#like so much of Annabeth is very internal especially at first and she is NAILING that subtle nuance in the character | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ohboywonder · 7 years

Text

office AU - PJO / HOO fanfiction

MONDAY - TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY - THURSDAY - FRIDAY - SATURDAY - SUNDAY

Summary: Percy had no idea that his new secretary worked so, well, well! Although his work keeps him busy the whole day, he notices quickly that he can rely on her.

Words: 4778 Warnings: none || AO3 No one read it beta, so if you find any mistakes, let me know!

TUESDAY

The next morning started with the alarm clock. Percy lifted his head and eyed the clock face suspiciously, as if he could persuade it through staring to give him some more time to sleep. He had no success.

After a shower and a bowl of cereal – no, not the healthy one Hazel had proposed but the colourful and probably cancer-causing one – he left his apartment and got into the car. Although it didn’t seem like it, the fun part of his morning was nearly over. Behaving like a kid instead of a grown-up, having ice cream for dinner and staying up ridiculously late for playing the latest game, these were things he could do at home and not in the office. At home, where he was just Percy, not the leader of a life style magazine company. At home, where no one was watching. Where there was no one to share it with. Percy sighed.

He started the engine. It was not his favourite way of transport, usually he rode his bike, but it poured and sometimes the car needed to be moved as well. His mother used the car as well and it benefited her more than Percy. His little sister needed to get to school, his mom to work and sometimes it was used to transport Percy, Paul, his mom, and Cassie to fun weekend trips.

Today would not be a fun-weekend-trip-day. Percy sighed while turning left. He had a meeting with Octavian, that idiot, today at eight, then a discussion with the board about the next issue, then he needed to see some photographs and call someone who might work for them when their current photographer found out that he would, well… have to reorient.

Coffee. He needed coffee. And maybe a bagel. Luckily, he knew the best place for an early second-before-work-breakfast. Percy left the car and walked into a little coffee shop with an in-built pastry shop, not a block away from his office. A big, broadly-built Chinese man stood behind the counter and filled out a form. A few people sat in the back and chatted. His face lit up as he saw Percy.

“Long time no see Percy!”, Frank came around the counter and hugged him. Percy just loved this guy. He looked so tough and scary but inside he was a gentle, kind, person. His better half popped her head through a door that led to the ovens. Golden shimmering curls framed her face and made her dark skin glow. A smile that was nearly too wide for her face appeared on her lips and she hugged Percy tightly.

“I knew I heard right. Where have you been?”, she asked while letting go of him. Percy immediately found his black shirt stained with flour but he couldn’t care less. Frank’s and Hazel’s coffee shop had been his first and last refuge, before and after work, so often, he did not care about his looks, he cared about them.

“Work was killing me lately. I was out of secretaries since Millie had to go.”, he said while Frank nodded and went behind the counter again.

“Same as usual?”, he asked and Percy nodded. He really needed this coffee with an extra espresso and a shot of salted caramel cream right now.

“Out of secretaries?”, Hazel asked and wiped her hands on her flour-covered apron. “That means you fired Millie?”

Percy sighed. “Yes. She was driving me crazy. But I have a new one, since yesterday.” His hand automatically wandered to his neck and rubbed it.

“Oh”, Hazel and Frank said in unison and looked at each other in silent understanding. Although the actions that followed these glares often went against him, Percy admired their silent understanding. That’s what he wanted. Someone to understand him, his weird sarcasm, the tiny signals – all that he saw with Hazel and Frank, or his mom and his step-dad.

“Oh what?”, Percy whined and let himself sink in a chair. “What now?”

“Your body language.”, Frank said.

“The hand in your neck.”, Hazel added.

“The looking down.”, Frank nodded and looked at Hazel and together they said: “Those are signals.”

“Signals for what?”, Percy wanted to know. What were the two of them going on about now?

“That you like the new secretary. Remembering her made you look nervous and happy for a second.”, Hazel said and smiled sweetly. Then a beeping filled the air and she clasped her hands before her mouth. “My tartes!”, she whined and scurried back to the oven.

“Tell me about her”, Frank said, handing Percy his coffee.

Percy frowned. What was there to tell about Annabeth Chase? He knew her for one day! “Well, her name is Annabeth Chase. She actually is over-qualified. She has a degree in literature and has done internships at nearly every big newspaper company you can imagine. Yesterday was her first day and she let the coffee machine explode.” He grinned and Frank raised an eyebrow. “Has probably never made her own coffee, dunno. She is very very, like, very interested and does her job quite well, at least, from what I’ve noticed so far.”

