"Your mom was not happy about that," Thalia joked as she leaned on the wall and studied Percy. He was now back to a morning schedule, and she didn't know how he wasn't upset about it. It took her a month to get adjusted from a night shift to a morning one, and here he was changing it weekly.
The whole staying up late thing was nice, but she couldn't keep doing that and then flip over to waking up early and not being tired the entire time. Thalia was just happy that Nico was fine staying on nights while she stayed during the morning.
"You did teach Estelle a new curse word," Percy commented. "Apparently, they went to the park yesterday, and Estelle shared that word with all of her friends."
When Estelle had asked her question at dinner, the room fell deadly silent. Sally kindly asked where Estelle had heard the word from, and she fixed them all with a gaze that held pure fury. Then, the damned toddler pointed at Thalia. Sally had waited until after dinner to pull Thalia aside and unless that fury in a very long yet somehow loving lecture.
"I guess I am a bad influence," Thalia relented with a shrug. Percy rolled his eyes, and his gaze moved past her. Thalia turned to see Reyna. She immediately looked back at Percy.
"Why do you keep doing that?" Percy whispered. Thalia remained silent, mostly because she just didn't have an answer. She was pissed that Bellona had slapped Reyna across the face, but it pissed her off even more that Reyna just let it happen.
Reyna was an adult. She could more than defend herself from her mother. Hell, she had been telling her off before she chickened out. All Reyna needed to do was tell her mother to screw off, and that would be the end of it. Bellona would go back to her hole in the dirt or whatever slice of Hell that she came from.
There were days that Thalia would have loved to tell her own mother off. To tell her how much the hitting and yelling screwed her up mentally. Here Reyna was with a golden opportunity, but she was not using it. Thalia shook her head. She wanted Reyna to just defend herself. To fight back.
Why would Reyna care if Bellona disowned her? Her mother had already slapped her across the face and acted like she was nothing more than a child to be ordered around. As for not talking to Reyna at dinner, Thalia was frustrated. She didn't want to say something that she would regret. It was just easier to ignore her manager.
"Morning," Reyna greeted as she made it to their side. Her backpack was hanging off of her shoulder, and she had a cup holder in her other hand with three coffees in it. "How are you two doing?"
"I'm good. My mom loved having you at dinner," Percy said. Thalia refused to comment, and Reyna studied her for a moment. Her manager looked back at Percy.
"Your mom is great," Reyna replied honestly. She shifted her backpack. "Did you get my text?"
Oh great. The two were texting now. Because it wasn't like Thalia had been wanting to give Rena her number but was too nervous to. Why was Reyna even texting Percy anyway?
"I didn't. Sorry," Percy said as he quickly reached for his phone.
"It's not a problem. I was just letting you know that you're running the show today," Reyna explained. Percy looked at her in surprise. "For the rest of this week. My surgery is coming up, so I want to make sure you are as prepared as you can be. There's no better way than to have you run the store, but I'll be just a radio call away."
"Oh," Percy commented, and he looked a little overwhelmed. Reyna smiled at him.
"You'll be fine, Percy. It's your show, but I will be right here for you," Reyna promised. Her gaze moved to Thalia, and it looked like she was going to speak. Someone cleared their throat as they stepped into the conversation.
"Reyna, just want to let you know that Frank called off today," Octavian informed. A frown came to Reyna's face. Octavian nodded to them and waved a greeting. He walked back into his office.
"What does that mean?" Percy asked.
"That we don't have anyone to do carts," Thalia answered as she gave Percy a look like he was an idiot. Because sometimes he really could be. It gave her a headache.
"I can do them," Reyna offered with a shrug. Thalia looked at Reyna. She shouldn't be doing anything with her shoulder, especially if she was getting surgery soon. It didn't make any sense.
"Are you sure?" Percy questioned, and he seemed to read Thalia's mind. "With your shoulder and all that? It won't hurt it?"
"I'll just use the cart pusher. It can't be that hard to learn," Reyna said.
"I can show you," Percy offered as he nodded. Thalia turned away and felt her annoyance rise.
"Thalia," Reyna began. Thalia stopped mid-step but didn't turn back around. "I got you coffee."
"Don't want any," Thalia muttered as she walked down the hallway and towards her office. When she made it to the door, she opened it with more force than she meant to. Thalia threw herself down in her chair and waited for the door to close behind her. She tensed as it didn't.
Thalia slowly turned to look at who had caught the door. Reyna stared back at her. Thalia looked back at her computer and started to log in.
"What the hell did I do, Thalia?" Reyna questioned. Anger clipped her tone. Before today, Thalia would have felt terrible for angering Reyna and maybe even a little fearful. Now, she was just mad, and she didn't know why.
"I have a lot of work to do," Thalia muttered. She focused on her computer screen as it turned on.
"No one steals this early in the morning," Reyna countered. Thalia glared at her screen. "Did I say something wrong? Was it because I didn't talk to you about my mother? I was barely holding it together."
"Whatever," Thalia grumbled.
"Thalia," Reyna began. She let out an angry sigh. "Why are you so pissed off at me?"
"I never said I was," Thalia snapped back.
"Then why the hell won't you talk to me?" Reyna demanded. She stepped into the office and closed the door behind her. "You didn't talk to me at Mrs. Jackson's. You won't accept a damn coffee that I know you love. I can't even get you to look at me!"
Thalia looked at Reyna for a few moments. Then, she looked back at her computer screen, "Happy?"
"Can you just tell me what I did?" Reyna asked, and her tone shifted from angry to something else. Thalia just stayed focused ahead. "Thalia. Please"
"It's not like you even care how I feel," Thalia snapped as she turned in her chair and stood. Reyna stared at her in confusion. Thalia bit her tongue before she could say more.
