CHAPTER 9 #3
William is still frowning at his phone when he hears his name being called.
Arthur is walking over. William stows his phone in his pocket and says, ‘Whatever. It doesn’t matter.
’ Then he walks off to give Arthur his coffee.
Bee gives me another look before following him, which is unnecessary because I already know that the conversation has been a truly spectacular clusterfuck.
Truth be told, I’m not thrilled about the idea of rock climbing, but I feel it’s appropriate to practise gratitude or whatever in exchange for Arthur’s efforts.
He looks a bit like an overexcited toddler as the three of us approach, clearly not at all picking up on the weird vibe.
Bee is still holding two coffee cups. William is scowling.
I am shuffling along behind them in faded black leggings and a too-big T-shirt I got for free at an event I worked a few years ago.
‘Are you excited?’ Arthur asks as Bee and William get fitted for harnesses.
‘Nervous.’ I wrap my arms around my middle, making myself smaller.
He puts an arm around me. It’s the first time we’ve touched since karaoke.
There is no reason for me to be thinking about it in those terms. ‘That’s totally fine!
I want to find out if you’re an adrenaline junkie.
I tried to go for something a bit more daring, but everything was so expensive, and then I found a deal online for the rock climbing, so I was like: close enough.
’ I’m starting to suspect he has already had a coffee or two before the strong skinny latte he’s currently holding.
‘What do you mean by daring?’ I ask.
‘What is the first thing that comes to mind when I say skydiving?’
I don’t think. ‘Splat.’
‘Hmm. Probably best I didn’t go for that then. Unless, is it a general heights issue?’ He looks up at the wall dotted with colourful footholds. It’s about twenty metres high, I would guess. ‘Is this going to be okay?’
‘I don’t think it’s heights. I think it’s mostly that jumping out of a plane seems like a massively stupid thing to do. This should be fine. I think. Can’t guarantee I’ll make it look graceful though.’
‘I can guarantee that I won’t.’ We laugh and join Bee and William in front of the instructor Arthur scored in the deal.
Predictably, Bee and William look like an athleisure advertisement.
They move in unison, leaping upwards, a cloud of purple and pink.
(Seriously, even their outfits are complementary, and how do they not look like dildos in the helmets like I do?
It doesn’t even look like they have wedgies from the harnesses.
I, however, might never be able to extract my undies from my ass crack.) I hear Bee squeal joyfully, ‘I haven’t ever done this before!
’ and William respond, ‘You’re a natural, baby. ’
I feel a little more akin to one of those gargoyles on the side of a building, grey, hunched over, hoisting myself up with immense effort.
Because I’m determined to keep going up, come hell or high water.
I pull my gaze away from the Nike ad to look at Arthur, but he isn’t next to me.
He’s several feet below and not moving, his face almost pressed to the wall.
I look around for the instructor, but he is now up with Bee, showing her how to swing between holds.
Now she’s dangling with one arm and William is taking a video on his phone.
Back to Arthur. ‘Are you okay?’ I ask.
His voice is muffled. ‘So, you know how we were joking about you maybe being afraid of heights?’
‘Yeah.’
‘It is very much me, in fact, who is petrified.’
‘Arthur, you’re five metres off the ground.’
‘You can break bones in a five-metre fall.’ His voice cracks a little at the end.
‘You’re in a harness.’
‘Harnesses break.’ He is clutching the hold in front of him with both hands, and his knuckles are turning white.
There really isn’t anything else to do. I let go of the wall and began to feed my rope through the carabiners to lower to his level. When he senses me next to him, he looks up in alarm at my lack of attachment to the wall. Sweat beads dot his blotchy forehead.
‘Do you want to go back to the ground?’
He thinks for a moment. ‘No.’
‘So you want to keep climbing?’
‘Are those my only two choices?’
‘I don’t think they’ll let you move your couch in here.’
He takes a deep breath and looks me in the eye. ‘Okay. Let’s keep going.’
Given that Arthur booked this experience, I’m slightly bitter that the instructor has abandoned the struggling booker in favour of teaching William and Bee hot-people tricks further up the wall.
He hasn’t even glanced back at us. You have four students, buddy!
He isn’t getting a five-star review, which I know he will inevitably ask for, and he definitely isn’t getting a tag.
Actually, he might get that from Bee, who actually has followers.
It’s not really much of a threat coming from me.
I have no business directing Arthur, but it’s me or no one. He places his hands and feet where I tell him to, never looking down or up. Only at the wall or at me. I pat him on the back once, but he snaps at me to not let go of the wall, then immediately apologises.
When we reach the top, he chokes out a sob-laugh, looking at me with wide, relieved, shocked eyes.
I hope he can see the pride reflected in mine before we both dissolve into laughter that goes on far too long.
Eventually I realise he is stalling. Going down involves letting go of the wall.
Going down involves trusting your own skills with the ropes.
So, just like the way up, we take it slow.
Really slow.
Stopping frequently. Deep breaths. Just keep looking at me.
I think by the end Arthur is even starting to enjoy himself. He looks a little bit…disappointed?…as our feet hit the ground. Even so, he immediately divests himself of the harness and ropes, desperate to be free of any association with the wall.
‘You know, we definitely learned something about you today,’ he says.
‘That I’m way better at rock climbing than you are?’
‘Okay, so two things. That and the fact that you’re who I want around anytime I’m having a crisis.
’ He is hugging me. Not a polite hello hug; he is clutching me like I’m his liferaft.
I’ve never been important enough to someone to feel like a liferaft before.
I think I can lift the touching ban for something like this.
Arthur pulls away and stands alongside me, prompting me to turn around to see what he is looking at.
William and Bianca are slowly rappelling down the wall, face to face.
I’m not quite sure how they’re paying attention to the ropes during their staring contest. William says something.
Bee laughs. They touch the ground gracefully, and Bee immediately throws her arms around William’s neck and launches in.
Still a little too much tongue for my taste.
William has gone past naughtily close to her ass and is instead grabbing it by the handful.
As we stare at Bee and William I can see both my reflection and Arthur’s in the window behind them.
We have both tilted our heads to the side like the creepy twins from The Shining.
‘Why do I get the feeling that they had an entirely different morning to us?’ he asks.
‘Do you think they even remember we’re here? ’
‘I think you could strip naked and do the Macarena and they wouldn’t notice.’
‘Is that something you’d be into?’ he says, turning to look at me.
He isn’t flirting. He’s joking. ‘I’m not sure anyone looks good doing the Macarena with clothes on, so best not to try it.’
‘Good call. Come on, let’s ruin this lovely moment for them and go get some food.’