p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"strongI do not own anything from the percy Jackson universe nor any of the famous brands mentioned in this story/strong/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"emstrongBluecookies greybooks: /strong/emstrongThank you so much for your support./strong/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"strongEnjoy the story!/strong/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Chapter 2/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""What's with those pants?" Thalia asked before taking a bite from her peanut butter toast. Annabeth was trying to get the last rebellious strands of blonde hair into her ponytail, failing miserably. She finally gave up and convinced herself people would think those strands were intentionally framing her face. She turned to look at her friend who was sitting at the small table where they usually ate breakfast together./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""What do you mean?" she asked back while looking for her phone between her folders at the coffee table./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth was wearing a pair of pegged black pants with a striped blue and white blouse. She checked herself quickly in the mirror, giving a few twirls before frowning. "I don't see anything wrong with them"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Her friend finished her toast and sat on their couch. She had her usual pajamas. An Avenged Sevenfold oversized t-shirt with some grey sweatpants. She shrugged before saying "They are too…fancy"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Well, I need them to be fancy…aha!" She finally found her phone under one of her sketchbooks. She winced at the already twenty missed messages Aurora had left for her. "She´s gonna eat me for breakfast" she murmured while answering some of them as quickly as she could./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""What I mean is that you look uncomfortable with them." Annabeth didn´t pay any attention to her and instead went back to her room, coming back a few seconds later with a pair of black heels and a box of band-aids. Why have you so worked up about it again? You seem busier today than normal"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The blond girl finally put down her phone, sitting on the couch next to Thalia. She put one of her feet on the other knee and covered the blisters she had earned the other day, with Toy Story band-aids. "I can´t believe we don´t have normal plain band-aids" She complained by doing the same to the other foot./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""That happens when you let me go to the grocery store. Are you going to answer my question?" Her friend asked exasperated./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth finally looked up to find Thalia's blue electric eyes piercing her grey ones. "What? Oh. Yes. The architecture firm I'm working on has an inauguration of the civic center they designed. It was sponsored by a huge company that basically runs all oceans on earth. So, it's a pretty big deal. So big, that Aurora herself scheduled and attended all the meetings with the company's president. She never let Piper, nor I, have any kind of communication with them" She put on her shoes, shoved all the folders on her big purse, and headed towards the entrance./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""You're not having breakfast? I literally just wake up at 7 in the morning so we can have breakfast together and you are ditching me?" Thalia protested while Annabeth grabbed her coat from the rack./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Sorry Thals. I can't screw up today so I'm heading early to the office, that way I can have everything ready to go before Aurora arrives…"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Fine. Go. Just know you owe me one"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth grinned. "You are the best"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Oh, don't thank me yet. I already know what you are going to pay me with" Annabeth didn't have time to figure out the mischievous look on her friend's eyes, so she waved her goodbye and stepped out of the apartment to finally start her day./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"strongHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreake/strong/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Not having breakfast had been a very bad idea. As usual, some trains to Manhattan were delayed surely due to maintenance or damage reports, so Annabeth had had the wonderful idea of taking the long route, where trains didn't have any delayed. She hugely miscalculated the time. The route she usually takes leaves her two minutes away from the office so she could easily walk there at a fast pace. The long route left her 15 minutes away and thanks to her blisters her pace wasn't as fast as she had wanted to./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Finally arriving at the office, Annabeth got a text from Piper saying that she would be running late. That meant she had to go through Piper's computer and print the documents Aurora needed for starting the day. She left her stuff at her desk and ran to the copier to get the papers, only to find it wasn´t working./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""LEO!" Annabeth screamed from the copy room. She didn't care if her coworkers thought she was crazy. She needed to get stuff done. Besides, everyone in the office already feared her. She didn´t mind. It was a kind of respect for her./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"A few seconds later, a head covered with dark brown locks and framed by elfish-like ears popped up at the doorframe. "Hey, Annabeth. What's up?