Completely (New York 3)

“Mm,” Rosemary said.

Kal didn’t know what to say.

He did know.

He knew that Brian had lived in Kathmandu since he was a hippie teenager, where he made a career for himself first as a guide leading trekkers to Annapurna and Base Camp, later training a staff of younger guides to do the work for him.

Kal knew Brian was always cheerful no matter what time of day you talked to him, whether business was booming or terrible. He’d never once seen Brian look upset or sound disappointed.

Not even when he’d disappointed him.

“So where were you?” Brian asked again.

“Camp Three.”

He whistled. “Way the fuck up there. You come out on a chopper?”

“From Camp One, yeah, to Lukla.”

“Better you than me, brother.” Brian glanced at Rosemary. “I can’t stand heights, myself. I’ve got a morbid turn of mind.”

“You don’t seem morbid,” she said.

“That’s because I’m not hanging off the side of a fucking mountain, if you’ll forgive the obscenity.”

Rosemary smiled wanly. Brian’s eyes came back to Kal’s face, and Kal’s stomach dropped. “So, listen, I’m glad to see you. I left you a couple messages, not sure you got them since you didn’t call me back. I’ve been thinking, I want to take another stab at this thing. I’ve even got some ideas how to make it work better—did you get that email I sent?”

Yeah, I got your email. I skimmed it over fast, with my heart in my throat, and deleted it without writing you back. Then I went out and got drunk.

Yeah, I got your messages, and they made me feel guilty, but they didn’t make me want to call you back.

Kal had abandoned the whole fucking mess of it, left his thesis on his hard drive and Brian on the hook for however much money he’d lost, the guides he trained out of luck for work, all of them hoping he could deliver on something he never should have promised in the first place.

He liked Brian, was the thing. He’d always liked Brian.

“Kal?” Brian asked.

Rosemary sank quietly to a seat on the roadside and clasped her hands together over the back of her head.

“Whoa,” Brian said. “That was unexpected.”

“She needs something to eat.”

“I’m okay,” Rosemary mumbled. “Give me a moment.”

Kal squatted down beside her. “You going to pass out?”

“No, I don’t think so. I think I’m just…I don’t know. It’s too many people, and I didn’t realize how many times I’d been bumped into until it was one time too many and I thought I might scream, so I sat down instead.” She waved a weak hand at him. “Carry on with your conversation. I’ll keep.”

Kal glanced at Brian. “I was taking her to the momo guy.”

“Just down the way?”

“Yeah. Can I catch you later on?”

“Sure, do what you need to. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Give me your hands,” Kal said. He pulled Rosemary to her feet, tucked her arm in his elbow, and asked, “Can you walk?”