There was warmth at the crest of his brow and then nothing else.The waves pulled him back out into the ocean.The foam around him turned pink,
And then red
Spots broke over his vision, white at first and then
Black.
33
2022
The doors to the gallery were open.
Adrien was rooted to the spot, mind buzzed blank.Anxiety seeped in through his every pore, eyes glued to the toes of his borrowed shoes.He couldn’t look up for fear of what—ofwhohe may see.Around him, attendees were shuffling in, their voices bleeding together into a low drone.Blake’s reassuring hand was his only tether back to earth, his only form of security.
“Do you need some more time?”Blake asked, the warm tones of his voice breaking through the frightful din.Adrien looked up to meet his eyes—warm-brown, patient, and steadfast—and something in the center of his body unlocked, the fear siphoning away.
Gratitude surging up in his chest, Adrien brought their conjoined hands to his mouth and laid a gentle kiss to the tips of Blake’s fingers.He shook his head, finally glancing at the throng of people.
“No,” he whispered, unsure if Blake could hear him.“I’m… I need to go in.”
On trembling feet, he made his way into the queue, gently tugging Blake along with him.A woman with pink box braids was scanning tickets at the front door—Adrien recognized her from the Disneyland photo on Jessica’s Instagram.With a strange twist in his chest, he realized that this woman was likely her wife.
One of the most important people to his sister, the one she had made her life with, was standing right in front of him, and he didn’t even know her name.The distance between them was disorienting.
“Have a great time!”she smiled, handing Blake’s phone back and gesturing into the gallery.“You can help yourselves to drinks and hors d’oeuvres over there on the right.”
“Is,” Adrien began, the word bubbling up from his throat hoarsely.He gripped Blake’s hand tighter, sweat pooling between their skin.“Is Ms.Marin here?”
“Jessie?”the woman asked, the apples of her cheeks compressing her eyes into glittering gems.“Yeah, she’s right over there by the Watatsumi display if you wanted to chat.”
The woman gestured at a wall of black breakaway partitions and Adrien followed the leisurely wave of her hand.The pictures on display faded to a mess of mottled color, silhouetting the woman standing in front of them.Adrien could only see her back: a dark blue evening dress and a waterfall of black hair curled at the ends.One of her hands was on the shoulder of a large man dressed in a red button-up and with a jolt that numbed his chest, Adrien realized it was David.
“’Scuse me,” a preteen boy on Adrien’s left said, squeezing past him and making his way up to Jessica.A younger girl was hot on his heels, her hands balled up into excited fists.
“Ask her, ask her!”the girl chanted excitedly, pushing on the boy’s shoulders.He laughed, swatting at her hands.
“Hello, my beautiful mother!”the boy said, jogging up to Jessica’s side.She turned her head and Adrien was struck by how unchanged she was—there were lines carved into her face that gave her a frightful resemblance to Joyce, but the moment Adrien realized they were laughter lines, the fear settled down into his gut.
“Yes, my beautiful son?”Jessica heaved a dramatic sigh, throwing an arm around him.“What do you want?”
The boy pulled his mouth into a little moue that almost made Adrien laugh—it looked just like the way Jessica would pout when she was little.
“What makes you think I want something?”the boy asked.“Don’t you think I wanted to tell my mother how lovely she looks at this beautiful gallery she’s arranged?”
Jessica rolled her eyes, reaching out to pinch one of her son’s cheeks.“A very likely story.”
“Actually,” the younger of the two kids crooned, sliding over to David’s side.“It’s not just somethinghewants.”
David laughed, ruffling her hair.His niece giggled, shrugging out from beneath his palm.
“Okay, what do youbothwant?”David asked.“Will ‘uncle money’ do, or is only ‘mom money’ sufficient?”
“Okay, while I wouldnotsay no to any type of currency, Livy and I were wondering if you’d mind us filming you talking about Watatsumi,” the boy asked, holding up his phone.“I wanted to make a video about him for TikTok.”
“Oh, so you’re trying to get views out of me?”Jessica snorted, turning fully towards him.A smirk curled up the side of her mouth as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“Mom, he’s like America’s Banksy, and you’re the only person who knows anything about him,” the boy insisted.“We’d get tons of hits!”