Hazel had returned, standing in the doorway, leaning on it and listening. She smiled and wanted to say something but Frank interrupted her: “What about her looks?”, which made Hazel frown.

“She… well, she looks good. I guess. I don’t know?”, Percy said, trying to sound persuasive. “I could send her down later and you can make yourselves a picture of her. What do you think of that?”

Frank looked at Hazel who smiled brightly. “Sounds like a great idea! Here, I made you a bagel back there. I bet you wanted one and only forgot to mention it.” She winked at him and handed him the bag.

“You’re an angel Hazel. Thank you so much. Guess I better get going now. See you guys.” With that Percy payed, including a ridiculously high tip, and left. He was only a little bit late when he arrived ten minutes later in his office. Annabeth was there already.

Today she was wearing dark jeans and a grey pullover that had such a long neckline that it hung over her shoulder and revealed some of the skin there. Her blonde hair was up in a ponytail and some loose strands of hair hung into her grey eyes. Although all of this was immensely fascinating, Percy couldn’t help but stare at her skin. As she noticed his gaze she immediately apologized.

“I’m sorry about the outfit Mr Jackson but this is one of the few pieces I own that don’t scratch my skin beneath it. I will make sure to wear something more appropri-”

“Ms Chase”, he quickly interrupted her and forced himself to pull his gaze away from her shoulders and the skin that showed. “It’s fine. I fully support your, well, your body, especially its healing after what happened yesterday.” As the sentence was out, he realised how weird this sounded but Annabeth giggled and nodded.

“Thank you, sir.”, she said and cleared her throat. She was standing again so Percy thought she could follow him to his office anyways. But before he even had made a signal for her to do so or said one word, she came around the desk and stepped besides him. “This morning you have a meeting with Mr Blinder. He was here already to remind me to remind you.” She sighed.

It amused him that her knowledge of human nature obviously was so well developed that she’d noticed already what an idiot Octavian could be. “He also said”, she continued, “to remind you of his Snapchat idea.”

“I will continue to draw sad smileys on these papers until I die”, Percy declared and grinned at Annabeth. She nodded, the trace of a smile on her lips.

“Next thing up is the board meeting and you need to call the photographer. Both of them, actually.” Percy sat down and started his laptop. There were seven new emails in his inbox – a fact that made him frown. Only seven? “Oh”, Annabeth said as she noticed his face, “and I checked your emails and answered the ones I could.”

This was actually not her task. Not yet. With Millie, he had discussed her work area and as soon as he trusted her abilities enough, which took quite some time, expanded her tasks. Percy scrolled through his mails and checked the answers. Mostly they were intern mails asking for a time spot in his schedule that Annabeth, eh, Ms Chase, had given them. His notebook openly lay at the desk next to his keyboard and all the new dates were already written in it. Ms Chase’s handwriting was orderly and more ornate than his own but she did her job well.

As he looked up, he saw her biting her lip. Apart from that nothing showed that she was worried that she had gone too far. Her confidence was baffling him but she had done nothing wrong. Still, it bugged him.

“Thank you, Ms Chase”, he said and looked up. She nodded and looked at her own notebook. Obviously, nothing was on it anymore and she looked back at him.

“Can I do anything else, sir?”, she asked. Through the glass front he could see some of his employees coming from the kitchen with steaming mugs. Coffee had obviously been already made. He shook his head and tried another smile.

“Thank you, Ms Chase. I’ll let you know.” She left the room and took her seat behind her desk. Percy had hated that damn glass wall when Millie had worked here. He had to watch her do her nails while talking on the phone, chatting with the other employees more than actually doing her work and every three hours or so going to make some new coffee. But with Annabeth… Oh, come on Percy! With Ms Chase, it was different. She sat at her desk, taking calls, and writing emails as if she was here forever. Maybe even before Percy himself.

Still, this stunt she’d pulled… Well, if she wanted a challenge, she’d get one.

The tasks he had on his schedule today would have taken him the whole day. But maybe he could use it as a test to see how well she’d actually do. Percy made a list with tasks and stood up, taking his phone and jacket.

“Ms Chase”, he said and Annabeth’s head shot up. She was writing another email and her blond curls hung in her grey eyes. For a moment, he forgot what he wanted to say. The impact she had on him was weird. But fascinating. Her eyes scanned his face before they lingered on the list. “I have some tasks for you. I wrote everything down and I need to get to the board meeting now. I am sure you’ll be done with this list by lunchtime.”

Carefully he watched her reaction as she scanned the tasks, the names and she was biting her lower lip again while she read the list concentrated, which made Percy smile.

