Chapter Text
The day you had applied had been like any other, you had gone around for the past few weeks trying to scout for new or challenging forms of your long time profession, hoping that once any one of them had hired you that you would be given the challenges you had been promised in both their job description and interview process.
Previously, each one of these hires you’d had at various other pharmaceutical firms had ended in your resignation rather than them firing you, and when it came Murkoff’s turn, you had assumed that if you were accepted it would’ve been exactly the same: you’d be hired, you’d spent two months waiting on those very challenged clients you’d been promised and when they never came, you’d sign your resignation slip and leave, being back on the scouting scene before long and getting stuck in the cycle once more, but this was different.
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After 3 days of your application being sent in you had been called for an interview at one of their clinical facilities nearby, to which you attended in your Sunday best, that being a navy blue swing dress, with white gloves and white kitten heels to match, these being the last of your clothes you would ever see after that interview, as after a few challenging interview questions were answered you were told you fit the job description quite well, and can be transported to their main facility in Arizona the same day, If you were willing to leave your life here in Oklahoma behind, to which you had foolishly agreed.
Now you were on a commercial flight to Arizona, with nothing but your resume to your name and your interview wear and the hope that this wasn’t going to be the biggest mistake you’d made to date.
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Once you had landed the staff made quick work of getting you to the facility, transporting you in windowless vehicles as they made the trip back with you rocking around, your thoughts consuming what sanity you had left with no way of knowing where you were, but eventually after what you could have assumed was at least a day, you found yourself being escorted down various corridors and stairwells as the staff mumbled on about having to get you acquainted with doctor Easterman.
“would I be able to ask something..?” You ask, watching one of the two guards turn in curiosity.
“depends.. fire away.”
“who is Dr Easterman..?” You ask, watching the guards exchange looks as you turn a corner.
“he’s our boss, your boss now too, he sort of, runs this whole thing, funds it..”
“Does he do anything within the actual system itself..?”
“Other than drink and drug himself to high heavens? I don’t think so”
You note it down in your head that he could possibly be inebriated before you’ve even met him, making yourself aware to catch any actions that could end in you having to ask at a time where you understand him to be in a more sober state.
“Are we nearly there or..? And will I have a compulsory unifo-”
“These are questions you’d be better asking him, we’re just escorts..”
“Ahh, very well.” you hum, following them into the elevator upwards towards the office wing.
With all these new things already swarming your head, you started to look on the bright side of your choice, maybe you would be seeing complexities earlier than you thought, and that then had you wondering how many clients you would be able to juggle, the exciting possibilities flowing endlessly through your head.
“Ack-hem.. Dr..?”
“Oh.. oh-!! Dr ___ is just fine!!” you respond, snapping out of your excited train of thought.
“Please sit!! I hear you’ve been escorted over from Oklahoma..?”
“Yes, I’ve just come from my Job interview, I was told it’s better to leave my life behind as early as possible..”
“Yes yes, much more efficient to have staff on sight as early as possible, You haven’t really got much to lose”
“Not anymore..”
“What was that..?” Easterman asked, his tone suddenly going sharp, your heart skipping a beat with anxiety.
“I- I was just saying that there's nothing much to lose Anymore..”
“Ahh ok, well, besides that remark, While you were on your way over here I had my bloodhound sniff out everything There is to know about you”
You freeze in your seat at his words, everything? That means surely they’d see how many resignations you’d given in, how many altercations you’d been in as a child, the therapy you’d gone through yourself as you grew, the profession you wanted to go into being therapy because you felt you’d finally be able to know what was wrong with yourself from your eyes but, to your great surprise, he only seemed to question your resignations.
“Now.. perhaps my interviewer should’ve researched your past before putting you through to us.. or even interviewing..”
“But..?” You ask.
“But luckily WE did.. I just want to ask about the resignations, why so many..?”
“Well.. I just didn’t feel I fit the role in some professions.. They didn’t challenge me” You say, Easterman cocking his head.
“How do you mean..?”
“All my clients were people I had dealt with before when it came to mentality, and none of them needed me that long.. I want more..”
“Complicated cases, something that’ll have you wanting to do more instead of forcing yourself to help them..?”
“Why.. yes! That’s kind of exactly my issue-”
“Then I can see why you applied here, most if not all the people we plan to have you focus on are very complex.”
“Well I’m more than eager to star-”
“Ah ah ah-! Not so fast there, we still have to destroy your government files before you can do that.”
“I’m sorry.. What??” you ask, your face dropping, did he really just say that? What have you gotten yourself into?
