Order up!
Who: Cheyenne and Shoshannah
Where: Nighthawk's Diner
When: Evening
After her lunch with Ian Sullivan, Shoshannah left The Drake Hotel feeling light as a feather. Her parents had been completely wrong about that place. There wasn't anything for her to be worried about. The hotel itself was gorgeous and if all the staff were as friendly and accommodating as Ian was then there truly was no reason for her to worry.
She found herself in the back of a cab the doorman had hailed for her. Shoshannah had directed the man to take her to the park, so she stayed silent while the ride was in progress, staring lazily out the window with her thoughts as her only company. Ian was cute. Ian was nice. Ian didn't think something was wrong with her. She could safely say that she was happy to have met him.
By the time she was at the park, Shoshannah was ready to max out the film strip inside her camera with pictures of the scenery. The day itself might be dreary, but that didn't mean she couldn't search for the perfect picture. It didn't take long for Shoshannah to feel the chill of the day, though, and start craving a big mug of hot chocolate to warm her up.
She mulled down the road until she came upon yet another place she'd not been allowed to go as a child. Nighthawk's Diner. Today was a day of firsts for Shoshannah, so why not experience a real diner for the first time too?
Opening the door, she was caught off guard immediately by the hustle and bustle of the diner. People were constantly moving, constantly talking, and Shoshannah was instantly overwhelmed. Did she seat herself or did she wait? How was she supposed to order at this place? She looked completely lost as she scanned the crowd for a sign of any help. Settling on the bar counter, Shoshannah hurried to the nearest stool and sat down, eager to get out of the entrance and seated. With a menu shoved in her hands, Shoshannah found herself just staring at the page. She wasn't readying anything, instead her mind just shutting down in the presence of all this activity.
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Cheyenne was at the diner. Her camera was on the counter, though it was with much less positive a motive than usual. Now she was just obsessively taking shots around her at random times, wondering if she might capture the man who was stalking her. Fucking man. Whoever he was.
She wasn't oblivious enough, however, to miss the fact that the girl who sat down next to her looked like a rabbit in the headlights. Cheyenne's more generous nature most certainly won out, and she smiled a little, reaching out to touch the girl lightly on the wrist. "Hey, are you okay sweetie?" she asked. Pretty girl. That she could tell right away. Cheyenne liked her hair, and she had a nicely flawless looking complexion. She looked vaguely familiar, but she had no idea what that might be. Sometimes she got that, and it wasn't because she'd ever seen the person, it was because she just got that feeling off of them. Which meant she was going to have to get a photograph.
Shoshannah jolted slightly,
Shoshannah jolted slightly, plastering a smile on her face so the nice woman beside her wouldn't think she was weird. Hopefully wouldn't think she was weird, anyway. She placed the menu down on the table, turning toward Cheyenne with a light-hearted laugh. "This is my first time here. It's a little overwhelming, don't you think? Everything's so busy and crowded..." Definitely unlike the private lunch she'd had with Ian earlier.
Extending a hand to Cheyenne, she added, "I'm Shoshannah Hagel. It's nice to meet you, Miss...?" She should have seen the camera on the counter earlier. With her own camera hanging around her neck, she pointed toward Cheyenne's. "You're a photographer?"
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Hagel...that sounded familiar too. She was pretty sure her family had dealings with Hagels. Still, she smiled, and shook her hand. "This is your first time here?" she asked. And man if she thought this place was busy and overwhelming, she must not have got out much. The city was kind of a teeming hub of activity. "Cheyenne Walker. Nice to meet you too, and yes! I see you are as well!"
Bet you a thousand dollars that you've taken more interesting pictures than I have of late. she thought. "Isn't that fortuitous? What do you like to shoot?" she asked. God, this was good for her. Having a distraction, however minor, Cheyenne was stupidly grateful for.
