Percy Jackson: The Intern at Stark Tower

Iris Message

Pepper lead me to the 14th floor, and we walked down a long hallway and began leading me through a maze of twists and turns. We went on until she stopped in front of double doors. When we walked in, the room was filled with a little snack bar, some lounge chairs and couches, and a TV.

"This is the waiting room. Mr. Stark is currently in the middle of an interview. Would you like something to drink while you wait?" she asked, giving me a courteous smile.

"Oh, no, thanks! But, uh, I totally forgot to go to the bathroom before I left. Could you lead me the way?"

"Of course!" I followed her out of the room and walked back the way we came. And we took a left turn and immediately I saw the bathrooms.

"Thanks," I waited until she walked away from my sight and then I quickly walked around to find a private room. Across the hall, I saw a janitors closet. I walked in and locked the doors. There was a small window slit on the wall that shredded light in the room. The pungent smell of cleaning supplies filled the room, making me wrinkle my nose.

Good as it gets, I suppose, I thought to myself. To my right, I noticed a mop was dunked in a bucket full of water and soap. I extended my arm out and then a handful of water raised from the bucket, I willed them water to spray around the room. I quickly whipped the drachma out of my back pocket and threw it in the air. I watched as it flipped through the air before disappearing.

"Oh, Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering and show me Annabeth Chase," I quickly say, used to the phrase I've said thousands of times before

Mere moments after, I saw Annabeth walking around the Olympus throne room holding a construction map. She was squinting really hard while trying to focus on something that was written on her construction map.

I waited a few seconds to see if she would notice me but she was so distracted that I stood there for a full minute, watching her.

"Annabeth?" I finally said. As soon as she heard me, her head whipped around, her eyes looking for the source of who called her name. Once her eyes land on me, she beams.

"Hey, I was waiting for you to Iris Message me," she rolled up her construction map and looked back at me, but suddenly, she narrows her eyes before gasping "Oh! Is the almighty Percy Jackson wearing a suit?"

My cheeks got red, and I puffed them out. Even Annabeth knows that I hate suits.

"My mom insisted that I wore it," I threw my hands up in exasperation.

"Well, I think you look very handsome," she
whispered as if she was telling me a secret. "But enough of that! Are you excited for your interview?"

"I think. Well, I hope? I'm not really sure," I replied, rubbing the back of my neck.

Annabeth frowned. "That's not a good mindset for someone who has a pretty fair shot of getting this internship."

I gave her a look of despair. "Seriously? I'm lucky I got called for an in-person interview. I'll barely make it pass this."

Instead of giving me some pep talk about how I got this, Annabeth suddenly squinted her eyes. Focusing on something behind me, she asked, "Are you seriously in a janitors closet?"

I looked behind me, forgetting I actually was in a janitors closet. "Uh, well. I couldn't find a good place to call you except here."

"Wow," she exclaimed, taking a step back and almost tripping on a block of wood. She scowled at it momentarily before looking back at me.

I looked at my watch. "Oh, Styx, I'm sorry, Pepper, the lady who works for Mr. Stark will probably get suspicious if I'm gone for too long. And our five minutes are almost up."

"Aw, okay. I love you. And good luck." I was about to say "I love you too" before the Iris Message dissipated.

I opened the door of the closet and peaked out, looking left and right as if I'm about to cross the street. The hallway was empty so I come out and ran back to the waiting room. Pepper was on her phone, but when I walked in the room, she acknowledged my return with a nod. I smiled at her and sat down and just read over the first page of the papers he gave me before quitting.

I love Paul but I'm not patient enough to read all of this.

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