The Boss of Me

17: The Beautiful

Percy POV

Most of my colleagues don't like me anymore.

I can sort of understand why. They thought of me as an imposter or a spy. I was an Olympus higher-up who came to infiltrate the employee union. It doesn't help that Olympus Sails and Olympus Architecture have a long-standing rivalry.

However, most of them don't know about my background. I don't need to explain myself to everyone around me.

I was grateful that Annabeth understood my dilemma. She didn't ask too many questions about my need for money, but she did want answers. Annabeht had every right to fire me. I blindsided her, but she didn't fire me.

We understood each other better than most others.

Regardless, there was a lot of backlash from the company, so I decided to keep to myself and do my job. Silena and Katie were still by my side though.

"I'm sorry that Poseidon did that to you," Silena said. "Welcome to the world of business. Most people are simply resources to businessmen."

"Yeah, I'm starting to realize that."

"How are you handling the whole union thing?" Katie asked. "If I were you, I would hate the situation. I wouldn't want to marry someone I don't love."

"I'm ignoring the problem. Neither Poseidon nor Rachel reached out to me after the business formal, and I'm hoping to keep it that way," I explained. "It's upsetting that the whole thing disrupted my life though."

"I can't imagine," Silena expressed kindly.

The biggest hassle was Artemis canceling my book publication. The Hunters don't work with anything related to Olympus to Titan Industries. Since the Hunters broke away from both brands, they have no intention of getting back to them. I tried to explain that I don't consider myself a part of the Olympus Magnate. Of course, that didn't help considering Poseidon boasted in public that I was his son.

Whether Artemis believed me or not, her hands were tied by her group's philosophy. I wasn't even angry with the Hunters.

I submitted my revisions to Zoe Nightshade even though it was pointless. Even if they weren't publishing, I still wanted my novel to go through the editing process. Zoe, being the star that she is, agreed to help me in that regard.

We continued to eat in glum silence.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed. I knew who it was before I even looked at my phone. I put a specialized ringer for calls from Annabeth. Because of the stress of the Amazonion project, she called me quite often for help and support.

"Duty calls. I'll see ya'll later," I said, quickly finishing my sandwich.

"Annabeth is making you work very hard," Katie commented. "I feel like she needs a break soon from the Amazonion project. She canceled on the girls a lot over the past few weeks."

"That's true. She didn't even come to Lacy's birthday party."

I silently listened to them. I didn't realize that Annabeth's personal life was practically nonexistent because of her current work schedule. I gave her small breaks during the day, but I didn't realize she wasn't getting proper time off.

After listening to their sympathies, I traveled up to my floor. Annabeth was frantically signing documents when I walked in.

Today, she was wearing a gray pantsuit and a white blouse. Her hair was in a messy ponytail, which emphasized that she didn't take much time getting ready today. I could sense the stress on her face.

"Ms. Chase, you called me?" I acknowledged.

"Yes, Percy." She didn't even look up from the paperwork. Her desk was cluttered with two open laptops and several documents. "Bring me the design folders for the Olympus Clubs and Casinos project."