Rick Riordan owns everything.

Chapter 4: Reluctance

The dinner was excruciating for Percy. Everything he said earned a glare from Annabeth: took a bite of his steak, glare, moved, glare, talked, glare. The one time she did laugh was when Percy managed to inhale his soup, throwing himself into a coughing fit. The longer the night went on, the more he came to hate her.

Posiedon turned to him, "Percy here is the CEO of my company. He takes care of things on the home front while I work with other companies securing trade and making deals."

Percy hated when his dad talked about his position. Not only did he think that there were mounds of people more qualified than him, but he didn't really love his job. "Yes sir, I do my best."

This elected a look from Annabeth that suggested that he was the most disgusting scum to have ever have been graced with her presence. "Man, she's a princess!" he thought angrily, his face hot with anger.

He honestly didn't think that anything could make his night worse, but Percy forgot that he had the worst luck. He couldn't count the times that his day had gone from bad, to terrible, to horrific. Today happened to be one of those days.

"Athena, can I talk to you for a moment?" Poseidon asked politely. She looked like she would rather have her eyes gorged out by spoons but she agreed anyway. The two got up to talk away from prying ears.

Percy shot his father a look that clearly said, "Don't leave me with this nutcase! She'll kill me," but his father just gave him a stern "play nice" look and stalked after Athena.

Annabeth was so frustrated with this man! First he sauntered into the room like he owned the place, then he had the audacity to try to make her feel inferior by throwing his important job in her face.

Sure he was good looking, and if they had met under any other circumstances, she would have been inclined to get to know him better, but Annabeth knew that he had to be a jerk. His black slightly mussed hair, gorgeous green eyes, and his cut little smirk hid a cocky rich boy. And she was going to be forced to marry him.

The dinner had been bad. He and his father consistently turned the conversation back to Percy and his accomplishments. But it got worse. Oh, how became excruciating.

Their parents had decided to have a private chat and left the two of them at the table. "Please just ignore me, just stay quiet and wait for them to come back!" Annabeth kept chanting in her head. Apparently mind reading wasn't one of Percy's many glorified skills because he struggled to find conversation.

"I take it that you were just as blindsided as I was?" He asked dryly.

"No! I heard about this a long time ago and I have been so excited ever since!" She replied starkly.

"No need to be sarcastic!"

"I was just told I'm getting married and you want to tell me that I should be thrilled?"

"No, I simply stated that you didn't need to be sarcastic."

"Well, I think that sarcasm is better than yelling at people, seaweed brain."

Percy opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water, unsure of what to say back to that. He finally decided, "Okay, wise girl, whatever you say."

She stared at him unbelievingly, "Wise girl? What kind of an insult is that?"

"What the heck does seaweed brain have to do with anything?" He shot back.

"As you have mentioned, multiple times, you are a CEO of an ocean drilling company. I figured that all that time spent at drilling sites, your brain was slowly replaced with kelp." Annabeth watched with some satisfaction as his face darkened in a blush.

They were interrupted by the return of their parents. "We have some news," Athena announced as she sat back down.

"Percy, we have talked for a long time about renovating the office building: revamping the top floor and lobby and now we have to hire a contractor to fix the water damage that just happened," Poseidon added.

Athena took the conversation back over, "Because of your new engagement, we think that this would be a good opportunity to get to know each other. Annabeth will be the architect in charge."

The table was quiet for a moment while they digested the new information. Then at once Annabeth and Percy simultaneously burst out talking.

"I don't want her at my office everyday! I wanted to work with a designer that would actually do what I want, not just decide that she knows best!"

"I haven't agreed to the engagement, I said I would come to this meeting and then decide after. What are you playing at?"

"QUIET!" Poseidon shouted. Both of them stopped abruptly.

Athena decided to address Annabeth first, "My dear, you know the consequences; I know that you understand what is at stake. Are you willing to cost heartache to that many people because you won't sacrifice?"

Even though she didn't want to play the martyr, she knew that she had to. "Okay, I will if he agrees," she said solemnly.

Content with Annabeth's answer, she moved on to Percy,"I know that you think that Annabeth won't do what you wish, she is a strong personality, but you need to understand how lucky you are. I don't allow her to do work normally because she is in such high demand, even after only a year in the work place. She usually is only allowed to manage the projects. I am offering you one of the best architects in the United States." Percy's eyes widened in surprise.

"Yes, I am good, you just didn't know because you only talked about yourself," Annabeth thought proudly.

"So do you agree, son?" Poseidon asked hesitantly. Almost as if he was diffusing a bomb.

He nodded and grinned at Annabeth, returning back to his cocky self, "I guess we can manage. I will see you on Monday."

Percy stood up, winked at Annabeth, and waltzed out of the restaurant, leaving her fuming.