I do not own any of this. Percy Jackson belongs to the beloved Uncle Rick and the storyline goes to the amazing Michelle Do for her play of the same name.
"So...how'd it go?" Grover stood behind the bar washing wine glasses and putting them back in the rack. "Was Mr. Chase's daughter as amazing in person as her picture was?"
Percy looked off in the distance recalling his first "date" with Annabeth. "She was absolutely breathtaking."
"Well that's good. It won't be so hard to pretend so she'll fall in love with you."
The word "pretend" jolted Percy back to reality. He didn't feel like he was pretending when he was around Annabeth. There was no acting involved. Sure he had flirted shamelessly with her because he had a mission, but it wasn't hard at all to want her to like him. He was only doing this so he could get his wife better. His wife!
"You're right, Grover. This is for Rachel. I'm going back tomorrow afternoon and I'm going to take her for a walk."
"How romantic." Grover rolled his eyes and smirked behind his drying rag.
"It is. And I'm sure it will work. A romantic stroll through the park and then a nice picnic by the pond."
"And how are you going to cook for this picnic?"
Percy raised an eyebrow and pleadingly looked at Grover. "Well I was hoping my best friend in the whole wide world would help me to think of something. Because, after all, this is ultimately for the happiness that will continue for the rest of my life." Percy then pouted his lower lip and his green eyes seemed to grow to the size of a child's.
Grover refused to be an accomplice in Percy's willy antics. "Oh no, if you want to woo the girl, you need to do it yourself. And that means give her a taste of your own cooking."
Percy didn't answer and instead continued to plead with his eyes.
Grover continued to argue his point all the while Percy just rested his head on his arms to complete the look of innocence. With a huff Grover rolled his eyes and conceded to Percy's begging.
They agreed to meet the next morning to prepare everything and woo the affections of miss Annabeth Chase.
Annabeth raced to the foyer when she heard the doorbell ring and peeped through the eye hole to see who was there. To her delight and inner turmoil, a familiar head of black, tousled hair and green eyes greeted her through the small window. Pulling back, she smoothed down her hair and then her dress to open the door and greet the gentleman.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Jackson." She dipped her chin and opened the door the entire way to offer him entrance.
Percy stepped inside the house but instead of moving past Annabeth towards the lounge, he stopped in front of her and lifted her chin to bring her gaze up to his. He heard and small gasp escape from her lips and he inwardly smiled. "It's s a good afternoon now." He smiled and continued down the hall not looking back to see if she followed.
Annabeth blinked twice before realizing the door was still wide open. She quickly closed it, composed herself and followed him to the lounge. To her dismay he hadn't removed his coat and was standing near the door when she entered, probably to make a quick escape.
"Will you not sit down, Mr. Jackson?"
"Well, I was actually hoping that I would be leaving soon." His words had the desired effect and he saw the tiniest hint of disappointment flit across her perfect features. He then revised his statement, "And, I was was hoping you would be accompanying me." A look of puzzlement washed over her and she tilted her head to show confusion. "Well, it is a beautiful day and I happen to have a picnic set out ready for our enjoyment."
While Annabeth was getting ready for bed that night, she couldn't help the smile that flitted across her features. Brushing her blonde curls, and securing it into a neat, loose plait, she thought back on her outing with Percy.
After she had gotten over her initial shock of going on a picnic in the park, she quickly donned her coat, kissed her father goodbye, and took Percy's offered arm to be escorted to their picnic. The air was a tad crisp and the wind was blowing, but the sun was out and she hadn't felt better. He was escorting her over to a large oak tree, and underneath it, she was a red checkered blanket with a picnic basket placed on the corner. Percy led her over the the blanket and even offered her a small cushion for her to sit down on, she was after all wearing a dress.
"I have only the best for the most beautiful woman in Manhattan." Percy said as he pulled out of the basket fresh bread, cheese, and fruit all cut so it could be consumed without using utensils.
She hid a small smile behind her hand as he offered her a plate of the food and got himself portions of each. They ate in relative silence until Percy reached into the basket again to pull out a small bowl of cherries.
"Oh! I haven't had a cherry in ages. My father use to take me to an old ice cream parlor and we would share a banana split, he always let me eat the cherry." She stared into the distance, remembering a time when her father was carefree.
"Well then, I guess I'll have to reacquaint you with them." Percy took a cherry by the stem and offered it to Annabeth. She surprised him when she laughed and took the cherry in her mouth from his hand, he had expected her to take it from him with her hand. His eyes widened in shocked, but it soon dissipated when he saw her small smile hidden behind her hand.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to be so forward." She said with around the cherry pit still in her mouth.
