Chapter 10: Awards!
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Annabeth's POV
Wow, it's only a Tuesday in the week and I'm in a fabulous mood. I'm dating Percy Jackson, my job is keeping steady, I have two vacations planned, and both are going to be amazing. One will be in Greece while the other will be in Australia. One has great architectural sites while the other is hot and is surrounded by water and beaches. My type of place if you know what I mean.
Tonight is also Aphrodite's awards show which I will be attending too with none other than Percy. Aphrodite emailed me what categories I've been nominated in. Hottest woman in California, smartest woman in California, cutest couple in California, kindest in California, and hottest boyfriend in California, humblest woman in California, the most patient girl in California, hottest CEO in California, and most aggravating woman in California. To be honest with herself she only thinks she'll get 4 of the 9.
I really only have a chance of winning 4 of those categories. I can win in the smartest women one along with the cutest couple, hottest boyfriend, and the most aggravating woman in California. Why? Well, I graduated High school as valedictorian, I have a Masters degree from majoring in business along with a minor in math and mechanics. So I'm pretty sure it's safe to say I have that one in the bag since I know for a doubt that Aphrodite doesn't know very many smart women.
Why the cutest couple? Well, if I can even be nominated for hottest woman in California that means I'm most definitely not ugly and Percy is the hottest guy in California at the moment... and Percy can be absolutely adorable when he wants to.
Hottest boyfriend? That one's pretty self-explanatory.
Aggravating woman. if you know me well enough then you know I can be pretty annoying. People also get easily frustrated with me since they always come to me thinking I'm all that and then they find out I'm not and I don't even know sometimes.
Here's the question though. Am I excited to go to this event?
Kind of sorta maybe... not really.
It's great that people think I'm amazing and all, but the only reason I'm really going is, 1 I'm Percy's date. 2 Aphrodite will kill me if I don't go. 3 People expect me to be there. 4 Percy seemed excited to go there with me so I can't just say no to him.
And here I am sitting in my office in my chair looking at the sunrise. Yes, it is that early in the morning it's 6:00 am. I really don't care though. I love my job and the people here. You would think I wouldn't like the hours, but I do. The great thing about my job is that no one notices if I leave during my hours. As long as I get my work done and I'm in at the right time I'm good.
The sun is peeking up over the horizon shedding a warm glow on the city of California. The golden rays of sunlight reflect off of other buildings making the street seem blinding. The pink hue in the blue sky makes the scene almost fairy-tail like. Staring out the window I realize how much I have and can give. I complain so much about "how hard my life is" when I have an amazing job, friends, boyfriend, and place to live.
Some people in this world don't have any of that. Sometimes they don't even have water or food. I've joined organizations to help with this, but they just don't make enough of a difference. Everyone has heard the quote, "You can make a difference in someone's life." Well, wake up. One person isn't going to do crap to the whole more than 795 million people who are starving. Yes, you should help, but 45 bucks ain't gonna cut it.
We pay taxes to the government and I don't see any of our valued money going to our debt in China instead it's helping us build bigger and better bombs. I mean, if you're not going to get rid of our debt, then you might as well get rid of our hunger issues. If all of us die from hunger you won't have any taxes left to get paid. You see the government is just kind of messed up.
I sigh from my thinking process. Why do I even care to bother with thinking about our problems when there's no way in fixing it.
I turn around in my seat and look at the small stack of papers on my desk. Paperwork a Ceo's dream. Forgive me I meant nightmare. Dealing with letters from clients, bills, and resumes. I don't know why people try to get a job here when they only have a bachelor's degree. It's not like I'm going to hire someone who doesn't have any experience.
I look through another resume.
Reyna Ramirez Arellano
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Live: San Francisco 94016
Experience: 1-year internship at Roman's architecture and design.
Education: Masters
Number: 841-787-0086 (Not a real number just to let you know)
Huh, that's it. No references or any reasons why I should or shouldn't hire her. I'll have to call her into my office to see if she's worthy of the job. Another responsibility of being a CEO
I look at the number on the resume one more time and put it into the phone on my desk.
"Hello?" Someone says through the phone.
