Folsom (End of Men, #1)(5)
I only have to be here for two hours before I can leave, and I can kill at least twenty minutes in here. I plan on taking the longest pee of my life and then washing my hands fifty times, and maybe if I’m lucky this bathroom will have one of those sitting areas…
I stop dead in my tracks. At first, I see only boots, large boots, too big for a woman. He hears me come in and perches forward on the sink to peer around the corner.
“You can’t read or you don’t care?” he asks.
I’m too shocked to know what he’s talking about, then I remember the Out of Order sign on the door.
“I can’t read,” I say. “I’m just another stupid woman trying to have a baby.”
He laughs. It bounces across the bathroom walls and hits me in the chest.
“Well, at least you have a sense of humor, stupid woman.”
I’m witnessing the very serious and stern Folsom Donahue laughing. I stand there staring at him, not knowing what to do.
And then I ask, “Are you hiding, too?”
“In plain sight,” he says. “Who are you hiding from?”
“Everyone.”
“How’s that working out for you?”
I eye his casual stance, the large hands resting behind him on the sink, the crossed ankles. “Not well, since you’re here.”
He laughs again, this time just a slow rumble while he watches my face.
“I have to go,” he says, pushing away from the counter.
He walks toward me, and my heart races. I’ve never been this close to a man. He’s just trying to get to the door, I tell myself. But, then he stops so he’s towering over me. I have to bend my head back to see his face.
“Have a good night,” he says.
And I learn for the first time what a smirk is. Full lips, teasing. I blink at him, my lips parting to answer, but then he’s gone and I’m not even sure it really happened.
I watch from the balcony above as he flows into the sea of women. He’s fluid, a strong current. They have him for a moment and then he’s gone. To have so many eyes and hands on you all the time…I shiver.
I’d not expected him to be so…likeable? Enigmatic? Human, maybe. He is a character in the story of our country, a prop in the news. To see him in person makes him real. I am transfixed as he works the crowd. Women clamor for his attention. He’ll fuck them all, no doubt—they’ve paid for his services. I see my sister among them, her beauty only dimmed by her best friend, who pushes toward Folsom with determination. I feel a shelling of jealousy; I had him first. And then I laugh to myself. Stupid woman.
FOUR
GWEN
A noise in the hallway interrupts my tossing and turning. I can’t believe I slept at all. I bolt upright in bed, staring at the door, trying to get my thoughts together. Today is my appointment with Folsom. I’ve been anticipating this day since my mother put the arrangements in motion when we found out that Folsom would be the next End Man sent to the Red. My treatments began weeks ago: booster shots, fertility drugs—all to increase my chances of conceiving. I was twelve when I had my first dream about a baby. I’d never seen one—I’ve still never held one—but my dream was vivid. I woke up and told my mother every detail.
“We’ll make it happen.” She’d said it so matter-of-factly that I’d believed her.
Sophia heard me talk incessantly about taking care of a baby and decided she wanted one too. Of course that’s what every girl wants nowadays, but Sophia didn’t catch the bug until I did.
With the male population wiped out, we’ve been left with a society that has, for the most part, crumbled. It’s all I’ve ever known, but my mother still remembers what our world used to be. A baby is a luxury only the very wealthy can ever hope to attain, and even then, it’s more complicated than that. The End Men have been helping rebuild us, and their demand is something I can’t fathom. Relentlessly, they move across the twelve Regions under the control of the Society: a group formed to save humanity from extinction. There’s protocol to secure an End Man, and even after my mother became a representative for the Red Region, we weren’t sure how to bypass some of that to get an appointment before we’re grey. For that reason, my mother became Governor Petite’s lover. I’m still unsure of whether my mother has genuine feelings for her or if it’s still all a show. I have a feeling it’s the latter, but I don’t really want to know until this is over and I have a baby in my arms.
Maybe if we’re lucky, we’ll have two.
My mother knocks twice and opens my door, holding a large breakfast tray.
“I’m surprised you haven’t been up for hours,” she says, setting the tray down on the table and then moving to open the drapes. Sunlight streams in and I flinch against it.
“Sophia’s already eaten. Well…she ate a grape, but I think that’s her usual breakfast. You better hurry or she’ll try to hog Folsom.”
I laugh and step out of bed, making my way to the table. I take a sip of tea, scratching the back of my leg with my toenail.
“As long as I get my chance with him, I don’t care who has him first,” I say, waving my mother off. “A dick is a dick.” I don’t mean it. Folsom has always been my favorite End Man.