Hello you all! I am so glad that you have joined me for a new story. Hope that you like it and thank you. As always, I own nothing and all the mistakes are mine.

Chapter 1 - Gotta Be Something More

"May I help who's next please?"

Annabeth Chase was beyond exhausted. She'd been working for three hours straight since lunch, on a Friday. People kept coming into the bank, cashing checks as if they would never get back inside a bank again. Every week it never ceased to surprise her how people behaved about cash. She'd been working as a floater teller for three years, bouncing from branch to branch, wherever she was needed. As far as jobs went, working in the bank paid the bills but left a lot to be desired.

The casually dressed man currently standing in front of her handed over a pile of change and wadded up bills and of course, he did not know his account number.

'Don't roll your eyes. Whatever you do, don't roll your eyes,' she reminded herself.

After he pulled his driver's license out of his wallet, she began looking up the information. The click clack of the keyboards echoed through the lobby, but when her stomach growled loudly, she was certain everyone in the branch heard the noise. A small snack and Tylenol were necessary to keep the growing headache at bay.

The man politely smiled when she wrote his account number on the deposit slip. As he signed it, Annabeth took the grungy bills and began to straighten them. Money was the most disgusting object she'd ever come in contact with in her entire life, of that she was certain. You never knew where it had been, or who had been handling it previously.

'Thank God for hand sanitizer,' she thought.

As she was opening her cash drawer, the front glass door to the branch was pushed open, and the sound grabbed her attention. Two men, dressed in black with clown masks over their faces, ran inside.

"Everybody down now!" they yelled.

Customers dropped to the floor and chaos began to ensue, but, because of her training in bank robberies, Annabeth knew how to handle the situation. She pulled the silent alarm underneath the counter to alert the police and bank security. If they wanted the money in her drawer, she knew to hand over the dye pack, since no one would notice it was covered in bills. There was another alarm that would register when she took out a select pile of money. Even though the procedure was textbook, there was a certain level of fear that was rising. This was her first bank robbery, and hopefully, her last.

The men in black wanted the money in the vault, which, on a Friday afternoon, wasn't a large amount, but that wasn't their concern. Any amount would please them, and Clarisse, the head teller, accommodated their wish. They pushed her closer to the vault with the end of the weapon. Annabeth recognized the sound of her keys jingling as she opened the metal gate.

She stayed on the floor, eyes closed, and focused on her breathing. This was all she needed on her last day working at the bank.

-WMHB-

Slamming the door to her apartment felt good, but she immediately wanted to apologize to the family next door, for making the deafening noise. Maybe they were out, having dinner at a pizza buffet, the kind where you can eat a hundred slices for ten dollars.

Yeah, food sounded really good right then and there.

Annabeth wanted to eat almost anything before crawling into bed, to sleep for an entire weekend.

The robbery and the aftermath were still stuck in her mind though. It lasted all of five minutes, if that long, but it felt like hours. Neither of the robbers talked to her directly. Their black, laced up boots were all she saw close to her face, when they were walking back and forth to the vault.

Clarisse, who, despite swearing that she was fine, experienced the most traumatic part. Annabeth felt sorry for her, especially knowing that this event wouldn't easily dissipate from her memory.

Thankfully, no one was physically injured, and law enforcement arrived at the branch within a short amount of time. The bank was closed down for the rest of the day while the scene was processed. Customers, after giving officers their statements, were allowed to exit.

"What a way to end that job" she stated out loud to no one.

On the other hand, Annabeth was officially leaving her position to move onto something…better?

Onto another thankless job in another bank, at the call center. Was she really happy about working in a freezing cold room for ten hours a day, tethered to a desktop with a headset?

Certainly the pay increase and benefits were great. Who wouldn't want a raise? Two more dollars an hour sounded like a win. However the thought of that place made her feel…trapped? Claustrophobia was one of her genuine fears.

She placed her keys on the silver hook and let out a deep sigh. Monday would bring a new, dreaded job, that she already loathed.

To say the least, Annabeth could not muster up any form of enthusiasm. She already knew, all the way to the depth of her being, that taking this job was a to random strangers for several hours, about the details of their banking made her stomach roll. A constant stream of calls and using her 'phone voice' made a shudder run up her back. Nausea was beginning to overtake her hunger.

After grabbing a box of saltines and a can of ginger ale, she walked back to her bedroom and removed her work clothes. Running shorts and an old tshirt were perfect to wear now that she could relax in bed. The feeling of the old, comforting cotton sheets was exactly what she needed.

"Damnit," Annabeth cursed when she heard a specific ringtone.

The phone was within arm's reach, and even though she wanted to ignore it, he'd keep calling if she didn't respond.

"Hello Luke," she answered unhappily.

"That's no way to greet the most handsome man in the world, babe. I know you miss me."

Was he for real? "Yeah, sure, whatever. Look, let's keep this kinda short, okay? I'm really tired."

He huffed a little indignantly. "You're always tired. See, that's the problem but what else is new?"

Annabeth shook her head and pressed her palm to her forehead. Was it worth telling him about the robbery and her boundless disinterest in working at the call center?

"Look…it's been a rough and long day. You know how Fridays are at the bank, but at least I'm not working there anymore." She tried to feign being engrossed with Luke's end of the conversation, his wannabe dream of becoming the next great online gamer. He had this way of being completely and totally fascinated with absolutely nothing, in her opinion. It was becoming a point of contention in their 'relationship.' All he ever talked about was that damn Fortnite game.

"Not to interrupt or anything, but I'm having a hard time keeping my eyes open. Can we talk later please?"

"But babe, we haven't spent any real time together lately. I'm starting to feel left out, like you're losing interest." He was whining.

Annabeth was pushed to her limit.

"This really isn't the time for that conversation. Seriously. One of us will say something that the other isn't ready or willing to hear. Night Luke."

"Whatever."

She heard his exasperation in that final word. He was behaving like a petulant child, who had a rotten attitude and wasn't getting his way. Now was not the time to have a discourse on the state of affairs between them. Bone deep fatigue had set in and her pillows were mighty inviting.

Annabeth set her phone aside in order to settle underneath the comforter. The final noise she heard was a notification that she chose to ignore.

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