a thank you and sigh of relief from one man who immediately opens the legal envelope to begin consuming the details of some much-awaited contract.

Gwen soon finds herself in the executive offices. There's a reception area where a pretty woman in her late twenties sits in a very nice dress. She is just hanging up the phone when Gwen pushes her cart in. "Oh good, now Jenkins can stop hounding me about his package. I hope," she says to Gwen. "Do you have one for Ronald Jenk-"

The phone rings, interrupting her as she answers it. "Oscorp, this is Jeanette. How may I help you?"

Gwen Stacy has posed:
The mail is delivered with professionalism, along with a smile from ruby lips, Gwen never skirting on that no matter what. Mail continues to be delivered with efficiency. Or at least as efficient as Gwen on her first day can be. Besides that fear of knocking into someone!

Eventually she does get to those executive offices, "I believe so--" pause as the phone rings and Jeanette answers it. It means she can get busy looking for that delivery for Jenkins... Now where is it?

She combs through her deliveries, double checking in search for one that has Ronald Jenkins on it, "Here we are." she whispers. The envelope is produced. And she doesn't immediately move away, lingering and waiting for the woman to be done with the call.

Just in case there's more that she needs!

Norman Osborn has posed:
Multi-tasking, Jeanette gives Gwen a quick smile in lieu of a thank you as she tells the person the phone, "Of course, Mr. Bernard. Let me just find you a time on his calendar." Jeanette works her mouse and types briefly on the keyboard. Gwen can't see the screen but she can see the tiny frown on Jeanette's face.

She does a few more clicks, brow slightly furrowed. And a few more. A more definite frown forming and a perplexed look. "I'm sorry, just a moment, having a slight issue getting into his calendar," she says into the phone's handset.

More typing. More mouse clicks. Jeanette mouths a swear word without saying it. It's taking awhile, and the person on the phone speaks loudly enough Gwen can hear the buzz of it. "Yes, I apologize, having a computer issue. I'll get you an appointment in just a moment, sir." Jeanette says. Though from the angry buzz from the phone it seems the man on the other end isn't taking the delay well.

Jeanette is looking increasingly frustrated with the computer. Eyes searching about the screen as if seeking another option. She catches movement out of the corner of her eye, someone passing through a door. "There he is," she says aloud more to herself than to the phone. "Just a moment please, Mr. Bernard."

She hits a button and sets the phone handset down and rises from her chair to hurry off after whoever just passed through the door. She's gone about a dozen seconds when the phone's speaker says, "Hello? Why is this taking so damn long. How incompetent are you people at Oscorp if you can't book a simple damn meeting with Ned Baxter!? Hello!? Hello!?"

It seems Jeanette must have hit Speaker instead of Hold before running off.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Oooh, never good when the computer fails right when a difficult person is on the other side of the line. But then again, that's right when those problems usually happen. Murphy's law or some such. A sympathetic expression in on Gwen's face as Jeanette gets more and more stressed about the whole ordeal but there's little she can do just yet. And there's more mail to sort through still which is what she busies herself with as Jeanette attempts to solve it.

And then she is dashing off.

Gwen places a few more packages on the table to be delivered on this floor until she hears those words on speaker. It makes her freeze. Eyes wide. She could run, but that's not Gwen. Besides, maybe she -can- help... It's why that perhaps against her better judgement she dares a peek over at the screen, then slides over, "Ah, Mr. Baxter? Jeanette isn't here right now but I will help you." she says, "I am Gwen." she starts type-typing on the computer, checking for why the freezes are happening. Darn these Windows machines! But she knows sometimes processes get frozen and make programs misbehave.

Norman Osborn has posed:
"Who!? Gwen!?" the man's upset voice says through the speaker. "I'm coming to Oscorp for this business because everyone speaks of what a well-oiled machine it is over there. If I can't even get a meeting with your CIO then this raises some concerns for me!" his voice replies, the speaker making it sound a little tinny.

Gwen has some luck on the computer though. Bringing up the Task Manager shows an Office Update that appears to have hung. When she kills it, Outlook starts responding again. Ned Baxter's calendar comes up this time when Gwen selects it from the list of calendars that Jeanette has access to. And there are a few timeslots available each day this week, wonder of wonders!

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Lousy Office updates! But at least it was easy enough to solve because if not Gwen might had started getting panicky. Though voila! Here is the calendar showing all those entries, "Don't worry Mr. Bernard. I can assure you we will get you a meet in no time and ...." the screen starts showing the openings.

"How would this afternoon do? Say, after lunch? Never good to do business with an empty belly." she smiling while continuing to talk over with the man.

"Though if you prefer further down the week we can do so too." she suggests, leaving the choice and option to the man. Because Mr. Bernard is in control, of course!

Norman Osborn has posed:
The voice on the other end of the phone grows calmer. "Wow, you can fit me in today?" he says, seeming mollified. "I wasn't imagining I could get with him this quickly actually. Yes, that would be perfect. Please set up a Zoom call for us, I'll need to run a slide deck for him," he says.

Jeanette comes back into the room, an older gentleman in an expensive suit following behind her. "I can't get your calendar to open and-" she says, and then sees Gwen there at the computer. "What are you doing?" she asks.

Another person speaks up, "She fixed the calendar and made an appoint for Ned and Mr. Bernard," Norman Osborn says as he steps the rest of the way into the room from where he had paused to listen at another door into the reception area. "Good to hear you're looking to do business with us. This is Norman Osborn. Apologies for the delay, but as you can tell our IT staff's response time is, I think, enviable compared to most companies."

The voice on the speaker phone agrees. "Mr. Osborn, very nice to hear your voice. Yes, I have to say, I don't imagine I could have even gotten someone here to respond yet let alone fix the issue. I'll look forward to talking to Mr. Baxter."

Mr. Baxter replies, "And I'm looking forward to the call as well. I'll talk to you after lunch then." Brief pleasantries are further exchanged, and Jeanette ends the call. She looks to Gwen and lets out a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much."

Norman nods towards his CIO then looks to Gwen, and then over at the mail cart. "Mailroom?" Norman asks Gwen. "What's your name?"

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Mouth opens to answer Jeanette but then there's that new voice over. Cheeks burn when the man introduces himself as Mr. Osborn and Gwen blinks a couple of times. "At least I didn't hit his shins.." she murmurs in a very low tone to herself. The talk around her is a whirlwind to which Gwen simply nods as if agreeing with them all on what happened. Of course that it could had went very wrong but .., sometimes they just got to take the initiative!

The same relief on Jeanette is visible on Gwen's expression as the call ends and she smiles to the other woman, "Processes hang sometime on these machines." she explains, stepping back from the other woman's workstation. "It is good to meet you, Mr. Baxter. Mr. Osborn." hands in front of her she bows respectfully at the duo.

A glance to the cart and then she answers, "I am Gwen Stacy. Just started today, delivering the mail, Sir." hands demurely resting in front of her, folded over one another.

Norman Osborn has posed:
Norman gives a nod back to Gwen Stacy. "Nice job, Gwen. Keep it up," he says to her before turning towards his CIO. "Ned, while I have you, wanted to get some details from you on the ArcGIS master project," he says. The other man nods affirmatively to Norman and moves to follow him. "Nice job, Miss Stacy. Jeanette," he says to the two women before the pair depart back towards Norman's office.

Jeanette lets out another breath and takes a seat. "As you can see, it's never a dull day around here," she says. "Any other packages for us?"