Author's Note:
Thank you very much for the wonderful reviews. Today I felt so down. Too many school work. But when I read your reviews, you suddenly make me leaping with joy XD. For I Love Guinea Pig and OliverWoodFan, yes, I do love reading your stories/comments. Jeez! You're the best. Kudos to I Love Guinea Pig! You're such a vast of talent. Same goes with OliverWoodFan , Santos 56 and WiseboyLibra. Thank you very much. Your amusing reviews make my day! To Charmes4ever thank you very much for all the support. All of you inspires me. For all those who loved the Thalico moment, yes, I'm now working on the bonus chapter entitled THE WEDDING. It will appear soon. Special thanks to:
I Love stories
Percabeth Rulez817
Kevin Stutler
AnotherReviewer
Ilovestories
Sanubisfan
Princesspb
C-Nuggets N.L
Hermes Salazar Snape
Moonglacier
Demogodof Poseidon 328
Doesn'tHaveALogin
Buzzlessbee
IFoundAPicle
IStoleyourBlueMoonIceCream
MythologyFanatic
Thanks so much for sharing your time. You don't know how those reviews mean so much to me. They inspire me to move on and give me the energy to squeeze in my time the update of the story. My gratitude to all of you my dear friends!
By the way since HP submit your own character was such a tremendous success, I'm inviting you to submit your OC's for the remaining chapters of TDDUP. I need OC's for the following: (on first come first serve basis).
A female to be the love interest of Dr. Luke Castellan
3 male friends of Nico for THE WEDDING bonus chapter
2 female friends of Thalia Grace for THE WEDDING
1 female friend of Mary Smith for THE WEDDING
A wedding coordinator (either male/female)
A female to be the secretary of Percy once he moved to San Francisco office.
1 male/female as gallery owner for Annabeth's paintings.
Here's the submission:
Name (Whole):
Appearance-
Hair and cut/length:
Eyes:
Skin:
Build (Skinny, thin, fat, sexy, chubby etc):
Accessories (Jewelries etc.):
Disclaimer: I don't own anything!
Chapter 10-Silena Beauregard
Annabeth was working on her first painting when Dr. Luke entered the living room.
"Cheer up Annabeth. I have a surprise for you!"
She smiled."Wow! A litany of never ending surprises. Let me guess. A Mercedes Benz?"
"Silly girl! This one's serious." He looked down at her with a gentle, cautious smile. "I'm going to share a friend with you. A very special lady." He sensed her watching him closely as he went on. "Her name is Silena Beauregard, a psychiatrist. We went to medical school together. She is, without doubt, the most competent psychiatrist in the West, maybe in the country, and she's a very good friend and a very special person. I think you're going to like her."
"And?" Annabeth waited, tense but curious.
"And…I think it might be a good idea for you to see her for a while. You know that. We've talked about it before."
"You don't think I'm adjusting well?" She sounded hurt.
"I think you're doing remarkably well, Annabeth, but if nothing else, you need another person to talk to. You have Lily and Gretchen and me, and that's it. Don't you want someone else to talk to?"
Yes. Percy. I want to talk to Percy. I miss him a lot! I love him a lot!
"I'm not sure," she just said.
"I think you will be once you meet Silena. She is incredibly warm and kind. And she's been very sympathetic to your case from the beginning."
"She knows about me?" Annabeth sounding surprised.
"From the first." She had been there the night Paul Blofis and Dr. Winfield called, but Annabeth should not know about that.
"She's coming to join us for coffee this afternoon. Is it all right with you?"
She doesn't want to but she knew she had little choice. "I suppose so." She grew pensive as she settled herself in the living room. She wasn't at all sure she liked this addition to her scene, particularly a woman. She felt an instant sense of competition.
Until she met Silena Beauregard. Nothing Luke had said had prepared her for the warmth she felt from the other woman. She was tall, slim, black haired, and so beautiful. Her blue eyes were warm and alert; there was an instant joke, an instant answer, an instant burst of laughter always ready in those eyes. Yet one sensed, too, that she was always ready to be serious and compassionate. People love to stare at her. So beautiful and so amazing! Luke left them alone after the first hour, and Annabeth was actually glad.
They talked about thousands of things and none of them about the accident; paintings, museums, San Francisco, children, people, medical school. Silena shared chunks of her life with Annabeth, and Annabeth gave her glimpses of herself that she hadn't given anyone for a long time, not since she had first gotten to know Percy. Views, real views, and not the amusing ones she gave Luke. The loneliness, the questions about who she really was, why she had been neglected and no communication from her father ,what it meant to be totally alone. And then for no reason she could think of, she told Silena about her arrangement with Paul Blofis. There was no shock, no reproach, there was nothing but warmth and understanding in the way Silena Beauregard listened, and Annabeth found herself sharing feelings which covered years, not just the past eight months. But the relief of telling her about Paul Blofis was enormous.
