Chapter Nineteen
Everest
Lance managed to convince me to go down to the common area while we’re waiting on Jett to come back.
I’m nearly trembling with anticipation as I listen to Lance ramble on with another one of the guards and the prisoner that he’s watching about some dating app that recently launched.
I don’t know anything about it, because why the fuck would I need a dating app?
I’m offering little to no input in their conversation because I’m too busy switching between obsessing over the clock and watching the doors.
At twelve minutes after two, the automatic double doors swing open, and in strolls the man I’m irresponsibly infatuated with.
My eyes trail over every inch of him, with his backpack stuffed to the brim and in a fresh set of clothes.
He looks just as fucking good as when he left.
I can’t help the immediate smile that takes over my face, and it makes Lance scoff at me.
“Oh, thank God. Lunch is here.” Lance announces as he stands up.
He bids farewell to the two people that he was talking to before walking across the room to meet Jett halfway.
They converse for a few seconds before Jett hands him a bag of food.
Lance quickly slinks through all the tables and disappears through the doors just as Jett reaches me.
“You’re making a habit out of misbehaving.” He sits down right beside me and slides a bag toward me.
“It’s the only thing I’m good at.” I reply as I pull the tray of food from the bag. I dig out the chopsticks and soy sauce before I start opening everything else.
“It’s not the only thing you’re good at.“ He says with a smirk as he shimmies off his backpack and rests it on the floor beside him. “Eat quick. Lance said you have a session with Wilder in twenty minutes.”
“Oh,” I halt my movements as I look over at him. “I’ll just save it for dinner then.”
I start to close the lid on the tray and Jett sticks his hand out to stop me. “You didn’t have lunch. Eat.” He growls at me without any room for argument.
A wave of chills covers my flesh, but I still roll my eyes at him.
I think I could get used to Jett ordering me around.
“How has everything been? Enjoying it so far?”
I ignore his question as I plop onto the sofa in his office that I have officially decided is not comfortable. “When does the testing start?” I ask instead.
Wilder squints his eyes at me knowingly before shuffling around some papers on his desk.
“Aha. Here we go,“ he pulls a packet of papers out that are stapled together. “Lance had plenty to say. You spent multiple days in bed refusing to do anything. You were missing meals, forcing him to miss meals as well, which he was very vocal about. You haven’t been following the workout routines or showering without being prompted. You’ve also—“
“Yeah, yeah. I get it,” I interrupt. “What did Jett say?”
He flips a couple of pages before stopping to skim over whatever he wrote down.
“It took you some time to adjust, but you seem to be getting in the groove of everything now. He’s confident that you’re starting to integrate into the routines at your own pace.
His only concern was that you might not be particularly fond of the food they’re serving in the kitchen. ”
“No shit. They don’t season anything.”
“Your guards can bring you other meals from the staff kitchens.” Wilder explains as he tucks the papers back underneath the stack.
“I’m well aware. I had sushi just a few minutes ago.”
“Good… good.” He says before jotting something down on the notepad that’s hidden behind his monitor. “Soooo… Jett is your sponsor?” He quirks an eyebrow at me playfully, seeming much more like the lively Wilder I know and love.
I chuckle at how ridiculous that sounds. “Sponser? That’s what you call fuck buddies around here?”
“Doctor terminology,” he shrugs innocently. “But as your friend, not your doctor. Bravo. He’s a fucking snack.“ He says as he pretends to fan himself off with a folder he grabs off the corner of his desk.
Jett and Axel have pretty similar builds and style, and I immediately think that’s why he’s so attracted to him. I wonder how their friendship is doing now that they don’t see each other as often.
“How is Axel coming along?”
I’m pretty sure that as soon as his name is out of my mouth, Wilder’s whole demeanor drops instantly. He tosses the folder back on his desk, and looks down at the notepad.
“Doctor-patient confidentiality.” He replies flatly.
“I don’t want to know his medical information, I just want to know how he is. Be as vague as you need to be. Fuck. Make something up for all I care. How would I know the difference?”
