Chapter Text
O H. I T’S T H E M A G A I N
C H A P T E R 6
For once in his life Leo, Leo was happy that he didn’t let his impulse run amok and let Hazel do the talking, as embarrassing as it was. He knew that it wasn’t right as he had brought them into a more than unusual situation but being as bold and directly accusing their bosses of an affair was doing a bit too much in his opinion, regardless of feeling righteous. He blushed regardless, something that Hazel did not do. She was busy still being in shock at the revelation.
“But...” Hazel’s eyes sprung towards Elizabeth. “Isn’t your husband’s name Thomas or something?”
“Do I look like a damn Thomas to you?!” Percy sputtered, greatly offended. Even more offended than having Leo and Hazel interrupt his making out session with his wife. Elizabeth cracked an amused grin and pressed her hand on her lips, even Leo found his behavior funny.
“No,” Elizabeth negated. “I mean...”
She turned around and pointed at the name shield that stood on the desk and she had pushed away with her back earlier as Percy sat her down during their heated kisses. “The T is in the name, but dear Perseus is not called Thomas.” She planted a soft kiss on his cheek and giggled.
Percy huffed as his wife took his hand in hers. “But… but...” Hazel did not want to believe it. It must have been the universe’s greatest joke, its biggest uno reverse card. Where were the hidden cameras?
“What made you think we weren’t married to each other?” Elizabeth wanted to know and eyed Hazel.
“Well...” Hazel grasped for the right words again. “For once your constant bickering. Plus, all of the remarks you make about each other.”
“Figures,” Percy said and nodded along as Elizabeth kept his arm around her. The remarks were clearly insiders that had blossomed throughout the years, not serious jabs.
“Then unlike a certain someone else I truly don’t waste time thinking about my coworkers’ private lives as long as I feel that everything is okay with them. That includes spouses, children, pets and whatever else comes to your mind. All in all, we’re here for a paycheck, not exactly to become best friends right off the bat, there’s still a hierarchy and a level of professionalism involved.”
“A wise decision and interesting attitude,” agreed Elizabeth.
“Hey!” Leo did not appreciate getting thrown under the bus. The married couple in front of them only snorted or tried to hide their attempts at it with next to no success.
“But then again, it should have been more than obvious,” Percy stated. “For once we had taken the exact vacation days off, sure, others in the company might have been missing for a similar time frame. But taking four weeks off each is unheard.”
“We knew about your schedule, but Annabeth is rarely around here to talk about your vacation plans,” defended Leo. “We knew about only half of the puzzle pieces.”
“But,” interposed Elizabeth. She pointed at Percy’s computer behind her with her thumb. “Hazel’s points are valid. Leo,however, should have known. You have fixed both of our computers within a relatively short time frame. So, this should look familiar.”
Oh my god, I’m such an idiot, Leo realized. Elizabeth turned around and grabbed the striped frame that stood next to the display and turned it around so that Leo could see the picture inside. It was the picture of their children. A girl and a boy hugging each other. Leo recognized the Hi, my name is sticker on Theo’s chest. While the frame in Percy’s office was blue and white, Annabeth’s had been orange and red.
“Oh,” Leo breathed. “Yeah, my bad.” He nervously scratched the back of his head. That was awkward.
“Well, I do appreciate that Hazel didn’t want to pry,” Percy dryly said before yawning. His wife shook her head.
“What we need to talk about are the consequences of their actions. As much as this was a mistake,” Elizabeth made quotation marks in the air. “I still do not appreciate that instead of just knocking or making yourselves known otherwise, you just stood there and watched.”
Hazel and Leo both had their gazes towards the floor like ashamed students that had been caught pranking their teacher.
“The question is what is the fitting punishment?” Elizabeth pouted and looked up to her husband. He just made a dismissive wave of their hands.
“Oh, I’m pretty sure the kids regret waltzing in on us. Right?” he asked strictly. And like the embarrassed school children that they were, Hazel and Leo nodded along.
“That…that’s it? That’s the best you can do?” Elizabeth asked with lowered shoulders and disappointment paralyzing her vocal cords.
“What else do you want me to do?” Percy asked and stared blankly into her face. Her jaw dropped and she felt like he was fooling her.
“Perseus!” barked Elizabeth. He had the direct power of reprimanding them and he didn’t do anything. Just like it came to the right disciplinary actions when it came to their little children. He wasn’t always the cool dad, and she wasn’t always the strict mom, but Hazel and Leo in front of them were adults and not five-year olds as little as a difference it made in Percy’s eyes.
