Chapter 2 Rules

I woke up to the ringing of my alarm. Yawning, I got up and switched off the alarm.

Last night after unpacking, I had dinner with Louis and had to set an alarm not wanting to be late for my first day as an intern, I did not want to give them a wrong first impression.

Getting out of bed, I strolled towards the bathroom, it was small and simple.

A few minutes later I was done, opening the closet, I picked a black skirt and a pink chiffon top, matching it with a pair of black heels. Packing my hair in a neat ponytail, I took my bag and went downstairs.

The smell of pancake wafted through my nose and it made my stomach grumble.

I walked to the kitchen and met Louis wearing an apron and flipping the pancake. Did I mention that Louis can cook, yeah, he is a great cook better than me, but don't get me wrong I can cook but not as good as Louis.

"Someone is an early bird" I commented sitting on a stool close to the kitchen island.

"Wouldn't want Kayla to chop my balls off because I didn't feed you"

" I do wonder sometimes if you are treating me well because of Kayla" I joked

" She is one scary lady," he said and we both laughed

" Yeah, I agree with that"

He turned to the island and placed a pile of pancakes with strawberry and chocolate toppings. "Eat up".

I stared wide eyed at the pancakes " you aren't feeding a bear, you know"

"You are too lean, you need to fatten up"

"Like a pig"

"Yes or even fatter" he joked

"Don't be silly Louis" I replied digging in. "Hmmm, this is heavenly" I moaned eating the pancakes " your future girlfriend is going to be lucky and it's all thanks to me"

"Because you made me learn how to cook doesn't mean I did it for"

"Yes you did"

Louis learned how to cook because of me, after the death of peter I distanced myself from everyone even my best friends, Louis told me that I needed him but I refused to talk to him being the foodie that I am he knew he could win me over with food and yes it worked, his Aunty, Aunt Margaret was a chef in Paris, Louis had begged her to teach him how to cook, so right now he is good at it.

" Aunt Margaret had always wanted to teach me how to cook, she says girls love guys that cook and she was right seeing I won you over with food"

" I will be sure to thank her when next I see her," I said with sarcasm, he just don't want to admit the reason why he learnt it.

My phone rang interrupting breakfast. I looked at the caller id and saw it was a video call from Kayla

"Hey girl," I said holding the phone with one hand

"Ry, how are you doing, and oh where is Louis"

I looked at Louis and he mouthed, 'please' reminding me about my cover up story for yesterday.

"He is right here" I turned the camera to Louis

"Hey Kayla" he waved at her

"I swear I'm going to chop off your balls if you don't give me a good explanation for making Ry wait for two hours" Louis looked at me silently asking me for help.

I turned the camera back to myself

"Kayla it wasn't his fault the traffic here in Toronto is hectic, you know big city" I explained to her trying to cover up for Louis.

She rolled her eyes "okay, Ry I understand" I know she knew I was covering up for Louis. "I just wanted to check up on you, and if Louis isn't treating you well, don't hesitate to call me"

"I will keep that in mind" I smiled at her

"I wouldn't want to make you late, call you soon" she waved and ended the call

I turned to Louis, "you have to make a lot of crême brûlée, I deserve it" I smiled sheepishly.

" Yes, I promise you that. Now I need to change, finish your breakfast and I will drop you off at work" he said ruffling my hair

" Hey, I put a lot of work on that" I glared at him as he climbed the stairs.

* * * *

Louis pulled up in front of a tall and big building. Regnant companies were located in different countries but the headquarter was here in Toronto.

"Here we are shortie," he said as I stared at the building.

"Thanks for the ride" I replied alighting the car

"Have a great day" he waved as I closed the door

"I will, bye" I replied waving at him and he drove into the driveway.

I sighed and I turned to the Regnant company

"Here I come," I whispered walking towards the entrance of the big building.

Entering the company I walked towards the reception area and met a lady who had brown curls that reached her shoulders, beside her was another lady who was on the phone.

"Hey," I said to the brown curly hair lady "My name is Riley Martin, I am…."

" You must be the new intern" she interrupted me and stared at me like I had two heads.

"Yes, I am"

She smiled at me "this way please" she said leaving the reception table and walking towards the elevator while I followed her closely.

We entered the elevator and she pressed the button with twenty eight written on it.