“Of course, Mr Jackson”, she replied and he nodded contently.

“I thought so. I’ll check in with you after lunch.”, he said and turned to walk to his board meeting. He’d never been a fan of those meetings but there was one good thing about them. He could see his friends.

As he walked into the room, a few seats were already taken. A tall girl with short black hair looked up from her phone and smiled at him. Her blue eyes sparkled as he sat down next to her. “Finally!”, she said and grinned. “I was getting bored with all those serious business people around me.”

Although she insulted him in a way, calling him an unserious business man, he couldn’t stay mad at Thalia. Not for one second. “I’m glad to see you, too. Where’s your brother?”, Percy said grinning and looked around. Jason was nowhere in sight. Not that it was hard to overlook him. He and Thalia couldn’t have looked any more different. Thalia, with her dark hair and her thoughtfulness, who would never step into the spotlight – if not necessary. Still, she had the ability to command a the attention of a whole room without any effort. And then there’s her younger brother, Jason. Tall, blonde, absolutely born for the spotlight. His ability to rationally negotiate between his employees, between different companies, between his friends, always marked him down as the leader – which is why he’d gotten a job that high ranking in his young age in their parents’ company.

“What do you think?”, she asked and her eyes seemed to sparkle again. That was the only thing the siblings had in common. Those light blue eyes.

“Piper?”, Percy suggested and smiled.

“Piper”, Thalia confirmed. Percy’s head of customer service and Thalia’s little brother had met on an office Christmas party and were dating since then – should be two years now? Whenever Thalia and Jason came over to join a board meeting, Jason was lost the moment he’d entered the building until the meeting began. “He should be here any minu-”

“Percy, I’m glad to see you!”, Jason said, entering the room this very moment. He patted him on the back and sat down next to his sister. Percy grinned. His usually so accurately brushed hair looked a bit unorderly but he was happy for him.

“Glad to see you too, Jason.”, Percy said, as Grover took his seat next to him. He nodded at the siblings and nudged Percy’s shoulder.

“I have a copy of the report you asked for, the one about cutting down on the CO2 emissions. Turns out the recycled paper is not as shiny as the one we used before but the emissions are nearly cut half through it. Maybe you should talk to Rachel about it.”

Percy took it and scanned the report. This was good. Really good. As he looked back up, he noticed everyone was there and after clearing his throat, he opened the board meeting.

Two hours later he came through his office doors, only to find Annabeth’s desk empty. Well, she certainly was completing his list. A familiar figure lingered in one of the comfy seats in front of his desk and Percy smiled. Although he was already exhausted this would be nice.

“You’re not on the list.”, he said and Leo’s head popped up, the dark curls flying as he looked around to see Percy standing in the doorway, holding a cup of Annabeth’s coffee in his hand. Ms Chase’s coffee. Damn it.

“Aw, come on, Boss. You’ll have time for a little signature, right?”, he grinned and Percy got behind his desk, putting down his papers and the mug.

“What’s it this time, Valdez?”, Percy really tried to be annoyed, but he couldn’t. Leo was, although a little young, an incredibly talented IT manager. His skills were that good, one time the entire company server was down and Leo somehow managed to get it to the printers and the copy could be published as if nothing had happened. Up to this day nobody knew how he’d managed that. But from then on he was head of IT and did a wonderful job, although his favourite response to any problem still was: Have you tried turning it off and on again?

“I need a signature, your new secretary… Well, I have to admit, she scares me, but she looks great. Have you noticed that?” He leaned forward and wiggled his eyebrows. Percy sighed but couldn’t help a smile.

“What about her?”, he asked and took the sheet Leo handed him and scanned it.

“She did what you asked her to do. Came around, told me about the missing signature and that, if I don’t get it, I will probably lose my job or something.” His eyes widened. “She was scary. Good scary, I mean. But I came straight up here to get the signature. I mean, if I understood correctly I actually need a permit to do certain things on the server and since I don’t have that one – you know.” He shrugged and Percy shook his head, a grin on his face.

“Well, there you go. You’re now officially allowed to continue your work.”

“Thanks Boss, really. And, she is really good lo-”

“Get going, Valdez!”

“Alright, alright. Thanks though, Boss-man!” And with that Leo Valdez had vanished. It always was a bit complicated to get him away from his machines since he loved them so much, which is why Annabeth mildly impressed Percy. She’d gone for the right tactic: to scare him a bit so he would come upstairs. As he checked his schedule, the mood lift Annabeth’s good work had given him, seemed to vanish again. Next thing up was the meeting with Octavian. Ugh.

