In all grey

Each morning it took me over ten minutes to get through security, through the steel locked doors, finally making it to the staff wing.

“Morning Red!” Steve shouted, a million keys connected to his belt.

“Morning Steve,” I smiled, before I walked down my corridor. Steve was one of the many shift managers, one of the loveliest guys I have ever met. Red wasn’t actually my name, just a nickname the wing staff called me, thanks to the mountain of red curls on the top of my head, dyed obviously due to my brown skin not producing red hair naturally.

“Good morning Fleur,” my assistant Lilian said as I came into my office. It was tiny, almost a cupboard but I had decked it out nicely, sitting at the glass desk.

“Morning Lilian,” I turned my computer on, my eyes flicking up at her. I had only been given the privilege of an assistant in the last few months, government money suddenly caring about what I did. As awful as it sounded, I wasn’t the one who did the interviews, because if I did, Lilian wouldn’t be standing here. While she was a nice enough woman, her blonde hair over her shoulders, but she looked terrified every second of the day.

“I’ve looked at your diary, it’s pretty full,” she sighed and I got it up on my computer screen, scanning the slots. It wasn’t busier than any normal day, so I wasn’t too worried.

“You’ve got a new guy at three,” she squeaked out and I clicked on the hour block, just the name and prison number showing.

“Thanks, you okay Lilian?” I had to ask, opening up my emails and printing off the report I had received about my new client.

“Yeah,” she nodded quickly and I stood, pulling my black pencil skirt down, really wanting me and Lilian to have a good relationship. My role within Her Majesty’s prison Suffolk was majority prisoner facing but I also had a mountain of paperwork, which meant I stayed way too late every evening, so I could really do with the help.

“How you finding it here?” I asked a more direct question, getting the report from the printer and she took a deep breath in, not a good sign.

“I’m still getting used to it, when I went home yesterday there were about ten of them walking with a guard,” she grimaced and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that statement. I’m sure it was written all over the job interview that this was a prison, a category A one at that, the most secure type in England. I didn’t see the men I worked with as anything other than people who needed a second or third chance, people who were the most vulnerable.

“It becomes just an office, soon enough,” I tried to laugh, because that statement wasn’t actually true, but I needed her to relax.

“At least I don’t have one on one time with them, like you I suppose,” she shrugged, a tiny smile on her face and again, I didn’t like that either.

“It’s my job Lilian, to help them,” I half scoffed, going out into the tea area, her close behind.

“Don’t you ever get scared?” She asked as I made my coffee, trying not to roll my eyes.

“No,” I answered honestly, putting the spoon in the sink. “I’ve never even had a prisoner raise his voice at me,” I pointed out. All of the men I worked with were three months away from their release date after serving long sentences. It was a job I adored and although some came back, a lot did make it, and it made me go all gooey inside when they did. On the outside world and to my loved ones, they were dangerous men, some of the worst in society but I never saw them like that. “Michael, for example,” I paused, taking a sip. “He is one of the sweetest men I’ve ever met,” I chuckled, thinking of my first meeting.

“What was his crime?” Lilian wondered, pretty much ignoring everything else I just said.

“Murder,” I said blankly, moving out of her way as she turned the kettle back on.

“Oh,” her voice was tiny and yeah, Michael was sentenced to twenty years for an awful crime but that was nearly twenty years ago and maybe I was foolish or naive, but I felt he wasn’t that man anymore. It was likely if I didn’t believe that I wouldn’t be good at my job, so that definitely helped me sleep at night.

“You work in a prison Lilian,” I laughed then, when nothing else was working.

“Do you need any help for your new appointment?” She followed me back into my office and I sat down, the report in front of me.

“I’ll have a look through now and let you know, thanks,” I smiled and she shut the door behind her. The second I pulled the report towards me, my desk phone rang. It was likely Michael’s wing, telling me he was on the way.

“Fleur,” I answered quickly, crossing my legs.

“Fleur, it’s Owen.” His voice was stern and I took a long breath in, wondering why the prison director was calling me on a Thursday morning.

“Hi Owen, how are you?” I didn’t really care but I could feel my back sweating already.

“I’m well, I just got a notification that you are seeing Joshua Campbell today.” He made it seem like a question, but it clearly wasn’t. As I looked down at the report in my hand, I saw that exact same, so yes I apparently was.

“Yes, he is my three a clock,” I smiled, even though he couldn’t see me.

“I’m calling to give you a heads up, Joshua is unlike any of the other men you see,” he sighed and I skimmed the report, the only obvious thing was his date of birth. All of the men I helped were in their sixties at a minimum but from my quick calculations, Joshua had just turned thirty two, two years older than me.

“Right,” I dragged out, wishing he would hurry along with this.

“He is dangerous Fleur and I know you are aware of what you’re doing but remember your panic alarm-”

“Yeah, of course,” I cut over Owen, still not sure about this conversation. My panic alarm was connected to my lanyard, something I wasn’t allowed to take off, the second I walked into the building. “I’m sure he will be fine, but I will have my back up,” I lied, because that wasn’t my style at all.

“Let me know how you get on,” he hung up then and I put the phone down, reading this report. It was all simple stuff really, other than his sentence, which actually made me sad. At seventeen, Joshua was sentenced to fifteen years, and he had pretty much done the whole time here at Suffolk. His offence was armed robbery, which in my head seemed like a harsh sentence but, that was all the information I had.

“Fleur, your first appointment is here,” Lilian poked her head in, and I put the report in my desk drawer, standing as Michael came in. His face full of wrinkles but also a huge smile.

“Not long to go now Fleur,” he said excitedly.

“A week, in a week’s time Michael, you can have that beer.”