Folsom (End of Men, #1)(53)
“When did she die?” Gwen asks, and then she immediately places a hand over her mouth, embarrassed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that.”
“It’s okay. She died about a year before I joined the End Men. Thank God for that.”
“She’d be proud of you,” Gwen says, shaking her head. “You’re doing something for the good of everyone. You’re a good man, Folsom.”
I doubt my soft-spoken mother would be proud of her son being a prostitute for the government, but I smile gratefully at the woman who thinks so.
The secret to survival is to stay hard and focused, hard enough that the vastness of emptiness cannot live inside you. My life is a straightjacket, and if you don’t want anything to hold power over you, including the straightjacket, you pretend you aren’t wearing one. But, as I sit across from this woman, I feel it: every constraint, the painful tug of my conscience both toward her and the Regions. Before Gwen I did what I needed to do, I survived. But now I’m not so sure what that means. Our server returns with the main courses. The smells fill me with nostalgia, and for the time being I’m too distracted to think more about my mother. Gwen tries each dish, remarking about the tastes with enthusiasm. I’m happy in a way I’ve never been. Content to share this with her. That’s how I know it won’t last.
TWENTY-SIX
GWEN
I’m ready to get back to work. The days waiting for Folsom to get back from fucking everyone in town are too long and heartbreaking. It’s best if I stay busy. God, the way he makes me feel. I can’t stop thinking about last night. My hand flies to my neck, the heat alive in my cheeks.
Hamari is looking out the window when I arrive and does a little hop when she sees me. I hope she’s just excited I’m back. I never know what her exuberance is going to mean for my day; it can be anything from the latest Genome Y gossip or that she has an extra stack of work that she wants me to delegate to someone else.
She claps her hands when I step inside and nearly barrels me over with a hug.
“I’m so glad you’re back,” she says. “Why do you hate me so much?” The words rush out, her laugh contradicting what she’s saying. “You didn’t tell me you were in a relationship with Folsom. That picture of you kissing…” She fans her face. “Oh my God. The two of you are so hot together—I can’t even be mad at you for stealing him right out from under me. I can see now why you were saying all of those things on the Silverbook…I wouldn’t want to sha—”
I hold up my hand. “There’s a picture of us kissing?”
“Your hair looked so good,” she gushes. “Out of control, but in a good way…how do you do that?”
I hold onto the counter and breathe. This won’t go over well. “Thanks for letting me know. I need to get to work.”
I head to my office quickly, glad that I got here earlier than most. I open the Silverbook and there we are, front and center. It’s a picture of us through the back window of the car lost in a kiss that looks as passionate as it felt. The theories are swarming in rapid-fire. We’re in love. We’re conspiring against the Society together. I’m trying to steal Folsom from the End Men. I’m a man disguised as a woman and working for the Society myself…
I have to swipe it off before I lose a day reading it all. I work on some of the lab reports that have piled up and don’t leave my desk until well into the afternoon. Hamari pokes her head in and hurries to the desk, setting down a thick file.
“Don’t ask me where I got this. I knew you’d want to see it.” She leaves the room quickly.
I flip through it, my outrage building with each document. I’m shaking by the time I make my way to dome five.
Laticus isn’t in his room; Corinne, however, is outside his door when I come out, and she stalks toward me.
“We need to talk,” she says, backing me into Laticus’ room. She shuts the door behind us and folds her arms across her chest. “You wanna tell me what’s going on with you and Donahue?”
“Not really,” I respond.
“Well, here’s the problem with that…we have a reputation to uphold at Genome Y and you have always exemplified the highest standards we require. But this…this is unacceptable. We work hand-in-hand with the Red Regional office and the Society. If they see our most trusted employee canoodling with an End Man—is it true you’re living together?” She shakes her head. “You know what, don’t answer that. You have to end it. Today. If you don’t, the next conversation between you and me won’t be this civilized.”
I nod and move closer to her. “There’s quite the pile of labs on my desk, as well as all the reports you weren’t able to finish without me here…I’m sure you’ll be able to find someone else with my qualifications who will be willing to put in the same kind of time I have, though. Right?” It takes everything in me to keep my tone low and balanced.
She purses her lips. “Are you being insolent with me, Gwen? What is this?”
I shake my head. “I’m all about telling the truth these days. Don’t let Folsom hear you calling me insolent. He’ll start trying it out on me.” I walk toward the door. “Where is Laticus? I see that he’s been tripling up on the sperm samples, some days even more than that? All under your advisement.” I wave the file. “And did you notice that his sperm count has been lower the past two days?” I narrow my eyes at her. “You know you’ve gone against all kinds of protocol, Corinne.”