Okay, so, repeat from last chapter, this is just a sort-of re-post/re-write, nothing has changed other than grammar errors, etc. etc.
Sorry for all plot holes - I couldn't keep track of what the different things two characters had done (oops). If you see one, feel free to point it out!
Thank you all for reading!
Oh! And credits to my co-author, as always. I would not be here without him.
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As he stepped into the modest house (well, modest isn't really a good word for it. It wasn't like, huge or anything, but what it looked like made up for it). There were papers all over the floor - like, literally. Not just the clumps here and there that his mom always complained about. It was... wow. Like, wow as in, I-had-no-idea-anyone-could-be-that-messy kind of wow.
She grabbed his arm and led him into the living room. He felt electrified - like every nerve was on fire. When she let go, he stood there, rubbing the spot where they had made contact.
"Sit." she patted the sofa. "We need to talk."
"R-right."
"I need your help." she clasped her hands together. Hastily, when she saw the way something shone in his eyes, she added, "Not your help strictly. I just... well... relationship advice."
He tried not to think too much about it.
"I-I just, well, you know, you look like you've had a lot of experience, and... I-I got in a fight with my boyfriend recently and... and... you're also a boy, too, you know... oh, what was I thinking? I'm sorry for taking up your time. I was just desperate for a bit of company. It's been so lonely. He won't talk to me, and I-"
"No, no, it's fine. I need to get going now." he abruptly stood up. "Th-thank you for eating [insert name of pizza place]'s pizza! Come - I mean, call again!"
As soon as he was out, he wiped away a tear.
When he got home, he threw himself into the pillows. After an hour of moping, in which his mom had come in at least 20 times, he called up the pizza place and quit. He didn't want to work at food places anymore.
After that, he got himself hired as a janitor at an architecture company.
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Percy now worked at a place called Chase Enterprises. He didn't dwell too much on that. No, he thought way more about how one person could spill twelve cups of coffee in three hours? And on top of that, his/her office was at the top of the building. Great. Just great. And for some weird reason, that person was never up there when he arrived to clean up. He would hear their voice on the walkie-talkie, telling him to come up and clean up. But for some reason, he never saw them.
Yes, that was 100% cuckoo. There was only 1 elevator. One set of stairs. He dimly wondered if that person was trying to avoid him. But why? It wasn't like he knew them, anyways.
Or so he thought.
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Annabeth woke up on her sofa.
Oh, shoot.
She had 10 minutes to get to get ready if she wanted to get to work on time. Not that she needed to worry about getting fired, 'cause she was the boos, but she had a lot of clients. She downed a cup of coffee, her hand slightly shaking. She threw on the only pair of clean clothes she had, brushed her hair and teeth in a record of 1 minute. She grabbed a muffin on her way out and ate it in the car.
There, she checked in at the front desk.
Why, oh why, did I think it was a good idea to put my office at the top of the building? She thought despairingly as the elevator made its slow ascent. I could have put it on the bottom floor with easy access, but noooooooo... I put it up here.
When she arrived, hands shaking, she made a cup of coffee, which she spilled when she lifted it to take a drink. "Hot!" she yelped. She immediately buzzed the walkie-talkie, demanding someone come up and clean up.
Then, she froze, remembering she fired the old janitor recently.
And the new janitor…
She hurried to the staircase, opened it, and closed it. She leaned against the door, her heart racing. Those eyes... they had flashed with hurt, disbelief, sadness, and a bunch of other emotions she couldn't place.
She hated it so much. It filled her with something, like nothing she had ever felt before. She refused to believe it was anything but anger, but fury, but...
She refused to believe she felt something for the boy at the coffee shop with bright, yet sorrowful eyes. Those pools of green...
Annabeth shook her head.
No. I have a boyfriend.
She didn't even know why she had told him - Percy - about that. Maybe... maybe...
No. She just wanted him to know, for her to get over what fluttered inside and made her light-headed. And that was it. Really. And though she would never admit it, she felt like there was another reason for this. For this irrationality. And she hated it even more than his eyes.
So she ran and hid every time she spilled her coffee - which was 12 times, and counting - behind the door. She had a perfect view of her office from there. She knew it was him. His raven locks...
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He was about to step back into the elevator when the walkie-talkie crackled again.
"Hey." for some reason, their voice seemed shaky, but it was covered well. "I just-I just spilled some more coffee. Sorry. Come-come up and clean it.
Percy sighed and warily made his way back to the office he knew so well.
He opened the door, and came face-to-face with a blonde he knew well - far too well. Her startling grey eyes locked in on his green ones, and her lips parted in a slight 'o'. Percy's heart dropped down to his boots.
"Annabeth?"
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She gave a curt nod. "Percy."
And then she rushed out as fast as her feet could take her without making it too obvious that she was running away. She rushed out with her head held high, like she had somewhere important to go, something important to do, because she's not running away.
But she was.
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Percy stared at her retreating back, stares at her blonde curls bouncing, tantalizing, taunting...
He wanted to touch them.
But he held back, just watched, just stood there and watched her walk away...
Because she has a boyfriend.
Oh, right. Because she has a boyfriend.
He pushes the thought away from his mind. He works here now. He can think about this stuff at home. But she works here too...
He shakes his head. No. He sets to work cleaning again. Just like he's supposed to. Just like he was paid to. Just like he was hired to. Just like... just like... she hired him. She must have.
But why?
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Annabeth found the nearest restroom, rushed into a stall and sat there. Just sat there, with her head in her hands, her heart thumping erratically in her chest. She stood up, though her legs felt weak, and she just leaned against the wall.
Good thing he couldn't come in and clean the girls' restroom.
Why'd she even hire him? She knew who he was.
She'd met him.
He... didn't know who she was.
But he knew something about her.
That she had relationship problems.
With her boyfriend.
"I can't believe you!"
"It's not what it looks like, Annie, I swear!"
"Don't call me Annie."
She stormed off, leaving her boyfriend...
She shook herself out of the memory.
She still held on to him, though, with no clue why.
"He doesn't deserve you, Annie, break up with him!"
But she couldn't.
Wouldn't.
Why?
But this is her workplace. And rule number one? Leave your personal life out of it. She returned to her office and, leaving the coffee machine untouched, began sorting out the papers. A contract, ooh, someone is paying a rather hefty price for a house. Wonderful.
She set to work.
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Throughout the day, Percy rushed up and down the building.
Up, down, up, down, up, down...
But all day, he never got a call to clean the top floor.
Her floor.