Percy looked at her curiously and wondered what happened to the prim and proper Annabeth he met yesterday. "It's not forward at all." He replied while popping a cherry into his own mouth and spitting the seed into the grass away from them.
Annabeth raised a delicate eyebrow at this, and he just shrugged while spitting another cherry pit farther from the last one. She took this as a small challenge and spit her own pit a mighty distance away from his seeds.
His eyes widened again and looked at her in amazement. It seems she was full of surprises today. They took turns spitting their seeds to see who could shoot the them farthest, not caring if anyone saw their crass behavior, but trying to outdo each other. After ten minutes, they had an empty bowl full of stems and they conceded to a tie, although both would swear they were the winner.
Left without something to do, and not wanting to take Annabeth home quite yet, Percy picked up a stem and plopped it into his mouth. She stared at him in confusion, until he removed a perfectly tied cherry stem from his mouth.
"There, try to top that." Percy said while crossing his arms with a smirk.
Not ever wanting to back down from a challenge, Annabeth took a stem and put it into her mouth. She struggled for a while trying to get the two ends to line up perfectly for her to tie them, and it took her two more stems to figure out her tongue's configurations. Finally, she triumphantly produced the tied cherry stem from her mouth and presented it to him.
Percy clapped his hands encouragingly and praised her efforts to tie the cherry stem. It was then, that they had looked at the daylight and saw the noticeable descent of the sun. They each knew what that meant, and they simultaneously stood and packed everything back into the basket. Percy extended his left arm to escort her back home while he picked up the basket with the other. There was no rush to get back, and they both felt comfortable in each other's presence.
Reaching her front door, he stood on the first step and released her hand around his arm.
"This is where I bid thee Adieu," Percy said with a flourish of his hand.
"I had a wonderful time today. Thank you for the picnic." Annabeth said with a blush rising to her cheeks.
"I did as well. I would like to come back in a few days to sit and visit again. Maybe we can talk more about ecology. And the plants that have been in our gardens."
She smiled and nodded, "I would like that, very much. Goodbye Percy." She let him kiss her hand and she looked into his sea green eyes and she closed the door.
Annabeth turned around in the hallway to walk straight into her father. "Oh, dad, I didn't hear you there."
"It's nothing my girl, has Percy left yet? I need to talk to him."
"Yes, he's just out on the step-"
Frederick barreled past Annabeth and opened the door to call to Percy who had yet to take four steps away from the front door.
Annabeth went to follow her father to see what was so important, but the door was closed before she even took a step. How odd, they obviously don't want me listening in on them. But then again, when have I ever minded my own business?
She eased to the door and looked through the peephole to see her father talking animatedly to Percy, who was tucking something into his inside coat pocket. Her father seemed to be very happy about something, probably the fact that she was finally taking an interest in a man, but Percy seemed apprehensive. It was like something didn't bode well with him about what her father was saying.
Annabeth hoped it wasn't her he was apprehensive about. Sure they had spent only a total of 12 hours together, but that doesn't just erase the good time they had. She wanted to ease whatever doubts Percy was having whenever it came to visiting her or her father.
Percy stood there listening to Frederick go on about how happy he was to see his daughter infatuated with a man. He was trying to let it show how uncomfortable he was with this whole idea. But what left him the most nervous, was the fact that when he was with Annabeth, he lost sight of his goal. Which was to cure his sick wife. It did not sit well with him that Annabeth could look at him and he would just get lost in her grey gaze.
Mr. Chase was saying something to him, but all he could focus on was the unexpected or wanted emotions that were welling up inside of him. Before he knew it Mr. Chase was thrusting an envelope into his hands and saying "...thank you again. Do not hesitate to come back soon. There will be more where this came from," with a wink.
Percy hastily put the check in his coat pocket and shook Mr. Chase's hand in farewell. He waited until Frederick had made it inside before turning toward the street and starting the walk home. He made it a total of three steps when he heard the Chases' door open again.
Thinking that Mr. Chase had forgotten something, Percy turned to greet the gentleman again. He was surprised when it was not Mr. Chase, but in fact his beautiful daughter. Percy barely had time to register that it was Annabeth before she was in his personal space giving him a kiss on the cheek. She was already on the front step when he realized that she had kissed him and the door was shut by the time he could open his mouth.
He raised his hand to the warm spot on his face where her lips had been. Sure it had been brief and he did not even realize it was a kiss until it was over, but never before had he ever felt the warmth that he felt now. It started on his left cheek and radiated out until he could feel it in his fingers and toes.
Percy turned to go home with a spring in his step and the goofiest grin plastered on his face.
R&R