"Yeah, this is Olympus Architecture's CEO, Annabeth Chase. I was calling you in to see about hiring you. I was hoping for an interview?" I ask trying to polite.
"Of course. When can I come in?" The girl Reyna asks.
"I was hoping that you could come in at around 9:00 am?" I ask.
"Of course. Quick question though, why are you calling so early? I'm up and all but?"
"Sorry, as CEO of this company I come in early and leave late and as of late I have a lot of paper and your resume was on top of it all," I say apologetically.
"I understand you're all good. Nice to meet you. I'll see you in 3."
"Yup see you in 3." I hang up the phone right as my door opens.
"Miss. Chase?" Nico asks poking his head through the doors, "Mr. Jackson is here for you." I rub my eyes and put my head on my desk as I nod my head.
"Send him in," I say closing my eyes. Man, I might love my hours, but now all of the sudden I'm tired.
I feel someone's hands on my shoulders.
"What's up Wise Girl?" Percy asks.
"Nothing much. How'd you get out of work?" I ask. This 100 days of summer thing has to take up lots of his work time.
"My boss is being very lenient with me leaving work. Plus I don't work as long of hours as you do. Which means I get to take paperwork home and do at night. That is when I'm not hanging out with you." He starts to rub my shoulders and neck.
"Thanks, Percy," I say sighing from the relief his message gives my neck.
"Anytime. You ready for tonight?" He asks.
"As ready as anyone can be to see Aphrodite." He laughs and rubs my back.
"Stand up for a second I'm going to sit down. You can sit in my lap."
"You can sit in one of my client's chairs," I say not wanting to get up.
"If I do that then how am I going to rub your back?" He asks not giving up.
"Fine," I say standing up. He gets the gist and sits down. As soon as he's in my chair I sit in his lap.
I lean into him and sigh again. He is one of the most comforting people in the world. His strong build and ocean scent can do that to you.
"I thought you were going to rub my back?" I complain.
"Yeah well, when you're leaning into me like that how do you expect me to rub your back?" He asks smiling.
"I don't know," I say stupidly.
He chuckles and runs his hands up and down my arms.
"What time do you have to leave?" I ask.
"Do you want me to leave?" He asks feigning offense.
"Can I not ask you a question?" I ask.
"I was joking... and I need to leave in 5 minutes."
"It's funny you thought I wanted you to leave when I really don't want you to leave at all." He laughs at my childishness.
"Well give me a goodbye kiss," He says.
"I thought you weren't going to leave for 5 minutes?" I say not wanting him to leave yet.
"Yeah let's get to it I only have 5 minutes you know."
I laugh and turn around so I'm straddling his lap. "You should have said that a while ago."
He smiles at me and leans forward. "Almost there," I say smiling. (Review if you know what Disney movie the quotes from!)
He grabs my chin looking into my eyes and closes the distance between us.
Our last kiss was more of a hormones type of kiss, but this one... oh boy this kind is better. I put my hands on his shoulders to hold myself into place as I try to push our bodies closer together. To think I've known him for about 15 years and haven't kissed him like this is remarkable.
I pull away out of breath and bury my face in Percy's neck. I love him. Now's not really the time to tell him, but at least now I know for myself.
"How long was that?" I ask breathing in deeply. I love his cologne. Ocean.
"6 minutes," he says.
"Alright get out of here you need to get to work," I say getting off of him.
He sighs but nods and gets out of my chair.
"I'll be here at 5:30 pm sharp. Ok?" He asks.
"Yup. Oh, and you might want to straighten your shirt and tie before you leave," I say silently laughing at his appearance.
"Geese Wise girl you got into it didn't you?" He asks in a teasing voice as he straightens out his appearance.
"Well, my messed up hair and untucked blouse say the same thing huh seaweed brain?" I ask also teasingly.
He shakes his head and says before leaving, "See you at 5:30 sharp."
"Yeah see you then," I say sitting in my chair again ready to go through the rest of this paperwork.
3 hours later...
"Miss Chase. Your 9:00 o'clock is here."
I press the intercom button on the phone and speak into it, "Sends her in Nico."
