Bullshit by the Pool

The pool water was that impossible, chemical blue—the color of things that are clean but not real.

Marcus sat on the lounge chair, nursing his fourth gin and tonic, watching his colleagues drift through the chlorinated water like mannequins in a flooded department store. This was the corporate retreat to celebrate another record quarter, another victory lap for the bull market that had been raging for three straight years. Everyone was richer than they'd ever imagined, and more empty than they'd ever feared.

"You look like you're plotting a murder," Sarah said, sinking into the chair beside him. She was the only person at Quantum who still seemed to possess something resembling a soul.

"Just plotting my escape," Marcus said. "I feel like a zombie, Sarah. I think I died sometime around the IPO and nobody bothered to tell me."

Sarah laughed, but her eyes stayed serious. "You and everyone else in this pool. We're all just walking around, making money, eating at Michelin restaurants, wondering why we still feel hungry."

The sun was setting now, staining the artificial blue water pink and orange. Somewhere beyond the hotel grounds, they could hear the distant hum of the city—real life continuing while they pretended to celebrate their success.

"This is all bullshit," Marcus said, the words coming out harder than he intended. "The bonuses, the catered dinners, the emails from HR about how grateful we should be. We're not building anything. We're just… what? Moving decimal points around so people with nine-figure net worth can have ten figures?"

"We're part of the machine," Sarah said quietly. "The difference is, most people don't know they're in it. We do."

Marcus turned to look at her. She was beautiful in that exhausted, intelligent way that people get when they've seen too much and still haven't looked away. Her hair was falling out of its corporate-suitable bun. Her eyes were tired but alert, like she'd been waiting for him to say something real for a long time.

"I'm done," he said. "I'm going to quit on Monday."

Sarah smiled, and it was the first genuine smile he'd seen on anyone's face in months.

"Good," she said. "Because if you didn't, I was going to have to kill you myself. I can't be the only one who remembers what it feels like to be alive."

They stood up together, leaving their drinks on the table, and walked away from the pool and the celebration and the bullshit they'd all been pretending was meaningful. Behind them, the corporate zombies continued their party, floating in their pretty blue water, celebrating a bull market that had already hollowed them out completely.