.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
Of Corporate Scandals
Chapter 10. Long Days and Busy Nights
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
Annabeth groaned in frustration, "Oh, damn you, you fucking printer!" She resisted the urge to kick the accursed office machine.
Mary-Sue poked her head into the copier room, "Ah, is everything alright in here, Miss Annabeth?"
The blonde looked up and, her cheeks reddening at the fact that her outburst had been caught, "Oh, um, yeah. It's just that the printer's jammed or low on toner or something again and Mr. Jackson really needs these files." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair.
Mary-Sue waddled over and reset the machine, "Oh, darling, is this about to the Open Seas Water World project?"
Annabeth nodded, sighing as she watched her elder fix the machine she had been struggling with for the past ten minutes, "Yeah. What else?"
The past few days had been absolute chaos, the board had insisted on opening Open Seas Inc.'s new amusement water park by summer of next year and Percy had been stressing about the project and running his employees over time.
The young CEO had gotten the news the night of the wedding so the next day, they had all hit the ground running. He hadn't even commented on dancing with her the other night.
Annabeth sighed as she sunk down in the gray plastic armchair in the small, bland, copier room. As all of the other "high-up" members of the Open Seas Inc. staff all met in board room meetings all day, Annabeth had been running on coffee breaks, copying papers, wrestling with the printer, and, of course, waiting on Calypso's every need in Percy's plea to keep her busy so he could work. Of course, under normal circumstances, she would've given her middle finger a stretch and yelled, "Hell to the NO."...But the way he looked at her with his puppy dog eyes...
Mary-Sue snapped her out of her reverie and handed her the pile of files, "Here you go, darlin'. Get the mail boy to order some new toner, alright?"
Annabeth nodded, taking them, "Thank you, Mary-Sue. Really, I mean it. If I had to deal with that thing for one more second..."
Mary-Sue waved it off, "Oh no, darling. No problem. Anyway, if this means I have an excuse to skip out on those long, boring board meetings Miss Levesque and Mr. Jackson run, I'm all in."
"I bet," Annabeth smiled, lightly, "I'll just go lay them on his desk."
She made her way down the hall and out into the main lobby. It looked like any other office (not changing one bit since she started working two months ago) with its many desks and potted plants...that is if you call a normal office one with an entire wall of floor to ceiling windows with a view of Manhattan and a fully furbished luxury break room.
Annabeth opened the frosted glass door to her boss's office and -
"Don't you ever knock?!" Calypso swung her legs off of Percy's desk and glared at Annabeth. She shouldered her smart phone to keep it place as she pulled on her red, platform stilettos, "Sorry, Circe, I'm just yelling at my assistant."
Annabeth rolled her eyes, "I'm just here to drop these off, Calypso."
Calypso sniffed, "That's Miss Atlas to you." She rolled her eyes, "I'll call you back, Circe."
The blonde walked over and placed the file neatly on Percy's desk.
Calypso snapped her fingers, "You, Annabelle. Schedule me an appointment for a mani-pedi at Tina's. I'm tired of this color. "
Annabeth inhaled, deeply, through her nose and forced a smile, remembering what her boss had asked her to do, "Sure, thing, Miss Atlas."
The redheaded woman waved her hand, "I'm going out for paninis. Don't wait up!" She called as she dialed back Circe.
Annabeth sighed, flipping through the phone book for Tina's Nail Salon. Suddenly, she was missing fighting the printer and running down to the coffee shop across the street and getting Mr. Jackson mocha lattes.
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
"So why do you need to wait on this chick again?" Thalia asked, finally giving up on chop sticks and shoving noodles into her mouth with a fork. The two roommates were sitting in their darkened living room in ratty sweats and eating Chinese take-out while watching re-runs of Friends. Their cushy, red, leather couch was worn from all the times Thalia and Annabeth had stayed up late gossiping on its cushions. It definitely wasn't going to get manicures and pedicures and then going out for Italian paninis grade, but to Annabeth, it was perfect.
