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Percy… that was his name wasn't it?
My heart was beating fast as I voiced my only question.
"Who's Percy?"
I felt a little dumb asking it, but I couldn't jump to the conclusion that he was the "grocery store guy".
He laughed. "You never did learn my name did you…" he paused for a moment before continuing, "I'm Percy Jackson. You ran into me at the grocery store a few weeks ago… well I'm calling for that favour!" He chuckled as if he were embarrassed.
My heart stopped beating. I couldn't decide weather to jump up and down, or throw up. I couldn't speak, my voice seemed to be stolen by how unreal the moment was.
"Hello?" Percy's unsure voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I spoke.
"Sorry, uh, sure! What's the favour?" I stammered, mentally beating myself up for sounding so uneducated.
"Well, um my apartment really needs to get cleaned, but I would never be able to do it myself… would you like to come help?" He asked.
"Ok! What time, when, and where?" I said easily, not giving it a second thought.
Percy laughed, and I felt like we were going to have a good time.
"How about two on Saturday? I can text you my address later."
"Sounds like a plan."
"Okay… uh bye I guess, see you soon." He said awkwardly.
"Goodbye." I said with a weird finality. I couldn't shake the feeling that a chance to hangout wouldn't be a common occurrence. If only I knew how close to the truth I was.
Friday at work was a nightmare.
The second I sat down at my desk, Drew came in to tell me Clarissa (my boss) wanted to see me.
Clarissa is the kind of person who is so sweet it's fake. She is super nice, but you know the second you turn your back she'll be gossiping about you non-stop.
I wound through the maze of cubicles, passing office doors until I reached Clarissa's office. I knocked and a sweet sugary voice spoke, "Come in!"
I braced myself and entered the room.
The first thing I noticed. It was cold. Clarissa always had the AC running, so when I entered her office I felt like I was stepping into a room sized fridge. She had succulents and ferns every where, as if she was trying to create an artsy, trendy, and "perfect" jungle. There was a window on the far wall, and Clarissa's desk sat in front of it, facing me as if the all work she did involved meetings. In the left corner of her desk sat a neat stack of papers regarding the company, and recent magazines. Many trinkets littered the desk; who knows what they were for. Clarissa had a laptop in the middle of her desk that she had closed when I entered.
"Hello sugar pumpkin. Come have a seat." She gestured to a padded chair right in front of the desk.
I bristled with annoyance. Sugar pumpkin? As soon as I sat down she spoke again.
"Honey, you know I love your work, but something's up. You don't seem to be putting in that full effort." Clarissa frowned, and before she could continue, I cut her off.
"Please give me a chance. You've been giving me boring articles to write, and I haven't felt much motivation to pour effort into it. I've tried my best." I shrugged and leaned back into the chair, trying to make it seem like I just wanted a challenge.
In my head, I knew the real reason I was lacking in effort. My motivation to write about gossip had wavered. The drama wasn't pulling me in like it used to.
Clarissa raised her eyebrows, and in a quick moment of thought, she delivered her proposal.
"Very well, I'll give you a new article, to be finished by next Monday." She smirked. "Let's see if this is enough of a challenge." She opened her computer and typed for a minute or two, then closed it again.
"Your assignment should be waiting in your inbox." Clarisse said politely.
"You are dismissed."
With that I left her office, dread filling me at the prospect of an extremely hardcore assignment.
Once I got back to my office, I opened my inbox to see my new assignment.
I gasped a little as I read it. The title I was supposed to write the article under was "Moving On". My jaw dropped as I read the description for the article.
I was supposed to write about heartbreak and how to move on. Along with celebrities who used people, then dumped them after.
I general it was a nasty article. One in which, I did not want to write.
Ignoring the voice in my head screaming to not write the article, I opened a new document.
For the next few hours, I tried to make progress on it. I had no luck.
I would type a sentence, then delete it. The process was repeated till I gave up and moved on.
I had little experience about heartbreak. I knew about moving on in the area of hardship, but in love? Not a clue.
That meant my article was awful. A trainee could've written it better than I did!
Finally at five, I gave up.
My head was hurting from the difficulty of putting effort into something you didn't want to do. I collected my things, and left the building.
As soon as I got home I collapsed on my bed. I was exhausted. Physically and emotionally.
I made myself a salad for dinner and changed into sweatpants and a tank top. I collapsed back onto my bed, and stared at this ceiling contemplating life.
It sounds cheesy, I know, but I just kept thinking. About drama, my past, how much I was dreading work on Monday, and every other topic you can imagine.
I fell asleep like that, with unconscious tears spilling down my cheeks.
The sun shining into my room, and I awoke to a soft ping from my phone.
I clumsily reached towards it, grabbing it and pulling it into me like a fish on a line. I turned it on, and saw that Percy had texted me, giving me his address.
I smiled as I remembered I would be hanging out with him today. Then I looked at the clock and yelped.
It was twelve. How late did I go to bed? I wondered as I rushed to get ready.
After a shower, breakfast, and a civil war with my attire, I stepped out of my apartment, ready to face the day.