I wait about 5 seconds before a smart looking woman comes in. I stand up and hold out my hand.
"My name is Annabeth Chase CEO of this company and apparently the official hires person since they hand me all the resumes and other papers saying they want a raise."
"Yeah, sounds rough," she says shaking my hand.
"Go ahead and take a seat while we discuss some things," I say sitting down in my chair.
"First things first is, what apartment were you hoping to enter?" I ask.
"Apartment?" She asks.
"Yes, which field of work which part of the company?" I ask clarifying what I meant before.
"Oh well, I'd start off as just another architect then hopefully move to an advisor of some sort," she says crossing her legs and leaning forward slightly.
"I'm glad you actually know what jobs there are. Some people these days just come in for a job and say, "Hey put me where you need me."
She laughs lightly and uncrosses her legs only to cross them the other way.
"So, before you came looking for work here, your resume says you were an intern at, Roman's Architecture and do know of the small rivalry correct?" I ask hoping I don't have to explain that.
"Yes, I do. I did the internship there because all of the internship positions here were full at the time," she says.
"I also hate to break it to you but, we don't have advisors here really. We only have the CEO position which is currently taken. The owner of the company also known as my boss, which is also taken. I believe they do have advisors at the Romans company."
"Thank you for your time Reyna, but you are looking for a position that isn't beneath or above our feet at the moment,"I say. Man, I hate this part of my job. They either get whiny or angry.
"Well, that's too bad for you. By the way... I've dated your boyfriend before," she says standing up ready to leave.
"And who are you dating at the moment, Reyna?" I ask.
"His name is Brock," she says slowly.
"Well, I've dated him too. I mean, he's a good looking guy with a decent personality, but the way he eats is slightly disturbing. I guess that wouldn't bother you though now would it," I say smiling evilly.
"We just have too much in common. Bye, Annabeth good luck with your rule breaking boyfriend," she says halfway out of the door.
"I don't need the luck since half the time I'm breaking the rules with him. Bye, Reyna."
She closes the door and I sigh. Now all I need to do is finish this paperwork and go to this awards thing.
3 hours later...
Yes! It's time for my lunch break. I stand up and twist the upper half of my body to the left. I hear a satisfying pop and twist to my right only to hear the same thing.
I walk to my door and open it revealing no one other than Percy Jackson.
"We need to go get you a dress," Percy says smiling.
"Nope. I'll just wear an old one of mine."
"Nope. We're getting you a new one. Let's go," Percy says taking my hand.
4 hours later...
"I'll pick you up in 1 and a half hours," Percy says walking away.
"Sharp," I call shutting my office door. Man if I don't get that paperwork done I'm toast.
I sit in my chair and place my bag on the ground under my desk. that bag has a 500 dollar dress in it. Ridiculous.
I grab a pen and start working.
2 hours later (At the awards show.)
Percy and I are sitting side by side in super comfortable seats waiting for Aphrodite herself to take the stage. Percy is decked out in a Navy blue tux with a white handkerchief hanging out of the pocket in a perfect fold. He has a navy blue bowtie on. His hair is actually cut and combed and he has light stubble on his face. His tux costs a sweet 700 dollars. his haircut cost 200 and his shoes a sleek black cost 85. All in all, he looks HOT!
Percy is decked out in a Navy blue tux with a white handkerchief hanging out of the pocket in a perfect fold. He has a navy blue bow tie on. His hair is actually cut and combed and he has light stubble on his face. His tux costs a sweet 700 dollars. his haircut cost 200 and his shoes a sleek black cost 85. All in all, he looks HOT!
I have on, an elegant floor length gray dress with diamonds covering the top of it. It was beautiful. My hair in golden rings and my open-toe evening sandals with a 4" heel all covered in silver glitter. So basically I'm wearing really fancy heels. I'm also wearing and etourdissant diamond necklace.
Ignore the line I'm just awkwardly switching her thoughts.
With Percy's hand in mine and a goal set. (At least 2 awards) I'm ready to go.