"I don't know, it sounds so strange to say it, but—" She hesitated, feeling foolish, and looking childlike as she glanced up at her new friend. "But I…I never had any kind of family. Percy was the only person I regarded as my family." Her eyes filled with unexpected tears and she looked away.
"For the past two years that Percy and I have been together, I have always hoped that his family will accept me as Percy accepted me. I love his mother but his stepfather…isn't this insane?"
"Not at all. It was a normal assumption. You were in love with Percy. It's normal that you should want to adopt his family. Is that why your deal with him hurt so much?" But she already knew the answer, as did Annabeth.
"Yes. It was proof of just how much he hated me."
"I wouldn't go that far, Annabeth. From the look of things, he's done an awful lot for you. He did send you out to Luke for a new face." Not to mention the extremely comfortable lifestyle he had provided during the process.
"As long as I gave up Percy. He was rejecting me, for him…for himself—and not for Percy. I knew then that I never had a chance with him knowing I had almost no choice. It was a horrible moment." She sighed, remembering the pain in the hospital, and her voice became gentler. "But I guess I've lost before and survived it." Recalling how she struggled during her younger days without a family to look after her.
"Do you remember your parents?"
"Not in any real way. I was too little to remember anything about my mother, and I left home feeling rejected by my stepmother. I remember the day when I heard them talking about bringing too much trouble for the family. I felt hurt about my father not standing up for me. I just felt abandoned, unloved."
"The way you do now?" It was a guess, but a good one.
"Maybe. That bottomless feeling of 'who will take care of me now?' I think of that sometimes. Back then I knew friends would take care of me until I grew up. Now I know Luke will, and Paul Blofis' money will, until I'm all patched up. But after that what?"
"What about Percy? Do you think he'll come back to you?"
"Sometimes I do. A lot of the time I do." There was a long pause.
"And the rest of the time?"
"I'm beginning to wonder. At first I thought that maybe he was afraid of the way I'd look, the way that would make him feel about me. But by now he should have known about my disappearance and he must have figured I'm in the process of recovery. So how come he's not here yet? How come he did not look for me?" She turned to face Silena squarely. "That's what I wonder."
"Do you come up with any answers to that question?"
"Nothing very pretty. Sometimes I think Paul's gotten to him, and convinced him that a girl from my 'unsavoury background' will harm him professionally. Percy is an heir to the Jackson empire, and they're counting on Percy to carry on in the best of family tradition. That didn't include marrying a nameless nobody. He wanted him to marry some debutante heiress who can do him some good."
"Do you think that mattered to him?"
"It didn't used to matter before, but now…I don't know. Percy could have changed. People change. Things change."
"What if you lose him?"
Annabeth flinched but she didn't answer. Her eyes said everything though. Just the thought of it made her cry.
"What if he didn't feel able to cope with all that you're going through? That's possible, Annabeth. Some men aren't as brave as we like to think they are."
"I don't know. Maybe he's waiting till it's all over."
"Wouldn't you resent him then? For not being here when you need him?"
Annabeth let out a long sigh in answer. "Maybe. I don't really know him. I think about it all a lot, but I don't have many answers."
"Only time has the answer. All you need to know is how you feel. That's all. How do you feel about you? The new you? Aren't you excited? Scared? Angry that you'll look different? Relieved?"
"All of the above." They both laughed at her honesty. "To tell you the truth, it terrifies me. Can you imagine looking in the mirror after twenty-four years and seeing someone else there? Talk about freaking out!" She laughed but there was real fear in the laughter.
"Are you freaked out?"
"Sometimes. A lot of the time I don't think about it."
"What do you think about?"
"Honestly?"
"Sure."
"Percy. Luke sometimes and my new face. But mostly Percy."
"Do you consider the idea of falling in love with Luke now that Percy as you called it looked like abandoned you?" There was no hesitation in the question. This was Dr. Beauregard speaking now, not Silena.
"No, I couldn't fall in love with Luke. He's an adorable man, a good friend. He's sort of like the wonderful brother I never had. He brings me presents all the time. But…I'm in love with Percy."
"Well, we'll just have to see what happens." Silena Beauregard looked at her pink watch and was amazed. The two of them had been talking for almost three hours. It was after seven o'clock. "Good heavens, do you know what time it is?" Annabeth looked at her gray watch, too, and her eyes widened in surprise.
"Wow! How did we do that?" And then she smiled. "Will you come back and see me again sometime, Silena? Luke was right. You're a very special lady."
"Thank you. I'd love to. In fact, Luke was thinking that we might do it on a regular basis. What do you think?"
"I think it would be wonderful to have someone to talk to, like we did today."
"I can't always promise you three hours." They both laughed as Annabeth walked her to the door. "How about three times a week for an hour on a professional basis? And we can get together separately, as friends. Sound okay to you?"
"Sound wonderful."
They shook hands at the door, and Annabeth was amazed to find herself already impatient for their first official session, only two days away.