"Mr Girard would be the one training you for your internship, he is the head of the Finance of Regnant, so you are in good hands," she said "we have a lot of rules but I wouldn't have time to list everything for you, just the basics"

I nodded at her indicating I was listening, I wasn't a fan of rules and I tend to break them, like rules are meant to be broken right?

"And if you want to be employed here after your internship, I suggest you don't break any of the rules," she said like she could read my mind.

Working in a Regnant company is everybody's dream including mine and I wouldn't let this opportunity slip just because I broke the rules.

"Firstly you are not allowed to enter the last floor"

"Why," the curious girl in me asked

"This is the Headquarter of the Regnant company and the president's office is here on the last floor, he hates when people invade his privacy"

Well, that would be easy for me. 'don't go to the last floor' I mentally told myself.

" You are not meant to look at him in the eyes, he hates disrespect. He hardly interacts with other workers, so I doubt you would have an encounter with him" she explained further

Easy peasy, the rules don't seem so hard to follow, I will just have to avoid the President. I smiled at my brilliant idea.

The elevator bell dinged indicating we had reached our destination.

Stepping out of the elevator, I followed her as she walked through the hallways, passing different doors until we got to a huge brown one.

She opened the door and there were two desks with a brunette sitting on one and typing on her computer not noticing our presence.

There was another big door with writing on it which read financial manager, without being told I knew it was Mr Girard's office

"Cassie" the receptionist I had followed here called out to the girl who was still focused on what she was typing

"Oh, hey Sarah, I didn't see you there," she replied, looking up from her Computer.

"This is Riley the new intern" Sarah introduced me to Cassie

"Hi Riley, my name is Cassie," she said with a warm smile "welcome to the Regnant company" she stared at my face, the same way the receptionist had stared at me when she first saw me

" Thank you" I replied returning the smile

" I have to go, I will be leaving Riley with you now, "Sarah told Cassie, leaving the room.

" Have a seat, here is your desk,"

I walked to the table beside her and sat on the chair

" Mr Girard is having a meeting in his office, he would be meeting with you later the company, I made a copy for you, you are going to need it" she smiled warmly.

"Oh.. thanks" I replied looking at the files, the rules stated here talked about company policy and more on what the president dislikes, he seems like a strict person.

"With the rules here, it seems the president is very strict," I asked Cassie.

" Everyone fears him, whenever he comes to the company it's as though we are walking on eggshells"

" He sure sounds fearful" I commented.

" The Alp… president is in Mr Girard's office, it's unusual for him to come to this floor, I think something happened " she whispered.

I looked at the door then back at Cassie " he seems like a lonely person"

"He only….."

The door opened and interrupted Cassie.

Cassie stood up and indicated to me to follow her and I did the same.

Two men walked out of the office, if I had mentioned that Louis was hot then I was mistaken, if there was any word greater than hot, it would be used to describe them.

The man in the brown suit had blonde hair and blue eyes, he would fit to be a role model with his cute face, while the man beside him screamed dominance there was a powerful aura emanating from him, he was handsome but dangerously, he had that bad boy look that parents always warn their children about his hair was black but what caught my attention was his eyes, they were red, it looked cold but if you got a closer look it was warm.

I didn't know I was staring deeply into his eyes till Cassie tugged my shirt, I turned to her and saw her head bowed, she kept on tugging on my shirt signalling me to bow, and that's when I realized what she meant and what I had done. I bowed my head and could feel the black suit guy's eyes on me. His hands balled into fists like he was trying to restrain himself, it was as though his body was tensed.

He growled lowly and I mean actual growl that made me shiver and he walked away like he was annoyed with something.

I raised my head looking at his retreating figure, I felt something strange within me as I stared at his back.

The blonde haired guy smiled at me before walking off and I didn't know why he did that, but he seems nice.

Cassie who seemed like she had been holding her breath the entire time, breathed a sigh of relief and slumped on her chair. She looked at the door "Mr Girard" she said surprised.

I turned to the door and saw another guy leaning on the door frame, he was also wearing a black suit and had black hair with brown eyes.

Does every guy in this company look so good looking because I think I am going to have a nosebleed.

Back in school girls adored Louis, but after seeing those three guys made me believe that the girls at my school would have adored them like demi gods.

It seemed the brown eyed guy in black suit had been standing there the whole time. If this guy was Mr Girard, it seems one of the guys that just passed was the president and I had stared at them, which was against their rules.

"Riley, meet me in my office," he said to me entering his office

I looked at Cassie and she nudged me to go.

I took a deep breath before walking into the office.