All in honour, pt. 1

Farewells

Chapter 1

“We have each other.” 

It was a standing joke between them, but in fact, they never intruded unasked, or without good reason, on each other’s privacy; their preferred social lives were different, and for the most part separate; their love lives were - at least on K’s part - discreet. His partner’s, of course, was inclined to extend beyond the private - K’s, never. The girls in his life were artists, musicians; Village people, streetwise and capable of dealing with his lack of commitment. The women in his partner’s life were quite different – Fifth Avenue, sophisticated, expensive; sometimes dangerous, and equally uninterested in commitment.

The jokey phrase, however, mattered very deeply to their professional partnership. They knew each other’s thought patterns, likely choices of action, preferred operational style. They had saved each other many times from total disaster, though not always from injury. They were like brothers; mostly fond and forgiving, sometimes hating and furious, but always there. So, the day his partner left, it was a profound and humiliating shock.

He had come in as usual; had been closeted with the Old Man for a while; had returned to the office and said, “I’m off, now. Goodbye old friend – I’m sorry.”  He had shaken his hand, tapped his cheek, and left him standing alone, stunned.

“You didn’t know?” asked his colleagues. 

“Didn’t he say anything before…?” asked the support staff.

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