My curls were untamable that morning, so I gave up and threw my hair in a messy bun. I then put on a loose white tee and tucked the front into some medium-rise jean shorts. I threw on a gray pair of converse, and grabbed my sunglasses as an afterthought.
I was trying to look cute but casual.
By the time I made it to my car it was 1:30. Worried about being late, I punched his address into my GPS and sped down the road. About fifteen minutes later I pulled into the lot of an apartment complex.
My eyes searched the entrance until they found Percy waiting nervously by the door.
Climbing out of my car, he saw me and waved.
Smiling, I walked over to him.
"Hey." I smiled.
"Hey, come on let's bring you up to the apartment." He said and turned around.
I followed him as he walked inside and entered the elevator.
The lobby was average. It was a little more run down than the apartment I lived in, and the paint on the walls were starting to peel.
Once the doors dinged, he led me down the hall and abruptly stopped in front of a room.
Fishing a key out of his pocket, he unlocked the door and brought me inside.
"Here it is! The dump truck I call home!" He said, his eyes dancing with amusement.
I peered around at the place and my inner neat freak went nuts.
Shelves disorganized, every appliance held a blanket of grime, and even from the entryway, I could nitpick garbage peeking out from under couches, behind blinds, stuffed in empty vases, and I could tell there was probably more.
Some of the couches in the living room were unaligned as if someone had accidentally kicked them out of the way. The windows were smudged with hand prints, and the floor needed a good vacuum. There was even a layer of dust over a few things.
The room in general looked like the flip version of my apartment.
Ridiculously dirty, instead of spotless. Kitchen to the left, and living room to the right, with a door that led to his room. (I'm assuming) The only difference was, the bathroom was right behind the living room.
I sighed. "Let's get to work."
We started with the garbage. Percy held a huge garbage bag as I sniffed out garbage like a hellhound. Soon the bag was full and we needed to get another one.
We moved on to dusting. I found two dusting wands and we started dusting anything and everything.
We made small talk while we worked, and got to know each other a bit better.
I found out Percy is 26 years old (like me!) and he is currently in school. He wants to become a marine biologist.
We were dusting and talking for so long, I didn't realize how close I was to being done. There was just one more counter to wipe down and then we would be free of dust.
I started prowling towards it when Percy jumped to get there first.
"Oh no you don't." I growled, and I sprinted after him and pounced, knocking him to the ground.
We rolled around in fits of laughter. Strangling each other to stop our opponent from getting to the last vase.
I pushed him back scrambling to make it to the counter. I was on the cusp of victory, until Percy tackled me.
He pinned me to the ground.
He was right over top of me looking at me in the eyes. I thought were going to lie there forever, but I spoke too soon.
Percy tickled me. I started squirming and giggling, trying to get away from his tickling hands.
"Stop it!" I squealed, sounding like a little girl.
"Never! I will only stop once you surrender!" He declared with a playful smirk.
A plan formulated in my mind.
"Fine." I huffed.
"Hah see? I knew I could knock some sense…" Percy's sentence died when I jumped up and sprinted towards the counter wiping it clean of dust.
"Hah. I won." I said, with a victorious smile plastered across my face.
His face was hilarious. A mix of dumbfounded shock, and disbelief.
I started to break down with laughter.
"Y-you should see your face!" I giggled.
Those giggles became snorts, then chuckles, then full out laughter.
Percy looked confused for a moment, then started to laugh with me.
Then all of a sudden he stopped and stared at me.
"Percy? What's wrong?" I asked nervously.
"We need a break!" He declared. "I say we go get ice cream!"
I giggled.
"Sure, lead the way dear sir." I said formally, but still unable to wipe the smile off my face.
Percy snatched his keys of a coat hook and brought me down to the parkade.
We climbed into his car (it was a blue prius) and shot down the road.
Percy made a left, then kept going down the street. About a minutes later he pulled into a small parking lot.
There was an ice cream parlor in front of us labeled "Ma Gasket's Ice Cream".
"Ma Gasket?" I laughed.
"What? They serve amazing rocky road!" Percy protested.
I rolled my eyes with a smile "Okay buddy, let's go get ice cream."
There were maybe one or two people there already, so Percy and I didn't have to wait in line.
"What's your special today Karen?" Percy asked the lady at the till.
I assumed her name was Karen. "We got some seaweed gelato, wanna try some with your regular?" She asked.
I raised my eyebrows. "Percy how often do you come for ice cream?" I asked
"Um… two or three times a week?"
"You're insane." I said incredulously.
"You bet I am." He winked then turned back to Karen.
"Sure, I'll take a to-go cup with my regular." Percy smiled. "This is my friend Annabeth, she'll have…"
"One scoop cookies and cream, one scoop mint chocolate chip, on a waffle cone." I piped up.
Karen smiled and got to work scooping our orders. In no time we were both holding ice cream cones; Percy also carried his sample cup.
"Thanks Karen!" Percy called as we left the store.
Percy drove us to a park where we walked around and ate our ice cream.
