“No, this is fine.” Cheyenne picked up one of the pens and started filling out the personal information on the front page.
“Excuse me, ma’am. I don’t mean to be rude, but we do have a strict policy with our lease agreements. I’ll just go get a different form, and we can start again. I’m sorry, Ms. Gaderow. I didn’t even think—”
“Caroline?” Cheyenne looked slowly up from the papers and shot the woman an understanding smile. “We don’t need a different form. Does your system process debit cards?”
“Uh, yes, we do.” The woman nervously licked her lips.
“Great. Then we’ll go with that, and I’ll be paying in cash today.” The halfling turned her attention back to the paperwork and skimmed quickly over the contents.
Caroline slowly sank back down into the leather chair, her hands clasped in her lap as she stared at the Goth chick filling out the forms to become Pellerville Gables Apartments’ newest resident. She glanced quickly from Cheyenne to Ember and back again, her lips moving without any sound.
Cheyenne filled out everything but left the signature lines blank. She tapped the pen on the conference table. “There’s just one more detail, though, before we’re finished.” Here we go. Now I’m channeling Bianca Summerlin.
“I…we…yes?” Caroline stared at her like someone had pressed a gun against her back.
“I’d like to rent the unit you showed us today.”
“Oh, I…we don’t rent those, ma’am.” The woman looked at Ember, but the fae girl just rolled her chair away from the table and smiled.
“Well, I’m sure we can make an exception, can’t we?”
Caroline swallowed. “Not as far as I’m concerned.”
“Okay.” Cheyenne gave the woman a sharp, dismissive smile, her nose wrinkling, and set the pen down. “We’ll try this another way, then.”
When the halfling slid the completed paperwork back across the table toward Caroline, the woman pressed herself back in the executive chair, her eyes nearly popping out of her head.
Then Cheyenne stood and stepped toward the woman, tapping her pen on the top sheet of paper. “I know this is the apartment you’ve typed up, but I would really like to get into the one you showed us today. I have grown attached to that particular view.”
Caroline cleared her throat, tried to speak, then cleared it again. “I’m sorry, Ms….” The woman leaned stiffly forward over the papers to read Cheyenne’s full name and almost choked. “Summerlin?”
“Cheyenne is fine.”
The woman jumped up out of the chair and pressed a hand on the contract, her face flushing bright red as she blinked furiously. “Let me make some calls and see what I can do for you. If you don’t mind waiting.”
“I don’t mind at all.” Cheyenne grinned, and with another clearing of her throat, Caroline tried to nod before turning swiftly away and slipping right back out of the conference room again.
Ember slapped her hands down on the wheelchair’s armrests. “What the hell was that?”
“That was me being a Summerlin.”
The fae laughed and shook her head. “Lit a fire under her ass. Does that happen all the time?”
Cheyenne shrugged and dropped into the closest chair again. “Pretty much. Even when I’m not actively trying to use it for something, my name gets me the looks. It’s super fun.”
“I can’t believe I’ve never seen you do that before.”
“Actually, this is the first time I’ve pulled the Bianca’s-daughter card like this. I don’t need to use my last name as a crutch, but it does have its perks.”
Ember let out a disbelieving snort and shook her head. “That’s a serious understatement.”
“But hey, she’s making calls. That’s gotta be worth something, right?”
“Not as much as throwing your name around, apparently. And she thought you worked for me!”
* * *
Ten minutes later, a tall, rail-thin man in a well-tailored business suit stepped into the conference room. “So sorry to keep you waiting, Ms. Summerlin.”
Cheyenne stood to shake his outstretched hand, and the man didn’t flinch when she held his gaze and gave his fingers a squeeze with a little extra boost. Like he’s looking at Bianca instead of her Goth daughter. Here we go. “Not a problem. Call me Cheyenne.”
“Pleasure, Cheyenne. William Alban. Have a seat, please.” He gestured toward the chair she’d been sitting in, then readjusted his suit jacket and took a seat. “It’s not every day someone steps through those doors wanting to lease one of our show units.”
“Well, it’s not every day I find a show unit I like so much that I’ll do what it takes to get it.”
William chuckled and slid the paperwork toward him across the table, then removed a personal pen from the inside pocket of his suit jacket. “It’s unit 301 in Building One you had your eye on, correct?”
“That’s the one.” As the man scratched out the unit number on the lease and initialed beside it, Cheyenne and Ember shared a knowing look.
“Very good. We shouldn’t have a problem reallocating everything to a different unit to get you in as soon as possible. By Friday of next week, the place is yours.” He looked at her with a small smile, like he’d been called in to handle something that should’ve been easy for Caroline to take care of. Which he had. “If you’ll just initial beside where I’ve changed the unit number, you can sign the rest of this, and we’ll get you that loft apartment.”
Cheyenne sucked in a breath through her teeth and gave him an apologetic smile. “Friday’s a little late for me.”
“Oh. Well, when were you wanting to move in?”
“As soon as I sign this lease.”
William laughed, but when Cheyenne didn’t, he stopped immediately and cleared his throat. “Ms. Summerlin—”
“Cheyenne.”
“Cheyenne, I’m sorry, but it’s not possible to get that unit
