1 | Where All Rules are Made to be Broken – Except For Those Ones
"You're dead punk!"
Sanji ducked as the fist came flying at his face before pivoting and giving a (well-deserved) kick to his assailant's ribs.
Wheezing as he tried to regain his breath, the thug narrowed his eyes. "You don't know who you are messing with kid!" Then he charged forwards once more – only to find his face meeting the alley wall before crumpling to the dirty ground.
"I think it's you who doesn't know who they are dealing with," Sanji sighed as he picked up the previously discarded handbag. Sashaying smoothly over to where a pretty young woman was huddled in a corner with wide, terrified eyes, he offered his assistance with an outstretched hand.
"Don't worry, miss. It's all over with now. May I present your bag and possessions all in one piece?" he grinned as he helped the woman to her feet.
Smiling weakly in gratitude, she took her bag. "Th-thank you. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come along."
"It's no problem at all! A real man should always come to cries of a damsel in distress. I will never allow a lovely woman such as yourself to be assaulted by dumb assess like the one behind us," he added with a pointed glare to the groaning thug. "But if you wish to show your thanks, I will not say no to a coffee date? Tea date? Movie date? Dinner date? Kiss? All of the abo-"
Slap!
Rubbing his cheek where she had slapped him, Sanji watched as the woman hurried away with a huff.
"Another time then?" Sanji called after her before turning his blue-eyed gaze to the would-be-robber behind him. "This is your fault. You've made her think all men are jerks, you bastard," he commented wryly.
Glancing down at his watch, the young man suddenly cursed. "Shit! I'm late!" Sanji scowled down at the still groaning man. "That is also your fault," he added before quickly darting out the alley.
The sounds of traffic and crowds greeted him as Sanji emerged onto the main sidewalk. People walked hurriedly towards their destinations – each one apparently oblivious to what had occurred in the shadowed alley.
With deftness borne from many a day wearing it, Sanji straightened his tie and smoothed out the crinkles in his suit while he jogged easily towards a sleek black sedan that waited (somewhat) unobtrusively on the corner.
Sliding into back, the young man settled himself down into the comfortable leather seat as a voice spoke. "Everything in order, sir?"
Sanji lifted his blue gaze from where he had been scrutinising what looked (a lot) like blood on his shirt cuff to meet the eyes of the man looking at him from the rear-view mirror. "Of course. Drive," the blond said curtly.
Without responding, the driver eased the vehicle out into the flow of traffic. Sanji watched the world outside as they passed by. He was grateful for the heated air-conditioning as the breeze had been cold.
"Your father will not approve of your actions back there, sir."
A low growl escaped Sanji's lips. "I don't care for my father's approval. He's an idiot. Besides, I'm already on his 'shit-list' for taking this internship – and that was after I had annoyed him by saying I wanted to finish college instead of helping with the family business. As far as I see it, I'm already damned – one more 'error of judgement' will not make any difference."
His driver fell silent but Sanji could sense disapproval in the air. Well, screw him. It wasn't his job to worry about what Sanji did, it was just job to drive him – which he was presently failing at.
"You just drove past it. No, don't bother turning around. I can walk from here."
Sanji opened the car door and stepped out once more onto the sidewalk. Leaning his head back into the sedan, he spoke to his driver. "I don't know how long I will be, so I'll call to arrange a pick-up later."
Without waiting for any sound of recognition, the young blond shut the door and began walking down the street towards the sixty-six-story building ahead. It was mostly clad in black with red accents. All the windows were tinted, save for the ground floor where the lobby was aglow with a bright iridescent light.
A security guard stood at the entrance and gave Sanji a once-over as the young man entered. Once inside, Sanji noticed that the reception area had a small collective of people – each around his age – milling about with what appeared to be a mixture of anything between nerves and boredom. He easily navigated between them before making his way to the front desk.
"Hello there!" he said cheerily to receptionist, another eye-catching, dark-haired woman (damn, he loved this city). "I'm here for–"
"The internship meeting," she interrupted him without lifting her head from her computer screen to look at him.
"Ah, such an intuitive beauty! Well, could you please tell–"
"Just wait with the others," was the short reply.
Not used to being so cleanly dismissed, Sanji felt a frown threaten to tarnish his charming expression but the blond took the instruction in his stride and went to take one of the remaining empty seats.
Using the waiting time as an opportunity, Sanji took a moment to study the people around him. As he had originally presumed at first glance, the mostly seemed around his age – around nineteen or so – and perhaps then, like him, were also interested in learning more through this business internship. He thought he recognised a few of them from his classes, like the dark-haired guy with glasses, or the pretty young woman with the light blonde hair.
He was about to go introduce himself to her when elevator doors opened, and a rather rotund man came ambling towards them.
"Right, right, right," he said sharply. "Gather quickly now children."
Sanji immediately took to disliking the condescending bastard.
"The G Six-Six is a prestigious establishment; our guests expect a world class service – and so we expect only the best from our interns. Therefore, only a few of you will be chosen today and the rest of you can just go home," the man explained. Ignoring some of the mumbles of surprise and discontent at that revelation, he then continued. "These selected interns will then spend the next three months as part of each of our main divisions; Front of House, Entertainment, Technological Support, Cuisine, and Security."
A hand was raised by a scrawny guy. "How do we select which area we would like?" he asked.
Their guide turned and gave the young man a look of distaste. "You don't select anything. You will be assigned turns in each department. Everything is decided for you – but you won't be going any further with us." He then snapped his fingers and a security guard materialised (out of nowhere) and swiftly escorted the still flabbergasted young man back towards the lobby.