“Elizabeth!” her husband retorted and whined which only sparked another unnecessary conversation where Hazel and Leo in the office along with them were soon forgotten. Hazel was speechless at the display in front of her and their childish behavior. She asked herself why she hadn’t seen this coming as she had been a year longer at the company than Leo. Percy and Annabeth were an annoying match made in heaven.
“Jackson!” Hazel pressed loudly, looking at Percy. Elizabeth and Percy blankly turned to her.
“Yes?” both of them asked at the same time. Hazel was caught off guard. She had forgotten that she had Mr. and Mrs.Jackson standing in front of her.
“Well… both of you… one of you. Okay, this is way too complicated.” Hazel massaged her right temple. “Regardless… What's so bad about people in the company openly knowing about you? We’re hardly the only ones that didn’t know you were married to each other.”
Elizabeth blew some air out as a strand of her hair kept dangling over her right eye. She then shifted the weight from one leg into the other. “Well… it’s not that simple,” she started. “I truly do not want to be treated like company royalty like Percy and his cousins. As fun as it can be, getting shipped out and received with a chauffeur, that just isn’t me and I prefer being treated like anybody else. I know that people might not like the way I behave sometimes...”
The way Elizabeth eyed Leo made him squirm. She was way too attentive for her own good. “But it’s better than just being associated with the company by having married into it. And yes, I do love my husband.”
A stretched out “Wow, thanks!” that came from Percy made Hazel snort and Leo laugh.
“But...” Leo interrupted. “Doesn’t the fact that you’re getting on each other's nerves at least once per day negate that?”
“Eh,” Percy shrugged. “We’re used to it and many of the older employees in the building are as well. Hard time breaking the habit.”
“And it’s Percy’s fault like everything else is,” Elizabeth added before placing a kiss on her husband’s lips before he could make a counter argument.
It was a sweet gesture that was thrown into the whirlwind of disturbance that was the entire evening. I sincerely do hope they do not behave that way at home, Leo prayed.
“But to come back to our previous discussions. What do we do with them?”
“No unnecessary punishments,” Percy shook his head. “I have over two thousand emails to go through within the next couple of days and I’m pretty sure your numbers are as terrible as mine, we’ll be busy otherwise.”
Hazel’s jaw dropped and Leo paled at an instance. Oh yeah, for a moment they had forgotten that Percy was the key chosen one of the company.
“Fine!” The food lawyer huffed. “Since I really want to walk into the office next week without the feeling of people staring at me, we will call it quits for today. Any objections?”
The lead marketing manager shrugged. “Just make my wife happy.”
“There, you have it,” translated Elizabeth her husband’s nonchalant reaction, dangerously wiggling with her index finger. “You haven’t seen anything and will go to work tomorrow pretending that nothing special happened this evening.”
“What do you mean? What have we seen?” Leo joked. Percy cracked a grin, his wife did not.
Oh really?, stood in her eyes. Elizabeth adjusted her glasses and nodded towards the door. Move. The indication couldn’t have been any clearer. Hazel and Leo regained enough muscle memory to forcefully move their feet, one step at a time.
“Good job, mom!” complimented Percy before Hazel closed the door behind her.
“Percy, I swear-” Hazel and Leo just bolted towards the elevator. No need for a repetition of the past twenty minutes.
The elevator ride was quiet, only the mechanisms and their breathing could be heard until they reached the ground floor. The guards in the entrance asked them what they were doing the entire time up there and Leo stated that they were chatting with Percy in his office. It wasn’t an outright lie; it was just a fancier and decorated truth. The guard grumbled. The two friends then left the company building.
“So…what in the actual fuck?” Hazel broke the silence as she took a seat on one rim of one of the rectangular flower boxes. The beautiful hyacinths and the bright tulips glowed in the bright light of the city that was shining onto them.
“I wish I had the ability to erase some of my memories on the spot as a superpower,” Leo added and kicked a pebble away.
“What do you even mean?! All of this is your own goddamn fault! We can call ourselves lucky that Percy is a chill boss, and that Annabeth was in a good mood for once as well, we could have gotten fired!” Realization hit her like a bucket of ice-cold water. The braids were dancing in the wind as Hazel removed the scrunchie that kept them in place. “Oh my god, I walked in on my boss who I have to pitch my idea and defend it as if my life’s depending on it next Tuesday. Oh no!”
