Annabeth Chase— 2:30 P.M.
The two stood in front of Chase Duplex for a moment, still not understanding what had just happened and why the man had been there. After the initial shock had worn off, Rachel had suggested the two go inside.
As Annabeth poured herself a cup of coffee and handed another to Rachel, she sat down on the plush sofa on the far side of the living room. She put both her feet up on the couch, huddling as she sipped the warm drink.
Rachel piped up first, "What are you going to do with the Will issue? I can help you track him down with Apollo, but who knows how long that will take. Besides, the creditors are asking for you to pay the money now. They aren't known for the patience."
Annabeth set aside her coffee on the table, throwing her hands up in the air in absolute hopelessness, "Well yeah, what do you suggest I do about it? I have no other way to make money other than the furniture. And, we all know how that went at the convention." Annabeth muttered the last part darkly at the thought of the incident.
"I was thinking…" Rachel began slowly, pausing momentarily while deciding how to phrase the question, "How about…You know, leasing your house—?"
She was cut off immediately by Annabeth, "NO!"
"But Anna, you have two rooms now that Thalia's gone. Why not rent it out to someone and make some money that way?"
Annabeth pinched the bridge of her nose as she tried to make Rachel understand the dire consequences, "Rachel, how many times have I told you? My father would kill me if I rented this house out to anyone. You know he doesn't allow strangers to the house."
"You let Thalia stay," Rachel muttered.
"She was my best friend since college, and she needed a place after her parents had died."
"So much for best friend."
"Look, that isn't the problem right now. I am not going to rent this place out to a random person."
"Didn't you say your dad was going to come in five months or so?
"Yeah, what about it?"
"If he finds out that you lost $30,000, you are screwed. Besides, what your father doesn't know won't kill him. Just rent it out till then. I'm sure you could recover at least 85% of the cost by then and lessen the scolding."
Annabeth scowled at Rachel's pleased face. Did she seriously think that? "I doubt it. So if I do get a tenant, you want me to kick her out in five months?"
"It'll be in the contract."
"No one would want to live anywhere for just five months."
"Just think about. I can come with you to the lease office and help you set it up. I do this type of stuff with my dad all the time, considering he is an industrialist and all."
"Fine," Annabeth grumbled, clearly showing her unhappiness. "I better not regret it."
The time passed idly as the two girls chitchatted about various occurrences in their life. Little Tommy occupied himself by the TV as the news zeroed down on the new Architect project to be unveiled in the following week by Olympian Architect.
Annabeth became distracted from the conversation when the screen zoomed in to last week's Art museum competition. A short sound bite focusing on Luke and his father, Hermes, aired as the two men jovially spoke of their good fortune.
Rachel grabbed the remote from Annabeth's hand, turning it off as she muttered, "Those men make me sick." Rachel stood up, grabbing a hold of Tommy's hand, "Hey, I got to run some errands before dinner tonight, but make sure to call me later. We can talk about it some more." She gave Annabeth a pointed look before leaving out the door.
Annabeth spent the remainder of the afternoon trying to decide on what to eat for dinner. She could always make the instant mac and cheese she had or the frozen lasagna she had bought from Costco the other day.
Even so, just plain lasagna would be a rather poor dinner, and if she was being honest with herself, Annabeth was starving. Ever since the wedding, she had been less inclined to eat, feeling rather squeamish and a loss of appetite. But no, she was no longer going to put off eating for the sake of that.
Grabbing a hold of her coat and wallet, Annabeth decided to make a quick run to Target to pick up a few extra groceries and dessert to go with the meal. She glanced at the clock, noticing it read 4:13 P.M. She sighed once, taking in a gulp of the cold, fresh air as it invigorated her from the tired state in which she had been.
As she walked down the five blocks between her and the store, various strange sights awaited her. Men in hoodies roamed the streets with a cigarette in their mouths. They appeared to be homeless in Annabeth's eyes. That's when a sudden thought struck her. If Will was broke too, could he possibly be one of these men too?