“He’s fared better than you, that’s for sure.” He mumbles under his breath as he fiddles with the knob of the drawer on his desk.
“Don’t tell him that. Please,“ I scoot to the edge of the sofa as I beg him. “Tell him that I’m fine and that I asked about him or something. He’s just going to worry if you tell him the shit in that folder.” I point to that stupid stack of papers he tucked my packet underneath.
“Tell you what… if, and that’s a very big ‘if’, the report I get at the end of this week looks better than the last one, then I’ll tell him you’re fine.“ He declares as he crosses his arms across one another and leans on his desk.
“Deal.” I let out a sigh relief as I slump back against the couch.
The last thing I fucking want is Axel worrying about me.
I’m supposed to be taking care of myself in here, and it doesn’t really count if all I’m doing is stressing him out the whole time.
I’ll start going to the gym again and getting out of my cell more during the day.
It shouldn’t be hard to make an improvement over the last report.
Especially as far as Lance is concerned.
I think if I just walk with him to the cafeteria so that he can eat, he’d be happy, even if I don’t eat.
“Great!” He says as he leans up excitedly and starts to flip through his notebook. “So… the testing. It should start sooner rather than later. I’m still nailing down the schedule for you and Axel but expect that to begin within the next few days.”
“Okay. What is the testing like again?”
“Nice try.” He glances up at me with obvious irritation in his expression before looking back at his paperwork. “I can’t tell you that. The testing is for potential job placements. That’s all you need to know.”
“Would be,“ I say as I roll my eyes. “Would be for potential job placement if I actually belonged here. Which… news flash, I don’t.”
His movements halt as he stares up at me.
I instinctually start to bead sweat under his scrutiny, and that’s exactly what this is.
He’s eyeing every part of me as discretely as he can, looking for tiny tells in my behavior.
He’s had plenty of time to study me at this point though, I’m practically sitting under a microscope for him within these prison walls.
He tilts his head in confusion. “You sound unhappy about that, Everest. Why?”
I catch myself picking at my cuticles, so I force myself to put both my hands down flat against the sofa as I fidget in my seat.
“Probably because I’m not. I’m not happy about it.”
He crosses his arms and leans back in his chair. He almost has a smile on his lips, and it seems kind of disconcerting considering the fact that we’re talking about me being unhappy.
“Interesting...”
“Don’t fucking do that,” I demand as I shift in my seat uncomfortably. Again.
He quirks an eyebrow at me in confusion and that just irritates me more.
“Don’t act like I’m a lab rat. I know you’re studying me or… or whatever.” I raise my hand and wave it around animatedly between us. “Is it a crime or something to like being here?”
“I like it here,” he replies with a shrug.
“You’re a ray of sunshine. You’d be happy in a fucking cave, so that isn’t comforting. At all.”
“Rude,” he snaps back with his brows pinched together. He even clasps his chest for the extra dramatic flair.
A knock on the door yanks our attention away from one another.
Jett opens the door and Wilder gestures for me to go ahead.
I’m glad that’s over, honestly. I would hate to be a normal prisoner.
There’s no way that I could stand meeting with him every single day and still keep my sanity intact, as ironic as that is.
Normally the days are filled with whatever I can come up with to pass the time.
Walking around outside, hanging out in the common area, I’ve started going back to the gym, and making sure that Lance never misses a meal.
Not that I want to rush this experience, but I try to stay busy so that the days fly by.
Except for the days that Jett shows up early, obviously.
I’m content to sit and do nothing but chat with him, hoping to slow down the clock by even a fraction of a second.
There’s never a lull in entertainment with him around.
Every couple of days he’s been bringing me something special.
Different foods, some markers that I was eyeing when we went to the shop, some more pencils, tons of little things.
He hasn’t asked me for anymore ‘favors’ either, and I’m not sure how to feel about that.
Is he giving me things because he wants to, or because he actually cares about me? Is it just something that he’s going to hang over my head later? I’m not asking for any of the stuff that he’s bringing me, so that wouldn’t really be fair. Then again, nothing in life is ever really fair.