The Morning Show: Percabeth edition

Chapter 7: Annabeth's POV

I had the night to myself, then tomorrow would be the first time I would go on live with Percy as the new co-host. I thought about inviting Piper to our favorite bar, owned by the one and only Charles Beckendorf. That seemed like a pretty good option, so I picked up my phone and dialed her number.

She picked up on the first ring. "Hey Annabeth!What's up?"

"I'm thinking about going to Charlie's bar today, what do you think?"

"Officially! Can I invite Hazel as well?"

"Yeah, that sounds great!" Hazel was the new personal assistant for everyone at the morning show, and she excelled at her job, satisfying everyone's needs.

I grinned. Piper and Hazel were great friends and I knew I would have lots of fun tonight.

...
Fifteen minutes later

I quickly arrived at the bar, but Piper and Hazel weren't here yet. The bar had a new neon sign that looked more modern, but the same jazz melody was playing through the window. Charlie waved for me to come in and I returned the grin and entered his bar.

The beautiful melody played by the band led me into a long, relaxing breath and helped my worries go away for the moment. Charlie still had his goofy grin and the apron I had gotten him last year for his birthday. It was something Piper and I made, a collage of all the things he loved: his wife Silena, covers of jazz albums he loved, his hound dog Mrs. O' Leary, and a picture of him and his bar on opening day.

"What would you like today Annie Bell?"

"Don't start with that name." Charlie and I had went to the same middle school and one of my particularly grouchy teachers nicknamed me Annie Bell.

He chuckled. "Tough day, huh?"

"Yep. I'd like your famous martini please." I answered. A tough day meant a strong drink.

After Charlie had taken my order, Piper and Hazel arrived.

"Hey Charlie!" Piper said, "meet my new friend Hazel!"

"Hi! I'm Hazel Levesque and Piper told me all about you! I love the jazz tunes too, I'm from Louisiana," Hazel chimed in.

"Why I think we could talk all day about jazz then. A girl from Louisiana that loves jazz, would you look at my luck today!"

Hazel blushed. "May I have the class New Orleans style Sazerac?"

"You got it!" Charlie replied.

"Oh yes and I will have an Old Fashioned on the rocks," Piper said.

"Officially!"

While we were waiting for our drinks, we chatted a little. "So Hazel, how's your first impression of New York City?"

"Well it's certainly way different then the South, for one everyone's very rushed here but I guess it could help in handy."

I chuckled. "You should see rush traffic," I exclaimed.

We chatted some more about our hobbies. She loves horses and does horseback riding in her free time, and it turns out she loves classic movies as much as I did.

"Shawshank Redemption. That one. I swear I have never recovered fully from that experience," she was saying as she was sipping her cocktail.

"All the classics are mind blowing. I live for West Side Story and The Shining." I added.

"The Wizard of Oz. It's a Wonderful Life. Do you have any idea how those movies broke my heart?" Piper said.

"Forest Gump. To Kill A Mockingbird. Schindler's List. E.T. Such amazing morals in those movies." I chimed in.

Piper chipped in and added, " The Sound of Music is my literal favorite. Do Rey Me Fa..."

"Shush Piper, you're scaring Hazel," I interrupted.

We all chuckled at Piper's funky singing when someone walked in. Oh no. I knew that face anywhere.

"Annabeth! Piper! Charlie! Hey it's nice to see you all again!"

I froze. Luke was coming here to give us a hug but I stretched my hand out towards him.

"What are you doing here Luke?" Charlie said coldly.

"Hey buddy, can a man not enjoy a drink?" Luke retorted.

I hugged the three of us girls closer. "Luke, get out. Now."

"And now you Annabeth. Gee, everyone's against me. What did I even do? These women are fucking lying," he slammed his hand down on the counter, "I touch them a little, so what? They go report it like the disgusting tattletales they are. And now my job is gone!" he roared.

Next to me Piper started sobbing. God I had to get her out of here before Luke said anymore of his bullshit.

"Let's go girls. Now. And Luke, you better watch that filthy mouth of yours," I shouted, "look at you now. A shit bag of disgrace. You better watch what you say from now on, you got that?"

Luke smirked at me as I went. I went over to him and smacked him with my shoe. He toppled over the counter and broke several glasses.

I got my phone out and dialed 911. "Hey, there's this man who's destructing a property at Charlie's Bar, 52nd street. You better come quick because he seems real nasty."

"You rat," he spit, "the network was thinking about firing you Annabeth. That's all I can say."

I ignored him and led my girls to my car. Piper was ugly crying now and I gave her my tissue box and let her blow it all out.

Piper looked at me with sad eyes. God, we were having a blast before Luke came and now the whole evening was ruined.

"Hey girl, don't think about what Luke said. He's lying. You're not a tattletale Piper. You are so much better then what people think you are and I wished people would see your talent for real." Piper was the girl who spoke out to The New York Times about the sexual misconduct Luke had done to her in Vegas when they both covered the Vegas Shooting a couple years back. Other women had come to light and eventually there was a whole pile of claims and the network fired him.

"He's right," she sniffed, "and you both know it too."

"Pipes, I just got here and I already figured out that Luke's mouth is a whole load of dog shit. Don't you listen to a word or else you're letting him overpower you," Hazel said.

We all sat there for a moment, hugging each other. Finally, I said, "Come on. Let's go back to my mansion shawtys. And let's watch all our classic movies and do pillow fights and scream and cry like little children."

And for the rest of the night, we were undistributed while we watched our favorite classics for the umpteenth time while catching popcorn in our mouths and crying into our pillows.