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Printer's off, again"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Leo put down his mug full of coffee on top of the printer before getting his screwdriver out and starting to disassemble the poor machine. It was 8:30 am and his hands were already covered with oil and dirt "You were able to fix it last time" He noted to Annabeth before readjusting some components./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Yeah, but I don't have the time today and you are way better with this than me" Leo wasn't the maintenance guy. He was in charge of advising Aurora with the latest technological advances she could insert into her designs. The guy was a genius. He had already won a bunch of awards with his inventions and he was always tinkering with devices at his desk. Sometimes, he asked Annabeth for her opinion on some of his inventions. It made her feel good about herself./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""There" The printer finally roared back to life and Annabeth's documents were starting to come out of it./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Thanks, Valdez. I owe you one"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""No problem" He responded flashing her a smile before grabbing his mug and exiting the room./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"After what felt like an eternity to her, Annabeth finally grabbed the freshly printed papers and bolted to her boss' office. Unfortunately, Aurora was already at her desk, reviewing some of the reports from the last day. She looked at the blonde entering the room./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Finally. I was growing impatient with any second without the clients' reports" She commented to Annabeth, disapprovingly./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth apologized before opening her journal and reading Aurora's agenda for the day. "I assume you have everything prepared for leaving the ceremony in two hours?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Yes, Miss Williams. I already set the car to pick us up at 5:45 pm"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Well then, dismissed"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth gracefully exited the room, bumping right into Piper who was setting her stuff on her desk./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Morning Annabeth" The brunette smiled warmly at her before her face turned into an apologetic one. "I am so so sorry. I had a problem going out of the house and…"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth waved reassuringly at her. "It's okay. I was planning on arriving early anyway…" That's when she noticed something about her coworker. "Piper…are those the same clothes you were wearing yesterday?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Piper's eyes widened in panic and her face grew redder by the second. "What? No…is just" She sighed. "Is it that obvious?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""A little bit, but Pipes what happened?" And then a realization hit Annabeth's eyes. Piper looked well-rested…very well-rested. She couldn't help the mocking grin on her face. She lowered her voice before asking "Did you do The Walk of Shame this morning?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Piper's lack of response was everything Annabeth needed. She exploded with laughter. Everyone in the office turned to look at them, after all, Annabeth Chase laughing was a pretty rare event./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Annabeth!" Piper hissed./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I'm sorry," Annabeth said, calming down./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Do you think anyone will notice?" Her coworker looked nervously around her, trying to catch any sneaky glare around the place./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth played with her necklace a few seconds, thoughtfully. "I think I have the solution, but you will have to trust me"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Piper blinked a few times "Sure"./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth grabbed her phone and texted someone on her contact list. She talked to Piper about work for a few minutes, before the bell of the elevator signaled the doors opening./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Silena Beauregard stepped onto the floor and every stare was directed at her. The woman was the definition of beautiful and everyone on the building knew who she was and, probably, had a platonic crush on her too. She had a pretty good job at a famous fashion company that had most of its offices in the same building as the firm./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Hi, Annabeth!" Silena cheerfully hugged her blond friend. Annabeth returned the hugged and turned to Piper./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Silena, this is Piper. Piper, meet Silena"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Hi" Piper's expression was also one of astonishment, surely captivated by Annabeth's friend's beauty./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Hello, Piper! It's nice meeting you. I heard there was a new soul ready to suffer at the hands of Aurora Williams" Silena said before winking at the brunette. "Don't worry, you seem more than capable of handling it"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Piper managed a small smile "Thanks"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth cleared her throat and whispered to Silena "Piper's a code 5" The beautiful woman's eyes sparkled thanks to the gossip Annabeth has just given her. Piper was just confused about the whole situation./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Silena turned to Annabeth's coworker. "Well Piper, I think I need you to come down to my floor. I can´t wait to show you the new fall collection of this year" She smiled playfully./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth shot a emPlay-Along /emand the brunette was quick to take the hint. "Me neither" She answered, standing up from her desk and letting herself be guided by Silena. Before getting to the elevator, Piper turned around and looked at Annabeth with concern./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Relax. I'll cover you" Piper smiled gratefully before disappearing behind the metal doors. Annabeth rolled up her sleeves and immediately got to work./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"strongHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreake/strong/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The cameras' flashes were giving Annabeth a headache. That, and the fact she hadn't eaten anything all day long, except form half a bagel. She tried to keep a poker