Once alone in her room, she thought about Percy. For the last eight months, there was no day she did not think about him. In every conversation, in every scene, thoughts just pop up like little pieces in her memory. She wondered what he was doing now. Maybe he was now the new executive officer of the company and a few more years the new chairman. Maybe busy with running the business. Percy was then part of her life and her plans were set in that being with him through good times and bad times. But now things changed. It seemed Percy was out of her life. And there was fear. Fear of having lost him forever. Paul Blofis was so sure that night of the bargain and she was so sure she will win the battle with no effort at all. But now…she had to admit she lost. Percy gave up on her. And as the days before, she sobbed.
"Now, look at that princess. Isn't that wonderful? And look at that chin. Perfect!"
Dr. Luke Castellan was very excited as piece by piece he removed the bandages below her face. A new chin emerged, and a beautiful mouth, and a perfect nose.
"My goodness Luke how beautiful it is."
"How beautiful you are. It is not a thing, Annabeth. That is you, the new Annabeth." And he looked at her with dazzling admiration. The only thing left wrapped is her forehead up to her hairline, but with a hat and a huge sunglass, nobody will notice her unusual appearance.
"My! You're even beautiful than all the celebrities in Hollywood put together."
Annabeth smiled. How time flies. It's now more than a year since the accident. And still no Percy. She stood up and looked at herself in a big mirror located at the side of Dr. Castellan's clinic. And as she stared at her new face, the smile was replaced by a sad one. Percy will not recognize her anymore. With that beautiful face, there was simply no trace of the old Annabeth. What will she do now? What will she say once they see each other? If they will still see each other! Yes, Silena was right. What now if she lost Percy?
The whole rowing team of Maldives were now settled at a hotel in Indonesia for the ASIAN Games. Lam-ang was head of the rowing team. He bagged the cash prize for the festival held at the island of Maamakunudhoo and everything was history. Suddenly, the unknown stranger had been the talk of the town. His years of solitude were over and now he was attracting attention from the sports enthusiasts of Maldives. Maria and her father saw him off from the island. They were as proud as he is in bringing glory to their country. They were now here as a team to represent Maldives for the rowing competition. The Maldevians are strong people, their bodies moulded by the sea. Before the official game, he had the chance to see other athletes from other countries. Rules of the game were very strict but he was used to that. He didn't know why. It was as if he was an athlete all his life. He was used to seeing people sitting in the stadium, cheering. This spurred his adrenalin. Could he be an athlete before? He wished he could connect to somebody to give him direction towards his past.
Benny Joe Thomas was suffering from headache as he sat down near his bed. Jet lag. He promised himself this ASIAN Game will be his last before he retires. His wife Maize, a candy store owner back in the Philippines, reminded him to take his paracetamol and put them in his luggage for the last minute. It had always been like this whenever he travels. He took out a photograph of Maize and their kids. His eldest, an engineer, is now settled in Australia having married to an Aussie. They had a nice house overlooking a vast graze land of herds and cattle. Maybe after the game, he could drop by Australia and visit the couple. His son's wife will be expecting a baby and he hoped he could see his first grandson before he goes back to the Philippines. Maize will meet him in Australia for their grand vacation. He smiled as he thought of Maize. Theirs was not an easy romance. When Poseidon died, he took his place as the leader of the team. Maize being a Poseidon fanatic diverted her attention to him when Poseidon died. He hated her at first always bagging him with trouble whenever he had a game. "Will you please leave me in peace?" he had said when once she came knocking at his hotel door with a female friend. She was hurt and embarrassed and after that incident he never saw her again. He visited her at the candy store but Maize avoided him like a plague. It was then that a romance blossomed. He pursued Maize and his thoughts were all wrong. Maize was hard to get. It was four years before they finally got married.
He looked at his watch to check if he still had time to take a nap before the welcome dinner will start. He was massaging his forehead to ease the pain when the phone rang. Maize.
"Hello, sleepy head. Hope you're having a grand time out there. The kids would like to say hi!"
"Hi Daddy!" they all said in unison.
"Hello dear! Kurt, don't forget to check all doors at night. Give Mommy the tight security while Dad is away."
"Sure Dad. Don't forget to buy that Galaxy tablet when you arrived from Australia with Mom. You promised to give it to me as an incentive from getting an A in Math."
"Ah okay. Please remind Mom to remind me." Kids. They always blackmail him. The hotel attendant knocked at his door "Room Service", he said. He took a light snack before stretching and took a 15-minute nap.
The welcome party didn't last long. It was just a short one to get acquainted with each other. The committee discussed house rules and gave each country their areas of responsibility. He was sitting at a far end corner when his gaze shifted to a man standing not far from him. He looked like Poseidon. His built, his stature, his gaze. He was looking at the other direction but before he could try to approach him, the man stood up and went out of the door. Was his jet lag that worse? He felt he was seeing things. Poseidon could not have risen from the dead.