𝐆𝐢𝐚𝐝𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫. She was ready to pound some people's heads in. The auburn haired woman had eavesdropped on a couple of the guards talking about basic fighting and weapon use training, so she'd obviously want to partake in that. It took Giada a few minutes to convince them to let her go, considering she was only supposed to leave her room to eat or to get interrogated by Janson.
Most of the people in there glanced briefly in Giada's direction before trying to refocus on their instructors. As far as she could tell, they were all doing very good. Probably way better than Giada herself could do. All the woman knew how to do properly was run, but knowing Janson he'd object to that one instantly. She double cursed at herself for allowing him to see her so weak and paralyzed with fear, more than once. The thing was, Giada wasn't scared of Janson himself; she was afraid of the things he could do to her.
Speaking of the devil, someone tapped onto her shoulder with their slender finger, and Giada didn't have to even look behind her to know who it was. She took a deep breath, then proceeded to turn around and collide right into Janson's face. He wasn't a very tall man if she's being entirely honest, but somehow he's somehow a little bit taller than Giada. The woman backed away from him immediately, not expecting him to even remotely dare to be that close to her based off of what went down yesterday.
Janson made a great deal of looking Giada up and down, sending chills running up her spine. He dragged his tongue across his lips as he tilted his head to the side in a heavily mocking manner. "So, my guards informed me that I'd find you here."
"They can't keep their mouths shut about anything," She groaned inwardly. Giada was currently feeling like a little kid whom just got caught doing something they weren't supposed to be doing.
"Nope, they cannot," He chuckled, raising his arms in the air in surrender. "C'mon, hit me with your best shot."
"What?" Giada blurted, fluttering her eyelashes at him. Does Janson want me to deliberately hit him on purpose? That'd be too easy, I mean I've already done it before. "You're kidding."
"No, I'm not." Janson says, his tone dead serious. "I want to see what you now, and I know you want to touch me."
"Once I get my hands onto you, I won't be able to take them off," She growled at him, squeezing her hands into tight fists.
Janson raised his eyebrows at her. He'd probably like it. If Giada had been looking away from him, she'd still be able to hear the smirk vibrating in his voice. However, his flashed her his adorable infamous smile, and Giada did not even notice Janson had dimples until now. He always wore a frown, kind of looking like a crabby old man for the most part.
"Keep it appropriate, Giada," He said teasingly. "There's other people around."
"How was what I said inappropriate in the first place?" The auburn haired woman demanded. He shot her a look that clearly said, "Just think about it."
And then Giada realized what he meant, making her want to crawl into a hole and die of embarrassment. Instead of forming a reaction with her face, she moved with her body and jutted her fist out to punch Janson right in the nose.
At first, it appeared like he was actually going to let Giada hit him in the middle of his face. She could've sworn her hand was almost there when Janson suddenly reached out as quick as lightning and blocked Giada's attack. He grabbed her small wrist with his much larger hand, making her wince openly as Janson began to twist it slightly to the side. The man only stopped moving it when she began to noticeably struggle. Giad wanted to hiss at Janson to let go of her, but she outright refused to give him the satisfaction, which he honored. And also thought it was a little adorable.
"I could break your wrist right now with just my bare hand," He told her informatively. Janson made sure to keep his voice down so the rest of the people in the room could not hear him. "You've gotta do better than that."
"Who says I wanted fighting advice from you anyways," Giada spat at Janson aggressively once he'd released her hand. She rubbed her throbbing wrist a repeated amount of times, knowing that it'd most likely bruise. "Fucking liar."
A slight look of hurt spreaded across Janson's eyes, but he shrugged it away quickly. "I'm the best mentor you've got here if you want to learn the basics."
Giada whirled away from him, but Janson of course took it upon himself to whisper broadily into her ear, "How else do you think the people here are so skilled at their jobs?"
"Says the one who let me and a bunch of teenagers run away."
"Seriously, Giada? You were the one standing there staring at the crank like a lost fucking deer! I saved your life-"
"Yeah, just to imprison me and use me against my will!" She snarled back at him.
"Yes, get it all out Giada," Janson coaxed, his lips brushing against her earlobe only for a faint second. If only she'd found out later about him working with WCKD; they could've had sex already and at least she would not feel bad about it. "Take all of your anger out on me."
"I don't have a problem with doing that, but why?"
"Because I'm getting fed up with your hostility towards me."
Does he seriously not understand why the fuck I'm so upset? Giada growled out loud in anger, not even bothering to respond to Janson's snide comment as she began to make her leave. There was no reason she had to put up with this. The man deserved all of the bitterness she casted in his direction and much more than that. The fucking double-crossing liar. A huge part of Giada felt revolted because she'd found Janson attractive before the truth, and felt even more disgusted due to the sad fact she still did.