face on while Aurora greeted important political and powerful people, but her stomach rumbling was making her task much more difficult. Note to herself: Always have a good breakfast./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth felt a little out of place with her clothes. Everyone was wearing expensive suits and elegant attires. She just wore the most elegant pants she had in her closet, and they weren't near enough./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"emFocus Annabeth /emshe thought. emPay attention to everything Aurora says. One day that will be you./em/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She followed Aurora like a shadow. She was always quiet, listening to every part of the conversation her boss was having with the big shots of the city. From time to time, Aurora would ask Annabeth to take notes or the contact information of the people she was talking with. In these scenarios, the young woman thought she was learning more about how to socialize than actually learning about architecture. But having contacts was an important factor in the success of her career and she knew Aurora could earn her some./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"After cutting the ribbon and shaking everyone's hand it was time for the big speech. A man went up the assembled stage on the entrance of the new center and begun talking about everyone involved in the project. Annabeth's headache was getting stronger every minute. She looked at her watch. 8 pm. She was starving./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""And without further ado, let us welcome the man that made this new gift for the community. The president of Oceans Inc. Enterprises (he said a bunch of other titles): Poseidon Jackson!"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The whole room erupted with applause, while a man in his forties? fifties? went up the stage and accepted the microphone from the host. So that was Aurora's client. The Mystery Man. She gave a quick look to Aurora, who was staring at the building with pride in her eyes. Suddenly, as if she felt Annabeth watching, she turned to her assistant./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Annabeth I am starving. "emThat makes to of us. /em"Please, bring me some food from the buffet. I heard there was a crème bruleé on the menu" emYes!/em/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Right away, Miss Williams"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Finally relieved of having an excuse to explore the food line, Annabeth wriggled through the crowd of people listening to President Jackson's speech. She felt she was about to explode from excitement when she arrived at the white-clothed table filled with delicious food. Annabeth was about to grab a plate and serve herself a little bit of everything when she remembered the dessert Aurora had asked her to get. emBetter get that one first./em/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"As Poseidon Jackson finished his speech, Annabeth identified the last crème bruleé laying on a silver platter at the far end of the table. She tried to grab it…at the same time as some else. Both hands were frozen in midair until Annabeth quickly reacted and reached for it again. But the other hand was just as fast and grabbed hers before she could take the dessert./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Excuse me, but I think I arrived here…" She started defending her position when suddenly her eyes landed on sea-green eyes. Annabeth didn't know why she had stopped, but those eyes were extremely hypnotizing, and she could feel herself…/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Eh, no. I arrived here first"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The spell broke. She wrinkled her nose./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Really? I didn't see you as I was surveilling the table a few seconds ago. I had my eyes on that dessert first" She released her hand from the grip of the stranger and examined him. He had black messy hair that flowed almost like the waves of the ocean. His face was sharp and intimidating, but his eyes were playful and cheerful, although at that moment they seemed to be mocking her./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""That's because I'm faster. I arrived here first" He pointed his thumb at his chest "I get the dessert" emGod, he was handsome. No! Annabeth focus. He's a dessert stealer./em/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Listen, clearly you don't understand the situation". She approached him and narrowed her eyes at him. Even with her high heels on, the guy was a few inches taller than her. But not that much taller. "This dessert is not for me. It's for my boss. And if I don´t deliver this to her in less than five minutes, she will fire me and my whole career will be over…and my life with it"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The guy raised an eyebrow./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Aren´t you a little bit overdramatic?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Oh no, look at my face. I am deadly serious"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The guy looked like he was trying to suppress a smile. Annabeth was furious at him for laughing at her. But she needed to change her tactic. So she looked at him with puppy eyes./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Please?