Shoshannah couldn't deny
Shoshannah couldn't deny that this woman was gorgeous. How Cheyenne had managed to find herself behind the camera was surprising for her. "Yes, this is my first time here. I just came from the Drake Hotel. It was my first time there as well!" She seemed proud of herself, as if coming from the Drake was something sort of accomplishment.
"Me? Anything and everything I can." Shoshannah admitted, her voice drifting off in a sort of dreamy way. Her camera was one sure thing she could always count on. "I took a few shots of the lobby of the Drake and then went to the park for a few pictures there, but it's just too cold for that. What do you shoot?" While Cheyenne was happy for a distraction, Shoshannah was just happy to be striking up a conversation. Hopefully she could keep her condition in check for now.
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"Are you from the city?" she asked. She sure sounded like someone who'd just got off the boat. Not that that was a bad thing. "The Drake is very pretty." Cheyenne said, smiling. Her smile was also for the girl's enthusiasm, though, really. It was rare that one found a bubbly beacon of light in this place. Most people were downtrodden in some form or another, so this was a breath of fresh air. "And a little of everything." she answered the girl's question. Lately, my surroundings, because there's some mysterious man following me around. He could be lurkin outside the diner right now.
"I like shooting people a lot, though I like landscapes quite a bit. I've been doing a series of statues lately." she continued. "Speaking of pictures, would you mind if I took one of you?" she asked.
"I am! I've lived here all
"I am! I've lived here all my life." Shoshannah couldn't stop smiling. First her lovely afternoon with Ian, now a lovely conversation with Cheyenne. She was starting to believe her parents had a very skewed image of the town they lived in. "I just never got out very much when I was younger." She explained, giving an excuse, albeit a lame one.
"A picture of me?" Flattered, Shoshannah watched Cheyenne with curiosity. "I don't mind at all!" The idea of keeping a photographic diary of everyone she met in Eidolon was intriguing. "Do you take pictures of all the new people you meet?"
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Cheyenne still smiled at the girl, though she did find it strange that apparently she was local. Local, and yet looking and sounding like she'd never actually set foot outside of her own home. No one could have managed that, right? Was she being duped? She wasn't sure, but she didn't ask right away either. Instead, she rolled with the whole getting permission to take a picture thing.
"Sometimes, people just seem familiar to me, I like getting pictures of them. But, really, yes, most new people I meet, I like to get a picture, if they let me!" she admitted, picking up her camera and taking the lens off. She pulled it up, and focused. She didn't ask her to 'say cheese' or anything else, always one to like more natural photos as opposed to fake smiles and the like.
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Maybe Shoshannah should have explained more. Not everyone would understand how supervised she'd been as a child, but maybe it was a conversation for a later time.
Something that Shoshannah had always enjoyed was posing for pictures. She didn't often have the chance since she was the one taking the pictures, but when she did she tended to ham it up a bit. Leaning her head against her gloved fingers, Shoshannah gave a genuine smile, albeit a bit wide and toothy. At least she looked like she was having fun in a town full of people who didn't seem to be feeling the same way. Unaware that Cheyenne preferred a natural pose to the cheeky one Shoshannah was giving, she continued to smile. All she would need from her to change, though, was a little nudge in the right direction from Cheyenne.
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Even if Cheyenne liked more natural stuff, she couldn't help but grin, and snap a shot of the smile Shoshannah was giving her. "Thank you." she said, setting her camera back down. "Maybe, if you aren't busy sometime, we could do a proper photoshoot." she suggested, always liking to line things up. Plus--distraction, and the girl was still very nice, and seemed quite sweet. Someone Cheyenne could definitely afford to hang out with. Anything that was making her not think constantly about her issues was a positive in her book.
