Love is Merely Madness ~ Book 1 ~ Batman Begins

Chapter 1: New Girl

Chapter 1 - New Girl

Finally, after a series of delays and reroutes, Kathryn Knightly made it from Pensacola, Florida to Gotham City, New Jersey.

The first thing she noticed when departing the airport was the weather. A complete turnaround from what she's used to in the orange state. Not that Kathryn expected it, she knew what she was up against. She knew that the scent of sea salt would leave her nose, replaced with the smell of cigarettes and gasoline. The man sitting behind her was to blame for the stink.

The skies were color drained without a trace of sunshine or white clouds. Water surrounded the city and under its bridge, but no one could jump in because of the cool temperature.

There were no palm trees or gardens, nor sandcastles to build. If Kathryn was going to have a tan, she must buy a tanning salon membership. She had an olive complexion that would soon fade. She hadn't been here that long, and already, she felt the need to have some heat on her face.

The first she did after setting foot in this city was to grab a bite to eat. The driver recommended Gotham's Café - what an original name. He claimed the place had the best burgers, though she preferred chicken.

Waiting at her table outside, she was reading the Arkham handbook, absorbing the asylum's rules and regulations in her mind. She was shocked to receive the job offer from Arkham's founder thanks to her professor from Florida Tech.
She was the youngest in the school. Most of her classmates contained experience before application. Kathryn had done the same throughout the process by volunteering at day camps for Autism kids then interning at a psychiatric clinic without pay. After all that, Professor Rutherford chose her. Nervousness was putting it lightly. Kathryn was terrified about the phone interview with Doctor Arkham. Thanks to her parents' encouragement and her little sister's relaxing massage, it went better than expected. She was hired on the spot.

Parents should be thrilled that their child had found a high-paying job, but most of them wouldn't like the idea of their baby moving a thousand miles away to work at an asylum for the criminally insane. Melissa Knightly was horrified when she had done her research, forbidding the idea of Kathryn leaving the nest. Unfortunately for her, Kathryn didn't require her mother's permission. This proved to be a big step towards independence, especially to a five-foot girl like Kathryn Knightly. The butterflies still hadn't gone away after leaving the house, but Kathryn must do this. Rare opportunities like this could only happen once in a lifetime.

"Good afternoon, ma'am," a blonde waitress arrived. She looked like the typical it-girl from high school, the top on a cheerleader's pyramid, the Barbie doll.

"My name's Elise, and I'll be taking care of you." Her pen was hovering over the paper, ready to write. "What can I get you?" she asked.

"Um..." Kathryn didn't get a chance to look at the menu because her main focus was on the Arkham handbook, "I'm not sure."

The waitress looked up at her with a straight face. "Do you have a preference?"

Kathryn raised her head in confusion. "I'm sorry?"

Elise repeated herself.

"Um..." Kathryn shrugged, "I do. I like chicken and steak-"

"Then I recommend World Class Chicken. It's a marinated, grilled chicken breast topped with brown sugar bacon and the veggies you normally put in a sandwich. Oh, and the bun is dressed in honey-lime. Don't get confused with honey-lemon, that's gross."

Kathryn's eyes scanned through the menu until she spotted the chicken sandwich. If she could judge a book by its cover, Kathryn would say that the sandwich looked delicious.