Annabeth finished chewing a dumpling and swallowed, "Percy needs me to occupy her so he can actually concentrate on working."
Thalia looked at her and quirked her eyebrow, "And why exactly does this chick need to be pleased? Is she even Percy's girlfriend?"
Annabeth continued, "Her uncle is the man who owns this company that supplies all the building materials for Open Seas and Percy said they're trying to make a deal, but the man won't agree unless Calypso is satisfied with the company. That meaning she has to be satisfied by Percy." She made a face and continued ranting on, "Not only do I have to assist Percy and the rest of board members, I have to wait on Calypso's every will! Do you know how many salon appointments I've scheduled this week? She's basically offering Percy the deal that will make the company flourish for him to be her 'boyfriend!'
Thalia sighed, sympathetically, setting down her take-out box and looking at her best friend, "If he really likes you, then he won't let Miss Atlas get in his way."
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
The heels of her pumps made loud, echo-y footsteps as she wandered around the office, finishing up her odd jobs. Usually Annabeth left work around five or three in the afternoon in order to make it to her afternoon, college classes, but the past few days she had taken to working later every night in order to keep up with her job and still have time to study. Thank gods she had sent Calypso off on her salon spree or else she would have never finished. Thankfully after her hair treatment, Calypso had decided to not come back to the office that day.
The sun had long since set once Annabeth had begun packing her things up. She went to the light switch near the entrance of the elevator and flicked off the light, expecting to be in total darkness except the light of the city skyline. Instead a long strip of light was peeking out of the door to Percy's office. Annabeth shrugged, he had probably forgotten to turn it off
Annabeth walked over to the crystal doors. She opened them to find her boss hunching over his computer, typing profusely. Several empty cups of coffee littered his desk. His tie was undone, shirt un-tucked, and hair mussed. She noticed the dark circled under his eyes that weren't there a few days ago.
"Oh. Mr. Jackson, I wasn't expecting to see you," Annabeth said in surprise.
Percy looked up when she spoke since he had not noticed her when she had entered, "Oh, Annabeth. I thought you had already gone home."
"I was just about to leave," Annabeth replied, "What are you still doing here working so late?" Her boss usually left around five and it was well past eight by now.
Percy sighed, leaning back in his black, leather swivel chair and ran a hand through his already mussed hair, "I need to finish this contract to the builders for Water World."
Annabeth tilted her head, "I thought you had already taken care of that."
He shook his head, "I thought I did. The contractor sent it back saying that he needed a drawing of how the entrance is going to look before he starts mapping out the plans for construction."
Annabeth asked, "Well how long until you're finished?"
Another sigh from him, "I don't know. A few hours, maybe."
Annabeth set down her bag and walked over to Percy's desk, "What do you still need to do?"
Percy showed her on his laptop and through the papers on his, "Type up the contract for the construction company and design the entrance for Water World, but I have no idea how to design a freakin' building and the architect I hired's wife went into labor so he is out. "
Annabeth laughed, lightly, and held out her hand, "Pencil."
Percy looked up, "What?"
Annabeth raised her eyebrow, "Give me a pencil."
Percy raised an eyebrow and handed her a mechanical pencil and a pad of paper.
She began drawing, "How do you want the entrance to look."
Percy cleared his throat, "Um, cool?...Water-y...?"
Annabeth smiled as her pencil flew across the page. She showed the finished sketch to him, "Like this?"
Percy looked at it in awe, "H-how did you do that?"
Annabeth said, "I'm majoring in architecture, remember?"
He nodded, "Oh, right." He took the drawing from her hands, "Wow, this is amazing Annabeth. It's like it's 3D."
She smiled, "Thanks. Now, on to the contract."
Percy said, "But don't you have college stuff tonight?"
Annabeth said, "No class today. I'm helping you. Now scoot over."
Several cups of coffee and a whole lot of caffeine later, Percy and Annabeth were hunched over his desk typing away.
Annabeth sat up, "Finally, we're done."
Percy nodded, yawning after adjusting the lamp that lit his office.
