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Of Corporate Scandals
Chapter 31. Hold Me Tighter
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"Mr. Jackson?
Percy pressed the intercom button as he heard Mary-Sue's voice crackle over the speaker, "Yes?"
"Your four o'clock is ready."
"Thanks, would you just give me a minute."
"Of course, sir. Also, Mr. Jackson, your father called again."
I'll take care of it. Thank you."
Percy sighed, running a hand down his face. That slow, pounding ache behind your eyes when you're exhausted had been plaguing him all day. His eyes still stung from their fight this morning.
She left this morning. Ran away from him and left him alone in the staircase. And she hadn't come back.
Percy decided to give her space. He didn't try to call her or text her. And all this space was killing him. He was a wreck leaving things the way they were. Sure, of course they fought, every couple did, but it was always about something stupid like who left the stove on and it would escalate to something massive.
He would yell, she would yell louder, but they were always back to normal, laughing and making out again by the end of the night. They'd never fought and argued on this scale. And Annabeth had never left before. Percy felt like shit.
On top of that, his father kept calling, pestering about the new architecture department. It was kinda hard to give him an answer when he wasn't on speaking terms with the architect.
It was hard at first, Percy hadn't realized how much he leaned on Annabeth to get through the work day. It had been hard to get through the day without her period. Calypso seemed to sense he was struggling and offered to help him out. She was always around the office lately despite the fact that she was stationed at the uptown building.
Speaking of Calypso, Percy's four o'clock appointment was a video conference with her uncle. Percy tapped the intercom button, "Alright, I'm ready for Mr. Atlas. Patch him in."
"Um, sir, it's just a skype call. You just have to open up the window on your computer."
"Right," Percy muttered sheepishly, logging onto skype. Soon, his laptop screen was full face, specifically, a face with an auburn beard and frown lines and a finger tapping the screen.
"Penelope, is this working? How do I get it to show him- Ah, hello, Perseus."
"Mr. Atlas, good morning, great to see you." Percy could hear the fake dripping through the tiredness of his voice. If Annabeth was here, she would have pointed it out and made fun of him.
"You as well, son. As soon as this project came up, I asked your father for your contact information immediately.
Percy's brow furrowed. He wondered why Atlas would need his contact information from his father because he signed every email with his direct extension, and Percy had been emailing the CEO of Weight of the World for months now with updates about their current projects. Although they had never met in person or talked on the phone, the projects had been sailing smoothly with just email communication.
Atlas continued, "Yes, I've been most eager to do business with you personally. My department heads working with your company are most pleased with this business partnership. I've decided I want to head a project myself directly with you."
Percy gave a polite, but uncomfortable, chuckle. It seemed as though Atlas had so many deals he was getting his projects mixed up. "Oh, that sounds great, sir, but I think you forgot, we have been working together. For quite some time now. On the WaterWorld deal? I thought this meeting was to begin a brand new project in addition to our current ones."
Percy saw Atlas frown the screen, "Pardon me?"
Percy opened up his email in a new tab, "Yes, right here, I had your niece email you for me about the new WaterWorld shipment just yesterday."
"My niece?"
"Yes sir, we transferred Calypso to the uptown office, but she said she could still manage the Open Seas and Weight of the World accounts. So she's been the one forwarding my emails." After seeing the blank expression on Atlas's face, Percy continued, awkwardly, Calypso said "you preferred that she was very hands on with the partner projects."
Silence.
"Sir?"
"Mr. Jackson, I'm not sure what's going on here. My niece Calypso lives in Greece, she hasn't been in New York for several years now."
"That's impossible, sir, you sent her to work with us months ago."
"Mr. Jackson, I'm sorry to say, but I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, but I never sent my niece Calypso to go work with you."
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The skype call with Atlas had left Percy shaken up. A cold sweat had broken across his skin as soon as he had hung up after Atlas insisted they resume business after he resolved whatever "funny business" they had going on at Open Seas. Percy wished he knew how.
