Not without some difficulty and with a wince, she stood. “I’ll be all right. Hans said he’s feeling fine. I guess I just had an upset stomach. It’s been a long day.”
She stared at the cages a moment then glanced at the camera.
“Maybe we should wait for Hans outside,” I said. “If you’re feeling better?” I motioned to the cages and the camera. “I don’t want him to see this.” I clasped my hands together and put them to my chest. “You really shouldn’t be here either.”
She glanced back at the cages then at the gingerbread wall. “Yeah, you’re right. Maybe we should wait for him outside.” She started for the door.
“Take the bottle,” I said and pointed at the bottle on the mattress which probably wasn’t cold anymore and was a stupid suggestion. But I felt so helpless at the moment. I could tell she was a little woozy.
I wanted to take her in my arms, lay her down on the mattress, and kiss away all her pain. But she looked so rattled that, I thought, if I so much as took a step in her direction she’d use the bottle for a weapon or run away or both.
“Thanks.” She put the bottle to the back of her head, smiled nervously at me, and headed for the door.
I followed her out, a few paces behind. My nerves were in a knot. I was afraid to make a sudden move for fear I’d startle her, but at the same time, I so badly wanted to take her in my arms, put my mouth to hers, pull her tight against me, and squeeze her ass.
Once we were a few paces away from the workshop, I started to feel a little more at ease. We walked down the center of the lane. I stepped up beside her and touched her lightly on the elbow. “There’s a bench over there.” I pointed to the dog park ahead of us. “We could have a seat and wait for Hans there.”
Greta sat down on the bench with a sigh that turned into a laugh. “I feel so silly. I didn’t know anyone was there.” she pointed back to the workshop and shook her head. “I’m sorry I intruded. I didn’t mean to.”
I took a seat beside her. “No, that’s OK. I’m glad you did. It’s just that…”
She looked at me and furrowed her brow. “By the way, how do you know my name?”
“Um, earlier today at the lookout, that guy called you Greta. I think his name was Philip.”
She nodded. “Oh, yeah. That makes sense.”
What I said was true. But it was misleading, and I immediately felt guilty. “But, also,” I started, hesitantly.
“I can’t believe I thought that lady in the lodge was trying to poison us.” Greta chuckled and shook her head. “Perth has me losing my mind.”
“Yeah, Perth will do that to you.”
She turned to me and said emphatically, “I wasn’t snooping.”
I put my hands up defensively.
“I was just out for a walk and I saw that place,” she said then trailed off.
“It’s OK,” I said. “I’m just a little embarrassed. The lights and the camera and the cages.”
“And the gingerbread wall,” she added.
I chuckled. “And the gingerbread wall. When I brought you inside, you must have thought… well, I can only imagine what was going through your mind.”
She laughed nervously.
I turned to her with a serious expression and put my hand on hers. “Please,” I implored her, “you can’t tell anyone about that place. I’m not supposed to be there.”
She nodded. “I won’t tell.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
I nodded and rubbed my legs nervously. “I put on shows for some… peculiar clients.”
“Peculiar clients?”
“I find them on the deep web. They have unusual requests.” I pulled my hand back. “Nothing sexual, just… Well, today a guy wanted to watch me lift weights. Tomorrow, I’m making a devil mask and I’m supposed to put it on and eat cake real sloppy like.”
She stifled a giggle.
“Yeah, it’s crazy. I know.”
“We’re kind of in the same line of work,” she said.
I raised an eyebrow and looked at her out of the corner of my eye.
“I work with models. We do photoshoots. Some of the staging can be a bit… adventurous.”
“Do you ever have them eat cake in a makeshift gingerbread house?”
She thought it over for a minute. “No, I can’t say that’s come up, yet. But you never know. Whatever the client wants.”
“Whatever the client wants,” I repeated.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
“Ja...” I stopped myself. Don’t let your guard down, Jake. She already knows more than she should.
“Do you want to take a guess?” I asked.
She looked at me sideways. “Well, you were about to say J as in, I don’t know, Jason?”
I nodded. “Jason works for me.”
“You don’t want to tell me your name?”
I smiled at her. “I was thinking maybe you would remember.” I tapped the side of my head with an index finger.