Annabeth stood up and stretched, "Yeah."
Percy tried not to think about the way her back arched and her long blonde hair had long escaped from her ponytail...Snap out of it!
Annabeth yawned as she adjusted her blouse. She looked at her watch placed on her thin wrist, "Wow, it's almost midnight. That was quite a stretch."
Percy nodded, "Thank you, Annabeth. You didn't need to stay, but you did."
She looked at him as she rested against his desk, "Hey, I'm your assistant. That's what I do."
"Hey," Percy said, looking at her, "You're more than that to me...you're…Never mind."
Annabeth blushed, looking away, "I should probably go, Thalia is probably wondering where I am." Though, Annabeth thought, she probably was either already asleep or making out with Luke and didn't care.
"At least let me walk you home, Annabeth," Percy said, putting on his jacket.
"Oh, no. It's alright. I'll be fine," She protested, "It's not that far away." Annabeth pulled on her blazer.
Percy said, "Whoa, Manhattan is no place for a lady all by herself
Annabeth crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow.
Percy cleared his throat, "And I mean that in the most non-sexist way possible."
His assistant cracked a smile, "Alright. Fine."
Even when the sun was up the air had the slight chill of autumn, but at the dead of night there was a sharp bite of cold in the air. Annabeth wrapped her arms tighter around herself. The only sounds in the crisp night air were the slight puffs of their breaths, Annabeth's heels clicking against the pavement, and the distant sound of traffic.
A loud rumble cut through the night.
Annabeth tried desperately to stifle a giggled, but failed, "Was that your stomach?"
Percy's cheeks, reddened, "Yeah. I haven't eaten since lunch."
Annabeth nodded, "Me neither. I guess we just got so caught up with working."
Percy nodded, "Are you hungry? Let's go grab something to eat."
Annabeth said, "Where?"
Percy stopped in front of a Chinese take-out place, and grinned, "That's the great thing about New York City, you can order take-out in the middle of the night and order a prostitute at your door in twenty minutes or their services are free!"
Annabeth shot him a look.
Percy quickly said, "Not that I do...that."
Annabeth chuckled as Percy held the door open for her and she walked into Wok Express, "Of course not. Mr. Jackson. Not that's it's any of my business."
Percy followed her in, "Annabeth, this is no longer work business. You can call me Percy."
Annabeth said, "Alright, Mr. Jack-Percy." She has expected it to sound weird in her mouth, but calling him that sounded natural.
He pulled out his wallet, "Why don't you go find us a seat and I'll order us some food, okay?"
Annabeth nodded and found them a booth in the corner. She pulled off her blazer and pulled her hair into a ponytail.
She was no stranger to this particular take-out restaurant. It was a small, dingy place, as were most of the restaurants in New York, but the staff was friendly and the food was good. The green, booth seats were slightly sticky and the cream colored painted walls were peeling, but the menu on the wall wasn't marred. Even though the writing was in Mandarin, they could order by the pictures.
Percy came back with several take-out boxes and packets of soy sauce and set the tray down on the table, "Your food, milady."
Annabeth smiled, "Why thank you."
Her boss slid into to the booth across from her, "I got orange chicken, vegetarian lo mein, spring rolls, and beef broccoli."
Annabeth said, "Yum."
Percy said as he handed her some chopsticks, "This place has great food."
She nodded, "Yeah, I know. Thalia and I go here a lot."
Percy nodded as he ate the noodles, "Annabeth?"
"Hm?" Annabeth asked as she swallowed the rest of her spring roll.
"Remember when I took you out for sushi on Administrative Assistants' Day?" Percy asked, poking his food with his chopsticks.
Annabeth nodded, blushing in spite of herself.
"Well," Percy continued, "I remember I asked you about yourself, but then I had to leave before you could tell me."
She nodded, remembering how disappointed she was after.
"So tell me now."
Annabeth looked up, "Tell you what?"
Percy linked his fingers together and looked at, "Tell me about yourself. Or, rather, continue telling me. I still want to know. You left off after you told me you moved to San Francisco."
