You've Got Mail

Peak

Annabeth's POV

After taking down that scathing article that was written about me, I headed to work together with Percy. He still seemed down from yesterday, but that was to be expected.

As for me, I think I made up my mind. Or at least, I would keep an open mind. Hopefully we would get over the awkwardness with today's work visit to the Empire State Building.

Malcolm assigned the sixteen of us into eight pairs. The aim was for us to get closer to our respective partners and analyse the inner structure of the building together. Being the annoying older brother that he was, he decided that Percy would be my partner. I made a huge fuss about it but honestly, I would rather Percy be my partner than anyone else. The other coworkers all wanted to prove themselves to Malcolm, myself included. On the other hand, Percy was more laid back and relaxed. I would be less irritated and enjoy myself more in his presence.

The tension in the air remained throughout the entire bus ride to work. We still sat beside each other as always, just that this time, no words were exchanged. I had my earphones plugged in while he looked forlornly out of the window. I really wished he would try to feel better, but I guessed that I had to intervene.

Like a responsible friend, I took out a tupperware of cookies and handed one to him. The previous day, I bought a pack of regular chocolate chip cookies and added some blue dye. Sometimes, Percy was so adamant about the blue colouring that he would refuse to eat the snack altogether.

As I expected, he gratefully took one and munched on it, forming a faint smile. The bus driver looked into the rear view mirror and glared at me, gesturing to the "No consumption of food and drinks" sign. I gave him a stereotypical "dumb blonde" smile and nodded, expressing my apologies. As soon as he focused his attention back to the road, I rolled my eyes.

Percy seemed to have noticed what I did as he started laughing, choking on the remaining cookie in his mouth. The crumbs flew out of his mouth and dropped onto the floor. I could not logically fathom how, but the sight of him choking and coughing out blue cookie crumbs was enough to make me burst out laughing.

The bus driver glared at us again. A vein was protruding out of his forehead and sweat glistened on his neck. He was like a volcano about to erupt. When we came to a traffic junction, he signalled for us to get off the bus at the next stop. Being afraid of causing a bigger scene, Percy and I obliged.

Looking at my watch, the time read as 12:45 pm. We had fifteen minutes to get to the office. Seeing as we alighted closer to the Empire State Building, I decided that it would be better if we just headed straight for it instead of going to the office first.

I dialled Malcolm and updated him on our situation. He told us to grab lunch before heading there, and made a suggestive comment about Percy and I. In his own words, "Go ahead and do whatever in the meantime. If you do anything reckless like teenagers do nowadays, just remember about safety!" I was certain he could hear me rolling my eyes from the other side of the phone.

I relayed the information to Percy, causing him to immediately start walking towards the nearest restaurant. I guessed that he was really hungry.

After a quick meal, we headed for the Empire State Building. Percy walked ahead of me, his  adventurous spirit leading the way. The commuters were bustling all around us, anxious to head to their workplace on time. At one point in time, there was such a huge flow of traffic against us, Percy held his hand out to guide me so that we could stay together as a pair. A brief moment of hesitation passed and his hand lowered back to his waist; his confidence faltered. I quickly caught it and let him lead us through the horde of people. He was facing forward but I was pretty sure the gesture meant a lot to him.