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Yeah, I'm not buying that face"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth went back to her angry expression. The green-eyed guy sighed and crossed his arms over his chest./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""The thing is Golden Locks…"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Don´t you dare call me that"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I also need this for my boss. You know, the guy who just gave the speech" He gave her a troublemaker smile. emSo, he´s getting the big guns? Fine, two can play that game. /emAnnabeth mimicked his stance./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Well, I'm the assistant to the woman who designed this building. Technically, you wouldn't be here if it wasn´t for her, so I think my boss deserves this dessert" The guy started to think of something else to say but seemed out of words. emHa! I win./em Annabeth took the opportunity and launched herself to grab the Crème Bruleé. But that damn stranger was too fast./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Gods dammit" Annabeth cursed when Poseidon's assistant stepped into her way, making her crash against his chest./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The stranger chuckled and it sent an energizing wave through her body. "What's the rush? I thought we were having a great time arguing with each other" Annabeth's face was red, but not with anger. She was intensely attracted to this guy and only the gods know what she would end up doing if she stayed more time. It was time to play dirty./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth set her eyes on top of the guy's right shoulder and said "President Jackson, It is an honor to finally meet you sir" As the blond girl planned, the stranger's expression turned into shock before rapidly turning around to greet his boss. Only he wasn't there./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"As fast as lightning, Annabeth took advantage of his confusion to take the cursed sweet and bolted away from the handsome guy. She was already entering the crowd of people when she heard him saying "Now that, was low"./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Aurora gave her a look of annoyance when Annabeth came back with her plate. "Where were you, Miss Chase?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I…eh…sorry… I went to get you…"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Never mind, we are leaving. We already made the act of presence here" And with those words, Aurora turned and started walking to the exit, not even looking at the Crème Bruleé. "So much trouble for nothing" She felt kind of bad. She could have eaten it, but somehow, she wasn't hungry anymore./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"When they were close to the exit, Annabeth watched Poseidon Jackson waving goodbye to all the attendees, and sure thing, beside him, was his personal green-eyed assistant. Before he could spot her, Annabeth approached him with the plate still in her hands./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I'm sorry" she blurted out. The assistant looked at her with a surprised expression. "I shouldn't have cheated. I took too long anyway. Here" Just as she gave him the dessert, her stomach growled asking for food, loud enough for both to hear. He gave her an amused look, but before he could say anything, Annabeth said a rushed goodbye and bolted down the stairs following her boss to her car./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"On the subway back home, Annabeth should have reviewed everything she learned about architecture and business that night. But instead, she thought about green sea-colored eyes./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"strongHey guys! Sal here. I hope you really like the chapter. I'm still thinking about which pairings should I choose for this story. I am very open to suggestions and please be free to tell me your constructive criticism and comments. Have a nice day and take care of yourselves and those close to you./strong/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"emstrongBluecookies greybooks: /strong/emstrongThank you so much for your support./strong/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"strongEnjoy the story!/strong/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Chapter 2/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""What's with those pants?" Thalia asked before taking a bite from her peanut butter toast. Annabeth was trying to get the last rebellious strands of blonde hair into her ponytail, failing miserably. She finally gave up and convinced herself people would think those strands were intentionally framing her face. She turned to look at her friend who was sitting at the small table where they usually ate breakfast together./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""What do you mean?" she asked back while looking for her phone between her folders at the coffee table./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth was wearing a pair of pegged black pants with a striped blue and white blouse. She checked herself quickly in the mirror, giving a few twirls before frowning. "I don't see anything wrong with them"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Her friend finished her toast and sat on their couch. She had her usual pajamas. An Avenged Sevenfold oversized t-shirt with some grey sweatpants. She shrugged before saying "They are too…fancy"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Well, I need them to be fancy…aha!" She finally found her phone under one of her sketchbooks. She winced at the already twenty missed messages Aurora had left for her. "She´s gonna eat me for breakfast" she murmured while answering some of them as quickly as she could./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""What I mean is that you look uncomfortable with them." Annabeth didn´t pay any attention to her and instead went back to her room, coming back a few seconds later with a pair of black heels and a box of band-aids. Why have you so worked up about it again? You seem busier today than normal"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The blond girl finally put down her phone, sitting on the couch next to Thalia. She put one of her feet on the other knee and covered the blisters she had earned the other day, with Toy Story band-aids. "I can´t believe we don´t have normal plain band-aids" She complained by doing the same to the other foot./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""That happens when you let me go to the grocery store. Are you going to answer my question?" Her friend asked exasperated./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth finally looked up to find Thalia's blue electric eyes piercing her grey ones. "What? Oh. Yes. The architecture firm I'm working on has an inauguration of the civic center they designed. It was sponsored by a huge company that basically runs all oceans on earth. So, it's a pretty big deal. So big, that Aurora herself scheduled and attended all the meetings with the company's president. She never let Piper, nor I, have