AN: Hi. I usually only write when I'm really depressed (catharsis), so please don't expect much.
Also, this is probably a one shot story (depends on my mood).
Disclaimer: You know the drill.
16…
She was a bundle of nerves as she intently stared at her reflection coming from the doors of the elevator, watching as her chest rise and fall slowly as the said elevator made its way towards the 70th floor, praying for her to just get there already.
33…
She was on her way to a nervous breakdown, already doubting her decision, on whether or not she really actually even had the guts to go through with this.
41…
She was suddenly hit with the thought that she would most probably be forced to see him, to talk to him after a month without a single communication between the two of them.
'Oh gods. Help me.' She thought to herself with a groan.
57…
She then realized that he might ask her why she was doing this, and she realized that didn't really know if she had a proper answer for that. Maybe she should just go back 'home' and figure that one out? Maybe she can come back at a more convenient (preferably, when he is away) time.
Better safe than sorry, right?
Right?
68…
It was official. She really didn't deserve to be called the gutsy spitfire that people so often classified her as. Obviously, if this pathetic display was any indication, she was anything but.
70…
OH GODS.
And yet, somehow, despite all of that doubting she did (more like panicking), she still managed to just get away with letting out a deep breath as she exited the elevator. She managed to make a move towards trying to maintain that courage that she had finally, by some divine miracle that was totally beyond her, been able to muster earlier that morning. Still though, she couldn't stop the apparently uncontrollable nervous shaking of her hands as she walked towards the secretary.
At five paces away from the woman she couldn't help but stop mid-step. There was just something so horribly wrong about it all, despite that she felt compelled to do it. Her mind and her heart were pulling her in two separate directions and she couldn't make up her mind. There are times when she felt like her mind was winning, but then at the most inopportune times (NOW), her heart made a valiant effort that seemed to destruct any progress she had made.
She sucked in a deep breath of air as she forced herself to take another step towards what she knew was the right direction (even if her heart didn't believe it to be so).
"Mrs. Jackson," the secretary, Rachel, greeted her, surprise evident in her voice. Obviously, she is well aware of the happenings between Percy and his wife. Percy told her. She thought bitterly.
"I'm afraid that your husband is at a meeting right now, but he should be back in a few minutes if you'd like to wait-"
"No," Annabeth quickly interrupted her. "That's okay, I just need to drop off this envelope—I'll just leave it in his office," she told her, tightly smiling at the girl before quickly making her way into Percy's office.
When she entered the room she couldn't help but scoff at the mess that she had entered. Typical Percy. Papers were strewn about everywhere in sight—and that coming from the CEO of a company. He really needs to grow up and gain some organizational skills. Suddenly, upon remembering the time constraints that Rachel mentioned, she quickly made her way towards his desk and stuffed the envelope on top of a pile of papers that were resting on top of it. I wonder if the slob would find it in this mess.
Quickly ridding herself of the thought, she made her way out of the office, waving a quick goodbye to Rachel as she rushed towards the lift, all the while praying to the gods to continue protecting her and save her from running into people she knew.
After only a few minutes of waiting, the doors of the elevator opened revealing an empty lift. She quickly made her way through the open doors, pressing the button for the lobby. She leaned back onto the walls, closing her eyes as she tried to keep the tears at bay, as she waited for the doors to close so she could finally break down and let all her emotions go.
Just as the doors were closing, however, the Gods proved that they could be just as cruel as they could be kind. A stack of papers wedged themselves between the doors just before they totally closed, forcing them to reopen to the sight of a clearly baffled and angry demigod.
"Percy," she managed to whisper as he made his way onto the lift, immediately pressing the close doors button with such force that she was shocked by the fact that he didn't break the button. "What—what are you doing here?"
He stared her down coldly. "What is this?" he exclaimed as he raised the pile of- now ruined- papers so that they were in her line of vision.
"Those were our divorce papers," she answered blandly, well aware of the fact that she was probably grating on his nerves because of that response. Somehow, she didn't care—no, that was a lie, she did, she relished the fact that she was annoying him.
He rolled his eyes, emitting a slight growl that was almost feral as he heard the cutting response. "I figured as much. My question is more along the lines of why the hell did you bring these?!"
"Because I want a divorce?" she ventured.