At that moment, his office door flew open, Calypso —or whoever this was— stood in the doorway balancing a tray of to-go cups. "Hi Percy, I have your coffee, I know Annabeth usually gets it for you, but considering she's not here." She strutted into the office, "Now, I know you want me back at the uptown building, but I thought since she's gone I could help you out in here, maybe deal with those papers—"
"Stop."
Calypso looked at Percy with those big green eyes, "What?"
Percy cleared his throat, looking at her. He had to play this cool, "Why don't you sit down?"
Calypso's grin widened, "Of course" She settled in the leather armchair across his desk, making a big show of crossing her legs.
Percy circled around his desk so he was standing right in front of her, "Who are even are you?"
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So it turns out, posing as a millionaire's niece to go work for a company as part of a huge revenge scheme against Percy Jackson was actually quite simple. Some fraudulent paperwork, fake email addresses, clever bribing to Weight of the World higher-ups, and an auburn wig was all Rachel Elizabeth Dare needed to become Calypso Atlas for months.
At least that was what she told the police as they dragged away in handcuffs from the twelfth floor for the second time. Identity theft and fraud could now be added to her criminal charges of sexual harassment in the workplace.
Who knew rejecting his former assistant's advances months ago would result in this. She was delusional. What an elaborate scheme to cause discourse and drama in his relationship, why not take down Open Seas with her. Percy could guess she had daddy-issues considering how her father was CEO of Dare Enterprises and one of their biggest competitors.
Percy sank even lower in his desk. Could this day get any worse? He felt terrible about this and all he wanted to do was go cuddle up with his girlfriend. But they were fighting, and it made Percy feel sick to his stomach all over again. He felt like he was being hung upside down from the ceiling, his life was backwards and everything was wrong. That's what it was like without Annabeth. Wrong.
He was so damn stupid. How could he accuse her like that? Maybe she was right. Maybe he had been waiting for them to fail. Percy's life had never been more perfect and happy the past few weeks, and maybe a small part of him thought it couldn't last.
No. He would not let himself lose her.
Percy stood up from his desk too quickly and knocked over his pencil holder. He cursed as he jammed the intercom button as he scrambled to jam all the pens back into the mug on his desk. "Mary-Sue, I'm leaving early today. Could you please call me a cab to my apartment?"
"Yes, of course. Is everything alright, hun?"
Percy grimaced, was his voice really as tensed as it seemed, "No, but everything will be soon." He released the call button and continued to gather his things. He swung his bag over his shoulder and grabbed his suit jacket that was thrown across his chair, and exited his office in a blur.
"Your cab is already outside," Mary-Sue said as he breezed by her desk.
Their apartment was empty. Well, empty of Annabeth. Percy sighed, trudging into their kitchen for a glass of water. As he leaned against the kitchen counter, he noticed how out of place Annabeth's red coffee maker looked with the sleek monochromatic appliances of the rest of the kitchen. He knew exactly where she was.
Percy ran up the steps of the walkup as a drizzle began to fall over New York City. He rang the buzzer, not bothering to even look at the apartment numbers, he remembered which one it was. He felt sudden déja vu as he stood at the door.
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's Percy." He held his breath as the buzzer crackled with silence for a moment. He heard mumbling and discussion in the background.
"I'm ringing you up."
Percy let out a sigh of relief as the door buzzed open and he ran into the building.
Luke was already standing in their doorway as Percy ran up the last flight of stairs to their floor (the elevator was still broken). "Hey, Percy."
"Luke," Percy said, breathing heavily from his trek up the stairs, "Is she—"
"Yeah, she's here," Thalia appeared in the doorway next to Luke. She eyed him, coolly.
Luke glanced back into their apartment. Thalia was blocking Percy's view. He cleared his throat, "Me and Thals are gonna go get dinner and give you guys some space." He tugged on his fiancé's arm, pulling her out of the doorway.
As Thalia breezed past him, she poked her finger onto his chest, hard, "Fix it, Jackson." She took Luke's hand and they bounded down the stairs.
Percy stood in the doorway of Annabeth's old apartment and paused. How many times had he stood in this exact place to pick her up for dates. She would open the door with a grin and a kiss. Oh, he wished things could still be like that.