any kind of communication with them" She put on her shoes, shoved all the folders on her big purse, and headed towards the entrance./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""You're not having breakfast? I literally just wake up at 7 in the morning so we can have breakfast together and you are ditching me?" Thalia protested while Annabeth grabbed her coat from the rack./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Sorry Thals. I can't screw up today so I'm heading early to the office, that way I can have everything ready to go before Aurora arrives…"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Fine. Go. Just know you owe me one"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth grinned. "You are the best"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Oh, don't thank me yet. I already know what you are going to pay me with" Annabeth didn't have time to figure out the mischievous look on her friend's eyes, so she waved her goodbye and stepped out of the apartment to finally start her day./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"strongHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreake/strong/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Not having breakfast had been a very bad idea. As usual, some trains to Manhattan were delayed surely due to maintenance or damage reports, so Annabeth had had the wonderful idea of taking the long route, where trains didn't have any delayed. She hugely miscalculated the time. The route she usually takes leaves her two minutes away from the office so she could easily walk there at a fast pace. The long route left her 15 minutes away and thanks to her blisters her pace wasn't as fast as she had wanted to./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Finally arriving at the office, Annabeth got a text from Piper saying that she would be running late. That meant she had to go through Piper's computer and print the documents Aurora needed for starting the day. She left her stuff at her desk and ran to the copier to get the papers, only to find it wasn´t working./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""LEO!" Annabeth screamed from the copy room. She didn't care if her coworkers thought she was crazy. She needed to get stuff done. Besides, everyone in the office already feared her. She didn´t mind. It was a kind of respect for her./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"A few seconds later, a head covered with dark brown locks and framed by elfish-like ears popped up at the doorframe. "Hey, Annabeth. What's up?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Printer's off, again"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Leo put down his mug full of coffee on top of the printer before getting his screwdriver out and starting to disassemble the poor machine. It was 8:30 am and his hands were already covered with oil and dirt "You were able to fix it last time" He noted to Annabeth before readjusting some components./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Yeah, but I don't have the time today and you are way better with this than me" Leo wasn't the maintenance guy. He was in charge of advising Aurora with the latest technological advances she could insert into her designs. The guy was a genius. He had already won a bunch of awards with his inventions and he was always tinkering with devices at his desk. Sometimes, he asked Annabeth for her opinion on some of his inventions. It made her feel good about herself./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""There" The printer finally roared back to life and Annabeth's documents were starting to come out of it./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Thanks, Valdez. I owe you one"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""No problem" He responded flashing her a smile before grabbing his mug and exiting the room./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"After what felt like an eternity to her, Annabeth finally grabbed the freshly printed papers and bolted to her boss' office. Unfortunately, Aurora was already at her desk, reviewing some of the reports from the last day. She looked at the blonde entering the room./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Finally. I was growing impatient with any second without the clients' reports" She commented to Annabeth, disapprovingly./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth apologized before opening her journal and reading Aurora's agenda for the day. "I assume you have everything prepared for leaving the ceremony in two hours?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Yes, Miss Williams. I already set the car to pick us up at 5:45 pm"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Well then, dismissed"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth gracefully exited the room, bumping right into Piper who was setting her stuff on her desk./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Morning Annabeth" The brunette smiled warmly at her before her face turned into an apologetic one. "I am so so sorry. I had a problem going out of the house and…"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth waved reassuringly at her. "It's okay. I was planning on arriving early anyway…" That's when she noticed something about her coworker. "Piper…are those the same clothes you were wearing yesterday?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Piper's eyes widened in panic and her face grew redder by the second. "What? No…is just" She sighed. "Is it that obvious?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""A little bit, but Pipes what happened?" And then a realization hit Annabeth's eyes. Piper looked well-rested…very well-rested. She couldn't help the mocking grin on her face. She lowered her voice before asking "Did you do The Walk of Shame this morning?