"Dammit, Annabeth!" He shouted as he hit the stop button on the pulley. "How the hell do you think it felt to have my secretary tell me that you dropped something off just seconds before I arrived? How do you think it felt to see this, of all things, lying on my desk?!" He asked her with obvious disgust at the memory.
"Percy, you have to understand that-"
"Don't—don't try to calm me," he interrupted her with a snarl. "Gods, how the hell can you even just give up like this—I thought that you were stronger than that!"
"Me?" she scoffed, an anger quickly rising within her at hearing him say those words. "I'm the one that's giving up here Percy, really? Do you honestly want to play that card here? Because, to tell you the truth—if memory serves me right—you're the one that left our marriage far before I ever decided to even make it official."
"Listen, I know we've had our problems, but-"
"Problems?" she asked with a condescending laugh. "Is that what you're calling them now?" She shrieked, her entire body practically pulsing with anger as she felt her animosity towards him throughout the past year culminating in a slow rumbling within her that was just waiting to explode.
"Well what else can I call them then?!"
She couldn't help but recoil slightly at that retort. She stared at him, speechless for a moment as she was left without a retort.
The truth was that despite it all she didn't know what to call it anymore; it was all just so blah right now. It felt as if all those bad memories were meshed together in a collage of recollections of lonely nights and lonelier days.
"Nothing," she told him in a broken voice. "There is no word for it because the truth is that we haven't been together enough this past year for it to even be problems. There was nothing to fight about—nothing to talk about… there hasn't been an us in a long time now."
"That's not true," he protested.
"But isn't it?" She challenged him.
"Fuck, you're one to talk Annabeth—moving out without any warning, without even giving me any indication as to where you were, and then suddenly showing up like this to give me these fucking things. And, even then, you don't come and confront me about it. You're as much to fault as I am," he accused her, pointing a finger in her face in an accusatory manner.
"Oh, that is so typical of you! You can't dispute the fact so you blame it on me?! I learned from you, you bastard. Like I said, you left this relationship long ago, Percy. I just followed suit—made it official. I won't ever let myself be just some stupid society wife for you. In fact, I won't be in a relationship where I'm ignored. I deserve better than that, Percy!"
It was odd, really—the way that suddenly, out of nowhere and without any indication at all, he seemed to calm down. Everything about him changed—from his facial features to his stance to the way that he wasn't glaring at her anymore. He looked broken—and, somehow, Annabeth couldn't help but revel in that, enjoy the fact that she was finally able to instill some sense of something, some emotion in him, after having spent so long with the cold, emotionless Percy that she'd come to despise.
"I don't ignore you," he managed to choke out, a tone that perfectly matching everything about his deportment.
Still though, she couldn't help, but laugh condescendingly at that reply. "You don't? Well then what the hell do you call the fact that you'd rather sleep in your office than come home to me just because it's more convenient? What the hell do you call the fact that you've been home a total of – I don't know – five months in the past year between all those damn business trips of yours? You've become the classic society husband, Percy. We don't even know each other anymore."
"That isn't fair-"
"Then what is it, Percy? Because, honestly, it sounds like a perfectly reasonable accusation given everything that's gone on—or, better yet, hasn't gone on between us lately!"
"If you'd just believe in this-"
She rolled her eyes. "What do you think I've been trying to do? I just can't live like this, Percy. Too much has gone on between us. Too much has fallen apart."
He sighed as he leaned on the wall opposite to her, letting his weight slowly fall onto the ground. "Where did it all go so wrong?"
She shrugged as she followed his lead by taking a seat on the ground, only she couldn't quite slide down the wall as he had been able to given how tight her pencil skirt was so she had to opt for slowly lowering herself onto the ground.
"Along time ago I suppose—it's why we never noticed it, it came on so slowly, a culmination of everything."
"There has to be a chance though," he persisted, still holding onto that infallible hope of his, despite how broken he might have felt and appeared to be.
She shook her head slowly. "I don't think there is—not anymore."
"I can't let it go like that, you know me. I still believe in us."
She smiled softy as she wiped away a stray tear that started to make its way down her cheek. "I wish I had something to keep on believing for like that. But there's nothing anymore."
He nodded slowly, as the full effect of her words hit him. "Can—can we just sit here a bit and I don't know…talk? I—I, at least, need some closure. Is that okay?" he timidly asked her, almost as if afraid of her—a thought that struck such a powerful chord with her, she couldn't help but be shocked by the influence he could still have on her despite everything that had gone on between them.
"Okay."
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