Leo patted her shoulder. “Hey, like they’ve said, pretend that nothing has happened. Also, I’m terribly sorry, this is all my fault, and I will never try to pry into anything unless it’s a computer and work related.”
Hazel showed the signs of a grin. “Well forget it,” she then demanded. “Because I for one am starving and you owe me something really good for all the trouble you went through today.”
“Okay, okay!” Leo agreed. Then his arms stopped swinging at his sides. “What do you even want? There have been so many demands recently.”
“You’re going to buy everything for movie night at Piper’s,” Hazel demanded. “And while we’re at it, you’re going to get me a new silk pillow for my hair as well!”
The subway ride was for once uneventful. The car they jumped in was full of people as the late evening began and rush hour was for the most part over. Luckily, they managed to get seated and sat in silence next to each other as the car moved from station to station until it was their turn to exit. Small talk was what kept them sane and engaged. The events of earlier weren’t directly forgotten, more so brushed to the side and Leo sincerely hoped that his brain wouldn’t play pranks on him and let him have nightmarish dreams about Mr. and Ms. Chase. Or also Jackson. He had still to get used to two Jacksons in powerful positions. No, Annabeth demanded that he forget, so he was about to do so. Hopefully.
“Well, Piper wanted a list of good movie recommendations. No shows,” explained Hazel as they entered her street. Leo wanted to make sure that she got home safely and insisted on walking her to the doorsteps. “Also, nothing from Christopher Nolan!” Hazel raised her finger to his face as he opened his mouth.
“One can only watch Interstellar and Inception once every six months. And not nearly every single week.”
“But what about the Batman trilogy?” groaned Leo. “Easy to digest and exciting!”
“The answer is no,” Hazel shrugged. The attempt of persuasion fell completely on flat ears as Hazel agreed with Piper’s decision. She got her keys out of the pocket of her cardigan. But before she could reach the doorknob, the door opened itself and a middle-aged woman left the apartment complex.
“Hazel, Leo! Nice seeing you!” Rhea Silvia, Hazel’s old and nosy neighbor, greeted them as she went out for a late-night stroll with her husky Lupa. A husky that immediately barked as she sensed Leo because she loathed him for some reason.
“Hey Rhea!” greeted Leo and tried not to stare into Lupa’s watchful eyes.
“How are the twins?” Hazel asked her and held the door open for herself before it would slam shut.
“Like always doing messes and playing their stupid video games,” she huffed. Hazel was happy that she was living above and not underneath the Silvias like their other neighbor Mr. Brunner. Romulus and Remus were incredibly annoying kids that kept on whining and stomping the minutes their parents said no to something. Rhea stayed for a little bit of more small talk until Lupa tried to bite Leo’s hand. That was the sign that the walk was truly needed.
“Oh yeah,” Hazel took her phone out of her pocket. “Piper texted me earlier that Jason is coming as well.”
Leo was surprised. “All of a sudden?” he wondered. “Are they an item now?”
Hazel rolled her eyes. “You wish. It’s Jason we’re talking about, maybe in a year or so.”
“Yikes. Just tell her dude,” Leo said, and Hazel nodded in agreement. Jason’s stance shifted from cute to annoying in a matter of a week. And now it has been several months.
“Goodnight, Leo, we’ll see each other tomorrow... Don’t let Valentina kill you!” Hazel yawned.
Oh. Holy. Shit. Leo had forgotten something, didn’t he?
“Yeah, see you tomorrow!” Leo replied nervously. He hugged his friend from back in the old days and walked several blocks on foot back to his apartment as soon as Hazel had escaped. Leo did not have the mental capacity for telling off a weird subway busker and his pet rat that he kept encountering through his usual commute. He had made the mistake of giving that dude some money and whenever the weird guy saw the Texan, he was always asking him for some more. Leo entered the apartment and yearned for a quick and hot shower.
“Where the hell have you been?!” Valentina screeched the minute Leo closed the door. He jumped and his face paled. She had curlers in her hair and a green gooey mask on her face which made her look like Shrek’s long-lost daughter. “You have been gone for two fucking hours! Where are the groceries? We need to soak the beans overnight! Did you cram everything into your tiny backpack? Including the other things, I’ve texted you before you went missing? I thought that getting your stuff back, shopping and coming back would take an hour max!”
Oh, that was what Leo had forgotten. “Lo siento,” he repeated over and over but Valentina wasn’t listening to him. This day began so smoothly and ended in a huge catastrophe.
