Annabeth's POV

Monday. My first day on the new job. I wore my best blazer and slicked my hair back into a tight bun. A kind-faced woman named Phoebe met me in the Bacchus Real Estate lobby and began to show me around. She introduced me to everyone we passed: the mailman, the interns, the assistants, the executives, the CFO, and last but not the least, the CEO.

I was relieved to find he was a highly un-fuckable sixty-five-year-old man named Dionysus Bacchus. He held out his dry, crepey hand, and I shook it, immediately having a flashback of the first time I was introduced to Nico and Percy. I felt a paf of nostalgia as I remembered how innocent and optimistic I had been at the time. And how excited I was. Now, I felt like a robot going through the motions of a good employee, but my heart wasn't in it.

"We are thrilled to have you join the team, Annabeth," said .

"I'm thrilled to be here," I said, giving him my best fake smile.

"I'll be around to debrief you on everything. We may need you to travel for us as early as next week.

To Italy? Stop. Stop thinking about him.

Mr. Baccus had to rush off to his next meeting, so we said our goodbyes. At long last, Phoebe showed me into my very own office. It was a beautiful space with big windows that let in a lot of natural light. And the views were absolutely incredible. Why on earth did I still feel so goddamn dissatisfied?

"If you have any questions for me," Phoebe said. "I am just down the hall. Let me know if you need anything at all."

"Thank you," I said.

"We just feel so lucky we found someone with your qualifications on such short notice."

I laughed off her compliment.

"Seriously! We are surprised your old company even let you go. You came with such glowing references from your old boss, ."

"Percy?" I asked before I could stop myself.

"No, the other one. Nico, is it?"

I hoped she couldn't sense my disappointment. "Yes, Nico."

"He said you were one of the best employees he ever had, even though you were only there for a few months. Do you mind if I ask, why did you decide to leave?"

"It's complicated," was my honest reply.

"I understand." She nodded, deciding she wouldn't pry any further. With that, she turned and left my office, closing the door behind her.

I looked around the room. I liked the décor but would definitely need to make some adjustments if I was going to be comfortable here. I peered at the time in the bottom right corner of my computer screen. It was only noon on my first day, and I was already bored out of my mind.

Percy POV

I finally got some relief from my isolation and despondency when Red dropped off Thalia off at my house.

"Daddy, Daddy!" She cried out, wrapping me in her arms. "I missed you!"

"I missed you, too. So much." It was true. I had been desperate to see my little girl.

"Guess what, Daddy?"

"What?" I pulled her onto my lap and bounced my knee up and down.

"I saw Drew kissing a boy behind the slide at school." Thalia always loved a good piece of gossip. She was six going to sixteen.

"Oh, no!" I replied, feigning shock. "And what about you? Are you kissing boys behind slides?"

"Eww, no!" She scrunched up her face at the thought.

Thank god.

I wasn't ready for that yet. If she grew up to look anything like her mother, I knew I was going to be having stern talks with a lot of teenage boys someday.

"Daddy, where's Annabeth?"

"What?" I was shocked she had brought her up. Nobody had dared mention that name around me for the past week out of fear I would be sent into a rage.

"Where is she? I have something I want to give her."

"She's not here…right now," I said, shielding her from the harsh reality Annabeth wouldn't be coming back. I knew Thalia would be upset. She had taken a strong liking to Annabeth. And, for now, I was upset enough for the both of us.

"What did you want to give her? I can save it for Annabeth."

Thalia ran over to the front door, where she had dropped her backpack, and rummaged through it until she found what she was looking for. And then, I heard her little feet making their way back toward me.

"I'll tell you what it is, Daddy. It's a Barbie doll with curly yellow hair, just like Annabeth's."

She put it into my hands. I ran my fingers over it until I got to the Barbies mane. I would have to take Thalia's word for it that it looked like Annabeth. But the hair wasn't soft enough and the skin wasn't smooth enough. It didn't smell like her.

