The Oval Office

"Five minutes until your meeting with the Cabinet, Mr. President." came the voice of Norman's personal secretary through the speaker phone. Smooth and well-modulated in her tones, Gail Ingall had no real accent to her voice, and Norman wondered if she'd had it trained out. Gail was perfectly competent at her job; a political science major, she'd served as the assistant to one of his campaign managers during the election. She was no Ava though, and Norman found in the past few months since he'd taken office that he missed his secretary from Oscorp. If Ava had come to Washington, DC with him however, he probably would have made her his Chief of Staff rather than just his personal secretary. Having two young sons in school and a husband at Oscorp all back in New York made that impossible though, and so instead Norman accepted Ava's recommendation of Gail to bring with him to DC. So far he had no real complaints in her choice.

Five minutes was something rare; five free minutes in a President's insane schedule was like filet mignon after eating Ramen for a week. Technically it wasn't really free; Norman could think of any number of things he could be doing right now. There were phone calls to return, letters to read; everyone wanted the President's time, and there simply weren't enough hours in the day to accommodate it all.

Did Norman regret it, taking the oath of office and stepping up as the most powerful man in the United States, which made him pretty much the most powerful man in the world? Oh, there were definitely days where he did miss some things. He could no longer be a scientist, and there were days when he missed being able to stay up late in the labs at Oscorp working on a project. He missed being able to drive himself, and while the Presidential limo was very nice, there was a car from Carroll Shelby's estate up for sale and even if he bought it now (which he was tempted to put an anonymous bid in for) he wouldn't be able to touch it until he was out of office.

And there were things he hated about his job. Constant pressure he was used to from being a CEO of a very successful company, but at Oscorp headquarters he didn't have to watch his mouth. If someone pissed him off, he could let them know about it right then and there in no uncertain terms. Norman couldn't do that here in Washington. Every move he made, every word that came out of his mouth, was watched, scrutinized, and broadcast over the internet for everyone to dissect and talk about. Some of these morons with the money to buy a computer and just enough brain cells to figure out how to use it, sometimes he just wanted to knock their heads together (he had similar feelings about Congress, but we won't even get started on that). Some of the stuff that was brought to his attention as having been said online, it just made him wonder if they were fastening their tinfoil hats too tightly and cutting off the blood flow to their brains. No, he was not a member of the KKK, had never been a member of the KKK, and he really didn't like the pictures of him that were floating around online, where he'd been Photoshopped to look like he was wearing a tall white hat and robes. He also was not a member of the Illuminati and was not secretly having the Oscorp labs work on cloning super-soldiers to enforce martial law on the American people while he announced his takeover of the world (although that was an interesting idea….).

So basically yes, there were things Norman did not like about his position. But there were other things, things that made up for it. The sound of the words 'President Norman Osborn'. The stamp with his face on it that the Postal Service was talking about issuing. Celebrating Independence Day in the nation's capital, with him in the seat of honor while fireworks went off overhead. Hosting the annual White House Science Fair and seeing the future of American technology and science in the little minds there. With Christmas coming there would be the lighting of the White House tree, and Norman also hoped to have Congress voting soon on the Mutant Registration Act. The discussion was fast and furious, but he thought that eventually he could get the nation's lawmakers to toe the line and go in the direction he wanted. It would all happen.

But for now, Norman had five…no, make that three minutes now, in which to do as he pleased. Pressing the button on his phone, he spoke as soon as his secretary answered. "Gail, a fresh pot of coffee please." After the Cabinet meeting was a brief interview with CNN, and he was going to need caffeine to deal with the liberal media. Getting up from his desk, Norman went over to one of the windows and looked out over the smooth, perfectly manicured lawn surrounding his office. With fall coming the leaves were starting to turn, and here and there a colored leaf could be seen dotting the landscape. Black squirrels looked for fallen nuts. He couldn't see from here, but Norman knew that out on the street the people of America were going about their business, the little sheep of his flock hustling and bustling, all under the watch of his leadership.

Yes, it was a beautiful view.