Disclaimer: Riordan. Enjoy!

It's finally happened. I've come to my senses. I had a sort of epiphany on my way out of Percy's apartment this morning.

I am dressed in the same clothing from last night, but I've stopped feeling shameful about it a mile back. The dirty look I received from a middle-aged woman buying flowers at a vendor made me smile. If people wanted to look at me funny, let them. I just had a realization of sorts that's made me really happy. So let anyone give me a judgmental look, I could give less of a shit.

I have realized that I need to find a different job. First and foremost, working for Percy any longer is out of the question. I smile at the memory of just why I can't work for him anymore.

It was earlier on this morning, over coffee and blue pancakes that he asked me a question which still has me grinning like an idiot to the sidewalk beneath my feet.

"What do you think about making this thing official?" He asked, trying to be nonchalant. I could tell he was nervous of my answer by the way he wouldn't face me directly. He busied himself by flipping the pancakes that were on the skillet.

For a second, I'm completely speechless. I don't know what to say. My mind starts going haywire.

"Annabeth." Percy had made his way to my side without me even noticing. He puts his hands on either side of my face and looks directly in my eyes. "I know where your mind is going with this. You're thinking of every excuse to say no to me. Stop thinking, and let it seep into your thick skull that this is real and we have something. Something I'm not willing to let go of anytime soon."

I smile fondly at my brief moment of nostalgia. He knows me too well. And he's right. About everything. That's why I agreed. Because let's be honest, I was hooked on Percy since the beginning. I was through lying to myself and to him.

That is why my epiphany happened. I told Percy that I couldn't work for him anymore. Of course he was disappointed and tried to convince me to stay working for him. He added that him being my boss could be fun. I rolled my eyes at all the inappropriate comments that ensued after that.

Having a relationship with my boss may not make other people uncomfortable, especially Percy, but it definitely makes me uncomfortable. And the last thing that I need in my life right now is another thing giving me anxiety. So, I'll be sending in my resignation first thing tomorrow morning.

After a lot of convincing, Percy was on board with it. He was mainly worried about me not having a solid income to go towards Matthew and his medical bills. I told him that Maggie had the rest of them covered and considering the doctors called me last night to tell me that Matthew's cancer was well on its way to being completely gone, I decided I would no longer need the job. Matt was doing a million times better now. The doctors are hopeful that he'll be out of the hospital in about a month.

To say Bobby, Maggie, and I were excited was an understatement. I was ecstatic when Maggie called me yesterday night. The drunkenness had thankfully worn off by the time I answered my cell phone to hear the good news. Percy was already asleep when I offered to come to the hospital and celebrate with everybody but Maggie said we would do it tomorrow. Matthew was sleeping and the doctors didn't want anyone to wake him.

That is why I am leaving Percy's house so quickly instead of spending the day with him. Shower and change so that I can go to the hospital and celebrate with Maggie, Bobby, and especially Matt.

One hour later, and I'm even more excited to get to the hospital. I went to the bakery and bought Matt all of his favorite desserts. And by all of his favorite desserts, I mean practically the entire store. The lady who was ringing up all the items actually had the balls to ask me if I was going through a bad breakup. I laughed that one off, on account of my good mood.

The doctors have been gradually working him into eating regular foods again. I don't think Matthew's had a dessert in about three months. That's too long for a kid.

I open the doors to the hospital with a renewed smile on my lips. I wave in acknowledgment at the lady sitting at the information desk and make my way towards the elevator. Once inside, I take a moment to breathe and recognize the fact that I'll only have to push these elevator buttons for a month more, and then Matthew will be back home and I can take him and Bobby to baseball games and do normal kid things with them both. Things will finally go back to normal again.

The doors open to Matt's floor and I walk to his room with such familiarity that it sobers me up for a moment. I plaster on a smile and step into his room.

I see Maggie and Bobby in their usual chairs, already eating some tacos that Maggie must have gotten from Taco Bell.

"Hey everybody!" I hug everyone in turn and take a seat next to Matt's bed.

"Sorry Annabeth, we wanted to wait for you but Matt and Bobby were hungry so I thought you wouldn't mind."

"No, of course not. You better have saved me a taco, though." I say, poking Matt in the side, as I know how many tacos he's capable of eating in one sitting.

Maggie hands me one out of the box, and I take it gratefully. I only had a few bites of Percy's pancakes that he made me this morning, out of excitement to get here.

