Percy survived his first day. He didn't make any more of a fool of himself, and he didn't have anyone yell at him. A lot of names were circling through his head, and he made a point of trying to remember everyone. He was going to have to spend the rest of the week looking at everyone's name tag.
Percy let out a deep breath as he stretched back in his chair. Across from him, Reyna was sitting at her desk and laying back in her chair. Her phone was in her hand, and she was talking quietly. Reyna's hand drummed on her backpack, and there was a small smile on her face.
After Reyna's "meeting", Percy didn't see her until lunchtime. She looked more relaxed, and Octavian had given her a smug look. The look Reyna gave him in return was a scathing one which only caused Octavian to gloat more.
Percy ate lunch with Thalia in her office as they watched people on camera and commentated on what people were doing. It was a little childish but also a lot of fun. After lunch, Percy did a walk around with Reyna as they checked on all of the departments and then looked over sales plans for the rest of day.
Percy's head was swimming with all of the information that Reyna had given him, but he wasn't sure how much he was going to retain. A knock on the door caught Percy's attention.
"Ready Kelp Head?" Thalia asked.
"Are you really going to treat your manager like that?" Percy replied.
"I'm not on the clock. So bite me," Thalia retorted. Percy grinned and stood. He grabbed the backpack that held all of his work items in it and walked out of the office.
"Have a good one, Reyna," Percy said. He wondered if he should say more or just keep his mouth shut. Reyna looked up at him.
"Have a good one, Percy. I'll see you tomorrow. You too, Thalia," Reyna said as she hung up her phone and stood.
"We can walk you outside," Thalia offered quickly. Percy looked back at his cousin.
"Keep it cool," Percy whispered under his breath.
"I will kick you," Thalia threatened. Percy gave her a visible warning.
"That would be nice," Reyna accepted. She stood and grabbed her backpack. Reyna slung it across one of her shoulders and grabbed a small bag with her other hand.
"Dog ice cream?" Percy asked with a small smile on his face.
"I was reminded that I need some," Reyna said with a half shrug. She followed Percy and Thalia down the hallway. "My dogs love ice cream."
"My dog can't stand dog ice cream, but she loves their dog food," Percy said.
"You have a dog?" Reyna questioned. "What kind?"
"She's a mastiff. My half-brother and I rescued her," Percy recalled with a small smile. "We call her Mrs. O'Leary."
"Got a picture?" Reyna questioned. Percy smiled and grabbed his phone. He showed Reyna his lock screen. Reyna smiled as she studied the picture. Percy had looked at it plenty of times. It was a day that he and Annabeth had taken his dog for a walk. That day was one of his favorite memories. "Is that your girlfriend?"
"No," Percy answered, losing his smile. Percy pocketed his phone. "Just my best friend."
"Oh," Reyna said softly. Thalia gave Percy a sympathetic look. Reyna grabbed her phone from her pocket and showed Percy a picture of herself and two greyhounds. "That's Aurum and Argentum."
Thalia leaned on Percy to look at the picture. Percy smiled as he studied the dogs. One had golden fur and the other had silver fur. They were the cutest dogs he had seen, excluding Mrs. O'Leary of course.
"I love them even more than your dog," Thalia whispered. Percy gasped, turning to shoot an offended look at her. She winked at him. The three of them made it outside and past the wall of customers that were leaving.
Reyna took the time to look around before following them to the cars. As they made it closer to their cars, Percy saw a familiar car in the lot and a familiar cousin grabbing his backpack out of it.
"Nico!" Percy yelled as he wrapped his arms around his cousin from behind and lifted him up.
"I will kill you, Jackson. Put me down!" Nico ordered. Percy laughed and lowered his cousin. Nico turned and raised his finger threateningly. Then, he noticed the other two and smiled. "Reyna."
"Nico," Reyna greeted, and they exchanged fist bumps. "Ready to get your ass beat this weekend?"
"In your dreams," Nico retorted. "And no cheating this time."
"I don't have to cheat when you just run in and get yourself killed," Reyna playfully mocked. "I'll buy dinner if you get the drinks."