"Rule one: you only speak when spoken to."
Shit, Sanji thought to himself. It's like this guy has been taking lessons from the Judge on how to run things. Damn, I hope I haven't made a mistake.
The tour continued with their guide showing them the areas of the building – the IT area (boring), the Front of House room (some pretty women in there), Centre Stage (why a hotel company would need such a thing was beyond him), the Security Room (all those monitors seemed like an invasion of privacy – unless he could watch the Front of House…) – and after each area was introduced, so more and more prospective interns were removed from the group and sent back down to the lobby for various indiscretions.
"Rule two: obey the senior staff without question."
"Rule three: interns may not be present in any other area outside of their current assignment without permission."
"Rule four: excellence always."
"Rule five: no fraternising between interns or employees allowed."
The last one caught him a bit off guard as Sanji had been speaking to one of the cleaning staff. Turning around and before he could stop himself, retorted with: "Social skills are an important part of business."
Beady eyes narrowed, the guide settled his scornful gaze on Sanji before asking, "You, what is your name?"
"Sanji Vinsmoke."
There was a brief pause before, "Judge Vinsmoke is your father?"
Sanji twitched, an eyebrow raised as he answered, "Yeah…"
With a grunt, nothing more came of the matter as the group was then lead to the kitchen.
Sanji couldn't believe he had managed to get away with breaking one of their precious damn rules – especially seeing other guys had been removed for less. Though, he couldn't help but be grateful (for one rare moment) for the weight of the Judge's name. It appeared to have saved him from being dismissed and then what would have inevitably been a very uncomfortable explanation to the rest of his family about his failure.
The now dwindling group eventually made their way to the kitchen, the one area Sanji had been eager to see – and he wasn't disappointed.
With large, swinging double-doors that lead into the galley that was a (mad) bustle with people – cooks – as they prepared meals for guests and employees alike. An enticing aroma filled the air, adding a vibrancy to the loud workspace.
Sanji eyed the plates on the server's counter, taking note of how each dish was presented to perfection, not a drop of sauce or misplaced slice of meat evident. He gave a low, appreciative whistle.
"Move, brat!"
Whirling around, the blond hastily swerved to avoid colliding with a gruff looking chef who placed two more (perfect) plates on the counter.
"Ya ruin any of m'food an' I'll have ya scrubbing plates till yer hands bleed!" the moustached man said warningly before turning to the group's guide. "We cook food, we ain't some show – get 'em out."
Sanji's blue gaze slid to where their guide was wringing his hands, an annoyed look on his face. "Yes, of course Head Chef," he answered, nodding his head though his tone clearly voiced his displeasure at being spoken to in such a way.
Gesturing wildly for the youths to follow him, the group quickly exited the galley – but not before Sanji was able to pass another admiring gaze over the kitchen and its staff.
It appeared that the tour was over as the group found themselves lead back towards the lobby, only this time their numbers were greatly diminished to seven; four women, three men – Sanji included.
Their attendant gave each remaining youth a cold, scrutinising look before giving an abrupt nod of his head. "Right, you are our chosen interns. Congratulations," he said, though something in his phrasing suggested the opposite. "Each of you need to go to our receptionist and she will give you instruction on what to do next. Your time here will be balanced with follow up tutorials back at college – anyone who doesn't maintain an exceptional work ethic will be dismissed immediately. Any questions?"
No one said anything though one of the guys looked like he wanted to, only to be silenced by a jab to the ribs from the girl standing next to him. "Good. Now, good evening," he gave a farewell just as another staff member came and whispered something in his ear.
Sanji had hoped to catch the (hushed) words but he was already caught up within the group as they made their way to the receptionist's desk. She had them write down their names before also dismissing them. Sanji however, being having taken the position at the back of the queue took the opportunity to speak a bit more.
"Excuse me, miss?"
She raised her eyes and looked at him apathetically. "Miss Robin," she corrected. "What can I do for you, Mister Vinsmoke?"
Trying once more to put on his (best) winning smile, the blond gave a small nod of his head in the direction their guide had vanished. "Apologies, Miss Robin, I was just hoping to find out what the name of our guide was? There wasn't an appropriate opportunity to do so – unless I wanted to break one of the rules."
The receptionist narrowed her eyes and Sanji worried that he might have overstepped some unseen line. Thankfully, she deigned to answer him. "That was Mister Wapol, you will be seeing much of him during your time here."
"Ah," the blond said warmly. "Many thanks, though one would think he might be able to fit an introduction somewhere between rule three and four."
He was slightly surprised to be rewarded with a subtle smile that briefly flickered across her face. "Perhaps," she said. "Now, perhaps you should be going – you don't want to break rule five."
"Yes mam," Sanji replied, more out of not wanting to get her in trouble than for worry for himself. He made his way to the exit, pulling out his phone to call his (idiotic) driver. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.
Ring, ring. Ring, ring.
"Yeah?"
"Thoughts?"
"This is a shit deal."
"Well, you don't have a choice in the matter."
"So why ask me then, bastard?"
"Watch it punk, you need to remember your place – remember the rules, remember why you're here."
"Whatever."
"…Can you do it?"
"I have no choice in the matter, remember?"
"Good, so get it done."
Click.
AN: I can't believe people are already taking an interest in this story, and so I'm sorry for not updating sooner! Massive thanks to all those who have supported me, and hopefully you guys enjoy this adventure.