Putting what I saw at the back of my mind, I walked into the lobby and noticed Lexa sitting behind the desk writing something down. Going over to her, I raised my hand in a wave and called out to her.
“Excuse me, Lexa.” Stopping her writing, she looked over at me with a raised eyebrow. “I slept through my alarm a little, is dinner still being served?”
Placing her pen down on the desk, she nodded.
“It is. Dinner lasts until eight thirty due to the fact that some people arrive late because of work.” Pushing her chair back to stand up, she clasped her hands behind her back. “I can show you where we get our food, it’s also the place where the people who come here work. Starting tomorrow you’re also going to be working there.”
Eyebrows going up to my hairline, I felt surprised. I didn’t remember Jenny or Nurse Joy telling me about working while I was here, although, I think Nurse Joy did say something about this place being new. I guess they couldn’t scrap together all the information about this place that existed, still, I’m not too against getting a job so quickly. More money means a faster way to start out my path in this life.
“I’d appreciate it.” Watching her walk around the desk, she motioned for me to follow her. “Work huh? What am I going to have to do?”
Opening the door to the city, Lexa waited for me to walk past her before catching up to me.
“It’s…nothing hard.” Pausing after the first word, she seemed to choose her words carefully. “You’ll be working at the casino. For now, all you’re going to have to do tomorrow is smile and make sure everyone is having a good time. After that, we’ll probably teach you how to take orders and serve our customers. Once you get that down…well…let’s just see how you manage as a new worker, hm?”
Not commenting on the pause, I hummed in agreement. Seemed pretty straight forward, lucky me. I guess that guy I saw earlier got his customers from there along with some of the girls in the institute. Hey, I won’t judge.
Taking a look around Celadon, I was taken aback by just how beautiful it was. The neon signs that were on in the afternoon now shone all around like a rainbow of luminescent light. It was dazzlingly beautiful. The way that the colors of all different shades shined into the night paired well, as if I was in a futuristic sci-fi movie. Looking up, I could see the stars, not having been dimmed from the glow that the city put into the air. All of this adding on to the fact that there somehow seemed to be even more people out and about made it a fact to me that this was definitely a night city.
Watching a man hold onto what I assumed to be his girl as he stumbled with both their faces tinted red giving off the idea that they had been drinking, I held back a laugh. A street performer was gathering a crowd on a corner by having a Bulbasaur balance him on his vine whips, all the people that surrounded him gasped in awe as the Pokemon raised him higher and higher, his balance never faltering. In front of a building that was playing music, a vendor was selling freshly made meat sticks for both humans and Pokemon alike, when the air blew the smell in my direction I could detect a small note of teriyaki. It was amazing. Everywhere I looked people were doing something fun or just sitting on a bench enjoying each other's time. It felt nice.
“Is this your first time in Celadon?” Tearing my gaze away from the various sights, I acknowledged Lexa’s question.
“It is.” I said with a nod. Remembering the story I made up, I added something else. “At least I think so, kinda hard to know for sure.”
Tilting her head towards me, a miniscule smile formed on Lexa’s lips.
“I’m sure it is.” She asserted, an inside joke unmistakable in her tone. “I think we would have noticed someone with your good looks a lot sooner.” Seeing her eyes trace my face down to my chest and back up, she asked a question. “Did anyone ever ask you if you're related to Brock? There aren’t too many men with both of your skin tones in Kanto, although you’re on the lighter side compared to him by a single shade.”
Taking the compliment she gave me and ignoring the way she checked me out not so subtly, earning a little wider of a smile to appear on her face, I shrugged.
“Not really.” I looked forward and put my hands in my pockets. “Nurse Joy already drew my blood and searched the system and got no matches back. I’m sure whoever that is probably has some information of themself in the database. So if on the off chance we were related, she would have told me.”
Widening her eyes before relaxing her expression, Lexa stepped a little closer.
“So you don’t have any family? No friends to worry about you? You’re just…alone?” A weird inflection entering her voice, I grew a little creeped out but otherwise ignored it. “That has to be upsetting. I’m sorry.”
Relaxing at thinking that she was just showing worry in an odd way, I responded.
“That’s just life I guess.” I shrugged again.
“Hmm.” Humming to herself, we looked straight ahead while we maneuvered through the endless sea of crowds towards where I would get my dinner.
Coming to a stop in front of a building, I looked up in awe. About three times as big as the help center I was introduced to, it had the words “CELADON GAME CENTER” in big bold letters lit up in golden, flashing lights, on a sign slapped right at the top. There had to be at least twenty floors inside with the way it towered in the sky, and with how wide it is, plenty of space.
“Let’s go inside. It’s best to introduce you to some of the people you’ll be working with anyway.” Heading inside after giving me a moment to take in the sight, I followed right behind her.
Doors sliding open, the first thing I noticed was that there were a ton of slot machines, and at a majority of them people of all legal ages were sitting down trying their best to win. The next thing I noticed was the orange rugging. Not the particular color I personally would have chosen, but the fact that I remembered the game having a similar color scheme quelled any complaints. There was even a counter built in the back where a few workers stood behind it either waiting for customers to cash in, or currently dealing with customers varying from angry, happy, sad, or downright serious.
Following behind Lexa, I couldn’t help but register the fact that the men who walked around serving the customers wore tight shorts and sleeveless tuxedo shirts. Grimacing at imagining myself wearing those types of clothes I couldn't help but compare it to women wearing equally short skirts and just as tight tops. Watching one particular guy carry a tray of alcohol, only to stop at the customer he was delivering to and start flirting, I thought to myself that it wasn’t too bad as long as I could make myself forget the fact of how embarrassing it is to be wearing that type of outfit. Flirting really isn’t a problem for me, well, as long as she’s attractive at least.
Reaching a door that looked like it headed towards a kitchen, at least from what I can see in the circular window on the door, I finally voiced my worries.
“Hey Lexa.” Watching her stop with her hand on the door before going through to turn around, I pointed to a nearby male worker. “Is that outfit mandatory?”
Following my line of sight, Lexa raised an eyebrow before turning back to me.
“Is there a problem with the outfit?” She asked, eyebrow still raised.
“Ah.” Pausing I looked back at the tight shorts making sure I didn’t hurl on sight at seeing the outline of the guys dick in the process. “It’s just a little…too much compared to what I’m used to.” I finished after my pause.
The sounds of slots going off, the groans and cheers of patrons, and the idle everyday conversation of those around us filled the silence that appeared between us. Scratching my cheek awkwardly at seeing Lexa just stare at me, I refused to speak and waited for a reply.
“If I say anything first it might make it seem like I’ll fold under pressure.” Making sure to look her in the eyes, I waited. “If I can get out of wearing that, I can handle a little awkward silence.”
After a few moments of what felt like passive pressure, it was eventually broken by Lexa letting out a sigh.
“You are new, so I guess it wouldn’t be fair to make you wear something you wouldn’t be comfortable in.” She relented reluctantly. “We also need a few men who work here to be dressed a little classy.” Murmuring that last sentence, she looked away and nodded her head. “You know what, I think I can allow that. Would you be fine in pants with a slit going from both sides of your pant legs to show your thigh and legs?”
“Perfectly fine with that! I’m even alright with the shirt to be honest!” Getting a little excited at the prospect of not wearing those overly tight shorts, I threw a bone back to her.
“Don’t worry about that.” Waving me off, she looked back at the door. “We’ll have you in a button up dress shirt, and it’ll be way nicer than the one you came in.”
“Sounds good!” I said with a big smile.
With that settled, we entered the kitchen.