Aphrodite walks up the stage and goes to the center with a diamond microphone in hand. "Welcome to Aphrodite's awards where we only award the best. I hate to keep you waiting so let's get into it."
"The first category is..." She opens an envelope and reads off of it, "Sexiest man in California. Oh! This is one of my favorites guys. The nominees are, Shawn Sancho, Thomas Hardin, Hector Donovan, and Percy Jackson!"
I look at Percy. "You're a nominee for that too?"
"I guess so."
We clap and wait for everyone to quiet down so we can hear the results.
"And the winner is... Percy Jackson!" She calls smiling happily.
I smile and stand up to give Percy a hug. we hug and he goes up to accept his award and to say his speech.
He smiles a lopsided grin at the crowd and waits patiently for them to calm down.
"First I'd like to thank my mom for encouraging me in sports and always being there for me. I'd like to thank my father who is now in heaven for half of my genes. his half brought on my love for the water and swimming build which helped me actually get somewhere in life. I'm grateful for my friends especially for my best friend and girlfriend for keeping track of me and my haircut schedule." Percy smiles waves and exits the stage down the steps and towards me.y
He sits down next to me and grabs my hand giving it a light squeeze.
People are still clapping and shouting so I whisper in Percy's ear, "1 down the rest to go."
he shakes his head and says in my ear, "Like I'd win everything I'm categorized in." He scoffs lightly and waves to the cameras that are surrounding us.
"Oh, you will," I reply Percy just has this way with people that they love. He's charming and most definitely good looking. People might not know it, but charm can take you places.
Aphrodite gets everyone to calm down and announces the next category, "The next category is... Hottest Ceo in California. the nominees are... Annabeth Chase, Anne Mayberry, Percy Jackson, and Li Tang."
She pauses to let the people clap. As she pauses Percy leans over and whispers in my ear, "Well, I guess you were wrong because you have me beat." I shake my head and wait for Aphrodite to go on.
"The winner is... oh, it's a 2 vote difference. Actually, all of them are within 10 votes of each other. The winner is... Percy Jackson!"
People cheer loudly as Percy smiles as he shakes his head. I get up again to give him a hug which he gladly accepts, but before I can sit down Percy grabs my hand and starts pulling me to the stage with him.
"Percy what are you doing." I whisper-yell into his ear.
He doesn't respond but keeps pulling me up to the stage. Aphrodite raises her eyebrow at Percy as she gives him the microphone. He just smiles at her and looks out toward the crowd still holding my hand. (Thankfully)
"Aphrodite," Percy speaks into the microphone. "Who was the person who was 2 votes away from winning" He looks at her waiting for her to answer which she gladly does.
"Annabeth," she says still looking quite confused. Percy smiles and turns back to the crowd.
"As I had thought before, Annabeth here was the one who almost beat me. In my eyes, she is the hottest Ceo and she should be in your eyes too." He hands me the award kisses my cheek and hands me the microphone.
"Um..." I say into the microphone surprised at what just happened. "I guess I should thank Percy here and um... I mean... I agree with most of you that Percy should win this award because there's no denying it that he is the hottest Ceo in California probably even in America. So I guess I'm just going to be his official award carrier for this category since I'm not going to accept an award meant for Percy." I nod my head in satisfaction and hand Percy the award and the microphone.
"No," Percy says into the microphone. "Because I'm changing my mom's vote to you and my little brothers vote to you." He hands the award back to me, gives the microphone to Aphrodite, takes a step back and starts clapping. Everyone quickly joins in and are almost instantly on their feet cheering.
I tear up slightly and laugh lightly. Percy is such a lovable guy. There is no denying it, I Love Him.
I whirl around and run into his arms. The emotion building up inside of me, begging to overflow is now being put into this kiss. I kiss Percy with such joy. What kind of man does that?
A real man I tell you. And I have that kind of real man. And I love him to Tartarus and back!
I pull away and smile at the crowd. Man, it feels good to be me.
This line automatically skips to when Annabeth or Percy are in a category.
"The next category is... who is the cutest couple in California?" I sit up straight from my previous spot on Percy's shoulder and actually pay attention. "I don't even think I need to name off the nominee's I'm pretty sure we already know who won." she opens the envelope and smiles. "Just as I thought everyone, Percy Jackson, and Annabeth Chase."
