Rewritten

Chapter 2

Daniel walks her up to the front desk inside the building. Brown benches line the walls and two corridors branch off on either side of the back wall.

"I'm here to drop off my cousin. She will be renting an apartment here for some time." Daniel explains falsely.

"There is a bit of paperwork needed to be filled out for that." The tall, dark man lays a stack of papers in front of them.

"You must complete these and pay a registration fee as well as the monthly charges."

"All right, we will start right away. Correct me if I'm wrong, but she will get into her apartment tonight?" Daniel asks.

"I'm sorry sir but there is always a wait." The man informs.

"There must be something we can do."

"I'm sure we could speed things up somewhat if it is absolutely necessary. Do you have anyone you could stay with until arrangements are made?" He says, directing his attention to Patsy for the first time.

"I must get a room tonight. There is no one I could stay with. Let's make this quick, shall we?" Patsy says firmly, also lying.

"Ma'am, it's not so easy. You must fill out those papers before eight o'clock pm tonight and even then you may not get in until midnight. If you please, I need to see ID and I need your signature on the lines."

"I understand." Patsy responds as she takes the pen from the desk. She fills it out entirely within minutes. She passes the papers along with her ID to the man at the desk and he looks at her, very impressed.

"Wow, it's only quarter past seven. She still has plenty of time if she needed it. Are you sure she filled it all out?" He responds to Daniel with raised eyebrows.

"Yes, I'm certain."

"How will you be paying for it?"

"Cash, if it's not too much trouble." Causally, Patsy slips out hundreds of bills to pay for the necessary costs. The apartment worker is astonished when he takes the money and flips it in his hands.

"That will be all for now. We just need to run a few authenticity tests to make sure that you are permitted to take occupancy in one of our apartments. Feel free to wait in the lobby." He says smoothly as he straightens the papers and sends them off with another worker.

Daniel and Patsy sit adjacent each other on the lobby benches. Daniel leans onto his elbows and stares at the ground for some time.

Patsy rubs her eyes and crosses her legs. They sit in silence for hours.

A phone call interrupts the still air. The man at the desk picks it up and repeatedly responds with "yes" or "I understand." After he puts the phone back in it's dock he waves them over.

"It's your lucky day. We've just had an opening and all your information checks out. And great news, it's only eleven o'clock! That was the quickest registration we have ever had." The tall man informs quite spritely almost to be overflowing with excitement. He probably doesn't get much excitement.

"That's great. Would you mind wrapping things up? I would prefer to get in my apartment right away. It's been a long, tiresome day and I need my rest." Patsy suggests with a lazy posture, leaning over the desk.

"Oh, well yes, right away. Um, well then, you are in apartment 272 on the top floor. We have quite the large complex here, try not to get lost. We don't have people getting paid to guide you through the building." The man says with a disturbing smirk.

"Thank you, you are a kind man." Patsy says with little enthusiasm.

Daniel lives up to his story by taking Patsy's arm and guiding her up to her room. The elevator is quiet until Daniel breaks the silence.

"Do you think he believed it? He seemed somewhat intrigued by you." Daniel teases.