On her way back from Target, Annabeth was carrying two plastic bags filled with groceries, the weight almost weighing her down. She mentally cursed herself for buying so much with so little money in her account.
As she returned, the sky had gradually become darker and the men from before were still milling around the street. That's when Annabeth spotted the bright, familiar yellow jacket. That fool! If he didn't want to be caught, why wear such a fluorescent color outside.
She jogged up to the man as fast as she could, "Will!" The man in the yellow jacket had turned around when Annabeth had neared him. The smell of smoke permeated the air as he opened his mouth. No, that wasn't Will.
But just then, Annabeth saw the surprised turn of another man sporting a somber, red jacket. His face was one of pure shock and terror; he dropped the bag of gummy worms he had been holding on the ground as he registered who it was.
At the same moment, Annabeth too realized who it was. Without a second thought, she started running after him in top speed, as fast she could go with the bags still in her hand. Will had passed her house in the few seconds that had separated them.
She barely noticed the particular man standing in front of her doorstep with a camera in his hand.
"Will, stop right now! Look, let's just talk. Slow down!"
She heard the sound of running footsteps next to her, and she turned her head slightly, finding herself looking into a pair of emerald green eyes.
The man spoke up with an amused tone on his face, "It seems as though you really do have complicated relations with the opposite gender."
Percy Jackson— 3:05 P.M.
After Nico had called him to relay the news, Percy was even more curious. First, it began with Luke. Had Luke knowingly approached this girl, Annabeth Chase? Had someone tipped off Hermes Inc. about the new construction possibility for the resort?
A million things were running through Percy's head as he clicked on every article ever published about the house. Although it was called a duplex, the two 'entities' of the house were not all that separate. Many of the rooms were shared. In fact, only the bedrooms, closet, and extra storage rooms were different.
There were rumors about a hidden basement, but not of the articles gave a clear image of what the house looked like on the interior. There were various angles on the outside perspective, but not a single image showed up when he typed in 'Chase Duplex interior'.
But from what Nico and Leo had said, no outsider was allowed into the house. And he, sadly enough, was an outsider. Besides, he doubted that the blond haired girl had any good words to put in for him from their constant bickering.
He could hear the heated argument that Leo and Nico were having, each boasting about the amount of alcohol they could go. Percy snorted at the thought of Leo drinking alcohol, but immediately shivered at the consequences.
Percy walked outside his office, taking a quick glance at his office. Leo was immediately by his side, "Boss, you weren't serious about firing me. Were you? Especially after I helped Nico with Chase Duplex."
Nico rolled his eyes, "Please. Had you given me another minute or so, I would have found that out myself."
"Nico, get rid of Leo's desk," Percy said with some amusement in his eyes.
"What, no!"
Nico was quick to follow directions as he went to Leo's cubicle. Leo quickly trailed behind, protesting the entire way, "You…you can't do that. It isn't fair. I helped you!"
The other man let out a quick bark like laugh, "Fine, do what you want. Keep working, but you won't get paid."
"Hey! That goes against federal law. I should get at least minimum wage. Nico, you can't do that!"
Percy hid his smirk as he waved good bye to Nico. Nico had warned him not to go, but where Percy was concerned, this was too good of a lead to give up on. He got into his Challenger, punching in the address into Apple maps. He knew that he would get lost inevitably with the app, but had no other choice.
Besides, he the house wasn't all that far from the office when he had checked MapQuest for a sense of directions. He made a quick stop at his own house to pick up the camera. And to his dismay, he found Calypso sitting on the couch, still in the same position as she was when he had left earlier that morning.
She flung herself at him as he walked in through the door, refusing to let go when he tried to shake her off. That suborn girl. She trailed after him into his room where he went to pick up his camera, the Canon Rebel T3i.
"Perce," she whined as she secured herself around his waist, her long legs wrapping around them. "Why don't you spend the rest of the day with me?" She had one arm around his neck and the other dotingly brushing the raven black locks from his face.