Then Janson's raspy chuckling made it's way into Giada's ears, causing her to pause abruptly right in the middle of the room. That's exactly what he wanted her to do. Janson wanted to piss Giada off to the point where she'd walk out, give up on what she came in here to do in the first place. The auburn haired woman wanted to know how to fight in case she had to, especially if she was ever to get out of this place.
Clearly not thinking rationally, Giada whirled around and sprinted towards the older man as fast as her legs could possibly move. She launched herself at Janson's waist, and the pressure of it all made them both topple to the ground, Giada being the one on top of him. Her head was pressed up against his lower waist, and she couldn't help but be thankful that her face hadn't landed elsewhere. It was really close though.
"Wow, you must be really trying to get into my pants," Janson breathed out raspily. His voice was strained, telling Giada that the older man was still trying to catch his breath. She glanced down at her legs and she began to blush because Giada realized she was practically sitting on his dick. Giada got the really dirty idea to start grinding against it just to see what Janson would do, but without warning, he shoved her forcefully off of him.
Her back slammed onto the hard floor as Janson repositioned himself right on top of Giada. He grabbed onto both of her hands and held them with a searingly tight grip over her head. There was no way Giada would be able to squirm her way out of this one, but the bad thing was she kind of liked it.
"I've done this position many times," He mused, causing an undeniable throbbing in between her legs. I'm beginning to think there's something mentally wrong with me.. Janson proceeded to move closer to Giada's face than he ever had before, his lips practically touching hers as he murmured heartily, "I'm not talking about fighting by the way."
It was then finally Giada snapped back into sense. Janson was only flirting with her to distract her from the task on hand. They both knew that there was absolutely no way Giada would be able to just simply push Janson off of her. She weighed like half of whatever he weighed. So, Giada made the decision to perform the move that would only work on a man. The auburn haired woman kneed Janson in between the legs as hard as she could muster in her position.
Frankly, it was hard enough for Janson to put his guard down (for once), allowing Giada to shove the man off of her. He let out a groan of pure discomfort, and she laughed audibly at it. Giada always used to do that to some of the boys in the Glade when they would piss her off. One of them had been jerking off to her before she did it too, and Giada could've sworn she'd overheard people saying that his dick was bent at an angle now.
"Doesn't feel so good, does it?"
"Not particularly," Janson panted out. At least he wasn't on the ground screaming out in pain as he clenched his penis. Giada certainly had to give the older man full credit for that one. "But god damn, are you trying to bruise my genitals?"
"Obviously, we don't need any mini yous running around," She snorted dismissively, wiping out the creases in her jeans as she proceeded to stand up. "That'd be horrifying."
Janson shook his head, standing up after her. Damn, he recovered from that fast. Giada was surely impressed by that, wondering how the hell the man had developed such a high pain tolerance.
"But I do have a question for you."
"Mhm?"
"Why did you lie to me?"
He faltered, glancing down at Giada as he started to frown again. For a few moments, Giada almost thought Janson would not answer... Until he did.
"I don't think you'd believe me even if I told you why."
"Try me."
Instead, Janson changed the subject. Giada had no clue why he was avoiding her question, like it shouldn't be that hard to answer. When the auburn haired woman opened up her mouth to speak, he immediately cut her off.
"You've got a lot to improve on, because I'm going to just tell you straight out Giada... You fucking suck."
"You fucking suck too!"
"Good to know."
✦✦✦✦
The young woman rang her fingers through her auburn hair. She'd returned to her room, her whole body tingling from where Janson touched her. Giada had no clue why she was feeling the way she did. It took a lot to make the woman blush towards anyone at all, however the cocky older man seemed to be able to do that without really trying. Hell, anytime Janson spoke with that alluring accent of his, Giada always could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks.
After every encounter the two of them would share, Janson made a great deal of avoiding Giada for a few days at the bare minimum. She'd been here only about two weeks now, and the woman had seen Janson approximately four times. A majority of their interactions were with him practically cornering her against a wall or lurking behind her like a fucking body guard. He'd rarely ever touch her though, and Giada was kind of glad he didn't; or else she would've folded by now.
She wanted to continue onward with her thoughts, but a sudden sound of footsteps trailing past her door overtook Giada's attention. Normally nobody ever went past her room this late at night. Well, if they did the auburn haired woman never heard them. Giada got up unhurriedly and leaned up against the door to try and see if she could hear anything. It was dead silent.
But her curiosity got the best of her, and Giada found herself opening up the door, peering down the hallway. Past her door, her eyes noticed someone walking quickly, how fast he walked told Giada he certainly did not want to be followed. But she could recognize that specific leather jacket eighty miles away. Where the absolute hell is Janson running off to this late at night?