He said, "Enough about work, I know everything on your resume, but it doesn't exactly tell me much about you."
Annabeth said, "Um, well there's not much to know. I was born in Virginia, but I moved to San Fran-"
Just then Percy's phone rang. His face reddened, obviously embarrassed, but he looked at the number anyway, "Shit. Sorry, Annabeth, I have to take this."
Annabeth nodded, "Go ahead."
Annabeth shrugged, "Okay. Well, as I said. I was born in Virginia, but my dad got a job in California so we moved there when I was seven."
Percy munched on a piece of orange chicken, "Tell me about your family."
"Well," She said, "Not much to say. My dad's name is Frederick, he's a historian. My step-mom's name is Helen and she's a homemaker. She married my dad when I was five so she's always been there for me. I have two half-brothers. Matthew and Bobby. Twins. They're fourteen right now. They all still live in San Francisco."
"And your mom?-"
"Um," Annabeth closed her eyes as she cut him off, sharply, "My birth-mother is out of the picture."
Percy looked away, "I'm sorry. Didn't mean to pry."
"No," Annabeth sighed, "It's alright. So what about you?" She cracked a grin, "Your fan sites online aren't very detailed."
Percy shrugged, chuckling, "You know my dad. My mom's name is Sally. She doesn't really like the whole media spotlight. She's great. She's a writer. I was born and raised here in Manhattan. Not much to say. The rest you can find on my Wikipedia."
Annabeth laughed, "Alright."
"Now back to you," Percy said.
"Um, well I went to Riordan High School. Student Council president. Captain of varsity volleyball. I was on the Mathletes and the Architecture club."
Percy grinned, "Impressive."
Annabeth smiled, "Well, after I graduated. I spent two years working to save up enough for Columbia and when I was twenty my scholarship came through and I had enough to move here. I got a dorm and Thalia was my roommate. Eventually, after our first year we got an apartment. I had an internship for six months at an architectural firm, but that didn't work out quite so well. I'm working on my Bachelors in Architecture.
Percy nodded, "That's so cool."
Annabeth nodded, "So what about you, Mr. Jackson?"
Percy said, "I went to Goode High School. It's down a few blocks from here. Then I went to Columbia and got my Bachelors in Business. Right after college I started working for my dad as his assistant, but then his company started growing and he got too busy with the international things so he put me in charge of his domestic business."
"So you always knew that you wanted to work for your father?" Annabeth inquired.
Percy chuckled, "Hell no. When I was little I always wanted to be a swimmer in the Olympics and travel the world."
Annabeth looked at him, "It might be a little late to be an Olympian, but what about travelling? You can still do that."
Percy sighed, "I wish. With this new Water World thing and the Weight of the World deal going on plus our normal business I can't get a spare moment. And from here it's only going to get busier."
Annabeth nodded, "I see."
Percy said, "I'm glad that my dad hired me for the company even if I don't enjoy it. If he had to deal with the research company in Tokyo plus all this, his head would explode. But enough about work stuff."
Annabeth said, "So how did you meet Thalia again?"
Percy said, "Thalia, Nico, and I were neighbors when were little. I guess we started drifting apart when my dad started the company. They never lost touch, but I did for awhile. I just met back up with everyone last year."
"Oh."
Annabeth's phone rang. Her eyes met with Percy's, "Excuse me." She answered, "Hello?"
Thalia said, "Annabeth! I thought you got kidnapped or something on the way home. What are you still doing out?"
Annabeth said, "I had to work late." She decided not mention where she was at the moment.
Thalia said, "Well, come home already."
Annabeth sighed, "Alright." She hung up.
Percy looked at her.
Annabeth said, "That was Thalia. I should probably be heading home."
Percy stood up, "That's fine. I'll walk you to a cab."
Annabeth smiled, "Thanks, Percy. For everything."
He flashed her a grin, "Hey, no problem. It was my pleasure."
A/N: Please leave your questions, comments, and constructive criticism in a review below!