The Meeting

Percy POV

This job is unlike any job I've ever had. I usually take more active jobs. I'm not used to a job that involves sitting at a desk for hours on end. I'm a writer, so I have experience with sitting and working for many hours at a time. However, when I'm writing, it's about passion and interest. At this job, I'm working for someone else.

Essentially, I have to write email responses, take phone calls, and leave notes for Ms. Chase. She wanted to know everything even though I wanted to alleviate some of her responsibilities.

I did help her though. On the first day, I was astonished by her schedule. She had back-to-back meetings without any breaks. I decided that I'd let her get some time off between meetings. Annabeth would appreciate the breaks later even if it meant that the day wasn't as efficient or effective as it could be.

For example, I can easily reschedule a meeting if her day was too packed.

However, Ms. Chase is what some might call a control freak. She needs to know everything, and she gets angry if I don't tell her something business-related.

The first couples of days were especially rough.

I relied on Silena and Katie for help. Silena was open to helping me figure things out. Katie works at a cubicle close to my desk. She explained the premise of our company and the architectural projects and business partners that we have.

During breaks, I'd spend time with Katie, Silena, and Malcolm. They were cool and easy to talk to. Plus, we all shared the experience of working for this company and my boss.

Annabeth Chase is the COO, not the primary boss.

Her mother, Athena, is the CEO of the company. Since this is an international business, Athena oversees everything while Annabeth handles local and national projects.

We were at lunch downstairs when I was rudely interrupted.

"Hello, Ms. Chase," I said, frantically standing up. My mouth was still full of pasta, and I quickly and painfully gulped it down.

"WHERE ARE YOU? WHY AREN'T YOU AT YOUR DESK?" she snapped. Gods, she was angry at me again.

"Ms. Chase, I'm on my lunch break, but I'm coming right now."

I looked at my colleagues and friends, and they all nodded at me. "We'll handle the lunch. You better hurry," Malcolm urged.

I silently thanked them before running towards the elevators. The ride up felt like the longest ride of my life. This happened often. Right when I'm on a different floor, Ms. Chase would need something. It was so annoying at times.

I ran towards her office and knocked.

The door unlocked, and I entered. I centered my heavy breathing before walking towards her desk. Ms. Chase's intimidating gaze washed over my body.

She tapped her desk with her pen in annoyance.

"63 seconds. It took you over a minute to come to my office," the boss gruffed. Her voice resonated through the office. Calm yet scary.

"I was downstairs, ma'am, on lunch break."

"I don't care what you were doing. You're my secretary, and your job should be to serve me when I need something."

"Well, I'm here now, so what do you want?" I asked, slightly annoyed. I regretted my tone as soon as the words blurted out of my mouth. Ugh, I curse my tongue.

Her gray eyes narrowed on my face. She stood up from her seat. Even though she was shorter than me, it felt like she dominated the room. It felt like she was a lion, and I was just a tiny mouse waiting to get eaten.

I rubbed my arms nervously while I waited for her to speak.

Annabeth crossed her arms. "I need the Amazonion documents that someone dropped off this morning. They said that you received them."

"Um, yes. They're on my desk," I expressed.

She raised her eyebrows as to say 'why is that relevant?' However, it is relevant. If she simply walked out to my desk, the documents would've been there. I labeled the documents with a post-it in case I didn't come back in time.

I don't mean to criticize, but she could've easily got the documents herself. Especially since she walked to my desk earlier to see if I was there.

She definitely would've seen the documents.

"Um, I'll get the reports for you, Ms. Chase. One second," I quickly received the documents and handed them to her.

She grabbed them roughly and looked at the post-it. Then, she opened the folder and skimmed the inside. Annabeth nodded and looked up again.

"Tomorrow, we have a business meeting in the morning. You will meet me on the second floor once you arrive to work at 9 o'clock," Annabeth ordered.

"Yes, ma'am."

This would be my first business meeting. As the secretary, I'll just be sitting in the back. In case anyone needed anything, I'd be there. That's it.

To be honest, my presence wasn't needed.

However, there was no chance that I was going to argue with Annabeth Chase. My boss would incinerate me to the ground if I made her angry.

I was certainly starting to understand why so many people warned me about this job. It wasn't horrible, but I was only scratching the surface with Annabeth. Something told me that she could be a lot colder.

As I sat at my desk, I couldn't help but wonder why she was this way.

It had to be more than being an effective boss. It was hard to read her or guess what she was thinking. Her whole personality was cold and protected.

Annabeth is a mystery. A walled-up mystery.

***

I arrived at the meeting a few minutes early just in case. Most of the attendees were already present. Punctuality is important to Annabeth. That's one thing that differed between us because I'm usually always running late.

I sat on the bench in the back of the room. A few other 'lesser' employees were also sitting in the back.

