Capítulo Dos (Chapter 2)

"Open the fucking door!" were the first words Layla heard in the early hours of the morning. She checked her clock and it was 6am. The voice was soon heard again, this time, even angrier.

"I swear to God, if you don't open this door, you going to get it!" Her father was really upset and his Spanish accent made him sound even angrier. Azaera, too, was startled by the yelling. She hissed in anger and looked up at Layla.

"Don't you dare open that damn door", her blue eyes seemed to say. She hated getting up early.

"I'm sorry girl." And with that, Layla got out of bed and headed down stairs. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and opened the door.

"Buenos dias, papa." But there was no reply, Mr. Hernandez staggered in past her. He was in a mood and was terribly drunk.

"¡Niña estúpida! ¿Por qué tardaste tanto?" His Spanish was terribly slurred. He smelled of cigarettes too.

"Lo siento, papa," said Layla. She was really trying to hide her anger. She had only just got up. Azaera was sitting on the banister of the stairs and was giving Mr. Hernandez a cold death stare. If Layla was angry, it was nothing compared to Azaera's.

Dario was able to stagger to his room and bolt the door. Layla sighed. She waited a few minutes and soon enough, he could hear him snoring loudly. She went over to the cupboard and took out the spare key to his room. She always kept incase her dad misplaced his or accidentally locked himself in his room on mornings like this one. She then went to the fridge and got a bottle of water. She opened his room and entered as quietly as she could. She saw her dad, sprawled like and eagle on the bed. Even a bomb-blast wouldn't be able to wake him up. She kept the water on his bedside table and quietly left the room.

As she looked the door, she saw Azaera staring at her from the banister. She gave a cold meow.

"I don't know why you still care about him," her meow seemed to say.

"He's my dad Azaera, I hate him but I still have to be kind. At least for mum's sake."

"Whatever girl. I'm going back to bed," her next meow said and she went upstairs to Layla's room.

Layla got ready for work. She needed to be at Will's by 8am and it was 6:35am. She would normally get ready by 7 but it seemed the universe had other plans. She headed to the bathroom and after that, upstairs to get dressed.

Azaera was sleeping on the bed when she came in. She deserved the extra rest. Before she left, she brought Azaera's food upstairs so that she won't be disturb by Mr. Hernandez and his friends. Azaera appreciated the gesture and purred with her eyes closed as Layla stroked her soft fur. Her owner was the best though her dad was a douchebag.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Good morning Mr. Prince. Here's your briefcase. Goodness me! Your tie looks terribly crooked."

"Ms. Maria, you don't need to fuss over me anymore. I'm a man," Damon chuckled. His elderly maid had always fussed over him since he was little. She was the best.

"Man, you say? You still get filling all over yourself when you eat pie," she replied sarcastically with a smirk.

"Very funny," replied Damon with a smile. "I better get going."

"I'll bake a blueberry pie, for dinner!" she called out to him as he headed to the door.

"I know what you're trying to do, and it won't work!", he called back airily and soon disappeared behind the door.

Damon Prince was the CEO of Prince Inc., a business firm that dealt in housing and real estate as well as, refurbishing and tech. His parents had died 2years ago and left the entire business to him. He tried his best and was making billions. As his chaffeur, drove, he brought out his phone and checked his email and schedule. Everyday was always a busy day. As he reached the office, Logan came out to greet him. He was his assistant, an intellectual but a moron all the same. He was great at his job and always had ideas that were as big as his attitude.

"Morning Mr. Prince. You have a business meeting with an investor from France by 9:00am, an inspection of the just arrived, solar panels from Saudi Arabia by 11:00am, a..."

Damon was no longer listening. He knew his schedule and didn't really need Logan rattling it off to him every morning. He headed to his office and asked to be left alone for a while. Logan and some other employees all took their leave. He sat down and took in a deep breath. Another day, more work. He loved his job but sometimes the pressure became too much and he just needed to relax. He had a vacation planned for the ending of the year. He was going to take full advantage of it. It was only January, the year had just begun. December was still a long way away, but all the same, he looked forward to it. No more Logan going on like a anchorman reading the news.

He checked his diamond encrusted Rolex watch. It was almost 8:30am. He headed to the conference room so that the meeting could start early and hopefully finish early so he could get some hours to breathe before the inspection, which was always time consuming.

The investor from France was already seated in the conference room. His blonde hair was looking very slick. He had obviously used way too much hair gel. As Damon entered, the investor stood up to shake his hand.

"Good morning Mr. Damon, a pleasure to meet you." His french accent was heavy and almost incomprehensible. Damon had to listen very attentively.

"Good morning Mr. Rochefort..."

"It's Rochefort."

Damon was startled.

"You said Ro-che-fort. It's pronounced Rush-for."

Great. He had gotten his name wrong. This was definitely going to be a long meeting. He had to really listen carefully.

"I'm sorry. Mr. Rochefort ."

"Oui. You're a fast learner. Now let's get down to business."

The meeting commenced and it was torture. Damon thought his ears were going to bleed. He thought French accents were supposed to be romantic. He tried to avoid checking his watch, it would be rude to do so. Damon had never listened so hard in his life. Mr. Rochefort made some interesting points though and Damon replied with some of his own. Time flew by and the meeting soon came to a satisfactory close. They both shook hands with Mr. Rochefort asking Damon to send the paperwork so he could sign and get it right back to him before he left for France. He called Logan to go to his secretary and have the document typed out and given to Mr. Rochefort immediately. As they left, Damon sank back into his chair in the conference room to take a breather. It was 10:25am. He would soon go and inspect the panels from Saudi Arabia. He was tired. He didn't know listening so hard could be so energy consuming. He had a cookie from the bowl infront of his and headed to the cargo section. Logan joined him shortly after, affirming that Mr. Rochefort had received and signed the paperwork and that they were on his desk.

"He has a really dignified French accent," said Logan. Damon was almost horror-struck. Had Logan gone deaf all of a sudden or was he talking about someone else.

"Who?" was Damon's response.

"Mr. Rochefort. I'm sure you enjoyed the meeting. He seems like a very interesting man," continued Logan.

"Yeah. Very interesting ,"replied Damon. Now he was convinced that Logan was deaf. The female investor they had last year from Spain had a lovely sensual accent that Damon found very captivating. But Logan thought it was annoying and unoriginal. Well, everyone had different tastes but Logan tastes definitely needed re-evaluation. They soon got to the cargo section, took off their jackets, rolled up their sleeves and got to work.