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Piper's lack of response was everything Annabeth needed. She exploded with laughter. Everyone in the office turned to look at them, after all, Annabeth Chase laughing was a pretty rare event./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Annabeth!" Piper hissed./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I'm sorry," Annabeth said, calming down./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Do you think anyone will notice?" Her coworker looked nervously around her, trying to catch any sneaky glare around the place./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth played with her necklace a few seconds, thoughtfully. "I think I have the solution, but you will have to trust me"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Piper blinked a few times "Sure"./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth grabbed her phone and texted someone on her contact list. She talked to Piper about work for a few minutes, before the bell of the elevator signaled the doors opening./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Silena Beauregard stepped onto the floor and every stare was directed at her. The woman was the definition of beautiful and everyone on the building knew who she was and, probably, had a platonic crush on her too. She had a pretty good job at a famous fashion company that had most of its offices in the same building as the firm./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Hi, Annabeth!" Silena cheerfully hugged her blond friend. Annabeth returned the hugged and turned to Piper./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Silena, this is Piper. Piper, meet Silena"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Hi" Piper's expression was also one of astonishment, surely captivated by Annabeth's friend's beauty./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Hello, Piper! It's nice meeting you. I heard there was a new soul ready to suffer at the hands of Aurora Williams" Silena said before winking at the brunette. "Don't worry, you seem more than capable of handling it"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Piper managed a small smile "Thanks"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth cleared her throat and whispered to Silena "Piper's a code 5" The beautiful woman's eyes sparkled thanks to the gossip Annabeth has just given her. Piper was just confused about the whole situation./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Silena turned to Annabeth's coworker. "Well Piper, I think I need you to come down to my floor. I can´t wait to show you the new fall collection of this year" She smiled playfully./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth shot a emPlay-Along /emand the brunette was quick to take the hint. "Me neither" She answered, standing up from her desk and letting herself be guided by Silena. Before getting to the elevator, Piper turned around and looked at Annabeth with concern./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Relax. I'll cover you" Piper smiled gratefully before disappearing behind the metal doors. Annabeth rolled up her sleeves and immediately got to work./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"strongHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreake/strong/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The cameras' flashes were giving Annabeth a headache. That, and the fact she hadn't eaten anything all day long, except form half a bagel. She tried to keep a poker face on while Aurora greeted important political and powerful people, but her stomach rumbling was making her task much more difficult. Note to herself: Always have a good breakfast./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth felt a little out of place with her clothes. Everyone was wearing expensive suits and elegant attires. She just wore the most elegant pants she had in her closet, and they weren't near enough./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"emFocus Annabeth /emshe thought. emPay attention to everything Aurora says. One day that will be you./em/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She followed Aurora like a shadow. She was always quiet, listening to every part of the conversation her boss was having with the big shots of the city. From time to time, Aurora would ask Annabeth to take notes or the contact information of the people she was talking with. In these scenarios, the young woman thought she was learning more about how to socialize than actually learning about architecture. But having contacts was an important factor in the success of her career and she knew Aurora could earn her some./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"After cutting the ribbon and shaking everyone's hand it was time for the big speech. A man went up the assembled stage on the entrance of the new center and begun talking about everyone involved in the project. Annabeth's headache was getting stronger every minute. She looked at her watch. 8 pm. She was starving./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""And without further ado, let us welcome the man that made this new gift for the community. The president of Oceans Inc. Enterprises (he said a bunch of other titles): Poseidon Jackson!"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The whole room erupted with applause, while a man in his forties? fifties? went up the stage and accepted the microphone from the host. So that was Aurora's client. The Mystery Man. She gave a quick look to Aurora, who was staring at the building with pride in her eyes. Suddenly, as if she felt Annabeth watching, she turned to her assistant./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Annabeth I am starving. "emThat makes to of us. /em"Please, bring me some food from the buffet. I heard there was a crème bruleé on the menu" emYes!