"So Percy, any siblings?" I asked, trying to make small talk.
"Nope, I'm an only child."
"Lucky!"
Percy laughed.
"What about you? Do you have any siblings?"
"Two annoying step brothers." I grumbled.
Percy was a bit quieter after he heard the word "step". I guess he felt bad.
If only he knew.
We continued making small talk, and Percy finished his ice cream.
"Oooh! Let's try the seaweed ice cream!" He said, with a goofy grin on his face.
I rolled my eyes. "Alrighty let's sit down."
I found an unoccupied bench, and we sat down to prepare for the sample.
Percy opened the lid, pulled two plastic spoons out of his pocket, and took a huge bite of the ice cream.
"Fis ish delifcious!" He said with his mouth full of ice cream.
I made a face.
"You like this?" I asked scooping some into my mouth, then immediately spitting it out.
"It's disgusting!" I cried.
"Not to me!" Percy sang.
"Well your brain must be made of seaweed!" I shot back with a grin.
"Are you calling me a seaweed brain?" He asked, mocking offense.
"Yes. I am! Seaweed Brain." I smirked.
"Well… well. Your such a… a…. I don't know…" Percy said, defeated.
"You'll come up with something one day!" I sang skipping back towards the car.
"Now come on we need to keep cleaning!"
Percy groaned, but followed nonetheless.
We made great progress. We vacuumed, scrubbed, and organized for a few hours. It made the apartment look much cleaner.
Soon all we had left was the bathroom.
"Thank you so much for helping me clean." Percy said.
"As a reward I'll cook you dinner!" He said proudly. "How does quesadillas sound?"
"Fantastic! Thank you!" I said.
How he guessed quesadillas are one of my favourite foods, I'll never know.
I walked over to his counter and plopped myself down into a chair, while Percy got to work.
He diced onions and peppers, prepared corn and beans, and put chicken on his stove top to grill.
Once the chicken was finished he pulled it off with prongs, and diced it as well. He then grated some cheese and pulled some tortillas from the fridge.
"Mademoiselle come prepare your quesadilla." He said with a silly french accent.
I giggled "Oui, Monsieur."
I put every topping on my tortilla, then loaded it with cheese.
Percy folded it over, then set it with his tortilla on the stove top to grill.
"Your deenar shall be ready in a few moments." He said, turning around to retrieve two plates.
After about 3 minutes, he pulled them off the stove, and set them on the cutting board. He cut them into triangles and deposited them on the respective plate.
In a few moments, there was a steaming plate of quesadillas in front of me.
I carefully picked one up and took a bite.
"Holy crap Percy! These are amazing!" I yelled.
He burst out laughing.
"I do consider myself quite the cook." He said.
I wolfed down the rest of the food from the gods, and stared at Percy.
"What?" He asked.
"Come on, we have to go finish the bathroom!"
Percy groaned. "I'm tired of cleaning."
"Well too bad. We're almost done anyways."
I was victorious as we wandered back towards the bathroom.
This was the worst by far. After about a half an hour of scrubbing the bath shower (the bathtubs with shower heads attached) we were able to deal with the garbage, organizing his toiletries, and cleaning everything else in the room.
I was just touching up the sink (we were going to be done after that) when there was a knock at the door.
Then I heard the door open.
"Percy?" Someone called.
Percy froze and his face clouded.
"Where are you?" The person called again. Definitely female.
"In the bathroom." He called weakly.
The door opened and there she was.
She was a little shorter than me, with bright red hair. I could tell that it was usually a mass of curls, but it was straight and dead looking at the moment. Definitely straightened. She had forest green eyes, and pale skin that was dotted with freckles.
The girl had so much makeup on, it looked like she got a pie to the face. Heavy eyeliner and mascara, highlight, contour, and foundation. Her cheeks were so red from blush that the only thing more red, was her hair and her dark stained lips. She wore a nude dress that showed a little too much skin and black heels.
As soon as she saw me she screeched.
"Who is this?" She spat.
"Rachel I swear we're only friends. She came to help me clean the apartment." Percy sighed.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Me? You're asking who I am? Why I'm Rachel Dare, Percy's girlfriend." She gave me a winning smile.
"Oh…" I squeaked.
My fight had died. Of course he wasn't single. Why would Percy with all his looks not have girls trailing behind him?
"Percy I'll go now, so things don't get complicated with your girlfriend. Have a good night, thanks for everything." I choked out, and hurried out of the bathroom.
"Annabeth! Wait!" Percy called after me.
I could barely hear him over my pounding heart, and the blood rushing through my ears.
I ran out of the apartment.
It wasn't until I got home and slammed the door that the sobs came.
They were choked, and came in gulps, as if I wasn't able to get enough air.
I slid to the floor, my sobs heard through the night. Slicing through the air like bullets.
Wow! Its been a little over a week and I'm updating again? I'm so proud!
Urgh the cleaning bits weren't cery exciting. I'm sorry it's hard to write :(
Please Review or whatever else you want to do to support me! It means a lot, so thank you!