I smile and get up. Percy grabs my hand as we head up towards the stage. Percy gets the microphone from Aphrodite while Aphrodite hands me the award.
"I'd like to say quick thank you to everyone who voted for Annabeth and I it truly means a lot. I'd like to thank my mom for making this relationship even possible." this earns a confused response from the crowd. Percy chuckles and replies," I guess it's story time. When I met Annabeth I literally thought she was a princess. I quickly learned though that she was stubborn and had a very defined opinion on certain things." He pauses and I smack his shoulder earning a chuckle from the crowd.
"We quickly became friends and without us even having to say it we both knew we were best friends. I quickly developed a crush on her and have had and developed that crush since I was 15. Of course, things quickly got in the way and I was helplessly stuck in the friend zone. I was ready to give up on it when my mom woke me up at 6:00 in the morning with ice water and took me to the indoor pool around the corner and told me to start swimming." Percy smiles at the memory and then keeps going.
"She told be to do a lap. She said she was going to hold up a picture and as soon as I saw it after doing my lap I would say the first thing that came to my mind. Keep in mind that I was 19 at the time and still trying get Annabeth. I did this about 5 times with random pictures of things when my mom got serious and pulled out a picture of Annabeth." He turns to me and kisses my forehead.
"I finished my lap popped out of the water, saw the picture and said, downright sexy. At the time my mom had raised an eyebrow at me and said is that it? I had laughed at the time and said no. I was expecting her to say go on and tell me all about her, but instead, she had me do another lap. I did my lap and saw a picture of Annabeth and I sleeping on the couch together." He pauses and smiles softly like it's the best thing ever.
"Do you want to know what I said?" Percy asks. he gets a chorus of yeses along with 1 from me. I had never heard this story before.
"I said 1 word and it made my mom and me both smile. I said the word 'Right.'"
"The first thing that popped into my head is that it looked so right. Being with her was so right. My mom has encouraged me ever since. If I'm honest with you guys... I'm a total idiot. If I wanted to date her so bad then why did I wait so long? Well, I put all of our moments into the best friend category. Snuggling on my couch. Kissing each other on the cheek. Going out to eat calling it just hanging out. Worst and biggest mistake I have ever made. And to think of the time I wasted in my life sulking of not having her with me." He pauses seeming to regather all of his thoughts.
"That is why my mom made this relationship possible."
He hands me the microphone and kisses my cheek.
"I need to start giving my speech first because I have no way of beating him." I smile and shift my weight onto my other foot.
"Percy means the world to me. He has since I was 12. I feel bad for putting him down all the time. Because I will admit that I've dated tons of other men just because I never thought Percy was going to ask me out. I would have asked him, but since he never asked me and he dated other women too I always just thought that being his best friend was enough for him." I pause and regather my thoughts.
"I always have trouble admitting this, but I was wrong. I wish I would have just talked it out with him or something. The funny thing is... I never gave up on him, but I never really thought he would do it. We just barely started dating and it's not that far-fetched from what we already do, but it's still slightly weird being able to kiss him whenever I want to."
"Thank you for this award I knew that he would pull it in for us and you all mean a lot. It's funny how I almost feel like a movie star, but I'm really just a Ceo from some random company. I love you all and thank you again."
I hand Aphrodite the microphone and take Percy's hand in mine and start walking down the steps to head back to our seats. As soon as I sit down I look back up to Aphrodite and smile knowing the cameras are on Percy and I. Percy pulls my hand up to his mouth and kisses it lightly making my smile even wider.
"The next category is...Kindest person in California." I sigh. These things take absolutely forever. "Our nominees are... Annabeth Chase, Sandra Smith, Mary Messner, and Brett Owens. All of these people donate money to charity organizations and are just plain nice." She opens the envelope in a bubbly manner, "Sandra Smith!" She calls.
I know I should feel disappointed, but not really. I'm not really the nicest person on the block.
"Next is the humblest women in California category... Our nominees are..." I ignore all the names she calls out, but I know I've been called.