Easterman stands from his chair, walking over to his decanter and pouring a small glass of gin, treating this fact like it wasn’t the most concerning thing you can be told after accepting a job in some prestigious looking facility out in the middle of Arizona, when he sits back down, he takes a few shaky sips of his drink, setting the glass down as calmly as he can, looking up to meet your eyes after a while.
“God these employers really dont get my brief.. We have to destroy your records so that anything that’s heinous can’t be..”
“Cant be what..?”
“Traced back to you, we do this as a way to cleanse our staff and lab rats so to speak.. Of their sins.”
“Right.. Well.. what am I to do in my down time then? I'm assuming that I won't be able to leave this place”
“You’d be correct, I’ll have the staff that escorted you here escort you to the therapist sleep rooms.” He hums.
How a man as shaky and odd as him can sit there and explain to you that you’re basically leaving everything you ever did before this place and starting with a completely fresh slate was beyond you, how exactly do you process all this? Are you even allowed to? God you really need to read the fine print on job interview advertisements.
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Once the guards had eventually arrived, easterman handed you a handful of documents, explaining that each thick folder of a different colour was each prime asset’s case file, their behaviours, their past before this facility and their hiring process, to which you lightly thanked him, watching him pour another glass of gin as you left with the guards, them taking you through more confusing and long stairwells and corridors.
You thought about all of this as you were escorted down each path, the flight, the shaky car(?) ride and the conversation you had just had with Easterman. Was this life now? Would you be stuck here with no true way of returning to that life you once led? Did you even really mind that? Perhaps not, as even with all this crashing down upon you, you didn’t feel that it really mattered, at least you had a job now.
“Ma’am..? Here’s your sleep room” the guard to your left says, waving his hand in front of you.
“Oh.. oh! Thank you, sorry was just.. In a mind of my own there- I apologise” you stutter, going pink as they mumble amongst each other.
You watch as one guard fumbles for the key, the guard who’d just snapped you out of your trance like state tapping his foot impatiently. As you let them continue on you look around the corridor to see the other therapists, mostly made up of female staff, talking to one another, glancing back at you occasionally as they continue on, you shook your head, choosing to ignore the others and focus back on the guards, who were now bickering amongst each other over something different.
“You were getting my key..?”
“Ahh yes.. Sorry miss..”
One of the guard sheepishly gets the keys from his belt, what little of his face you could see was going pink as you take the key from him, thanking him kindly as you fiddle with the key before unlocking your room, stepping in and looking up to..
“Wow its..! It’s certainly something.. Tell me we can at least accessorize.."
“Well.. I mean you can but you only get so much to spend and there's only so much you can request for..”
“Right.. Well.. thank you, is this all? I mean with the whole tour and..”
“Yes, easterman said once you’re shown your room you’re able to either socialize or you can sleep, I can imagine you’ll be tired..”
“You’re not wrong there.. Thank you, both of you-!” you say, watching their eyes crease up as they smile.
You watch as they walk away down the corridor, taking one look around at your other colleagues still talking as you enter your room, locking the door behind you and closing the bland blind on your sleep room window, plopping yourself on the bed with a long sigh.
This day had been a lot, from having an interview just this morning to now being trapped in a prison like facility on the job as a therapist, who now has no records to allow you to run from all this and start your life up again, and now a job you don’t even know will properly fulfill that void that so desperately craves for the challenge of someone complex enough to force one.
“What have I done..” is all you can think about as you check inside your dresser, to find a row of shirts and skirts patented with the murkoff facility logo, below that rested sleep wear, a choice between a short-ish blue nightdress patented with the same logo as the formal wear and a pajama set of a shirt and pants, striped white and baby blue with, yet again, the same logo printed on them, god they love their logo.
With that, you pick up the nightdress, placing it on your bed and beginning to undress yourself, placing your heels in the drawers beneath the cupboard before unzipping your dress, folding it neatly and placing it where your nightdress lay beforehand. One they were taken off you followed suit with jewels like your earrings and bracelets and lastly your gloves, only after they were placed either in your nightstand or with your dress did you put your nightdress on, the fabric touching your knees, the soft and, what you could assume, was silk brushed against you nicely, the fabric proving to be comfortable as you walked to the sink now, looking at yourself as you now had to let your hair down.
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You look up at yourself, your face looking tired and weary, almost as if you had completely let go of facial function once you had entered your room, your eyes specifically giving off a feeling of exhaustion as you looked closer. But there was no need to dwell on that now, you could hopefully fix that tomorrow, A shower, maybe a wash of your face would help you feel more alive but right now, all that mattered was that you got some sleep and maybe tried to make a friend or two in the morning, maybe..