Hunter walked out of Arabella's office and immediately felt a frown spread across his face. He stepped onto the elevator and was thankful he was alone because he pressed his face into the wall. "This is typical. She's a daughter of Aphrodite. She wants a quick rub and then she's done." He said bitterly. Part of him was regretting ending things with Philippa. She, at least, acknowledged his existence. When Arabella was in his arms with her lips against his it was great. Wonderful. She seemed to relax and Hunter did relax. Everything was okay. When she went back to her job, Hunter could feel a crack forming in his heart. He knew that she had to do it, but she didn't even hesitate. Hunter went back to being her convenience. He felt invisible again.
Hunter walked out of the building and back to the apartment. It was only about 1 and he knew that she wouldn't be home for a while. He would start dinner in a few hours, but for right now he really didn't want to do anything. Not that there was anything for him to do, anyway. He sat on the couch, not feeling motivated to do anything. He got up and paced some. He talked to himself. After a while he tried to take a nap. Nothing worked. He would check the clock after feeling like hours had passed and find that it had only been minutes. "I need a job." Something he hadn't said since he was homeless. "I can't get a job. I don't exist, yet." He said with mild frustration.
He finally started dinner by taking out the eggs, some bacon, some sausage links, and a few other breakfast items. There wasn't a whole lot to this meal. He had just finished some eggs when Arabella walked in, still on a phone call. She hung up her coat and walked right into her room. Hunter could hear her sorting her papers out on her bed already. No greeting. No pleasantries. Nothing. Once dinner was ready, Hunter filled a tray again and brought it to her. She looked up at him and smiled.
"I was actually going to eat with you at the table today." She said looking down at the food. Hunter looked at her with tired eyes. He hadn't done anything almost all day and he was exhausted.
"I uh...already ate." He lied. "I'm just gonna go to bed." He said quietly. She sighed and gave a little shrug before thanking him and beginning to eat. Hunter took a deep breath and walked out, closing the door behind him. He turned around and put his forehead up against the door and let out a large sigh as he felt a lump form in his throat. He finally stood up straight and walked into his room. He changed into his pajamas and slipped into his bed on the floor. Within a few minutes, he fell asleep.
The next day was nothing special. He woke up. Filled out paperwork for several hours. Went home. Made dinner for her again. Served her again. Didn't eat dinner again. Went to bed early again. Felt alone again. It wasn't until the day after that he felt excited about something. "The next one," Elliot said, readjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "A 1948 Tucker. Blue. And the estimated auction price...Oh my dear sweet baby Jesus." Hunter raised an eyebrow. He had been zoning out for most of the time, but the lawyer's exclamation had caught his attention.
"What is it?" Hunter said, shifting in his chair. Elliot slid the file over to him. Hunter skimmed through it. It really was a beautiful car. It was incomplete, and the pieces to finish it would be a lot of money. Hunter was about to say 'sell' when he saw the estimated auction price. "Elliot, this can't be right. It says this car is worth more than a million dollars. In an incomplete state." Hunter said in disbelief. Elliot shrugged.
"There are only 51 in the world, Hunter and you own one." He said mildly shocked. "Now, the question is...are you going to keep it or sell it?" Hunter froze. His first inclination was to sell it, but there was something special about this car. He could imagine himself working under the hood in the garage that belonged to a suburban home. This car felt like it was his. The other cars felt impersonal or too flashy. This one felt normal.
"I'll keep it. You uh...you can bring it to the house." He said with a nod. It felt odd saying that he had a house. It was the same house that his mother grew up in. After the conflict with Arabella, he decided that it wouldn't be so bad having his own place. Elliot looked at him like he was crazy, but then just sighed and picked up another file.
"!957 Chevy Bel Air convertible. Cherry Red. Incomplete." He said plainly. Hunter grabbed the file from him and smiled gently. This was such an Arabella car. Bright red. Convertible. Bench seat. Definitely an Arabella car. He thought about her. What would get her attention back?
"I'll keep that one, too. You can bring it to the house along with the other one." Hunter said with a nod. He wasn't horribly excited about working on the cars, but he was excited about having something to do. After a few more cars, Hunter and Elliot called it a day and Hunter left, slightly excited. He walked down the street and turned a few corners until he found a broken water pipe sticking from an abandoned building. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a drachma. He had been out of money for a long time, but he never wanted to give up his last drachma. He banged on the pipe which groaned slightly before shooting out a sporadic mist of water, almost like it was coughing. He waited until he had a decent rainbow before tossing in the drachma. "Oh Iris, Goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering." He said quietly. "Marina Goldman. Camp Half-Blood. Long Island, New York." Hunter watched for a moment before a familiar face came into view. A face he hadn't seen in a long time. "Marina?" He said, narrowing his eyes. She was in the forge and set down her hammer and looked at him.
"I'm sorry, who is this?" She asked, removing her goggles. She bent toward the message and raised her eyebrows when she saw who it was. "Hunter?! Oh my gods, Hunter!" She said frantically. She glanced around as if looking for someone to tell. She finally gave up and looked at him again. "Hunter, I thought you were dead." Hunter chuckled.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Marina. She smiled and shrugged.
"It's not like you left in a normal way, Hunter." She said with a sigh. "Anyway, how are you!?" Hunter opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when Marina looked away and another familiar face entered the view. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her gently on the cheek. "Kyle, it's Hunter. He's alive. Would you believe it?" She said with a smile. Kyle raised an eyebrow at the picture.
"Wow...I wouldn't believe it, if I weren't looking at it with my own eyes. You're alive." Kyle said with a chuckle. Hunter rolled his eyes.
"Did everyone think that I left and then suddenly died? Give me some credit, would you?" He said with a sigh. "Wait, why are you at camp? I thought it would be a shot in the dark that you would be at camp, but here you both are." Marina shrugged.
"Chiron needed some forging done and Kyle did some tending to the strawberries." She said turning her head and gently kissing him. "Where are you? I want to see you." She said with a smile.
"That's kind of why I'm calling." He said with a smile. "I need your help and I need you to not tell a soul. Do you understand?" Kyle and Marina looked at him and then each other and then back at him.
"Of course." They said with a smile. Hunter nodded.
"Alright. Let me explain, then." Hunter took a deep breath and started telling them about the last two years of his eventful life.