Empire of Deception (Harry Styles AU)

Chapter 1

“Good morning, Mr. Styles,” a receptionist greets, flashing me a red lipped smile. I fight the urge to tell her that it’s practically noon but instead I offer a curt nod and step through the door which has been opened for me. 

“Right this way, Mr. Styles,” the same girl repeats and gestures towards the direction of a lift. I pass a quick glass at her name tag and see that her name is Leslie. 

Leslie leads me to the doors and she presses the buttons. The doors open and she waves me inside politely before stepping in herself. 

She delicately presses the biggest number on the various buttons provided and we begin our journey up the building. 

“Your the last to arrive,” she says, finally breaking the awkward silence of the ride. 

I say nothing and the doors ding open. She steps outside and I begin to follow her down a hallway.

She flashes a quick giddy smile at the girl behind the desk who grins and looks down. Once we are past her I can almost feel her burning gaze. 

Leslie finally stops walking and opens the door for me, “Good luck, Mr. Styles.”

I knew I probably should say something but I wasn’t in the mood for flirting so I merely nodded and stepped inside, taking in the atmosphere. 

Many men are seated around a giant table, sitting in chairs that cost hundreds of Euro’s. 

I exhale in relief when I see an unoccupied seat besides Zayn. 

“Bloody hell, Swann could not have been a more perfect name for this fucking place,” I whisper to him as I sit down, glancing around at my white surroundings. 

House of Swann wasn’t your average building, instead of belonging to a corporation which bought businesses and such,  it held office to some of London’s highest ranking men who worked with stocks and bonds. 

House of Swann was named after Henry Swann, a lad unlucky enough to work in a world of testosterone yet have a feminine surname. Surnames here are everything—your surname is your company and also what defines you. Poor Henry worked his ass off to make up for his pansy last name. After he passed on his lovely wife (Rebecca Swann) decided that they would name the building after him which I suppose I understand but why she chose ‘House of Swann’ over ‘Swann Inc.’ is beyond me.

“Oh God, I know,” Zayn replies with distaste. His brown eyes sweep across the room before doing a slight shudder type thing. 

All around us was blinding white. White table, white leather chairs, white orchids—everything was fucking white. 

I know they wanted to associate the color with the corporations name but shouldn’t they know that white is the color of a submissive. A business suit usually is black and white, black being the dominating color because usually only the shirt is white. Especially considering this is a building filled with people who controlled and worked the stock market (AKA London’s economy), they would choose something stronger.