Blind Date with Boss

Chapter 3

"Hehe, you can't catch me," a petite girl giggled as she swerved out of the incoming figure, the latter smiling back and jokingly whining, "Just stay in one place."

Percy chased after Estelle, the girl being the splitting image of their mom with the same dark brown hair and striking blue eyes, as she dodged him and took shelter under the dining table. The raven haired boy peeked under the table and glared at her, "Now, you've trapped yourself."

A challenging look appeared on Estelle's face, "Oh really? Then why don't you catch me?"

With that, she rolled out from the other side and sprinted towards her room, but she was a step too slow before she found herself floating in the air as the collar of her shirt tugged upwards. Turning her head, she looked at Percy with a frightened look.

"Now," he said, his face turning dark as the shadow of his hair darkened his features and illuminated his eyes, "why don't we start by apologising?"

"I am sorry," she started, slightly shaking at his gaze.

"Good."

Letting her down gently, Percy failed to notice the woman who crept behind him and smacked the back of his head.

"Ow," he whined as he rubbed the spot and spun slowly and came face to face with Sally, her gaze sending shivers down his back and sweat to start forming on his back, "she started it."

"She's 7!" Sally all but screeched at Percy, as she grabbed his ear and twisted it slightly.

"But mom!"

"No," she shook her head, denying him any chance to explain himself. Percy stood there, his mouth agape as Sally let him go and went to Estelle's side. Kneeling down, she began dusting Estelle's dress and gave a warning look at Percy before hugging her. For the first time, Percy realized that this is how being the oldest kid was. Damn, that stings.

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Monday rolled by before he could prepare himself and he found himself sitting in his car in the parking lot inside the building. Overthinking is a human's worst nightmare.

Looking at his watch, Percy knew he had to be at his desk within 5 minutes but the dread of walking in there and the chance of running into Artemis pulled him back into the comfort of his car. Maybe, it wasn't too late to call in sick.

As if on cue, his phone vibrated and he pulled it out to be greeted by a lovely message glaring at him from the screen. The text read, 'Percy, where are you? You'd better not call in sick! We have to meet up to discuss the...'

Percy did not want to click the message since he had an idea of what Grover wanted to discuss and it was not something that was at Percy's priority list. As he continued to stare at his phone, he noticed the time again and jumped out of the car in a rush as he realised that he only had 2 minutes to be in desk.

If he wasn't running late, he would've taken the elevator to the third floor but running late and not wanting Artemis' attention first thing in the morning, he decided to practically leap through the stairs. His briefcase swung wildly while his blue tie coiled towards the back of his dark suit while sweat started forming along his hairline and threatened to trickle down his face.

"Ok folks," Percy slowed down as he rushed into the hallway that connects to his desk and peeked around the corner. All of his colleagues, including Grover, sat on their seats facing the centre of the room staring at the sole figure. 5ft tall and a serious look on his face, emphasizing the deep pale scar going from under his eyes to his chin, Luke continued to read from the paper he was holding, "the client that Blacksmith was contacting has cancelled their funding and the project is going defunct as of yesterday. According to the sources, its mostly due to budget cuts for them that can't invest into this project. That is why, if you were working on the project to assist Blacksmith, you can drop it."

A collective groan echoed throughout as a few heads banged on their desks, eyebags prominent under their eyes. From one clear look, it was vivid that they had barely slept a wink.

"Cmon, people," Luke gave a grim smile, "you know the cons of this job. It happens regularly."

Percy stood frozen, waiting for the chance to slip in unnoticed before he felt someone tap his shoulder. It took him his whole self-control and whatever was left of his pride from the last night to not scream in horror.

Standing before him was a tall and rather graceful beauty with stern brown eyes and dark jet black hair that resembled the dark sky in a fishtail braid. A thin circlet sat atop her forehead that was barely noticeable but glinted against the contrast of her copper-coloured skin.

"Are you done ogling me, Mr. Jackson?"

Percy realised he had been staring at her for too long and he flushed slightly as he straightened himself in composure and replied, "Sorry about that, Ms. Nightshade."

"Its fine. Are you going to go in?"

Percy peeked around the corner again and Luke was still saying something to the group but it was faint now compared to before. Shaking his head, Percy responded, "Probably not. I don't want to be written off as tardy for the first time."

"Well, ok then. I will still let Ms. Artemis know that you were late," Zoe gave a smirk, "I am sure you will enjoy the paycheck this week, Jackson."

"Name's Percy and please don't do that. I have kids."

"No, you don't."

"But I could."

Zoe rolled her eyes and said, "I won't tell her anything but you'd better hurry inside soon." She pointed at Luke who seemed to be wrapping up his session as he opened the floor to ask questions. He had a gap of 20 seconds at best if he wanted to sneak in while Luke was looking at a completely opposite direction.

"Thanks for the heads up, Zo."

Without waiting for a response, he hurriedly sneaked in, leaving the figure standing shocked in her path. Did he just call her by a nickname?