"Sounds good," Nico agreed. He reached into his car again to grab a bag of fast food. Then, he practically shoved it into Reyna's hands. There was a look of surprise on Reyna's face, and it was followed by a frown.
"I ate today," Reyna said softly.
"Then eat some more. You can afford to lose an ab or two," Nico muttered. He handed Reyna a milkshake. "And you don't owe me. If I see money on my desk, I'm giving it to Silena and telling her you were going to use it to buy a nice outfit for a date."
Reyna glared at him, and Nico smirked triumphantly. He gave Reyna a quick hug and then flipped off Percy and Thalia. Nico turned and walked towards the building.
"I caught three today!" Thalia yelled after him. "Saved the paperwork for you!"
"Thalia," Reyna chastised as she carefully unlocked her car and opened it.
"I'm just joking," Thalia deflected while raising her hands. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow," Reyna said. "Have a good one, Percy."
"You too," Percy replied. He grabbed his car keys and went to unlock his car. Thalia snatched his keys out of his hand. "Hey!"
"We're going across the street and getting coffee and sweets. You don't have a choice," Thalia ordered. She opened Percy's trunk. "Get your helmet."
"You're such a pain," Percy complained, but he grabbed his helmet out of the trunk and closed it. Percy followed Thalia towards her motorcycle and waited to climb on behind her. If Percy so much as looked at Thalia's motorcycle wrong, she would run him over with it.
Percy wrapped his arms around Thalia, and she grumbled under her breath but didn't push him away. Percy spoke, "Do you wish I was Reyna?"
They were lucky that Thalia still had the kickstand down, as she almost fell over upon hearing the words. Thalia swore under her breath and balanced herself. She spoke, "I will be kicking your ass. And you are buying!"
"I'll buy, but we have to talk about what Nico said. Abs," Percy whispered that last word in Thalia's ear. She visibly tensed, and a smirk came to his face. "If she can afford to lose abs, how many do you think she has? I'm betting an eight pack."
"More than you," Thalia roasted. Instead of starting her motorcycle, she turned her head slightly and lifted her visor. "Did you catch what Reyna said, that she ate today?"
"I did," Percy confirmed. He glanced back at Reyna's car. "Could be for a lot of reasons. Have you ever asked Nico about it?"
"Of course I have. When I learned they were best friends, I tried all kinds of subtle ways to get information from him, but he hasn't budged once," Thalia explained.
"Thalia Grace, you do not have a subtle bone in your body," Percy commented. Thalia grunted and flipped her visor down. "I'm surprised Reyna couldn't tell that you were undressing her with your eyes."
"I will crash. I swear to God," Thalia warned. Percy remained silent because he knew that she very well would. Thalia started her motorcycle and pulled out of the parking space. She drove off towards the edge of the aisle and peeled out without really looking both ways for any cars. Percy knew she was just doing it to mess with him, but his heart still dropped to his stomach.
Percy leaned on Thalia's shoulder and watched her drive towards the stoplight. He could hear her bluetooth in her helmet playing some music, but it was quiet enough that he couldn't make out the lyrics. Just the instrumentals. It was a sign that Thalia was in a good mood. The light turned green, and Thalia drove across the street.
Percy's heart had barely climbed back up to his chest, but it dropped to his stomach once again as he saw the store that they were near. It was his old store, and he hadn't stepped back inside since leaving. Percy looked down as Thalia pulled into a parking space.
Both of them stood and took off their helmets. Percy stared up at the building as memories ran through him. Thalia bumped his shoulder and walked forward. It took Percy a moment to follow, and they made their way inside the store.
Thousands of memories flooded Percy's mind, and he took a shaky breath. Most of those memories were good, but a lot of them were also bad. It was mostly the memories that involved bad customers, but there were also a few terrible ones that involved his old friends.
Thalia nudged Percy towards the coffee shop near the entrance. If there was one place that Percy missed from his old store, it was Ambrosia and Nectar. The coffee shop had the best coffee in the entire state, and dare he say country, along with one of the best bakeries he had ever visited.
His old store, the Pantheon, basically doubled their sales upon making the partnership with Ambrosia and Nectar. They had a running joke that half the people came to the store for the coffee, and the other half came for the baked goods.
"What would the others say if they found us here?" Thalia teased. Percy didn't say anything. He just looked around at all of the faces around him. The crowd of customers helped him blend in, and all of his old friends looked too busy to notice him. Thalia nudged him. "It's going to be okay."
"I know," Percy said, and he sighed deeply. He stared ahead as the line started to inch forward. Thalia looked like she wanted to comfort him, but she didn't look like she knew what to say. Their silence wasn't awkward, but it was heavy. It lasted until they made it up to the front.
"Hey," Thalia greeted as she leaned on the counter. The worker, one of Percy's best friends, looked up and smiled widely.
"Thalia! Percy!" Grover greeted. He reached across the counter to give them a quick hug.
"G-Man!" Percy greeted back, and a huge smile came to his face. "How have you been doing?"
"The usual," Grover said, which was code for he was dying. Percy nodded his agreement and glanced at the growing line behind him. "And speaking of the usual, is that what you want?"
"You know it," Thalia confirmed. She tapped her fingers on the counter as Grover typed in the order that the two of them would get every day. "Hey Juniper!"
"Hey, Thalia. Oh! Percy!" Juniper called. She rushed to the counter to hug Percy before rushing back to make coffee. Percy's smile grew as he watched the two of them. It didn't matter how big the line was. Juniper and Grover would work together flawlessly to get through it as quickly as they could. The evening crew never had as much luck.
"We'll have to get dinner sometime," Percy said. Grover nodded his agreement and ran up the total. "Hey, G-Man. That's a little cheaper than it should be. Don't get in trouble using your discount for me."
"You're not paying," a new voice said. Percy's stomach did a few twists, and he turned around. Annabeth smiled at him and pulled him into a tight hug. "I missed you so much, Seaweed Brain. Have you been too busy to visit me?"
"The job hunt, you know," Percy said awkwardly as he hugged Annabeth back. He pulled away and shifted even more awkwardly. "I did find a new job. Across the street."
"Well, we're going to have to revoke that discount if you're going to be a traitor," Annabeth teased. She gently pushed past Percy and paid for him and Thalia.
"Speaking of traitors, where is my loser brother at?" Thalia questioned. Annabeth smiled.
"He just left. I'm closing tonight," Annabeth said. "I have to go to a meeting, but Percy, don't forget to text me."
"I won't," Percy said with a smile. He watched Annabeth pay, but one detail caught his attention and caused him to stare. His mood lifted for a moment before concern hit him. When Percy had his last day at The Pantheon, Annabeth had given him a big hug and held onto his hands. That entire time all Percy could do was stare at the diamond ring on her finger. She wore it every day since her fiancé Luke Castellan proposed to her.
Now, there was no ring on her hand. There was no small white band where the ring blocked her skin from being tanned. Annabeth had not worn her ring for at least a few weeks, and while Percy was curious as to why, he couldn't deny that he was happy.
"We should try and get dinner sometime soon. All three of us," Percy said quickly. "Thalia can invite her girlfriend too."
A hard elbow to the gut caused Percy to double over in a mixture of pain and laughter. Thalia turned on him, "She's not my girlfriend! And, you keep trying to blow up my spot!"
"Your boss?" Annabeth questioned with a small smile. Thalia nodded. "Any progress yet?"
"It's a slow process," Thalia answered. She turned to grab their drinks and pastries. "Thank you, Grover. I hope you spat on Percy's."
"Of course I didn't. If you want to, please just take it away from the counter," Grover joked. "I'll see you two tomorrow?"
"Obviously," Thalia answered.
"See you, G-Man. You too, Juniper. Have a good one!" Percy called as he followed Thalia away. She allowed him to grab his drink but kept his brownie out of reach. Annabeth smiled and gave both of them a hug.
"I'll text both of you when I have free time," Annabeth promised. Percy nodded and watched Annabeth walk away. His gaze moved to her finger once again. Even if his day hadn't started that great with sleeping in late, it had gotten a lot better as the day went on. And with this new revelation, his day became amazing.