The Cunning (18+)

27

"You look like shit," Sam said as Jase trudged into the kitchen, pushing his curls out of his eyes.

"I feel like it," he mumbled, opening the cupboard and taking out the last of the paracetamol. Jase considered telling him about his chat with Madison but decided against it. He could trust Sam, but he was still processing his thoughts.

They were the only two in the house, besides the customer leaving after a session with Janine. Jase watched him hurry out the front door without looking in their direction — a common occurrence. Sam kept his eyes steady on the newspaper in front of him, also pretending the other guy wasn't there. The fire was on page six.

"Is it alright if Janine comes down today?" Sam asked. Jase shrugged.

"Yeah, that's fine." Sam stood. "If you're going to get her now, open Madison's door as well," Jase ordered as Sam left the kitchen.

Madison joined everyone in the living room shortly after Sam unlocked her door. Janine looked up from where she was painting her nails on the floor. Madison sat down beside her.

"Want me to paint your nails?" Janine offered, blowing on the tacky paint she'd coated on her own.

Madison shrugged, holding her hands out, "Sure." She was still sleepy, having not long woken up after Jase left the room. Last night, she saw a look in his eyes she hadn't seen before, it wasn't quite panic and it wasn't quite pity but it was something.

The art of being able to stress herself into crying on cue had proven another valuable skill from her childhood. Naturally, the idea of Jase killing children, in a fire no less, had thrown her, but that wasn't what encouraged the waterworks. She had cried at the thought that all her work, in the hopes he possessed a conscience, was wasted. The panic that her plan had failed was enough to send her spiraling into a state of impending despair.

And then the idiot had reassured her, all because of a few tears.

After considering how he was towards her, and what Janine had said about him treating her differently, Madison wanted to put that to the test. See if his friendliness was legitimate. Before last night, it was unclear. Now she was more than confident, Jase, for whatever reason, couldn't bring himself to upset her. Or he found being in a room with a crying girl so uncomfortable he had to put an end to it as quickly as possible, but she doubted that.

"You have nice nails," Janine said, shaking the polish as she examined Madison's cuticles, pulling her from her thoughts. "Did you get them done before here?"

Madison shook her head, "No. I'm not exactly a girly girl. I leaned more towards sports and books."

Janine unscrewed the lid, taking Madison's hand in hers. "No girlfriends to do make-up with?" she asked. Madison smiled, looking down at her lap.

"Not really." She had very few friendships in the past. People were not so easy to trust, not with her upbringing. There was always so much caution when it came to outsiders. There was caution when it came to insiders, too. The thing about having a hardened criminal for a dad meant that his paranoia became her paranoia. Janine pouted.

"Shame. Not such an issue now you're here, I suppose. Not like we're allowed sleepovers." Madison could tell what she was doing. Janine was trying to pump in as much normality as she could about their situation. It was a branch attached to the tree of denial.

"What about you?" Madison continued, playing along. It was nice to pretend. It unravelled the foreboding tightness in her chest. Janine arched her brows but remained focussed on Madison's nails.

"Me? I worked on the streets before I came here, so those girls were my only friends, not exactly a crowd I miss being a part of." She waved it off like coming to the house was as simple as switching the company she worked for due to bad management. Madison wondered whether that was how Janine saw it.