Since Percy obviously couldn’t help but call her by her first name, he decided to go with Annabeth instead. He’d only have to take care to not call her that to her face. As he took a sip from the mug, he raised his eyebrows in surprise. The coffee tasted great! Maybe even better than Millie’s coffee and that was one of the sole reasons she had had her job for so long.

A knock pulled him out of his thoughts. “Come in”, Percy said and Octavian stepped into his room. In his hands, he held his tablet and some papers, probably graphics, predictions, and a form to finally get his Snapchat account.

“Good morning, sir.”, he snarled and sat down.

“Have you tried the coffee today?”, Percy asked him and took another gulp before placing the mug next to his screen. “It’s amazing.”

“After the coffee fiasco from yesterday? No, thanks.”, Octavian said and raised his eyebrows. Percy could read his utter discomfort he always showed when he was around him. He didn’t believe Percy could or should lead the company. And he was after his position, the power it held and the people he then could control. What Octavian did not understand, it wasn’t about control. It was about trusting, pushing, and catching, if someone would fall.

“Well, you don’t know what you’re missing.”, Percy said and leaned forward. “Show me the tables from last weeks. Some graphics would be nice, too.”

Although he could barely stand that guy, Octavian Blinder was good at what he did. He had pushed up the public image of the company and raised awareness of their magazine, collected sponsors, and took care of the ads that were channelled. The feedback on company adds and the number of people who’d seen those did go up nearly two percent since last month.

“Well done”, Percy said and ran a hand through his hair. It always lifted his mood to see that people bought the magazine, that they clicked on the adds or liked pictures of the upcoming articles on Facebook or Instagram.

“Thank you, sir”, Octavian said and looked very pleased with him, “but I wanted to talk to you about the Snapchat idea.”

“No Snapchat”, Percy said and shook his head. They’d gone over this at least thrice now. His employee pursed his lips. He was about to tell him – again – how important this platform was and how it would speak to more people on a wider range but Annabeth saved him.

“Mr Jackson, there is a call for you.”, she said and looked at him urgently. Octavian looked at her, then back at Percy, and seemed baffled that she could interrupt their meeting – as if there was anything more important than his Snapchat idea.

Percy tried to hide a smile. “Well, I guess we’re done anyways. Thank you for your time, Mr Blinder.” It took Octavian a second to realise that he was being sent away but he stiffly nodded, grabbed his belongings, and left.

“Who is it?”, Percy asked the second Octavian had left the office but Annabeth shrugged.

“No one. I just thought you might like him to leave.”

He must have looked as baffled as Octavian because Annabeth started to giggle. “I am sorry if I overstepped a line again but I saw you two talking and you did not seem happy. Plus, he was here for nearly an hour now. I thought you’d might like him to leave.”

Still unable to process what had just happened, Percy nodded. “Uhm”, he stammered and tried to wrap his head around her. Why on earth would she… How could she know he was suffering from talking to that guy? What was it with this girl?

He caught himself again and smiled. “Thanks, Ms Chase.” More and more she started to win him over. Her work, her sense of situations, how she handled the other employees. And then there still was this tension between them. Right now, for example. They both looked at each other and Annabeth clung onto her notebook as if she needed to hold herself back. Percy felt the same energy. He would have loved to stand up, walk over to her, and pull her toward himself and …

Never mind.

“So”, he said in a lame attempt to get his brain back to work. A quick look at his watch revealed it was nearly time for lunch. “How does it go with the list?”

“Uhm…” She still looked him in the eyes and had a hard time pulling her gaze away. Then she looked at the list and nodded. “One task to go. I think I better get going. I want to be back on time with your lunch.” She smiled shyly, turned around, and left his office again.

He followed her with his eyes until she’d disappeared through the door and probably headed for the elevator. Her last task was to get some bagels for lunch from Frank’s and Hazel’s shop.

The call to end the employment contract with their last photographer was easy. The call to employ the new photographer was easy, too. Sometimes things went smoothly. Sometimes.

Percy’s phone buzzed. A text from Frank saying: “She’s gorgeous!!! Sent her back up, Hazel thinks she’s pretty (&) amazing.” Percy smiled and put the phone away. In a few minutes, he’d get something to eat and a little break. Then he’d talk to Rachel about the new paper and whether there are any updates on the next issue.

The lunch with Annabeth had been pleasant but Percy wasn’t surprised by that anymore. He genuinely enjoyed Annabeth’s presence – and her company. And even better, they could talk about normal things. He had talked about his mother as Annabeth mentioned her and about his teenage sister, about his step dad and his actual dad. Annabeth was a good listener. She nodded and smiled and thanked him in between for buying lunch for her as well. She hadn’t talked about her personal life but Percy could understand. She maybe still was unsure whether she would stay in this position or was hesitant about talking to her boss about her private life.

