Romantic love story

Chapter Thirteen: Not Much Pride, but Some Prejudice

A shy smile tilted her lips.

"Okay, now there's some legal jargon you need to read before signing this. It basically states you give me permission to verify credit information, references from your previous landlord, any criminal history, and basically anything that would give me information as to the desirability of having you for a tenant. Here, I'll let you read it for yourself." He got up, handed it to her, then went back to the recliner.

The scared bunny-rabbit-look came over her again. "Are you going to do all this? Are you going to do a background check?"

He couldn't help laughing. "What do you think? Do you see me torturing you for information?"

"Please, Terry, don't."

"I wasn't planning to, but out of curiosity, why not?"

Her chin tucked against her chest, and he could no longer see those gray eyes.

"Okay, Maddie. If that's what you want, I give you my word I won't do any background checks without your permission. This is ridiculous, because I wasn't going to do it anyway, but if it'll help you sleep easier, you have my word. Here. Take the pen and cross out the clause."

The hand holding the form shook like a tremoring earthquake.

"I'm not angry, all right? Take the pen. Cross out whatever you want, but then sign the thing. I must be completely nuts. Anyone in their right mind would insist on some answers, but not me. Here-- take the pen." When she remained where she was, Terry tossed it to her.

She stared at him.

Quietly, Izumi moved to the kitchen doorway. She had been listening, probably couldn't help but listen since she was only in the kitchen.

"Maddie, you're going to have to trust me on this. You need a place to stay, and if you don't take one of my apartments, no one will let you sign a lease without a visible source of income and absolutely no form of identity besides a Social Security number and no card to back it up. You don't even have a birth certificate, do you?"

The slender daisy was silent.

"Did you bring one to Three Mile Bay?"

She shook her head.

"But you did have one, right? Back where you came from, you did have a birth certificate?"

She nodded, "yes."

"Okay then." Terry leaned back in the recliner. "My next project is to look into getting your birth certificate replaced. I don't think you can get another Social Security card without one, and now that you have a current place of residence to go with your name, I think it should help get these documents replaced. I don't know for certain, of course, never having found a need to replace every shred of my identity from the ground up." He waited a beat, and when she didn't smile, he sighed. "Would you sign the thing before I become an old man? I'd like to get this over with."

She clicked the pen, placed the form against her notebook, and with a gathering look of fierce concentration, dug the ballpoint deep into the paper. Painfully, and with great effort, she formed each shaky stroke, just as she had in the doctor's office when filling out that patient questionnaire.

Terry flicked a glance at Izumi. He'd taken in a stray puppy who had no collar or tag to indicate a previous owner.

Worrying her bottom lip, Madison examined the marks she'd just made before looking at him.

"I think I messed it up."

Izumi gave him a look of sympathy as she went back to the kitchen.

"It's okay. I'm sure it's good enough." He took back the form, saw the signature gouged deep into the paper and said nothing. He wrote in the date, attached his name to it, then got up to file it away and get his laptop.