My whole day is spent with my family. It's the best and most hopeful day we've all had in a while. The mood in the air is plain happiness and it's exhilarating to have such weight lifted off all of our shoulders. We play games all day, and eat the goodies that I brought.

It's later on in the night now. My eyes are starting to droop no matter how hard I try to stay alert. I decide it's time to go home. I can't wait to tell Thalia the good news. I begin to say goodbye to Bobby and Matthew, hugging them once more.

"Congrats, buddy. I knew you'd make it through this. You're officially one of the strongest men I know." I say to Matt.

"Thanks Annie. I love you." My eyes water and I give him a wistful smile, telling him I love him too.

I walk towards Bobby. "And you are the other strongest man I know. You've been great through this whole thing, Bobby. You're the best brother Matt and I could ever ask for."

He grins and it melts my heart.

"I'll walk you out, Annabeth." Maggie says, placing her hand on my shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Nurse Emma can keep an eye on both of you."

We start walking towards the exit. "So, since you're done with this job at Poseidon Incorporation, and you're graduating in two weeks, do you have any plans on what you're going to do?"

"No clue. I haven't really had time to look into anything."

Maggie grows an understanding look on her face that slowly turns guilty.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"I may have called in a favor from an old friend I used to teach with." I can tell she's gauging my reaction carefully.

"What kind of favor?"

"His old student is the head of a new architectural company in downtown New York. I asked if maybe he could get you an interview."

"Wow! Maggie, that's great! Thank you, so much. Why did you look guilty to tell me this?"

"I didn't know how you would take it. I know how much you like to do everything yourself. But I think this could be a really great opportunity. Even if it is just a starter job. It's great to get any kind of experience. The company is small, but it's growing everyday, you might even have a future there."

"This is such great news. I couldn't be more appreciative of this, truly. I was just thinking the other day about what the hell I'm going to do once I graduate. But now this! I… Maggie I don't even know what to say. You've done so much for me, for this entire family…"

"Oh, shhh. I won't hear of that. This family means everything to me, you know that."

I smile fondly at her. I do know that. "Should I call someone, did you get a number?"

"I already set the interview up for you. I hope you don't have any plans for tomorrow?"

I didn't have any plans for tomorrow, but even if I did, I would have cancelled them in a heartbeat for such a great opportunity.

I thanked Maggie a million times after she told me about the interview, and then we hugged, said our goodnights, and I was on my way.

I arrive home to an empty house. Most of the lights are turned off, which is such a great relief from being in the harsh lighting of a hospital all day. A note is on the counter from Thalia stating that she'll be spending the night at Luke's.

I decide to go to bed right away, as I want to get as much rest as possible for my big interview tomorrow. The thought of the interview both frightens and excites me. It still doesn't seem real that Maggie made that possible.

I lay down in my bed and stare up at the ceiling. It's been such a great day. First Percy asking me to be his girlfriend, and then the day filled with happiness with my family and now this job interview. I can hardly believe that it's true.

I suddenly remember that I have to get up early tomorrow morning for the interview and just to be precautious, I decide to set both my alarm clock and the clock on my phone.

As I unlock my phone to set the alarm, I'm surprised to see that Percy's texted me about five times throughout the day. I guess I hadn't realized that my phone was on silent all day.

My smile grows bigger as I read each one.

How's Matthew?

And the rest of your family?

Everything all good?

You not responding makes me nervous.

Do you need a ride home from the hospital?

I text him back a response about how everything went well with Matt and the family today and a sorry about not texting him back. I avoid telling him about the job interview as I'm sure questions would ensue about it and I don't have time to text all of that. I would call him, but he'd probably keep me on the phone for a while with his stupid charm and I really need to go to bed in order to get enough sleep for tomorrow. I tell him all of that in my message. I set my alarm on the phone and adjust myself in my bed to a comfortable sleeping position.

I hear a ding from my phone letting me know that Percy texted me back. I look at my phone one last time, and fall asleep to Percy's response floating around in my mind.

My charm is not stupid!

I awake the next morning to the sound of both my alarms going off and an excited flutter in my stomach. I dress and make breakfast efficiently and quickly. By the time I'm ready to leave, I realize I have quite a lot of time until my eight o'clock interview.

I slow down my pace and type out a text to Maggie, thanking her again. I shut off all the lights, grab my purse and coffee cup, and lock the door behind me.