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"A real photoshoot?" Shoshannah thought she was a lot of things, but a model wasn't one of them. That didn't stop her grin from spreading, though. "Really? That'd be amazing! I've never been in one before, though. Is that a problem?" She asked, trying to push the twinge of fear she felt at her condition affecting the photoshoot into the back of her mind. Cheyenne didn't seem like one who would lie to her, not that anyone did to Shoshannah's eyes, but a photoshoot of her was just a bit more shocking than she expected to come by. She /definitely/ needed to venture out into this town more often. Why she'd waited so long to do so in the first place, she didn't understand.
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"You're a model now, I just took a picture of you." Cheyenne told her, smiling and winking at her. Tone it down, Cheyenne. Girls don't like it when you hit on them. she told herself, even if the girl seemed oblivious to it anyways. That was probably a good thing. "So no, it's not a problem at all. Besides. Professional models can be pretty difficult to work with sometimes. I know, I was one. Some of the girls are a little..." she smirked faintly and looked like she was trying to find the appropriate word. "Entitled." A lot of them were snotty little princesses was closer to the truth. "I'd rather just go for a walk, and ask you sweetly to go stand over by interesting things and look aloof." she said, tone warm and friendly. She was teasing herself, just a little.
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There was nothing like a compliment to make a bad day good and a good day even better. Shoshannah felt like she was a pretty average looking woman but apparently, both Ian and Cheyenne seemed to think she was pretty enough to mention it. Maybe she was overlooking something? Whatever it was, the compliment made her slightly giddy. "I'd love to do a photoshoot with you anytime!"
The rest of her comment sparked a recognition. She knew Cheyenne was too pretty to not have been a model at one point. "I thought you might have been one! Someone as pretty as you who likes photography had to be involved in modeling at some point. Why did you stop?" Shoshannah didn't immediately realize that might be something rude to ask of her new friend, but it was too late by the time she did to take it back.
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Cheyenne laughed a little, far more charmed by ShoShannah's enthusiasm to consider her question rude. Plus, she got it a lot. She knew she was young, and most people didn't start hopping careers at this stage, especially successful ones. Definitely not women. "Thank you for the compliment." she said, smiling. "And I got out of it because a certain image comes with being a pin-up girl, and I got really sick of men trying to paw me because they thought they had a right to." she admitted. "I decided I didn't really want to go there anymore, didn't want to deal with that kind of thing. So, I got out, and have just wanted to do my own photography since then. Granted, it's not as well paying as my modeling, but I have enough saved up." Plus, she was a Walker, and wasn't ever going to be falling on financially hard times.
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Had Shoshannah been listening, she might have offered to pay Cheyenne for her services as a photographer. Shoshannah, however, hadn't heard a thing the woman said. She had been truly interested in hearing about Cheyenne's modeling history and the fact that she, at so young, had been so successful. The most she'd heard was Cheyenne's thanks for the compliment and the rest of it was completely muffled. With her eyes slightly glazed, Shoshannah seemed to be staring right through Cheyenne as if she was transparent.
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Cheyenne blinked, smiling a little uncertainly. "Hey, you okay?" she asked. And, after not receiving a response after a moment, she reached up, waving her hand in front of ShoShannah's face. "Hey--are you alright?" she tried again, before she took the girl's shoulder, and gave it a squeeze. That was...weird and kind of scary.
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Shoshannah only responded to her touch. She blinked quickly, exhaling in a gush. A quick survey of her surroundings showed that she was still in the diner, but Cheyenne was considerably more freaked out now. Great, she sighed again.
"I'm sorry." Shoshannah's smile was joking, as if she was attempting to make a joke out of herself and could only hope that Cheyenne caught the punch line. "I'm a little tired." She explained gently, but obviously was lying. What could she tell her anyway? Normal people just didn't do that and certainly, they would have had a good reason for it if they did. "I didn't sleep well last night." Another lie.
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"I...oh." Cheyenne said, looking uncertain, like she just didn't know what to think. Which was because that was exactly what was going on with her. She realized she still had her hand on Shoshannah's shoulder, and let go, sitting back again. She was twitching, though, because good lord did she hate when people lied to her. It had happened with Danny, what had started her freaking out about him in the first place, and now this girl--who had just behaved pretty weirdly--was lying about things? Or was she just paranoid now, and she just kept thinking she was being lied to? Could she trust her own judgment? The answer was she didn't know, and that was an awful feeling.
