After two hours of sitting in backed up traffic, and lots of excessive honking from Carl, the cab that held the tired ravenette finally pulled up onto the Parish Police Station curb.

"We're here," Carl groaned, turning back to look at her. "I'm so sorry for the inconvenience... and my excessive honking."

It was excessive all right.

"Don't worry about it," Marinette groaned as well, disregarding his way of trying to lighten the mood while she began to open her door to exit the cab. Carl exited out his door as well, making his way towards the trunk of the vehicle to help her with her bags.

"How much do I owe you?" Marientte asked him once she had her bags on the ground. Reaching into her small handbag to pull out her wallet, she was stopped by his own hand.

"Not necessary," he replied, "Think of it as a 'welcome to France' kind of gift."

She smiled and nodded, "Thank you. I appreciate it."

"Anytime," he returned the smile. "If you need another cab, anytime, give me a ring." He added, pulling out his card from his pocket to hand to her.

She took it from him and stuffed it into her own pocket. "Thanks. I'll be sure to keep you in mind."

He nodded with a two finger salute, and returned to the driver's seat of his cab. Pulling away from the curb, she was left all alone with her two suitcases in front of the one building she had been trying to find all day.

Entering through the main door, she was greeted by the public face of the Parish Police Station. A tall, somewhat cold looking man stood behind the desk, not even bothering to look up upon her entrance. She slowly approached his desk, unsure of what to say as his fingers moved rapidly across the keyboard.

"Hello sir," she greeted him once she had reached his desk, unaware of her own fingers tapping lightly against his desk impatiently. "I'm the new policeman who is supposed to be recruited tomorrow."

He nodded without saying a word, and his eyes never left the computer screen in front of him as he asked, "Name?"

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng," she replied.

The man nodded, his eyes still glued to the screen. Silence fell in between them once again, and Marinette felt somewhat uncomfortable standing there without any sort of conversation.

But... she also wasn't complaining on the lack of communication.

After making multiple clicks with his cursor, he said, "Alya Césaire will be showing you around."

The ravenette quickly felt a tap on her shoulder, and turned around, only to come face to face with a pair of brown, curious eyes staring at her.

"Hi! My name is Alya Césaire!" The woman before her spoke so cheerfully; too cheerfully. She reached out for Marinette's hand and gave it a firm shake. "I'll be giving you the grand tour!"

Mairnette simply nodded, a sense of fear and a vibe of weirdness for this woman filled her entire body. This wasn't exactly how she expected her welcome to be like. This woman before her with ombré colored hair was definitely the whole package... one Marinette had been hoping to never receive.

"Follow me!" Alya quickly added, pulling on the ravenette's hand, that she still hasn't released yet, behind her. Marinette quickly scrambled out of her hold to grab both of her bags, and trudged hopelessly behind her new, chirpy colleague.

"First time on the force?" She asked as she led Marinette down the hall to who knows where. Marinette simply nodded in response. This whole situation she was in was making her extremely uncomfortable.

However, this Alya girl didn't seem to notice her extravagant behavior. "Well, you'll be with me throughout this entire 'work era'," she quoted her fingers and let out a snort of laughter, and Marinette could stare in confusion, wondering in all honestly if this woman had completely lost her mind.

By the time Alya had given Marinette pretty much the grand tour of the whole place, Marinette was for sure she had done all her walking for one day. Alya, on the other hand, was still as hyper as a person could ever be. Turning around to face her new colleague, her eyes landed on the ravenette's suitcases. "Oh dear! Do you have a place to stay?"

Marinette shook her head. After getting this job opportunity at the last minute, she hadn't really had a chance to look for an apartment in Paris. She hasn't really gotten a chance to plan anything.

"Oh, that won't be a problem," Alya giggled, "You can stay with me in my apartment!"

Marinette wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing, but she wasn't about to deny the offer. If her new colleague was allowing her to stay at her apartment, it sure did beat sleeping on a park bench.

"I didn't quite catch your name?" Alya titled her head to the side. After all the excitement that had just occurred, Marinette realized she hadn't said a single word to the woman who had just offered her a place to stay.

"It's Marinette. Marinette Dupian-Cheng."

Alya gasped, "Oh! I love your name! Is it Chinese or something?"

Marinette's eyes widened slightly. "M-My last name. How did you know that?"

"I used to live in China— only for a few years!" Alya babbled. "I lived there for about two years with my boyfriend. It was an awesome experience!"

Marinette just nodded, a nervous smile stretching out across her lips. This Alya sure was a character, and probably a complete handful.

Something else she'd have to get used to.

_______________________________

I know the story isn't really that exciting yet, but the excitement is soon to come.

My friend told me the other day, "Man, you're constantly writing."

And I said, "Writing is my oxygen."

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