“I’m giving you twenty minutes to buy the damn frijoles!” his cousin warned him.
And with that Leo ran into the store where he spent nearly another hour.
*****
Finally, after a fresh shower and heating up some leftovers from yesterday, Leo sat down in the living room of the two-bedroom apartment. He selected Netflix in the app menu of the smart tv and clicked on Interstellar, Hazel and Piper’s objections be damned. That movie was a masterpiece in his opinion. He tried to listen to Anne Hathaway’s monologue, but his thoughts clouded his mind.
His stomach still had some room for a little bit of desert. As much as he would have just destroyed the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream that awaited him in the freezer compartment, Leo had the sneaky suspicion that the new information about Annabeth and Percy would haunt him for the rest of the week and therefore spoil it. So many unanswered questions remained. The movie was turned off after an hour and the tired IT specialist was preparing himself to get ready for bed.
As much as he wanted to, his mind didn’t let him easily succumb to sleep. Leo grabbed his phone from the night table and decided to text Hazel. Hey, he began. I’ve been thinking about what happened today and something's been bothering me, can’t shake the feeling off.
It took ten minutes for Hazel to answer. Oh yeah? What about Annabeth’s demand of forgetting everything that had happened today?, she retorted. A valid interjection.
Well yes, Leo sent. However, I do think it’s weird that next to none of the others in the office know about their marriage.
Or they do and they don’t act on it like I likely would have done prior to this day, commented Hazel. It was still embarrassing to her. As much as Annabeth was surprised that you didn’t piece the puzzle together sooner doesn’t mean that there aren’t others that thought about the two of them being actually together.
Leo had to admit that Hazel had another valid point. But there has to be someone that’s closer to the situation and can give an insight as to why they behave that way that’s disrupting the entire workflow at the company, Leo hit send.
And who could be that someone that is able and close enough to the situation to spill some secrets surrounding Annabeth and Percy?, Hazel’s message was left unanswered for a minute or two. Indeed, who would be the person that could quench Leo’s improper thirst for pieces of information that were floating around Percy and Annabeth?
Black and blue swirls that had been cut recently. Electrifying blue eyes that weren’t all too fond of him. Black acrylics that made a bunch of noise and reminded him of spiders that wove white carpets made out of their silky web. There was only one person that would be able to answer all of his questions if she was in the mood for it.
Thalia, answered Hazel and Leo at the same time. Tomorrow was Thalia Grace’s last day at the company before she was heading out for a three-week summer vacation. The flight to Greece had been booked and her grandmother had been excited to see her again after nearly three years as she had told them at lunch hours ago. Jason would probably stare blankly at Leo for two seconds before turning around and leaving. But Thalia…?
Okay and how do we do this? Unless you want to wait near a month?, Hazel asked. When would be the fitting time for striking?
Leo turned around in his bed and gave it a little bit of thought. The minute she arrives at the office, Leo proposed. That would be the easiest way. Leo did not like the way Hazel kept on typing without sending her message off.
ARE YOU SERIOUS? Hazel was not fond of the idea. Did you already forget that Thalia is the definition of an early bird and enters the office around seven in the morning when no one’s there and able to bother her? The height of her productivity and we’re just supposed to waltz into her office? Also, for what??? Annabeth and Percy’s marriage is none of your business and we already have been reprimanded by them in person. Do you seriously want to annoy Thalia who wouldn’t even think twice before kicking your sorry ass out of the company???
Leo did indeed forget that. Shit, he thought. But now was not the time of backing out. Sleep was for the weak, he went through way worse in regard to his sleep schedule merely a year ago and Leo was certain that with Hazel at his side, Thalia wouldn’t wring his neck. Well, now we got a semi valid excuse of ruining her start of the day, Leo poorly defended himself. Come on Hazel.
Absolutely not! Not interested in getting reprimanded by another senior in the company. You’re in this alone, Hazel texted.
I’ll buy you two silk pillows, please Hazel!, he tried to persuade her. My poor wallet, Leo cried in his thoughts. Hazel demanded the best and only the best she would get.
Okay. Add some accessories and I’m in, agreed Hazel. Her will was easily broken when it came to cosmetics, hair products and jewelry. Now let me sleep if I have to wake up in less than five hours. Also, you’re paying for lunch!
With a smile on his face, Leo sent off a dozen emojis including the sneaky moon looking to the left, a bunch of thumbs ups and kissing mouths.