The traffic is a bitch like always. But I'm not worried about that, I'm still ahead of schedule.

I arrive at Masons Architectural Firm in about fifteen minutes from my apartment. That's not too bad of a trek considering the traffic and all. I could definitely get used to it.

I park my car in the parking lot around back and walk around to the front door. I take a deep, calming breath and open the door. A gust of air conditioning washes over me as I enter into a quaint, but open workplace. There are pictures all over the walls, of what I'm assuming are showing off the past jobs that people in this company have done. I see a few doors spaced out at different intervals in the office. One of the doors has a plaque on it with the name that Maggie gave me. I'm assuming that's the bosses office.

There's a receptionist sitting at a small desk near the door. She has a smile on her face when she meets my eyes.

"Hello! How can I help you?" She asks, and I can already tell she's a genuinely nice person. She seems to be about a year or so older than me.

I smile back at her. "Hi. I'm here for an interview with Rob-"

"-Robert Mason. That would be me." A deep voice says. The receptionist rolls her eyes and then focuses back on her computer screen at the sound of Robert's voice. I choose to question her actions later.

I turn to see a young man in his early thirties approaching me with his hand out, intending for a shake. I take it and shake firmly.

His grip is a bit too hard, but that could be due to how big of a guy he is. His muscles can be seen even through the loose shirt and tie he wears. He probably doesn't even know his own strength.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Mason. You have a nice little set up here." I say, locking eyes with him. I'm a little concerned about the fact that his focus seems to be on my assets rather than my actual eyes. I chalk it up to perusing the new girl. He must just want to see if I'm wearing appropriate business attire.

He clears his throat and finally makes eye contact with me. "Likewise, and thank you. I have big plans for it."

He motions for us to move into his office, and then holds out one of the chairs sitting in front of the desk for me.

"It's Annabelle, right?" He asks, taking a seat in the swivel chair behind his desk.

My teeth clench automatically at the flub of my name. I push my annoyance aside and put on a faux smile. "It's Annabeth, actually."

"Eh, it's all the same." He says, waving his hand in a dismissive action. He laughs, and looks towards me. I think he expects me to laugh as well.

So I do, out of politeness. Not that he would know anything about that.

"According to my assistant, you would like to be on my team, yes?"

"Yes, that's correct. I graduate college in two weeks from New York University. I'm an architectural major and I'd love a job opportunity like this."

"I bet you would." He says, eyeing my body once more and smirking in an unnerving way.

A tendril of fear creeps down my spine when I start to comprehend that this guy may not be the best person to do business with.

The rest of the interview goes sort of the same as that. He slips in inappropriate jokes from time to time, I laugh them off and hope with all my heart that he's not actually being serious.

By the end of the interview I completely hate the boss, but I love the company. I love the work that he showed me, and the plans he has for further growth. It's a really great plan. And I'd love to be a part of it.

But Robert gives me the creeps, big time. Half of the words that come out of his mouth are tactless. He offers to walk me out, placing his hand on my lower back while steering me towards the direction of the door. His hand gradually moves lower as we walk.

I quickly move out of his reach before his hand can move to my ass and walk briskly to the receptionist's desk. I put my hand out for Sarah to shake as a way of not trying to make it obvious that I want Robert's hand nowhere near my ass.

"It was great meeting you, Sarah."

She looks startled for a moment, but then understanding flashes before her eyes and she shakes my hand firmly, saying "Great meeting you too, Annabeth. I really hope you have a future here at Masons Architectural Firm."

I rush into my car afterwards and drive quickly to a café that's close by. I text Percy to come meet me here.

It's impossible for me to focus on anything but the interview that just happened. The entire time I drink my coffee, eat my muffin, and wait for Percy to arrive, my mind is on Robert Mason and his company.

I love the company, but I hate him. And I guarantee Percy will hate him too, once I tell him about the meeting.

I have faith in myself that I could handle him, though. And this whole thing is a really great opportunity. Besides, I don't have to be around him forever. Like Maggie said, this could just be a starter job. Besides, I would be designing buildings and he's just the overseer. I won't have to be around him too much.

This is why I decide to accept. That is if he offers me the job at all.

I can't wait to hear what Percy has to say about all of this.

A/N: Hey guys! I'm back. Sadly this story is coming to an end. I'm either going to do one more chapter, or two. I'm not quite sure yet, so we'll see. Thank you so much for reading! Please favorite and leave reviews. Until next time…