Goldfish in the Deep End

The **pool** at the corporate retreat was too blue, an artificial turquoise that made Elena think of marketing campaigns and quarterly projections. She sat at the edge, her feet submerged in the chlorinated **water**, watching a lone **goldfish** circle lazily near the filter. Someone had probably brought it from home, then abandoned it when the weekend ended.

That's when she saw him — David, her boss, standing beneath the swaying **palm** fronds, holding a baseball like he'd forgotten how to throw it. Three years ago, they'd kissed in the supply closet after the holiday party. Thirty seconds of terrible judgment that they'd never spoken of again, though sometimes she'd catch him looking at her across conference tables, his eyes dark with something he refused to name.

"Elena," he said, and the goldfish suddenly darted away from the shadow she cast. "You're here early."

"Couldn't sleep," she lied. The truth was she'd been up thinking about the restructuring rumors, about how David might have to choose between her and Marcus, about how the **baseball** metaphor he'd used in last week's all-hands meeting — "sometimes you have to sacrifice players to win the game" — kept echoing in her head.

He sat beside her, close enough that she could smell whiskey on his breath. "I heard about New York. The promotion."

She'd turned it down. They both knew why. Some terrible, hopeful part of her still believed that if she stayed, if she waited long enough in the shallow end, he might finally dive in with her.

"The goldfish," she said, because she couldn't say what she really meant. "It's been alone so long it's probably forgotten there are other fish."

David's fingers brushed hers, sending electricity through her bloodstream. "Maybe it's not forgotten. Maybe it's just waiting for someone else to jump in."

The palm fronds whispered above them like witnesses. The water lapped against her ankles. And for the second time in three years, Elena considered drowning herself in something she knew could only end badly.