"Look, I'm sorry if this is about my mother," Reyna began. Thalia shook her head.
"You're a damn adult, Reyna. Why the hell did you let her slap you?" Thalia hissed through gritted teeth. She didn't know why she was so mad; she just was. Between Reyna just letting Bellona hit her and asking Annabeth out, Thalia found herself in a tailspin trying to figure out her manager's thought process.
Reyna tensed and remained silent. Thalia continued, "You were standing up to her, and when she slapped you, you just shut down."
"What else was I supposed to do?" Reyna demanded.
"Keep standing up for yourself!" Thalia almost yelled. "Don't just let her hit you!"
"It's not as easy as that, Thalia, and you know it," Reyna remarked in a quiet voice.
"If I was in your shoes and that was my mom-"
"It's not," Reyna interrupted. She shook her head. "You don't understand, or you just don't want to. All I want is my mother to love me."
"She obviously doesn't," Thalia seethed. Reyna looked at her like she had been slapped. Thalia turned and went back to her computer. The door opened and slammed shut a moment later. Not that Thalia cared. Not right now.
Thalia stared at her computer screen. She couldn't voice why she was so angry, but she was. Reyna needed to stand up for herself, and maybe, that was the crux of her anger. It didn't matter if Thalia asked Reyna out or not at this point.
If Reyna said no, Thalia would be heartbroken, and the last year would have been spent wallowing in her feelings with no payoff. If Reyna said yes, their relationship would be ended the second that Bellona found out because Reyna couldn't stand up to her homophobic, abusive mother.
Was this how Percy felt? Having someone that he had strong feelings for being so close yet so far away. There were so many risks with a relationship, and did the reward outweigh the risks? Thalia didn't think it did.
Thalia had seen the heartbreak that Percy went through, and she didn't want to experience that for herself. Right now, it was best to just stay away from Reyna. She wouldn't have to think about that slap or the fact that Reyna could just stand up for herself but refused to.
Thalia sighed and rested her head on the desk. It was going to be a long day.
"I know it looks self-explanatory, but I'm going to show you anyway," Percy began as he looked at Reyna. She stared at the remote in her hand and then nodded. Percy pointed towards the top button on the remote. "If you press this, a horn will sound. Kind of like a car."
"The turtle will make the cart pusher move on its own but slowly. The rabbit will move quicker. Only use these buttons when you have carts stacked onto the cart pusher. The bottom button is an emergency stop that will bring the entire thing to a halt. To stop it normally, just take your finger off the button, but also give it a little bit of leeway."
Percy walked towards the back of the cart pusher and wrapped his hands around the handles. He rotated the handles towards him as gently as he could to avoid running himself over and made his way backward. Percy then rotated it forward and inched ahead, "Don't put too much pressure on it when you rotate forward or backward. It will move quickly if you're not careful."
"Let's see. Make sure to look both ways when you cross the street. Don't stack more than twenty carts on the cart pusher. And when you walk with it, make sure to walk up front and control the stack that way. I would start with ten carts just to get the feel of it," Percy explained. He looked at Reyna.
"Thank you," Reyna said. She took the remote from Percy and grabbed the yellow safety vest. There was a scowl on her face that had been there since that morning. Percy knew something had happened between Reyna and Thalia for two reasons. One, Thalia had not joked with him at all that day. Two, he heard parts of the argument.
"If you need any help with it, let me know."
"I will," Reyna said. She looked at Percy. "If you need help with anything in here, let me know. I'll have my radio near my ear."
"Thank you. And, are you doing okay?" Percy asked gently. He tried to hide the concern on his face.
"Yeah. Just not a great morning so far," Reyna answered.
"Because of Thalia?" Percy prodded. Reyna looked at him and then back at the remote. She remained silent. "I kind of heard her raising her voice, and that's not like her."
"I wasn't going to tell you," Reyna muttered. She sighed and rubbed her forehead like a headache was forming. "Especially since she's your cousin."
"Thalia can be pretty stubborn at times. Kind of like Nico. Just give her time," Percy suggested. Reyna nodded and didn't say anything else. Percy realized that Reyna really wasn't going to tell him anything about it. "I'll give you a call if I need any help."
"Don't forget to check on the other managers throughout the day," Reyna reminded. Percy nodded. Reyna shook her head slightly. "Sorry. It's your show to run."
"I appreciate any advice. Seriously," Percy said. Reyna nodded and gripped the remote. She turned and walked outside. Percy sighed as he watched. He turned around and looked at the store. It was his domain today.
Percy knew the best plan was to just go ahead and do the best he could. Any questions he had, no matter how stupid they felt, would be either asked on the spot or written down. This was the test run before Reyna had her surgery, and if he thought asking Reyna a question was nerve-wracking, that was nothing compared to how he would feel asking Lupa those questions.
Percy turned his head and saw Thalia at the cafe. Her gaze was staring out the doors at where Reyna was walking to. Thalia shook her head and stared at the ground. Percy wanted to ask her exactly what happened, but he wasn't going to pry. There was enough on his plate today, and if Thalia wanted to have a chance of a relationship with Reyna, she was going to have to work this out herself.
But, Percy would be there to help her along when he wasn't trying to run the entire store. He would also have to keep Nico and Thalia from getting into an argument of their own. Percy wasn't quite sure why, but Nico was so protective of Reyna. Just like he had been for his sister Bianca when she was alive.
Percy closed his eyes and glanced down at his phone. He stepped into the back and sent a text to the smartest person that he knew. He also l sent one to his mom, knowing that she would have a good idea of what to do. Then, Percy put his phone away. This week was one where he would sink or swim, and he planned on rising to the occasion.