Hi! Thanks for checking out my story! This is set in a mortal world, been re-reading the series and got inspired :) enjoy!
Percy
Percy Jackson grinned while sipping on a cold bottle of beer. He was sitting next to his best friend, a very nervous guy with brown curly hair and a very red face, while he was trying to chat with a very pretty girl at the bar. The lights were dimmed low so Percy hoped the pretty girl wouldn't see his friend blushing so hard. Music blasted through the bar's speakers and all Percy heard his inexperienced future best man say, "so how do you feel about trees?" and couldn't have rolled his eyes any harder.
"Grover, I'm gonna find Nico...keep doing what you're doing?" Percy noticed she was smiling with him not at him so he figured he was good on his own. He patted Percy on the back and continued his conversation.
He looked around for Nico, the spot lights flashed several different colors constantly, making it hard to see anyone, really. He did spot a very excited redhead running his way. The redhead crashed into him, throwing her arms around his shoulders and giving him a tight hug. She smelled of pomegranate shampoo. Percy laughed and pulled away, putting her at arms length while she cheesed up at him.
"Okay, how many have you had to drink? It's only eleven," Percy asked, slightly stern but laughter behind his words.
"Definitely not as little as you, how are you so sober?" She bounced in her shoes, "I'm so happy you're finally here! You've been away for so long, I need to bring you up to speed!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him back to the bar where he just came from.
"By 'up to speed' do you mean as tipsy as you are?" He tried to object but it was hopeless. In no time Rachel got the bartenders attention, way faster than he did earlier, but most likely because she was incredibly pretty.
Her natural red hair was straightened, not curly how she usually used to wear it, Percy noted. She wore a wore tube top that stopped above her belly button and oversized jeans that hung low on her hips, which covered her white sneakers. She was a petite girl, but definitely stronger than she looks given how easily she was able to drag Percy to the bar.
"Two shots of tequila por fav- oh, actually make that four! Could you give the two shots to the guy with the buzz cut and eye bags right over there? The one talking to the cute boy with the fake blonde hair? Yes, thank you," Rachel snickered as the bartender got to work.
Looks like Nico was found. Rachel and Percy snuck a look at the two men talking. Nico had recently come back from the military so his black hair had a fresh buzz cut and a slight fade. He wore a black shirt maybe a size too small and a black pair of jeans. His dark eyes watched the other guy's intensely, like he was super immersed in whatever he was saying. Nico was a slender, but fit guy, who almost recently hit a growth spurt. He was two years younger than Percy, but they were close nonetheless. He was talking to a good looking guy who might've looked like an instagram influencer (not exactly Nico's type).
The bartender slide Nico and his new friend two shots, to which Nico looked around curiously, and then rolled his eyes when he met Percy and Rachel's. Percy and Rachel grinned and held their shots up to him. He and his friend shrugged, and the four of them downed their drinks.
Most of the night was a blur, Percy ended up getting the next round of drinks when Grover and Nico found them and then Nico was feeling buzzed enough to get the group a table with bottle service shortly after. The four of them laughed and joked and drank at their table, inviting people over and having a riot. The DJ played an old, throwback to which the four sung along happily, merrily, drunkingly. It was Closer by The Chainsmokers.
Mid song, mid lyric, Percy looked at the dance floor and his eyes immediately found a girl with long blonde hair. She was gorgeous. Her hair was half up in a messy pony and half down, with strands framing her face. She wore a black, sleeveless deep-v neck top with light, wide legged jeans and a black pair of kitten heels. She was dancing and singing to the song with her arms up, it seemed as if a spotlight landed directly on her. Percy watched her and it was almost like the world moved in slow motion. She messed up a part of the lyrics and her and her friend almost doubled over laughing, she shook her head, resuming the song, then faltered once she looked around and met Percy's eyes.
Percy realized he was holding his breath. He heard his heart beat in his chest and wasn't sure if his face was hot because the bar was packed and hot or because this gorgeous girl was looking directly at him.
The whole scene might've been ten seconds or a whole minute, Percy couldn't tell. A smile played on her lips as the two continued to lock eyes. Percy, hit with a bit of drunk confidence, stood up from his table. Grover didn't notice, he was in a deep conversation with the girl who he was chatting up with earlier. Nico was trying to get our bottle girl to bring chicken tenders. Rachel was the only one that noticed, she curiously followed his eye path and found the pretty blonde girl who was looking right back at Percy.
