AN: This chapter is a little longer then the last one. Hope you like it.
It's a whole lot cooler inside and when I enter I'm hit with the strong smell that often lingers in the hallways of hospitals, strong disinfectant. My brother is in the hospital a lot so the smell doesn't bother me too much, It does bring back some strange memories though.
The room we're in is rather small and bland, towards the back we walk up to what I assume is a receptionist's desk. The woman sitting there is hunched over a book that she tries to quickly slip into a drawer as she sees us approaching. She sits up and plays it off like she's just reorganizing her desk, but I know better. I keep this information to myself and choose to instead give a polite smile and wave when we get a little closer, but she either doesn't notice or doesn't care. Whatever, I was just trying to be nice.
She looks to be in about her mid-thirties with curly dark hair and a desperate need for a day at the spa. I could only see her from the waist up but she seemed to be well dressed and groomed other that some rather noticeable bags under her eyes.
We come to a stop in front of the old desk, "Hey karen, how've you been?"Comes Rick's voice from beside me. They clearly know each other and are very close, if you know what I mean.
She bats her eyes up ay him "Hi Rick, I'm doing better now that you're here. We haven't hung out in a while and I think we're long past due a day of catching up", as she says that she throws in a wink to make it perfectly clear what she's hoping to catch up on, "Is there any way I could talk you into having coffee with me this afternoon?" The look on he face is hopeful, but not desperate.
Rick gives her a kind smile before quickly shaking his head "No can do, sweet cheeks. I've got all kinds of work to get done this week. Maybe if we hurry along getting her settled," he gestures at me with a slight nod of his head, "Then we can spend the rest of the weekend getting reacquainted." He returns her wink from earlier.
Her eyes finally shift over to me as if she's just noticing I'm even here. Now that Rick has given her some incentive she suddenly seems really interested in me and getting me incarcerated as efficiently as possible. Looking me up and down she speaks into the intercom after pushing the little red button that I'm assuming turns it on, "Sir, the prisoner has arrived. Should I send her in?".
She Glances back my way but she's looking through me and not at me. After about ten seconds we hear the intercom crackle to life as a man's rough voice came through, "Send her in". Karen gestures for us to enter through a large door to her right that I hadn't noticed until just then.
Once again Rick is kind enough to opens the door for me. I enter a little hesitantly at first but feel a little calmer when I see that it's much more cozy in here and the smell of disinfectant isn't nearly as strong. It's a well sized room that decorated in a tavern/cabin theme. There are a bunch of portraits of weird looking, fat dudes all over the one wall and when I look closer I see that they were all wardens in the past. On the other side of the room is a large wooden desk with a man sitting behind it that looks like he's from the painting closest to me. I walk closer as eyes follow my movement.
"Welcome, You must be Caterina." A smile slowly creeps across he face that causes a chill to run through my whole body. His voice is just as unpleasant to listen to as his face is to look at. He's bald, fat, and looks like he could use a shower. While his suit is nice he doesn't seem to know how to match things. He's dressed in navy blue suit with a orange shirt and pink tie. I almost let a laugh slip at how ridiculous his outfit is but instead pass it of as a smile.
Oh god, How long have I been looking at his suit. He's still looking at me like he's expecting an answer so it can't have been too long. Not wanting to keep him waiting any longer I quickly reply"That's correct. Most people just call me Cat though,".
"Very well, Cat. I'm Mr. Adams," Again with the creepy smile, "I don't have too much time to get you assimilated so lets make this quick. If you'll just follow me". As he stands and heads out the door I glance back at Rich only to see that he's no longer with me. Although I'm nervous I quickly shuffle out the door and try to catch up to the little, fat man.
I come up next to him and he glances at me before handing me what I'm assuming is my prison uniform. I'm pleasantly surprised to find that it's not an orange jumpsuit, Orange is not a good color on me. I unfold it to instead find a dark red button down shirt, a pair of jeans, and a regular pair of white sneakers. It's nothing fancy but it's defiantly better than what I was expecting. I already went through the rather awkward process of being check for 'hidden items' before I was transferred here so I thankfully don't have to worry about that.
As we walk he tells me that a guard will be by later to collect my street clothes, that I will get to shower three times a week, what time meals are and the different types of jobs I can apply for. "By the way, your new cellmate is a little touchy so I would be careful until she gets used to you. Best of luck" we stop in front of a cell that I suppose will be my new home from now on. I turn to ask him a question about the food but he has already started walking back to his office and in his place next to me is a guard. He opens the cell door for me and I steel my nerves before entering.
