Time to Meet Percabeth

Ant Jordan

Ant Jordan

The rain smashed through the silence that otherwise suffocated the empty coffee shop where I slouched over the counter, my eyes drooping heavily. I watched droplets of water race each other down the glass that stretched along the front of a shop and drummed my fingers on the black marble desk to the beat of some Michael Jackson song.

It was only about two in the afternoon and the café was completely empty, the worn brown sofas and uncomfortable wooden chairs that were scattered around the wooden floor lacked all purpose, but I knew that within the next hour or so teenagers would flood through those doors with the need to fulfil their daily-dose of caffeine.

I wasn't aware that I had begun to drift off until the chime of the bell from the door of the café made me jump, my head slipping off my hand and clunking onto the marble desk in front of me. Blinking out of my daze and rubbing my head where I had whacked it, I reached over to my left and grappled hold of my notepad and pen. The pattering of the rain was absent- it must have halted at some point.

I chimed out my standard, "Welcome to London's Coffee Shop, how may I help you?", when I looked up to see a giggling child leaning over the counter and grinning wildly.

"Hey there, kiddo," I awkwardly chuckled, leaning away from the child subtly. "Who's looking after you?"

As I asked that, another chime came from the front of the store and a black haired young man strode in calling, "Stella! What did I tell you about running off? Come here!"

The girl looks at me and raises her eyebrows as if to say 'woops'. The boy with the black hair knelt down to the girl and started talking to her while a blonde girl I hadn't noticed walked towards the counter smiling.

"Hey, sorry about that." She listed off the order for the table and turned around to ask the little girl, who was currently clinging onto the boy's hand, what she wanted.

"A chocolate brownie!" The girl looked up at the boy who raised his eyebrows expectantly. The girl added in a hasty, "Please."

The boy ruffled her hair and said, "Good girl, Stell." He pulled out a worn leather wallet that looked like it had been through the wars and handed over the money.

The black-haired boy and the older girl looked like they were in their twenties which means they must have been about seventeen when they had the little girl. They looked way too young to be parents- I was old enough to be their father!

The blonde girl swooped Stella into her arms saying, "Come on, sweetie- lets go choose a table."

They chose a sofa that looked out onto the vacant street.

I kept glancing at the boy, who waited by the till as I made the drinks, trying to guess his age and answer my questions about the girl for myself when he noticed me looking at him.

"You okay, man?" He looked at me wearily and I noticed his hand automatically twitch towards his pocket. "You're not gonna go crazy monster on me are you? Because that would really suck."

"Crazy...? I... I don't think so," I stammer. What was this kid on about? "You sure you need any more caffeine."

"Okay, that's good then," he laughed light-heartedly.

"So how long have you two been married?" I ask him while I finish off the first coffee and place it on the tray.

"We actually aren't yet," he sighs. "We've been engaged for a good few years but Annabeth wants to put off getting married and starting a family until her career sets off."

"Well what about..." I trail off and gesture to the little girl who was trying out some different handshakes with Annabeth.

"Estelle?" The boy laughed loudly and Annabeth glanced over in surprise before shaking her head and laughing under her breath. "She's just my little sister. My mom's away for a few days so she's staying with Annabeth and me."

"Oh," I say. "Oh."

I slide Stella's brownie onto the plate and the boy thanks me before carrying the overcrowded tray to their table.

I watch the three talk and laugh with each other and smile as I remember what my family used to be like before my husband left me and took our son with him. I feel an ache in my chest as I watch them: Annabeth talking to Stella while the boy lays his head on Annabeth's shoulder and holds her hand, grinning blissfully.

Eventually, the sadness begins to eat at me and I have to turn my back on them and walk into the kitchen.

A/N

Surprise guys! I'm not dead! I'm just a terrible human being!
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chappie.

Lots of love and all that chiz.

For now, I'm signing out.