"The winner is..." she calls out some random name so I just clap my hands and lean my head on Percy's shoulder. he kisses my forehead and says in my ear, "You've won every award you've been nominated into me." I just about melt. He really needs to stop complimenting me though or else my ego is going to get too big and I'm not going to become the nicest person in the world.
"Our next category is..." I don't even see how she stays so happy. Maybe she's high or something. "Smartest women in California." I once again tune out her voice as she calls out the nominees.
"And our winner is... Annabeth Chase."
I smile and slowly get out of my seat trying to look just as happy as I should be and try not to show that I was about to just fall asleep.
Once I get to the stage and am handed the award I grab the microphone to give my 5-minute speech story thing.
"Thank you, everyone, for the votes and awards. They mean a lot to me. I actually have a story that goes along with this so I'll get into that. So, I met Percy when I was 12. We met at a summer camp. After the summer though we ended u going to the same junior high school. My goal for that year was to get a 4.0 every term and to help Percy get good grades too." I pause and try to remember where I was going with this.
"I ended up successfully getting my goal and helping Percy achieve it too. we both got 4.0's the whole year. The thing is... he did most of it by himself. Of course, I helped and encouraged, but he did it all by himself. He was so happy that he kissed me on the cheek. Which is a great award for doing well in school. We did the same thing the next year and the same thing happened." I pause for effect but keep going.
"This happened every year till sophomore year. That year he finally got taller than me. That year he kissed me on the forehead. This happened for our junior year too. Our senior year though he almost kissed me on the lips 3 times. The first one was when we went out to eat as an award for getting a 4.0 that term. The next time he almost kissed me was when we both opened up our college letters from Stanford University and both got in. The third time was at graduation. Instead, I just got a lingering kiss on the forehead and a really long hug."
"That was one of the things that motivated me to do so well. Percy's little awards at the end of the year were the best! I loved them. Of course, I love to read so that helped too, but he was the main motivation for me."
I smile to the crowd and hand Aphrodite the microphone back. once I get back to my seat Percy stands up and gives me a small kiss on the lips. "Congratulations." He whispers before grabbing my hand to sit down. "Aren't they the cutest?" Aphrodite says into the microphone cameras still on us.
I then won the most aggravating women in California. I absolutely knew it.
"The winner for hottest man in California is... Percy Jackson for the 2nd year in a row!" Percy smiles and gets on stage.
"I'd like to thank my parents for the genes and my girlfriend for the support thank you." Short and sweet.
I stand up and once he gets close to me I give him a quick kiss and hug. "Short and sweet. I think that's been the best speech yet." I say.
"I almost agree with you." He says.
"The winner for hottest women in California is... Annabeth Chase!" She calls.
I smile and stand up. I make the same speech as Percy did before but switch the word girlfriend with the word boyfriend.
I then fall fast asleep on Percy's shoulder with him rubbing his hand up and down my arm. I wake up for the ending though.
"Our last award is for who is the biggest supporters of Aphrodite's children magazine. We have 5 people coming up." She says random people's names till the last 2.
"Our last 2 who have won this award are... Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson." Okay, that was slightly unexpected, but as long as this is the end then I'm good.
We get up to get our awards then sit back down and wait to be called out.
Once Percy and I's names get called out we walk out of the building and walk down their red carpet they have set out. We stop exactly 5 times to take pictures and answer questions before we are finally ushered into a limo. It is 11:00 pm.
"Can I crash at your place Annabeth?" Percy asks with a yawn.
"Yeah go for it," I say not really caring. I just want to go to bed. "What was my 92 things for the day?" I ask.
"I rubbed your back for almost an hour and a half... probably more actually. So today you got a 92-minute massage type of thing."
I nod my head happily. That's why my back isn't in a giant knot.
We go up to my penthouse and crash. Percy on the couch with me in my room.
Thanks for reading guys! I'm so happy it's finally summer. I'm going to be gone off and on in the next two weeks, but we'll see if I have time to update more!
This chapter was 5,771 words long... Your welcome.
Please review everyone.
Love you guys!