Troubled

48

chapter forty-eight
annabeth

There she was.

There, in the doorway of my dad's office, was a woman that I hadn't seen in nine years.

She was still beautiful. There was no denying that. Despite being in her early forties, she looked ageless. Her straight light brown hair was pulled back into a neat bun and had no gray hairs in it, although I wasn't sure if it was natural or dyed.

Her skin was the same tanned tone as mine. Her eyes were stern and the same shade of gray as mine, too, but the resemblances stopped there.

She was dressed in expensive looking clothes that were probably designer and wore a pair of sunglasses and had an expensive bag in her hands.

"Hello, Fredrick. Annabeth," she said with a nod at us, her voice smooth. She sauntered across the room and smiled at me coldly.

Helen quickly rushed in after her. I couldn't help but compare the two. Helen's face, despite being around the same age as my mother, was lined with wrinkles and worry lines, probably from my half brothers.

Her hair was dyed expensively, too, but the resemblance between them stopped there. My mother was a good foot taller than Helen, even without wearing heels (which she was.)

Helen was dressed in casual clothing that was stained from cooking and she looked frantic after peering from me to my father and then to my mother.

"Uhh...Hello, Athena," my father said as he cleared his throat. "You weren't supposed to pick Annabeth up until tomorrow."

She shrugged nonchalantly. "That didn't fit my schedule. Annabeth, darling, are you packed?"

"I...I guess so," I responded, still in awe over her presence. I didn't remember much about her appearance even though I was nine when I last saw her. "I just have to grab my bags out of the car."

Athena nodded as she headed towards the door of the room and simple left. She called at me from the stairs. "I'll be waiting by the car!"

Helen peered at my father with an expression that said what just happened. And, for once in my life, I agreed with Helen.

"I guess this is goodbye," I said as I stood up and shoved the chair in. "Uh, bye."

"Goodbye, Annabeth," my father said.

"Yeah, bye..." Helen mustered in a squeaky as she waved at me, her face looking mystical as if she couldn't process what was happening.

I rushed down the stairs where I saw Bobby and Matthew waiting for me. They instantly rushed over to me, much to my displeasure.

"Who was that lady?" Bobby asked me as he hung onto the hem of my shirt.

"Was that your mom?" Matthew interjected. Bobby nodded in confusion.

I peered out the front window to see my mother leaned against her expensive car, a lit cigarette in hand. "Uhh, yes, I've gotta go..."

Bobby and Matthew continued pestering me, but I just shoved them off and made my way outside. My mother did not move or acknowledged me, so I just collected my bags from my father's car.

She clicked open her car for me wordlessly. I shoved the bags in the back seat as her trunk was tiny and climbed into the passenger seat.

She threw her cigarette on the ground, rubbed it into the road with her shoe, and then climbed into the driver's seat.

"I heard you got in some trouble," she said after nearly half an hour of silence.

I shrugged as I readjusted myself so I could peer out the window, clearly dodging my mother's questioning.

Athena laughed coldly like there was no emotion in her voice. She stared ahead at the road and continued to speak. "Over a boy, huh?"

"None of your business."

"Oh, darling, don't be like that," she said as she kept her eyes on the road.

"How much did he have to pay you to take me in?" I asked her. "Or do you finally feel guilty after all these years?"

"He didn't have to pay me anything. You're my daughter, Annabeth. Stop acting like I don't love you," she snapped.

I burst out laughing. She looked shocked for a moment bit quickly masked it with her signature glare. "Oh, don't pretend like you've been there for me."

"I was!" Athena protested. "Who do you think paid  half of your boarding school education?"

"That's not the same as love."

She shrugged nonchalantly. "Whatever, I can't make you like me. But when you're staying with me you have my rules, okay? No sneaking off to see that boy you like, no parties, no disrespect. You're already breaking that last one."

"Maybe if you were respectable—"

"I own my own architectural firm, Annabeth. I think I am respectable," she spat, clearly angered.

I shrugged as I angrily crossed my arms over my chest. "I dunno, maybe I'd respect you more if you were actually there for me growing up, not just when it was convenient to you!"

"I tried, but that devil woman made it impossible!" she screeched.

"What, Helen? And how did you think it was staying with her all the time, huh?!" I demanded to my mother, who, for once, looked at a loss for words. "I don't care how successful you are, leaving us was your worst mistake."

"That may be true, but you're going to live with me now, so we've gotta learn to get along. And you have to learn some respect," she said angrily as she gripped the steering wheel tighter, so tight her knuckles went white.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, whatever."

"I know you think that we're all just the enemy right now and you're going to defy whatever I say, but if I catch you with that boy your father told me about, I'm telling him straight away," she snapped. "Now you are going to take this internship at my firm seriously as I have a reputation to keep, and I will not allow you to ruin that."