Hazel replied with a huge middle finger.
*****
It was early, way too early and therefore equally chilly. It wasn’t even seven yet. The heat would kick in later in the day, but Leo was surprisingly freezing in his thin green shirt. Leo was waiting in front of the building for Hazel to arrive. The breakfast burrito that he bought her was starting to get cold and he gave her two minutes before he would destroy that thing and all of the evidence of it having ever existed. Since there was no sign of Thalia yet it could only mean two things, she was already on the 32th floor or she was on her way to work and hit him with questions at rapid speed.
Hazel appeared in the distance. She had a Starbucks cup in one hand and removed her sunglasses with the other. She looked like she hadn’t had enough sleep and Leo felt the same. “I really hate you, do you know that?” Hazel said as a greeting.
“I’m terribly sorry,” Leo apologized. “This is the first and last time I’m using my curiosity as a shield for my detective skills.”
Hazel snatched the burrito out of his hand and placed it into her bag without saying anything. The first proper hour in the office would be spent eating and browsing through emails. The two entered the building much to a very surprised Argus. They passed the hub and moved on to leave their floors, floor 34th for Leo and floor 33th for Hazel, to drop their backpacks off before they met again in the elevator.
“I really do hope that Thalia has all the answers for you,” Hazel stated before yawning.
They stopped and finally came to a halt at the 32th floor. The designer hallway was empty. Large bookshelves were placed on the walls before the offices began unlike in the other sections of the building. Magazines and heavy books about the art, graphic as well as web design and especially product design had been displayed. Including all of the heavy studies, past editions of the employee magazine Legacy! which came out every quarter were also laid out for the sophisticated reader. Prints about product design, web design and the evolution of Ambrosia & Nectar had been carefully arranged both in date and in color scheme. It fascinated Leo as he rarely stopped on the designer hallway, he was mostly called via Skype or had emails flooding in. And because he had a feeling that a majority of the female staff hated him.
One office was brightly illuminated. Instead of having her own broad office like Beckendorf, Annabeth or her younger cousin, Thalia actually preferred sitting in the middle of the conversation. The large office that was usually reserved for the managerial level had been converted into a mini conference room so that all of the employees on the floor didn’t have to fight over reserving a conference room in the 25th floor weeks in advance for a mere twenty-minute conversation. Talks about future products, the Ambrosia and Nectar app, the website and more could be held around the corner without interfering with anyone.
Thalia had her space right in the middle of the biggest office. Four height adjustable desks had been placed in the office alongside fancy ergonomic swivel chairs. All of the desks had been adjusted to different heights. Rachel’s desk was on a normal ground level, Zoe and fellow web designer Narcissa Echo had their tables adjusted a little bit higher as they were taller women and Thalia’s table had been cranked up to the sky which made her stand behind it.
Thalia was reading something on her desktop and sipping on her hot Americano as she realized that she had company. The black cat eyeglasses with rhinestones on the corners were taken off as she looked at Hazel and Leo at surprise.
“What are you guys doing here? Aren’t you normally coming in like an hour or two?” The oldest child of the third generation of Olympiados’ asked. As time was slowly progressing, Leo checked his watch. 06:58 am. That meant Thalia had been at work for at least half an hour, no wonder that Leo didn’t catch her outside the building.
“Yes, we are,” Hazel’s annoyance was directed at Leo whom she was piercing with her eyes.
“I’m sorry!” apologized Leo yet again. He turned to a still startled Thalia. “We have a couple of questions to you”
“About what?” Thalia asked before she took another sip and glanced back to the display.
“Your cousin and his wife,” Leo replied.
That made Thalia raise an eyebrow. “Oh,” she said. “And what about my cousin and his wife?”
“You knew the entire time that Annabeth and Percy had been married and didn’t say anything? All the talks we had through lunch and all? You just sat there quietly as we were talking shit about them?”
Thalia rolled her eyes and shrugged. “Oh please, disliking colleagues is normal and for the most part your criticism was warranted. Whiny, but I could understand it for the most part. Annabeth being tied to Percy doesn’t change that fact. What their marriage looks like is none of your business, I thought you were smart enough to understand that. I’m just respecting their wishes. Also, you criticizing Annabeth and or Percy had nothing to do with me, for the most part.”