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Shoshannah put on her best smile, eyes apologetic. She didn't want to lie to Cheyenne, but if the she was already freaked out by what had just happened, how could she really accept that this sort of thing happened all the time to Shoshannah. "I'm really sorry." She couldn't promise it wouldn't happen again so Shoshannah tried another route. "You have my full attention. I didn't mean to blank out on you like that." The dreadful, but familiar, thought filled Shoshannah's mind that Cheyenne might want nothing to do with her after this. And this had been such a promising start to a friendship, too. The apology in her eyes grew more genuine as she thought of that.
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"What happened?" she asked. "You kind of just seemed to..." she made a vague gesture, not sure how to describe it. "Went away? I've seen people space out before, but that seemed a little...um...well. Extreme?" she suggested lightly. She wondered if the girl was on drugs. It could explain the chipper attitude and the weird 'hasn't seen the city' thing. Though really, usually the people she saw who spaced like that when they were on something couldn't possibly have held up the conversation as long as they had.
Shoshannah weighed her
Shoshannah weighed her options. She could tell Cheyenne what little she knew about her condition, or she could try to talk her way out of the corner she'd been backed into.
"It's...It just sort of happens sometimes?" She shrugged a little, her smile still present on her face. Cheyenne probably wouldn't understand even if she did explain it. It wasn't like Shoshannah even knew how to explain it correctly. "I tend to zone out sometimes. If I do it again, I'm really sorry. It's nothing personal, I promise." It's also nothing I can really control...
"You were telling me about..something. Your modeling! That's it. You decided to stop?" Shoshannah was gripping desperately to any sort of normal conversation again but she was pretty sure that she'd blown her chance of ever modeling for Cheyenne thanks to her little performance.
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Cheyenne accepted that answer more than the kind of shuffled around stuff, and was at least satisfied for the moment. She might ask again at another time, but they had just met, and she was aware if it was anything kind of strange, she might not be entitled to an explanation just this second. "Yeah, I got out of it. People..." she paused, then smiled a touch, relaxing a little more again. "There's an element of fantasy when it comes to modeling, particularly the kind I did before. A lot of people, men especially, have certain ideas about me or what kind of person I am, regardless of the fact that they're just pictures, and they know nothing about me. I got really tired of people assuming they were entitled to cop a feel whenever they wanted to, because they have a calendar with me up all July."
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Thankful for the change of subject, Shoshannah made a point to listen as intently as she could to Cheyenne. She didn't want to seem like she was uninterested. Hopefully she could win Cheyenne back a little this way.
But she was shocked when Cheyenne told her the way they treated her. "..They'd really do that? That's so rude!" It probably made as much sense to Shoshannah as her actions did to the Cheyenne. "I can't believe someone would do that to you. That's just not right. Just because you took a picture..." She shook her head a little, a frown on her lips. "I'm sorry that happened. I hope it doesn't still."
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Cheyenne gave a light little rueful half smile. "Yes, people do that. And sometimes it still does. Not as often anymore, but it still happens. People just don't know where the lines are, really, and they don't seem overly inclined to learn, either. They always looked very shocked when I tell them to get their hands off of me. But enough about that and me." she said, making a vague gesture. "it's not that interesting."
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Shoshannah couldn't change the sad expression she wore. That was just awful! She'd never heard of something like that happening before and it surprised her more to know that it still did happen. Poor Cheyenne...
Since she didn't necessarily want to get back on the topic of her zone out and Cheyenne seemed done talking about her past, Shoshannah reached for the menu. "Maybe you could help me? What's good here? There's so much on this menu that I don't even know where to start."
