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Of Corporate Scandals

Chapter 20. The Mile High Club

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Annabeth let out a deep sigh of relief as she sank down onto her beloved swivel chair. She had actually missed her office chair and the view from her desk of the Manhattan skyline. Most people dreaded the first few weeks of January, but Annabeth had actually missed her job during the chaos of the holiday season.

They had decided to go all out this year for the holidays. Thalia had decided to host Christmas at their cozy (shoebox) apartment. Thalia's family and all of their friends had joined them. It was definitely cozy, but she was surrounded by all the people she loved.

After some pestering and persuading, Percy had even managed to meet Annabeth's parents — Frederick and Helen Chase. She was the spitting image of her father, tan skin, sandy hair and that wry smile. Helen, her stepmother, was prim woman.

Then, of course, the biggest blizzard New York had seen since the fifties decided to blast the city on Christmas Eve. Thalia, Annabeth and all of their guests were snowed in for days. Their Hallmark holiday turned into chaos within a few days.

Finally, when snowbanks melted and the city streets ran with black slush, Annabeth finally managed to push their guests out. Playing holiday hostess had left her tired and stressed out. With winter break over, she was glad to be back in the pleasant, controlled environment of the office and school.

Like always, the Spring semester flew, especially during her last semester of grad school. It finally seemed like everything in Annabeth's life was coming together. She was in the thick of her final projects of her masters program. She'd gotten her groove at Open Seas, and the office was running as smoothly as ever.

And there was Percy. There wasn't a grand gesture or big moment — one day his doorman referred to Annabeth as his girlfriend, and Percy didn't correct him. She was Percy Jackson's girlfriend. They were still a secret, but once they told their close friends it made hiding it so much easier.

They just worked. They argued and bickered occasionally, but making up usually made the fight worth it. Between work and class, weeknights spent doing homework and hanging out with Thalia, her weekends were usually spent at Percy's.

Valentine's Day had been low-key. It was just an intimate night with take-out and movie rentals. The paparazzi swarm the city on Valentine's Day looking for Manhattan's socialites so it was safer to stay in, just like Annabeth liked it.

And just like that, spring break was upon her. Even in undergrad, she'd never done the whole beach and binge drink for a week, but with the way work was lining up during her last semester of school, it looked like she'd be spending spring break working.

"Annabeth, Mr. Jackson needs to see you in his office," the new intern spouted as she teetered past, balancing trays of coffee in her hand.

"Okay, thanks — do you need help?" Annabeth blurted, cringing as she watched her struggling. She remembered her days as an intern last summer.

"I got it!"

Annabeth winced as she pushed open Percy's door, watching the intern precariously entering the conference room to deliver the coffee. He sat with his feet propped on his desk, on his cell phone.

"Okay. Yeah, promise...That was one time!...Fine, I won't. Bye," Percy swung his feet off his desk, walking to her as he pocketed his phone, "That was my Dad."

Annabeth closed his office door and locked it, " I could tell." She stood in front of him. He was grinning at her. "What?"

Percy, with his boyish smile, was practically teasing her, "And do you know what he said?"

She crossed her arms, "No, but I bet you're going to tell me."

"My dad had a pitch meeting with some CEO guy in Florida—"

"The Party Ponies Inc. meeting in Miami, yes."

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"I'm your assistant, it's my job to know."

"So, yeah, but he's stuck in Milan 'cause of meeting with Apollo from Sun Productions and—

"And your dad needs you to take the meeting in Miami for him."

Percy's face fell, "Come on, it's no fun if you already know all of the surprises I want to tell you about."

Annabeth smirked, "Sorry that I'm already up to speed with your agenda, since, you know, that's literally my job." She crossed her arms, "When do you leave? Do you need me to cancel your appointments today?"

Percy was beaming. "Do you mean when do we leave?"

Annabeth raised her eyebrow at him, "What?"

"This is a huge meeting, and, of course, I need my assistant with me," Percy dug around in his pocket and pulled out two tickets, grinning widely. "After all, conversations could take days to close, that's why we're staying for a whole week." He waved the tickets in front of her.

Annabeth's eyes glinted, "Miami? For spring break?"

"Strictly for business," Percy grinned.