For Percy, however, it was not a question. Annabeth would stay. She did good work and he enjoyed having her around. And there still was this tension between them… as if they were drawn towards the other.

“Mr Jackson?”, Annabeth’s voice called him back into reality. “Your phone”, she said and raised one eyebrow. And she was right. Percy had been so lost in his thoughts, he must have been staring at her – unconsciously of course.

He reached for the phone and looked at the photo. Rachel Elizabeth Dare smiled brightly from the screen. Her red curls framed her face, the green eyes looked a little bit provoking. He picked up and noticed how Annabeth’s eyebrows wandered up her forehead. “Hey, Rachel”, he said and tried to not look at Annabeth.

“Hey Perce, would you consider, I don’t know, getting your ass down here? I have a thing or two to talk about with you and they are, well, how to put this? Essential for your magazine?”

Percy pulled a face. He should have called her sooner. “Yes, I’ll be there any minute, okay? Just let me finish lunch?”

He could hear Rachel growl and see her before his eyes, the way she rolled her eyes and then sighed: “Alright, but hurry!”

Staring at the screen going black again, Percy sighed. As he looked at Annabeth, she raised one eyebrow and he just shook his head. “As sorry as I am to interrupt this, I need to go. Rachel needs me in graphics. Please, eat whatever you want and then, finish your list?”

“I’m already done with that, Mr Jackson.”, she said and narrowed her eyes at him. “The last task was to get your lunch,” after a tiny pause she added, “our lunch.” This was the last task? Whoa. This surprised Percy.

“Well, then stretch your break a little longer and maybe make some phone calls? Or leave early if you want to.” He smiled at her.

“But… I thought you’d say…”

“Yes but today, there’s only this little thing with Rachel left, so go if you want to.”

He turned around and left the office, leaving a confused Annabeth behind. He was interested in what she would do but for now he needed to concentrate on the last task.

“There you are!”, Rachel greeted him. Well, she seemed a bit upset about him only coming in now but besides this, everything else was normal. Her hair was a wild, red mess of curls and her green eyes sparkled of creativity and the desire for action. Her jeans were full of sketches, drawn onto it, and her hands were busy knocking a pen on her desk. Behind her there was a big window, facing a park full of trees and bushes, the big pictures showed magazine covers and paintings, graphics, and photographs.

“I’m sorry I’m late. I brought you coffee.”, he grinned at her and placed a full mug next to half a dozen empty ones. “And I will send someone to collect your mugs, mh?”

“Don’t you worry”, she said and started to shuffle some papers on her desk, looking for the one he wanted to see. The cover for next month’s edition. “Here”, she finally said. This was one of Percy’s favourite moments: to see the final cover. To see the hard work, he and his employees had done put onto a cover, that would soon wrap it all up.

“It looks great!”, he said, looking closely at the cover, noticing the details. The covers usually were a mix of a photograph and a drawn scenery, for example a mountain lake and a drawn sky. Or a drawn hut on a green valley. This time, it was a seashore, waves crashing on the beach and a ship drawn on the water. “The colours… You’ve outdone yourself Rachel!”

She smiled at him and shrugged but her face beamed. “Thanks Percy. But I heard some rumours… About a new paper?” She raised an eyebrow and glared at him.

“Well, yeah. This is more economic and will do good for the environment. And if we do this clever the prize of the magazine won’t go up and we’re saving the world – at least a little bit.” He looked at her apologetic.

For a second he thought he would have to fight with Rachel over this now but she sighed and nodded, her arms crossed before her chest. “I will have to do a test print, but it’ll do, somehow.”

“Thank you, Rachel. Now I might need to tell you about the new photographer…”

“The new what?”

As Percy finally got back to his office, it was five. Somehow this happened a lot. He wandered around the company, from office to office, checked with the journalists, the graphics, ended up chatting with Piper about weekend plans, was called down to sign something in Grover’s office and then it suddenly was five.

“Oh, you’re still here?”

Annabeth looked up and nodded. She was on the phone and wrote something down. Percy felt a warmth inside him. That she still was here, still worked… It made him proud. A smirk on his face, he went to his office to grab his suitcase and jacket before going back into Annabeth’s office.

“Shall we get going?”, he asked and winked at her. Annabeth froze for a second but then grabbed her jacket, cheeks pink. They both left the office and made their way through the open plan office and Percy grinned while thinking about their elevator ride. This was something he could get used to.

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