“I’m glad I could clear that up for them,” I answer, putting extra emphasis on the them so he knows that I know he also thinks I could be a cheater.
“Brilliant,” he says in a slightly sheepish tone. “How are things going there?”
“Good and bad,” I say, tugging on a pair of shorts. “Kenneth’s got the ability to really make my career. He’s even been talking about giving me my own line of outdoor gear.”
“Seriously? That’s incredible, Will.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty crazy. The timing is nuts. Season three just started, and it’s like a whole new world is opening up—one with money for a change.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice?”
“It would,” I say, making my way to the bathroom to put toothpaste on my brush.
“What’s the bad bit?” Harrison asks.
“I promised Belle I’d be back last night at the latest, but we got rained out, then yesterday’s filming had to be scrapped because the lighting was off. When I left, things were on a bit of an… awkward note, I guess you could say. I really need to get back there to smooth everything over.”
My phone buzzes and I see Kenneth’s name. “I got to go, Harrison. I’m late getting downstairs for a breakfast meeting and my sort-of boss is calling.”
“Okay, hang in there,” he says. “Get it? Cause you’re climbing?”
“Got it. Bye.”
“Bye.”
* * *
“There’s the man!” Kenneth shouts as I cross the restaurant with a plate of toast and packets of jelly in one hand and a large glass of freshly squeezed orange juice in the other.
I smile and give him a nod, even though my spinning head would much prefer if I were to lie very still for another couple of hours. How is it possible that he doesn’t look in the slightest bit hung over? After all the shots he did last night? His 6-foot supermodel girlfriend hangs off his arm at the shiny round wooden table. She’s got oversized sunglasses on, and, based on what I can see of her face, she feels about as good as I do. Kenneth, however, having dedicated his life to the pursuit of optimal health, is a 42-year-old man with the stamina of a steam engine. He just keeps going and going. But to be fair, he doesn’t spend the entire day climbing. He goes up once, then hangs around at the bottom waiting while the commercial is being filmed.
“That’s not all you’re going to eat, is it?” He asks, eyeing my plate as I set it down. “Oh, don’t tell me you’re hung-over!” he says, laughing far too loud for this hour in the morning.
“Only a little,” I say, sliding into my chair.
“Well, no worries. We won’t leave for the climb until three. The light should be perfect by then.” He kisses Lara on the top of her head. “And this one should be feeling up to shooting by then, too.”
Three? Son of a bitch. I sit down and do my best to sound indifferent. “Oh, I thought we were going right after breakfast so we could fly back tonight.”
Kenneth takes a massive bite of scrambled eggs, then has a sip of some kind of disgusting green drink before answering. “Change of plans. Lara had a terrific idea. We should go for a multidimensional commercial so that our customers can imagine themselves using our products inmorethan one place.”
“Yes,” Lara says, nodding slightly. “As beautiful as it is here, it’s really expensive in the alps. We should try to incorporate places that are more accessible to the average person.”
“She’s so smart, isn’t she?” Kenneth asks.
“Yes, very,” I say. “But, back to this other location idea. Are we talking in the near future because I do have to get back to—”
“Yes,” Kenneth says. “The best thing is to keep the momentum we’ve got right now. Besides, Giorgio is available for the next week so we should take advantage.”
Giorgio is the director. He’s from Trieste, and Kenneth has him shoot all of his commercials, and the fact that he’s available isn’t actually a positive as far as I’m concerned. Kenneth calls him ‘a true artist,’ and if by that he means total ball-buster, I’m in agreement. It’s like he thinks we’re making an arthouse film that’ll be up for a cinematography Oscar instead of a commercial for carabiner clips that’ll play while people are waiting for their YouTube videos to start. He’s the reason we ended up here for an extra day so the last thing I want to do is go to a second location with him.
My heart drops to the tile floor as I try to think of a way out of this.
Lara picks at the fruit on her plate, then sets her fork down. “We’re thinking Moonlight Buttress in Zion National Park, Utah.”
Kenneth gives me a ‘how about it?’ smile.
“Utah?” I say, quickly calculating my flight time in my head. Well, not that I can actually come up with it, but I’m assuming it’s really fucking long. “Sure, but could we stop in Avonia on our way, perhaps?”