/em/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Right away, Miss Williams"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Finally relieved of having an excuse to explore the food line, Annabeth wriggled through the crowd of people listening to President Jackson's speech. She felt she was about to explode from excitement when she arrived at the white-clothed table filled with delicious food. Annabeth was about to grab a plate and serve herself a little bit of everything when she remembered the dessert Aurora had asked her to get. emBetter get that one first./em/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"As Poseidon Jackson finished his speech, Annabeth identified the last crème bruleé laying on a silver platter at the far end of the table. She tried to grab it…at the same time as some else. Both hands were frozen in midair until Annabeth quickly reacted and reached for it again. But the other hand was just as fast and grabbed hers before she could take the dessert./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Excuse me, but I think I arrived here…" She started defending her position when suddenly her eyes landed on sea-green eyes. Annabeth didn't know why she had stopped, but those eyes were extremely hypnotizing, and she could feel herself…/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Eh, no. I arrived here first"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The spell broke. She wrinkled her nose./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Really? I didn't see you as I was surveilling the table a few seconds ago. I had my eyes on that dessert first" She released her hand from the grip of the stranger and examined him. He had black messy hair that flowed almost like the waves of the ocean. His face was sharp and intimidating, but his eyes were playful and cheerful, although at that moment they seemed to be mocking her./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""That's because I'm faster. I arrived here first" He pointed his thumb at his chest "I get the dessert" emGod, he was handsome. No! Annabeth focus. He's a dessert stealer./em/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Listen, clearly you don't understand the situation". She approached him and narrowed her eyes at him. Even with her high heels on, the guy was a few inches taller than her. But not that much taller. "This dessert is not for me. It's for my boss. And if I don´t deliver this to her in less than five minutes, she will fire me and my whole career will be over…and my life with it"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The guy raised an eyebrow./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Aren´t you a little bit overdramatic?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Oh no, look at my face. I am deadly serious"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The guy looked like he was trying to suppress a smile. Annabeth was furious at him for laughing at her. But she needed to change her tactic. So she looked at him with puppy eyes./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Please?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Yeah, I'm not buying that face"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth went back to her angry expression. The green-eyed guy sighed and crossed his arms over his chest./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""The thing is Golden Locks…"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Don´t you dare call me that"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I also need this for my boss. You know, the guy who just gave the speech" He gave her a troublemaker smile. emSo, he´s getting the big guns? Fine, two can play that game. /emAnnabeth mimicked his stance./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Well, I'm the assistant to the woman who designed this building. Technically, you wouldn't be here if it wasn´t for her, so I think my boss deserves this dessert" The guy started to think of something else to say but seemed out of words. emHa! I win./em Annabeth took the opportunity and launched herself to grab the Crème Bruleé. But that damn stranger was too fast./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Gods dammit" Annabeth cursed when Poseidon's assistant stepped into her way, making her crash against his chest./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The stranger chuckled and it sent an energizing wave through her body. "What's the rush? I thought we were having a great time arguing with each other" Annabeth's face was red, but not with anger. She was intensely attracted to this guy and only the gods know what she would end up doing if she stayed more time. It was time to play dirty./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Annabeth set her eyes on top of the guy's right shoulder and said "President Jackson, It is an honor to finally meet you sir" As the blond girl planned, the stranger's expression turned into shock before rapidly turning around to greet his boss. Only he wasn't there./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"As fast as lightning, Annabeth took advantage of his confusion to take the cursed sweet and bolted away from the handsome guy. She was already entering the crowd of people when she heard him saying "Now that, was low"./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Aurora gave her a look of annoyance when Annabeth came back with her plate. "Where were you, Miss Chase?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I…eh…sorry… I went to get you…"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Never mind, we are leaving. We already made the act of presence here" And with those words, Aurora turned and started walking to the exit, not even looking at the Crème Bruleé. "So much trouble for nothing" She felt kind of bad. She could have eaten it, but somehow, she wasn't hungry anymore./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"When they were close to the exit, Annabeth watched Poseidon Jackson waving goodbye to all the attendees, and sure thing, beside him, was his personal green-eyed assistant. Before he could spot her, Annabeth approached him with the plate still in her hands./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I'm sorry" she blurted out. The assistant looked at her with a surprised expression. "I shouldn't have cheated. I took too long anyway. Here" Just as she gave him the dessert, her stomach growled asking for food, loud enough for both to hear. He gave her an amused look, but before he could say anything, Annabeth said a rushed goodbye and bolted down the stairs following her boss to her car./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"On the subway back home, Annabeth should have reviewed everything she learned about architecture and business that night. But instead, she thought about green sea-colored eyes./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"strongHey guys! Sal here. I hope you really like the chapter. I'm still thinking about which pairings should I choose for this story. I am very open to suggestions and please be free to tell me your constructive criticism and comments. Have a nice day and take care of yourselves and those close to you./strong/p