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Cheyenne leaned closer to Shoshannah so she could look at the menu she was holding. "The burgers are good. So's their chicken salad. I really like that." she recommended. "And if you've got a sweet tooth, they have the very best strawberry sundaes that I've ever had." she said with a wink. And she had to watch her figure, but everyone splurged once in a while. it just had to happen!
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She still wasn't very hungry from the large lunch she'd had at the Drake, but a strawberry sundae sounded just perfect. Putting the menu down, she hesitantly glanced at the waitresses running around behind the counter. "Do I just...ask one of them? Or should I wait for someone to come to me? They look busy, I wouldn't want to interrupt them."
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"They are busy, sweetie, but it's also their job." Cheyenne said. Then she glanced around, leaning foward to look behind the counter. She waved towards the woman behind it, who then came over with a smile. "There you go." she said to Shoshannah, as she asked for a refill on her coffee while she was at it.
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"Thank you." Shoshannah gave a smile to Cheyenne before asking the waitress nicely for a strawberry sundae and handing her the menu. She turned back to her new friend. "So, how often do you come here? This place is so lively!" She had to remind herself that not everyone had the same problems she did when it came to big crowds. Cheyenne probably didn't have to worry about a sensory overload in a diner like Shoshannah did.
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Cheyenne laughed a little, watching Shoshannah. Again, she was struck with just the enthusiasm the girl had going on. It was interesting. Possibly nice. "I come here when I'm feeling less like being alone." she admitted. "There's always a lot of people here, unless it's later at night. Then it's quieter. But I live alone, and sometimes it's just a little too quiet there. So I come here, so I'm surrounded by people. And sometimes, that pays off for me, and I meet someone interesting." she said, making a gesture towards Shoshannah to indicate she was. "So, it's looking like today's a win for me."
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"I wish I lived alone." Shoshannah knew all too well the annoyances of living with family. She needed to be looking for a place of her own, but that was another thought for another time.
Flattered, Shoshannah smiled again. It was hard not to smile around so many new faces here. "I'm glad we met! You can never have too many friends." They seemed to be back on track again. Cheyenne wasn't looking at her funny and Shoshannah wasn't zoning out. Things were good.
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"Sometimes it is very, very nice." Cheyenne said. "Other times, it's a bit lonely. It really depends, honestly. If you want to live alone, why don't you look for a place? We could go over listings if you wanted." she said, glancing around for a copy of the Echo. There were always a few copies floating around the diner. People came in, and left them, and others picked them up. "Now I'm wondering if my friend Elle would want to live with someone. Maybe going from family to no one around would be a bit of a jump, but having a room mate might not be so bad. And she's a really sweet little thing, you should meet her." she said, going off on her own little tangent without pausing to see if Shoshannah was even on board with any of it.
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Shoshannah was on board with all of that. She kept her eyes open and ears peeled for the information Cheyenne was giving her. "She sounds like a doll," Shoshannah hadn't considered living with a roommate. She wondered if her awkward sleeping patterns and tendency to not pay attention to others when it counted would bother someone else. But maybe Cheyenne was right, maybe she should look for a roommate?
She'd wanted to ask if Cheyenne would help her find, or at least point her in the direction of a nice apartment building, but she'd thought it might be too much to ask at too soon a time. She was relieved when the woman picked up a paper and started pointing out sections. "I've never tried to look for one before so I don't really know much about finding them. Or where these places are. They aren't too far away, are they?"
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"Some of them are, but you wouldn't want to live there anyways." Cheyenne said, looking over the apartments for rent section. "Actually...what's your cash flow like? Would your family help you at all? Do you have a job?" she asked, looking back at Shoshannah. If she knew slightly more, she'd be able to narrow her search more. Well that and she'd need to talk to Elle, but maybe she'd give Shoshannah her name and tell her to look at the theater for her, and they could get talking. That was a working theory, right? Sure it was. Or so Cheyenne decreed.
