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Of Corporate Scandals

Chapter 16. The Supply Closet

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The fact that she didn't curse when the taxi splashed muddy rainwater on her brand new jacket was quite a feat. Even Thalia and Luke noticed Annabeth's abnormally good mood that morning. She had even forgotten to snap at Luke for eating her last protein bar or at Thalia for not recycling the empty Half & Half carton. She was definitely walking on sunshine today.

Now, you ask, what brought on this good mood and chipper attitude adjustment? Annabeth hadn't seen her boss since before the weekend started on Friday. It just so happened that they kind of made out in several venues that night.

She hadn't had the nerve to call him on Saturday or Sunday, and was secretly hoping he would call her. However, to no avail. So, yes, this was the first time she had woken up on a Monday morning without acting like Garfield. Considering the last time she saw Percy, his hair was rumpled from her constantly running her hands through it, she figured she had a good reason to be excited to go to work and see him again.

Honestly, she was actually quite (okay, very) nervous as well. As Annabeth walked out of the coffee shop across the street with two lattes in her hand, she wondered what today would bring in their (was it really appropriate to call it that?) relationship? Her grip on the paper cups was on the verge of breaking the material and spilling scalding latte all over herself. She figured, as she rode up the elevator, that her boss wouldn't outright mention anything in front of their co-workers. Annabeth was pretty sure that was against the employment policy, but he was also the boss. She also figured she should continue to call him Mr. Jackson until they were alone.

As she stared at the escalating numbers on the wall of the elevator, Annabeth finally let her mind wander to the forbidden question that she had been trying to avoid asking herself all weekend.

Were they a thing now?

Sure, in most scenarios, when a man passionately ravishes and kisses a girl in his apartment that constitutes something.

However, this was Percy Jackson they were talking about. The billionaire playboy of Manhattan. The best kiss of her life could've just been a typical Wednesday for him.

And there was also that small little detail about him being her, well, boss.

Either way, there was nothing that could ruin her morning.

Yet.

Annabeth pushed the thought aside as the elevator dinged, signaling the twelfth floor. She visibly relaxed her shoulders and straightened her posture as she walked into the office.

"Mornin', darlin'," Mary-Sue greeted as she bustled by with her headset on and printed invoices piled in her arms.

Annabeth returned her greeting with a beaming smile, "Good morning, Mary-Sue."

The plump lady was taken aback by the kind gesture. She was used to Annabeth's usual curt (sometimes abrasive) mien by now so the smile surprised her, "My, you look wonderful this mornin'.

Annabeth gave a smile,"Thank you. Is Mr. Jackson in yet?" Addressing him as Mr. Jackson instead of Percy already sounded too stiff and formal on her tongue.

Mary-Sue nodded as she balanced the invoices, "Yes, arrived here bright and early. I guess everyone's in a good mood 'cause of the weather." It was true. It was surprisingly warm today for the middle of October. The sun seemed to be mirroring Annabeth's mood.

Annabeth waved a thank you as she shrugged off her jacket. She picked up the latte on her left and stared at her boss's office door.

She felt butterflies in her stomach. Annabeth almost gagged thinking about it. She hadn't had this awful feeling since her high school Prom night.

She didn't like the way her stomach felt like it was high in her chest and she couldn't stop smiling. However, on the other hand, it was kind of nice. It was the first time in months that she had something relatively close to affection. Her feelings towards Percy had always been on the side of embarrassing lust. Today, she felt sort of…cuddly.

She wondered what would happen once she saw him. She knew he was a casual guy, but should she expect Percy to ravish her on his desk in the middle of the work day? She had a brief, embarrassing fantasy of him swiping all of his (all filed by her, mind you) papers off of his desk and kissing her…

Perhaps she was over-thinking this. Maybe he did this with all of his female co-workers and she shouldn't expect anything different. Oh, it was killing her! However…he did seem genuinely caring the other night at his apartment.

She tightened her grasp on his cup of coffee and strode up to the door, and knocked.

She heard a muffled, soft thud and a voice mutter. "Come in."

Annabeth pushed open the opaque, frosted glass door and walked into Percy Jackson's office.

The sight before her wanted to make her scream…or vomit.

Calypso Atlas was sitting on Percy's desks, her mile-long legs crossed. Her boss sat slouched in his big, executive chair, leaning on his elbow.

"Oh, hey, Annabeth," Percy said, looking up from his conversation with Calypso.

The young heiress flipped her burgundy hair to turn and look at the blonde with a cool gaze, "Good morning, Annabeth."

Annabeth felt her grip slipping on the paper cup, her brain short circuiting as she took in the sight in front. She watched (Was it really in slow-mo or was it her?) the cup fall to the ground and the scalding liquid spill all over her new blouse and his pristine, white office rug.

Annabeth yelped, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry." She dropped to her knees, cleaning the mess and refusing to look at either of them.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Jackson. I was just dropping off your latte." Annabeth clenched her jaw, steeling her voice so she wouldn't waver."

Percy stood, "It's cool, Annabeth. Relax, I can take care of i—"

"No," Calypso interrupted, sensually sliding off of his desk in her tight pencil skirt, "I'll call maintenance to deal with this…" She waved her hand carelessly in the direction of Annabeth. "Mess."

"It's not a big deal, I'll just grab some napkins," Percy started.

"I said I'll call maintenance," Calypso laid hand on his chest, pushing him back in his chair, "Annabeth, why don't you run back and get us more coffee. Back to what we were discussing…"

With a wave of a French manicure, Annabeth was pretty much ushered out of the room.

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Annabeth angrily tapped away on her keyboard, reviewing some contracts to print as she gulped down her who-knows-how-many lukewarm coffee. She had drowned herself in work to avoid feeling all the bitter emotions raging inside of her.

She jabbed her mouse, sending her documents to the printer. She caught sight of her reflection in her monitor, her forehead creased in a frown.

Percy had tried to make small talk with her throughout the day on several occasions when Calypso would break to the ladies' room for one of her many, many mirror checks, but all she had given him were short, curt answers.

He looked a little taken aback by her coldness. It kind of hurt her to hurt him, but she couldn't bear to look at him without wanting to burst into angry, frustrated tears.

Annabeth's joints cracked and popped from her unmoving position at her desk as she walked to the printing room. She had seen Calypso leave for a smoke break a few moments ago, jabbering away on her cell phone so she didn't fear running into her.

Annabeth sighed, half in minor irritation at her awful day and half in fatigue. She fed the paper to the machine, leaning her hip against it as she felt the copier warm up.

She nearly jumped as she felt a pair of hands settle on her waist. Annabeth whipped around to face Percy grinning down at her with a goofy expression.

"Jumpy today, aren't we Annabeth?"

Annabeth slipped out of his grasp, moving to the opposite side of the closet-like room. "No, just tired," she said, her voice stiff. She couldn't talk to him now. She'd practically spent the whole day winning arguments against him in her head.

Percy stepped towards her, reaching for her hand, "Well—"

Annabeth snatched the contracts out of the mouth of the printer and slipped passed him, "I have a lot of work to do, Mr. Jackson so—"

"Mr. Jackson? Annabeth, what—?"

"—I really have to go—'"

Annabeth turned away from Percy, rushing out into the hallway. He followed her, "Annabeth, wait!"

She didn't turn around. Percy grasped her hand, halting her. He abruptly towed her sideways.

"What are you doing—oomph."

She heard a door slam shut as she was cast into darkness. Annabeth fell against what felt like a cardboard box. Annabeth groped around in the dimness, her eyes adjusting.

She heard a click, and there Percy Jackson stood in front of her with his hand loosely pulling on a light bulb string. He gripped her shoulders, "Tell me what's wrong."

"What the hell are we doing in a supply closet," she deadpanned, crossing her arms.

"Why aren't you talking to me?"

Annabeth scoffed, "Are you kidding me?"

"Annabeth, come on. I thought after what happened on Friday—"

"After what happened on Friday, I wasn't expecting Calypso to be sitting in your lap this morning."

"Calypso?"

Annabeth's jaw set in hard line. She stared at him.

"This is about Calypso?" Percy repeated. Annabeth looked down, arms still crossed. She felt that ache in the pit of her stomach.

Percy lifted her chin, "Annabeth, Calypso is nothing to me."

"Then why is she back here again? I thought you were over."

"We're not over."

"Then—"

"We're not over because we were never on." Percy sighed, running a hand through his hair and leaning against the closet door. "My dad just asked me to keep Calypso occupied while he finished dealing with her uncle. Atlas sent her here to scope out of operations before he signed. Once it's done, she's gone."

Annabeth stared at him.

"You don't believe me," Percy grumbled.

"Why didn't you tell me this in the first place?"

"I thought it was obvious that this was simply business."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "Fancy dinners and hanging out all day?'

"I take clients out to dinner all the time—"

"Then why didn't you call," Annabeth interrupted.

"I wanted to call," Percy rubbed the back of his neck, his face reddening, "I'm sorry. I—I didn't know if it'd be appropriate."

"Appropriate?"

"It was the weekend!"

"You had me in your bedroom and you didn't think it was appropriate to call."

"I'm sorry," Percy held her face in hands, "I don't know how to do this with you. I've never done this with someone I work with before."

"And you think I've slept with my bosses before?"

"No, that's not what–" Annabeth cut him off with a kiss. She was screwed with this man, she'd already forgiven him before he'd apologized.

Percy felt her grin against his lips. He pulled away, "You're laughing at me!"

"Am not!" She rested her hand on his chest, grinning. Percy kissed her again, cupping her face. She felt the stress of the day melting off her bones. What was it about this man who had her weak at the knees in the supply closet at her place of employment.

It was Annabeth who pulled away first, leaning back to look at his face. "So where does this leave us?"

Percy paused, his hands sliding down and settling at her waist. "I really like you, Annabeth." He said after a long time.

"But?"

Percy leaned his forehead against hers, eyes closed.

"But you're still my boss," Annabeth whispered against his lips, finishing his unspoken thought.

"I don't want to hide this," he said softly back.

"But the CEO of this company can't be plastered on the cover of Celebrity Look Out with his secretary," Annabeth thought back to his playboy stint a few weeks ago, picture after picture in the tabloids with a different girl on his arm.

Percy groaned, looking down, "I'm sorry you saw that. I tried so hard to get over you. I thought it was a crush and someone else would distract me." Percy sat against a cardboard box, gripping her hand. "I don't want to give this up, Annabeth, but I can't ask you to risk the same—"

"I want to," Annabeth answered, staring at him intently, "I want this."

"This, us, it's against company policy."

Annabeth stared at their intertwined hands, "Then, we'll need rules."

A/N: Please leave your questions, comments, and constructive criticism in a review below!