So... I am late. Again. Anyway. Here is the next chapter. I've been working on this for a while now. And hopefully will update soon next time. :) Hope you like it and enjoy it!

From the moment the elevator pinged and the two girls came out with two bags full of stuff, I knew it was gonna be a long evening. And add to the fact that what followed them included a long line of dresses wrapped in their whatever they are called. Cases? I don't know.

Rachel hadn't been one percent helpful. It's like my ears had self-fitted a filter to repel her voice out. So, I have really no idea what she had been saying for the past three hours.

I thought since it started at eight thirty, we would reach by nine-thirty since Percy held such a senior position. I had not been wrong about that. But what I had been wrong about was that these girls who were supposed to come at seven last time were now invited to come at four.

Do not ask me why. I am in hell.

Looking at the two, I could easily put them in the category of pretty airheads. I was hoping that they would prove my suspicions wrong cause I didn't want to judge them like other people judge me. They were interns with some fashion-dude of Hollywood. One of them had black hair with neon pink and bright blue streaks and insisted we call her Pinky. The other was tall, blonde and immediately sniffed the air around me and made a face, and I am pretty sure that I don't stink. But she seemed very interested in what she was about to do to me. Her name was Stacy, thank God.

The three of them chattered away endlessly as they did stuff to me. Yeah, I know that sounds wrong but there is no other better way that I can put it.

I had been waxed, given a mani pedi, my eyebrows plucked at, the rest of my face and my back, yes my back, bleached even though I am blonde. Just when I thought it was over, I realized this was the clean up session going on here right now. I had to chose a dress and my hair had to be made properly and the make up had to be done. I feel sorry for the models. I feel for them now, I really do.

We were looking through the clothes, I was in a robe, my hair wet with some sort of a conditioner or whatever it was, when there was a knock at the door. It was just six thirty.

'Can't you wait for a few hours without seeing your precious bride?' Rachel shouted at the door and received a kick from me as an answer.

'As you can see, ma'am, I can't,' said the voice from behind. 'So could you please release my bride for a few minutes? I swear it wont take longer than that.'

Wow. 'My bride'. I was gonna get married to that voice. Umm I mean the guy.

'What in hell does he want now,' Rachel grumbled as I walked past her.

'Wow you're getting ready from now only?' Percy said as he gave me a one-over glance.

'Shut up. You don't know what I've been through,' I whined. 'I might just need therapy for a while.'

'Can be arranged,' Percy replied with a grin. He was still dressed in track pants and a formal white shirt with a tie. Must have been in a video conference or something.

I rolled my eyes and asked him, 'what do you want?'

He glanced behind me and I followed his lead and saw Rachel peeking from my room.

'We better talk somewhere else,' he said as he took my hand and led me into his office. It was done up in beige with plants in the corners and a black couch and big windows behind his huge desk on which his laptop and other papers were spread out...neatly. Wow. What kind of guy was he? You should look at my work table. Or better yet, you shouldn't.

He closed the door behind him and walked up to where I was standing looking at the papers on the desk.

'I have something for you,' he said. He kept walking towards me till he was standing at a breath's distance away from me.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black velvet box. My engagement ring. I made no movement at all, just stood there very still, barely breathing.

He opened it. It was a round cut four carat diamond set in a thin slender platinum band. It was somehow disturbing to look at. It was beautiful. Very beautiful. The problem? It reminded me of him. Us. Our relationship. Cold. Regal. Just a show.

He took the ring out of its box and reached for my left hand. But instead of slipping it on as I expected him to, he quietly said, 'look at me, Annabeth.'

I tore my eyes from the ring and looked into his sea green ones. Those beautiful eyes that have started to haunt me these days.

'Thank you for this evening. Please be nice, okay?'

I scowled at him and said, 'am I anything but?'

He grinned and said, 'whatever you say.' I had to smile at that. His gaze dropped to my lips. Suddenly I had an idea.

'Percy wait,' I said and he looked back into my eyes. 'Promise me we would spend a night. Any night I want doing something I want.'

To THAT hee smiled cockily, 'you're giving me very interesting ideas.' I punched his chest lightly.

'Not that!' I said, rolling my eyes and shaking my head. Boys. 'I'm serious.'

'Whatever you say,' he repeated. His eyes dropped once again to my lips and he bent down to kiss them softly. He kept the feather light pressure of his kisses going, tormenting me as he slipped the ring onto my finger. As soon as my hand was free from his grasp, I got what I wanted to do and pulled myself to him. The kiss deepened.

He put his hand in my hair and simultaneously and suddenly, we pulled back, me with a cry.

'I am so sorry,' he said looking at me and freaking out a little too much. He had pulled at a clip and in the process had got liberal amounts of conditioner in his hands. But he didn't seem to care about the latter.

'Seriously, I am okay Percy,' I said amused watching him fretting over me like that. 'I should get back now, I can't stand this smell any longer.'

