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She zipped her favorite dress up her back, absolutely giddy. She was finally going to be taken on Valentine's Day. She clasped her necklace around her neck, clipped in her small silver owl earrings, and went down the steps of her apartment to call a cab. The cab ride was quick and easy as could be and finally, she got to the restaurant. She looked around, he wasn’t there, no big deal. She’s a bit early. She sits down to get them a table. A waiter comes up to get her drink order. The waiter brings it back. It’s been five minutes. He’s late. She picks up her phone and texts him. No reply. The waiter comes to get her food. She clarifies that she’s waiting for someone else. He goes away. She texts him again. No reply. He’s probably just in traffic. Ten minutes pass. The waiter comes back. She sends him away. Feeling despondent. Five more minutes pass, she notices the servers watching her, whispering. He hasn’t even read the messages. She’s about to leave when suddenly from another table someone utters a noise of recognition and slides into the seat across from her. She barely has a chance to figure out if she knows him before he starts talking.
“Hey darling, sorry I didn’t see you there. They sat me away from the door.” He then lowers his voice. “I’m Percy, looks we’re both in the same boat here, just play along?”
She almost laughs, then pulls herself together, and nods.
“Oh, there you are Percy. I was beginning to think you had stood me up.”
“Oh, you know I would never”. He laughs at that, glances around to make sure the waiters have gone back to minding their own business, and then turns back to me.
“Well, now that they’ve stopped being noisy, who do I have the pleasure of dining with this evening? Unless I’ve completely misread the situation and made a complete fool of myself in front of a woman in a lovely relationship.”
She laughs quietly. “Well, lucky for both of us, your assumption was correct, and I’m going to guess you're in the same boat?”
He nods, smiling. “And as for my name. Annabeth.” She says. Introducing herself with much more confidence than she has, now having fully taken a look at him. Dark blue suit, tie that just so happens to match her dress. And a small silver pin replacing one of his buttons, with a trident on it.
“Well, it’s lovely to meet you Annabeth.” He seems to study her for a moment, taking her in as she had just done with him, she almost shivered, finally noticing his eyes, which seemed to hold little bits of the sea within them. She mentally shook herself out of whatever kind of trance she was in. She was still dating someone, and it was somewhat clear that he was dating someone as well. They were just two strangers helping each other out of an awkward social situation. That was all. The waiter came back and took their orders, after transferring Percy’s drink to their table. They started talking about their lives. Little things, like why they moved to New York, their jobs, just bits of who they were. And they did it all like it was the easiest thing in the world. They found common interests in mythology, and surprisingly architecture, though for Percy it was specifically marine-related. She found out that he worked at the New York City Aquarium and was taking night classes for marine biology, and that he had been born here, but he had moved to California for a few years before moving back. She told him about herself, and the words just seemed to come so easily. Like she desperately wanted him to know these things. Their food arrived and the conversation lightened up. They ate their food in between laughs and jokes and whispered jokes about the people around them who were judging them for reasons she couldn’t fathom. The conversation dulled down for a moment and Annabeth had a startling realization. She never let herself be like this. She always made sure she was quiet, not disturbing anyone. She never let herself let her guard down this way. She just met this guy, but it felt like she had known him all her life. She was jolted back into reality
“Annabeth? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, just zoned out. My bad.”
“Are you sure? You look slightly terrified”
“I do?”
“Yeah, it looks like you just realized you left your door unlocked and open or something”
“Oh, no, nothing like that. It’s fine” she smiles at him, trying to reassure him. She meets his eyes and he seems to believe her. Their empty plates get taken away and they seem to both realize that this little moment in time, this one dinner, this little bubble away from the real world, is almost over. They continue to talk about short little nothings till the check comes. They both reach to pay.
“Absolutely not. I’m paying” Percy says before she can get a word out
“Percy. You literally came over here to save me from looking like an absolute fool. I’m paying you back. By paying.” They both start laughing and in the laughter, Annabeth manages to slide her card into the clipboard with the check.
“Hey!” Percy says, slightly indignant. But the waiter grabbed the check and her card before he could do anything more. The waiter brings the check back in record time and she signs it and adds the tip.
“Ha. Sucker.” They laugh and then both go silent,
Percy finally speaks. “Well, I guess we should go?l
“Yeah. Yeah. To free up the table” They get up, place their coats on, and walk out. Once they get out of the restaurant it’s clear they’re going in opposite directions.
“Oh,” Percy says. Then regains his composure. “So, Annabeth, since you decided to bamboozle me and pay. I guess I’ll have to pay you back.”
“Oh yeah? How so?” She glances down at her phone for a moment, while he tries to find the words. She sees a single text from her “boyfriend” breaking up with her. But truly, she doesn’t feel sad.
“Yeah, how about next week?”
“Alright Percy, that works for me. What days do you work at the aquarium?”
“Um, Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Why?”
“Well then, I’ll see you there.”
They wave goodbye and turn to go back to their homes ways when Percy turns around and calls out to her
“Annabeth. What day?”
She laughs “Now that, Percy. That’s just gonna have to be a surprise.” With a wink and a small smile, she turns back and continues walking. She might like keeping things a surprise. But Annabeth Chase is never one to break a promise. Especially not this one.