A/N: Yes, I am aware that I'm in the middle of another story right now, but I've been wanting to write this one shot for a while so I hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: All rights to Uncle Rick AKA Evil-Troll-Meanie-4Ever
Annabeth had made herself busy, touching up the flower bouquets just as her summer job boss had instructed her to do. It was calm in the flower shop and mostly empty with the exception of one customer- a woman who appeared to be in her mid forties. It was a slow day and Annabeth relished the small details; the way the sunlight perfectly hit the glass vase, a rainbow reflection spiraling onto the counter, the scent of blooming flowers, the blue sky and fluffy white clouds floating around. Annabeth hummed as she worked, completely content with organizing these flowers for the rest of her summer. It was decent pay and a serene environment. Why wouldn't she enjoy this beautiful escape?
All of a sudden, a young man with devilishly good looks and appeared to be in college, just like Annabeth, stormed into the quaint flower shop and slapped 20 bucks onto the counter. The first customer shot him a dirty look for interrupting the peace with his young, unruly ways, but he seemed not to notice. Annabeth, completely caught off guard, gaped into his sea green eyes, clearly surprised.
"How do I passive-aggressively say fuck you in a flower?" he blurted. Annabeth took a moment to admire him, it was hard not to what with his tousled raven black hair and intense gaze. He looked like the type of guy Annabeth never fraternized with on her campus during the school year, the type of guy who it was hard to tell when he was joking or not because he was just so damn insane. Heat rose to Annabeth's cheeks after a few seconds once she realized she'd been staring and when, even worse, she realized he had noticed and was smirking.
"Like what you see?" he teased. Annabeth snapped her mouth shut.
"No," she said stubbornly. He laughed it off easily, amusement twinkling in his eyes.
Annabeth snapped into focus and a small amused smile flickered onto her face. "Seriously?" were the first that uttered her mouth, in response to his outburst about passive-aggressive flowers.
"Seriously... Annabeth," he confirmed glancing down at her name tag. She cringed, hating the way strangers would know her name due to the name tag. "Nice name," he added, almost as an afterthought. His eyes raked her, finally taking in her presence completely. He checked her out so casually, Annabeth didn't even bring it up. After all, it was clear he did what he liked and enjoyed life, living it to the fullest, whether that meant casually checking out good-looking flower shop workers or not. Nonetheless, a pink blush dusted Annabeth's face as she reached back for the flowers.
"You'd need a bouquet of geraniums, which mean stupidity, foxglove, which mean insincerity, meadow-sweet, which mean uselessness, yellow carnations, which mean 'you have disappointed me', and orange lilies which mean hatred," Annabeth finished, obviously a very educated girl in the origin of words, and probably everything; she was so obviously a complete nerd. The young man couldn't help but find it endearing how casually she spat out her knowledge without being a know-it-all, but perfectly sassy. He grinned as she flipped her golden curls over her shoulder sassily and outstretched her arm, handing him the assortment of flowers she'd put together beautifully.
A small laugh escaped his lips despite himself. "Goddamn," he slipped out holding the flowers and staring into her eyes intensely with awe and curiosity.
"Something wrong?" Annabeth smirked slightly.
"Well, I mean, I'm buying a bouquet of passive-aggressive flowers for my bitchy summer job boss, Hera, she's a real piece of work by the way," he rambled, inhaling a sharp breath of clear annoying directed towards his boss and then continuing. "And a pretty girl just handed me a bouquet of flowers while simultaneously impressing me with her knowledge and sassing me in an endearing way, so no," he concluded. "I'd say this day is slowly turning into an outstanding one," he smirked flirtatiously at her, causing her to smirk back, determined by the need to not back down and win.
"Thank you, I guess," he broke their eye contact first, "for humoring me, of course," he grinned. Annabeth rolled her eyes.
"My pleasure," she teasingly replied accepting the twenty dollars he'd slammed on the counter top earlier and handing back his change. He beamed, clearly pleased to have her participate in a stupid fun banter. The young man pocketed the change and gave her a curt nod and a mischievous smile, then tipped an imaginary hat and left the shop.
Annabeth shook her head at him as he left, smiling to herself. What the hell was that? Annabeth was in a ten times better mood for the rest of the day, simply entertained by the eccentric young man. Pity she forgot to ask what his name was. She wiped down a counter, humming to herself; the sky seemed even bluer than before, the birds seemed to be singing even happier. Of course, it was all in her head, but Annabeth didn't care. She was in a happy mood and she was going to damn well enjoy it.
Her mood improved when she was leaving- her shift was officially over- and her boss stopped her. "Annabeth, these arrived recently," her boss said, holding out the exact bouquet Annabeth had concocted earlier today for the interesting boy. She accepted it, confused. "There's a card," her boss briefly explained and gently pushed Annabeth out the door, good-naturally. She laughed at Annabeth's expression. "Don't look so surprised," her laugh was like a bell tinkling, bright and happy. "A girl like you, smart and full of that charisma, it's no surprise you received a bouquet from one of your admirers." She smiled brightly at her employee. "Now go enjoy the summer sun, it's beautiful today," and with that her boss walked away.
Annabeth shouldered her bag, picking the card out of her bouquet and unfolding it carefully as she walked down the sidewalk past kids with dripping ice cream cones, joggers, and people casually having conversations. Her eyes scanned the card and a smile graced her features, reaching her eyes.
I decided my bitchy boss didn't deserve beautiful flowers such as these. Please accept these flowers- gorgeous flowers for a girl with a gorgeous smile and wit to match. You may find it hard to turn off your intelligence, even temporarily, but try to forget what these flowers were supposed to mean. ;) I wouldn't want to, oh I don't know, insult the girl who helped me man up and choose a better way to tell my boss I quit. I found a new job, don't worry, I now work at a coffee shop.
Speaking of. You seem like the type of girl who'd enjoy to explain to my idiot the obvious origin of coffee beans and the thrilling history behind it. Want to meet for coffee sometime?
Fondly, the uneducated numb skull eagerly awaiting your answer,
Perseus (Percy) Jackson
At the very bottom was his phone number. Annabeth read it again, a slow smile spreading across her face, a giddy childish smile. Perseus Jackson. She said it out loud, testing the way it rolled off the tip of her tongue and found she quite liked it. She laughed slightly at how easily he insulted himself and clutched the note tight to her chest, fishing her phone out of her pocket. Fuck the three day waiting rule. Annabeth saved his number immediately and texted him, careful to sound like the smart ass sassy girl she was, the trait Percy had fallen for at the flower shop.
Needless to say, Percy could hardly contain his laughter years later when Annabeth walked down the aisle with their very own inside joke clutched between her delicate hands: an infamous 'Fuck You' bouquet.
A/N: Yeah, yeah I know not the greatest story ever and I am incredibly displeased with the ending, but I tried it around five different ways and couldn't come up with anything I liked. I know it was super short, but there wasn't much else I could go with this without turning it into a full blown story, which wasn't something I wanted to do. I wrote this whole thing in about half an hour so I'm sorry it wasn't the greatest read ever, but I hope you found some entertainment from it.
I'll update Angels Fly Above soon, I promise. I've already begun writing the next chapter. Thanks for reading this one shot and don't forget to review, bye!