Giada knew she shouldn't do this, it went against everything she believed in, but the woman did it anyway. She wanted to know where her boss was sneaking off to this late at night. She also wanted him to try and get the truth out of him, or at least explain what his long term goal was. So doing what Giada does best, she shut her door carefully and trailed after Janson.
She kept a thoroughly good pace with the mysterious man. Janson led Giada down several right and left turns, making her silently wonder if he knew he was being followed. But Janson never glanced back at Giada once, so the auburn haired woman was partially unsure.
Janson only stopped walking when he arrived at a door she'd never seen before in her stay at the facility. In all honesty, Giada probably could have found it if she actually tried to look hard enough for it. But she's always usually trapped in her room so she never typically had the opportunity. The woman was shocked that she'd been able to sneak out of her room this time. Someone forgot to lock her door, and Giada smirked about it. She couldn't wait to see how much trouble someone got into for that minor mistake.
Giada's heart pounded uncontrollably, she didn't even dare to breathe. If the man looked backward even in the slightest, he'd see her. And that alone was seemingly enough to set the woman off.
She watched his every movement carefully as he opened the door and bounded inside. Giada paused, uncertain of what to do next. She did follow Janson all of the way here, but should she literally go into the room with him? He might get all pissed off because she trailed behind him the whole entire time. Knowing him though, he'd most likely be even madder at the fact he didn't notice.
The auburn haired woman seriously dictated turning around, if she left now no one would notice. But something odd kept Giada standing there, and as if her body had a mind of its own; the woman moved toward the door. She placed her hand onto the handle, feeling warm underneath her cold fingers.
Giada took a deep breath. Just do it. There's totally nothing suspicious about following your boss into a secret room in the middle of the night. She told herself firmly. If Giada didn't desperately want answers, she would've turned around and went back to her room a long time ago.
She proceeded to open the door large enough for her to be able to slip through. Giada hoped that the small squeak sound it made wouldn't divert Janson's attention right over to her. Shockingly enough, he actually had excellent hearing, despite how tiny his ears are. One time Giada and Lillian (the nurse that she talked with on occasion) were gossiping about something utterly irrelevant, and Janson just so happened to overhear the whole conversation. It had been embarrassing, especially when he began to repeat everything he'd heard louder than they were even speaking. Giada didn't fully remember what the conversation was about, but it was surely something inappropriate.
She shut it behind her and inverted her eyes along the whole room. It looked abandoned from what Giada could tell. The only light emitting into the mysterious place was coming from the moon that reflected onto the large window right directly in the middle. It was nighttime obviously, the tiny, but bright stars in the sky told Giada that much.
This did appear to be a nice getaway place. Giada was willing to admit that much. However, the only person she was looking for wasn't anywhere in sight. She knew the space wasn't that big, so Janson could be lurking in the shadows anywhere. Waiting for the right moment to pop out of nowhere and scare Giada shitless. Paranoia crept into her bones as she continued stepping forward. Giada had led herself to believe that Janson was hiding somewhere in the room, watching her every move. And the thing is, she's not even wrong... about any of it.
The taller man stood in the back of the room, eyeing Giada thoughtfully as she made her way over to the window like a scared little doe. Of course Janson made sure he stood in a spot where Giada couldn't see him, or at least not at the first glance in his direction.
Grinning in the darkness, he called out teasingly, "I thought you didn't like being alone with me, Giada?"
Janson saw Giada jump in fright at the sound of his voice, minus the fact she knew he was in the small area with her somewhere. Normally, Janson's voice would've calmed Giada down in any other situation, but not this one. She was seriously beginning to rethink her actions; maybe she should've left well enough alone. But now the damned man had the burdening knowledge that Giada followed him into this secret room intentionally.
"I don't," She hissed through gritted teeth. "But I want answers."
Giada began to back up, but instead of being met with thin air, her back collided with a hard chest. Fucking hell. I'm always somehow running into him-! She knew he was right behind her, and that alone made Giada's heart start pounding ten times harder than it was seconds ago.
"Answers about what?" Janson did not touch Giada, although the man fought the urge to as if his life depended on it. She could feel his hot, minty smelling breath against her neck, and for some sick reason, Giada stood there blushing as if she was a teenage girl again. How did Janson manage to sneak up so close to her without the auburn haired woman even noticing? And why did she kind of like it in her own sick way.
Giada had begun planning out how she was going to ask Janson what she wanted to ask, but now that the opportunity was currently right in front of her; her mind went blank. The taller man waited patiently, the only sound that could be heard was his soft breathing.
Finally, Giada seemed to find her voice again. "Why did you do it?"
"Do what, my dear?" She did not have to glance behind her to know that Janson was wearing that stupidly adorable smirk of his.
"All of this." Giada didn't know the full story of the situation.
A sense of understanding seemed to flood over Janson because he started to blink rapidly a few times. He backed away from the auburn haired woman casually and moved past her so he could venture over to the window.
