Chapter 26 - 26

"I wonder if there are people at the cafeteria at this time?" Camilla asked as they stood in the elevator, waiting for it to reach the correct floor.

Since it was early in the morning, and people were just coming into work everyone was headed up rather than down.

"I guess people grabbing breakfast." Ian said with a shrug. "I mean, with how bad traffic can get during rush hour people would be skipping breakfast just to come to work on time."

Camilla nodded as she agreed with Ian.

The elevators at the Reyes Group were quite fast and they were soon at the cafeteria.

The pair was quite surprised at the sight that greeted them. This wasn't some common company's lunch room, it was practically a restaurant.

There were waiters walking around serving customers. The place was elegantly designed, much like the rest of the building. The floor was carpeted rather than tiled or simply cemented like most office cafeterias.

As they walked forward a waitress approached them and smiled.

"Miss Rose called in advance." The waitress said. "She told us that for today you'll be seated on ordinary tables. Please, follow me." The waitress told Ian and Camilla as she led them deeper into the room.

"What do you mean by ordinary tables?" Ian asked in a low voice as they approached an empty table good for six to eight persons.

"People from your department have a separate area." The waitress explained. "Although I rarely see people from your department eating here. You guys are either way too busy or off at meetings."

"Thanks." Camilla said as a waiter came over and pulled out her seat for her.

It felt like the Reyes Group cafeteria was truly a restaurant and not a place for employees to simply eat.

"So Rose warned you about us?" Ian asked as the waitress handed him a menu.

"Yeah, I normally arrange for the food she orders, so she thought to give me fair warning." The waitress said with a shrug.

"Wow, the food here is really cheap!" Camilla exclaimed as she looked through the menu.

Her comment made Ian turn his attention to his own menu. Camilla wasn't kidding, everything was priced as if it were cooked at a local mom and pop dinner in the city.

"The Reyes Group prices everything at cost." The waitress explained. "Our salaries aren't even charged against the food. The company wants it's employees to be happy, healthy, and well fed."

"So everyone can focus on their work." A young man with striking green eyes said with a laugh as he joined Ian and Camilla.

"The name's Mike." The young man said as he held out a hand for Ian to shake. "I'm guessing you are both new here?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah. First day. How did you know?" Ian asked as he politely shook Mike's hand.

Mike suddenly laughed as he looked at Camilla and Ian as if Ian was crazy for even asking.

"Oh, you're really asking that?" Mike asked as he noticed the serious and confused looks on Ian's and Camilla's faces.

"Yeah, just curious." Ian said with a smile.

"Well for one you are asking the waitress a ton of questions." Mike said. "Second, you look around too much, you seem to be too shocked at your surroundings. And Third, no IDs." Mike said as he lifted his own ID to show Ian and Camilla.

"Can I get your orders now?" The waitress asked Ian and Camilla with her tone suddenly shifting from it's earlier warmth to a cold and formal one.

"Umm. . .sure." Camilla said as she ordered breakfast and Ian settled for some coffee.

"Guys, over here!" Mike waved as four employees walked over to their table.

"Who are these people, Mike?" A woman asked as she sat next to Mike, flipping her long black hair as she turned to face them.

"New hires." Mike said with a smile.

"Did you even know their names?" A man who looked to be a little bit older that Ian asked as he combed his hand through his hair and joined them at the table.

"No, but I was about to ask them." Mike said as he rolled his eyes at his friend.

"Names and Jobs, newbies." The girl next to Mike said as she pointed at Ian and Camilla.

"I'm Ian Lim and this is Camilla Montero, we're both management trainees from the HR Department." Ian said as he quickly recalled Rose's instructions.

"You should really wear your IDs." The man said as he lifted his own badge.

"Oh right." Camilla said as she took her ID out of her pocket. Seeing no harm in doing so Ian also did the same and wore his as well.

"There are very few people that can go around not wearing theirs." Mike's male friend explained. "Only the executives and the CEOs assistant. Everyone else needs to follow the rules. They are quite strict about it."

"Oh, right, we haven't introduced ourselves!" A woman who had remained quiet the whole time suddenly said in a squeaky voice.

"Riiiight." The woman next to Mike said.

"I'm Seth." The only other man among Mike's friends said. "I work in Marketing. I'm not sure if we will ever work together, but who knows"

"I'm Katrina." The woman next to Mike said with a grin. "I'm teammates with Seth. Work at the Reyes Group is really hard, but I hope the two of you survive." She said in a fake genuine tone.

Ian wanted to laugh. She was clearly a cocky one.

"I'm Pia." The woman with a squeaky voice said. "I work in finance, I'm sure you guys will have a great time here."

"I'm Charlotte." The last member of their group said with a warm smile. "I'm a secretary in the Sales Department."

"Nice to meet you all." Camilla said with a smile as their orders were served.

"So what department do you belong in, Mike?" Ian asked the man who was seated next to him.

"Sales." Mike said with a cocky grin.

"Mike is one of the rising stars in the sales department, you're lucky he spoke to you." Katrina said as she praised Mike.

Something about Mike already felt wrong to Ian, he had a gut feeling that the two of them would not get along at all.