[8 years ago]
We had arrived at Everest Base Camp. Scott Hall, the expedition leader, gathered all of us together for a meeting -- clients, guides and Sherpas.
"From here on out, my word, and the word of the guides and climbing Sherpas, is absolute law," he stated. "If we tell you to do something, you zip your lip and do it right away. If you have an issue with something, wait until we're camped, come to my tent, and we'll talk about it THEN. But not in the middle of the climb."
All us clients nodded. There was me (Will Easterly), Richard Bass, Rob Hansen, Steve Kruse, Charles Carruth, Pete Harris, Pete's son Dan, and Lou Kasminski. We'd all paid a princely sum to be part of the expedition, and we did so because we knew we had zero chance of summitting Everest without massive help. None of us were high-altitude climbers.
"Will, how's your ankle?"
I tried putting weight on my left ankle, which I had injured coming back down through the Khumbu Icefall as part of our first acclimatization trip. The pain was too much.
"Bad." I made a snap decision. "I'll stay here and let it heal. I can try for Everest next year."
"Okay. You can help take care of Sadhya."
Sadhya was an 11-year-old Sherpani. She was staying at Base Camp while her father, Ang Dorje, acted as climbing sirdar for Scott. Sadhya's mother had died just a few days before, acting as a porter for another Everest expedition. Heart attack lugging a load up to base camp from Pheriche. Scott was, as a result, paying Ang Dorje the amount normally paid to a first-class Western guide, so that he would not have to work again and could raise Sadhya after the expedition was over.
"Deal."
Scott quickly went over the rest of his plan with the others. They would leave for the final assault on May 5. With luck, they would reach the summit on May 9.
They did. But on their return to Base Camp, an avalanching serac in the Khumbu Icefall killed Ang Dorje and two of the clients, Charles and Richard. Sadhya had now lost both her parents in the same climbing season.
I immediately abandoned any further thought of climbing to the top of Everest. Instead, I volunteered to adopt Sadhya and bring her to America. I would have to give up my life of being a rich dilettante and actually devote myself to something other than my own wants, but I figured that would be for the best, too. It took a few weeks for the paperwork to be processed, but everything was finalized by July, and I took my newly adopted daughter home with me. She had a fourth-grade education. Given how racist (and rich and white) the area I lived in was, I decided to homeschool her.
[Present day]
Sadhya and I had barely been outside the grounds of my mansion for the past 8 years. I had stopped socializing with my equally rich as me dilettante friends to devote my time t0 educating my adopted daughter. She was slim, with delicate features, a small chest (B-cups, as I knew because I was the one who had to buy bras for her), long legs and an exotic beauty. A fully grown Sherpani now at age 19, she had just passed the requisite exams to be comsidered a high school graduate. The two of us had grown very close emotionally, as was natural for two people who had spent 8 years together practically 24/7. She had had nightmares for a while (as is natural when an 11-year-old has both parents die) and on a few occasions had climbed into my bed and asked me to hold her so she could sleep (I did, and as soon as she calmed down had slid her to the side), but those had gradually gone away, and now she was a well-adjusted, happy young lady.
"Congratulations, Sadhya."
"Thanks, Will."
She never called me "Dad", always "Will."
"What are you going to do now? College?"
"Why? That would mean leaving here. I like it here with you."
"I'm glad, but... don't you want to spread your wings a bit?"
"And leave the only person behind who cared about me after my parents died? No."
"So, you want to stay here with me?"
"Don't you want me to?"
"Well, of course I do..."
"So, when do I get to have sex with you?"
"WHAT?"
"You heard me."
"Sadhya, I can't. You're my adopted daughter. That would be a major violation of trust."
"It would have been back when I was 11. Now we're both over the age of consent. And I'm not your biological daughter."
I sighed. "Sadhya..."
"Will, you don't expect me to remain chaste all my life, do you?"
"No, but..."
"So what's the issue?"
"When I took you in, it wasn't so you could be a sexual plaything, it was so I could raise you and give you the resources needed to be a successful adult."
"And you did. Mission accomplished. Now I'm 19, horny, and need an outlet for my sexual energies."
Sadhya rose from the table and walked around to where I was sitting. I watched her carefully. She sat on my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck.
"What are you...?"
"Ssssssh." Sadhya placed her finger against my lips. I obediently went silent.
Sadhya pressed more firmly against me and placed her lips against mine. I held perfectly still. She forced her tongue into my mouth and began caressing my face as she kissed me. Eventually she had to remove her lips from mine so we could breathe.
"Why aren't you responding?"
"I don't think this is a good idea."