"Since you're clearly not going to drop it anytime soon, I may as well tell you," Janson began, pondering how he should exactly explain why he did what he did. He obviously couldn't say he was doing this to protect her, she wouldn't believe him. "Let's just say that recently I lost someone I really cared about due to my own selfishness."
"What do you mean? Did they die?"
"I guess you could say that," The man said slowly.
Giada's head spun rapidly. She wondered if Janson was high on drugs, because obviously a sober person wouldn't be saying stuff like this. He didn't really seem like the man who cared about someone other than himself.
"You're never going to let me go now, are you?" She spoke softly. The woman had no clue why she'd asked that so randomly, but now that the question was out, it hung in the air like a loose thread.
This made Janson tilt his head towards Giada, and just for a faint second, she could see slight sadness overpowering his normally strong sapphire gaze.
"Now putting it like that makes this whole situation sound depressing," He said coyly, but there was a tiny amount of softness in his tone. "Don't look at it that way though, carrothead."
Giada frowned, crossing her arms together. Several people had come up with many nicknames to mock her hair color, but quite frankly she didn't believe Janson actually had that in him. She, however, was waiting for him to continue with whatever he was going to say.
Janson let out a loud sigh. Then he retraced his steps right back over to where Giada stood still, towering over her without any effort at all. She glared up at him, not a trace of fear in sight, and Janson liked that. He liked that she wasn't afraid of him, unlike most people in this building.
"You're safe here," Janson placed his hands behind his back so Giada wouldn't be able to see him fidgeting with them. "With me."
None of this was making any remote sense to Giada's tired mind. "Why would you need me here when you could have everything you want?"
"And what do you think I want?" Janson's eyes searched hers daringly.
"Everything," Giada said bluntly, shrugging her shoulders.
The man made no comment, dragging his tongue across his lips silently. Janson seriously thought about what in the hell he was supposed to say that would reassure Giada, in a way. He didn't want her to feel trapped here, but she did, and the woman knew Janson couldn't let her leave. Not until he got Ava out of the picture at least.
"I know you don't trust me-"
"That's correct."
"But on the contrary, Giada," Janson continued onward. "We could do powerful things together, we'd be like Kings and Queens compared to this place."
"Are you referencing that I'd be your queen?" The auburn haired woman commented wryly. She raised an eyebrow, and Janson could not believe that was all the woman took away from his totally inspirational speech.
"No, it's just a metaphor," He corrected quickly. Although, Janson thought at the back of his mind it wouldn't necessarily be a terrible idea. "So if you cooperate with me, the world will be better than the way it was before." He was aware there were ways he could just make Giada obey him, against her freewill; but Janson couldn't find it within the deep black pits of his heart to do that to her. Because for once in his life, he did not have the pure, burning desire to hurt someone.
"What will you give me in return?" Giada's response was a faint whisper. If Janson hadn't been listening and watching her every move intently, the man would've missed it. Even though it was seamlessly dark on the highest level of the scorch facility, the moon reflected off of her ocean blue eyes. Janson believed it certainly wasn't fair for someone to be this beautiful in the darkness.
"Anything you want that I can provide for you," He answered raspily. And when Janson said everything, he quite literally meant everything. The taller man definitely wouldn't refuse Giada if she randomly approached his door and requested for him to show her a night she wouldn't ever forget. Then again, men and women rarely ever forget about the nights they spend with Janson. He supposed they just admired his experience.
Giada wanted to not feel tense around Janson, but she did. The man made no motive to hurt her, if he truly wanted to he would have already. He could've knocked her out the second she stepped into the secret area. Technically it was not a secret anymore since Giada found out about it, but that wasn't the point.
Janson opened his mouth to reply, but suddenly Giada reached forward and placed her soft, but cold finger onto his lips to silence him. He gawked at her, but not in a surprised way. Janson never would've dictated Giada being a dominant person of any sorts, but here she is, nearly making his knees buckle in the middle of an attic. How charming.
"What if I want something or someone that I can't have?" Her tone was so very scathing, it shouldn't be turning Janson on the way it was. "What the hell am I supposed to do then?"
She'd only placed her finger onto his mouth because she just wanted him to listen without making any of his sly comments. Giada took a deep breath before removing her finger away from Janson's mouth. She was incredibly proud of herself because of the way she got her own boss to stand there, eyeing her in an astounded silence. It took Janson a few moments to recover, but when he did, he actually flashed Giada a genuine smile. Not the fake one he usually casted either.
"I don't know," Janson admitted, his eyes searching hers longingly.
"Exactly what I thought," Giada commented softly. "And Janson?"
He raised his head up again, as if he'd been in a haze. "Yes?"
"You should smile like that more often," She told him seriously. "It looks way better than that grumpy facade you have on all of the time."
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind."