Percy was feeling good. His week had gone pretty well, and he didn't have questions for Reyna every second. It was more like every two seconds now. The great part was that he was actually able to answer questions that his coworkers brought up to him. He even covered the returns desk by himself the night before.
Percy hummed as he walked into the store. He was holding onto a cup holder full of coffee. Percy turned his head and called a greeting, "Hey, Hazel! How was today?"
"It was good, Percy. Boring day," Hazel answered as she waved at him and then turned back to her clipboard. Percy waved at Dakota from behind his crowd of customers before greeting a few cashiers that were near him. Remembering everyone's name was the one thing he excelled at.
Percy stepped into the back. He raised his hand to knock on Thalia's door. It opened before he could finish the motion, and he found himself face to face with the two asset protectors. There was a grim look on Nico's face, but he was born with that look. The problem was that Thalia had that same grim look.
"What's wrong?" Percy asked. Thalia motioned for him to walk in, and as Percy did, Nico closed the door behind him. "Are you two going to kill me? Because I bought coffee. You don't get it if you kill me."
"Do you remember returning a smart watch last night?" Thalia asked as she sat on her desk. In her hands, she held the white box that Percy did indeed return the night before. It was the first return he did by himself. Gwen showed him how to do everything and walked him through a few returns.
"Yeah. That one," Percy confirmed as he pointed. He frowned. "I thought everything went well. The customer was nice, and we didn't have any problems."
Percy's frown deepened as he thought of everything he did the day before. He scanned the receipt first. Then, he scanned the barcode on the box and the barcode below the first that held the serial number. The money went back to the customer's card.
Everything went perfect, so why did Thalia and Nico look like they were attending his funeral?
Thalia glanced at Nico. Then, she sighed and opened the box.
The empty box.
"Oh," Percy whispered.
"Yeah," Thalia said.
"I'm going to get fired," Percy breathed as he leaned on the desk. He placed both hands to his head and ran his fingers through his hair, debating on pulling out some of the strands. How could he be so stupid?
"It's not that bad, Percy," Thalia began.
"You aren't the first one to do it," Nico commented.
"I'm an assistant manager. I shouldn't be making these mistakes," Percy countered. He felt his knees go weak. "I'm going to vomit."
"You're just being dramatic now," Nico commented. "It sucks, but it's not the end of the world. We're just going to have to let Lupa know."
"She's going to fire me," Percy complained.
"She's really not," Thalia retorted. She nudged Percy. "It's okay. I promise. We just wanted to give you a heads up, so it didn't take you by surprise."
Percy shook his head and felt butterflies dancing in his stomach. He felt comfortable yesterday, and he screwed everything up. How could he just return a five hundred dollar item and not check the box?! Percy closed his eyes tightly.
A knock on the door caused Percy to jump and for his soul to nearly leave his body. Nico slipped behind him and opened the door. Percy turned to look at Hazel. There was a confused look on Hazel's face.
"Hey, I have a customer who says they returned a watch last night but didn't have the watch in the box," Hazel said as she raised the watch in question. Nico grabbed it, and Thalia tossed him the box. Nico studied the watch and then the box, probably comparing serial numbers.
"They match," Nico confirmed.
"The customer told me that she didn't realize it wasn't in the box until this morning," Hazel began. "Do you guys know anything about it?"
"Yeah. Percy screwed up and didn't check the box," Nico answered. Percy made a noise of protest, even though he didn't have anything to protest. Thalia rubbed his shoulder. "Don't tell anyone. And, Percy promises to check everything that he returns."
"I won't tell," Hazel promised. She smiled at Percy. "I've done that before. It was mortifying."
"My soul left my body for a few moments," Percy admitted.
"You are so dramatic," Nico chided as he walked towards his chair and sat down. He placed the watch in the box and then propped his legs up on the desk. "What are we doing Saturday?"
Hazel gave Percy another smile before she left the office. Percy turned to look at Thalia as she packed up her things, "Isn't your band playing?"
"Not this weekend," Thalia answered. "Bar had some kind of leak, so they're shut down for the next few days. We need somewhere else to go."
"And, I'll be there to drag Reyna along," Nico stated.
"Not to hang out with us?" Percy teased.
"I would rather get hit by a car," Nico said as he looked up at Percy. The lack of emotion on his face made it hard for Percy to tell if he was joking or not. But, he probably was not joking. Thalia hit Nico's arm. "Fine. A bus."
"I know what we can do. I just have to check with her first," Percy said. Thalia looked at him in confusion. Then, her eyes widened. Nico seemed to realize it as well.
"Percy, did I tell you that you were my favorite cousin?" Nico asked as he almost got whiplash looking at Percy so quickly.
"I recall you saying that you would rather get hit by a car and then a bus instead of hanging out with me," Percy stated.
"I meant that about Thalia," Nico corrected. Thalia hit him in the back of the head. "Ow!"
"Would your mom be okay with the whole group coming over?" Thalia asked. She started counting on her two hands. "If we include Reyna and Nico, that's like fifteen people."
"How did you ever pass math?" Nico asked.
"With a D minus," Thalia answered.
"Don't forget the cheating," Percy chimed in.
"It was one time," Thalia complained. Percy chuckled and grabbed the drink holder. He handed Thalia her frozen coffee and handed Nico his. "Let me guess. The coffee is as black as his soul."
"Nothing can be that dark," Percy joked. He winked at Nico as he knew just how much Nico loved an unhealthy amount of sugar in his coffee.
"Why don't you get to work?" Nico asked as he looked at Percy. His gaze moved to Thalia. "And, you can just go home. Or are you going to spend forever ogling at Reyna and not asking her out."
"Get off my ass," Thalia grumbled as she stuck her straw into her drink. She grabbed her bag. "Text me if it's okay with your mom. We'll all chip in for the food, though. She doesn't have to make anything."
"She can make some of her lasagna if she wants," Nico said.
"Okay. Yeah. She can make that," Thalia agreed. Percy smirked. "We'll buy the ingredients, though. Your mom might have to make two. Like a vegetarian one for Piper."
"My mom can just make one vegetarian one," Percy teased. Thalia looked at him and pouted. A smirk tugged at Percy's lips. "I'll ask her to make two, but I will help her make it."
"He's going to burn it," Nico grumbled.
"Maybe I won't," Percy said. He looked at Nico triumphantly. Nico glared but muttered an apology. Thalia smirked as she watched them. "I'll text my mom and ask her. She misses everyone, and I'm sure she'll be excited to meet Reyna. She knows all about your crush."
"Who doesn't?" Thalia muttered to herself. Nico looked at Percy, and they both shared a knowing look.
"Reyna," Nico answered. Thalia glared at him. "She is literally the only one who doesn't."
There was another knock on the door, and Thalia flipped them both off before opening the door. Reyna looked at them and frowned as she saw all of them in the office. Percy waved and held out the drink carton, "I got you frozen coffee. The one closest to you is mocha and the other is caramel. Take your pick."
"Thank you," Reyna said as she grabbed the caramel one. "Is everything okay?"
"We were just discussing plans for the weekend. The plans that you are going to attend," Nico said with a pointed look. Reyna returned the look. "The bar is closed, so we're seeing if Percy's mom is willing to host us. You're coming."
"Nico, I'm not sure how I'll be feeling," Reyna began. She moved her gaze to the side. "I have that thing."
"And that thing told you that you need to go out more," Nico said. He looked at Thalia and Percy. "That thing is a therapist FYI. No one is going to judge you for that."
Reyna blushed and averted her eyes. Percy spoke up, "I went to a therapist for like a year. It's not something to be embarrassed of."
"I went for a few months after I got out of the coma. Apparently, there is a lot of psychological stuff that comes with being in a coma. I just thought the worst part was all the television shows that I missed out on," Thalia explained.
"And, I've been going to therapy ever since Bianca died," Nico said. Reyna looked at them and sighed. Her shoulders drooped.
"My therapist did say that I need to go out more. If I don't talk a lot, please don't be mad," Reyna began.
"We won't," Percy promised.
"Thalia talks enough for all of us," Nico joked. Thalia flipped him off again. "Go home, loser."
"I am going home. Have fun at work," Thalia said as she stuck her tongue out. She walked towards the door. "Have a good night, Percy. Have a good night, Reyna. And Nico, I hope your night sucks."
"I hope you crash and go into another coma," Nico said.
"If I do, Will is going to take care of me, and I'm going to spend more time with your boyfriend than you do," Thalia countered. Percy rolled his eyes and slipped out of the room. Reyna followed behind him.
The two walked towards their offices quietly. Reyna was taking small sips of the iced coffee, but there was a small smile on her face. Percy noticed she wasn't wearing her backpack. In fact, she already had her radio on along with her boxcutter and pens.
"When did you get here?" Percy asked. Reyna glanced at him.
"I came in early today," Reyna answered. They stopped at Percy's office. "Thanks for the coffee."
"It's no problem," Percy said as he turned and looked at Reyna. "Are you leaving early tonight?"
"I'll be here to close, but I will be leaving for two hours today. I came in early to make up for the lost time," Reyna said. A scowl touched her lips. "My mom is dragging me to her charity event, so I apologize if I'm gone longer than two hours."
"Hopefully it's over quickly," Percy commented. He started to set his things out and grabbed his laptop.
"I appreciate it. I won't be intruding on Saturday, will I?" Reyna questioned.
"No, you won't," Percy promised. "My mom loves visitors, and I promise I've only told her good stories about you. I do have a little sister, and she loves people more than my mom. Nico is her favorite."
"Kids seem to love him," Reyna said as she sat in a chair. "Oh, Percy. There's one more thing."
"What is it?" Percy asked. Reyna looked at him and had a knowing look in her eyes. "Is there something wrong?"
"There's two things we have to talk about. Do you want to talk about the easy one or the hard one first?" Reyna questioned.
"The easy one," Percy began as he sat down and gripped his coffee nervously. "What did I do?"
"Just make sure to check any boxes or cases when you return an item. Same goes for televisions," Reyna explained. Percy felt his face heat up, and he hung his head. "Gwen found it last night. I told her not to worry about it and that I would talk to you."
"I know I screwed up. I'm sorry," Percy said softly.
"Mistakes happen, Percy. Just use it as a learning experience," Reyna suggested. Percy nodded his agreement. "Now, we have something difficult to talk about."
"That was the easy one?" Percy asked. Reyna nodded and had a grim look on her face. "Okay. What else do we need to talk about?"
"Nico has a vacation day for tomorrow," Reyna began. Percy frowned, but his eyes quickly widened. He knew exactly what that meant. Reyna met his eyes. "So, which one of us is going to ask Thalia to come in on her day off?"