. Lonely Lullaby
Disclaimer I don't own PJO
Chapter 7: Dirty little secret
Luke's POV
"Oh good, I got a new boyfriend, more money to my trust fund, it's all good." I nod. "What about you? What has the brilliant Luke Castellan been up to?"
"A better question would be what haven't I been up to?" She laughs almost mockingly. She probably thinks it's the most miniscule comment she's ever heard.
"You would answer like that." She leans against the balcony railing with me. Small waves on the coast crash against the shore and flatten out. "But I wasn't kidding. What have you been up to?" She asks with a smirk.
"Well, Dad wants to pass me the business but he doesn't want to negotiate it let alone talk and my mama is still a mess." She nods sympathetically and rests her hand on my bicep.
"I'm sorry." She whispers.
"What for? Not like I can control it." She sighs. "So what brings you to San Francisco?" I ask changing the topic.
"My dad has another one of his big conventions going on downtown. I skipped out on that stupid party. I wanted to have fun and I heard this was the most fun place in town so I thought hey why not?" She smiles. "And I'm guessing I'm right because it has your seal of approval."
"Yeah." I was staring in her green eyes now, watching the light catch them in just the right ways. Sorry Annabeth. I grabbed both sides of her head and kissed her. She looked baffled but went along with it and there we stood, just a boy and a girl, on this balcony in the lamp light.
I honestly don't know what happened later that evening. I'm just going to assume I had a really good time. I rolled over on my bed and saw Rachel's frizzy red hair sprayed across the pillow. I kissed the top of her head and she rolled over. A somewhat worried look crossed her face but was then replaced with a smile.
"You can't tell him." She says and I kiss her softly.
"I won't. This can just be our dirty little secret. Deal?" She wraps her arms around my neck and falls on my chest.
"Deal." She whispers.
Annabeth's POV
I don't want to sound clingy but I haven't stopped checking my phone all day and honestly, I was getting sick of it. So I decided to punch in his number. Then I decided that that might make me look desperate so then I thought I should text him instead. That seemed unsubtle. I felt the same way about email so then I just re-decided on calling. One ring, two, three…
"Hello this is Percy Jackson." I smile at the sound of his voice.
"Hey, it's Annabeth." I say.
"I was wondering when you'd call back."
"Yeah I was in a bit of a debate with myself." I bite my lip. He chuckles.
"Really, what about?" He asks.
"Calling you," I say. Hey I may as well be truthful about things.
"Annabeth Chase," He gasps in sarcastic surprise, "Of all girls you were debating about calling me. I feel so honored." I laugh.
"So how's your day been seaweed brain?" I ask.
"Just fine Wise Girl. How was yours?"
"Good, I got totally drunk after I got a job interview which I aced."
"Really? That doesn't sound much like you. Are you a rebel now Annie?" He asks.
"As much as a rebel I can be. My friend, who's is a little older than me and is probably going to be pissed I drank six bottles of some of his fancy wine. But to be fair he did leave the cabinet unlocked."
"To be fair Chase, you knew better."
"To be fair, I also like wine."
"To be fair, so do I but I don't think I'd steal my roommate's wine." He says and on his line you could hear a guy yell,
"Hells yeah you wouldn't!" And Percy laughs.
"Don't mind Grover, he's a tad psychotic"
"Am not!" Grover yells.
"Shut up I'm on the phone." Percy calls back to him. "Sorry about that."
"It's okay. So what's up in the Big Apple?" I ask and he sighs.
"The usual, busy streets, mad people, really annoying street vendors, NY hasn't changed that much." I roll my eyes.
"I meant what's up with you?" I clarify.
"My girlfriend traveled out to San Francisco with her family, my dad showed up completely unexpected, and Grover and Juniper have been annoying the heck out of me all weekend." He states.
"Well that sucks." But then I remember about what he said about his girlfriend, that her name just so happens to be Rachel Elizabeth Dare and that she's in San Francisco. I live in San Francisco.
Oh. My. Gods.
"Sorry did you just say she's in San Francisco?" I ask.
"Yeah why?" He asks.
"No reason. That's pretty far, you must miss her. How long is she staying?" My curiosity is getting the better of me.
"Maybe two or so more days, she said she was coming home on Tuesday." He declares.
"Oh well hey Percy text me later I've got to go bye." I say as I hear the key card give Luke access to the door.
"Okay bye." I throw my phone on my bed and walk casually to the living room. Once he sees me he smiles and gives me one of his hugs that honestly, feel cold now. I'm starting to find more comfort in the sound of Percy's voice than even the illusion of Luke. He's hardly ever here, Percy I mean, but even so I feel more open to him.
"Hey sorry I didn't come home last night; I met up with a friend." He says.
"Yeah I'm sure. Hey I've got to get going though. My new boss just sent me a text asking about when we could discuss the plans for the building so I've got to go." I threw my purse over my shoulder and shouted a "Ta, Ta," Over my shoulder before flinging the door shut, leaving him entirely dumbfounded.
I walked into the lobby of a huge office building and went to the front desk.
"Annabeth Chase, I'm here to discuss business plans with my employer, Dionysus." The man at the desk looks at me skeptically over the desk and had me a piece of paper with the floor and room number on it.
"Good luck, he's in one of his moods and the last person in there had a glass filled with Merlot just miss his head." I nod and say thank you for the warning before making myself push the last button on the elevator that takes me to the top. From the top of the building you can see most of New York. The afternoon sun is high in the sky and I wipe my hands on my skirt.
I knock on the door. "Mr. D, it's me!" I call through the wooden door. I can hear him sigh.
"Ugh what do you want?" He says as I come through the door.
"You texted me sir, I came because you said it was urgent." I say and he nods then motions to the chair in front of his desk where a chair sits. Then I place the folder the desk and we start to negotiate.
Hey sorry for the late update. I've had too much crap to deal with for the past week and so now I'm still kind of mad so yeah… Anyways, I love you guys!