Annabeth beamed, throwing her arms around him, "This is so exciting! After the meeting, we can go to the beach and all there's this restaurant I read about—What am I going to do with the interns for a week? Oh, and all your appointments—"

"Whoa," Percy rested his hands on her hips. It was endearing how neurotic she was about her job. "Don't worry, I already told Mary-Sue about the trip and she has everything under control. Your job is in her very experienced hands."

"Oh, oh okay," Annabeth bit her lip.

Percy chuckled, still seeing the gears whirling in her head as she worried about leaving the office in someone else's hands. "You're excited, though, aren't you?"

"Yes, of course. When do we leave?"

"This afternoon. I hope that's not too short notice for you."

"I had my design seminar tonight, but I guess I could skip, I'm ahead anyway on my drawings and it's basically already spring break anyway."

"Fantastic," Percy grinned, pecking her on the lips, "One more surprise."

"And what's that?"

"We're flying."

She pulled away from him, abruptly, and examined the tickets he had handed her. Sure enough, they were two first class airline tickets, "Are you sure?"

"I figured I'm going to start traveling more and more, might as well face it and get over it. Besides, I'll have you with me."

However, Annabeth saw him gulp and rub the back of his head as he always did when he was nervous.

Percy had always been scared of flying. His father had preferred to travel by boat. After all, Open Seas Inc. had originally started as a sea-trading company. He had a childhood spent with his father on ships and learning to sail. His mother's parents died in a plane crash so she wasn't keen on flights either. However, with Open Seas' rapid international growth, instances where he needed to jet away were bound to become more frequent.

Annabeth tucked the plane tickets back into the pocket of his jacket, "So brave of you to finally get on a plane."

Percy rolled his eyes, "How lovely of you to mock my fears with sarcasm."

"I actually am very proud of you. What time is our flight?"

"Five, we'll land in Miami around eight."

"Okay, well, considering the traffic and these absurd security lines lately, we should probably—"

"Annabeth."

"Yes?"

"I have it all taken care of," Percy looked at his watch, "Okay, why don't you go home and start packing. I'll send a car to pick you up later this afternoon."

"Breathe, Percy, breathe," Annabeth said as he gripped her hand even tighter. She held his clammy hand as his face paled. Percy nodded, but he still looked as stiff as dried plaster.

They had gotten to the airport in record time, and Annabeth had expected Percy to lose it once they got to security, but he had been surprisingly calm about it. He even perused the gift shops by their gate with her — picking up gum to aid popping ears.

She was certain he'd freak out once they were called to board, but he walked onto the plane and loaded their carry-ons with ease.

Annabeth had never flown first class before. It wasn't crazy since it was only a domestic flight, but she wasn't complaining about the plush seats and ample leg room.

It was only when they began speeding down the jetway that Percy began to sweat. She saw his knuckles turning white where he gripped her hand and his arm rest. "Once we lift off, it'll be much better," she soothed.

Percy inhaled sharply and screwed his eyes shut as the nose of the plane angled upwards.

"Look out the window, Manhattan looks beautiful."

Percy shook his head profusely.

"No, seriously. Look at all of the lights," Annabeth smiled, releasing his hand and peering out the window. The sun was just beginning to descend its arc into sunset. Little by little, the lights of Manhattan were beginning to flicker on and dot the city with spots of light.

Annabeth glanced over at Percy and let out a sharp laugh, seeing his eyes still screwed shut."

"I'm glad you're amused by fear," Percy mumbled.

"I'm sorry," she looped her arm through his, rubbing his forearm, "You look like a statue, loosen up a bit. We're in the air already."

"Yes, please stop reminding me."

"Come on, just one peak out of the window, Look at the sunset."

"There's a reason I let you have the window seat!"

She ran her thumb over his hand, "Are you going to spend the next three hours with your eyes closed?"

"Yes."

"You need to calm down. How can I get you to relax?"

A brilliant idea suddenly popped into Annabeth's head. She leaned over and whispered into Percy's ear. Her breath tickled his neck, "I'm going to go to the lavatory. Wait for 5 minutes, then come join me."

"Wait, what—"

"Shh. Just do it."

Annabeth unbuckled her seat belt, climbing over him. She shot him a mischievous could feel Percy's eyes on her the whole walk up the aisle.

A/N: (Revised May 2022) The way I'm certain middle school me probably discovered what the "mile high club" was on Urban Dictionary and it inspired this entire chapter.