Read Online A Necessary End by Holly Brown - Free Book Online Page B

everything.

CHAPTER 8
    Gabe
    A nother text from Adrienne: “Soooo . . . ????”
    So what? I want to text back. So what are you expecting? I’m showing Leah around the city. We went to Fisherman’s Wharf and watched the sea lions and poked around in a few tourist-trap stores; visited Golden Gate Park, where I learned Leah isn’t much of a walker, at least not while she’s this pregnant; and now we’re in the Richmond, my favorite neighborhood. Leah seems to like it, too, even though it’s overcast, where the wharf was pure sun.
    â€œAre you going to answer that?” Leah asks. She’s smiling in this teasing way, like she knows.
    But what can she know? That Adrienne is threatened by her, by the two of us being out together? I don’t think Adrienne is willing to admit that to herself.
    This morning, Adrienne insisted we have sex, and she wasn’t quiet about it either. Maybe it was stress relief; maybe she was marking her territory. To be honest, I wasn’t that into it. I’m not a big morning-sex guy, and the potential mother of our kid was within earshot.
    â€œWhat about Leah?” I whispered.
    â€œShe likes that we’re hot for each other,” Adrienne whispered back. “It’s part of why she picked us. She wants us to be what she and Trevor weren’t.”
    I don’t know about that. I just know that if I were in the guest room, I wouldn’t want to hear the future mother of my kid moaning, especially when it sounded kind of fake. Adrienne often sounds a bit theatrical, but all I could think of while we were doing it was how it would sound to Leah. Like Adrienne was putting on a show.
    â€œIt’s Adrienne,” I tell Leah now. “She wants to know if you’re having fun.”
    â€œTell her I’m definitely having fun.” Leah’s got this twinkle, like she’s messing with Adrienne, or with me. I don’t mind it, it’s friendly, but Adrienne would disagree.
    The thing is, Leah does sort of twinkle, all the time. Adrienne is obsessed with how much Leah looks like her, thinks it’s a little creepy, but I don’t really see it that way. I think Adrienne is gorgeous, don’t get me wrong, but she was never just as plain pretty as Leah is. Adrienne tortures her hair straight, while Leah’s is long and wavy without any kink to it. Adrienne’s skin was never so perfect and clear. Leah’s the After in the Proactiv infomercials Adrienne and I sometimes watch (they’re heartwarming, with all the pizza-faced ducklings turning into swans).
    â€œHaving fun,” I text back. On the one hand, I figure Adrienne will be pleased. She wants Leah to have enough fun to stick around, but only that much. I’m not sure she wants me having fun at all. She wants this to be a job.
    But it is fun, showing someone around this great part of the world in which Adrienne and I chose to live. I never get to do it, since we’re not in touch with family and all the old friends have fallen away over the years.
    That’s all it is, me getting to be proud I inhabit the Bay Area, thatI didn’t just stay in my NJ burg for life. I have Adrienne to thank for that. It’s like I always say: She’s a life force. My life force.
    So why is she so threatened by this girl?
    Leah and I are browsing a little market, the kind you’d find in Chinatown. That’s why I like the Richmond. It’s this mix of old Chinese ladies with their steel carts bumping behind them and young hipsters. And normal people, too, though it seems to me it’s predominantly Chinese and hipster. Leah’s a little bit hipster: all in black once again, with those lace-up boots, like the old Doc Martens people used to wear when I was in high school. They might actually be Doc Martens.
    She’s peering into a freezer case. “Taro-root ice cream,” she says. “Sesame ice cream.” She’s got big round