"Here," I said, getting up and walking over to the other side of the room.

I moved the doll's form into a seated position and placed it down delicately in one of my armchairs.

"Now, it's just like Annabeth's here with us."

"That's nice, Daddy," she said.

It was a nice thought. I just wished it was true.

Annabeth's POV.

What is wrong with me?

There I was, in an amazing office with kind coworkers, and still, I was absolutely miserable the entire day. No matter what I did, I couldn't stop thinking about Percy. I couldn't focus on my work. I forgot the names of entirely every person that introduced themselves to me. To top it off, I didn't register a single word that was said in a company-wide meeting. I was sure I had missed out on a lot of very important information. I would need to spend the rest of the week playing catup-up.

I was very relieved when I got a text message from Malcolm, as it meant it was finally time for me to leave. We had planned to meet after the day ended so I could tell him about how it went.

Malcolm: Hey sis! I'm standing outside. Ready when you are.

Malcolm: This place looks FANCY.

Malcolm: Are you a big shot or something?

Annabeth: I just might be…

Annabeth: I'll be down in 5.

As soon as I saw him, I wrapped him in a bone crushing hug.

"Sorry, I was just excited to see a familiar face."

"All good. How was your first day? Tell me everything."

"It was fine."

"Fine?"

"Yeah."

"Fine isn't good." Malcolm always worried about me.

"It's just going to be an adjustment."

As we crossed the street, Malcolm fell silent. I could tell he was leaving something unsaid.

"What? What are you thinking?" I asked.

"I'm just confused, Annie. You seemed so happy and fulfilled at your last job. I haven't seen you that happy since…well, since before Mom got sick."

"Yeah…but it just didn't work out."

"Everything can be worked out."

"You don't understand, Malcolm." I was getting heated now.

"You're right, I don't. But I would hate to see you back away from something that makes you happy just because you are afraid to feel rejection, or failure, or pain later on."

Oof. He was hitting me right in my Achilles heel.

"Mom wouldn't have wanted you to do that. She always faced every challenge head-on. And I know you can, too."

But it's too late. I've already made my decision.

"The new challenge," I finally mustered, "is to find a way to enjoy this new job. I'm sure it won't be that bad…I just need to give it a chance."

"Whatever you say," Malcolm replied, but he didn't seem to believe the words coming out of his own mouth.

We rounded the corner onto my street and started toward the door of my apartment building.

"Come upstairs. Let me make you dinner—" I was saying to Malcolm, when I was interrupted by a familiar squeal.

"Yay! There you are, Annabeth."

Reyna was waiting for me, wearing a yellow jacket and matching skirt, looking like a complete ray of sunshine. I smiled a stupidly big grin. I was excited to see her. I thought I might never see her again.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. "Is everything okay?"

"I just hoped we could talk." —she eyed Malcolm—"woman to woman."

He gave her a sheepish smile. "Don't mind me. I agree, you ladies need to talk, and I have dinner plans with Bethany anyways."

With that, he gave me a swift hug, winked at Reyna, and started snaking his way through the street.

"I'm sorry I didn't call," Reyna said.

"It's okay. I'm getting pretty used to announced visitors."

"Can I come up?"

"Of course." I led her through the door and to the elevator. As we made our way to my apartment, I wracked my brain.

What is she doing here? And why? Did Percy tell her to come?

I would get an answer to all my questions soon enough.

Please give feedback and tell me what you think of the story so far.

P.S I know that I made Dionysus's name as Dionysus Dionysus by adding Bacchus but I couldn't think of a last name. Also I agree his behavior was very unlike him, according to the books, but I needed to change it. It is my imagination after all.

P.P.S - I know that I portray Thalia's personality very unlike her, but in the other stories she doesn't have a good father. Here she has the best father possible so she definitely going to be sweeter. There is a reason reason I made Thalia Percy's daughter instead of sister or anything.

xxx