The blonde girl whispered to her friend quickly, she immediately saw Percy walking over and raised one eyebrow. Her friend had short, black hair and piercing blue eyes, almost intimidating him- she looked at Percy cautiously. Percy stepped in front of the blonde, his heart pumping a little faster as he looked into her startling grey eyes.
"You like this song?" Percy asked, and immediately mentally slapped himself, thinking he was no better than Grover asking about trees.
The girl laughed, which delighted Percy, "love this song," she nodded and Percy grinned.
"Can I buy you and your friend a drink?" Percy gestured to the bar area.
The blonde looked at her friend, who looked almost a little bit impressed that Percy included her. "We'd love if you bought us a drink," The blue eyed girl said, throwing her arms around the blonde.
Once they ordered their drinks at the bar, Percy turned to the two, "What are your names?" He asked.
The blue eyed girl spoke first, "I'm.. Tammy." She decided and the grayed eyed girl stifled a laugh as Percy cocked his head to the side.
"I'm, um, Alyssa," the blonde giggled while Tammy tried to hold in a laugh.
Percy laughed at himself, thinking three can play at this game, "Nice to meet you Tammy and Alyssa, I'm Peter. Peter Johnson. Thank you for letting me buy you two a drink," he said as the bartender handed him a whiskey on the rocks. Tammy had a vodka red bull and Alyssa ordered a martini.
Tammy excused herself because she spotted someone she knew, leaving Percy with a very obviously not Alyssa.
The two studied each other, not saying a word, and it strangely wasn't awkward. Their eyes met again; there was a twinkle in her grey eyes and an obvious grin on Percy's lips.
"Are you going to say anything?" Alyssa asked, smiling almost shyly now.
Percy sighed and shrugged his shoulders, he leaned on close to her ear "I would but I don't want to scare you away by saying something embarrassing. Pretty girls make me nervous."
Alyssa laughed leaning into his hair while placing her hand every so slightly on Percy's arm which felt like a lightning bolt running through him, "What about be dance instead then?" She said back. They finished their drinks and Percy took her hand and led her to the middle of the dance floor.
A Spanish song played loudly, the bass vibrated the floor. The two got close, Percy lead and Alyssa put her arms around his neck while he rested his hands on her waist. The danced a little slower than the song. Percy's eyes went from Alyssa's bright grey eyes to her lips which played a smile. She pulled Percy just slightly closer so he was bending down a bit, their noses touching, and her hand in his hair.
Percy was going crazy over this girl; their bodies felt like they fit each other perfectly as they danced, her perfume was intoxicating, her skin on her waist was soft and made him want more. He doesn't usually know how to dance, but with her it was easy, as if he was only meant to dance with her.
"Long shot, but...do you want to get out of here?" Percy muttered in her ear and he could've sworn her almost heard her audibly sigh. He felt goosebumps on her skin.
"Just a short night cap?" She said in his ear.
Next thing Percy knew, he was closing his tab, Alyssa was telling her friend than she was leaving and that she'd call her in the morning. The two stumbled out of the club, almost laughing- they were giddy. Excited. On fire. As they waited for an Uber, Percy backed Alyssa onto the building's brick wall and she put her arms around his neck and kissed him hungrily.
Percy was heating up, he no longer knew where he was and didn't care about the crowd watching them outside the club. She raked her fingers through Percy's dark hair and grabbed onto his shirt, trying to pull him closer but they were as close as they could get in a public setting.
Finally the Uber arrived and the two couldn't keep their hands off each other as they approached his apartment. They slipped past his door man and smiled goofily and drunkingly at each other in the elevator. It stopped at the top floor and Percy barely had his shirt on anymore as they stumbled through the door and into his room, shutting it hard behind them.
—
The sun woke Percy up early in the morning. He tried to move then groaned, a piercing headache hitting him. He turned to put his arm around Alyssa and then realized... she wasn't there.
He sat up right, rubbing his face and his eyes, and looked around. It was just him in his room. He also noticed a cup of coffee on his nightstand, still steaming as if freshly made. He grabbed the mug and stood, a little confused. He let out a big yawn, stretched and stepped out, almost scared to see what was out there.
He only found Nico, his roommate, knocked out on the couch with Grover on the ground, sleeping with his head on the low coffee table. A pizza box with one slice left was opened next to him and Percy shook his head. No one was in the kitchen and the bathroom was empty.
Percy grabbed the last slice of pizza and munched on it while leaning against his kitchen island, thinking hard. She left without saying Goodbye? He admitted to himself he was a little disappointed, it was one of the greatest nights of his life and he didn't even get her number. He also knew she gave him a fake name. He sipped on the coffee and and looked at the coffee pot sadly. It still had coffee in it, but not a lot. She must've made herself a cup top. He thought it was sweet she poured him a cup. He also realized she took his travel mug.