Few minutes later, I was back in hell. I am just gonna skip over the bad part and the allegedly (Rachel) funny part when I ended up looking like a peacock. And anyway I wont be able to narrate any of that cause I don't remember most of it. It was pink and golden.

So here I was in a royal green sleeveless gown with a very thin strap over either of my shoulder to hold the gown up. White kitten heels and a not-so-fancy yet elegant diamond set of earrings, pendant and a bracelet. A white clutch in hand and I was ready to go.

I looked at the mirror and I couldn't believe what I my eyes beheld. I really looked very pretty. At the end they had let my hair open and let them fall naturally down my shoulder. I had never looked this pretty before. Not even at prom. And I dunno why, it just made me sad. And I felt more lonely than ever. I missed my mom. I miss dad. And I didn't know what the hell I was doing. That's a first in my life.

I walked out of my room to see Percy standing a few feet from me. He looked at me and inhaled sharply. I might be new to this, but I'm not naive. But the way he was looking at me made me blush.

He didn't say anything. Just smiled at me and offered me his arm which I took and we made our way down to the car.

It wasn't that far away and the weather outside was pretty nice. He was wearing a tuxedo and looked absolutely delicious sitting next to me and looking, ummm, apparently at me.

'What?' I asked him, probably blushing. He just smiled slightly and shook his head.

I looked outside as we reached the venue. The car stopped and Percy stepped out from his side and I waited for him to reach my side and escort me outside. I took his hand and together we made our way to the staircase which led into the hall.

There were photographers around and a few of them were trying to get Percy's attention. Percy on the other hand pretended to not see them and led me on.

The inside of the hall was filled with light. That is to say that my eyes hurt. This time of March, there is not much light outside in the mornings, adding to it that I am more of a night person.

It was filled with men in tuxedos and women in all kinds of dresses imaginable. The colors, the cuts and the umm lengths. There was a bar down the hall, right in front of us and to the extreme left was a small stage with a live band playing. That was it, nothing else. But the occasion was in full swing. The chatter of people drowned the music completely.

'Ahh that is my dress!' Said a voice next to me in an extremely nasal tone. 'Mr. Jackson! Delighted to meet you yet again.' He shook Percy's hand with both his hands very vigorously.

'Al,' Percy said smiling down at him. He was a handsome man of about my height and very very white teeth, kinda pasty looking face and kind eyes. Percy turned towards me. 'Annabeth this is Mr Alberto Melt, Al, this is Annabeth Chase my fiance.'

My fiance.

'Hi,' I said as he shook my hand as well.

'Oh Mr. Jackson is getting married!' He exclaimed pretending to wipe his eyes. 'You're breaking my heart, my darling, and of most women in this hall.'

Percy patted his arm sympathetically and excused us.

'He is your designer,' Percy whispered into my ear.

'I guessed as much.'

'Of course you did,' he replied and with my hand still tucked in his elbow made our way to another group of people.

The evening was very pleasant. Wonderful, actually. Percy had been a fiance to me in every sense possible. He never left my side, never left me hanging, always supported my every word, introduced me as if he were proud of me. On that note, he was actually showing me off a little-

'This is Annabeth Chase, my fiance. She is studying architecture at Cornell.'

Stuff like that. More than once in the evening, I wanted to just corner him and kiss that smug my-fiance-is-the-smartest-and-most-beautiful-woman -in-this-room look off his face. In a good way.

All that had been the good part of the night. The weird part was that I had had a little too much to drink that night. That was the part when the dancing started.

Accomplished in all social etiquette, Percy swung me from his side into his arms and the next thing I knew, we were swinging to the music.

'You look very beautiful tonight,' Percy whispered to me in my ear. He had his arm around my waist holding me very firmly and tightly to him. The other one held mine in it between our shoulders.

I made an inaudible and unladylike grunt in response.

'All night I've been aching to kiss you.' That got my attention. I pulled back to look into his eyes. They were dark with want. I, on the other hand, was having a very difficult time trying to control my motor skills and didn't seem to be able to answer.

He moved our connected hand against my cheek while he kissed my hand.

'If I could, I would marry you right here, right now,' he said. I moved my head in and we kissed lightly.

'But, you're drunk,' he continued. 'So I'm not gonna do anything to you tonight.'

With that the song had ended and the last thing I remember of that evening was reaching out for another glass of champagne. And the next thing I remember is waking up in my room with the dull light entering through my room's curtains hurting my eyes.

My dress' coat was missing along with my shoes, my dress was pushed up to the top of my thighs and even though I was under the covers, the thing keeping me warm was Percy's jacket, with his tie wrapped around my neck, clutching his belt in my hand.

This is bad. Really bad.

And oh! Did I mention the killer headache and the lack of memories?

The next chapters are gonna be interesting. The memories. What happened that night? Why does she have his tie and belt? And *spoiler alert* a guest is coming to make Annabeth's life even more messed up? Difficult? Or would he/she help her sort out her life?

PS I am super excited for the PJO movie. Sea of Monsters. And if you could have it your way, would you change the casting? Especially Annabeth and Percy?