Leo could understand her reasoning despite it infuriating him. Thalia wasn’t the type of person to directly make fun about someone or trash them behind their back. As the daughter of the company’s CEO, she had witnessed more than enough drama for a lifetime. She was nonchalant, fair but strict and if you had said something stupid, she would immediately throw it back to your head. Regardless, feeling left out made Leo look stupid and feel utterly ridiculous.
“Anyway, I’m assuming that you did not come here at sunrise to just tell me that?” Thalia lazily clicked on some emails which she slowly began to answer.
“Well, no,” Leo confessed. “Let’s just say that we found out about them yesterday evening.”
Thalia gestured for Leo to continue while she stared at her display. Go on, I don’t have time for this whiny bullshit.
“I forgot my stuff. We came back because I needed Hazel’s ID to gather everything, we heard voices. And um...er… we checked where the noise came from and uh… uh… uh… Annabeth and Percy were busy.”
“You walked in on them?” the head of design guessed. Hazel nodded and Leo looked away. The petunia on her table looked beautiful. The pupils shrank into a pair of tiny black dots before Thalia threw her head back and let out the ugliest, wildest and dirtiest cackle that Leo has heard in a while.
“Not like that!” Leo denied. Oh god no, he squeezed his eyes shut. That was not something he would like to imagine.
“Seeing them make out on the table was traumatizing enough, don’t make it worse, Thalia,” pleaded Hazel.
Thalia wiped tears of laughter away. “Oh my god, that is way too good. Seems like new and fun information I can throw around my aunt’s head should I lose again against Percy at monopoly,” she cackled like a mad witch.
“Are you serious right now?” Hazel asked her.
Thalia sobered up. “I’m sorry.” She was not.
“But what is the deal with them? Why isn’t that big news around here? Surely there could be some advantages to being company royalty, right?” Leo asked.
Thalia shrugged and set the mouse aside for a while. “Annabeth and Percy’s marriage isn’t big news. Pretty sure that anyone that has been over ten years in the company knows. Hell, the both of them being together isn’t news. They met in elementary school when Annabeth decided that he would be her newest victim she could force into eating a roly poly.”
What the fuck? Leo and Hazel exchanged a glance. Receiving that information was almost worse than seeing them make out.
“They have been inseparable since then,” continued Thalia. “And started finally dating in their junior year of high school, which meant they left me alone with their lovey dovey ‘Does he like me? Does she like me?’ bullshit alone. What never changed was that Annabeth was never into receiving any perks and was never the biggest fan of special treatment for just being who she was. She truly believed in her own abilities, something which a lot of people should definitely use as an example.”
“What do you mean?” Leo asked. Annabeth couldn’t have certainly expected that a red carpet would be laid out in front of her just for being Percy’s then girlfriend?
Thalia’s hand glided through the office. “This very building was built by the Greek architect firm from Annabeth’s parents. My grandfather wanted to build them a statue in their honor, that weirdo,” Thalia revealed and rolled her eyes.
“Oh!” Leo exclaimed. The bond between Annabeth and Percy truly went way back if their parents and grandparents had been business partners. Now Leo was able to understand the stance from Percy’s wife.
“Being known as Percy’s wife in the company would probably hinder that ambition. Annabeth doesn’t want to disappoint people, especially those that see her in close ties to the company. That’s largely why she’s portraying that standoffish persona. Her achievements wouldn’t be hers anymore. She would simply be reduced as someone who has married into Ambrosia and Nectar, not someone who went to Harvard to study law and passed the bar exam both in New York and Massachusetts and rose through the ranks due to her sheer brilliance.”
Annabeth’s rich people whining about their privilege sounded more rounded coming from Thalia. Leo had to admit that he was falling into the trap already. His mind that sucked in the revelation of their marriage saved her as Percy’s wife, notas Annabeth Chase, an independently successful woman.
“And,” Thalia directly stared at Leo, which made him squirm under her watchful eyes. She had the suspicion that he was thinking about something incredibly nonsensical. “I know where she’s coming from. People hated it when Percy and I began to work here. Nepotism, spoiled children, yadda yadda. We had to work harder only to pass through because so many other companies just let their spoiled brats rummage through the place. We had to teach people that we’re truly interested in being here and expanding. I’m happy that Jason didn’t have to face the same unnecessary hate that Percy and I did. Being called daddy’s girl wasn’t fun.” The voice was lower as it drowned itself in sad memories.
“Also,” Thalia started, a bit of mockery flaunting through her stance. “Actually, be glad that you didn’t witness anything major. Unlike me, poor soul. Don’t ask college students if they want to volunteer as camp counselors. Especially if there’s a secluded stable with lots of hay that could be used as an improvised bed.” Thalia shuddered and her younger colleagues frowned.
