Tell Me You Love Me

Mr. Lars's POV(Sixty-Nine)

Edited 10/30/18

"So why haven't you fired him yet?" Emma asked. She'd been working here for about five years and her and Jackson were always competing for that top spot. Emma studied Marine Biology in college and has worked her way to the top at the Aquatic Center here in New York. Percy has worked here roughly eight years and claimed the top spot within the first eight months of working here. He was just a natural.

So you can guess that him and Emma had a little bit of a rivalry. Emma was always trying to get me to fire him whenever he did something wrong(which wasn't often).

Percy hasn't shown up for work in about nine or so months. Emma and several other staff members want me to fire him, but he is the best worker we've ever had here, he's proven that to us many times.

I figured he must have a valid reason for not showing up, but as you would expect, it's started to frustrate me. I've tried numerous times to contact him, but to no avail. I finally decided that maybe I should just fire him when I decided to try calling him one last time.

This time I tried the number he gave me for emergencies. I hadn't yet tried this number, so I thought I outta give it a try. Emma just rolled her eyes at me. She'd given up on Percy long ago.

I dialed the number and waited. Surprisingly, on the seventh ring, someone picked up. "Hello, this is Mr. Brunner, how can I assist you?"

The man had a deep voice; the tired voice of a teacher. I should know, for my brother is a teacher in New Hampshire.

"I'm Joseph Lars and I was wondering if there's a Percy Jackson that I could speak to?"

There was silence on the other end. Then, "Just a moment please." The man put me on hold and I assumed he was going to get Percy.

Emma sighed and shook her head. She still didn't have confidence I was going to hear from Percy. About five minutes later the line clicked and Percy said, "Hello?"

I shot Emma a triumphant look before speaking. "Hello, this is Joseph Lars. You maybe don't remember me. I'm...your boss." I said awkwardly. Well, what would you say to a star employee you haven't seen for almost a year? I wanted to at least hear his reasoning before firing him.

"Oh," he said quietly. I thought I heard a child crying in the background. Something about the way he said it invited pause. Something sounded off with him, he didn't sound as upbeat and happy as he usually is. Though, come to think of it, there was always some hidden darkness in him.

"Mr. Lars, I am so sorry. I really am...Luke, put that down!...I'm sorry, just a lot of stuff came up in my life and I never got the chance to let you know. I completely understand that you want to fire me. I've been a horrible employee. I'm really sorry," he said all that in a rush.

"Whoa, wait, what happened in your life?" I was curious, really. I'd gotten to know the young man quite well in all his years working for me.

He didn't say anything at first. Again, I heard a child crying. "My wife was actually taken from our home in January. She'd told me she was pregnant just a couple weeks prior so I had to devote all of my time into finding her and brining her back home. We uh, we found her about a week ago.

"She uh, she passed away giving birth to our twins. Her funeral was *cough* um...yesterday."

"Oh, Percy I'm so sorry to hear that." I'd met his wife and two kids before, though I hadn't seen the kids since the boy was four and the girl was one. His wife really was a beautiful lady, super nice and smart. Emma gave me a questioning look and I held up my hand, I'd tell her later.

He cleared his throat again. "I'll make you a deal," I said, "you can still have your job. You won't get paid for the months you took off, but you can come back in whenever you're ready. You're office will still be waiting for you."

"Oh my gods, Lars you're the best. Thank you so much." He said. I smiled, "Under one condition," I said. "What?" Percy asked, slightly worried. "You bring those kids of yours on your first day back. I haven't seen the two older ones in two years and I want to meet the little ones."

I could practically hear his smile through the phone. "Sure thing Mr. Lars. I'll give you a call when I plan to come in."

"Alright, take care Percy. I'm sorry for your loss."

I hung up and turned to Emma who was anxiously waiting for the run down. I told her the sorry and she sat there slack jawed. "My God, That's horrible."

That night, after everyone left and I was the only one there, I grabbed the keys and turned all the lights off. On my way out of the building, I passed Percy's office. On his desk he had a picture of him and his wife and their two kids. They all had the widest smiles.

I smiled sadly and kept walking, locking the door behind me.