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Most characters belong to Rick Riordan

Thalia

Thalia didn't know what to do, as she walked down the streets of New York to her apartment. She was twenty three years old and she was suddenly faced with the task of taking care of a brother she never knew she had. It wasn't that she hated or resented the boy, never, but it was more of the problem that she was in her graduate school trying to get a degree in business management. She had to work a night job to even pay for her tuition.

So now how was she supposed to afford paying for herself and her brother? Why was her life so messed up? She only had a year left of school and now she was probably going to have to take some time out to take care of him. She walked passed a huge sky scraper which she knew was the New York headquarters of Uncle Pluto's Gem emporium.

The story of how that business began was one of the most told stories in the world, in fact there have been films and books based on it.

Thalia thought it was a sweet story; it all began twenty one years ago in Milan, Italy. Mr Henry Pluto Di Angelo was in his home with his sweet four year old son. The man was struck with grief because he had just lost his father only two years after the loss of his wife. In his father's last will and testament he had been left with all the mines and wealth which his family had had for years and years. One day he was sitting talking to his son, one of the last members of his family left alive and he asked, "My darling son, what do I do with all these riches? It won't bring back your mother or sister I believe I should sell them" his soon looked him in the eyes and held the locket his mother gave him, "papa don't sell, make plenty more like this and have your own big shop!"

That is how the idea to form the emporium was formed. Now it had the widest range of jewellery in the largest selection of gems, precious stones and semi-precious stones. Twenty one years down the line, he is one of the most prominent business men in the world thanks to his little son.

Thalia noticed an ad on the window which said,

'Secretary/ Personal Assistant to hire, please call this number ASAP' and it had a number typed in bold under it.

She needed a new job anyway so why not?

An hour later she sat in her room and began to hunt for an outfit for her job interview tomorrow. She stood at the mirror and nodded in approval at the outfit she had on; it was a sleek black dress with a pencil skirt lining and a nice fitted but business looking top. Her only expensive pair of black Manolo heels served to accentuate her look and make her look longer and lither.

The next morning she woke with a start and realised she was going to be late. She ran round the room multitasking as she pulled on her clothes and stuffed items in her bag simultaneously.

She praised herself for managing to get ready in ten minutes flat and she grabbed a cab as soon as she stepped out of her building. The ride to her interview was not long but it was nerve wracking as she knew she was already late.

Once she arrived at the emporium she dashed into the lift and hit the fiftieth floor, not fully realising just how high up that was. She calmed herself and walked out into the reception area. The woman there took one look at her and smiled a dazzling smile,

"Hello, I'm Katie may I help you?"

"Yes hi, I'm Thalia and I'm supposed to be having a job interview here today although I am a bit late."

"Oh that's fine; the boss doesn't usually get here till around noon on a Friday anyway. I'll be the one handling your interview." She said as she grabbed a file from her desk and motioned for me to follow her.

We walked into a conference room with a large black table in the middle and plush swivel chairs scattered all around it. They both sat on the chairs across the table from each other,

"Now Miss Grace, I just want to ask you a few questions. Have you ever been convicted?" Thalia shook her head, "Do you have any qualifications?"

"Yes, I have an undergraduate degree in Classics and Economics; I am now in graduate school studying business management." She responded,

"But if you have that, I'm guessing you need this job to pay tuition" Katie questioned while writing and Thalia just nodded,

"That's excellent you have the job. I'll fill you in on the boss's daily routine. He handles most of his meetings himself and he's a great guy. But he does like efficient smart and initiative driven people working for him."

Thalia simply nodded, "so do I start now?"

"Yes dear, I'm his receptionist I send people in and out. You handle any other things he may need photocopies, tea, sodas, lunch, and a date whatever it is.

"You make it sound like I'm his dog or something?"

The receptionist looked at her, "But my dear Thalia, yes you are. Now come and let me show you to his table and where you can get his favourite coffee and pastries."

Thalia was stunned; she didn't like the idea of being any ones toy but this job paid way more than her night job and she could now take classes that were later in the day and still have time for her brother on most days.

"Thalia, you work every day from eight till four, boss doesn't usually get here till nine and has most of his work at home so he leaves early anyway. You may need to go to his home sometimes to help him out there with getting him files and any other errands you may need to run. Here he'll tell you anything he needs to do and fill you in on his schedule for the day so you know what to do with his calls." Katie continued speaking as she showed Thalia to her desk and pointed at the phone,

"I deal with all the letting people in or out of the floor but you deal with the waiting area. Anyone who doesn't have an appointment doesn't get through me unless boss gives special permission and all you have to do is wait for boss to give you a call and tell you to send whoever it is in." She walked into the office and Thalia followed her eyes widening at the sight of it.

It was huge and it had a large sofa facing a giant flat screen television. Behind all that and in front of the massive windows was a giant black desk. It was the classic image of a successful business man's office.

"There is a door behind there which leads to his private room where he eats lunch and relaxes. It is cleaned regularly but you have to ensure the food there is fresh every day." Katie pointed to a glass window pane but all Thalia saw was the view of New York,

"uh Katie, That's a glass window pane."

She looked back, shook her head at me and then walked over to the glass and opened it. It led into another large room with a huge bed, a couch and a TV and sound system.

There was also a kitchen and one last door I saw I assumed was a bathroom or a closet.

I whistled, "This is a very nice pad," I commented.

"Yes, Mr Di Angelo uses it for those particularly horrid nights where he's up till around two or three managing any problems with the business." Katie said while she studied the refrigerator.

"Come over here Thalia," She waved me over, "This is his fridge. Now, I took the liberty of stocking everything yesterday, so I need you to listen carefully."

She closed the fridge and walked to the black island table in the middle of the kitchen. "Mr Di Angelo loves to cook and from what I hear he's pretty good at it too. So, there are certain ingredients that you have to ensure are fresh every two days like his vegetables and other perishables. The rest could be there for a week but never more. You also have to make sure you ask him every day if there's anything he would like you to order for him." Katie looked at the clipboard she was holding and surveyed it for a few minutes and then she left the area and head back into the office.

She walked through the secret door, or window pane then stood in the office, "Nico also requires his secretaries or PA's on business trips but that is in very rare situations." I was now very confused, who the hell was Nico, I thought I was working for Pluto Di Angelo.

Katie noticed my confusion and stopped her sentence to ask, "Is there a problem Thalia?"

"Yeah, I thought I was working for Pluto Di Angelo, founder of this fine multi-billion dollar company you work at?" I stretched out my arms above my head to emphasise my point.

Katie's mouth formed a perfect "O"and she chuckled, "No darling, you're working for Nico"

"Who's Nico" I asked sounding exasperated,

"I am" A male voice came from the door, I looked at the person standing there and my eyes widened then, as if that wasn't bad enough, my heart almost stopped.