“Yikes.” Hazel shook her head. That sounded indeed traumatizing.
“Was that all you wanted to ask me?” Thalia paid Leo most of her attention again. She knew that Valdez was way too scared to approach her alone, hence him using Hazel as a shield. Or an emotional support stuffed animal.
Leo gave it a little bit of a thought. “The broken arm!” he remembered. “I told you about this at lunch, right? Jason just said that it’s a private matter-”
“Because he is correct,” Thalia interrupted and looked unconvinced.
“I know! I know!” Leo hastily agreed. “But what happened? It looked so dramatic with Percy running out of the office and telling Silena to cancel everything.”
Thalia sighed. She didn’t even know why she spilled the beans. “Their daughter had a horse-riding accident and broke her arm.”
“Oh no!”
“Is she alright?!”
Leo and Hazel talked over each other. Thalia sighed and frowned. “Yeah, poor Ariadne needed the vacation as much as her parents did.”
Thalia grabbed her phone and showed them the latest post of Annabeth’s private Instagram page. Little Ariadne waved into the camera as she tried to eat a slice of birthday cake with her arm wrapped around a horse shaped stuffed animal she most likely had received as a gift. Other pictures included Annabeth and Percy sitting on the beach and sharing a kiss, Percy and his older twin brother, who must have been his father, placing their hands for a dance formation on the necks of other men around them, and from what it looked like great-grandma Rhea Olympiados filling up Theo’s plate with stuffed wine leaves.
“It could have been way worse, she fell from the horse and was nearly trampled by Arion! Annabeth left after her meeting as soon as she could and reduced her hours for the first time in years. Also, that’s the reason why Percy worked from home for a week, to look after their daughter in person.”
Hazel’s mouth formed an enlightened ‘Oh!’
“I feel so stupid,” Leo said as his hand rested on his cheek. Annabeth and Percy’s private lives were much more chaotic than he had expected. That’s because you are, Thalia’s unconvinced facial expression said.
“After learning about this their behavior seems more logical to me. I still don’t get the fights, but okay, their thing I guess,” Leo presented. “I was worried over nothing, huh? The email with hearts Percy had received for one.”
Leo would have never thought that Annabeth was an emoji person, but there he was. “You do realize that everyone has their right to privacy? I’m pretty sure that this falls sort of flat with computers as you have to know everything about them, Leo, especially when it comes to reconstructing data, but I fail to see why Annabeth and Percy’s lame attempts to keep their love life spicy is of any interest to you. I mean love letters, what is this? 1959?”
Hazel started to laugh, and Leo’s face flushed. The way Thalia placed it, having walked in on the married couple seemed even worse. He wasn’t discovering an affair; he discovered the polar opposite of one.
Thalia saw how the tips of his ears deepened in color. “You never had a girlfriend, did you?” she remarked.
Hazel held her stomach as she was unable to shake off the fits of laughter that befell her body. Leo on the other end, looked more than just offended. “Thalia, what the fuck!” he barked. Of course, he has had a relationship. Her name was Calypso as she was as beautiful as the music as she was named after, but it just didn’t work out in the end. Instead of going to college, she wanted a small humble life in the middle of nowhere, getting some field and raising cats in a barn whilst Leo had other ambitions and wanted to experience living in a metropole and tasting the freedom of a stereotypical college program. And now at the moment he was simply not interested in finding romantic love. He was happy with who he was and who he had become. He was young, had amazing friends, a supportive family, and still hadn’t seen even an ounce of what New York had to offer him. He felt loved.
A brand-new email entered Thalia’s mailbox. “Oh,” escaped her as she browsed through its contents. “Yeah, don’t worry. You didn’t interrupt the baby making session yesterday, way too late for that. Just received an email.”
“Why, what do you mean?” Hazel asked and pulled Leo back into the current year, away from his old high school memories.
“I receive family emails in two cases. Which means one of the old people in the family did finally kick the curb for one last time and since I saw my dad twenty minutes ago that’s highly unlikely and since he didn’t say anything about any of his brother’s dying yesterday, I’m assuming it’s not about any of them which makes more sense for option number two… Annabeth’s likely already pregnant,” Thalia blankly revealed and reached for her coffee once more.
“WHAT?!” yelled the junior product manager and the junior IT engineer at the same time. Was that the reason why Annabeth had been glowing so much yesterday? Before she had caught them of course.