"Dude, where'd you go last night?" Nico woke up and looked at him over the couch, yawning and stretching.
Percy sighed, "I met the most beautiful girl. Didn't catch her name or number though. Once in a lifetime girl and she slipped through my hands. I don't think I'll ever be the same," Percy ran his fingers through his hair dramatically.
Nico rolled his eyes, "You'll get over it. Who knows, maybe you'll see her again." He stood and walked over, pouring himself the last of the coffee.
"Now we have to back to that club so I can see her again," Percy insisted, laughter in his voice.
"Guy like you she'll probably avoid it for the rest of her life," Nico snorted.
Percy put a hand on his chest, "ah, that hurts. Although... you stayed around so maybe I'm not so bad," he smiled slyly, remember that Nico used to back have a crush on him back in college.
Nico waved him away, "I was blinded by the green eyes and messy hair," he shook his head, "I'm gonna go for a run."
"Oh, did Rachel get home okay?" Percy asked.
Nico nodded and then smirked, "Didn't look too happy that you ran away with a girl though."
Percy furrowed his eyebrows, "she just missed me and wanted to hang out, I probably shouldn't have ran off when this was my first night back.
Nico shrugged and made his way to the bathroom. Percy sighed and glanced at Grover, who was snoring and drooling on the coffee table. Percy looked down at his coffee and half eaten pizza. Not a good mix. "Gross" he muttered and decided to go back to sleep.
—
Two weeks later Percy was slipping on a blue button up shirt and khaki pants. He ran his fingers through his hair a few times and looked at himself in the mirror. He was nervous, it was his first day of work, corporate work, in a while. Percy had taken off a year to work for a wildlife non-profit, studying marine life in South America. Before then, he was on the Olympic swimming team, joined right after college and stayed there for a few years. Coming back after such a great and fulfilling time in his life made transitioning to the corporate world seem almost like a fake, TV life. His new job was at a big tech company, his title was Marketing Manager.
"New job, new me," he muttered to himself. He was 26 now and wanted something steady. He also missed New York City.
Percy went to make himself a to-go coffee then remembered he only had one travel mug. And Alyssa had taken it (but thankfully nothing else). He grumbled to himself grabbed his backpack with his work laptop and headed out the door. On the train, he spotted a blonde with her hair tied back and a breath caught his throat. When she turned around, he let out the breath- it wasn't her. He noticed everywhere he went, he was looking around, hoping to run into her on the streets of New York. Every blonde nearly gave him a heart attack
Once he got to work, he was welcomed by the receptionist and shortly after, his manager. He had an intro meeting with his team, chatted about his history being on the Olympic team, and about his work in South America. One of his team members, Charles (Charlie) Beckendorf, got lunch with him in the kitchen. He showed him around the pantry and the two picked up a snack, Charles took a protein shake from the fridge and Percy spotted a blueberry muffin. Percy was mid bite, mid telling Charlie that he lived downtown a familiar laugh came from someone who just stepped into the kitchen.
Percy turned to look at who the source of the laugh was and his stomach flipped when he locked eyes with a pair of stunning grey eyes. He remembered that laugh vividly even though it was short lived. Her blonde hair was curled and tucked behind her ears. She wore a white tank with blue slacks and little white kitten heels. She looked beautiful, as gorgeous as she was when Percy first saw her at the club dancing without a care in the world. Her smile died out and her eyes got wide. The girl beside her grinned at Percy, who looked stunned. Charlie looked curiously between the two.
"Annabeth, this is the new guy I was telling you about!" She held her hand out to Percy and he shook it, hoping his hands weren't sweating. His eyes never left Alys- No, Annabeth's eyes. "I'm Silena Beauregard, I'm on the marketing team, too. We met briefly, earlier?"
Annabeth looked at me strangely, "You said his name was Percy Jackson..." she trailed off and had realized Percy also gave her a fake name. Silena nodded slowly at Annabeth
Percy held out his head, his heart racing, and he couldn't help but smile, "I'm Percy Jackson, Marketing Manager."
Silena looked confused as Annabeth stared and turned red, she took over for her, "This is Annabeth Chase, Head of Research and Development."
Head of? Pretty impressive for her age, Percy thought to himself.
"Do you know each other?" Charlie asked, sensing tension.
Percy grinned, just happy to finally know her real name, "No, no, we've just met, apparently."
—
What do you think of the first chapter? Let me know in the reviews :)