I was dressed in formal black pants and a blue button-down shirt. All my buttons were fit, and my shirt was tucked into my pants with a belt. It was easy to contrast myself from the representatives at the table.

The important suits were sitting around the board table. They were all in professional attire such as dresses, suits, and blazers.

The business people were members of our company and representatives of the Amazonion project. Olympus Architecture is partnering with Amazonion (led by Reyna Arellano) to build a new set of company buildings for the Olympus magnate.

Ms. Chase walked in and shook hands with Ms. Arellano.

Both of them were young businesswomen who managed large corporations. Next to them and the other suits in the room, I felt slightly stupid.

I felt so unaccomplished next to them.

I sat in the back quietly as the meeting progressed. I caught Annabeth Chase looking at me with annoyance several times. Of course, I had no clue what she was thinking, but she wasn't happy with me.

I didn't know what I could've done wrong though.

The meeting was very formal, and I barely understood a thing. That's the thing about this company. I'm not hugely interested in architecture. However, I enjoyed watching Annabeth's presentation. She loved architecture and her passion permeated through the room when she talked about the designs.

Reyna Arellano nodded along to Annabeth's discussion with a smile. They complimented each other well as two powerful females.

Amazonion is a construction company.

While Olympus Architectures handles designs and management, Amazonion handles the dirty work (the execution of building).

As I was saying, I liked watching Annabeth Chase. She was beautiful, intelligent, and passionate. She cared a lot about her work. I noticed the tiny things. Her eyes would crinkle when answering a difficult question. She didn't smile, but her lips would twitch upwards when something positive happens.

Finally, the meeting ended, much to my relief.

Annabeth ordered me to come to her office after I led everyone out. I confidently led the representatives from Amazonion back to the parking lot.

"Ms. Arellano, I'm very impressed with your company," I spoke up. I was just trying to make conversation to cut the awkward silence.

"Thank you. We always love partnering with Olympus," she replied warmly. "You must be Annabeth's new assistant."

"Yes. I've been working for a few weeks now."

We walked through the lobby slowly. Some of the other representatives were getting coffee at the coffee stand on this floor.

"I've seen three assistants come and go. However, I want to say that you should stick with this job. Annabeth is intelligent and very good at what she does."

"I agree, ma'am," I expressed nervously.

"Anyway, thank you for bringing us to the lobby. You may leave us since the others will be busy with their coffees for a while."

"Is that all right? I don't mind escorting you," I said.

"That's all right. You don't want to keep your boss waiting, do you?"

No, I don't. With a polite goodbye, I left the Amazonion group. I rode the elevator up and walked towards Annabeth's office. I wasn't sure why she called me though.

"Hello, Ms. Chsae, you wanted to see me?"

She gestured towards the chair in front of her desk. I sat quietly as she leaned against her desk. She did that a lot when she needed to reprimand me. I still remember the way she stood and looked at me during my interview.

"I have organized your calendar for next week. I also sent the emails to the partners at Amazonion. I believe that we'll start this project with Olympus Airlines," I explained. I was pretty much telling her everything.

"What did you think of the meeting today?" she asked seriously.

"Well, I think it was very professional. The project is interesting, but I didn't understand all the specifics," I answered honestly.

"Board meetings with other corporations are serious."

"I agree. I feel-"

"When we have these meetings, it's important to give off a professional aura. You have to be professional and businesslike. You have to dominate," Annabeth interrupted.

"You did not do that," she finished with a firmly raised voice.

"Um, as a secretary, I didn't think that I needed to say anything. I wouldn't have been very informed," I expressed.

"It's also about looks. What were you wearing?"

I looked down at my clothes before looking up again. I felt like my clothes were fairly formal. Dress pants, a button-down shirt, and a professional tucked-in belt. I didn't see any problem with my outfit. I dress like this every day to work.

"You were underdressed. At meetings, you have to be professional. That means a suit and tie," Annabeth ordered.

"You didn't even know that."

Her last sentence made me feel like a fool. I stayed silent as she continued to berate me about not dressing the part. Her comments stung a little.

First of all, I genuinely didn't know that I had to dress better. I felt fine, and no one else seemed to mind. Secondly, I only owned one suit, and that was the suit that I wore to my interview. I didn't own any more suits because I can't afford them.

I don't have the money to buy extravagant suits, especially because of Tyson's health. All my money was focused on sustaining my family.

I kept my head low until Ms. Chase excused me.

While I understood the need to be professional, Annabeth Chase made me feel awful because of the situation.

That's how bosses are though. They tell you how they want you to be so that you don't make the same mistakes again. They hold you to their expectations.

Regardless, I wondered what happened to Annabeth to make her so cold and harsh in her expectations. She gave no leeway to anyone. She had high walls against anyone that was near her. She didn't care.

I was curious about her, but she also hurt me a little today. She made me feel like I wasn't good enough.

And, that's not a fun feeling to have.