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And that was where Shoshannah's hope for an apartment ended. Her cash flow? Well, it wasn't technically her cash, so she couldn't exactly know how it flowed. As the waitress slid her sundae infront of her, Shoshannah shook her head, a small laugh on her lips. "I don't think so. Not if I wanted to move away from home." She was expected to be married by now, or at least to have had a successful relationship. If Shoshannah was going to leave the nest, it would ideally be to another, fully furnished nest that her husband would pay for. That was what her mother expected, anyway.
"I guess I should find a job first, huh?" She asked only after swallowing a big spoonful of ice cream. "Haven't been having much luck in that department, though."
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"No?" Cheyenne asked, looking a little concerned. "Well, I know finding a job in this city can get a little hectic." she said honestly. She didn't technically 'work' so much anymore, but she'd made more than enough modeling, and plus, her family wouldn't ever actually let her go without. She was a Walker--they looked after their own. "We can look in the help wanted section if you want." she suggested. "What kind of skills do you have?"
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"Well, it's never really been an option before." Shoshannah shrugged a little, now confused. Would her parents help her? She could see her father not minding, but her mother was a different story. "I've never asked them about it."
Sheepishly, Shoshannah looked back at Cheyenne with a shrug. Again, she didn't have a clear answer for the girl. She was starting to feel a bit hopeless with the whole idea. "It's ok, you don't have to keep looking. I've never held down a job before." The smile she gave Cheyenne was apologetic, but the look in her eyes held worry. Maybe she really wasn't ready for this big of a change yet? "It's not for lack of trying but...the places I apply all find reasons not to hire me." Obvious, serious reason. Like sleeping on the job or ignoring customers.
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"Where have you applied to so far?" Cheyenne asked, thinking that at least if she knew where Shoshannah had tried to get a job, that might give her a better idea what she might be looking for, or what she was good at. She definitely wanted to help, and so she wasn't willing to just let it go so easy. "And don't worry so much, everyone has to start somewhere." she told the girl, giving her a warm smile, tone encouraging.
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"I've only really looked at the Echo. I thought about a restaurant but I'd be awful as a waitress. The Library wasn't hiring but I was thinking of trying a bookstore near it." She scooped another spoonful of ice cream, pushing the sundae in between the two of them. "Do you want some?" She had said she'd enjoyed the strawberry sundaes and Cheyenne was doing everything she could to help her find her footing. Shoshannah really should have offered earlier.
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"Oh, it's fine, thank you anyways." Cheyenne said with a wink. "And a bookstore...that sounds good." Plus it didn't really require a whole lot in the way of job training, or anything. So, she was thinking it was a great place to start, if nothing else. "If you wanted to list me down as a reference, you can. I know sometimes you're not allowed to use family." she offered, since Shoshannah gave the impression that she might not have a whole host of people she could put down for that kind of thing.
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Cheyenne was right there. Shoshannah didn't have many people to put down as references. Actually, she hadn't thought about that sort of thing at all. Pulling the sundea back closer to her, she smiled again at Cheyenne. It was so kind of her to offer that to someone she'd just met. "Thank you!"
Reaching for a napkin, Shoshannah scribbled down her home phone number on it and slipped it to Cheyenne. "In case you ever wanted to call or meet up again, this is my number." Maybe for that photoshoot if you aren't too scared of me.
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Cheyenne took the napkin, and then slipped the paper into her purse. "Thank you, I will." she said, already thinking that she would be. When, she wasn't sure, but soon. "I suppose I should get going." she added. "But it was a real pleasure to meet you. And I really look forward to seeing you again!" she said brightly and genuinely.
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Saddened that the interaction was coming to a close, but hopeful at the prospect of another interaction to come, Shoshannah nodded to Cheyenne. "It was really nice to meet you! See you again soon, I hope!" She called, watching as Cheyenne took her steps to leave. All in all, this was shaping up to be a pretty fantastic day.