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day, not wanting to know if anyone else had heard about my
little misadventure. By the time Daniel and Niq came over to my
place that evening, I was putting the final touches on a quick
chicken and noodle stir-fry; nothing exciting, but a quick, weekday
meal. They enjoyed it, as they seem to love everything I made for
them, and I guess that was why I received so much pleasure from
cooking for them. It’s always nice to be appreciated. I suppose
like, for example, receiving an Employee of the Day award , I
thought with a smile.
    Afterwards we sat cosily on my
lounge, munching popcorn and watching one of the guys’ favourite
genres – a horror movie. It was classic horror tonight, featuring
two of cinema’s scariest psychos, pitching wits and sharp
implements against each other. I spent three-quarters of the movie
with my hands over my eyes while they laughed hysterically, finding
it more funny than scary. After they left, I lay in the darkness in
my bed, eyes wide open, afraid to go to sleep in case the nightmare
monster came to get me in my dreams. I hated horror movies,
having far too active an imagination for my own good. One day I’d
have to refuse to watch any more with them, but I disliked being
seen as a wimp even more than I disliked staying awake all night
trembling in fear. I knew that I’d never speak up.
     

Chapter 4
     
    Sleep eluding me, I decided to
go to the rooftop for some fresh air. Hopefully it would encourage
sleepiness, as well as some perspective on the impossibility of
chainsaw wielding maniacs being able to access the fortress-like
Warehouse. I quickly fumbled around in the dark for a bikini set,
thinking that a dip in the hot tub was probably just what I
needed.
    Heller had set up the rooftop as
a leisure centre, complete with pool table, barbeque, mini-kitchen,
hot tub and sun lounges. There was also a small, but productive,
herb garden supposedly tended by Victor, whose mysterious presence
had taken on legendary status equal to the Loch Ness monster and
Yeti combined. Heller always refused to talk about him and I still
hadn’t set eyes on him. However I made generous use of the herb
garden, being a big fan of fresh herbs in cooking, so gave due
credit to Victor for his hard work, whether he existed or not.
    I made a beeline straight for
the mini-fridge to fetch a glass of wine, knowing it would help me
loosen up. As I reached for the bottle in the fridge, there was a
rustle of water from the hot tub behind me.
    “ Shit!” I screeched in
terror, dropping the wine glass I held, fearing my head was about
to be parted from my body with some well-honed hedge-trimming
technology. The glass smashed noisily on the concrete floor.
    “Matilda, calm down. It’s only
me.” I heard Heller’s soothing voice and an enormous splashing
noise as he stepped out of the hot tub. “Stay where you are. Are
you wearing any shoes?”
    “No.”
    “Don’t move. I’ve just put some
on.”
    He turned on a light, hurriedly
towelled himself dry and came over to assess the situation. Without
a word, he swept me off my feet and deposited me on one of the sun
lounges, before quickly cleaning up the detritus of the wine glass.
He looked at me, then pulled out another glass, filled it with
lovely cold sauvignon blanc. He handed it to me as he sat on the
other lounge chair, facing me. He kept the towel wrapped around his
hard waist, and I knew then that he had been wearing nothing in the
hot tub. Since I’d started working and living at the Warehouse, he
was careful about wearing bathers, but there was still always the
risk of catching him without clothes, especially late at night. He
didn’t have any hang-ups about nudity.
    “A bit jumpy tonight, my
sweet?”
    “I watched a horror movie with
Daniel and Niq earlier. I thought you were a psycho!”
    He chuckled quietly. “Only
sometimes.”
    I smiled. “Not your kind
of psycho. The indiscriminate, woman-murdering kind.”
    “You’re safe with me.” I
wondered