Percy looked her straight in the eye and sighed, "Cali, I don't have time for this. I have work to do and just came to pick up the camera. Tell mom I'll probably be late tonight."
"But Percy," she pouted, making that endearing puppy dog face. Everyone found it endearing…except for Percy. He thought it was a nuisance. "You promised you'd spend more time with me."
"Maybe next weekend," he said.
"Promise?" she asked as she pecked him once on the cheek.
"We'll see."
By the time Percy had gotten back into the car and driven to Chase Duplex, it was already 4:35. Calypso had detained him for far longer than he had expected. What was he supposed to say? He hadn't really thought of it.
Was he to feign surprise when she opened the door, pretending like he had no idea? He also couldn't just ask to go inside and take a look around. Not especially when they had explicitly said no visitors. He parked his car on the curb one street away from the house in so that he wouldn't raise any suspicions.
He rang the doorbell once as he got to the top of the doorstep. No answer. He waited another minute before he rang it again. No answer once more. Percy resorted to knocking when he heard a girl screaming from behind him.
"Will, stop right now! Look, let's just talk. Slow down!"
Percy did a double take as he saw the blond hair fly by. With a second of hesitation, he made up his mind. He began running after her, the camera pouch secure in his hand. Within a second, he had caught up with her.
She turned to face him with a look of astonishment on her face.
"It seems as though you really do have complicated relations with the opposite gender," he began, almost conversationally.
Annabeth Chase didn't slow down as she muttered with a sideways glare, "What are you doing here?"
Just as Percy was about to respond, Annabeth slowed down for a second. Her foot was positioned was in awkward angle which Percy would hurt. The bags she had been carrying fell down as she winced in pain. The splatter of tomatoes and eggs mixing together jolted him.
The foot had rolled back, and she let out a little screech as she attempted to place her foot on the ground.
Percy didn't know what to say, so he stuck with keeping it simple, "Are you ok?"
Her glare was just as scary even when in pain, "Does it look like I'm fine?" But she gritted her teeth. Not bothering to pix up the groceries, she began hobbling in the direction of the man she was chasing. Percy kept pace with her.
"I have to catch Will!" she muttered.
"Wait, slow down. You want to catch that man with that foot? That's not going to work. Stay here. I'll get him," with that final word, Percy was off, following where he had last seen the man turn. The other guy must have gotten a good lead in the minute or two Annabeth had slowed down from her sprained ankle.
He rushed down the unfamiliar streets, asking himself why he was chasing an unknown man through the streets of New York for a girl who hated the sight of him. He was officially going crazy as Nico would have put it.
As he turned on to a straight alley, he found the man running a few yards in front of him. He was ease to pick out with his red jacket and blond hair. That's when they hit a dead end. The man's face had turned a shocking pale white when he turned to face Percy, deciding the best way to bolt passed him. Percy slowed down, knowing that he had cornered the other man, approaching him slowly.
Unbeknownst to both of them, Annabeth had managed to catch up even with her foot. She followed directly behind Percy, "Hey Will!"
She came closer as Percy made space for her in the narrow alley, "Will, look at me. What'd you do with it? Where's the 30 grand?"
The man, which Percy assumed was Will, tried to make a run for it, shoving Annabeth to the side. Percy managed to steady her before grabbing a hold of Will's jacket from the tips of his fingers.
He spun the man around so that Annabeth could face him. Will has his face down when Annabeth removed the hoodie covering his face. Without hesitation, she slapped him hard, causing even Percy to wince at the sound.
Personally, I like the next chapter a lot. But anyway, the next few chapters will show more of their character development and the beginning stages of their relationship.
I won't be updating daily because I'll be out of town for the next week or so. And the week after this one, I'm going on a month and half trip out of the country. I doubt said other country has great Wi-Fi nor will I have too much time to update.
I'll do my best to update when I do have Internet connection. This is just a heads-up for next week. I'll probably update 3 or 4 chapters before then.
Anyway, make sure to follow, fave, and review in the box below.
~TJ