She was sitting curled up on her and Thalia's beat-up, red leather couch, holding a cup of tea. He knew it was tea and not coffee because Annabeth only used the yellow mug in her hand for tea. She was wearing a pair of Thalia's sweats and one of Luke's sweatshirts that hung low on her hip. Mascara smudged under her eyes. She looked beautiful.
Percy shut the door behind him, standing awkwardly before the living room. One of Luke's records played softly in the background, but the air was tense in the tiny apartment.
Annabeth spoke first, "How'd you know I was here?" Her voice croaked like she'd been crying, which she had. She set down her mug on the coffee table.
Percy shrugged, "Because I know you." He suddenly felt too overdressed and awkward standing in Annabeth's old apartment dressed in his suit, surrounded by her old furniture and homey pictures of her, Thalia, and Luke covering every surface. He should be in jeans and flannel, talking to Thalia in the kitchen, watching the game with Luke, holed up with Annabeth in her old bedroom. Not standing by himself in a dumb suit not knowing whether he should go over to her.
Annabeth opened her mouth to speak, but she closed it again. She was crying again, silent tears welling over her puffy eyes and streaking down her face. Percy couldn't help himself any longer. He went to her.
Percy dropped to his knees in front of her. His hands immediately went to her waist, pulling her towards him, he needed to be near her, to be full of her. Annabeth's arms curled around his neck, dropping to the floor next to him. She buried her face in neck, letting out another sob, her tears dampening his shirt. Percy held her close, murmuring quietly over and over again, "I'm so sorry, so sorry."
After a few moments, Annabeth's crying had quieted. Her hands rested on his chest, her head still nestled in the crook of his neck. "I hate fighting with you." Percy held her tighter, held her closer.
"I hate not talking to you," he replied, softly.
"I shouldn't have left this morning."
"I should've gone after you."
Annabeth found his hand and entwined it with her own. Percy kissed the top of her head, breathing in the lemon vanilla scent of her hair.
"It's just so hard sometimes," Annabeth spoke after a while. The afternoon sun shone through the windows, casting the apartment in a warm golden light. "The paparazzi, our coworkers, Calypso, our parents. Our jobs. Everything is so high stakes all the time."
"We don't have to talk about that right now," Percy offered, wanting to just hold her for a little while longer.
"But we do, Percy, our problems won't go away," she faltered.
He looked down at her, "What?"
She glanced up at him, meeting his eyes through her eyelashes, "I saw the other architect applications in the bin. Why did you throw them away?"
Percy looked away, "My dad sent them over. I didn't even look at them."
"But I did. Percy," she sat up and faced him. Percy's hands immediately reached out, wanting to press her to himself again, but she took his hands and held them in her own, "Every single one of those candidates was more qualified than me."
"My dad put me in charge of this project, and I already had a perfect candidate in mind."
"Then you should've let me apply and interview against everyone else."
"I didn't need that to know you'd be the best fit."
Annabeth shook her head, looking away, "Other people won't see it that way."
"It shouldn't matter what people think"
"But it does," She said, pressing her hand to his heart. She sighed, she sounded so sad, "Percy, you don't understand. I've given up so much, school, my goals, my dream of having my own firm and before you say it—no, an Open Seas department is not my own firm because I was just handed the job. No matter how much you believe in me or how much you know I can do, I didn't earn this job. Everyone will always see me as a parasite on you. People will always believe I only got the job because I'm your girlfriend."
There was quiet between them as the words sunk in. Annabeth's hand was warm in Percy's. Finally, he broke the quiet, "No they won't."
"What?"
"They won't be able to say that you only got this job because you're my girlfriend. Not anymore."
"What?"
"Will you marry me?"
A/N: Ahh, cliffhanger! I would like to apologize for making Rachel the villain. I had planted foreshadowing for that plot twist chapters and chapters ago (so basically years and years ago) to circle back to the first chapter, and I couldn't let it go to waste. Back in 2012 when I first wrote the outline and chapter one, I still hated Rachel because of Percabeth, but she's one of my favorite characters now, in 2017, so I'd just like to apologize for that. I have to continue with my 2012 characterization for the sake of continuity. Until next time! (Revised in February 2023)