Susan

I have no idea which one of us is more nervous right now. I feel my heart pounding, as I ask her hesitantly "So.. Do you... How do I say this? Do you want to go to where the avocados are?" Okay, i definitely sound like an idiot right now.

Still, apparently I have not scared her off. Yet. "I..." She Begins. And then this grown woman, I would estimate her to be around 40ish, looks at me with big puppy dog eyes, sounding submissive now and says "I would like that. Will.... Will you show me?"

Oh God! That actually worked?! I gulp, hopefully not too obviously "I... Well, follow me then" I say and get up to my feet. I offer her my hand to pull her up to her feet. After a short hesitation she takes it. When our fingers meet, excitement runs through me. Like an electric shock from the tip of my fingers down to my guts. In a good way.

I see the shadow of, well, something, cross her face for the shortest moment. Maybe she has a similar reaction.

Trying not to run there, I lead this woman I do not even know the name of, to the door leading to the old staff rooms. I sigh in relief when I see that the fat bald guy who had given me the tour earlier is not far off. I approach him from the side.

"Hi again" I whisper. "Uhm... Could I , i mean we, go back in there?" He does not look at me. He simply keeps wiping the floor with his filthy looking mop. Under his breath he snarls "Ever heard of a thing called subtlety, idiot?" I get the impression that he liked to call people idiots.

"I..." I begin but he cuts me off. "The door will be open in 5 minutes" and then, simply walks away. For a moment I just stand there like an idiot. Maybe he had a point after all.

I turn and go back to whatever her name is. "So, I just got us...erm, access. It will be a few minutes, than we can go in." She silently looks at me and nods. I suddenly get very afraid that she could change her mind in the mean time, so I try to keep her busy in the mean time.

"I... Before we go in there... What is your name? I can totally understand if you don't want to tell me of course. It doesn't even have to be your real one, but I have to call you something, right?" Her big blueish eyes look up at me. "My name... You can call me Susan."

She does not specify if that is on face her real name, but it works for me. "Pleasure to meet you Susan. I am Tom." For some reason, we shake hands at this. A bit ridiculous given the situation, but then again I get to feel the soft skin on her slender hands one more time.

Silence falls again. Susan and I keep eyeing each other up and down, as of we are both afraid the other one could go up on some at any point if we look away for the slightest moment. But somehow, the time passes. I see the door being unlocked.

Gathering up all my willpower, I do not run for it straight away and let the fat bald guy slowly walk off. He gives me a dirty grin that sends the bad kind of shivers down my spine.

"So... Shall we?" I ask a moment later and Susan simply nods, looking at the floor. We sneak over to the secret door. This is ludicrous if course. There is no reason to sneak. And anyway, people can still see us perfectly well if they happen to look over here.

"Here we are." I simply say and push open the door, hastily closing it again behind us. At first we are in complete darkness until I fumble for the light switch. The old fluorescent lights turn on noisily and bathe the grubby hallway in a bright blueish light.

Susan slowly turns to me "What... What is this place?" She sounds a bit scared. Get voice echoes from the tiled walls. I feel like I should calm her down. "It is not as bad as it looks." I say, unsure of that is true. "Here, let me show you around."