Thalia focused on her design work in Photoshop. “They wanted a third child for a while, and it seemed like it finally worked. I just received an invitation for dinner this evening via email. I’d say that’s official official, not just a ‘Come over and let’s order some pizza!’ text. Especially since a bunch of relatives are cc’d. Wow, even Uncle Hades, huh. Let’s see if Nico’s able to drag him out of his cave for once.”
“Is that such a big of a deal?” Leo wanted to know, and Thalia nodded as a response.
“That would also explain why Percy got more and more attached to Annabeth and why he was sticking around a lot. Dad mode already kicked in and will get worse, trust me,” suspected Thalia. “Well, this is going to be interesting as now everyone in the company will know about them. You just created yourself a head start yesterday, I’d say.”
The grin on Leo’s face was forced, the way Hazel jumped revealed the true nature of their thoughts.
“I mean Annabeth has an amazing collection of maternity business suits, including some vintage ones! In case one of you wants to get pregnant, just ask her,” recommended Thalia. The two friends in front of her looked like they wanted to barf. “Anyhow. I’ve got work to do and I’m certain, the same goes out for you. We’ve been wasting my precious time over nothing.”
Phoebe Hunter peeked into the office at the right moment to greet her boss and her two guests. Then she moved on to enter her own space.
“And this time stay quiet,” warned Thalia. “I’m pretty sure that Annabeth did tell you to shut your mouth and be silent about it. I’m just reminding you.”
*****
A new day, a new headache at the sheer amount of work that was due. Tuesday. Tuesday meant that a lot of planning and even more talking to people was involved.
The project that Leo, Jason and Jake would have to present to Beckendorf in a week was still not in its final stages as much as Jason would have preferred to be. Leo and Jake just had been way too busy fixing everyone’s issues. And when Leo thought he had a lot on his plate, he only needed to look onto Jake’s to see what real problems the other IT engineer had to offer. Jake was responsible for a part of the automatic food production which meant that one system falling out was crucial and could cost millions in a span of a couple of hours. The fact that Jake stayed chill for most of the time was a miracle because Leo would be crying left and right should he not be able to focus on anything else until everything was running smoothly again.
A gust of wind called normality breezed through the offices. Prominent faces were back, and the offices felt full again, although it was only a matter of time when the other half would soon enjoy their deserved time off. Percy was officially back and talked about the bits of Greece that he saw before he was dragged from meeting one estranged relative to another. The same went for Beckendorf who swore up and down that he would stay at a hotel the next time he visited his mother, only to be reminded by Nyssa that he said that for the past four years each and every single summer he ate his plate at Mama Beckendorf’s starting with breakfast each morning.
Leo entered the marketing floor, ready for his shift. He came in half an hour later than usual because he felt like it. Walking out of the office when the most brutal part of the hot weather was over stuck with him. The company’s AC had cooled him down and he finally got used to the way New York operated. It took him a while to crack the code, but he got used to it after all the months. He had also thought about getting his own apartment around the corner so that Valentina could use her former office again and Leo would be able to watch Netflix in his boxer shorts and white t-shirt without her nagging about his improper attire.
He had talked about it with Reyna over the weekend before they both arrived at Piper’s for the scheduled movie night. Reyna promised him that she would look into the matter and help find him something in Spanish Harlem. Of course, Reyna made her cousin carry nearly all of the snacks and didn’t bother helping him. She merely held the door open for him and watched as he stumbled on the stairs.
“Hey Leo!” Piper and Silena greeted him as they were on their way to the elevator. He greeted back and took his headphones off. The belts of Lianne La Hava’s Bittersweet were stuck in his ears. Hazel had texted him that she would be at the dentist for the first half of the day and would come later to work. Thalia sent a sunny picture of the beautiful streets of Thessaloniki. His friends and close colleagues were all over the places.
Taking the headphones off meant one thing: even more noise. A certain head of marketing and a certain food lawyer stood in the middle of the hallway as they wildly gestured at each other. Leo stopped for a moment and took in the sight of the married couple now that he knew all the information about them.
Annabeth and Percy turned around to him as they felt a presence intruding yet again. Percy waved, Annabeth stared at the young man for two seconds before she went on to ignore him in her fashion and tear into Percy over a minor detail of his request.
The bickering reminded Leo of one thing: that he was finally ready for his summer vacation in two weeks.
*****
The End.